Egyptian FAIL

So on my last day or so in Bangkok, I spent my time just aimlessly wandering the city, until the evening hours, at which point I went to watch some Muay Thai at one of the local stadiums.  SO fun.  I sat ringside, and got to watch the fighters do the pre-fight ritual in the middle of the ring, etc etc.  I got to see a pretty good number of fights before I had to leave for the airport, and was very satisfied :D  

The fights just looked so intense to watch, since the fighters were obviously in such incredible shape, and took so many hard hits, and just kept going.  Pretty impressive stuff...

I then caught my cab to the airport, and boarded my long flight to Egypt.  They kept the lights on the ENTIRE flight (9.5 hours), and repeatedly woke me up to get the bad airplane food.  ARG.  I was a grumpasauarus when I got off in Egypt, but knew I was going to get to see Michelle, so it was all ok :D

I finally got to the hostel, and we had the BEST reunion ever.  It was so good to see her!!  It was so fun to have things be just like before I left, and we pretty much spent the day just chatting, seeing the Egyptian museum, and doing.....nothing.....a good day, all in all

The second day was spent in a desperate hunt to find Ibn Tulun mosque, where we officially learned to NEVER trust directions given to you by an Egyptian.  It will most likely be incorrect....But we finally found Ibn Tulun, and got to go up in one of the minarets during the call to prayer, which was a really surreal experience.  The mosque itself was beautiful, but we sadly couldn't go inside due to lack of headscarves....

The harassment has been relatively tame, though we're learning that Egyptian men are probably the creepiest on EARTH.  Instead of cat-calling or doing anything else, they hiss??  Very creepy....Oh, and someone threw popcorn at us last night, but that's really all the aggressive instances we've had....

We did our bit at the pyramids yesterday, except we didn't actually go up to the Giza complex, as first off, it's right by the highway, which sort of kills the magic, and you get HARASSED so badly just trying to get in, that it destroys any enjoyment of the place you might have had.  Our guide drove us up just to get a feel for it, at which point groups of people started CHASING the car, knocking on the window trying to sell us things.....ugh

So instead we spent the day at Saqqara by the step-pyramid and old tombs and whatnot, which was much better, and go to ride camels through the Sahara, away from all the crowds and stuff, which was GREAT.

Today Michelle and I head off to Athens for 3 days, and then I'm off to Budapest! :D

Updates to come!

p.s. - I changed the comment settings so you shouldn't have to log-in to comment, so go for it....

Ping Pong and Tigers....

So after a very long day of traveling to get to Phuket, I FINALLY got on my plane to Bangkok.  I somehow got to talking with these three other people who were traveling independently of each other, all from San Diego.  Turns out they each had an overnight layover in Bangkok, and wanted to go see the city, so, figuring it'd be my only SAFE time to go see Bangkok nightlife, we all shared a cab, and I dropped my stuff at my hostel, and we headed out!

We went into Patpong, which is one of Bangkok's many red-light districts (it's just one of those things you have to see at some point in your life).  It was EXACTLY as stereotypically raunchy as you would have pictured it to be.  So after the novelty of that wore off, we grabbed some 4 a.m. noodles (SO GOOD) and I said goodbye to my new friends, and returned to my guesthouse to CRASH.

The next day, I just wasn't really that in the mood for sight-seeing, so I was a bit grumpy while walking around.  The major sights to see in Bangkok are temple-style structures, but after Cambodia, everything else seems a little lackluster, so I actually only saw one and opted to skip the rest.  It just really wasn't exciting to me.  

Then my first major scam attempt came.  NEVER take tuk-tuks in Bangkok.  They are just bad news.  Either hop on the back of a motorcycle taxi, or take a full-fledged car with the meter.  Tuk-tuks try to miserably rip you off.  This guy offered me a really good price, so I got in, but....skeptically.  He then proceeded to do the "oh yeah I'll take you where you need to go, but first let's stop at these five shops that my friends all own so I can get kickbacks for bringing you..."  I was NOT pleased, and had to threaten to report him to the tourist police to get him to finish driving me, and even then I cut his fare in half.  Jerkface.  It's amazing how obviously people try to rip you off too!  Taxis HATE using the meter, despite it being the law, and so will try to negotiate a ridiculous price with you beforehand.  I wanted to get back to my guesthouse, and asked a cabbie if he could take me, and responded with "350 baht"  That's almost twelve dollars.....NO fare within the city of Bangkok should be more than 100 baht, or about THREE dollars....it's a shame that some tourists don't know any better and will take the fare, b/c it just encourages them to rip people off more!

Anyways, I spent that day just roaming the city, which was interesting, but it's a bit too crowded/dirty for my taste...Yesterday though, I went to the tiger temple!!  Its where these monks have raised tigers since they were cubs, and so have become so docile that they will just let you walk right up and pet them and whatnot.  It was soooo cool!!  I also got to pet a little tiger cub, which was ADORABLE.  The only frustrating thing about the trip was that the bus from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi province where the temple is located, is apparently not a direct bus.  The reason I say this is that they were essentially dropping off people they knew at stops along the way, causing the whole trip to take about an hour longer than needed.  The trip back was worse, a 2 hour direct drive took about 4 hours!!  But, never fear, I made it back safely, and now have my last day in Bangkok to kill before heading to the airport to go to Egypt!!!

I'm SO excited to get to Egypt and to see Michelle!!!  I've missed her so much!  Ah, my Berkeley partner in crime, it will be a glorious reunion, to be certain....

Today will most likely be spent wandering Chinatown, and then heading out to watch the Muay Thai fights around 6, leaving at 8:30ish for the airport?  I like it....

Onward Babar!!

So lets see, on my second day on Koh Yao Noi, I was essentially a bum. I woke up, did a quick workout, and spent the bulk of the day either lounging on the beach or reading in my hammock, thinking that life was good.

Then around 4 I got ready to head out to MUAY THAI! I walked down the road about 20 minutes to find this tiny gym (basically a ring with some heavy bags) in the back of a hotel. At first I got there only to hear that class was cancelled since they just got back from Bangkok, but as I was walking out, the girl ran out and told me that one of the regulars just showed up, so class was on! Except I was the only person the guy ended up teaching??? This guy is somthing like a 6-time world champion muay thai fighter, has had over 200 fights, etc. So basically a lean-mean-fighting machine.

I was SO excited. Except I realized two things. 1) My sparring timing SUCKS. 2) My sparring distance SUCKS. The distance, at least, can be explained by the fact that in Muay Thai, contact is to be made with the shin, not the foot, so I wasn't used to having to step into each kick so much. It was also SO hard for me to turn off the Taekwondo kicking style of bringing my knee up and then kicking, instead of just swinging my whole leg around. So he kept hitting me every time I did a TKD kick. And by hit, I mean would give me a hard leg kick. Since this guy has been fighting for a quite a while, he knows exactly where the nerve in your leg is to make leg kicks miserable too. It was not fun, and I'm now nursing a nice big bruise :D

It was so cool getting to train with him right on the water as the sun was setting though! Very Karate Kid. So after practice, I was feeling very contented in my tiredness walking home. I then got cleaned up, grabbed dinner, and passed out!

The next morning, I woke up and hopped on the ferry to Krabi, which consisted of me and about 15 old Muslim ladies. That was comfortable. ....And of course in Thailand, they see a white girl, and think I obviously have no clue what I'm doing or where I'm going, and so just herded me onto a generic songathew into Krabi town, which would have been fine. However, once we got into town, I told them where I needed to go, they said "OH OK!" and herded me onto another bus, which didn't seem right.....

Apparently in saying "PRA-nang" they heard "AO-nang"?? I'm not really sure, but the driver let me off, and I was convinced at this point that something was not right, as we were about fifty kilometers outside of Krabi at this point, and I showed him my print out which had written in THAI where I needed to go. He got a semi-guilty look on his face and said..."oh...um...yeah...it's over that way!".....riiiiiight.

At this point I was just too tired and frustrated to argue, so I got a guesthouse in Ao Nang instead, which has actually turned out quite nice since it's right on the beach! I spent yesterday again just chilling and relaxing, and booked myself a kayaking/elephant trekking trip for today, which was AWESOME!

I got picked up in the morning, with 4 other British travelers, who made for some good conversation on the way to the kayak point, paddled around for a while in the mangroves, which was super-neat, etc. Then we swapped off, with them going with a different guide since they were only signed up for the kayaking, and my guide took me and this couple from Malaysia paddling around a little longer before lunch. We stopped out on this sand-bar and got to look at all the starfish hidden under the sand, and there must have been literally thousands! It was so cool!

We then had a great lunch, and headed out to the elephant trekking place! The first part of it was just sitting on a bench on the elephants' backs while they walk through the jungle, but me being....well....me....had to ask to drive the elephant.....oops? So the guide hopped off and we traded places with him on the bench and I rode the elephant! WHEEE! SO FUN!

Afterwards we got to feed them cucumbers and stuff, which they very happily devoured (elephants have very strong trunks....be warned....). Now I'm back, showered, and quite content, and am going to grab some food and probably a cheap bootleg DVD and will be set for the night!

Tomorrow is my long day of traveling, what with having to get from Ao Nang to Krabi, catch the latest boat from Krabi to Phuket, then get from the pier to Phuket Airport where I will randomly wait around for a few HOURS since I don't feel like paying a crazy amount for a taxi into Phuket town and then BACK to the airport, then get on an 11:30 p.m. flight to Bangkok, get into Bangkok at super-late-o-clock, and finally crash in my hostel. *SIGH* It's gonna be a LOOOONG day.

I can't believe my traveling is almost half over!!!

Koh Yao Noi

So after a brief stopover in Phuket, which proved a mild annoyance (my guesthouse was apparently in a very distant suburb, meaning a very expensive cab ride, then another very expensive cab ride back to the pier), I have finally arrived in Koh Yao Noi, and it is incredible.  I don't get why anyone would ever leave this place (I'm thinking about just....never leaving....haha).

I took the ferry from Phuket, which was a long-tail boat, called such because the motors jut out from the boat on a metal shaft, which was fun in and of itself, getting to see all the wonderful limestone cliffs and all on the way.  It helped that the weather cleared up (it rained in Phuket overnight, so I was really hoping it wouldn't rain on the islands, because that's just a bummer).

So I finally made it here and to my guesthouse, and it is so sweet.  I have my own bungalow to myself, with a porch and hammock, and plenty of room to do my weird martial arts things where nobody can see :D  I took a bunch of the floor rugs that were around and tied them to one of the porch posts to make a modified heavy-bag of sorts, which, with my hand-wraps, is actually moderately functional, though I think the other guests are getting concerned about the pounding happening from my kicking and punching....oops?

I'm going to opt to stay here an extra night, and skip Koh Lanta, because I like it here so much, and would rather have more time on this island than pay more to get to another one where I'd just be staying overnight.  So tomorrow will consist of a morning workout since I have the room, possibly renting a bike to ride around, relaxing on the beach, and reading in my hammock.  ALLLLL day.  I'm a happy camper.  Also, there is a muay thai gym taught by a world champ on the island, so I'm probably going to go to one of his classes tomorrow night, which I'm very excited about!

Anyways, time to get dinner, sit on the beach for a while, then read and pass out (in the safety of my mosquito net, of course....)

Farewell Cambodia, Hello Thailand!

So on my last few days in Cambodia, me and the guys went to check out this really awesome temple hidden out on this mountain, requiring an hour-long tuk-tuk ride on a dirt road out there, which was interesting in itself just to get to see the countryside and whatnot.  When we got to the location, we had to hike about 1.5 kms through the jungle to get to the carvings, but it was so worth it!  The carvings were IN the riverbed, with water flowing over it, which was so beautiful!  We then came across this waterfall where the water which is supposedly made sacred by the gods flows, so I naturally had to go stand under it, which was so nice in the heat.  

Afterwards, we grabbed lunch, and our tuk-tuk driver taught us how to play a Cambodian card game that all the tuk-tuk drivers play, which I have now named Angkor, since I have no earthly idea what they called it, but it was really fun to play with him!  Though afterwards our tuk-tuk nearly died since the fuel line wasn't staying attached to the engine, which would have been really bad since we were....in the middle of nowhere....but our driver managed to fix it and we continued onto another temple, which is one of the oldest in the complex, and by far the most ornate, and in most peoples' opinions, the most beautiful, which I sort of agree with.  It was incredible.  

The day before, we had actually gone to check out the war museum just outside the city, which was a VERY sobering experience.  The man who gave us the tour had joined the Cambodian army when he was 14, to be provided with food and clothing, and in the process of fighting in the war, lost part of his leg from the knee down to a land mine, is almost entirely blind due to getting shrapnel blown into his eyes, has part of the bone from his foot in his eye, which was lodged there during the land-mine blast, was shot five different times, still has ball-bearings under his skin from other land-mine blasts, which give him tetanus about 1-2 times every year....WOW.

Apparently in the park, he was showing us the different personnel carriers and whatnot, and apparently one of them still had a skeleton in it from when it was brought in.  I didn't have the nerve to go see, it was just too much.  He showed us different artillery guns that could blow 100 meter wide craters up to 10 miles away.  It was just insane to hear.  

When we asked about the current politics in Cambodia, we were pretty shocked to hear him say that he couldn't talk about it out loud due to the instability that still existed.  I think everyone views the Khmer Rouge and civil war as being a thing of the past, when it is still very much a part of Cambodian culture.

Yesterday Sasha and Seth left for Indonesia, so James and I just had a lazy day.  We went to the National Angkor Museum to learn more about the history of the old empire and whatnot, which was really neat.  Afterwards, we took care of a few errands, then went to this massage place which is only staffed by blind masseuses, which was pretty cool.  We got an awesome 1 hour massage for 5$, and was personally really glad we gave our business to them, since it was both a good massage, and pretty apparent that they needed all the business they could get.

Afterwards was some quick shopping at the night market, then dinner and bedtime, and now it's today.  ARG.  Today has given me some problems.  I was SUPPOSED to fly direct into Phuket, Thailand today, however, the airline thought it'd be a great day to change the time of my flight the NIGHT before, and the internet was down today so I couldn't double-check that my flight was still on, therefore I missed it.  BLEH.  So I had to be routed through Bangkok where I'm waiting to get on a second flight that I had to book into Phuket, where I will crash overnight and go to the islands tomorrow morning instead.  Annoying, but it'll be alright.

I will update (hopefully) from the island tomorrow!

Temples, Temples, and More Temples

Wow.  This is my third day in Cambodia, and it has been AMAZING thus far.  So immediately after my last update at the Singapore airport, I shut my computer, handed in my boarding pass, sit down, and suddenly I hear "HEY EVAN!" and look up to see a roundhouse kick flying at my face.  Given my state of exhaustion, I was too slow to respond in any other way than leaning back slightly and groaning.

Who did I almost get kicked by?  Michelle's boyfriend James!!  How WEIRD is it that I ran into another Yongmudo member in the Singapore airport at five in the morning who is going to the same place I am on the same flight?!  So we both got off in Cambodia, he met up with his friends, I found my guesthouse, and met back up with him and his friends at their place, and we set out!  It's been so awesome having people who are of the same disposition as me to see Cambodia with!

So we set out on the first day to get our 3-day pass to the Angkor temple park, with our super-awesome tuk-tuk driver, who took us to see some really neat places.

Our first stop was a temple called Bayon, which is easily one of the most impressive and incredible sights I have ever seen.  It is a HUGE complex with multiple spires and incredible carvings of reliefs and whatnot where we wandered for a pretty long time just exploring and checking things out.  Words can't really describe the experience, to be honest, it was just so incredible.

We then made our way around a small loop of temples, climbing the steep steps of each one, taking in the views, just enjoying the setting.  We also got to see the Terrace of the Leper King and the Elephant Terrace, which are both impressive.  It's so incredible to think that these things were built about one thousand years ago, and are still standing.  They must have been truly awe-inspiring to see in their prime. 

It was kind of sad that some of them are falling apart so terribly though.  Apparently the Khmers were not such good stone-workers, in that they didn't really choose very good quality stone, and choose very poor binding to join the stones together, leading to a lot of their structures to lose the roofs and other standing pieces.  

We then headed out to Ankor Wat where we explored for a really long time until the sun was setting.  It is an absolutely MASSIVE place, and while we weren't allowed to go up in the main spires, just exploring the outside with all the reliefs was truly great.

Anyways, after day one, we were EXHAUSTED, and were going to get up at 4:30 a.m. to catch the sunset from a mountain about Angkor Wat, so we needed some serious rest, and promptly PASSED OUT.  

Day 2:

Our driver picked us up, and drove us out to Phnom Bakeng, which is another temple that sits on top of a giant hill, where we explored until the sun began to rise.  It was, again, beyond words.  Standing there, overlooking the jungle, and Angkor Wat in the clean light of a new morning, in the air that was warm, but not yet hot.  Unreal.

We came down, got breakfast, and headed to this place called Ta Prom, which is the temple known for all the trees overgrowing it where the roots are spilling over the doorways and whatnot (a.k.a. - what most people remember from the movie Tomb Raider).  Again, the complex was massive and so neat to explore, and we spent a good few hours wandering there, before we were exhausted again, and opted to take an afternoon break to escape the heat.

So after showering and eating, we decided to check out Angkor Wat one last time again in the later afternoon, then headed home to clean up again, eat dinner, then be SO cliche, and watch Tomb Raider, so that we could both provide stimulation for our completely exhausted brains, and so we could go OH OH WE WERE JUST THERE!!!  

Day 3:

Today we woke up around 6 to get breakfast and check out the last few temples before the heat set in.  So we explored around a bunch of places, though the last 2 were probably my favorites, as they were some of the oldest temples we visited, and were a more primitive style, which was neat to see.  

Now we are all exhausted again, and taking a breather before we go to the war museum.  We have been moving non-stop, but it has been such good fun, since the guys I'm with are so easy to travel with :D

This country is so interesting to move through.  It is so much to take in!  Riding in tuk-tuks during the day with no doors, where cars pass on the street close enough that I could reach out and open their door....Constantly being harassed by children outside the temples to buy different souvenirs......Hunting out back-alleys to get cheap and authentic Khmer food (thank god I have my gastro kit for preventative measures against infection).....Hoping I don't get Dengue fever from mosquitos....Enjoying the fact that I can get food for the whole day for about 6$.....

Only 2 full days left in Cambodia, then flying to Phuket to tour the Thai islands!  Might update tomorrow, but I might be too tired.....we shall see.....

Singa-WHAT?

Wow.  Longest day of my life, easily, and it's nowhere close to over!  I landed in Singapore after a four and a half hour flight from Darwin, promptly threw my backpack into storage, and hopped on the train to downtown.  That was a little intimidating at first, given that it was a new currency in a new country with a new transit system, but it was really easy to use.  Singapore is an incredibly easy city to figure out, mainly since everybody speaks English.  This is probably because there are four to five major ethnic groups in Singapore, and none of them speak the same language, so English is the easiest intermediate....

I got off the train in downtown with my small travel backpack on, and set out for.....adventure...I suppose?  I ended up in Little India, and promptly inhaled the BEST curry of my entire life, which was so satisfying given that I hadn't eaten since about 1 o'clock earlier that day.  Though I definitely ate WAY too much, as the thought of roaming the streets was NOT appealing after that....So worth it though :D  

Afterwards, I roamed the streets more, saw the Parliament House, History Museum, and some other cool landmarks before coming across the lone traveler's MECCA.  A 24 hour shopping complex.  YESSSS.  The only thing that was slowing me down was the fact that Singapore is about 2 hours behind Melbourne, which is the time zone I'm still currently stuck on, so by 10 p.m., I felt like it was midnight, and given that I've been going to sleep before 10 p.m. Melbourne time every night.....I was sleepy.  So I headed back to the airport a little after 1 a.m., crashed in a chair for about 2 hours (didn't think I could sleep so long in a chair, but apparently exhaustion will do that to you), and am now preparing to get on my plane to Cambodia.

AH!  I can't believe it's already time for Cambodia!!  This adventure of mine is flying by, but I'm loving every second of it.  I never thought traveling alone could be so satisfying, but I'm really enjoying having time to myself with my own thoughts, not worrying about anybody else, doing things at my pace.  Though it will be REALLY nice to meet up with Michelle in Cairo, since I've missed playing with her a LOT. 

Anyways, I'm super-tired, and I'd rather not pass out and miss check-in for my flight, so I'll update from Cambodia!! 

p.s. - PASSPORT STAMPS ARE SO EXCITING!!