"Hello, where are you going?"
Well this is the second time I'm writing this. The first version took about 30 min to write but got lost due to some computer problems. Oh well. This version will be shorter...Sorry.
No pictures yet, no way to upload them. Hopefully I can in a few days.
First for some questions.
Lady boy is a term for a transvestite in case you hadn't guessed. They are quite well accepted in Thailand.
Language has not been a huge problem, but long conversations are next to impossible with most locals. However, most locals do know enough English to communicate essential information.
We are in Kampot Cambodia now, and spent the last few days in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The night before that we were in mainland Thailand, in the small town of Trat.
Our hotel in Trat was not very nice, but its location was good, real close to the bus. It was also across the street from the local night market which was a great exploration experience. They set the market up around sundown, and most of the stall sell various prepared foods. After a bit of wandering we settled on a parking lot type area that had some tables set up and was lined with vendors. Kelly had fried chicken with ginger; very tasty. I had Tom Yum soup, a Thai hot and sour soup flavored with lemongrass, chilies, lime leaves and a bunch of other aromatics; also very good. After dinner we explored a bit more. We bought some orange juice, a pine apple, and some sweet flatbreads. I also took a few pictures.
We took our snacks and said good night to the market, since we needed to be up for a 6am bus to the Cambodian border. When we got outside at about 5:30 we were surprised to find the market still going, even stronger than when we had left it. The parking lot we ate dinner in was now full with vendors selling meats, fish, poultry, vegetables, and fruit. It was an amazing site. I bought a bag of oranges, and we got on the minibus to the border.
The border crossing was very hectic, but luckily we teamed up with a Swedish woman, who was also in Cambodia for the first time. As you approach the border there are hawkers everywhere selling just about everything you can imagine. Once you pass the hawkers, there are the beggars, and the people trying to "help" you across the border. These "helpers" are actually basically scammers looking to get as much money as they can from tourists. Despite this the three of us decided to accept "help" from one of them he took us to all of the check points, as quickly as possible, and then to his friend's taxi. At the taxi we were surrounded by even more beggars, many of them missing limbs, and most of them children, but our "helpers" shooed them away. The ride to the boat was $2 each, and they told us the boat didn't really leave at 8 like we had read, but 8:30 so we had plenty of time to get money exchanged.
They took us to an exchange booth with horrible rates, all part of their scam. After some arguing we got about 75% for our $20. We got to the boat at 8:12, just in time to find out they were about to leave. We hurried on and paid our $15 for tickets.
We sat on the upper deck of the boat, it was very uncomfortable, and we both burned on the 4 hour long ride. (Luckily my burns went away the next morning, but Kelly is still a bit pink...Though she says it doesn't hurt.) The boat hugged the coast for the whole ride, and we saw some great scenery. About half way through we stopped at a cool little island, with a village that was spilling into the water (on docks).
Our final destination was Sihanoukville. Ill try to give you and idea of this town. Its pretty spread out, and takes about 15 minutes to get across it on a motorbike. It is Cambodia's best attempt at a resort town, but it is a bit run down. Despite this the scenery is beautiful. The beaches are huge, and the sand is fine. The most expensive room in town is a presidential suite that will run you about $70 (ours was only $6).
When we got to the port in Sihanoukville we were hurried right into an immigrating check point, they were counting passports it seems. When we left the checkpoint we were accosted by moto drivers, all yelling "hello, where are you going?" we wanted to take a taxi so we weren't split up, but the drivers told us it costs $60. Yeah right....But there was no arguing with them. So we hopped on two of them and told them we wanted to go to the beach. They took us pretty close to the beach but when we got there they started stopping at hotels and telling us to look at rooms. After the second place we realized it was no use arguing with them (we couldn't even say we would stay there then go somewhere else, they were waiting for a commission). We settled on a fairly nice place (a lot nicer than the place in Trat the night before).
It was mid afternoon, but my skin was hurting too much to walk around. So we decided to settle in, until the sun went down. When it was close to sunset we walked down to the beach. The cool thing about this beach, aside from he golden and white sand, was the sound it made. As we walked in the powdery dry sand at the top of the beach it made a funny squeaking sound similar to wet fingers rubbing on glass. We found a neat little restaurant on the beach and had a tasty dinner.
The next day we went on out to the town center and the market. This market was amazingly vibrant, and they sold almost anything you can imagine (except pocket knives which I am still looking for). We explored the market and I took some more pictures including one of a little girl who thought it was hilarious how I had to bend down so I didn't hit my head on the low ceilings.
After that we found some moto drivers to take us to the national park that was about 10 miles away. They told us it would be $4 each way, but this amount went up as the trip progressed. The country side was absolutely beautiful. They took us to the national park...Then kept on going to a small group of seaside huts, where they got us a boat to an island. This wasn't where we wanted to go but it ended up being a very nice (but expensive) trip. They waited for us at the huts and upped their fee for the wait. It is fair to up it a little, but they really gouged us...But with no choice, and no way to argue we went along with it.
At the end of the trip they took us back to our hotel. From there we went straight to the beach. We tried to walk the full length but it was a lot longer than it seemed (and wasn't very nice towards the far end).
We had drinks and a pineapple crepe while we watched the sunset, then went back to our hotel before it was dark (the beach gets scary at night, a lot of beggars, and it is very dark...So it doesn't seem safe).
We had dinner at the hotel, then watched a movie and went to bed. The next morning we went back to the beach for breakfast. The only interesting thing this time was a giant jelly fish (probably about 20lbs if you assume it weighs the same as water).
We then got a taxi to our current location, Kampot. This is a much quieter town, although it shows the real condition of Cambodia a bit more too; we are clearly in the third world. Many of the roads are dirt, and the poverty shows here more too. But we still have yet to hear the phrase "hello where are you going?" We have only explored a little bit. We went through the market here too, but it is less impressive than Sihanoukville.
Tomorrow we are headed to the zoo where they have some of the super rare guinea pigs, and some of the more common tigers, snakes and gibbons. It should be fun.
that's all for now. Hopefully we can get some pictures up soon.
-Tim
No pictures yet, no way to upload them. Hopefully I can in a few days.
First for some questions.
Lady boy is a term for a transvestite in case you hadn't guessed. They are quite well accepted in Thailand.
Language has not been a huge problem, but long conversations are next to impossible with most locals. However, most locals do know enough English to communicate essential information.
We are in Kampot Cambodia now, and spent the last few days in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The night before that we were in mainland Thailand, in the small town of Trat.
Our hotel in Trat was not very nice, but its location was good, real close to the bus. It was also across the street from the local night market which was a great exploration experience. They set the market up around sundown, and most of the stall sell various prepared foods. After a bit of wandering we settled on a parking lot type area that had some tables set up and was lined with vendors. Kelly had fried chicken with ginger; very tasty. I had Tom Yum soup, a Thai hot and sour soup flavored with lemongrass, chilies, lime leaves and a bunch of other aromatics; also very good. After dinner we explored a bit more. We bought some orange juice, a pine apple, and some sweet flatbreads. I also took a few pictures.
We took our snacks and said good night to the market, since we needed to be up for a 6am bus to the Cambodian border. When we got outside at about 5:30 we were surprised to find the market still going, even stronger than when we had left it. The parking lot we ate dinner in was now full with vendors selling meats, fish, poultry, vegetables, and fruit. It was an amazing site. I bought a bag of oranges, and we got on the minibus to the border.
The border crossing was very hectic, but luckily we teamed up with a Swedish woman, who was also in Cambodia for the first time. As you approach the border there are hawkers everywhere selling just about everything you can imagine. Once you pass the hawkers, there are the beggars, and the people trying to "help" you across the border. These "helpers" are actually basically scammers looking to get as much money as they can from tourists. Despite this the three of us decided to accept "help" from one of them he took us to all of the check points, as quickly as possible, and then to his friend's taxi. At the taxi we were surrounded by even more beggars, many of them missing limbs, and most of them children, but our "helpers" shooed them away. The ride to the boat was $2 each, and they told us the boat didn't really leave at 8 like we had read, but 8:30 so we had plenty of time to get money exchanged.
They took us to an exchange booth with horrible rates, all part of their scam. After some arguing we got about 75% for our $20. We got to the boat at 8:12, just in time to find out they were about to leave. We hurried on and paid our $15 for tickets.
We sat on the upper deck of the boat, it was very uncomfortable, and we both burned on the 4 hour long ride. (Luckily my burns went away the next morning, but Kelly is still a bit pink...Though she says it doesn't hurt.) The boat hugged the coast for the whole ride, and we saw some great scenery. About half way through we stopped at a cool little island, with a village that was spilling into the water (on docks).
Our final destination was Sihanoukville. Ill try to give you and idea of this town. Its pretty spread out, and takes about 15 minutes to get across it on a motorbike. It is Cambodia's best attempt at a resort town, but it is a bit run down. Despite this the scenery is beautiful. The beaches are huge, and the sand is fine. The most expensive room in town is a presidential suite that will run you about $70 (ours was only $6).
When we got to the port in Sihanoukville we were hurried right into an immigrating check point, they were counting passports it seems. When we left the checkpoint we were accosted by moto drivers, all yelling "hello, where are you going?" we wanted to take a taxi so we weren't split up, but the drivers told us it costs $60. Yeah right....But there was no arguing with them. So we hopped on two of them and told them we wanted to go to the beach. They took us pretty close to the beach but when we got there they started stopping at hotels and telling us to look at rooms. After the second place we realized it was no use arguing with them (we couldn't even say we would stay there then go somewhere else, they were waiting for a commission). We settled on a fairly nice place (a lot nicer than the place in Trat the night before).
It was mid afternoon, but my skin was hurting too much to walk around. So we decided to settle in, until the sun went down. When it was close to sunset we walked down to the beach. The cool thing about this beach, aside from he golden and white sand, was the sound it made. As we walked in the powdery dry sand at the top of the beach it made a funny squeaking sound similar to wet fingers rubbing on glass. We found a neat little restaurant on the beach and had a tasty dinner.
The next day we went on out to the town center and the market. This market was amazingly vibrant, and they sold almost anything you can imagine (except pocket knives which I am still looking for). We explored the market and I took some more pictures including one of a little girl who thought it was hilarious how I had to bend down so I didn't hit my head on the low ceilings.
After that we found some moto drivers to take us to the national park that was about 10 miles away. They told us it would be $4 each way, but this amount went up as the trip progressed. The country side was absolutely beautiful. They took us to the national park...Then kept on going to a small group of seaside huts, where they got us a boat to an island. This wasn't where we wanted to go but it ended up being a very nice (but expensive) trip. They waited for us at the huts and upped their fee for the wait. It is fair to up it a little, but they really gouged us...But with no choice, and no way to argue we went along with it.
At the end of the trip they took us back to our hotel. From there we went straight to the beach. We tried to walk the full length but it was a lot longer than it seemed (and wasn't very nice towards the far end).
We had drinks and a pineapple crepe while we watched the sunset, then went back to our hotel before it was dark (the beach gets scary at night, a lot of beggars, and it is very dark...So it doesn't seem safe).
We had dinner at the hotel, then watched a movie and went to bed. The next morning we went back to the beach for breakfast. The only interesting thing this time was a giant jelly fish (probably about 20lbs if you assume it weighs the same as water).
We then got a taxi to our current location, Kampot. This is a much quieter town, although it shows the real condition of Cambodia a bit more too; we are clearly in the third world. Many of the roads are dirt, and the poverty shows here more too. But we still have yet to hear the phrase "hello where are you going?" We have only explored a little bit. We went through the market here too, but it is less impressive than Sihanoukville.
Tomorrow we are headed to the zoo where they have some of the super rare guinea pigs, and some of the more common tigers, snakes and gibbons. It should be fun.
that's all for now. Hopefully we can get some pictures up soon.
-Tim
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, January 17, 2006 at 4:39 AM.
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4:56 PMNice post Tim --- the scammers and beggars will get worse in Siemreap and Phnom Penh --- be firm in your bargaining --- but be careful too ---
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