Cambodia, the first: Phnom Penh part 1

(Soon I will have pictures to post, but I can't upload them from where I am.)

Jazmin and I arrived in Phnom Penh on Friday night around 10pm. The visa process was fairly easy. I just had to hand over my passport and completed forms, which got passed down a line of 5 or 6 people for various checks and stamps.  I paid my $20 USD for the tourist visa, and we were off. Luckily, we had the forethought to arrange our hotel and an airport transfer before we left, so we could easily avoid the tuk-tuk drivers and touts crowding the exits. We also remembered to withdraw and change money to US Dollars at the Seoul airport, which has made everything tons easier.

We are staying at the Cara Hotel, about a block back from the Riverside area in Phnom Penh.  It's clean and nicely decorated, and our room is quite large. Air conditioning and no bugs make us happy girls. :)

Our first morning, we decided to sleep late; after all, it's the first day of vacation! We finally got up and about around 1pm Cambodian time (two hours behind Korea, and 11 hours ahead of US EST). We ate a lovely lunch at Fusion Sushi, the restaurant within our hotel. I enjoyed chicken teriyaki (which tasted just like my mom's) and freshly squeezed watermelon juice, while Jaz tried a Bento box and fresh apple juice.

Full and happy, we began our walk in search of the Riverside area, otherwise known as Preah Sisowath Quay. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the moist heat felt rejuvenating. (It was 87 degrees Fahrenheit when we landed at 10pm, and the usual high is around 91F.) We found a tuk-tuk driver named Narang who took us to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, both within the same complex. It was beautiful, and the Buddhist architecture and idols were breathtaking. (Although, if I'm honest, the similarities were so strong to the Thai versions, that it was a bit like, "Wow, another temple.") We enjoyed our walk through the complex however, and took some (hopefully) stunning photos.

Upon exiting, some people approached us, selling water and books. So many people seem to have signs (in English and Khmer) explaining that they are land mine victims or were disable in some other way, and could we please help them. It's heartbreaking. On one hand, you want to help as much as you can, but on the other, you don't want to encourage begging and such. Jaz and I each decided to buy a book, and I was glad to buy Voices of S-21, a book I intended to buy anyway. Win-win.

Next, Narang took us to break our large bills into something useful. Most places here prefer Dollars, but many food carts and such only take Cambodian Riel. Regardless, we wanted small bills, to avoid having everyone see that we were carrying lots of cash (which stays in my money belt with my passport at all times). We headed to the Central Market, an Art Deco structure with four arms and hundreds of stalls. Purses, jewels, imported toiletries, souvenirs, amazingly beautiful flowers...you can find it all there. I easily found a day bag/purse - to avoid carrying my backpack everywhere with me - for $8, and two packs of postcards for $1 each. Narang dropped us at Kiwi's Restaurant & Bakery for dinner, and we parted for the day. (His fee for several hours was $2, but we gave him $3. We also made plans for him to pick uis up the next day.)

Kiwi's was nice, but we ordered way too much food. By that point, we were starving! I had a pad thai and a Coke; she had fried chicken, fries, and a Pepsi; and we split a delicious caesar salad and fruit salad. We found that even Coke and Pepsi girls can live together in harmony here! :D

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel for some much-needed showers and relaxing; it's amazing how sweaty and salty you feel after four hours walking around in 90 degree temperatures! After a bit more down time, we left for the Amara Spa, on the Riverfront, but linked to our hotel with free transportation. I had a one-hour massage and one-hour foot reflexology. About 10 minutes into the foot treatment, I wondered why in the world I thought that was a good idea. I am extremely ticklish, especially on my feet, my left ankle has been sprained so many times that it always hurts a bit now, and my "broken" toe (on the same foot) from 15 months ago never healed, so it still hurts a lot. Once she changed to the other side, I began to relax a bit more though. Jazmin said her milk bath and sugar scrub were lovely.

I stayed up until 230am reading the Kindle guidebooks, trying to make a plan for the next day, our last full one in Phnom Penh. More on that tomorrow.

*Now with 95% fewer worms!

So, the doc said yesterday that I have pin worms, which I mentioned earlier briefly. She said many things, each more gross than the previous. Like how eggs were also found, so the pill tonight will kill mom, and in two weeks, the next pill will kill the babies after they hatch. Ewww. And "don't worry, this kind of worm can only go down. You won't have any coming out of your mouth, eyes, ears, or nose." Uh, thanks. I din't even know that was possible until just now. Even though this "isn't that kind", it doesn't make me feel much better.

However, within 10 minutes of taking the foul-tasting pill last night, I felt tons better. No more stomach rumbling or problems. Dead and dead. I was even able to eat my entire lunch today. It's soooo gross to think of something alive in my stomach and intestines. I guess I wasn't too far off with my quip about feeling like a scene in Alien. It just wasn't an alien trying to get out.

So it IS like a scene in Alien...

It's official: This is the worst vacation I've ever gone on. Makes me miss Korea, almost. Doc says I have pin worms. Taking meds now, should be better soon. The fact that I'm being "de-wormed" is not lost on me. (My dog would laugh his ass off...)

Doctor visit, part 2

Damn the early sunsets here! Couldn't wait for the lab to finish tests last night, or I would've had to walk along the beach in the pitch black back home. On my way this morning to the doctor. This sucks.

Deep Diving Goodness

Did my Deep Dive this morning successfully. We saw a turtle eating coral, and were able to go around it 360 to watch it. Saw an electric clam which was totally wicked, a banded sea snake, a few puffers, and a pissed off moray eel, snapping at us from within it's hole entrance. Now off to the doctor for some antibiotics~~tired of this ick!

Stomach bugs suck.

I am so sick, and have been for 3 days now. They say it's nothing to do with the diving, but I'm not so sure. They think it's something I ate or drank, but I haven't eaten anything but plain white rice, a banana, half a sandwich, and tons of Gatorade since I started feeling bad, yet I'm still sick. I wish my insides didn't feel like a scene in Alien... Such a shame too, since I can have many different kinds of Western and International cuisines that are hard to find at home, and I'm too sick to keep anything down. Boo. I can't even sit up for long periods. Been trying to do minimal diving, just to finish up the Open Water course, which is now done. Once I feel better, I'll work on the Advanced O/W...

Just Call Me Snow White

After my dives today I was exhausted (I was actually exhausted starting the day due to a horrible storm and insomnia), and decided to lie down for a while. I fell asleep very quickly. At some point, Huw (Hugh, Welsh spelling) knocked on my door to change our starting time for tomorrow. Afterward, I decided that I’d better go get some food (even though I wasn’t hungry), in case I slept into darkness. The restaurant in my hotel closes at 5pm, and I’m not a big fan of walking 30 yards to the other restaurant, along the beach, in the pitch black. (It’s total darkness by 630pm here. Boo.)

I went to get food, and was hoping to run into Lynn, the massage woman, but no such luck. I ordered my food, and 5 minutes later I started to feel really sick. I had stomach problems earlier, which apparently weren’t gone. I honestly wasn’t sure which end the problem would issue from, nor where the closest bathroom was, in case the nausea got sharply worse. I asked them to package up my food for take out, and they offered to deliver it to my room when it was ready, which I thought was very nice. I tried to eat a few bites when it came, but couldn’t handle it. I put it in the fridge and lay back down.

I listened to music and played games on my iPod for a long time, then got up to head to the bathroom. When I switched on the bathroom light and opened the door, a 2 inch cockroach came flying out! (Okay, not flying, just scurrying very quickly.) I screamed loudly, and again when it changed direction toward me. (Apparently mosquito coils deter mosquitoes, but invite others…)

Needless to say, sleep was a lost cause after that. I finally lay down and started reading the PADI book—I finish the Open Water course tomorrow, and then start Advanced Open Water—checking often for signs of fast, ugly bugs near me.

Later, I decided I was hungry. (After all, I didn’t eat much dinner.) When I sat up, I saw something irregular on the wardrobe door. A tiny (3/4”) frog was there. He hopped down quickly, and when I turned around with my food, he was next to my bed, trying hard to climb up. Since it wouldn’t do to wake up with a small frog jumping on me, I grabbed a bag to try and catch him. Tiny frogs don’t bother me so much, as we had hundreds of them on our balcony in Florida. But I didn’t know if it was poisonous or not, so the bag seemed like a good idea. (I just hope the bag doesn’t make it into the sea overnight…)

After I caught him (no easy feat; I was trying to capture something tiny through an opaque bag without squishing him), I opened the door to put him outside. To my surprise, on the chair outside my door were a mother cat and 2 sleeping kittens. I think my gasp of “Now, what the hell is this?” must’ve scared them, because two of the three were off in a hurry.

I deposited the bagged frog on the table, said goodnight to the cats, and went back inside. On the wall above the air conditioner was a 4” gecko.

While I’m glad that animals find me a kindred spirit, I would prefer that we meet in daylight, when I can run away if necessary. Or at least, not meet in my room.

First day of Open Water SCUBA course done.

My day is now complete. Two confined dives, with minimal panicking, and an in-room massage. Lynn knows she might be coming back every day for the next 10 days... Ah! Off to dinner before high tide comes and obscures my walk there...

Ahhh...

Sitting on my oceanfront balcony listening to boats and sea on Small Lalaguna Beach, Puerto Galera, Philippines. Off to my first confined water dive...

The Start of the Philippines Trip

I will never leave for a big trip on a Saturday again. My week is so busy, and I couldn’t get too much done beyond what was needed for the week. I stayed up Friday night after work (I finish at 10pm) to pack, finish laundry, dishes, and cleaning, double check all my confirmations, get Hayes’ stuff together for the kennel, and finish up the last 55 pages of Harry Potter 6 so I didn’t have to take it with me. When all that was done, it was 7am.

Early this week I ordered books and a camera, and when I went to work Friday, neither had arrived. The delivery guy brought the books at 1030pm, which I was surprised by and thankful for. However, the camera seemed more important, and I was worried that I would now have to find another cheap-ish camera before I left the country in 12 hours. I kind-of rested until 1030am, when I gave up on actual relaxation.

I got the dog stuff together, and got everything else ready to pick up after that jaunt. It would’ve been much easier to take everything and avoid coming back home – time-wise – but holding a scared, sweaty dog and his stuff was enough stress without taking all of my stuff too.

The trek was relatively uneventful, although I don’t think my dog would agree. Dr. Baek speaks perfect English, and seems really great. Many teachers that I know leave their animals with her when they travel. Hayes will get his needed shots done and nails trimmed while he’s there, saving me a future trip.

I went to Banwoldang for some errands, then to the Hae Jin Express Bus Station near DongDaegu Station to bus my bus ticket to Gimhae Airport in Busan. I probably didn’t need to buy it in advance, but I was afraid that on a busy Saturday I might get caught without transport. There are trains to Gupo, but then you have to take an expensive taxi to the airport. The bus takes you directly to the airport for 7,600 won. The only drawback is that you can’t buy the bus tickets at Emart, by phone, or on the internet. You must buy them in person only, hence the inconvenient trip. Oh well. It made me feel better to have the ticket in hand for a specific time, knowing I’d get to the airport in plenty of time.

I made my way back home via Home Plus. I wanted to price cameras, since I have resigned myself to the fact that mine wasn’t coming. I also needed a couple of other things, including some food, since I hadn’t eaten in 14 hours, and was starting to feel a bit faint. The cameras were too expensive to justify buying when I had one in the mail already paid for, even if that left me camera-less for this trip. I went home and realized how dirty, sweaty, and covered in dog hair I was. After eating, I took a quick and thorough shower and decided to take a 30 minute nap before I had to leave again for my journey’s start.

I laid there for 3 minutes thinking how angry I was to go sans camera, and sent a psychic message to the driver for a miracle. Literally 12 seconds later, my phone rang. A man tattered on endlessly in Korean, but I recognized my address and “home”. Yes! Yes! I’m home now! Come fast! He didn’t understand much, and I couldn’t answer his questions. Finally he said thank you, and hung up. I quickly called my former partner teacher Ji Hoon and asked him to call the man back and tell him I was home and to come fast.

I got dressed and went down to sit on the stairs to watch for him. Then I got a call back. Ji Hoon said, “He’ll be there in 5 minutes.”

MY MIRACLE!!!!!

He came, I got my camera, and he muttered a bit about trying for 3 days to deliver it (I think), and then he was gone. I went upstairs, opened all of the packages and pieces, put everything together, and packed it into my carry-on. Fifteen minutes later I was out the door.

I’ve often thought I was psychic-ly linked. Sometimes my mom and I can’t get through on Skype or the phone because the other is calling at the same time. Sometimes in class I’ll ask a question and no one will know the answer. Then the answer will pop into my head, and someone will raise their hand and say word-for-word what I just thought. It’s creepy. But today I’m thrilled. I got my camera!

I was told that they NEVER deliver on Saturdays, much less at 430pm, when I’m leaving at 445pm to catch a bus out of the country.

I found a taxi at 503pm. My bus was set to leave at 540pm, which would be plenty of time in most places on Earth, but we had to hurry. I didn’t realize how much traffic there would be midday on a Saturday. (There’s never traffic on the subway lines. :) The driver made an illegal turn in front of 3 cops in the middle of the street, who pulled us over. Argh! He yelled to me, “Ticket! Ticket! Ticket!” I quickly pulled out my bus ticket and gave it to him. He frantically explained to the cop that “the foreigner is going to miss her train!” (in Korean) He let us off quickly, and we pulled into the station at 536pm.

The ride to Busan was lovely.


Hillside/top cemetary.


I saw the KTX train that I might've ridden to Gupo if not for the bus.




The rest was easy. I had plenty of time after checking in to withdraw and exchange money, get a Frappuccino at Starbucks, and get dinner.

Gnome was hungry too!


When I sat in the boarding area to get organized, a small boy made me smile when he exclaimed loudly, “Wow! Waygookin sang nim!” (Wow! A foreigner!) I laughed, and his older sister said hello as she passed. He gasped loudly a few minutes later when I got on the same shuttle to our plane. But this time, when I said hello, he said it too. :)

So here I sit in the exit row of my Cebu Pacific plane. Paying 12,000 won for this much legroom and a pre-chosen seat was so worth it. I should be sleeping now, but oh well. If I’m going to try to do better about keeping updated while I’m on vacation, I’ve got to do it as it happens. So here it is. My iPod’s on, loudly playing my faves from the last two decades, and I’m drinking a Minute Maid Mango/Orange Juice with pulp, straight from an all-English bottle, which was bottled in my destination. I’ve had actual conversations with the Flight Attendants in English, and have watched with a smirk as the Koreans around me don’t follow their instructions because they can’t understand the English. Is that wrong? It’s just that it’s delightful to be understood easily after 11 months of feeling like the idiot.

Almost ready...

Well, I'm finally packed to the point that I won't need to come back home after the kennel. I guess that's good. I hope the rest of my laundry dries in the next 5 hours... Now, if by some miracle, my camera shows up before I leave tomorrow, I'll be thrilled...

Vacation Decisions

I hate making vacation decisions, cuz I want to do it all! But I think I've made the decisions finally! Two weeks on an island paradise in the Philippines, Open Water/Advanced Open Water/Underwater Digital Photography courses, kayaking, trekking to waterfalls, mountain biking, and some snorkeling should do the trick.