Monkey's and golden guns at Krabi

Dragged my feet onto the the bus and cursed everything that has to do with football. Sure, Sweden won (of course expected just like the next game) but being so tired I almost wished they hadn't qualified in the first place.
The boat took six hours since it first needed to stop in Koh Pagn Nang before heading to the mainland. Once I got to shore I had another three hours of the bus to look forward to.
One thing that amazes me about the Thai travelling system is that despite of how many times you need to change transportation they still get you there somehow. There aren't any computers or any kinds of visible records, instead you just get a sticker on your chest of various colour and off you go. It is pretty amazing.
Finally in Krabi town I was greeted by the usual patrol of people trying to get you to their hotel and this time I was so tired that I decied to go for it and it turned out great. Got a nice room with TV for less that 3 dollars.
My plan was to depart the following morning for Koh Phi Phi but after reading the tourist leaflets and the guidebook (which recommended the nature resorts and the island at the coast) I put my money on the James Bond island as it was called on the brochure and a trip to the nature resort and the monkey temple. I still haven't found out what the actual island is called but it's in the closing scene of "Man with the golden gun".
Despite being dead tired I still managed to eat some food and watch some football before heading to bead.
Woke up in anticipation, considered wearing my black tux for an effective entry on the Bond island but went for T-shirt and shorts instead. Had a quick breakfast before the van turned up to get me. Drove around some of Krabi's nature resorts which looked amazing (I also found out it’s very famous for rock climbing) and then headed out for the boat and the island. We arrived forty minutes later and I jumped of with high hopes of being able to update my extensive "Man with the golden gun" T-shirt collection. Disappointment, there was no golden guns, no inflatable Roger Moore dolls or even replicas of the movie's funny midget in sight.
Instead I was offered plenty of seashell jewellery and T-shirts saying Thailand on it. What is the world coming to!!!????
Got on the boat again after checking out the rest of the island and were taken to lunch at a village built on stilts in the middle of the sea. Since it was a Muslim community they had even built a mosque in the middle of it. It looked pretty cool.
Had a great sea food lunch and then was taken back to land again. The bus started rolling down the road heading for the monkey temple. I had expected a temple with with a huge massive monkey that the natives worshiped in awe but was incorrect. Instead I found a big cave and huge reclining Buddha. And, the only animals I could see were stackloads of bats inside so the place smelt pretty bad as well.
I was just about to go and speak to one of the officials about false advertising when I noticed the monkeys outside of the temple. It wasn't just one but about sixty of them hanging around the rocks around the entrance. To top it of there suddenly also were loads of women screaming "Ten Bath for food. It's for the monkey!". I’m pretty sure I had not seen either monkeys or women on the way in but now they had both magically materialized. Don't know if they had some kind of 50/50 deal going but it certainly felt that way. Either way I thought the monkeys were pretty cool. Not only were they really friendly (some might say domesticated but I'll stick to friendly) and quite happy to come up and take food straight from the hand. They even went as far as trying to pick the pockets of the unsuspecting tourists which I don't think is more than fair. Why go for the handouts if you can buy your own right!
Went back to the hotel very happy that I got a day in Krabi. I’ve also booked my ticket for Koh Phi Phi. Got my fingers crossed that the weather stays ok. Got a glimpse of the monsoon yesterday and it seems the rain season is about to kick in for real soon.

Fish and coral's in Koh Tao

Had booked myself an express ferry ticket to Koh Tao and I was collected from the bungalow had considered my home for the last five days. It was a difficult goodbye. It had treated me so well in comparison to the other places I have stayed in so far.
Jumped up on the back of the pickup truck with my rucksack (no, health and safety is still not a priority in Thailand) and was taken down to the ferry.
Problems! What was supposed to be an express catamaran had somehow magically transformed itself into a rusty old ferry (in typical Thai fashion) but since it was the only option to get to Koh Tao in time I jumped on.
Seven hours later instead of three I put my first tentative steps on Koh Tao and instantly got a good vibe. The island itself is quite small and is most famous for being a place for it’s diving and marine life. I had considered getting a diving license since it is pretty cheap (and also to be able to justify the purchase of an oversized diving watch....just kiddin') but decided to check it out first.
Checked into a nice little 5 dollar bungalow which resembled card board box in comparison to what I had in Koh Samui but I couldn't complain. It was clean and without any extensive insect fauna (I've started to recognise the usual suspects by now) so I was pretty happy with it.
Took it easy the rest of the evening apart from finding myself a trip to go out snorkelling the following day.
Woke up early the following day, had a quick breakfast and was then picked up to go and select a mask and fins before heading to the boat. All went well I was heading out to sea in a big boat with a really nice staff onboard for a change (see the Halong bay entry).
The boat took us pretty much all around the island, stopping at different places and all I can say about the snorkelling was that it was pretty f*****n amazing (sorry mum). The closest thing I can describe it to was that it felt like swimming around in a big aquarium. There was so much fish and coral everywhere that it was surreal. I enjoyed myself so immensely that I decided to at book myself on another trip before leaving to not miss out.
Got back and had some food in the place I was staying in talked to some people while sipping on a juice. They were all divers but told me it was unnecessary to get a diving license since the stuff I’ve saw snorkelling was the same as further out but with less vision. Also when I explained my future aspiratations of mud diving in the rivers of England they explained that I needed to get another license for cold water diving when I got back. With that info in mind I decided to skip the diving course. I doubt I ever would have used it anyway.
I spent the following days slouching around. Hired a moped and drove around the island and sat down and read some of the books I had brought whenever I found a nice spot.
Got onto another snorkelling trip and it was as good as the first one apart from the fact that I forgot to apply the factor 400 sunblock so I burnt my back while swimming in water.
The last evening was a marathon. I had booked my trip for Krabi (Thailand westcoast) for an eight o'clock departure in the morning and Sweden played the late game which meant it started at 2 in the morning. Managed to keep myself awake with the help of a bucket of vodka/redbull and insanity of the Swedish supporters in the bar (who ever thinks shouting at the television is a really works raise a hand) and stumbled home victorious after the game at 4.30 in the morning. I had two and a half hours sleep to look forward to. Great!!!
The only thing that bothered me about Koh Tao was all the people talking about how great and isolated it was the first time they were there fifteen years ago.
Now, the thing is that if all those people hadn't gone back and told all their friends about the island the place wouldn't be what it is today so they only have themselves to blame. And, if they really like isolation so much they should head for Yemen and spend four years in the desert instead of sitting in a restaurant full of people sippin' beer.

Beach bliss at Koh Samui

Took an evening bus from Bangkok that would take me to Koh Samui the following morning.
The bus was full which surprised me but I then realized that the full moon party was happening on the 11th at Koh Phang Nang.
The bus stopped a couple of times during the night but the biggest problem was that it was so damn cold. Now, being Swedish I should probably have reminisced of home with shattering teeth but I it was really hard to do while being stuck on a old bus knowing that there were another 7 hours to go.
I did the best thing possible and put on my raincoat and then finally managed to catch some sleep. Woke up just as we got to the ferry that would take us over to the island. Turns out that there were more may people than they had expected and myself and lots of others were not allowed to get on the ferry, instead we were herded back to the bus. A feeling started growing amongst all of us that there might a chance that they would take us straight back to Bangkok but luckily we were wrong. After another hour on the bus were taken to a huge car ferry and were given tickets so we could get on. It was all a blessing in disguise since the ferry we were on would take an hour instead of four on the other ferry.
Eventually got to Chaweng which is in the busy part of Koh Samui and found myself a nice little bungalow next to the beach. It was time for some real holiday after all the traveling around for the last two months. Since I still despite efforts haven't got really tanned I slapped on some factor 400 and headed for the beach and jumped into the water. It was more than fantastic, it was amazing. Swam around for ages enjoying myself (or trying to get rid of all the dust my body had gathered while being traveling) and then headed out for some drinks. Met quite a few people who asked me if I was going to the full moon party to which I responded "If I wanted to listen to crap techno and take bad drugs I can do it at home" which seemed to keep them quiet. Not sure why (sarcasm) but the thought of having thousands of whacked people rioting on a beach doesn't do anything for me. Apparently a bunch of people die every year at the party which to me only proves that Darwin's evolution theory was correct.
After five days of bliss it's time to raise the game and head for the beautiful island of Koh Tao.

The storm over Sihanoukville

My plan of going south of Cambodia and Sihanoukville was to stay a couple of days down the Cambodian coast and then take the boat over to Thailand. I've heard that Sihanoukville was supposed to be quite a busy place during the high season but since it was low season now I had few fears about the place. Turns out I was wrong but not in the way I envisaged.
Finally got to Sihanoukville after a six hour bus ride. Got myself checked in to a 4 dollar a night hotel and then went out to check the place out. Turns out that low season really meant low season. There were almost no people about and the town itself resembled a ghost town apart from the lack of tumbleweed rolling past.
Went back to my hotel to have some food in hope that the town would change in the evening time and I was right but not in the way I hoped. By dusk the whole town was lit up in tacky neon and girls of dubious profession promising me "very nice and special massage".
I had initially decided to stay for two nights but after waking up I made my mind up and decided to go for the ferry to Koh Kong at noon.
Said and done, packed my stuff and got taken to the ferry just as big dark clouds gathered above my head. Stepped on the ferry which really wasn't intended for the sea at all but was a small river boat. The smell inside was really weird but I couldn't define it and instead sat down and looked at the inside of the tattered old boat. There were big bins by the end of every seat which was very weird since Cambodia isn't too big on either recycling or keeping things clean.
As soon as I got out to sea it all became clear to me. The storm was raging outside and the boat was airborne for far longer than felt comfortable. Suddenly the bin by the end of the seat and the smell became clear to me. It was the smell of sick and the bins were for people who needed to throw up. Indeed, twenty minutes later pretty much everyone around me had their head in the buckets and the boat was be rocked from left to right like it was stuck in some crazy amusement park. Thankfully all those years of me training to be a pirate paid of and I remained steadfast. I noticed that the best trick was to close my eyes and then just roll with it while trying to filter out the noises of Japanese tourists puking their guts out around me.
Two hours later we got to shore and the amount of green faces stepping of the boat was a sight to behold. I jumped into a cab with a couple of Canadians from Toronto and headed to the Thai boarder. Managed to get trough ok on time and managed to catch the bus back to Bangkok (I had initially intended to take the ferry to Koh Chang but I had enough of boats in one day). Checked into a small little room on Ko Sahn Road at one am. in the morning and slept like a baby.

Orphanage of Phnom Pen

As a juxtapox to all the misery of previous day it was decided that we should do something useful.
We decided that we should go and check out one of the local orphanages and see what if there was anything we could do to help. We already knew that the foreigners that visit usually bring sweets for the kids so we decided to go for some rice instead. I must say that it looked pretty funny to see Andrew and Sarah on a motorbike together with the driver and a 25 kilo bag of rice, some might say it even was quite dangerous but hey, it's all for a good cause right!
Got to the orphanage and the kids started running towards us asking for candy before the bikes had even stopped. I was quite taken away by it all, went and sat down and immediately had four or five kids around me trying to talk to me in the few English words they knew. One guy explained that he trained hard to be a boxer and danced around trying to show me moves while another proclaimed his love for Manchester United. The whole thing got really funny when one of them saw my tattoos. I was suddenly surrounded by loads of kids who were pulling at the sleeves of my shirt trying to see what they looked like. I pulled out my camera asking if it was alright for me to take some pictures and I have never seen so many kids pose and acting up for the camera before.
Afterwards they showed me around their sleeping dorms and it was a pretty grim sight. The rooms were tiny, made of plywood and there were up to five kids in each room. The similarity to the prison cells in S21 wasn't too far away.
One of the kids said that they were playing football the following day and had asked if we wanted to join. We replied that we would consider it and sitting in the hotel later that evening we decided that it would be a great experience.
Woke up and got myself ready, met Andrew downstairs and headed of to the Olympic stadium in a tuck tuck. It took us a while to find the kids since the whole place was full of people playing sports but we eventually sorted it out. Everyone was really happy to see us and the game got on its way. Now this also the moment I realized that I'm not twelve or fifteen but soon thirty five and the temperature is already close to 35 degrees in the shade. I was sweating like a pig and considering that I probably haven’t kicked a football for 15 years I didn't have any hopes of any talent scouts approaching me any time soon. Don't get me wrong, the football game itself was awesome. The kids were running around barefoot since they couldn't afford any kind of shoes but were as fast as weasels on speed. It almost got too intense at times because the kids put so much effort into winning. For them it seemed that this was more than just a game a football, it was a way of showing us that they were better than the situation they were currently stuck in.
We eventually parted ways after taking some photos and then went back to the hotel. I tried to stretch a little knew I would be feeling the aftermath for quite a few days coming.
Chilled out pretty much the rest of the day since I still was tired after the football and then booked myself a ticket to head south.

Killing Fields and Phnom Pen

I took an early morning bus from Krati and as we stopped halfway on a bus stop I met Andrew and Sarah who were on another bus coming down from Siem Reap. It was a funny coincidence but I was really happy to see them both again. They had decided to go for Okay Guesthouse and we arranged to meet there later. Two hours later the bus rolled into Phnom Pen, the capital of Cambodia and I jumped onto the back of moped and had the most terrifying trip on the back on the back of a moped ever. Even when I asked the guy to slow down we still went so fast that I almost got tears in my eyes and even if I'm not a very religious person I know the only reason why I'm still alive today is because man up north thought it would be good for me to see another day.
Got to the hotel and asked for Andrew and Sarah since their bus had left much earlier from where we stopped earlier but they were not there yet. Sat down, had a drink wondering where they were and then see them coming trough the door. Turns out their bus had indeed been much earlier than mine but due to the lightning hyper super sonic speed of my bike driver I had got there before them.
Sat down and had some food and decided that we should head out for to the "Killing fields" then next day and also go and check out the S21 prison in the center of town. Had some drinks, chatting away before heading for bed and some sleep.
Woke up and headed for the S21 prison which was one of many during the Khmer Rouge regime. The building had initially been a school but after the Pol Pot got to power it was converted into a prison. The whole place was a really grim affair. The Khmer Rouge were very precise in keeping records and taking photographs and for each room I walked into there were big pictures of some of the people being tortured there. The cells that people stayed in were minute and I can even imagine the horrors that must have happened there.
It was time for some even more depressing stuff, the killing fields. The place itself is pretty much just a big burial ground that the Khmer Rouge used for the execution of anyone who didn't fit the political description of a Khmer Rouge party member. The whole story about how Pol Pot came to power is a pretty weird. The party came to power after a revolution and soon afterwards started killing all intellectuals and anyone who thought differently. A couple of years afterwards paranoia spread and anyone including party members was executed. In total they believe that up to two million people were killed during the span of ten years. The "Killing Fields" contains up to 20 thousand people all found in mass graves. Some of them came from the S21 prison; others were from other parts outside Phnom Pen. It was pretty surreal place though. In the center of it there's a big pagoda filled with skulls and clothes from the victims and around it there's still bones and clothes lying around as you walk around.
I'll never understand how the people alive during and after have managed to go on after everything that has happened but I was very impressed by the fact that they do. Sure, the country itself is as corrupt as anything with top politicians living well while a lot of people are struggling to get by in the midst of all the chaos that is Cambodia there's something special. Yes, people will try to get your money but they do it because they are trying to get by, not because they are trying to get rich.
I went back to the hotel that night and thought a lot of what I had seen. It was pretty weird sitting in a hotel chatting away while knowing what had been going on a few years earlier.

Krati and the dolphins

So after seeing all these wonderful temples I decided it was time for some country side action. My destination was Krati which is in the middle of Cambodia on the eastern side. The town itself is known for having a small population of river dolphins. Apparently there used to be lots of them around but after lazy fishermen decided to fish with dynamite the population of Irrawaddy dolphins has been reduced to less than 100.
Took the buss at 7.00 in the morning from Siem Reap and got to Kompong Thom in the afternoon after stopping several times at different restaurants. Funny thing is that at some of the stops the only thing they served was roast crickets and cockroaches. Spoke to one of the people at the stops and she said that they collected up to 6oo kg of crickets every night which they then roasted.
After finally getting to Kompong Thom I had to haggle with a minibus driver for a while before agreeing on 5 dollars for him to take me to Krati. The buss started but went nowhere fast, the driver pretty much stalked town trying to get the bus full of people and it took another hour before the buss was full enough to head towards my destination.
Two hours later on really bad roads the real fun began. Rain started pouring down and made the road so slippery that we were surfing more than driving on the mud. Swirling back and forth of the road we dodged people, cycles and animals along the wayside.
An hour later the bus stopped in front of a hotel in the centre of Krati. The rooms were 3 dollars a night and were in good nick so I didn't hesitate for a second. The town itself was a direct opposite to Siem Reap with worn down houses and a big buzzing market in the middle. For me it was how I imagined how Cambodia would be like. Old and torn buildings but the town has a good vibe and pulse to it.
Sat on the hotel balcony for a while to soak it all in before heading for dinner and then arranging with a motorbike driver to take me out to the Mekong river and the dolphins the following morning.
Woke up and jumped on the back of the bike with the camera charged ready for some wildlife action. The dolphins resided three miles further up the Mekong and the forty minute ride up there was just amazing. We passed beautiful scenery and typical Cambodian houses on stilts along the way.
Eventually I got to the Mekong and paid the entrance fee and for a boat to take me out on the river. Once out on the middle of the river my driver threw anchor and then decided to go for a nap, pure class. I didn't mind since the scenery around me was stunning and the fact the dolphins came up around me from time to time didn't spoil it either.
To sum it up I was really happy that I took the time to get out of the way and check this place out.

Holiday In Cambodia Part 1

So I got myself from Saigon and finally ended up in Siem Reap which was on of the destinations I’ve been looking forward to the most.
Checked a couple of hotels and ended up staying at a place called the Dead fish since it promised to have both live crocodiles and traditional Khmer dancing (not necessarily at the same time though). I met a guy called Boreth who had tattooed flames up his arms and when I asked him about them he replied that he had seen a video with Linkin Park and had decided to have the same tattoos done as the singer. Unfortunately everyone now considered him a gangster and he couldn’t get any job apart from driving tourist on the back on his moped. Without hesitation I knew this was the guy for me and we quickly struck a deal that he would meet me in a couple of hour to go and check out the famous sun set of Angkor Wat a couple of hours later.
Checked my camera, then jumped on the back of the moped and headed for the sunset only to realize that about four hundred people had done the same thing. I suppose it was supposed to be some kind of serene experience but to me it just seemed to be a big circus and after fifteen minutes I was back on the moped asking Boreth if we could go to a local place which he happily took me to. Sat down and was served some weird black alcohol in a big bowl that looked like Guinness but tasted bitter and was strong as a MF. Three of those later I deiced to call it a night and headed back for some food and traditional dancing at the hotel. Now, they might call it traditional but to me the difference between a bunch of drunken Swedes and traditional Cambodian dancing is very small. Both has very little feet movement, it’s kind of wooden and there’s a lot of hand clapping to the music. Some of you would know what I’m talking about.
I spent the following days on the back of Boreth’s moped going around to different temples in the Angkor Wat area. There are so many of them that it’s almost impossible to see them all unless without getting bored but I went to see the most famous ones like Banyon, Angkor Wat and the Jungle temple and then headed out for the ones further out on the following days.
One thing that strikes you is that Cambodian people are so poor and it gets quite hard to justify sitting in a bar eating and drinking and then not giving any money to the homeless kids running up and down the street. The fact that you have a lot of five star hotels in the area where people probably pay more dollars for a night than most Cambodian people make in six months is even stranger.

Good evening Saigon

Decided that I’ve been on far too many busses lately and decided to splash out $50 for a flight to Saigon (or Ho chi min city as it’s called these days).
Got to Saigon in the evening time and jumped into a cab for the hotel I’d chosen in the backpacker area. Dropped my stuff at the room and headed out into the Saigon night.
I was too tired and hungry to go anywhere and pretty much jumped into the first bar I saw with bright lights and ordered myself some food and a beer.
The staff was very friendly, started chatting with me, even asking more than the usual “Where are you from”, “What’s your name”. It took a little before the penny dropped and I realized that I had chosen the local brothel to have my evening tea.
An English guy who worked in Saigon as an estate agent turned up soon after I had sat down claiming that he was there because he liked that area (cough) and wanted to get away from his office workers (cough, cough). Chatted him for a while until the Madame of the house came out, knocked him on the shoulder and said she had a fresh and clean one for him. Nice!
Went to bed, fell asleep straight away and woke up refreshed despite the blasting heat. Got out and started walking around Saigon and it truck me straight away that the city was like all other big cities in Asia. Tuck-tuck drivers try to get hold of you, motor bike riders holler at you and restaurant try to get you into their place. I avoided it all by smiling and saying no but it does take a lot of effort to stay away from them and not give in.
After walking around the city for five hours I realized that I had pretty much done everything that the city had to offer. I had been at the war museum (which was good since it gave a Vietnamese perspective on the war) checked out the eopera house and the park with the piece monument but after the churches and the pagod's there really wasn't much more to do which didn't include spending lots of money.
Vietnam is quite a strange place. On paper it should have a lot to offer but in reality there is not an awful lot to it. It’s a busy place with a lot of people that for most of the time consider you a walking bank. I am sure there are a lot of great people in the country but as a tourist they are few and too far between. Sure, if you are interested in the Vietnam war you'll get your share but otherwise it's pretty bleak.
It was time for drastic measures. Instead of staying the intended three nights I decided that two was enough and got myself a ticket to Cambodia and Siem Reap.

The tailors of Hoi An

After being cultured out in Hue I decided it was time to move and took the buss down to Hoi An which is sort of the tailoring capital of the world (well not really but it has 400 tailoring shops in the same space as Covent garden). Took a slightly dodgy buss and was taken to a lot of hotels which were all pretty expensive but when I got to the one I intended to go to (Than Bhin II) I managed to get a room for $7 with aircon, pool and buffet’ breakfast included. It’s said it’s always good to haggle and that definitely proved to be the case. Was told by the hotel staff to not tell anyone else about the price which was a mistake, I pretty much went out and told everyone after the first evening beer.
The first evening was pretty quiet. Was still traveling with Andrew and Sarah from Canada and we went out for a couple of drinks. As soon as we came out of the hotel we were jumped by the shop keepers who wanted to sell us tailored clothes. I decided to not get drawn into it despite that I apparently had promised to buy things from them, been in there before and said I would come back or that I would miss out on the best goddamn tailor in the world if I walked away. One woman came up to me outside her shop and said she wanted to give me advise, she said a lot of people would come up to me and try to sell me stuff and take me into their shops but I should not listen to them. I responded that I took her advice very seriously, turned around and walked off.
Decided to do some research the following morning and found a couple of recommended ones on the internet. It seemed that the good ones were harder to find but we finally tracked one down after walking away from the main street. Considered ordering myself a couple of suits after seeing Andrew and Sarah go ballistic in the shop but ended up with two pairs of trousers and 5 t-shirts which brought it all to a total of $60.
Was told to come back the next day for fitting in the afternoon and decided to go out to the Mai son ruins outside of Hoi An for the morning.
Said and done, jumped on the bus and got out to the ruins. It was morning but the temperature was already above 30 degrees and I drank so much water I could have been mistaken for a fish.
The ruins were beautiful. Apparently they dated back to the 1100’s and were built by the Champ civilization. Unfortunately I didn’t pay too much attention to the guide because it was so hot and secondly I knew I would much more of the particular style when I got to Cambodia and Siem Reap. Did my best to walk around it all but gave up after a couple of ruin sites. Sorry folks!
Got back into Hoi An, went to the tailor and the trousers and the t-shirts which turned out great. It did take a couple of re-messurements to get them perfect though.
The next few days were spent in the pool and then back to the tailor to make sure everything fitted perfectly (which probably means that everything will be too small when I get back and start eating properly again). Noticed a funny thing in Hoi An as well, there seems to be a fashion amongst all the men to have a mustach and a baseballcap. Fifth time I was approached by a motorbike driver which I presumed was the same guy I realised that they were different people. I don't know if this is a way to confuse tourists but if you'll go there you'll see what I mean.