Now, it's time to rant it out all over the cyberspace aka Steemit! WOOT--! Okay, this time, I'll write about my 'recent' trip (in 2013 but I think it's still relevant =p) to Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. So, in comparison to 2012 which I went ALONE to China, this time I had company with me! Sura, my college buddy from Mongolia agreed to travel to South East Asia. Honestly, this trip was meant to commemorate our 'success' on graduating from college.
So, on March 8 2013 , we took an early morning flight to Vientiane, the capital city of Laos. Just a brief history I might say, Laos gained Independence in 1945 after the Japanese occupation during World War 2 but succumbed to French rule until 1949 which eventually being granted the power of autonomy. So, once again they officially gained Independence in 1953(4 years earlier than Malaysia!) which subdued a constitutional monarchy. My very first impression of the country is that it has this similar feeling to Malaysia not in a sense of infrastructure-wise or anything else. It's just the same but totally different in so many ways. To be honest, I don't really expect tall buildings, beautiful parks, clean roadways as I've had pre-knowledge installed beforehand about South East Asian countries particularly Laos and Cambodia. In fact, this trip had me thinking all over again about human virtues, in which many of us are lacking.It's amazing just to see the cultural anonymity- which I describe as an anonymous presence in one culture but in the same time reminds us of another.
Me, posing in front of Wat That Luang
What amazed me the most is that the ambiance of Buddhism is very strong in Laos and Thailand . You can see monks in orange/brown attires everywhere, in the city, trains( In Bangkok, they even have signs inside the train to educate the public to give seats not just to the elderly but to monks too) ,temples, anywhere! The people there appreciate their monks and I honestly didn't see this kind of 'scenery' in Beijing and Shanghai metropolitan area other than ones in temples( I think I need to visit the rural areas or even Tibet! hahaha). Vientiane is relatively a very small city and you can get around easily. We even rented bicycles-2 USD per person for one day. I really recommend you guys to just rent a bike instead of taking a 'tuk-tuk' or a cab.
A Tuk-tuk or simply put, an auto-rickshaw
There're lots of backpackers especially from Europe. Most of them travel in and out from Thailand to countries nearby such as Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam. Having said that, we were the only Asians inside a truck full of Westerners heading to the Laos-Thailand border, and probably the youngest!=p
We took a night train from the border(the immigration process was very easy but they only had one counter in charge which was very time consuming as we had to queue up and stand up for a very long time) and departed around 6 PM local time. The train car was quite comfortable with adequate air conditioners, fans (we chose the ones with air conditioner as the ones with ceiling fans had been fully booked-slightly pricier though), toilets and a restaurant.
Hua Lamphong Railway station in Bangkok
Bangkok, a city that occupies in the Chao Phraya River Delta has a population of over 8 million people! That's five times more people than in Kuala Lumpur! Hectic and scary- surely very mind blowing, at least for me- LOL ( eventhough Tokyo has more =p) naah, just kidding.
The only thing I don't like is haggling. You have to haggle for almost everything including a ride on a tuk-tuk or even a metered-taxi!( same case in Malaysia though). I don't mind bargaining but paying for a price that's wayyyyyy expensive and doesn't make any sense is just unacceptable.
I'll give you an example. This actually happened in Cambodia. So, me and Sura rented a bicycle from the city centre of Siem Reap to visit the world famous Angkor Wat, which is approximately 5.5 kilometres far. We parked our bikes at a space we deemed parking free, but then, suddenly we're approached by two girls. They told us, if we want to park here, we must buy their drinks. But, the problem is, Cambodian Riel is not very strong (no value I guess?), and USD is widely accepted in Cambodia. For an American, 1 or 2 USD doesn't sound bad after all, but in reality foreigners/tourists have been paying almost 4 times the original prices. This was personally told from a Cambodian tourist guide himself. Cambodians don't use USD but Riel when buying things for themselves. They make more money when the transaction is in USD. In the bright side, I guess this is the only way Cambodia can move towards in becoming a better nation. Tourism, especially Angkor Wat is a blessing to the Cambodian Government.
Two guys at Angkor Wat
Poverty is very much by all means a stigma. Kids without proper clothes, old man lying down on the pavement, vendors selling souvenirs to tourists is a scenic experience. I recalled stopping at a "bicycle shop", a few metres from Angkor Wat. Sura had a flat tire when I accidentally bumped him, hehe sorry dude! Luckily enough, we spotted this old bicycle shop just outside the entrance gate. What shocked me was small kids at the age around 5-12 are the ones in charge of the shop. Even a small kid can repair a bicycle! Honestly it's a good thing I hit Sura's bike! LOL- Petty details and adventures like this make it a valuable lesson in life.
Just leave a comment if you need to ask anything about the trip or backpacking in general!
I wanna write more but then it's going to be a super duper long post! =p Till then! Terraaaaa!
Photobombed! =(