For the most part, this blog post will be written out chronologically, but there will be illogical events distorted by time.
Kingdom of Thailand
After flying with China Airlines for 10 hours, I arrived at Bangkok in the morning at 6.15 AM local time, where at first my passport got checked and I had to recover my baggage. At this moment, I still had no clue who my fellow travelers in the group would be, but that would soon change.
While I was walking through the exiting area, I was greeted by Jeerawajara Chanatrakulpol, also known as Jack, who would be our regular guide throughout the whole vacation, provided by the travel companies Khiri Travel and Shoestring.
As he directed me to the next area, our group got formed together, and we introduced each other towards ourselves. This was quite a varied group, from young people to older ones, most of them are mid aged, and almost all of them travelled individually and were experienced travelers, having seen a larger number of other countries already.
By the use of vans with airco, we arrived at our first hotel, the New World Lodge Hotel, and there, Jack welcomed us and gave us plenty of information, especially about the upcoming tours, which we would be able to choose from soon enough on the very same day.
As a group, we decided to visit the Grand Palace and Wat Pho amongst others at first. The vacation was finally starting right now! As we readied our cameras, we visited the Golden Buddha inside a beautiful temple at first.
From there on out, we traveled further by bus to the 2 monuments I described earlier on, and regarding pictures, things were getting really mindblowing by now. The Thai architecture on these varied buildings was definitely stunning to see, and while Jack continued to talk about stories for numerous amounts of times throughout the vacation, most of us were largely focused on the visuals surrounding us instead.
But of course those stories enriched our stay at these places even more. After having lunch on a driving boat restaurant, we continued to explore the same spots, visting the Reclining and the Emerald Buddha's and by the late afternoon, as we were all still getting used to the hot degrees of temperature, we went back to our hotel, and later on in the evening, started exploring Bangkok a bit on our own. We choose a nice restaurant, and I drank a Piña Colada while eating steamed jellyfish with fried noodles.
Bangkok itself by the way is a chaotic metropolis where 15 million alone live their lives every day. That's like, 85% of the Dutch population. Every day, I saw Tuk Tuk's, pink taxi's, security officers, people with surgical masks, markets and palm trees everywhere, and their traffic drives mirrored opposed from us in Holland, which is similar in England.
On the next day, our group would split up for the many times it would do so. In the morning, 5 of us took the famous Co van Kessel Bicycle Tour, which we basically did for a half day. But although it was almost impossible to stop and take pictures on the countless amounts of things I saw on that day, it was surely an amazing experience, giving me a whole different look than the previous day with the culture of the temples.
Instead, this time, we tasted the true Thai culture itself. We literally went through Chinatown, many amounts of markets where the people were preparing food everywhere, cutting up the meat and fish, cooking up soup, slicing the fruit and such, through lots of narrow spaces, busy intersections, divisions and transitions.
I saw tiny junkyards with tons of engines scrapped on top of each other, I went through a scene in real time from the Thai movie Ong-Bak(2003), we stopped at a Chinese Temple and after having lunch somewhere else, we explored Bangkok by boat.
Which was a nice different view. After that, we continued traveling by bicycles, and we went through country sides, jungle areas and much more, including dirty streets with wild dogs, other temples at distances and sections with splashes of water below us.
At the end, we delivered the bicycles back to the China Princess Express building, and while the afternoon was getting started, and most of us went on the klong tour, I asked for advice from Jack about my broken camera, which got splashes of water inside while we were sitting on the boat earlier on.
He told me to visit Pan Tip using a taxi, a very large electronical and computer plaza comprised of hundreds of shops inside. There, they surely could fix my camera. Although I missed out on the klong tour, I definitely gave priority towards fixing my camera first, because there was no way I would miss out on the many other sightseeings photographically later on during my trip.
While entering Pan Tip, my eyes were constantly actively scanning the area. There was SO MUCH to see on sale there. I had never seen that much mobile phones inside a large mall, ever before. As I looked for camera shops with anxiety, I found them easily. But, I constantly got directed by the Thai people to visit another camera shop instead, because many of them couldn't fix my camera.
Until the latest Thai finally directed me to the Digital Service shop on the 5fth floor of this gigantic building. As I showed my camera there, they told me to come back in one hour, and that it would cost 800 Thai Baht to fix it, which is about 20 euros. With that great news and a boost of hope in mind, I happily agreed and in the mean time, explored the area outside Pan Tip.
After having a meal at the local McThai, and shooting some more pictures while getting approached by Thai people who kindly had pleasant conversations with me about my vacation, the EK2012 and my current dilemma, I recovered my fixed camera, and went back to the hotel while the evening was almost started.
But before that happened, I had my first experience traveling inside a Tuk Tuk, which definitely is recommendable to do. However, although the driver was another kind Thai man, during the trip, he told me that although he charged 40 Bath only from Pan Tip to my hotel(which normally would be from a 100 through 150), I had to visit 2 of his "sponsors" located somewhere in Bangkok for about 5 minutes each.
This basically meant that I would enter expensive suit shops, where I was forced to talk with the shopkeepers there and to see their collections of business suits, something I definitely did not need currently. This was awkward to experience, but fortunately, after 5 minutes at each shop, I somehow survived these ordeals, and continued traveling by Tuk Tuk towards my hotel.
Our group was then united again, and we decided alongside Jack to eat at the Baiyoke Tower, which is the tallest building in Thailand. With about a hundred floors, we entered one of the highest ones, and there, we ate at a marvelous restaurant with exotic food and delicious sushi, while having a great view upon the many skyscrapers of Bangkok.
Our days at Bangkok would be over for now though, as today it was time to travel to the border between Thailand and Cambodia. It was essentially a long bus trip, where we stopped twice to have lunch at the border and before that, buy some food and drinks at the 7/11 supermarket.
Seeming as the next amount of stories is reserved for that other particular country, let's proceed with a giant time leap for now, and continue with Day 9. After arriving once again at Bangkok by the use of Thai International Airways, some of us were quite sick upon arrival because of the turbulence we experienced. Luckily, that would soon disappear.
It would be another travel day largely, but we still had a free afternoon in Bangkok before embarking on a train to Surat Thani in southern Thailand. The group split up once again, and some of us explored the MBK now, which is a much larger plaza than Pan Tip, and really, you could get lost in here and spent time on the thousand amounts of products for hours if not, for days.
MBK itself was much more than just electronics and computers. It started with jewelry and clothing stores, but the higher you went with each floor, the crazier it became. There were SO MANY mobile phones especially once again, and many restaurants, furnitures, souvenirs, buddhist statues and so much more. At the top floors, I even saw several cinemas, arcades, manga shops, video game shops and more miscellaneous stuff around there. You could become insane walking through all of this.
While it was getting dark, we all returned to the trainstation where we got dropped of at the beginning of the afternoon, and then we started on our trip towards our destination; the beautiful tropical dream island known as Koh Pha-Ngan.
We first had to travel by train for about 13 hours, which means that we spend a night on it(and after experiencing the island, another night). Then after reaching Surat Thani, we took at least 4 different kinds of busses before we took a ferry boat towards the island, which in total took us like almost another half day before reaching our next destination.
But it was all well worth it. Upon arriving at our final spot, we finally could relax from all of the adventuring and traveling we participated upon. We had 2 and a half days to get really lazy over here, and that was precisely what I would be doing.
There was a sudden huge fire on one of the nights near our resort though, which heightened tensions. We were just done eating and after returning, we helped the local people and other tourists out together to stop the fire. Not ours, but a part of another resort was on fire. And at the end, we managed to end the waves of flames and smoke and we all applauded each other.
There was a sudden huge fire on one of the nights near our resort though, which heightened tensions. We were just done eating and after returning, we helped the local people and other tourists out together to stop the fire. Not ours, but a part of another resort was on fire. And at the end, we managed to end the waves of flames and smoke and we all applauded each other.
Some of us went on another tour in order to snorkel around the deep sea on a small quiet island, I didn't, because I had spend quite a large amount of money already. Instead, I relaxed all day long, and in the end had a nice brown skin, as well as a burned face, which luckily is gone by now as I type this.
Then it was time to get back to Bangkok. Most of us took the ferry boat, busses and train once again, however, some of us booked a flight ticket from Surat Thani to Bangkok instead, in order to avoid the train. In my opinion, the train was alright to traverse with.
So, on Day 13, most of us went to the floating market outside of Bangkok, but I was interested into an entirely different location instead; the infamous red light districts. On my final vacation day, during the afternoon, after taking pictures from the Giant Swing, I literally walked for hours like the crazy man I am to experience the busy Bangkok life some more, and found my last destination by the use of a handy city map.
I tried to find Soi Nana, one of the three RLD's around Bangkok, but I couldn't, because it was supposedly a discrete area within one of the skyscrapers. There were so many places called Nana around that area that I gave up on trying to find it, and visited Patpong instead, located on Sukhumvit 4.
Regarding reputation, that was quite disappointing to see, at least during the afternoon. It was a deserted area where almost everything was closed down for now. I guess that this wasn't the most convenient time for a single man to see some good stuff. But as I wanted to leave the area, I did get approached by a woman eventually.
And what happened then? Well, what happens in Bangkok, stays in Bangkok :)
Regarding reputation, that was quite disappointing to see, at least during the afternoon. It was a deserted area where almost everything was closed down for now. I guess that this wasn't the most convenient time for a single man to see some good stuff. But as I wanted to leave the area, I did get approached by a woman eventually.
And what happened then? Well, what happens in Bangkok, stays in Bangkok :)
Kingdom of Cambodia
Tension happened early on as I approached the border between the two kingdoms on Day 4. Because I heard of the stories about thieves and frauds being active here, I was cautious. While the procedure took about an hour, the temperature seemed to have risen around here. Anyhow, I was luckily that nothing badly happened.
After being allowed inside the country, I noticed a different atmosphere around here when speaking mainly of Cambodia's culture. Besides being obviously a much poorer one, the people themselves were clearly of a different kind than the Thai ones.
Seeming as this was a place filled with less tourists apart from the attraction knows as Angkor, my experience throughout here was more interesting, more magical and more mystifying. As we arrived at Siem Reap at the Angkor Holiday Hotel, I then decided to allow Jack to escort us through the city by the use of a Tuk Tuk. While he talked about the royal family as well as some of Siem Reap's important buildings, we dined at supposedly the best restaurant Siem Reap had to offer.
The next day would then become my most favorite and cherished one, as I was about to discover the extraordinary Angkor temples personally while bicycling inbetween with some of our group. It was another hot day combined with our bicycles. I had a red eye at first, but it soon would be gone after seeing the first ruins of Angkor Thom, which was the south gate of it. As if it healed because of the presence of these magnificent remains.
From there on out, we followed the standard route for exploring the rest of the temples, and the next one would be Prasat Bayon, the one with the many faces staring at so much spots. But before doing so, some of us spotted a group of elephants around the area and we decided to feed them with bananas.
Bayon is a very impressive piece of Khmer architecture, themed with a style of baroque that is filled with bas-reliefs on the outer parts. It used to be the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist named Jayavarman VII.
The Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leeper King were next. At first, I was unknown to the names of the various smaller temples across this field, but now I have found out that these buildings are named North and South Khleangs, individually called Prasats.
The well known Ta Prohm temple with it's famous nature versus the ruins scenes is another must see. Gigantic trees with their massive roots surround parts of the former monastery and university construction, and I was surprised of how large it eventually turned out to be.
After having lunch, it was time to finally become a witness of Angkor Wat itself, the world famous Angkorian temple that is depicted proudfully on the Cambodian flag and is a synonym for the Cambodian people and their descendants.
I couldn't believe that what inspired me in the first place, the area of Ankor Wat in the SNES game Illusion of Gaia, made me to know, dream and travel towards Cambodia. And as I entered this majestic and magical place, I couldn't help but listen towards the song back on my Samsung Galaxy as an ode. THIS is what brought me here. My fond passion of video gaming brought me to my fond passion of traveling around the world.
And Angkor Wat was of course absolutely unforgettable, there weren't even that many tourists around, lucky for us! This whole large area, with the swamp surrounding it, the fauna such as wild monkeys and dragonflies, the palm trees and the whole forest areas, the small lakes and the large gate before it...what a beautiful piece of human architecture and geographical nature.
Our last location would be to see the sun going down atop the Bakheng temple. We had to wait there about an hour before we could witness it, but it surely was worth it. We thought that we would be able to see any other temples from here, but that would not be the case, as the whole visible area was a jungle.
In the evening, I experienced a fish massage called Dr.Fish, which was odd at first, but then it became nice. After having dinner at a modern multicultural restaurant, we relaxed at a bar in the evening, and we enjoyed a Cambodian band playing many famous tunes.
The next day, we decided to travel to the Tonle Sap, a very large lake that is beneficial towards the economy of Cambodia, and also home to many exotic species. Upon seeing the floating village there by the use of a boat, I was clearly reminded of another setting in Illusion of Gaia.
Anyhow, we stopped at some kind of floating shop, which sold not only souvenirs, statues and clothes, but captured also crocodiles, snakes, and sea creatures such as turtles and cat fishes. We then returned all the way back to our hotel, and the rest of the afternoon was for us to fill.
This would become my 2nd favorite day, because now, only me and one other from the group decided upon visiting 2 intriguing temples that are just as worthy to see as the others. We got a private bus with airco from Jack, and we drove to our first location.
The small complex known as Banteay Srei was first explored. Build largely out of red sandstone, and being in miniature size compared to other Angkorian constructions, you would think that this was not worth visiting.
Until you noticed the amazing amount of details available on the parts of the complex itself. The inticracy of its carvings make it THE reason for anyone to visit it, and I am very glad to have done so. However, I must share with you a bitter taste of the current corruption known in Cambodia while walking around here.
You see, as we tried to enter the inner part of Banteay Srei, we got confronted by Cambodian police agents to pay them 5 US dollars before we could proceed. Seeming as that instantly felt odd, what with all of the governmental buildings before arriving, we ignored them. 5 minutes later, they lowered the price to 3 dollars.
Trying to avoid them for another 5 minutes, one of the cops approached me closely. He then showed me his emblem, and told me I could have it as a souvenir for 2 dollars, while giving me one of the brightest smiles this man could possibly make. While laughing nervously at this bizarre occurance, we denied their offerings oncemore and after briefly seeing a musical band of landmine victims, we went back on the bus.
My final temple for today would become my most precious visit, which is Preah Khan. Indeed, normally I would had said that Angkor Wat was no doubt the winner for me, but seeing as the entrance towards it was getting renovated with large bright green parts protecting it, this would not be the case for today.
There is a legend told in this massive complex of ruins that a legendary and holy Khmer sword once rested at the central. Not only that, the trees growing around these ruins were even more impressive than the ones at Ta Prohm! What sealed the 1 hour experience of exploring this all though would be the fact that only us, 1 local Cambodian guide and about 4 other tourists were here.
Combined with the many nature backgrounds of birds, insects and mammals, as well as the fact that both Buddhist and Hindu buildings were constructed in here made this for me the most magical day of my trip. It's pure serenity and tranquillity was irresistable towards me. Preah Khan is highly recommended by me, and I am so glad to have seen it.
It was then time to travel towards the capital of Cambodia the next day, which is Phnom Penh. After stopping at a local insect kind of a shop, which sold crickets, cockroaches and spiders, I ate a spider for the first time and I found it to be surprisingly tasty.
Arriving at the Silver River Hotel, we established ourselves in the late afternoon and only dined and rested for the rest of this long day of driving on bumpy roads. The next day, it was time to visit Phnom Penh's current attraction, which isn't exactly beautiful.
I am talking about Choeung Ek and Tuol Sleng Prison then, two of the most macabre locations I have seen in life yet. The former is a site where mass graves were found of Cambodian victims towards the Khmer Rouge, a communist party during the 70's that tried to establish "Year One" during the regime of Pol Pot, their awful leader.
Visiting Choeung Ek at first felt dreadful the more you saw and heard of the remains of the Khmer Rouge's actions. The Killing Fields here are most likely the darkest hour of the Cambodian people, as so many people lost their lives throughout the country.
Inside the memorium building, countless amounts of glass sized racks filled with human skulls reminded us of human pain strongly. It was an unusual site to see for sure, as we literally stared at so many victims in their skull eyes.
But the Tuol Sleng Prison was just as impressive to visit as the former. In this former school complex, it got changed into a brutal prison where the Khmer Rouge tortured, interrogated, starved and humiliated thousands of victims, usually intellectual victims, as they were branded as traitors towards the revolutionaries.
The pictures of the victims there stayed the most with me, with their dreadful, deadly eyes staring coldly into the air. Seeing the cells, the barbed wires and the torture rooms with their torture devices completed the picture for me.
As some of us took a picture with one of the 4 survivors of Tuol Sleng Prison, we went back to the hotel, but only I dropped off the bus earlier on to explore the Russian Market on my own. I heard good stories about this part, but personally, it all felt like I saw these kind of shops before, instead, they were all cramped up together in here.
After a coincidence of meeting some of the group again during a tuk tuk ride, we ate lunch at the Blue Pumpkin, a recommendable lounge restaurant. We visited the National Museum then, which had a large amount of Khmer objects such as statues, tablets, tools and clothes. The inner part had a very beautiful garden spot.
We then had a traditional Khmer massage back at the hotel, and then we ate at one of the best restaurants, which is Malis. I tried stingray with curry, and it was pleasant. The next day is then reserved once again for Thailand, as we fly back from Phnom Penh to Bangkok.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And after returning to The Netherlands, I think back upon my unforgettable journey through these foreign lands, remembering the many magical moments with a smile. This journey was only the beginning for me as a traveler.
The enormous amounts of experience it provided me with has given me plenty of confidence for the next long journey which I am already dreaming about, which will most likely happen in 2013 already! These countries certainly have changed me as a human being and enlarged my perspective about the world even more.
But for now, I bid Thailand and Cambodia farewell. I will closely keep these precious memories hopefully forever into my mind, where the magical imagination of past, recent and future events is infinite.
Seeming as this was a place filled with less tourists apart from the attraction knows as Angkor, my experience throughout here was more interesting, more magical and more mystifying. As we arrived at Siem Reap at the Angkor Holiday Hotel, I then decided to allow Jack to escort us through the city by the use of a Tuk Tuk. While he talked about the royal family as well as some of Siem Reap's important buildings, we dined at supposedly the best restaurant Siem Reap had to offer.
The next day would then become my most favorite and cherished one, as I was about to discover the extraordinary Angkor temples personally while bicycling inbetween with some of our group. It was another hot day combined with our bicycles. I had a red eye at first, but it soon would be gone after seeing the first ruins of Angkor Thom, which was the south gate of it. As if it healed because of the presence of these magnificent remains.
From there on out, we followed the standard route for exploring the rest of the temples, and the next one would be Prasat Bayon, the one with the many faces staring at so much spots. But before doing so, some of us spotted a group of elephants around the area and we decided to feed them with bananas.
Bayon is a very impressive piece of Khmer architecture, themed with a style of baroque that is filled with bas-reliefs on the outer parts. It used to be the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist named Jayavarman VII.
The Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leeper King were next. At first, I was unknown to the names of the various smaller temples across this field, but now I have found out that these buildings are named North and South Khleangs, individually called Prasats.
The well known Ta Prohm temple with it's famous nature versus the ruins scenes is another must see. Gigantic trees with their massive roots surround parts of the former monastery and university construction, and I was surprised of how large it eventually turned out to be.
After having lunch, it was time to finally become a witness of Angkor Wat itself, the world famous Angkorian temple that is depicted proudfully on the Cambodian flag and is a synonym for the Cambodian people and their descendants.
I couldn't believe that what inspired me in the first place, the area of Ankor Wat in the SNES game Illusion of Gaia, made me to know, dream and travel towards Cambodia. And as I entered this majestic and magical place, I couldn't help but listen towards the song back on my Samsung Galaxy as an ode. THIS is what brought me here. My fond passion of video gaming brought me to my fond passion of traveling around the world.
And Angkor Wat was of course absolutely unforgettable, there weren't even that many tourists around, lucky for us! This whole large area, with the swamp surrounding it, the fauna such as wild monkeys and dragonflies, the palm trees and the whole forest areas, the small lakes and the large gate before it...what a beautiful piece of human architecture and geographical nature.
Our last location would be to see the sun going down atop the Bakheng temple. We had to wait there about an hour before we could witness it, but it surely was worth it. We thought that we would be able to see any other temples from here, but that would not be the case, as the whole visible area was a jungle.
In the evening, I experienced a fish massage called Dr.Fish, which was odd at first, but then it became nice. After having dinner at a modern multicultural restaurant, we relaxed at a bar in the evening, and we enjoyed a Cambodian band playing many famous tunes.
The next day, we decided to travel to the Tonle Sap, a very large lake that is beneficial towards the economy of Cambodia, and also home to many exotic species. Upon seeing the floating village there by the use of a boat, I was clearly reminded of another setting in Illusion of Gaia.
Anyhow, we stopped at some kind of floating shop, which sold not only souvenirs, statues and clothes, but captured also crocodiles, snakes, and sea creatures such as turtles and cat fishes. We then returned all the way back to our hotel, and the rest of the afternoon was for us to fill.
This would become my 2nd favorite day, because now, only me and one other from the group decided upon visiting 2 intriguing temples that are just as worthy to see as the others. We got a private bus with airco from Jack, and we drove to our first location.
The small complex known as Banteay Srei was first explored. Build largely out of red sandstone, and being in miniature size compared to other Angkorian constructions, you would think that this was not worth visiting.
Until you noticed the amazing amount of details available on the parts of the complex itself. The inticracy of its carvings make it THE reason for anyone to visit it, and I am very glad to have done so. However, I must share with you a bitter taste of the current corruption known in Cambodia while walking around here.
You see, as we tried to enter the inner part of Banteay Srei, we got confronted by Cambodian police agents to pay them 5 US dollars before we could proceed. Seeming as that instantly felt odd, what with all of the governmental buildings before arriving, we ignored them. 5 minutes later, they lowered the price to 3 dollars.
Trying to avoid them for another 5 minutes, one of the cops approached me closely. He then showed me his emblem, and told me I could have it as a souvenir for 2 dollars, while giving me one of the brightest smiles this man could possibly make. While laughing nervously at this bizarre occurance, we denied their offerings oncemore and after briefly seeing a musical band of landmine victims, we went back on the bus.
My final temple for today would become my most precious visit, which is Preah Khan. Indeed, normally I would had said that Angkor Wat was no doubt the winner for me, but seeing as the entrance towards it was getting renovated with large bright green parts protecting it, this would not be the case for today.
There is a legend told in this massive complex of ruins that a legendary and holy Khmer sword once rested at the central. Not only that, the trees growing around these ruins were even more impressive than the ones at Ta Prohm! What sealed the 1 hour experience of exploring this all though would be the fact that only us, 1 local Cambodian guide and about 4 other tourists were here.
Combined with the many nature backgrounds of birds, insects and mammals, as well as the fact that both Buddhist and Hindu buildings were constructed in here made this for me the most magical day of my trip. It's pure serenity and tranquillity was irresistable towards me. Preah Khan is highly recommended by me, and I am so glad to have seen it.
It was then time to travel towards the capital of Cambodia the next day, which is Phnom Penh. After stopping at a local insect kind of a shop, which sold crickets, cockroaches and spiders, I ate a spider for the first time and I found it to be surprisingly tasty.
Arriving at the Silver River Hotel, we established ourselves in the late afternoon and only dined and rested for the rest of this long day of driving on bumpy roads. The next day, it was time to visit Phnom Penh's current attraction, which isn't exactly beautiful.
I am talking about Choeung Ek and Tuol Sleng Prison then, two of the most macabre locations I have seen in life yet. The former is a site where mass graves were found of Cambodian victims towards the Khmer Rouge, a communist party during the 70's that tried to establish "Year One" during the regime of Pol Pot, their awful leader.
Visiting Choeung Ek at first felt dreadful the more you saw and heard of the remains of the Khmer Rouge's actions. The Killing Fields here are most likely the darkest hour of the Cambodian people, as so many people lost their lives throughout the country.
Inside the memorium building, countless amounts of glass sized racks filled with human skulls reminded us of human pain strongly. It was an unusual site to see for sure, as we literally stared at so many victims in their skull eyes.
But the Tuol Sleng Prison was just as impressive to visit as the former. In this former school complex, it got changed into a brutal prison where the Khmer Rouge tortured, interrogated, starved and humiliated thousands of victims, usually intellectual victims, as they were branded as traitors towards the revolutionaries.
The pictures of the victims there stayed the most with me, with their dreadful, deadly eyes staring coldly into the air. Seeing the cells, the barbed wires and the torture rooms with their torture devices completed the picture for me.
As some of us took a picture with one of the 4 survivors of Tuol Sleng Prison, we went back to the hotel, but only I dropped off the bus earlier on to explore the Russian Market on my own. I heard good stories about this part, but personally, it all felt like I saw these kind of shops before, instead, they were all cramped up together in here.
After a coincidence of meeting some of the group again during a tuk tuk ride, we ate lunch at the Blue Pumpkin, a recommendable lounge restaurant. We visited the National Museum then, which had a large amount of Khmer objects such as statues, tablets, tools and clothes. The inner part had a very beautiful garden spot.
We then had a traditional Khmer massage back at the hotel, and then we ate at one of the best restaurants, which is Malis. I tried stingray with curry, and it was pleasant. The next day is then reserved once again for Thailand, as we fly back from Phnom Penh to Bangkok.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And after returning to The Netherlands, I think back upon my unforgettable journey through these foreign lands, remembering the many magical moments with a smile. This journey was only the beginning for me as a traveler.
The enormous amounts of experience it provided me with has given me plenty of confidence for the next long journey which I am already dreaming about, which will most likely happen in 2013 already! These countries certainly have changed me as a human being and enlarged my perspective about the world even more.
But for now, I bid Thailand and Cambodia farewell. I will closely keep these precious memories hopefully forever into my mind, where the magical imagination of past, recent and future events is infinite.
