Thailand: Same old, Same old

After another long bus ride, I made it into Krabi at 6:00 am. I took a bus to Ao Nang, but unfortunately, due to the same storms that were blasting the Cambodian coast, the waves were too rough to get a longboat to Tonsai. Therefore, I went to the opposite side of Ao Nang, where I managed to board a longboat to East Railay. Unfortunately, I had to slip and slide through the "Jungle Path," a long, muddy, treacherous, and mosquito-infested hike with my heavy rucksack until I finally reached Tonsai.

I went straight to the Andaman resort, and after dropping off my bags at Erin's bungalow, had breakfast with her and another climber. After breakfast, Erin and I spent an hour or so "catching up" on the time we had been apart since our separation almost two months before. It was great seeing her, and I realized how much I had missed having her around. After we had had enough "girl talk," we gathered together our gear and went climbing in Railay.

Unfortunately, I could tell how bad I had been to my body the past month, as it was hard getting myself up relativley easy climbs. I quickly became frustrated, gladly ready to retire as the rain began to come down. That evening, we had dinner with a few other climbers before crashing into bed.

On Tuesday, Erin went climbing, and as I was feeling particularly lazy and not exactly wanting to climb ever again, I opted out. However, after Erin completed her last climb (in which she also managed to sprain her ankle on a wicked fall), I decided to give it a go on toprope. By the time I reached the anchor, I was in love with climbing again!

Yesterday morning, after breakfast, I said goodbye to Erin (who was forced to rest on her last day in Tonsai, thanks to that pesky ankle), and I went climbing with two guys I had met. We did a load of easy climbs, having a great day. That night, Chai, the owner of a popular coffee shop, prepared a "going away" dinner for Erin, as she was planning on leaving the next morning for Bali (she has been in Tonsai almost a month, and was a regular at Chai's cafe). After dinner, Erin bid farewell to all her newfound friends, and after several hours laughing and sharing stories in our bungalow, we fell asleep.

This morning Erin left very early, and after sleeping in, I headed to breakfast while wondering what to do with myself. My body was feeling a bit sore from the sudden exercise after such a long holiday from health, so I decided to take a rest day. I moved into a different bungalow and basically spent the entire day reading and relaxing in my hammock. This evening I had dinner with two climbers, making plans to climb tomorrow.

Now this is where my ho-hum day took a drastic turn. After dinner, I went to the internet cafe to check email. There was a message from my friend Tom, inviting me to come visit him in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) in the Middle East, where he is a science teacher at an interntational school. I thought about it for about five minutes, and now as I write this, I have tickets for tomorrow's overnight bus to Bangkok, as well as a flight booked for Saturday morning out of Bangkok to Abu Dhabi, UAE. I must be crazy. The fact of the matter is, I am so very tired of Southeast Asia. I have been here for five months now, with no real traveling in the last two months. I am tired of the rain, tired of the food, and quite frankly, tired of the beach (never thought I would say that one!). I really just need a change of scenery, and what better place than the middle of the desert in Muslim country? This humidity must be getting to my head...cannot wait to tell my parents this one.

Thailand: Back Again

Well, I was supposed to leave Cambodia on May 18th, as that was when my visa expired. However, I was hoping to have the $60 I had paid for my month's accomodations to be reimbursed to me by my manager at Utopia. Unfortunately, she had taken a two-week holiday to Ireland, and only returned the night of the 17th, and since I did not see her, I never got the chance to ask her about it. I did not want to have to get another cash advance on my credit card (there are no ATMs in Sihanoukville), but I figured I could make it into Thailand with the $15 in my pocket.

Well, that comfortable $15 turned into only $7 when I was forced to fork over $8 to the guesthouse for breaking my bathroom mirror (long story). I still thought I could manage on $7, and I argued and argued with Cooper about the price of the boat to the border (I said it was only $6, he said $20) before driving through the rain to the ferry terminal.

Unsurprisingly, I realized upon pulling into the terminal five minutes before departure time that we were both wrong; the price of the boat to the Cambodian border was $15. So, sheepishly, I climbed back on to Cooper's bike with my bags, and we drove back into town through the rain that was steadily getting stronger.

I finally went back to Utopia to the laughs of my coworkers. The ocean was incredible that day with the largest waves I have seen outside of Hawaii. We played in the water, did some more skimboarding down the beach, and even tried real surfing atop a massive cooler lid. That evening was supposed to be another party night at Utopia, but the torrential downpours forced us to keep the doors closed, and we settled down to watch a movie.

Friday morning I awoke to the howling winds and continuing rains of the mega storm that was blasting the Cambodian coast. I walked outside and realized that there was no way I was getting on a boat today. Therefore, I spent another day lazying about Utopia, trying to hide from the folks in town that I had bid farewell to two days before. Fortunately, I finally had a chance to talk to Kate, my manager, and she paid me $60 for my accomodation. I realized that, with the $10 that I would now owe the Cambodian border officials for overstaying my visa, I was making $50 for staying those extra two days...not bad.

Finally, Saturday morning, I said my third goodbye, and Shawn took me to the port. It was still raining, but the swells had calmed down a bit and the ride was generally uneventful. The best part of the day came when I was going through the Cambodian border exit. I did my best to bat my eyelashes and smile my dazzling smile, and, Viola!, I did not have to pay the $10 overstay fees! I love being a girl!

On the minibus to Trat I met Andy, a Scottish firefighter, and we had dinner together, later meeting up with a group of rowdy travelers (one being a recent and quite memorable customer of Utopia) for a drink (or two...). Finally, I crashed into bed, not looking forward to the following day's trip to Bangkok.

This morning I hopped on the 9:30 am bus to Bangkok, and by 3:00 pm was back in Bangkok. I quickly went to the travel agent to apply for my India Visa, purchased a bus ticket down to Krabi, and right now I am almost due to board the 6:00 pm overnight bus. Whew! What a journey this has been so far...I am looking forward to settling back down in Tonsai for a bit, where I will reunite with Erin (she had to cut her trip to Nepal short), climb, and hopefully relax!

Working in Cambodia: Week 4

When arriving in Sihanoukville, I was warned that it was rainy season, and therefore low season, so the number of tourists in town has been dramatically reduced. I believed it my first week, as our parties were small. However, with every party, we bring in more and more people, and this last week has held some of the mother of all parties! I have my boss concinced that I am a good luck charm, and he has been trying to convince me to stick around for longer.

Thursday night was a crazy one at Utopia. We had loads of people there early for the 8:00 pm BBQ, and they all stayed while more kept coming. Around midnight, a huge unexpected thunderstorm blew through, and we had over one-hundred soaking wet people dancing around the bar and even outside in the rain. The bartops were slippery, but that did not stop the people from getting on top of them. Finally, the rain tapered off, and the party kept going. At one busy point in the evening, a highly-intoxicated English guy jumped behind the bar and began swinging on one of the rafters. I warned him numerous times to get down as I was making drinks, and the next thing I heard was a loud crash as he came falling to the ground, smashing his head on the bar. We bartenders took one glance at him on the floor, and with mutters of "Serves him right!" and "That's what he gets!" along with the cheers of all the bar patrons, we kept working, and the guy sheepishly left. I witnessed a few other fantastic falls that night, but fortunately no one was seriously injured.

Around 5:00 am, the almost-full moon began to set, and it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life. It looked just like the sun setting, with its radiating colors of red against the black sky. I stared at it in awe for ages until finally closing up the bar and heading to bed.

Saturday night was our big Full Moon Party. I was expecting the crazy mayhem of Thursday night, but the people were definitely more chilled out this evening. However, we were extremely busy with over two hundred people in our small bar and on the beach. Shawn, Pat, Cooper, and I worked our butts off the entire evening without stopping, and I managed to cut my foot on glass for the second time since working at Utopia, this time by accidentally kicking a broken beer mug, slicing open the top of my foot. I was so busy, I did not even have time for any first aid other than a splash of vodka. We finally closed things down around 6:00 am, Shawn made us some noodles, and he and Pat went out for a sunrise skimboarding session while I counted the money.

Last night Cooper and I decided to get away from the Utopia "compound" by going to another bar in town. We have some friends that work at Monkey Republic, and they were hosting a "Traffic Light Night"...it's basically a cheezy singles party, but we had fun in our little "locals" corner, doing our best to be antisocial with the travelers. It is so easy to be like that while working here!

Well, on a sad note, tonight is my last party before I must leave for Thailand on Thursday!

Working in Cambodia: Week 3

Amazingly, three weeks in Cambodia has come and gone, and I am finding it very hard to believe that I must leave in just over a week. This past week has been a blast, and I am really feeling so happy here that it is going to be incredibly hard to leave!

Kate left for a two week holiday in Ireland, so Shawn has taken over as manager...and this leaves me as the only girl working at the bar. By now, these guys are like brothers to me, and I enjoy hanging out with them. We have been spending most of our days hanging out on the beach with Shawn's skimboard, which they have converted into a shallow water wakeboard, with a little help from a ski rope and motorbike. After a few skinned knees and a very sore bum, I have managed to master the getting started part, but aside from one awkward 360, I am not very skilled in the tricks department. It is still good fun, regardless, not to mention entertainment for the Khmer onlookers. As for my great idea of a Bootcamp on the beach...well, let's just say that one died a very quick death. I did so much as print up flyers and pass a few out, but my idea that 9:00 am is a good time was misguided, as the sun is blaring its scorching heat on the sand. Now, I am just too lazy to go further with it!

Tuesday night was definitely one of the biggest nights since I started working here, as the place was packed and the people were partying hard...we did not close until well after sunrise! There are loads of people in town, so we decided to have a "Toga Party" Saturday night. Of course, we employees got completely Roman'd out, and we were thrilled that loads of people came in in various bed sheets, curtains, and towels in order to get some free shots.

Knowing that I only had two full weekends left in Sihanoukville, I wanted to take a little holiday outside of town and check out some places I missed on my first trip. Therefore, Shawn and I rented an obnoxiously loud 250cc dirtbike and made the scenic trip past Bokor Hill Station to Kep Sur La Mer, a lovely, quiet provincial French beach town nestled in a dense forest. Craving fresh seafood, we had a huge, delicious meal of fish, squid, shrimp, crab, rice, and drinks for only $5 each. This morning, on the way home, we stopped at a river near Kampot for a refreshing swim before finally heading back to Sihanoukville to prepare for tonight's party.

Working in Cambodia: Week 2

Well, I have just completed my second week working and living in Cambodia, and I love it more and more everyday. My first week here consisted of lots of catching up on all the lost sleep of traveling these last few months, and this week I am really feeling myself settling in nicely in Sihanoukville.

I have quickly formed a routine here. On my off days, I head down to Utopia, where I spend most of the day sitting around the bar chatting with the others and eating free food. The perks for working here right now include free food and drinks, which saves a good $7-10 a day. It is now low season in Cambodia, so Utopia no longer offers free accomodation for its employees, but I spoke with my boss Kate and she said that if I help out to bring people to the bar during the day, then they would try to cover my living expenses as well. I am only paying $60 for a month for my bungalow, so even if it is not covered, I am not going to be breaking the bank. I have motivated myself to start a "Boot Camp" class on the beach to offer travelers a chance to work out, not to mention get my lazy butt back in gear!

We have big parties on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights, so around 2:00 pm on party days we meet at the bar and walk along the beach, distributing flyers to sunbathers and praising the wonders of Utopia. After a bit of relaxing in my bungalow, Cooper and I head back to Utopia around 8:00 pm for dinner (we usually host a free BBQ, complete with kebobs, rice, and veggies on party nights) and to start work. Even though it is low season, we have been very busy, and with each party things get wilder and crazier...let's just say that my first night at Utopia on the day I arrived, with its handful of people, was not a prediction on what things would be like for the next month.

I absolutely love the people that work at Utopia. Of course, Cooper and I get on like a house on fire, and even though he is an extreme flirt and spends more time talking to the ladies than bartending, we have a good time working together. Kate, our manager, is a fun Canadian chick who has been working here for about four months. Our boss, Mark, is from New Zealand, and the most laid-back guy I have ever met. There's another Canadian, Shawn, who lives in a house he built behind the bar, but he is currently taking a hiatus from work. There's a lovely Kiwi couple, close friends of Mark's, that have been living here for a few months helping out, but they will be leaving for some traveling in a few days. Also, a few days after I started working, Pat from Australia arrived, and he will start working once I leave. Finally, we have the best Khmer (Cambodian) staff, complete with two crazy girls who work in the kitchen, Chamron who works the bar during the day, Supron who cleans the dishes at night, and "Yellow Cap"...no one is really sure what his name is, but he is the guy who watches over the bar at night, sleeping under a mosquito net and making sure things are safe, and never to be seen without his trusty yellow baseball cap.

The biggest excitement from the week came last night as we were all sitting around the bar eating popcorn, enjoying a quiet evening of not working. As we were chatting, a Khmer guy ran up from the shadows of the beach, grabbed something, and ran off. All the boys were off an running, shouting in the dark, and Kate and I stood there, absolutely confused since we were both looking away when it happened. I scanned the bar, trying to figure out what the guy took, and was happy to see that my camera, which I had just had out, was safe and sound. I decided to put my camera away, but then discovered that my bag was not where I left it...just as I took in the sharp breath of realization, Shawn came running into the bar, out of breath, holding my bag. Apparently, the Cambodian thief had the nerve to come into the bar and grab the bag that was hanging on the chair in which I was sitting...fortunately for me, I was surrounded by four very fit guys who tackled the thief in the darkness. I now know that I must keep an eye on my things at all times!