Phnom Penh Gem of Learning

We arrived at 12am which is a miracle because that was the time we were told we would arrive. This was the first mode of transport that we have taken that has arrived on time. It was so astonishing that our couchsurfing host who did not show up until 12:30am was surprised. We got bugged a bit by tuk tuk drivers telling us our friend would not be showing up, but it was nothing we couldn't handle.

We took a tuk tuk the 4 km to his house with three of us, all of our bags and his bake squeezed on. Our host is originally from Mexico but lives in Cambodia and has travelled all throughout Canada among other Countries. He speaks 10 languages fluently and is a linguist. His home is very small about the size of our bathroom at home. He has a toilet, shower head and sink and a sleeping bag he sleeps on. This is typical of the Cambodian homes we saw and for this he pays $50 per month in rent plus $1.50 a month for water. There was no space in his place for us, so we slept on the ground outside his place. This may have been strange six months ago but nowadays it's quite typical. We had a great sleep and in the morning the showers washed away the dirt, sweat and grime of our temple days.

The next morning was another snooze filled one. We snoozed the alarm from 6am until about 10am and finally got up. We walked the couple of blocks to the Tuel Slang museam and our couchsurfing host accompanied us. This museam used to be a normal high school but when the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot took over it became the largest secret prison among hundreds of prisons in the country. Under Pol Pot all schools, hospitals, religions and entertainment facilities were shut down and everyone was ordered to focus on the revolution and work. At first the intellectuals and city people were imprisoned here under horrific circumstances. As the regime continued Pol Pot became more and more paranoid about CIA and KGB agents, spys and traitors that he began to imprison his own people, followers and family members. The people were interrogated and tortured until they became unconscious, revived, then tortured again until the admitted to crimes they did not commit. Once they had admitted to a crime they were put inside tiny, dark prisons or squished with others into bigger cells. Here they were shackled together, totured and forced to listen to revolutionary information. Then they would be told they were moving to another place, but really they would be going to the Chueng Ek killing fields. One of over 300 found killing fields in the country where over 20, 000 of the 3 million inocent Cambodians were beaten to death (because bullets were being used in the war and were too expensive to use to kill locals).

During our visit to this museam we walked through the interrogation areas where the torture devices were still kept. Mostly gardening tools, hammers, poisonous insects and snakes, pliers excrement (not on display) and other easily accesable and cheap items that could be used to smash in skulls, pull out nails or cut throats. We saw many photographs of the victims as each person would have their photo taken when entering Tuel Slang (S-21). We saw photos of them being tortured and even their dead bodies. Most alarming perhaps was their skulls and other bones on display by the thousands that showed the wounds and damage that was done. These are all real and many were woman, children and babies.

As one could imagine this was very draining and while we had planned to go to Chueng Ek on the same day, we quickly decided it might be better to save the killing fields for the next day. So we wandered the city. We tried a dozen new foods from street carts that our host was able to identify for us and get local prices on. We tried vietnamese hot spring rolls as well as cold ones, we tried sweet rice and coconut desserts in bread, fried rice and spinich patties in sweet sauce, mangos with pepper, tamales with banana, fried bananas, various stir fries and noodles, sweet sausages, fish pancakes (not good), omelettes, Khmer ice cream sandwhiches in sweet baguettes, viniger peanuts, burnt sweet rice snacks, banana chips and even African food.

We rented bikes in the city which helped us get around a lot faster. Tyson had driven a motor bike in Indonesia and Thailand but this was my first time driving in such an environment. While it is super intimidating and nerve racking at first, once you pick up on the basic rules (that there are none) relax and exude confidence, it all somehow works out. Except that Cambodia has the most accidents in the world and we witnessed several in the few days we were there. That night we went to a hole in the wall, hidden Nigerian restaurant that we would never ever have found on our own. We tried rice paste that you break off in your hands and mould a bit then dip into a curry like spicy dish with beef stomach. Perhaps my description does not make it sound appetizing but in fact it is one of the best things I have ever tasted and I have been craving it everyday since. Although comparatively expensive, it was worth every riel.

The next day we rode over 20km one way to the Chueng Ek killing fields and genocide museam. Here we rented audio players and a narrator guided us through the fields where thousands of people were killed. It is now a serene and beautiful place where we could hear children from the neighboring school playing and birds chirping. But it was not always like this. Prisoners would be driven here from Tuel Slang prison blindfolded and cuffed together and killed with cheap tools one by one. Blaring revolutionary music would play to cover their screams and their bodies would be covered with D.D.T. to cover the smell. On average, 300 people a day were killed here in mass graves. As we walked around the site, scraps of clothing, teeth and small human bones could be seen in the dirt. Every few weeks the care takers collect all of this but every time it rains more comes up to the surface. There is a display of thousands of skulls and bones here as well showing the trauma that each person endured. On the audio tape there are personal stories from some of the very few survivors. Stories of rapes and witnessed killings. Mothers seeing their children killed, friends, brothers, sisters and parents all tortured and murdered.

There was a mass grave of over 166 headless bodies found in one area, in another there were hundreds of naked bodies of women and children. The children were killed in the most brutal fashion, guards would hold them by their feet and smash their heads against a tree that still stands in the field. Some of the victims were still alive when thrown into the graves. People have left bracelets and other small items for the children near the site. The founders of the museam say that they want to educate and inform the public of the attrocities that occured to ensure it does not happen again. They say that it could happen anywhere. The story of how Pol Pot took over the country is long and there are many details but he took over when the country was weak from the war and bombings from the USA. The Khmer Rouge pretended they were freeing the people. They told the people that America was planning to bomb the cities so they evacuated the cities within hours and then forced the people to work for their country. He took young innocent children and forced false information into their empty heads and poisoned their thoughts. Anyone who did not do as they were told was publically killed or tortured. The history and stories of Cambodia in the 70s can be found easily online or there are many books available. This is just a small glimpse into the recent history of the country we visited.

Alarmingly, genocides are happening today still and many are going unnoticed by the public. Places like North Korea, Iran and other civilians are being tortured and killed in groups. This is still happening right now.

From the killing fields we walked to the beautiful river side, saw the extravagant temples and buildings including the over the top royal palace. The palace where the king lives in covered in five tons of silver and solid gold buddhas with diamonds and jewels to decorate. Outside of the palace young children beg for money with their huge swollen tummies sticking out far past the norm. This is the imbalance of the world so evident in Cambodia.

We hung out in a monk sanctuary where we spoke with young monks for a few hours. One of them was blown away by my dreads and even spent some time trying to fix them for me. He gave us special bracelets that are meant to bring happiness.

We ate at the economic kitchen that night where you can pick several local dishes and sat by the water. Here is where locals continuously begged us for money and help. We drank fruit smoothies on the way home.

The next day we were without bikes again so it was a slower go at the city. We bought bus tickets to Poipet (the border) for that evening, we bought tons of groceries because we had run out of Baht (Thai currency) and had to have enough food for the next few days. Unfortuantely we kept eating the food so we kept having to replace it again. We confirmed our flights out of Bangkok and somehow ended up buying a red hammok on the way. Perhaps it can be a gift or a keeper. We took out more US currency from an ATM and head out to meet our couchsurfing host. Together we walked around, shopped and explored local snack foods. Later Tyson and I got hour long full body massages for $5 each which is relatively expensive but compared to Canada its pennies. We got this massage on our last day in the country and wondered why we had not gotten them everyday in SE Asia. It was very relaxing, they stretch out your body and massage as they go. Since I have an ongoing back injury from a car accident, I have had a lot of pain and this was a greatly needed relief.

We ran to grab our bags and catch the tuk tuk to the bus station where it took us 11 hours to make the 6 hour trip to Poipet. I spent the last of our Riels at the corner store and the Phnom Penh bakery. The bus stopped every few minutes and eventually reached the border at quarter to seven in the morning. We stopped to buy breakfast (bbq pork and rice) and crossed the border when it opened at 7am. With no problems we crossed back into Thailand and walked the 10km to the train station. Of course we missed the morning train so we waited until 2pm to catch the afternoon third class train back to Bangkok. I slept through most of this ride until it filled up and I had to share my seat. At one point we saw a few backpackers get up, so we asked if we could get to the airport from there. By the time we found out that this was our stop, the train had begun to move again but I was told by a voice that sounded an awful lot like my husband's to "just jump". So I jumped off a moving train and he came behind me. It was a first for me, and hopefully a last. But nonetheless we made it to the airport with Baht to spare and spent the night gorging on food and sleeping on rock hard floor.

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Ankor WHAT

Our first night in Cambodia went pretty smoothly. The only blip was that the bus company dropped us off several km outside of town where they had a deal with the tuk tuk drivers to exthort the tourists. We resisted, of course, and decided to walk into town. The problem was that we had no idea where we were going, we were exhausted, dirty and hungrey. That was when a middle aged man with a kind smile pulled over in an SUV and asked us if we wanted a ride. We immediately declined like we would decline any offer for a ride from a local . This is because they are not cheap and usually they just bring tourists to a guesthouse that they deal with for a commision. This man was different however and he insisted that he would take us exactly where we wanted to go and that he was just trying to help us out. We wearily accepted and he was the sweetest man ever who really just wanted to help. He drove us to the guesthouse, completely out of his way and even helped us with our bags for nothing. This was our first such experience in SE Asia and though it may sound like a small gesture, it was deeply appreciated.

We checked into a guesthouse that we had originally chosen because it was inexpensive but it turns out their only available bed was double what we expected , a whopping $4 USD. We were tired and it was late so we took it. The room had no roof and it was one of the poorest looking places we have stayed but coming from two nights at train stations and travelling for several days it would do just fine. The environment of the guesthouse was very relaxed and friendly and and we ended up staying there for four nights although we changed rooms.

We organized ourselves a bit and head out to eat. Although they did not have pad thai, we ate Khmer style fried noodles with vegetables and beef/pork which was just as good. Each meal cost $1 USD. We tried to buy some groceries for snacks and breakfast the next day but it is so cheap to eat out that we didn't bother except for a loaf of bread for the morning. We finished off our night with mango smoothies and showers. On our way back to the guesthouse a very young girl who appeared about four years old or younger gently put her hand on my arm and begged me for money to pay for her baby sister's milk. She said she didn't want to bother me but she really needed to feed her sister. I couldn't even look at her and I didn't know what to do. I looked to Tyson for help but he was as useless as me and I didn't end up giving her money but she hurt my heart just the same. I know that we are in for some more of the same in the coming days and it will likely be my least favorite part. I know that they are poor but this very young girl should not have to beg for food while her mother looks on. I cannot begin to understand their life but I'm sorry that she cannot have the basics that a child deserves.

Later in the trip after we left Siem Riep I learned that many of these children are either forced to beg by their parents and families or even worse (but very commonly) they are sold to other adults who abuse them and force them to work all day and night selling things or just plain begging for money. We dealt with it by ignoring the item they were selling and trying to meet the real child behind the poverty. We asked their names and ages and joked with them. Although this is not the best way and it does not help their situation, it was one option that we chose.

During the next three days the stories of poor children piled up and overflowed to the point where I am detirmined to return to Cambodia one day and volunteer at an orphanage or with an honest foundation to make a difference and if anyone is looking for volunteer opportunites, Cambodia has lots!

The next morning we had planned to wake up at 5am and spend the day wandering and exploring the great temples. Unfortunately as we pressed the snooze button for the hundreth time around 11am, we realized it wasn't happening. So we gave in and took a chill day. We walked around Siem Reap, talked to locals, did some reasearch and ate cheap food. We were told that we could buy our Ankor tickets at 4:45pm for the next day but still get into Ankor Wat to see the sunset. So we walked to the ticket booth, a good 6km away, and sat with some local temple staff. We helped them with English and they taught us about Cambodia. We tried a snack food that was some sort of meat balls on a stick over salad. The price the vendor quoted us was double what our new friend told us it should cost. When we asked why, we were told that foreigners pay more. We were hurt by this but it is was nothing new to us. We walked away even though the "foreigner price" was still ok. She then agreed to give us the local price after a few minutes and we grudgingly accepted. The taste was horrid and it was all I could do not to spit it out. Tyson however, finished the food without complaint.

Finally it was time to buy our tickets and we bought a three day package for $80 USD, we got official looking passes with our photos on them. We then walked to Ankor Wat, in total about 10km from where we were staying in town. It will be impossible for me to describe the biggest religious structure in the world. It is grand, it demands attention, it leaves you breathless, it exudes mystery and takes you into another world. Watching the sunset there was magnificent and hundreds of people had joined us. We made friends with a Chinese guy and two monk children. When Tyson and I went to take pictures with the monk kids, I knew not to touch them but they were still terrified. As soon as I was in their viscinity their eyes opened wide with terror and one whispered "d-d-don't touch me". I laughed, but I didn't touch. Later on in our travels, I spoke to and was able to shake hands with or contact many monks. Each monk is an individual and usually the younger ones are much more strict about their rules. One monk in Phnom Penh even helped me fix my dreads but he wouldn't let me photograph it. We walked back from Ankor Wat which is extremely difficult to do because every 2-3 seconds a tuk tuk drives by and begs you to get in while commenting on how far our destination is.

We switched from the private room to a dorm setting for the second night and it was much better., For $1 USD per person we shared a huge bed outdoors under a mosquito net. We spent three more nights here and it was one of my favorite accomodations yet.

The next three days had many common themes. For example we ate the same thing everyday. We ate a baguette with jam for breakfast, raw noodles for brunch, street food (like BBQ pork and rice) for lunch, mangos and pinapples for snack and stir fried meat and noodles with a cheese omlette and baguette for dinner from the same restaurant every night followed by two smoothies of various flavors. Besides the food, we also hired pedal bikes everyday from our guesthouse and rode over 300 km in total through the temples. We also had to turn down extremely aggressive (but good natured) street vendor women and children who would follow us (and every other tourist) from the second we arrived to a temple until we could get far enough on our bike that they couldn't catch us. They were selling anything from transport and toys to food and drinks to books and artwork. The children sometimes were not selling anything, they were just asking for money or candy.

The people here are very friendly and genuine. Every single person waves and says hello with a big grin. We have now had numerous positive experiences with Cambodian locals helping us out or engaging us in positive conversations. Of all of South East Asia, the people here stand out to us as super kind, happy and wonderful. The weather was hot and dry everyday and the sunsets were all beautiful with a fiery orange sun setting behind huge glorious temples.

After watching the sunset in Ankor Watt and walking back to town, we ate at our regular place: one noodles with pork, one noodles with beef and one cheese omlette with baguette. Then picked up smoothies for a sugar kick before bed. Some nights we splurged and Tyson would sneak out for second smoothies, it was our guilty pleasure.

The next morning we got up at 5am and biked to Ankor Wat to watch the sunrise which was fantastic and we have some lovely photos to prove it. The sun rose up behind the temple and seeing all the colours in the sky cast light on the amazing temple was priceless. We spent more than six hours on this one temple our first morning. It is huge and even with that much time we could not see everything. One could easily spend a full day or more just at the one temple. We played with the monkeys behind the temple which are not nearly as aggressive as the ones in Bali. For lunch we stopped at some stands and bought two big skewers of pork and two servings of white rice with $1.50. The little girl who managed to get our business was so excited and her mother seemed very proud and even handed her 500 riels (12.5 cents) as a prize. It was very cute.

The average income here is 600-1000 dollars a YEAR. Women usually work guesthouse reception or something similar and make about $50 a month. Unbelievable to our standards. While the products here are much cheaper and they don't pay the obscene taxes and other BS bills we have, it is still impossible to travel for leisure or save for anything big.

We rode on to the next temples and completed the whole small tour by bike which took about 12 hours. It is hard to imagine how many temples there are even from looking at a map. They are everywhere in the city of ruins and religious structures. It would take several weeks or longer to explore them all. We returned home exhausted, dirty from the dust and hungry as ever but satisfied. We had our normal dinner and passed out rather quickly.

The next day we had planned to hire a tuk tuk for the grand tour and to Bantei Shrei which is over 100km distance plus walking within the temples. We couldn't agree with a driver so we decided to skip the far temple (Bantei Shrei) and do the grand tour for only 50km. It was hot as ever but we forged on and at the temple nearest Bantei Shrei we decided to inquire into a tuk tuk again for the one temple. The price was going to cost equal to or more than the full day price for some unknown reason so we declined. We decided to bike about 21km out of the way to see the land mine museam though. This museam is life changing for anyone who walks into it.

Cambodia has been under the rule of awful murderers for many years and lost over 3 million people (1 in 4) in about three years. Imagine in your country if one in every four people was brutally tortured and murdered and everyone else forced to slave under a viscious dictator. This happened less than 30 years ago in Cambodia and it is obvious when you look around. The country is behind in many ways and through our time here we noticed that nearly everyone is young. There are very few elderly people, most of the population is children and young adults. They have a terrible heart breaking history of being "carpet bombed" by the USA because of the Vietnamese fleeing into Cambodia. Then they were ruled by the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot who gathered intellectuals and educated people (anyone who had a degree, whiter skin, soft hands or wore glasses) and executed them. Everyone from the cities as well as Muslims were all beaten to death and everyone else was forced to work in exploitive situations for the regime.

The people who were not killed were tortured and starved to death by the Pol Pot regime. He wanted the country to become self sufficient and so the rice growth had to increase by triple, an impossible goal. Those who complained or even asked questions were killed. They were given a few spoonfuls of a very thin rice soup twice a day and allowed very little sleep. I beg everyone to look up the horrors that the Cambodians have endured and it becomes a wonder that they are so kind and optimistic still. The stories are both heart breaking and infuriating. Cambodia is the fourth most heavily mined country in the world and mines can blow up to 150 years after they are set. So 20-30 year old mines are blowing up all the time now on family farms. The museam raises funds to support the dozens of handicapped kids who have lost limbs or more due to mines. The children live on the museam property and the organizer is one of CNN's top 10 heros. We bought two t-shirts to support the foundation but if anyone wants to donate please contact me and I will give you more information.

The stories of these children are difficult to read about. One boy who is now 19 and in grade 8 had two of his best friends die in the explosion, one friend lost an arm and he lost a leg. He is still trying to finish high school and due to his parents poverty he had to move to this orphanage at the age of 12 and only sees his family on holidays. His story is much more touching when read in his own words and there are dozens more like his. Stories of children losing life or limbs due to mines that were set before they were born or even thought of. The war was not too long ago (within my lifetime) and the destruction can still be seen. I will be writing a bit more about the war when I talk about our time in Phnom Penh.

After the museam we decided that since we had come so far, we may as well ride the 9 more kilometers to Bantei Shrei Temple. Well this was difficult and by the time we reached there I was ready to pass out. We bought three pre-cut mangos and stuffed them down our throats for sugar and energy. It seemed to work because we made it the 40km back to town. On our ride home however it was pitch black with no street lights. We were literally riding in the dark and could not see anything in front of us. It was a very scary experience for me and one time I slipped off the road, down into the dirt! We were stopped several times by concerned locals who gave us advice and told us to hurry along. One guy on a motorcycle even lit the way for a little while. Another usual meal at our regular restaurant was had and we chugged smoothies before passing out.

By our third morning an early start was impossible but we did manage to drag our sore buts out of bed and left around 8am. We started off going back to the grand tour to see two of the temples we missed the day before. Then we head to the Rolous group about 25 km away and viewed the three most famous temples there before agreeing that we could head back to the guesthouse satisfied with the amount we had seen. At one of the temples in the Rolous Group we made friends with three 8 year old girls who were begging for candy. Although we had nothing to give them, we chatted with them and hung out for a while. One girl was so skinny that I could count her ribs and all of their teeth were rotton.

Some of the kids at one temple were trying to sell a package of 10 postcards and had learned to count to ten in over ten different languages. They would start counting till 10 in all the languages hoping to make a sale. All the kids are barefoot and many of the younger ones are butt naked. In fact I saw more naked ones than dressed, especially when they were running around in the neighborhoods as we rode through. Riding our bike through the neighborhood was a unique and rewarding experience. Every single child we saw waved and said hello or bye bye. Some who knew more English would ask how we were, where we were from or where we were going. We stopped to buy some cane sugar candies from a family street stand and even though we got a good deal (ish) they were so happy and thanked us several times. The woman even gave us more candy than we had negotiated for free after the sale was completed and she had our money. This was an eye opening experience in SE Asia.

So as we drove through the country side for km after km we smiled and waved so much that my face hurt. We saw hudreds of cows and chickens, a few horses and pigs and lots of naked children. We repeatedly saw huge dead pigs strapped on to motor bikes upside down with their legs bouncing to the pot holes as they were transferred. We saw truck after truck piled with dozens of people squished in and on top of each other. We smelled the mix of baking breads, sugar cane, rotton fish and hot garbage through our travels. It is mostly dirt roads in the country and locals wear rags or medical masks to cover their faces from the dust. We did not catch on so we ate it instead. By the way people looked at us and spoke with us, it was clear that they are used to foreigners flying by on their tuk tuks to the temples. They appeared pleased to see us passing through slowly and taking the time to see the country in a different way.

We saw dozens of temples and although none were as awe inspiring in an obvious sense as Ankor Wat, each and every temple had its own unique characteristics and history that make it special. We have hundreds of pictures including Ta Prohm (where Tomb Raider was filmed) and the Ankor Thom temples.

At the end of the third day we caught a 6pm bus to Phnom Penh. We returned from our temple tour with enough time to relax for a bit, eat, shower and check our wifi. However, the power was out and the water was out so we were stuck with eating the whole time. We bought four noodle and beef dishes, banana chips, 10 baguettes with butter, cane sugar candies, coke and other unnessary goodies that cancelled out the excercize we had done. We caught the bus and travelled for 7 hours to Phnom Penh where we spent about four days.

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

thailand up and down- Part II

At 22:00 we caught the third class train to Chang Mai. Most people (including Thais) may fly the distance to Chang Mai or perhaps take a first class train or maybe even sacrifice for second class. Third class however, is out of the question for most. We however did not think it was that bad. While the chairs were straight backed with no reclining ability, they were cushioned. While there were many cockroaches crawling around, they were small, while locals selling things in the aisles were loud with screechy voices, we had the option to buy food. So all in all it was ok and we managed to get some sleep during the 16 hour ride. We even met a couple other backpackers and exchanged information to hang out later. We got to Chang Mai in the afternoon and as usual it was a very busy time and finding a place to stay took a few hours. We head to the place we wanted to stay at, but met people along the way that we chatted with so the process took even longer. When we finally got to Julie's guesthouse we were told it was full for the next week. Upon further inquiry however, we convinced them to let us share a single room which saved us money and we got to stay at the place we had wanted to.

From a near by travel agency we booked a trek for the next day and then went out for Pad Thai and chocolate pancakes. The chocolate pancakes here are not like the thick fluffy ones from Gili but rather they are thin like crepes and a bit crunchy, I'm not a big fan but Tyson would eat them 24/7, I'm sure. We walked through the night market where we did not shop. This is because we would see something that was kind of cool and we were interested in but then 100 people would be selling it and then we'd get bored of it. Additionally our originally 10 kg bags have magically doubled to 20 so we have to be more careful.

We slept well and started our trek at 8am the next morning. We were collected along with ten others in a transport device. It's a truck with a covered boot and bench style seating arranged along each side. So we all sit facing each other in the back of the truck and it's a bit squishy with 12 people but we survived. Our group included one french guy from India and French girl from France and the rest were from the Dominican. It was a very fun group and we all got along well. Our first stop was elephant riding. Tyson rode bare back on it's head, but I rode in a chair and we named our elephant Charlie. It was a lot of fun, we played with the animal and rode it to water where it drank from the lake. We also fed it bananas and had a great time. After this at around 10:45 they fed us lunch which was fried rice with vegetables (all you can eat), watermelon and water. Since it was so early and we had just had breakfast we could only eat three plates each.

We then drove to our trekking area where we hiked for several hours to a waterfall. Here we took a break and some people swam in the fresh water and then we hiked back down the same way we came. We then drove a bit to the rafting start point. Here we broke into two groups of six and learned the captain's signals. Of course the raft that we chose was the chaotic one that flipped over countless times and we all came out with minor injuries. Tyson believes that this makes the experience more fun but I disagree and think that pain-free-no-rapids-rafting is much better.

After an hour we switched from a proper raft to a bamboo raft that was several bamboo shoots attached length wise. We rode those with our captains to the end point. Following bamboo rafting we drove to visit a tribal hill villiage called the Akha people. This was a very strange experience because they dropped us off and we basically just stared at these people and then left. We managed to chat with them a bit and learn about their culture but only through our own independant initiation. It was awkward otherwise. And that was that, everyone was exhausted on the way home and our Indian-French guy friend was nodding off and unknowingly laying his head on Tyson's shoulder. It was hilarious and the whole group was laughing, I managed to get some photos of it.

Once we got back we cleaned up at the guesthouse and head out for Pad Thai. While that night's meal cost more than we were hoping to pay, it was also the best Pad Thai we had had. The owner/cook is a Mui Thai fighting champ who travels to Canada every year to teach. He runs the little restaurant with his family and it was yummy! After dinner we wandered the market a bit, ate snacks and slept well.

The next morning we slept in and were forced out of our room due to other reservations. So we stored our bags for the day and decided to leave that night. During the day we walked to several temples where old ladies at the front wanted us to pay to "release the birds". They had several small birds captured in tiny cages and wanted 100 Baht to release them, it was stupid and we didn't do it but others who did told us that the birds are trained to fly right back into the cages where some other sucker would pay to "release them" again. Dumb.

Anywho we walked to the Tribal museam which was a good 6km away only to find that it was shut down for renovations. The outdoor museam was open though and we were able to walk through and explore the homes of the hill tribe people. It was all set up with their belongings and everything so we learned a lot about the different cultures. The long neck culture also lives here where the women stretch out their necks with goldren rings that weigh about 2kg for the sake of beauty. Many still do not have electricity but they are changing because they charge each tourist group 200-500 Baht to enter their villiage and apparently this has been quite succesful.

We walked the six km back to town only to be told that if we wanted to take the train in the morning we would have to pre buy our tickets that night. So we walked to the train station another 6km only to be informed that we had to buy our tickets the next day. It would have sucked even worse if we had not found the absolute best strawberry smoothies and iced Thai tea along the way. We head back to our place and grabbed our bags and went to meet up with Laura and Ben (our friends from back home also travelling Thailand). This was awesome and we were all able to catch up and hang out for the night. We head back to their place with their other friends and all hung out eating their left over food from their cooking class until the middle of the night.

We spent the rest of the night at the train station and caught the 6am train back to Bangkok. Of course we rode third class (which is free for Thai people) and the ride that we were told would take 12 hours took closer to 20 hours and we arrived at 2am. Thai people sleep on the streets. I am not sure why but we have noticed that many sleep at their work (behind the counter on the floor) or they work at their home or they just sleep on the streets and in train stations. The station was closed but full families with babies were sleeping on mats outside the station. We walked accross the street to get Pad Thai and stopped at 7-11 to buy snacks and bread. While sitting at the Pad Thai place, we noticed that a man was being chased out of the 7-11 by several men. The men knocked him over and were kicking him in the head, kneeing him and beating him. I called out for them to stop but Tyson stopped me. It turns out the guy has shoplifted from the convenience store and this is how they deal with it. They beat the guy up and took the stuff back but no police were called. The guy got up and walked away. It's a little different from the Canadian justice system.

So we spent another night at the train station until 6am when we caught the train to Aranya prathet.
Of course the train arrived several hours late. We took a 10 minute tuk tuk that cost us the same as the 7 hour train ride to the border of Cambodia. Of course the driver stopped at an "official"
Cambodian visa place and tried to force us to get our visas from here for far more expensive. Luckily we had already read about these scams by the tuk tuk drivers and asked him to take us directly to the border. So we finally got to the Thai border and got our exit stamp then closely followed the directions we had read online to the real official visa place. Here there was a sign that the tourist visa costs $20 USD but then they had a hand written sign that poorly said $200 plus 100 Baht. I questioned the reason for the 100 Baht and the guy said it was the fee for the visa on arrival. So I asked why that was not written on the fees list on the wall and he said fine just give me an extra $5 each. This did not sit well with me so I questioned it again and told him I did not have any extra money. He waved me to go sit down and did not charge the extra fees. We just paid the $40 USD for the two of us. So even the official border guy was trying to cheat us and everyone we spoke to had paid the extra 100 Baht or $5 USD. Annoying.

Then we walked 100 meters and waited over an hour in the line up for the border into Cambodia. The whole process was stressful even though we had prepared. Had we not researched prior, we would have paid all the extra fees and fines for sure.

We easily got our Cambodian stamp and took a free 10 minute shuttle to the bus station where we caught an $18 bus three hours to Siem Riep. Of course the bus driver stopped at his friend's restaurant half way through to make some extra tips but we continued on and got there in 2 or so hours. The driver had told us that he would take us to the central market in town but decided that it would be better to drop us 6km outside of town where all of his tuk tuk buddies happened to be waiting. Awesome.

We resisted paying the tuk tuk guys because we heard they just take you to the hotel that they are associated with no matter what you as for. Plus the hotel will charge you more because they have to pay the tuk tuk commission. Anyway a super over-the-top nice guy in a silver SUV pulled over and asked us if we wanted a ride. At this point in the day we bitterly said no thank you and he kindly responded that we did not want anything from us, just to help. We decided to trust him and he actually drove us to the hotel we asked for free just to help a frustrated backpacker. It raised our hopes and made us trust again. It was the perfect moment for a stranger to show us some kindness.
We are now in the viscinity of Ankor Watt and planning out our exciting day tomorrow.


"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Thailand up and down Part I

After spending the night on the airport floor in Kuala Lumpur, we flew to Bangkok, Thailand. We landed late morning and the airport was quite beautiful and modern looking. Unfortunately all the signs, pamphlets, tourist magazines and maps were in Thai. We had already looked up busses to get to the city but no one would tell us where the busses came. So after struggling a bit in the airport, we caved and took the more expensive train to the city.

The plan was to find a place to stay for a couple nights in the backpacker area and then figure out where we wanted to go next. Bangkok is a large city and confusing as heck. Nothing is in English and it's difficult to trust anyone with directions because they are usually just trying to sell you a room, a ride on a tuk tuk, a bag of fresca or SOMETHING. So we finally found an information booth and asked the lady behind the counter all our questions. I am not sure how this happened but from there we caught a very expensive public bus (I think we got ripped off) to the Southern bus terminal which is quite far from the city.We found out later that the public busses with AC cost more than the ones without, so we should be looking for the busses with the windows open. At the Southern bus terminal, we inquired into going to one of the Southern Thai Islands. One thing lead to another from there and we found ourselves on a bus for 12 hours overnight to Ko Pan Nang.

We bought enough fried chicken to get us through the ride and woke up to the sun on the other side of the country. Here we waited for the public ferry to take us to paradise. I have to admit that at this point in our trip, we are a bit snobby about beaches. We really have seen the most beautiful beaches in the world, camped on its soft white sand, swam and snorkelled through crystal clear oceans and tanned in the sun. I still have to say that Thai beaches are amazing with palm trees, clear turqoise waters and amazing scenery.

After the lengthy boat ride, we got off with all the other tourists and set about trying to find a place to stay. Since we had come on the day after a "full moon party" (a very popular monthly event that attracts nearly 30,000 tourists), there was NOTHING available. We wandered under the hot sun with our bags walking and hitching through the island. Finally a friendly local dropped us off in front of a bungalow hotel who also told us they were full. Out of exhaustion and fatigue I asked if he had a couch or anything we could sleep on. I must have sounded desperate because he offered to let us sleep in his outdoor restaurant. It worked for us. It was a chill environment and we got along with everyone. We showered, hand washed the laundry and head out for food. This was our first of many encounters with Pad Thai. A delicious Thai noodle mixed with special sauces, vegetables, egg, tofu and a choice of meat. We sat in a bungalow and ate the generous portions.

We soon realized that 7-11 is the main "grocery store" here and so this is where we shopped for the next few weeks. We wandered the town and there was not a whole lot going on. Of course there were full moon spin off parties (black moon, half moon, jungle moon etc) but all in all it was pretty relaxed. Particularly when the young boisterous full moon folk left for other islands. Every other person was walking around with "Ko Pen Nang tatoos". This is another word for bandaged hands and feet due to motor bike accidents which are super prevalent here with all the pot holes, curvy roads, stray animals, inexperienced drivers and, of course, alcohol.

We spent our first day at the beach nearby the hotel. The water was so shallow that we could walk out what felt like a kilometer and the water was barely to our knees. The water was warm and perfect though. We layed in the sand and worshipped the sun all day. That night we waited until the restaurant/ hotel hang out cleared a bit and tried to get some sleep. At one point the owner's daughter got into a screaming match with the police and another family. All I could make out of the conversation in English was grossly mispronounced four letter words. After listening to the dogs howl and fight most of the night, we slept and then woke up to the lovely call of the rooster early in the morning. After the rooster made its presence known we also got to enjoy the owner's daughter disgrace herself while swearing and screaming at the employee as well as to no one in particular all morning. Needless to say, when they offered us a room for that night, we politely declined.
Since the power had been out on the island the first day, the wifi at the hotel was not working. So we tried to "borrow" some from a nearby restaurant. The young female owner caught us and reamed us out shamelessly. If we had any pride we would have been good and embarrassed but backpackers cannot be prideful so we packed up and left gracefully.

We did not need to walk far to find the perfect backpackers bungalow hotel called Mac's. We got a private bungalow and although the bathroom and showers were a bit far, we enjoyed our time here very much. The young lady who runs the place is very sweet, there were kittens everywhere and plenty of books to borrow. The bungalow was loosly built and completely open in the flooring and roof so it felt like we were sleeping outside. We spent the next three nights here under a supplied mosquito net.

We walked to Hat Rin beach that day which, if you ask a local, is an impossible walk. So far this trip however, every single time (with zero exceptions) that we have asked if somewhere is walking distance, we have gotten a sure NO (with an are-you-crazy glare). So we decided to walk anyway and while the hills were steep as can be and there were tons of them, we made it. The beach here was very beautiful and picturesque but busy as ever! There were young people riddled all over the sand with hundreds of shops catering to tourists from tattoo shops, to buckets of alcohol to full moon party clothing and gear. At one tattoo shop, while Tyson was contemplating some bamboo art, we met a guy from Edmonton who was getting a huge tropical picture done on his back. We ate our daily serving of pad thai here on the beach, frolicked until dark and trekked back to our quieter part of the island.

The next morning we ate bread, honey, chocolate milk and yogurt from 7-11 and baked in the sun in our local area. It was quiet and beautiful. When we ran out of snacks we head out to town about 1-2 minutes away. This was when we decided it was necessary to rent a motorbike so we did so. The rental place wanted to keep our passport as a deposit which is apparently normal procedure but we refused so they tore up the contract. We moved on to the next place though and they thankfully agreed to accept a photocopy of our passport and a driver's liscence. We got some over priced gas for the bike and tore around the island. Actually the first thing we did was buy greasy fried chicken and eat it with sweet chili sauce...sooo good. It was so good in fact that we went back to get more but (thankfully for our cholesterol) they were closed. We visited night markets, sampled local foods and used up all the fuel.

That night we booked our flights from Bangkok to Hong Kong as this was one of the portions of the trip we had not pre bought. The thought behind this was that we would travel overland to save money. Unfortunately, we apparently did not look at a map when making this decision, thus leaving us scrambling to buy last minute tickets. Also out of four credit cards, three declined due to various reasons (one being I got in a fight with the bank and they cancelled it). The comedic part of all of this is that we pre-purchased the flight from KL to Bangkok which was completely unneccesary. We were in Penang which is already within a few hours of Ko Pan Nang (this island). Instead of travelling this overland, we bussed back to KL, flew half way up Thailand to Bangkok and bussed back. So virtually we paid to get here four times and spent three days doing so. Tyson and I have agreed that our only true regret (other than leaving our full wallet on the bus in KL) was purchasing the tickets that we did. The KL to Bangkok flight was not the only time we had to severely backtrack to catch a flight only to bus back to where we were. We did it in our flight from Rio to BA when we bussed back to Iguazu among other examples. This continues to be a sore spot with the lack of proper research and planning, complete waste of time and money but hey...next time we'll do it differently:)

So the next day we took full advantage of the motor bike by ripping up to the North side of the island. We spent much of the day snorkelling, napping and swimming on MaeHead beach. We rented snorkels and watched the pretty fish and corals in the clear waters. Since we had brought most of our valuables with us (due to the openess of our hotel room) we had to select a trusting looking family on the beach to watch our stuff. Luckily it worked out and our stuff was not stolen. Along the drive we had to stop for monkeys hanging out on the road as well as to gawk at the elephants casually eating food in the fields. It was surreal. We snacked on mentos and oreos that night and watched streamed Modern Family episodes.

The next morning was our last on the island. We bought boat and bus joint tickets back to Bangkok and used the ATM to withdraw funds since ours had dissappeard quite quickly in a few days. The "tourist ATM" charged shameless fees but we had no other choice so we bit the bullet. We passed on the taxi ride to the port and walked the 7km with our bags instead. Although we arrived over an hour and a half early, we somehow still managed to be the very last two people getting on and almost missed it. We bought enough servings of Pad Thai and oreo cookies to get us through the very long ride and joined the hundreds of crammed tourists on the boat. They charged an extra fee for actual seats inside the boat so everyone squeezed in the outside area. It wasn't too bad though because the weather was nice and the view was amazing. We also took the opportunity to meet some of the other tourists and chat. We also ran into the Edmonton guy from the tattoo shop again and I lost Tyson to him for the remainder of the ride. They exchanged facebook names and might become best friends forever.

After the boat we boarded the oldest, crappiest, dirtiest bus to Surrathannyi and I was shocked that we actually made it. Then we waited until 6pm and caught a brand new, shiny, clean bus for 11 hours through the night back to Bangkok. On the bus we watched the movie Blow and then stopped at a road side mini restaurant owned by the bus company. Here they absolutely ruthlessly rip off tourists by selling them crap food at inflated prices. But alas, since we had no choice, we bought dinner at triple the regular cost and it wasn't even that good! Then I played solitaire and slept all the way back to the big city. Later the next day we realized that on top of charging 100 baht for the rice I ate, I had accidentally paid with a 500 bill thinking it's a 100. So I never got the change and got screwed out of 400 Baht. Awesome.

We were supposed to arrive to Khau San Road (the main backapacker mecca of Bangkok) at 5am. Normally everything is 1-8 hours late in Bangkok but as luck would have it we arrived early at 3am. So basically we were stuck in drunk and tripping Bangkok in the middle of the night. In a few hours we physically witnessed everything that is wrong with the world and we were both traumatized for life. From intoxicated street vomitting to bad drug trips to lady boys being hit on by skinny white kids to prostitution and extortion we saw it all in what little time to took us to get the heck out of there. We could not find a tuk tuk driver who was willing to not rip us off to the point of humiliation so we walked the several kilometers (5-6) to the train station. The third class train was not leaving until 22:00 that night so we bought tickets and then slept until early afternoon at the train station with many other people.

It was at this point that we realized we were missing a chunk of money and in retracing our steps, we realized the lady ripped us off. This was difficult for us to stomack because we already felt ripped off so it just added salt to the wound.

We walked around Bangkok that day and stopped at MBK mall. This shopping mall makes Metrotown look like a small convenience store. It was too big to describe with at least one level dedicated to one category of items. For example there would be a whole level of cell phones and accesories or one entire level of shoes. They sell stuff that I never even knew existed, it is a pretty crazy sight. We stored our bags here for the day and picked them up before heading out to see Lumphini park. Lumphini Park is a large beautiful park with fountains, green grass and hundreds of Thai people. Every night they hold free aerobics classes for the people in the middle of the park and people can join as they please. During the time that we watched there were over 500 people all dancing to the same beat. It was amazing to see. We stopped at the only HSBC in the country to restock on cash and head back to the train station but not before picking up two pad thais on the way.
CONTINUED

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Leaving Malasia with a bang: Thaipusam

The experience of going to the Batu caves during the holy day Thaipusam has definitely been one of the biggest highlights and surprises of our whole trip thus far. We walked to KL Sentral LRT station which was a long, arduous and extremely sweaty walk. When we finally got there we joined a growing crowd of Indian-malays in line to get on the train. During the hour long wait the crowd grew and grew until there was thousands of people around us. We, of course, had our 20kg bags on because it was our last day in the country and we had no where else to leave them. I seriously thought that my experiences with the fireworks shows in Van city and the olympic events had prepared me for such an endeavor. I was deadly wrong. I shook hands with Tyson as the train came to a stop and confidently stepped forward with a dont-mess-with-me glare on my face. Instantly I was shoved aside like a rag doll and squished to the point of gasping for air. I still thought I could make it and pushed forward. Long before I even reached the door of the train I was suffocating and claustraphobic. Adrenaline and fight or flight set in at this point and I began to shout for everyone to back the ___ up right now as well as get the ___ out of my way. While this is a bit of a blur to me, Tyson tells me that people parted and actually let me pass while appologizing.

After the above incident we actually did get on the bus with a security escort who also reminded us to watch our wallet. We responded that ours had been stolen on day one, but thanks anyway. We rode this bus like overpacked sardines in a small tin. It was not a pleasant experience and the whole time we regretted even attempting to make it to the event. This was until we reached the event. It was fabulous! The most incredibly fun thing I have ever seen. I took some video but you must you tube it to see a better shot. I got distracted and most of my video are of the ground.

Music was blaring through the huge speakers, there were lights flashing everywhere. Locals were shouting for us to buy Ghandi movies and packora. We were eating samples of God knows what and being dragged down the small aisles. The huge gold buddha statue was glowing and the hundreds of stairs were packed with people. The holy people carrying the trays of milk on their heads were being paraded down the street to loud drums while other men had huge statues and scultures attached to their bodies with pins and nails. These people had all walked from KL which is a good 50km away. They were all hypnotized into a trance to not feel the pain of the experience. Everyone was shaving their heads as sacrifices and painting their scalps with gold paint. There was easily a million people there, but the main event is not until tomorrow! The actual holy day is the 7th but we went on the sixth because we fly out to Bangkok tomorrow.

It was a foreign but surreal experience and we were two of the few non-indians there. It was exciting and busy and we ate a lot of food. We actually spent all the rest of our cash to the cent there and had to sneak back to the train for the ride home. For the return ride back to KL Sentral (its spelled with an S) we were locked in a cage like area and when the people coming off the train were in a safe zone, we were released like hungrey wolves. Everyone was literally running onto the train as if their lives depended on it. It all contributed to the drama and success of the night.

We caught the 10:30 bus (which left at 10:50) back to the airport. It was the very same bus we rode out of the airport with a few weeks prior. It was a traumatic ride today because this is where we lost our wallet. On a bright note, I did find a nickel so what goes around comes around I guess.

We are spending tonight at the airport before our flight out to Bangkok in the am. We are very accustomed to sleeping on airport floors by now so we will be just fine through the noise and lights.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Cameron back to KL for the finale

After I walked into town and got stuck in a bit of a downpour, Tyson and I spent the day fixing my dreads, reading and playing trivia games. The kitchen staff even brought me an extra tray for dinner but unfortunately it was fish. I was able to eat my way around the fish and I was happy to get a hot meal instead of all the junk food and honey sandwhiches. At night, one of the nurses even brought me an extra blanket so we are really starting to feel at home here. The prior statement does not however waiver the fact that we are anxiously awaiting a discharge order. Also some of the nursing practices are questionable compared to what I know but I kept my mouth shut (for once).

The next morning I was up and packed and encouraging Tyson to change out of his hospital clothes long before the doctor had even arrived. Unfortunately the doctor who came at 10:30 am every other morning showed up at 12pm and by the time the discharge went through it was closer to 3pm. At that point they kindly presented our bill and we had even got a free ambulance ride to the bank to get the cash. Once this process was completed and the money was safely in the posession of the hospital it was nearly 6pm. It was a stressful process because they also did not give us the medical report or any of the other papers we needed to file an insurance claim. They did however charg us a healthy fee for a "medical report". Finally we had to leave with a promise that they would "email" it to us. We will see, nothing yet.

So finally we were free to leave the hospital and look for a place to stay for a couple of nights. Unbenounced to us it was a national holiday for the next two days and the rate for the exact same room we had stayed in before the dengue incident was now six times the original price. With a stolen wallet and the medical bill, this sucked even worse than it normally may have. Not only was it more costly, but there was also NOTHING available. Everywhere was booked solid as of months ago. So we wandered around town with all of our bags until we finally found a place to share a single bed in a dorm room in a crappy hotel with no internet or extras. The cost for this was significantly more than we had paid five days ago in a lovely hotel with many ammenities.

We decided to let it go and we went out for Indian food and splurged on chocolate filled buns (famous here) and Pringles (American food is not cheap) and a deck of cards. This is how we spent the night.

After a cozy night's sleep we got up early to enjoy at least one out of the seven days we had in Cameron Highlands. We walked to the next town after Tannah Rata called Brinchang. Here we walked through several strawberry farms made into tourist attractions. They have big strawberry statues and sell strawberry merchandise like keychains, scarves, tuques, ear muffs and mugs. I know that we have many strawberry fields in Pitt Meadows but somehow it had never been such a big deal. Busses and cars were rolling up by the dozens and people were buying up everything in sight. We were amazed and confused. There were also mushroom farms and other vegetables but nothing quite as exciting as strawberries.

We walked past many markets and farms until we reached Brinchang 6 kilometers away. Then we continued to hike another 17 kilometers up to the high altitude tea plantation that is very famous in this community. It was very beautiful! It was high up in the mountains and it looked like a green blanket of tea plants. It was breathtaking scenery and the weather was perfect like a sunny fall day in Vancouver (but a bit warmer). When we finally got to the factory, we were able to walk through where the tea is prepared and even try samples (well 6-7 samples if your Tyson). In fact Tyson took so many samples that I felt inclined to buy some tea which we did. It was a neat experience and the best part was the scenery that was unreal. In the pictures I was having a bad hair day so please excuse that and focus on the beauty of the fields behind me.

After that experience we walked about 5 kilometers to the base of Ganung Brinchang which is the highest mountain in the region. Then we climbed up it and back down (6 km) through the mossy jungles and rainforest. It was a bit hairy at parts and very steep but it was a good time. That hike took about four hours and then we walked back to the hotel (which raised their prices on us once again for the second night) for 10 kilometers. I am not sure if you have been keeping track of the km travelled but it was a lot, and by the time we got back we rushed into the first restaurant we could find and ate almost double what we normally eat. Back at our hotel we met a lovely German couple and chatted about travelling with them. They kindly informed us that it will be the summer olympics during the time we are in London (an already expensive country) so I think I will start buying lottery tickets now. Then we showered off the mud and sweat and squeezed into our cozy bed for a nice sleep.

This morning we were up early to catch our bus back to KL. It was a four hour ride but we are here now and tying up loose ends before we travel to the Batu Caves for a huge Indian celebration that we keep hearing about. Good times:)

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Darn Mosquitos Won

We woke up very early in the morning at our couchsurfing host's home and left the apartment when it was still dark. We walked about fifteen minutes to the LRT station. I got into a bit of an argument with the lady attendant over the fare we should pay and in the end we paid her fee and Tyson put in a complaint at the next station about her behavior. We ended up getting a free train ride later that day as a result.

That day was jam packed full of rushing from one attraction to another. Most were religious temples, mosques and museams. We started off trying to go to the mosque but it was closed to non muslims at the time. Fridays are very difficult because the Muslims have Friday prayers at certain points throughout the day.

Later on around 3pm we did get to visit the outside of the building because non-muslims are not allowed inside the halls. We had to wear long cloaks that look like grad gowns and I had to wear a head scarf.

So we head to another mosque which was also closed but we could walk around the outside of this one at anytime. It was a huge place and looked very grand with large domes and fountains. We then went to the Islamic Arts museam which I found quite boring. This is probably because it was all about the mosques, how they were built and their designs. I expected more about the actual religion and their customs. I faked being sick and we got out entrance fees back from them and carried on. We skipped the police museam because it was further up a hill and we were using the heel toe express.

We went to several Chinese temples throughout the day and they were all very similar. The Chinese at these site appear very religious. They give oranges and oil as sacrifices and pray by putting the palms of their hands thogether in front of their faces. Each person carries twenty to thirty inscence sticks and puts them into a basket. There are also very big torches that are lit and burning all the time. There is also a big fire burning in a furnace where the people can burn paper products such as cash. These temples were especially busy due to the new year. The buildings are very colourful and detailed. There are thousands of sculptures carved into the walls and the roof of the building is pointed and beautiful. My description is far from able to paint an accurate picture. I have to admit we could not stay for long in these buildings because our lungs could not quite tolerate the immense smoke.

We also went to several Hindu temples which are equally as detailed as the Chinese ones. They are very brightly decorated and there are hundreds of statues of different holy people and animal beings. The people pray by kneeling and also putting their palms together in prayer form. They paint their faces using reds and yellows that are available in front of the statues. The ceilings are painted with bright pictures and it is all quite beautiful. At one temple the staff offered us lunch which was sweet cocnut rice served on bamboo leaves and a simple yet delicious soup. We even forgave them for charging us 20 cents to hold our shoes (shoes are prohibitted inside the temples).

We also saw the old railway station and trains, we saw the KL museam and then stopped at the Malay museam where we learned about the different cultures of the Malay people. Malay people are not only from Malaysia but also from Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and around that area. We read about and saw diagrams of weddings, births, deaths, funerals and other significant events. The first time a child's foot touches the ground is a significant event that calls for celebration and rituals. Another important time is circumcision (FEMALE and male), this time comes around five to eight years of age and holds a lot of importance as well.

We walked and walked and sweat and sweat. It was around 40 degrees without a hint of a breeze all day. We walked through little India where Indian pop is blaring through the speakers and you can smell rotis, thosais and tea through every shop. We walked through China town where we could smell noodles and sweet chicken being cooked. There were new years lights and decor everywhere and everyone was offering us menus.

We even stopped at HSBC to use their computors to check our email and drink free cokes. We then met back up with our host for dinner at a local Indian/Malay fusion restaurant where we had rotis and thosais with tea tarik. We chatted until his friend showed up who is also a couch surfing member. The four of us then went to the bar/club area where we had drinks. Tyson's virgin strawberry margarita cost over $10 CAD! Actually our host treated us which was very kind but when you can get a meal for 40 cents, a $10 drink is a big hit. The area was littered with "escorts" that accompanied old fat white men and tourists.

That night Tyson began feeling ill with an increasing fever and aches. We brushed it off a bit and head out for another meal after the drinks. Here we also had roti and more tea before we head back home and passed out quickly after a long day of heat, walking and sightseeing.

The next morning we woke up early again and head to the bus station downtown. We caught the 7:00am bus at 7:35am (somehow that makes sense around here) and left for Pulau Penang. After about three and a half hours we got off and caught a public ferry over to Georgetown. The ferry was filled with locals and uncomfortable chairs but it was only a fifteenen minute ride. We got off and walked the kilometer to Chinatown where one can always find the cheapest places to stay.

Everywhere was either full or pricey because of the holiday season (Chinese New Year). No one seemed to care for our business so when we found a reasonable room with two single beds and no window or bathroom, we did not complain.

We wandered the whole city that afternoon and evening. We went to the Penang museam, several huge mosques, several Chinese temples and clan houses and even a church. We saw the jetti and their pier. We also saw Fort Cornwallis which is a fort with cannons and statues about the founding of the place.

The weather was hot as usual and Tyson was beginning to feel unwell again so we decided to catch a bus up Penang Hill instead of doing the hike. We saw the biggest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia with a huge gold statue of the buddha atop the highest point of the hill. Even though we took a bus up, there was still a lot of walking to get around. The temple was quite impressive and we learned that it had taken twenty years to build. This was evident with all the details and the size of the buildings. There was still construction going on while we visited. There was thousands of people there and the line up of vehicles waiting for parking outside must have been over five km in length. I had never seen such a line up! There were hundreds of small souvenier shops that we had to walk through before we could actually get to the temple which took away from the experience although we are becomming quite accustomed to money-making religions. The breathtaking and hilarious part came when the sun went down. Hundreds of thousands of lights came on and the place lit up, making Vegas look dull. There were swastika symbols glittering with show lights and the statues came to life with movements and the whole building glowed in the most brilliant yet shocking way. We took a video of it that may perhaps communicate the event more clearly.

While waiting for the bus that evening we met a Canadian student studying in Singapore. He was an interesting character who travelled with us back to our hotel and we made plans to eat with him later on. Unfortunately Tyson was still feeling sluggish so we had to cancel.

Every night in Penang we ate at a burger street stand right outside of our hotel. We ordered "plain" burgers (two each) every night and they were anything but plain. They had at least six different sauces including butter, hot sauce, something tangy, ketchup and mustard with salad and other ingredients that I cannot name. The burgers were delicious and I am sure we will be craving for them long after our trip here is over. We also tried their fries and hot dogs but the burgers were the main hit.

The next morning we had planned on waking up early and catching a bus to the Cameron Highlands. Instead we slept in late and went to the hospital. Tyson was still not feeling better. It was strange going into the emergency department in another country but the system was great in Penang. We hardly waited at all, they triaged him quickly and we waited about fifteen minutes to see the doctor. She was very courteous and sent us for blood work immediately. I had to do all of the portering of the blood and results which is completely different from Canada but it seemed to work well. The results of the blood work were off and they transfused one unit of fluids. The doctor then suggested that we come back the next day to repeat the blood work. Since we had planned to leave for the Cameron highlands, she wrote us a referral to their hospital facility.

We walked home from the hospital stopping for Indian food on the way. When we got home to the hotel we bought our usual burgers and streamed TV shows until bed time.

We missed one ferry the next morning to catch one only minutes later. We bought bus tickets to
Cameron Highlands from a lady that Tyson connected with over Herbalife talk. She even saved us a dollar on our tickets. Unfortunately minutes later she ran up to us appologetically saying there is no bus to the Cameron Highlands today. So we got stuck taking a bus part way to Ipoh and waiting there for a while before taking a clunker shuttle van to Tannah Lot in C.H. We searched for places to stay but again everywhere was full due to the New Year that seems to be a month long holiday. We finally found a lovely place called ESM Hotel where the staff were very kind. We dropped off our stuff and walked one and a half km to the hospital.

Emergency sent us to outpatient because they were busy with a sick trauma baby. The blood work came back abnormal again and they asked Tyson to come back the next day. I was a bit frustrated at this point because both doctors had mentioned the possibility of dengue fever as a diagnosis but no test for this had been done. They were just doing general blood work. So they promised that they would do the proper blood work the next morning and we would not have to pay again nor wait in line. We promised to be there at 8am the next morning.

That night we ate noodle soup and passed out at 9pm. The next morning at 7am we snoozed the alarm. We snoozed again at 7:30 and every half an hour from then until 11:30am. At this point we got out of bed and Tyson left for the hospital while I organized our life a bit. I followed him to the hospital a little later and we waited for the results of the tests until 2pm. The doctor showed up at 3pm and admitted the poor dear for dengue fever. I ran off to gather our things and buy some food.

When I got back to the hospital Tyson was dressed in green scrubs 85 sizes too big and covered with a mosquito net that looked like a princess canopy. I couldn't help but laugh. We ate all of his favorite foods and read all evening. This is where we were told to expect to spend the next 2-14 days.
As we learned, Dengue is a disease passed from an infected mosquito to a human through a bite.

Ironically, Tyson very rarely gets bitten while I am known to be walking around with several itchy swollen bites at all times. Unfortunately however, the wrong one bit and here we are. Tyson was placed on the "male ward" and I was allowed to spend the nights in a chair next to him. The nurses were quite kind and spoke English for the most part. The first day was ok and Tyson was not feeling sick at all but apparently he was still in the danger zone according to the blood work as well as the number of days ago he had the fever. He was told to drink water and he obeyed, drinking nearly eight liters a day and running to the urinal every other minute.

The fist night we made the mistake of sleeping late because the staff woke us up at 6:30 am for vitals, blood work, breakfast and washing up. Tyson especialy had not slept well because he was feeling itchy on his hands which may have been a reaction to the antibiotics they had started him on so they stopped those.

The health inspector came by to see Tyson and wanted a detailed play by play of our activities in the last couple of weeks so that they could try to track where the mosquito made its attack. He said they would fumigate the areas we had been in an attempt to control the disease.

One of the many doctors who came to see him had very poor bedside manners and did not introduce himself nor look at us during the whole "assessment". Other than that though we have been very well looked after although a bit worried about missing our flight to Bangkok in a few days.

The meals started off as fish for every meal in a smelly sauce with plain almost-cooked rice and broiled vegetables in the same sauce. We told the nurse that he was allergic to fish so they switched to chicken and it was much more tolerable. On the second day, Tyson was the only patient on the ward with half a dozen nurses so it was not too bad. We spent the day reading, doing sudokos, napping and strolling the bare hospital halls. It is not exactly how we planned to spend our time in Cameron Highlands but it could have been worse and we were thankful that we were proactive in coming to the hospital because this is a potentially fatal disease and many locals have been known to succomb to the illness.
On the third day I was sent out to buy all of Tyson's favorite snacks and most importantly let our family know that he is OK! He saw the doctor this morning and he has confirmed that since Tyson has been without fever or symptoms for six days, he should be released tomorrow! So seven days and we are home free! Other than itchy palms he is quite stable and ready to leave the hospital! I'll keep ya'll posted:)

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"