Day 21 - Adelaide

I arrived in Adelaide very early in the morning. It was a sunny day but quite cold. I went straight to my hostel and left my bag there. The place was clean and very efficient. I liked it. I was sharing my room with other 5 people but the room was empty the moment I arrived. I decided to go around and sightseeing in Adelaide and trying to spend the day without getting too bored. The city is ok but nothing really special. After a couple of hour I had seen pretty much everything and I then decided to go to the library. I spent another couple of hours there reading a good guide book about Bolivia to get an idea how to move around once I will be there.
For dinner I went to China Town and that was the best part of the day. China Town is basically just a little street here, but there is a little restaurant which probably make the best dumplings I have ever tasted. 16 dumplings in miso soup for 7 dollars. Great meal and great value.
Went back to my hostel and I had a quick chat in the canteen with few guys that were there after returning from the outback. We exchanged some comments and a good tea. The canteen and the dorm looked like those of my old Uni in Sweden. It was a nice feeling, like jumping back into the past.
I went to bed early. One guy in my room was snoring very badly but thanks to my earplugs I managed to sleep few hours. I was really looking forward to cross the desert. With that thought in mind I fell asleep almost immediately.

Day 14 to Day 20 - Sydney

Ahhhh Australia!
Land of beautiful nature, wild animals and endless deserts!

I landed in Sydney in the morning, and after approximately 2 hours at the passport control I manged to leave the airport. My friend Anine was there waiting for me and she drove me back to her place before going to work. My first approach with Sydney wasn't really the best. Rain, wind and a cold breeze gave me an unexpected welcome. I always imagined Sydney being the 'sunny city' that you always see on TV, but that wasn't the case. Moreover I was also coming from a super hot country so I probably felt even more the sudden change of climate. I was very tired but I decided to stay awake and go to bed at night in order to adjust myself to the time difference. I left Anine's place and went to city centre. I didn't really have enough warm clothes but my raincoat did a decent job, at least to prevent me getting completely drenched.

I had a lot of different feelings the first day: I was tired and a little bit spaced out but at the same time I felt somehow at 'home', at home because in an environment to me very familiar. A western city with all its typical characteristics which I am pretty used to. I thought I really needed few days of relax, good drinks and good chatting with friends. The days passed by very quickly and I managed to recharged my batteries and to enjoy the company of friends. Sydney offers you a variety of activities and some extremely interesting museums and parks.
It is lovely here and the people seem extremely friendly and simple. My journey in Sydney has been also special thanks to my two friends Anine and Meg, whom not only hosted me during my days here but also took me around helping me to experience the best of Sydney in these seven days.
The weather finally changed after few days and a timid sun started to gradually appear. I spent the days sightseeing around visiting the Sydney Aquarium, the Harbour, the wonderful Opera House, the Taronga Zoo and even went to a Charity Ball.

This one in particular was a great evening: considering that I am backpacking around the world and at the same time managing to go to a Ball wearing a friend's friend's suit and a pair of shoes of Meg's brother, I think I am doing pretty good! I was in the Ball, looking outside one of the window of the Hilton Hotel thinking how funny the world can be. I was/am thousands of miles away from home but everything seems so familiar and friendly.


Few days ago I was in Vietnam and now I am in a Ball wearing a suit in downtown Sydney.
I love this trip!

The Aquarium and the Zoo were simply amazing, showing the wonders of the nature and of this beautiful land, where animals and people seem to live in a very good balanced relationships. The Aquarium was particularly beautiful, walking under water and observing those magnificent creatures that often scared and ignite the imagination of many people and travellers: sharks, stingrays and all sorts of fish were displayed in massive aquariums which smartly reproduced their natural habitat. Same for the Zoo where reptiles, mammals and birds seem to have a lot of space and freedom in one of the largest bio-park of the world.

When I think about Sydney I like to describe it with a very famous Thai sentence: SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT. It is a western city but with a soul of its own.
Such a different environment and such a different culture from the one I just left few days ago in South East Asia, but at the same time extremely beautiful and interesting.
Drinking and chatting on a Friday night next to the Opera House is also something I will always remember...
It was simply great.
Thanks Anine, thanks Meg! Love you loads! XX

While here I decided to go and see the outback. I will fly to Adelaide and will spend a day there. The day after, around 6am I will go on a tour of 6 days heading to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, visiting Coober Pedy, Ayers Rock, King's Creek and obviously the desert.
Loving Sydney and happy to be in Australia!

TWIMO!

Day 13 - Hoi An - Bangkok - Sydney

The morning started at 3.30am with the taxi driver being late of 20 minutes... he drove me to Da Nang where I took a plane to Hanoi and then to Bangkok.
I have lost my mobile phone and I am trying to remember where it might be. But no trace of it. The thing doesn't really bother me too much for the phone itself which costs only 30 pounds but for the number and some security codes I had stored in there. I will find the way to resolve this problem anyway..

In Bangkok now, waiting for my plane to Sydney which is scheduled for 18.05. I managed however to enter into the British Airways lounge even if I have an economy class ticket because I still have my frequent flyer card. The lounge here is great: free Internet, showers, good food, lots of wine and comfortable chairs. I am here now, with my laptop, recollecting all my thoughts about Asia.

South-East Asia as a first chapter of this trip has been a great host: with its history, its nature and most importantly its people, it stands out for being a wonderful destination which I obviously recommend to everyone. I feel happy, I feel satisfied and fulfilled. It will take me a while to put each emotion and thought back to its right place. Pictures will help me in this task. I love feeling like this: free and happy with so much to still looking forward to. I will try to rest on the plane maybe after a good movie.

Australia, I am coming!
TWIMO!

Day 12 - Hoi An (My Son)

I woke up around 7am because I wanted to visit the archaeological site of My Son (pronounced 'me-son'), now UNESCO world heritage site, and again another marvel of the Cham kingdom, the same people who started building Angkor.
I managed to jump in the very last minute into a bus of a tour-operator which was going there for the day. This time I confess I was quite disappointed. I was disappointed with the amount of tourists and the quality of the tour-guide. It was the most touristic-cheap tour I have probably ever attended but it was the only one I could arrange in such a short notice. The site itself is very beautiful, lost in a breathtaking jungle. However, after having witnessed the splendours of Angkor, this one looked very small and in pretty bad condition, this due to the fact that uncle Sam decided to heavily bomb it during the Vietnamese war. Apparently it was supposed to be a Vietcong fort, but the information was wrong and the site was bombed at the end for nothing. I manged to take some good pictures without too many people around including a couple of interesting pictures of the bricks and the perfect (and still unknown) technique used in building these incredible temples and monuments. The temperature and the climate was almost unbearable; terribly hot and humid making every single step looking like a huge effort.

 I also felt very tired and realized that the first 12 days have been very intense. All of a sudden the intensity of the last too weak came together with the heatwave to kill my legs. But obviously I continued, considering that the tour was almost practically over. We continued via boat on the river but there wasn't much to see this time. The landscape was almost flat and nothing really interesting captured my sight. We arrived back to Hoi An around 3pm where I continued my visit to the last few temples and monasteries before sitting down in a lovely bar full of coloured lanterns with a cool beer and a little tasty snack.

Monsoon rain came again but this time was heavier and longer than the previous days. Clouds were incredibly gray and their colour and anger was even more remarkable considering that the rest of the sky was still blue. I decided to go back to the hotel, to pack and to sleep a little bit. Wake up call is set for 3.30am and I don't have much time to rest but I don't really care. Tomorrow is going to be a long day travelling by plane and my last day in Asia. I will have time to rest on my flights and on my first few days in Australia.
TWIMO!

Day 11 - Hoi An

The bus ride was as usual very slow and crowded but I am getting used to it.
The bus arrived directly in front of a proper hotel right outside the centre. I was captured by the local guy at the reception and I realized that they were offering me a four-star room for the price of 10$. I couldn't really believe it and thought that there must have been some tricks behind that. It was actually all true though. The room was fantastic, very clean with a large bathroom, double bedroom and great furniture. I was used to basic guesthouses so this one looked like a proper treatment!

I walked about 10 minutes to get to downtown and it was exactly as described. Old Chinese-Japanese-Vietnamese style, in front of a sleepy river and massive food-market. Everything is pretty much left as it was centuries before; however this is the first impression, because loads of money hit the town both from the tourists and the state allowing the local government to go through a full-scale restructure and maintenance of the historical part of the town. The city was an important port until a century and half ago until it was eventually surpassed by the near city of Da Nang; but the charm and the appeal of the town with its little streets, hidden temples and beautiful shops make Hoi An one of the most favourite destination of Vietnam.

I spent the afternoon and the part of the evening walking around visiting old houses, city halls, listening to local music played by a band and watching a 20 minutes show of traditional dance. It was a wonderful afternoon blessed by the summer monsoon rain which arrived around 6.30pm forcing me to go to a lovely place in front of the river, eating fresh spring rolls while talking to the waitress and listening to the powerful sound of thunders.
Hoi An is magical and his magic has definitely conquered me. You can easily spend 3-4 days there without getting bored, trying all the different bars and market offering exquisite delicatessen.

Happy and with my stomach full, I went back to my hotel for a final beer and chat with two Australian bikers whom stopped in Hoi An while on their way to Hanoi.

Great day...

Day 10 - Hue (The Imperial Tombs)

 

As per every day now, I woke up very early in the morning to catch the bus to see the imperial tombs around Hue. The day was grey and humid, with its very angry dark clouds ready to unload their fat raindrops. The journey however was very nice. My little group was formed by 7-8 people mostly from UK, Germany and Australia. There was also one Vietnamese woman from Hanoi visiting Hue for business and, having half a day free, she decided to go visiting the surroundings with an organized tour. I generally feel quite skeptical about organized day-trip with lots of foreigners, but this one was a good one overall. I felt a little bit sleepy in the morning but the I ended up chatting all the way with the Vietnamese woman and our guide while, the boat driver like in a film, was driving the boat with his feet while reading slightly bored the local newspaper.

The day went through very quickly. The tombs were very beautiful, showing even more the great influx of Chinese style and culture in Vietnam. Our guide was very well prepared and fortunately the tombs (which are more proper 'palaces'' rather than ordinary tombs) were not crowded of tourists but pretty empty. It was a great atmosphere that I greatly enjoyed.

Once back in the hotel, I arranged my bus to Hoi An for the morning after and went to eat to a nearby guest house. Nothing really spectacular in terms of nightlife, the streets were pretty desolated around 11pm. I am in my room now, recollecting the pictures of the day, and repacking my bag properly. I am very curious to go to Hoi An tomorrow. They say it is like diving straight back to the past. We will see. Time to rest now.
Goodnight!

Day 9 – Hue (The Citadel)

It was almost 12 o’clock and I jumped on a motorbike for one dollar who took me to a hotel which seemed good and cheap from the description of my guidebook. The receptionist welcomed me with one of the largest smile I have ever seen. Her name was TU and she was quintessentially Vietnamese wearing the typical hat and traditional clothes. She took me to my room and collected all the info for the check in. The room was ok. 10 bucks a night including breakfast and with 3 hours-laundry service. I gave her all my stuff to wash and I finally jumped into a fresh shower. I put my very last shirt and my dirty shorts, flip-flop, guide in my bag, little laptop and ready again to hit the town.

Hue was the former imperial city of Vietnam. The city has developed a lot since the end of the Vietnamese war. The Americans’ B-52s with their bombs damaged a large part of the city, but in the last decades the city witnessed a flourish re-development and restoration of its antique splendours. Hue is shaped like 2 concentric rings with the inner one being the so called ‘old town’. The external circle comprises the modern buildings and all the new houses. Once I crossed the main gate of the citadel, I was immediately approached by a guy who wanted me to join him for a ride around the main attractions of the citadel sitting on his ‘armchair-bike’, the typical and old fashion way of transportation in town. Originally these sort of wheel-chairs were pulled by a guy on foot; now the driver is sitting behind and he cycles you around. This guy seemed very calm, the opposite of the screaming men that usually want to offer you a ride. I found out at the end that he is also mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide for being one of the best guide in town, and that sometimes he can be found right in front of the main portal, exactly where I was.  I decided for 5$ dollars to accept his offer and it definitely was the right thing to do. The citadel is actually very big and it would have taken me a lot to visit it all, without considering how tired I was after all. Thinh my guide, was extremely precise in giving me information about the old town and took me around a bit outside the beaten-track showing me the local temples and the houses of the locals. He described with vivid colours and with accurate descriptions the splendours of the imperial palace, the richness of its river, the damages and the horrors of the war; his father died while working in the house under an American bomb, but his voice was calm and his behaviour was of forgiveness. I must admit he was an exceptional man, a big practitioner of shaolin kung-fu and buddism. He told me that the main reason why he loves his job is because he learns from the people he carries around. He is not able to travel due to lack of money, but “his mind travels with the tales told by the people who sits on his bike”. His bike is his world in every sense.

 I felt compelled and attracted somehow by his wisdom and his ability to make things very simple. He was extremely curious to know about my last trip to India, and we managed, at the end of the tour of the citadel to sit down in his local cafe, next to his wife and children to talk and to discuss about the Indians and their society. His eyes were hungry of information like those of a baby. Fortunately I had my little netbook with me and I managed to show him some pictures of the cities and the temples I visited. After few minutes I had a little bunch of locals behind me looking at the screen and smiling with the few teeth they had left. I felt at home, even if I was thousands miles away. This is the Asia I love. I was the only Western person around locals, and even if I doubt they understood me while I was talking, they definitely understood what I was trying to say via images and body language. In case this didn’t happened, they simply smiled offering me another cup of the best coffee I have ever tasted.

I had dinner not too far from there in a local place, which was a little bit of a circus but with amazing and simple food. I had fresh spring rolls with beef and peanut sauce, chicken with vegetables and Vietnamese burritos. Delicious. I said goodbye to Thinh and to his family and walked back to my guest house.

I was recollecting my thoughts and the images of the citadel: the forbidden palace, the old houses, the red lanterns, the bombs of the war and the smiles of the people, were all mixing and passing through my mind very fast. So many stories, so many faces and so many little moments that forms, like small tiles, a larger mosaic of life.

As Thinh is learning a little bit about the outside world via his customers who sits on his bike, I am learning a little bit of the world thanks to people like Thinh.

Day 8 - Saigon - Hue

There isn’t much to tell about today. Well, actually there is one thing: it has been the first time in my life to spend 27 hours in a bus. I left Saigon at 8am saying goodbye to the ladies of my hotel and to Mr. Antonio who walked with me to the bus station.
The bus was made by special seats where in theory you can stay and stretch yourself like in little beds. The problem was that these buses are made for Asian people and not for people like me. Practically I couldn’t move, with no rooms for legs; it was the most uncomfortable ride I have ever had. A classic seat would have been much better. After 27 hours, approximately at 11.30 am of the day after I reached Hue, the former capital of Vietnam.
I planned originally to go to Hoi An first but since I am flying out from the city of Da Nang which is only 30 minutes from Hoi An and 3 hours from Hue, I thought it was better to visit the furthest city first and then remain in Hoi An until the very last moment before my flight. So finally I arrived in Hue tired, dirty and with no clean t-shirts. I needed a shower and a couple of hours rest. But I had to find a decent guest house first...

Day 7 – Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

The day has started with the terrible reality of having only 1 clean t-shirt left. I need a laundry service but so far I haven’t stayed long enough in any guest house to be able to have it back in 1 day. Anyway, I left the guest house around 8.30am together with a real character that I briefly met for breakfast in the hotel: the man named Antonio, is an Italian gentleman of approximately 70 years old, emigrated to Australia when he was 20. His accent was so strong that he reminded me one of those movies of Francis Ford Coppola or Martin Scorsese, in which the usual stereotypical Italian-American speaks with that strange accent that the world nowadays is able to recognize everywhere. His accent was so strong even for a fellow Italian like me that I honestly struggled to understand him. When I asked him to swap into Italian, I realized that it was actually even worse so I kindly swapped back again into English without letting him noticing it. Or so I think. He was in Saigon waiting for his wife who went back to Italy after many years of absence (in a very small town in the south of the country). He chose Saigon because he was always very curious to see it and too bored to go back to Italy in a small town ‘full of old people’. Bless him. His manners are extremely kind and he seems to be always very calm and happy. The Vietnamese women who run this guest house seem to love him to pieces, especially after he decided to spend 3 weeks in their place. They spoil him and play with him like if he were the man of the house. But he truly deserves it. He walked with me from the hotel to the museum and on the way we had a very nice chat about Australia, his life there, my life in London, and Italy, or at least the way he remembers it and the way he remembers how it was when he left. I was going to a museum but at the same time I realized I was talking with a mirror of the times of the early post-war Italian society. Great stories and anecdotes blended with nice humour and lots of patience. Thanks Antonio!

When we arrived at the war museum we were immediately welcomed by 2 huge American tanks left outside the door like if they were guarding those who were trying not to pay the ticket. Considering that the ticket costs approximately 70cents of a dollar, I thought it was worthy paying it without facing the fury of the tanks. Despite my silly jokes the museum was excellent in its horror. A collection of pictures, weapons and documentaries to testimony the brutality, the suffering and the uselessness of the Vietnam war. Even if every pictures was commented with a slightly propagandistic (but totally justified) comment, the main goal of the museum is that to shock the visitor with crude images and real weapons.

I decided when I left that the next museum I will visit will be something slightly more happy than the last two I have visited. I met a Vietnamese guy outside who offered me a full day ride to visit the best places of the city for only 10$. I accepted considering also that I didn’t have much choice if not to go by foot or to get a proper taxi which would have cost me probably double as much. The truth is that driving a motorbike in Saigon means risking your life. And risking my life for 10$ I thought it was a thing I had never tried before. 80% of the population cannot afford a car so the only way is to use a scooter. I have never seen in my entire life so many scooters on the street all driving at the same time. It is seriously an experience that will change the way you see the traffic in your own city forever. Probably only Mumbai is equal or worse than Saigon. There are practically no rules. When the traffic light is red, people stop but obviously if you are in a hurry you are justified to cross the street. If the road is one way, everyone is going in the same direction, but once again, if you are in a hurry or you cannot really be bother to take the long way, why not taking a shortcut and start driving into the other direction when you see approximately one thousands motorbikes heading towards you? This was my driving experience in Saigon. I think I must have risked my life 10 times, basically one per each dollar I paid; but then I looked around and I saw for example a mother with 3 kids on one scooter driving like if the Moto GP Championship had just started on the street of Saigon. However, the good thing was that I really managed to see the city and its inner jewels as a local person, off the tourist beaten track. My driver, with whom I enjoyed also a good lunch in his local canteen with his fellow workers, took me to visit the hidden markets, the Chinatown temples, the cool cafes for Vietnamese people next to the river and the Independence palace, making risking my life on his motorbike a risk which was worth taking. Finally he left me in front of a blind massage centre very close to my guest house, where a blind woman gave me a very good massage for only 2$. I returned back to the guest house for dinner. I had a shower, a good meal and now I am writing these lines in my rooms overlooking the lights of the streets and buildings that I have seen today. It has been a long day.

I am heading to Hoi An tomorrow crossing all central Vietnam. 24 hours ride in a sleeping bus, with a long (uncomfortable?) seat and a bag of dried mangos to eat on the way.

I have already changed so many places and seen and done so many things and it is only day 7. I am trying to seize every single moment. I have been travelling a lot by bus and this gave me also the chance to see a lot while travelling. So far I haven’t had the chance yet to experience the nightlife, neither in Bangkok nor in Saigon; but I am sure I will make it up later on.
It is a funny, strange, complex and beautiful world the one we live in.
Goodnight.
TWIMO

Day 6 - Phnom Penh - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

The main reason why I decided to stop in Phnom Penh is because I wanted to visit the Genocide Museum of Tuol Sleng.
During the 3 years between 1975 and 1978, the Democratic Kampuchea (modern Cambodia) was ruled with terror, oppression and insane brutality by Pol Pot and his ‘Khmer Rouge’. Tuol Sleng was sadly famous for being considered a sort of concentration camp (originally the building was an elementary school) where the ‘enemies of the state’(mostly innocent people without distinction between men, women and children) where interrogated, tortured and eventually killed. Officially, at least 11000 prisoners have been killed without taking into account the missing people and the children. An approximate guess for these ones is of about 20000.

My guest house was very close to the hotel, so I left my bag in the lobby and walked to the museum. As I expected, the museum was very interesting and obviously also very crude and straight forward in delivering the message of its atrocities. Thousands of pictures of all the inmates throughout the 3 years are exposed next to the tools of tortures inside the same original rooms.
After approx 1 hour, I left the museum with a selfish feeling of relief leaving a place that was still screaming all its anguish and suffering; I took a tuk tuk to go briefly to the Central Market of the city, famous for its jewellery. Hundreds of different desks selling gold, silver and precious stones with incredibly well elaborated forms and decorations. The market was very interesting but, even for a place like Phnom Penh, the prices were quite high. I managed to buy a little ring though, for the very affordable amount of 12$.
I went back to the hotel where the bus came to pick me up after 30 minutes.
Next destination Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, informally still known as Saigon.

The bus ride was very long, approximately 7 hours. At the frontier travellers are welcomed by a huge building in perfect socialist style and red flags all over. Annoyed guards check passports and bags but the process is fairly smooth. I arrived in Saigon and as always I chose the hotel close to the bus stop, and fortunately once again it was a brilliant choice. The guest house is very central, with friendly Vietnamese women as hosts. My room is actually very high and I can see the sparking lights of the city all around. I had a quick meal and went to bed soon after. The day after, my only full day in Saigon, was already packed with lots of stuff to see and to do, so I decided to be disciplined and trying to go to bed not too late so that I could have been up quite early in the morning.
Saigon is another place full of histories and great and tragic stories. I am thrilled of being here and tomorrow is going to be a very nice and interesting day. I have planned since a while to visit the War Museum and to taste the famous Vietnamese coffee and to discover all the different markets that the city has to offer.
Going for a nice fresh shower and a good sleep now...
TWIMO!

Day 5 - Siem Reap - Phnom Penh

I opened my eyes around 7am. Tohl was waiting for me downstairs to finish the tour in Angkor. I decided to leave with the 2pm bus so I could have spent the night directly at Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. Before seeing the last temples, I decided to go and visit the nearby villages. The Cambodians living around Siem Reap are amongst the poorest people in South East Asia. You can still see little children running around totally naked and bathing in the water of the surrounding rice fields. Many of them will never go to school, and the majority of the older ones (12-14 years old) were forced out of school because their families couldn’t afford to pay 100$ per year for their education. Despite all that and despite having nothing (and most probably also nothing to really looking forward to), they had always a spare smile to give me. We stopped to get a bottle of water and one local family, happy to see a stranger, offered me a cup of steamed rice. Their smiles and their joy, with nothing to offer if not a warm welcome, made me realize even more that I am, and I have always been, a very lucky man.

I obviously arrived back to the hotel quite late, but fortunately I managed to catch the bus to Phnom Penh. I quickly said goodbye to Thol and jumped into the bus. Six hours journey and like the previous one, I chose my guest house during the trip, reading my lonely planet book. I generally choose the guest house recommended in the book which is also near the arrival bus station. The journey was quite comfortable this time and I manage to read, to sleep and to chat a little bit with the other passengers. There was a nice Cambodian girl sitting next to me, who offered me some mangos and coconut; I found out later that she was a prostitute in Phnom Penh, visiting her family in Siem Reap. I also met fortunately a nice guy that at a first look didn’t look Cambodian; he was in fact Japanese, working for a Japanese NGO on development and agriculture in Phnom Penh.

Once the bus arrived, Higuchi (this was his name) helped me to find the guesthouse. I asked him if he wanted to go and grab a bite together and he accepted, saying that he would have taken me to a cheap and very good local restaurant close to his office. Perfect..
He came half an hour later with its scooter, wearing a brand new jersey of the Italian football team. I smiled when I saw that, not being very proud at the same time of the poor result of Italy in the last world cup. We went to eat and later on he drove me a little bit around the city to show me the best places and monuments. I confess that the city is not very nice but the entire evening was very pleasant. Basically I found myself in Phnom Penh, riding a bike with a Japanese guy wearing an Italian jersey... I thought it was a very funny and random situation. We said goodbye after a couple of beers and a nutella crepe in one of the local bars in front of the Mekong river.
I went back to my hotel, I watched an episode of 24 and went to bed falling asleep almost immediately.

Day 4 - Siem Reap & Angkor

I woke up at 4 am. It wasn’t too hard I must confess. Still under the effect of the jet-lag I found myself opening my eyes few minutes before the alarm started. My tuk-tuk driver, Tohl, was already waiting for me downstairs. It was very dark but already very warm and humid. I had everything with me, camera, water, sunglasses and the raincoat. We arrive in front of the Angkor area and a little bunch of tourists was already there buying the tickets. I paid 40$ for 2 days entrance and free excursion in the entire area. Considering the living standards of the Cambodian, 40$ is a huge amount of money. However I realized that there are thousands of workers in Angkor, with a massive area to cover. Moreover, Angkor was one, if not the only real reason of my passage into Cambodia, so it was definitely worth the price. Tohl left me in front of a sort of old bridge, an antique passage which went through the old main portal of Angkor Wat. It was still very dark but the first few timid rays of light were about to start coming from east. All of a sudden I could see it: Angkor Wat in all its splendour right in front of me. It was a place I have always dreamt about and finally I was there, right in front of it.

I was only annoyed by the thousands of local people trying selling you all sort of stuff, including temporary chairs in order to sit down to watch the sunrise. One dollar for coffee and a chair is a good price, but sitting next to many other loud tourists wasn’t really my cup of tea. So I decided to keep walking a little bit and sitting down under one little temple in the area. Sunrise came quickly but it wasn’t that great. The weather was very cloudy and the sun could barely show its beautiful morning face. Never mind; I started exploring the temple and the surrounding area. It was a great idea to go there so early; I spent 2 hours visiting Angkor Wat and when I left it was still 6.30am with the entire day in front of me to explore as much as I could. My faithful driver was waiting for me outside and we started the tour that we agreed the night before. Obviously he tried to push for more money but at the end he gave up. He was a nice guy, and like many Cambodians, always smiling. He told me at the end of the day he considered me like a big brother, but I was also wondering how many big brothers he might have had, trying to make his customers more docile and inclined to pay an extra tip. Anyway, all the same he drove me everywhere to visit all the major temples and it was exhausting but also terrific. I am not going to explain here all the temples and all their features, but the strongest feeling I had was given by the perfect blend of the remains of an ancient civilization with its environment and the surrounding nature: these massive trees growing around and inside the temples, making their roots an integral part of history, merging with the bricks and the statues of forgotten divinities. Toward the end of the day, when many tourist left, I decided to stay a little longer, climbing one of the highest temple, so steep and high that for once I was extremely worried knowing how hard it would have been to go back down. I left the fear apart and It was the right decision: on the very top of it, I was completely alone, with the monsoon rain hitting my face and the sun at the same time saying goodbye like a swan’s song on the west side, enlightening the surrounding jungle. It was an incredible moment... I am still not too sure about it but I think that the feeling I had was freedom. I must admit that it was one of those moments that I will always remember.

Anyway... it was time to go back to the hotel. It was 7pm and all of a sudden, I felt really exhausted. 15 hours walking and climbing would have also killed an expert guide I guess. It was raining a lot; I went back to the hotel, had a shower and went again to the same restaurant of the night before. That catfish was too good not to having it one more time.
Back in the hotel I tried to recollect my mind and all the overwhelming images of the day. The rain was so strong that I thought it was a bit too noisy to have a goodnight sleep.
I didn’t even finish thinking about it, that without even noticing it, I was already sleeping.

Day 3 - Siem Reap

I woke up in my hostel in Bangkok terribly early (3.30am) after falling asleep only (and badly) 2 hours earlier. I was tired and very jet-lagged to have a proper sleep. The sound of the monsoon-rain was strong and persistent but it did fit very well with the surroundings; very few tourits were still talking and finishing their beers in the open lobby 2 floors down and their voices helped me to gradually fall asleep.
I managed to catch the first train at 6am to go to the bus station. It was incredible the number of buses waiting at the parking lot.. probably 300.. all of them with Thai signs and nothing in English. Luckly a sleepy guard must have seen me as the most thrilling moment of his lazy morning and he took me to the right ticket office approximately 5 minutes walking from were I was. I would have probably never found the right bus if it wasn't for him. The bus left at 7,15 and I ended up sitting on a very dusty seat next to an american priest. An old thai man behind me was screaming and shouting on the phone for the majority of the journey while, in the seat in front of me, a rasta style swedish girl was telling me how proud she was of her freshly new "one square-meter" tatoo on her breast.
6 hours journey.. nothing interesting to say really, if not that it was very boring. The most entertaining moment was when the priest tried to convience me that we all come from Adam and Eve and that all the theories of the evolution are cr.p "fantasies" from some scientists-wanna be. I found myself nodding all the time feeling exausted. Finally I arrived at the cambodian border, crossing on foot. A priest's friend came to pick him up and he kindly offer me a little ride to the closest town where I could have continued to my final destination: Siem Reap.
I said goodbye to everyone and I took a cab from there for 8 dollars sitting in 8 people in a normal car designed for 5. A little baby was screaming in the back but overall the drive was more pleasant than the bus. A policeman stopped us, and I obviously thought that it was because of being in 8 in a a car it is not "really" allowed. I was wrong. He wanted me to fasten my seatbelt; seatbelt that
I didn't even know the existance being completely hidden at least by a couple of bodies next to me :) (no surprise I couldn't put it on at the end since it was broken.).
Anyway, finally in Siem Reap now; nice guesthouse with very smiley and friendly hosts, nice Cambodians around, and excellent food in a nearby restaurant suggested by the Lonely Planet guide: Catfish and spinach. Really delicious.
Tomorrow morning it is time the very first day of excursions to the wonders of Angkok Wat. Alarm is set at 4.30am so that with a tuk tuk I can go and catch the sunrise on top of one of the temple and hopefully capturing some unforgettable moments with my little Canon. Will post the pics soon.
GOODNIGHT!
TWIMO!

Day 2 - Bangkok

I left Bangkok 2 years ago, and I find it today exactly the same way I left it. Thousands of people and cars mixing together in a perfect blend of chaos, smells and colours. The high level of humidity and pollution is rather shocking once left the airport and even more when approaching the downtown crowded street. Improbable sellers trying to offer you what it looks like ’the bargain of your life’:

t-shirts, flip-flops, underwear, watches, films, suits, shoes, homemade porno movies, food and whatever you are looking for, you can probably find it here. I am strolling around sparking lights, feeling exhausted after 11 hours flight and 6 hours jetlag, but at the same time really relieved to go for a walk and maybe for a good massage. The guest house I am staying in is the same I have used the previous years. Here as well nothing seems really changed.. friendly people, a very international crowd and decent rooms. I was also looking for my little signature left on the guest-wall 2 years ago, and obviously it is still there (since probably the place never went through a proper re-decoration). This time however I am staying here, and in Bangkok only tonight. I want to head to Cambodia as early as possible tomorrow and I am aiming to reach Siem Reap by tomorrow evening, where finally I will stop and relax for 3 days.

I am off for a good Pad-Thai now, then a shower and the bed.
As always... TWIMO

Day 1 - London - The Departure

This is it.
I am leaving.
I have been preparing this trip for almost 15 months.. and now the day has finally come.
Leaving London at 22.20 and will arrive in Bangkok at 15.35 local time.
I still feel I have to finish preparing so much stuff, but everything is almost done really...

So this is the plan approx. :

• London - Bangkok (via Plane)
• Bangkok to Cambodia via bus to stop at Siem Reap
• 3 days at Angkor then to Phnom Pehn (via bus)
• Phnom Pehn to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in Vietnam (via bus)
• Ho Chi Minh City - Hoi An (via bus)
• Hoi An to Hanoi (via Plane)
• Hanoi - Bangkok - Sydney (via Plane). Arrive at 6.05am at Sydney airport
• 16 days in Australia (not planned yet where to go)
• Sydney - New Zealand
• 1 week in the Southern Island with an organized tour (very cheese name: Lord of the Rings tour)
• Auckland - Santiago del Cile (OBVIOUSLY BY PLANE! :) ) with arrival at Santiago on the 7th of October.
• Santiago - Lima (via Plane) arriving at Lima early afternoon of the 8th of October.
• From Lima then everything by bus/car/horses through Bolivia, Cile, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.
• Flying back to London the 11th of December

I have 104 days to tour a big chunk of the world...
Not many days but good enough :)

Now in Bangkok I have my usual hostel where I go every year. It is comfy and very close to city centre, but the most, IT IS CLEAN!.
I will head to the Cambodian border by bus on Thursday morning very early and from there if I manage to arrive not too late I will go straight to Siem Reap where I will find a place for the next 3 days. The plan is to visit the Angkor Temples for 3 days and then heading to Vietnam.
I hope everything will work on schedule. I am thrilled but at the same time very relaxed...

:)))))
TWIMO