#13 - Like 10.000 smiles away_Thailand, Cambodia & Laos

I feel I'm like

10.000 smiles away

and Metronome gives his best with his remix of "Flowjob 10000 Smiles Away"

Please enjoy best with 🎧

👇🏻

13.02.2018 - 4.29 pm in Cambodia - right after the border to Thailand (still like 2 hours to go)

The whole bus and ferry ride from Koh Chang to Siam Reap takes almost forever due to several stops on our way.   Crossing borders over the land is completely different then up in the air and it requires a lot more time. 

Masses of traffic try to cross the border, too. I get greeted by some children on the streets who are begging for money. I can make out a slightly darker flaw on people’s faces. A lot of trash lays in a small gully and the sun is warming everything and everyone up.

First, I need to get out of Thailand before I’m able to enter Cambodia. And in between there is the small terrain of no man’s land.

I’m getting more stamps in my passport. It gets filled up again. 

Before starting to get to many new impressions in Cambodia, it's time to reflect on my very relaxing days on the island Koh Chang in Thailand.

The journey from Bangkok to Koh Chang took a whole day. But to the difference to my Mexico travels, this time I was picked up at my hotel and dropped off at my other hotel. We took a minivan tour, everything was organized. Even when we took the ferry to arrive to Koh Chang, the small minivan drove up the ferry and we could leave all our belongings in there. No hustle carrying my suitcase and backpack. 

We stayed in the very south of the island in a small village called Bailan and it was quiet and peaceful like heaven. The mass of tourists was staying more north like White Sands Beach. 

The island has a lot of hilly country. Renting a scooter was a great idea, because you can just drive everywhere. The streets were very steep and curvy, and I have to admit I had some issues with them - but just mentally. 

The people who live on the island pursue an in- and outdoor living style. Wow, I was surprised by the idea, that you don’t need walls and that people use the light night air as a natural air condition. The rhythm of their life is built around the sunlight. At night everyone closes their shops and restaurants early because it’s usually their home as well. And with the open space principle, automatically everything gets sooner quiet then in other places, where people can hide in their proper four walls and escape the noise of a city. 

When sleeping at night I like to leave all windows open to feel the little breeze, which the locals like as well. It felt like sleeping in nature. There was no noise whatsoever that could bother my sleep. I got woken up by singing birds. Of course, mosquitos are the down side, but they bite me anyway. 

Locals speak a little bit English, but after traveling in Mexico, where I could speak Spanish, I found it disturbing not being able to speak the local language and not to interact and communicate with them. The locals seem to be more reserved than in Mexico I noticed. Is the language barrier the problem? Or just a different culture than I’m used to from my previous traveling?!

Other travelers aren’t interacting much with each other either, I noticed. There is a lot of mix tourism on the island: lot of families traveling, lot of older couples as well. Most people we met are Germans, Russians or French. Everyone seems to enjoy their own little world and therefore, they stay at their own. 

On the island we get to see elephants, monkey, a lot of beautiful and big butterflies. 

On an ordinary Wednesday morning, which happens to be Valentine’s Day - 14.02.2018 - Angkor Wat

Waking up very early to chase a sunrise, again. But this time in Cambodia. 

Visiting Angkor Wat for sunrise was the best thing to do. Riding on a Tuk Tuk to the historical and world heritage site in the dark with cold air flowing around my still warm body from bed and with tired eyes, nonetheless excited and hungry to explore the big temples of Cambodia. 

I wouldn’t have guessed, that the ticket office was filled with people, who wanted as well to catch the first sunlight at Angkor Wat. 

Walking around thousands of year-old world heritage stones and wondering what great things human beings can actually manage to do. How was this possible? 

I'm very grateful to live all these magical moments. 

Later that day (14.02.2018) 

Sitting on the balcony of the 3rd floor in my hotel in Siam Reap is like: The noise seems to be far away, you can hear a lot of grasshopper singing, some scooter are riding by and just a few cars make some noise. The streets are getting busier some house numbers further down the city centre. 

The air is thick and heavy from all the dust, dirt and heath. It’s getting harder to breath. 

When I’m walking around the busy streets, I can’t stop looking and taking it all in. The flow of people, scooters and cars is crazy. Cars wriggle around, scooters take their curves smooth and people walk on the non existing side walks trying not to take too much of the urgent needed space away. But somehow it has its own system, its own flow. 

15.02.2018 - in the small van from Siam Reap to 4.000 Island in Laos

Waking up again kind of early. Heading out of the dusty, dirty, hot city of Siam Reap where the air to breath is loaded with a lot of smog. 

On the way to cross another border: My hands will get new currency to touch, my ears get new language to listen to, my eyes will see new faces, my heart will ache once more due to the prettiness of the magic of our world and to all the adventures, which are happening during traveling. 

17.02.2018 - 09.00 am on an island of the 4.000 island on the Mekong River in Laos

Laying finally in a hammock and enjoying the sweet doing nothing. Music is on my side, the view onto the Mekong River is first row and the day has just begun. 

Arriving on a small boat on the island called Don Det for sunset was priceless. There was a great breeze which let me relax after a long travel day.