If you're ever fortunate enough to visit Cambodia, I strongly recommend exploring a floating village.
A "floating village" isn't exactly floating. It's a village where the houses are built on stilts to protect them from the flooding Mekong River in the wet season.
Longtail boat driver
After exploring the temple of Banteay Srei, our tuk tuk driver suggested we go to the floating village of Kampong Phluk. It is about an hour outside of Siem Reap, which makes it far less touristy than some of the floating villages closer to Siem Reap. It was definitely a bumpy ride, and after an hour to reach the main "dock", it was still a good 40-45 minute boat ride to get to Kampong Phluk itself (we were there during the prime time of the flooding season).
Kampong Phluk floating village
I wish I could tell you how much the tickets were, but I honestly can't remember. Looking through other blogs, they're saying $20, which sounds about right. We took a longtail boat, so it was just my friend, our tuk tuk (taxi) driver, the boat driver, a cop hitching a ride, and myself on the boat. There were many other boats along the way packed with 20-30 people on them, although the village didn't seem packed with tourists what-so-ever, a welcomed change to the hoardes of tourists clamboring over Angkor Wat.
A curious girl - Kampong Phluk floating village
As we approached the village, there were floating houses spotted here and there. The houses were made from tin, bamboo, dried palm leaves, or wood. They had wooded or bamboo ladders with a boat parked outside. It happened to be a big Cambodian holiday that day, so many people were on their porches with friends and family and cooking aromatic food (which didn't seem safe considering most of the homes were made of dried palm leaves and bamboo...)
Gathering for the holiday, doing laundry, driving a boat - Kampong Phluk
The closer we got to the village, the more house sprung up out of the depths of the waters. Once in the main part of the village, we transferred to a small paddle boat (paddled by a 13 year old girl!) to tour the rest of the village and take a journey through the flooded jungle.
A different view - under the houses
One of the "main street" waterways
Our young paddle boat driver (photo courtsey, DZ)
It was a hot day - triple Farenheit digits - with the sun baring down, which meant many of the children were beating the heat by jumping from their porches and ladders into the cool flooded waters! Most of the children were stark naked, doing flips, and flying through the air before splashing into the depths below! When we would drive by, they would stop and wave and smile and stare and say "Hello!" in English. Seriously? I was about to pull an "Angelina Jolie" and bring home one of those adorable naked babies. They could just melt anyones heart.
Jumping from boats and ladders to beat the heat!
Babies driving babies!
We made our way down the main "street" of the village and headed towards the jungle. It almost gave the impression of being a fish bred with a bird...floating on the water through the tops of the trees. The sun was casting rays through the openings of the tree leaves, leaving a green glow over the sparkling water. It was quiet, peaceful, and relaxing...truly a wonderful experience.
Floating jungle! I hope tigers can swim ;)
Every now and then, we would see a kid hanging from one of the trees, they'd jump in the water, then scramble back up into the branches. We gave one a ride back - a friend of our paddler - the girl jumped from the tree and climbed into our boat, only to jump out when she decided she didn't need to go any further.
The incredible village of Kampong Phluk!
We enjoyed a nice lunch in the village, sitting atop in one of the houses overlooking the flooded waterways. When it was time to go, we first drove along the outskirts of the jungle where packed boat after packed boat were lined up, partying in celebration of the holiday. Throwing water balloons to passerby boats with loaded water pistols - it reminded me of a Cambodian-style Songkran celebration (the Thai New Year water holiday).
Holiday party!
Our second longtail boat driver - a 14 year old punk ass kid that forgot to check the gas...we broke down
then needed a tow back to the dock.
Visiting the Kampong Phluk floating village was an amazing highlight of my trip to Cambodia. Even our tuk tuk driver said it was a treat for him to visit this place. Kampong Phluk is a bit out of the way, but worth every moment.
Most of the time, photography is all about timing. Being in the right place at the right time (especially in regards to lighting - the best photos are taken at the cusp of dawn and dusk, out of the harsh light of day). Then there are those right place, right time accidental photographs. The ones where something peculiar happens the moment you press that magic little button on your camera. This happened to me yesterday evening...
The sunsets in Chiang Mai have been brilliant lately - because of the horrible pollution. As the sun is lowering in the sky, it becomes a brilliant shade of reddish magenta and is just magnificent. A few nights ago, I was on the hunt to kill my hunger, driving around looking for some nosh. It was in the evening and with the sunset, the colors emanating from the buildings were just spectacular. I drove by a temple I had never seen before that was just beyond beautiful in the evening light. Hunger winning over that evening (and camera-less), I vowed to come back and photograph this temple in the beautiful light of the evening. It was during this time that I had one of those perfect right time, right place photographs....and every time I look at it, I bust out laughing!!
I have the utmost respect to monks, so this in no way is disrespectful to them...however, this photo is too perfectly timed not to share! Wondering around the temple taking pictures, I noticed a solitary monk with a watering hose watering the garden. Not wanting to be noticeably taking his picture, I was making my way out of the temple, photographing some small Buddha statues, I quickly turned to grab a picture of the monk. At that moment, he was just watering the garden...the second I clicked the camera, well...see for yourself!
Photo of the Week, from some temple in Chiang Mai, a monk!
Photo of the Week - Monk "watering" the garden!
Here are a few more photos from the temple. They didn't turn out as I would have liked, and definitely do not do the temple justice in terms of beauty!
My, what big teeth you have! One of two dragon temple guardians.
Sunset at the temple
Sunset at the temple. Unfortunately, the colours are not justified as they are in person.
And for good measure, the sunset - brilliant and red. This wasn't taken at the temple, but near my apartment.
If you want to read more about my favourite temples in Chiang Mai, check out my Temple Spotting blog!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!! March 17th is by far, my favourite day of the year! St. Patrick's Day has always held a special place in my heart. I'm only a teensy part Irish, but on this day, I'm a full-blood Irish lass! It's always been a special day as March 17th is also my Grampa's birthday. When I was a kid, we would always head out to my grandparent's farm and enjoy a delicious meal (my ultimate favourite meal) of corned beef and cabbage. My Grampa would have been 84 today. He's truly the greatest man I've ever known, raised me as a father would since the one I had didn't exist in my life. He's by far my favourite person in the world...perhaps this is why St. Patrick's Day has always been such a special day to me - not only do I have a great excuse to drink beer, wear lots of green, dance and be merry, but I also get to celebrate the life of someone who was truly wonderful :-)
The majestic Cliffs of Moher
Of all the places I have travelled, compared to some it's lot, compared to others it's not - and in my eyes it's definitely not enough - Ireland is my favourite. Even considering 2 of the 3 times I have been to Ireland I have received pretty awful news (my first visit, I discovered one of my housemates was found dead, committed suicide...my third visit - on St. Patrick's Day, mind you - I found out I wasn't successful for a job I really had my heart set on (by the way, what kind of person calls you ON St. Patrick's Day WHILE you're in Ireland to tell you that you didn't get a job? A heartless one!))
Rolling hills of the emerald Irish countryside
There's something about Ireland that's just magical to me. The people are truly lovely and definitely lively! In Dublin, on every street of every hour of every day, there's live Irish music to lift your soul! The locals love to talk to you and drink with you. The country is just beautiful - rolling hills of emerald green dotted with sheep and lined with stone walls older than time itself. The breath-taking Cliffs of Moher, the unusually beautiful and curious Giant's Causeway, the legends of leprechauns and fairies, stories and songs, dances and drinks. Ireland is magic.
Blarney Castle
Kissing the Blarney Stone, gettin' the Gift 'o the Gab!
I am not a big city person, but of all the cities in world that I have been to, Dublin is my favourite. It doesn't feel like a big city to me. It's easy to navigate with plenty of things to do! Take a ghost tour. Visit a museum. Tour the Jameson distillery. Or visit my version of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory: The Guinness Brewery.
Dublin with the Millenium Spire - that was
built in 2003 ;)
I've always heard that Guinness tastes better in Ireland and I always thought people were full of shit when they said that. But the legend is true. Arthur Guinness bought a 9,000 year lease on the St. James's Gate Brewery, of which only 252 years have passed. Guinness is so delicious, my mouth is watering just thinking about it! Guinness is made with only 4 ingredients: water from a lake in the Wicklow Mountains, locally grown barely and hops, and yeast - the same strain of yeast that was used 252 years ago is still used to this day. To pour a pint of the "black" stuff (Guinness is actually red) takes precision, it's an art! Pour it with care until it's about 3/4 full then let it settle for 2 minutes. Two. Whole. Minutes. Be patient!! Then top it off and take a giant gulp...unless you get the Guinnie-stache, you're not drinking it right!
Boats in Dingle, Ireland
Doolin, Ireland - Where road signs go to die
Here's my Photo of the Week...brought to you from O'Connor's pub in Kilarney, Ireland - a refreshing meal in glass, a beautiful piece of art: A glass of Guinness. Sliante!! (That means "cheers" in Gaelic :)
Photo of the Week: The perfect pint!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!!
I'm off to toast my Gramps and celebrate my (little) Irish heritage!
Please, don't forget to press play! From the ultimate Irish rock band, The Pogues, I bring you, the Irish Rover!
There are a lot of things that I love about Thailand, and equally, there are a lot of things I hate about Thailand. Take, for instance, the fact that about 95% of beauty products have some sort of whitening base in them - Thai's like their skin to be white, they cower from the sun like vampires and instead of the "self-tanning creams" we have in North America and Europe, they have whitening cream. But not only do they have whitening cream, there are whiteners in lotions, deodorants, make-up...basically, if you put it on your skin, chances are it will make you white. (I think Michael Jackson had a little too much influence on the Thai's...) If you don't want fake tan in the US or Europe, then don't buy fake tan. If you don't want fake-white in Thailand, then you're going to be searching long and hard for products that don't have a whitening base in them. It's annoying.
But what have I come to hate the most about Thailand? Fucking Thai drivers. I *would* say that Thai drivers are completely adverse to road rules, but there are no road rules to speak of. Well, none that I can tell anyways:
Red lights are just a suggestion.
Indicators/blinkers are just a suggestion.
Driving on the correct side of the road is just a suggestion (seriously...I can't count how many people in a day I see driving the wrong direction on the wrong side of the road - ON THE HIGHWAY!!!)
Road lines indicating staying in your own lane...just a suggestion!
Carrying a little baby on your motorbike? It doesn't need a helmet. None of your children do.
How many more people do you think you can get on your motorbike, because really, 4 isn't enough. And again, don't bother wearing helmets, they mess up your hair!
Can't find a parking space? That's ok, just park on the highway! It's not like people are driving at fast speeds there or anything.
Need to get over? Oh, don't worry that I'm right next to you...c'mon over, son!
Turning onto a main road? No, there's absolutely NO need to stop first and look to make sure no one is coming before you turn onto that busy street. Really...no need. Just turn.
On the highways, generally the motorbikes stay to the left (we drive on left side in Thailand) and usually stay on the shoulder of the road. With that in mind, there may be a truck that needs to turn left...with motorbikes driving along the shoulder. So instead of slowing down to first let the motorbikes pass, how about you SPEED UP and cut them off so they have to slam on their brakes so you can make that turn? It makes sense.
Believe me when I say, sometimes it's SAFER to run a red light if it's just turned red because chances are, the other motorbikes or cars or trucks or tuk tuks behind you were planning on running it....so if you stop, they're going to slam into you.
Ugh!!! Fucking Thai drivers!! No respect for the road or the people on it. I'm not a religious person, but I pray every time I get on my motorbike to drive to my new job - 15km out of the city via the Super Highway. Driving here has made me extra vigilant, that's for sure. And Thai people generally don't honk at others, but you can bet your ass I do! If you're a fucking idiot behind the wheel, I'm going to cuss you the hell out with my horn and pray to God that there is not a vehicle next to me so I can get over!
I've got less than a month left of driving in Thailand, so here's to staying safe and being vigilant! Wish me luck!
I finally dragged myself to an orthopedic doctor this morning to find out what the hell is going on with my ankle. It seemed as though it was healing, but lately, the pain has been up and down. Worried that it hasn't healed correctly, I decided to get a professional opinion. This is a big deal to me because I am extremely cynical of doctors and the healthcare system. (In my general experience, my time - and money - is completely wasted with doctors...they're overrated and overpayed and 99% of the time just tell me shit that I already know, so I choose to save my money and fix myself, by myself). But let me tell you something. Thailand pretty much knows how to do healthcare.
A quick talk with the orthopedic dude, he requested that I run over to the hospital across the river from his practice to grab some x-rays of my ankle to make sure there is no fracture or small piece of bone stuck in my ankle. It was 10:30 am, his office closed at 12 noon. He said I had time. Yeah, right, I thought. It literally took me 30 minutes to get to the hospital, register, have a little joke and a laugh with the nurses (no, my name is not Crazy), take x-rays, get a copy of my x-rays on a cd, pay, and get back to the clinic. 30 minutes!!! And would you like to know how much my x-rays set me back (mind you, I don't have insurance in Thailand)? A whopping $10. Yes, that's TEN dollars. I didn't miss a zero on the end.
How can you honestly tell me that in the United States...the glorious United States of America...one of the most powerful nations in the world...that I would be paying at least 10 times the amount I paid here and it would take, I'm sure, about half of my day? I would wager that I would still pay more for x-rays in the US than in Thailand even if I had US health insurance - and that would be in my co-pay, my friends.
Also, hospitals here are not what you would imagine a hospital to be like in Southeast Asia. They're not dirty or dank. They're clean and up-to-date with technology. The majority of doctors studied abroad in America or Britain, so they speak English and they know what the hell they're doing. It doesn't take 45 minutes before you see a doctor. You're generally finished in 45 minutes...
Before I started teaching, I needed to get a health certificate - a blood test to verify that I'm syphilis free. Again, it took probably 30 minutes to register (even as an international patient), have my vitals taken, get my blood drawn, and pay. I had to wait an hour for my blood results. I think the whole process cost me about $7. And I'm syphilis free. How do you like them apples?
You may recall (if you've been reading this blog from its beginning), that I had to have an emergency root canal in September. I had my first root canal in August of 2011 which cost me $2300...I had JUST finished paying that sucker off when had this severe pain in my back molar. Freaking out, thinking I was going to have to pay another $2300 that I don't have, I was going to try to push through the pain. Let me tell you, I can take some pain, but this was horrendous. Finally giving in, I had my root canal done - granted it took 5 visits to the dentist (3 where he was actually working on the tooth) - and it cost me $300, not including the crown. I had absolutelyNO pain, none, zero, zilch. My previous root canal, that shit hurt for a few weeks, even taking vicoden for the pain. This root canal, I mean, obviously it's a root canal and it's not like a party in my mouth or anything, but it was a walk in the park compared to the last one.
I also have some experience with the National Health Service in England. The NHS is completely free. It takes quite a bit longer to go through the process of seeing a doctor (except in an emergency, obviously) with the NHS, but Jesus, you don't have to PAY!! Again, I am extremely cynical of the healthcare system, so I'm a little disappointed that I didn't take more advantage of the NHS when I could. I suffer from a condition called hyperhydrosis - excessive sweating with my hands and feet. I would say 95% of the time, it looks like I've just dunked my hands/feet in a bucket of water. It's probably the most annoying thing in my life. Taking advantage of the NHS (finally after 3 years of living in England), I was able to get treatment for my wet hands and feet. It did take about 5 months from start (diagnosis) to finish (treatment), and the treatment wasn't a permanent solution, but it still gave me a viable option to stop my hands and feet from sweating, and it was FREE. Free, free F.R.E.E., freeeee!
All I'm saying here is that there are some serious issues in the US when a person is paying more every month for insurance only to have to pay a co-pay that costs more than the actual services do in Thailand or other international countries. The treatment is just as good (or even better) here, so why is healthcare so completely outrageous at home? The US needs to get their shit together with regards to the healthcare system. It obviously doesn't cost as much as we're being charged for it - and healthcare isn't a privilege...it's part of our basic human right to a healthy life.
Oh, and in case you're wondering...my x-rays came back fine. There's no fracture or fragment of bone causing problems. The orthopedic dude suggested an MRI to check the cartilage and tendons, which would cost 8,000 baht - about $250. Anyone know how much it would be in the US? I'm ball-parking around $800-$1000 with no insurance?
Soundtrack for this blog...Doctor, doctor, give me the news!
