Ayutthaya

I wanted to see Ayutthaya, but I was to tired of organising everything on my own, so I've went for an easy option and bought a day trip to Ayutthaya from one of the agencies in Bangkok. This was Israelis agency, where I usually go if I'm near Khao San Road and need to check something on the internet, as they have free computers to use internet.
Ayutthaya is the first capital of Thailand, was founded in 1350 by king U Thong. There were constant wars between Ayutthaya and Burma and in the end in 1767 it was destroyed by Burmese army and kingdom collapsed. Now the ruins of the old city are recognised as UNESCO World Heritage Site. These are mostly temples with stupas containing ashes of Thai kings.
Trip itself was not the most exciting thing that I've done ever, nor were the people taking part in the trip, but I'm glad that I've seen it. Sometimes it was similar to Angkor Wat, but much worse. It was within the city, so surrounded by roads and cars and buses, so it was not that peaceful and relaxing as in Angkor. It was also more organised and you could not enter everywhere like in Angkor. And I did not have such a good company as I did in Siem Reap.

Wat Phu Khao Tong

Wat Maha That

Wat Maha That

Big lying Buddha

Dok Champa (White Frangipani/Plumeria) - national Laos flower in Wat Maha Thao. My favourite one. I wish I had parfumes with the scent of it.

Pink Frangipani (Plumeria) flower in Wat Maha That

Wat Maha That

Wat Maha That

Buddha

Baby elephant near Wat Maha That

Tripping in Southern Laos

Although illegal and prohibited smoking joints is widely accepted in Asia and weed itself is easily accessible. Usually it's enough to go to one of the bars and ask bartender for it. The same is with all happy pizzas, happy shakes, mushroom shakes, happy chocolates.
I still get dizzy and want to throw up after chocolate that I had. To be honest I've tried them before, but in Cambodia and even though you could taste weed in it, it did not have any major effect over me. On my last night at 4000 Islands I also had one. And that one was a killer. It must have been stuffed with opium or mushrooms maybe, cause I practically did not know what's going on. I barely made it home, where when I lay in bed I felt like Alice in Wonderland. Worlds has been joining and separating, stripes, lines, dots, checks. Interfering, separating, running through each other. Nightmare.
When I got up in the morning I've thought it's better, I had my breakfast, made it to Champasak. But there again, the only thing that I was able to do was go to bed at 4 p.m. and sleep till the next morning until I was woken up to go for sightseeing of Wat Phu. Khmer temple (Angkor Wat like) dating between 6th and 12th centuries. No idea how I've survived that, bearing in mind that I barely had any food the day before, small baguette for breakfast today, I was still weak and my stomach was still sick. But I've made it and even made it to Pakse, where I checked in to Sabaidy 2 GH, I had some food and went to bed again. I was as unsocial as unsocial anyone can be. If you know me, than you know that it's completely opposite my normal attitude, so I must have been feeling really bad. But good amount of sleep again made it and on the third day I was pretty much ok, except my stomach that is still sick and not very keen on digesting, I think, so it still hurts. So I did some walking in Pakse and spend most of the time on the internet and reading. Something that I did not do since ages. And you might think that during traveling you have time for reading ;-)
On the fourth day I was almost good, only during the day stomach was sometimes strange, but finally in the evening I got my appetite back. Probably after whole day sightseeing of Bolaven Plateau.
First we saw Tad Fane - waterfall, next tea plantation - where we were presented with how green and oolong tea are made (or other way round?), than coffee plantation (now I know how to recognise Arabica from Robusta. To be honest I was told that in Dalat already, but I forgot) and Yuang Waterfall and Alak village (where they practice Animism and Shamnism) and Katu village (where owner of the GH where I stay with some help from people who I met in Sapa and who recommended me this GH built a school. She is Polish and he's Belgian and they met Mr Vong - who runs this place and speaks some polish as he studied in Poland - 5 years ago and he ask them if they would like to get involved into building a school and library and they've helped to gather some founds).
In Katu I took insane amount of photos of kids. Is my photography talent revealing right now?

Wat Phu - can you spot the similarity between it and Angkor Wat?



Wat Phu - view from the top of the complex



Wat Phu - Elephant rock

Wat Phu

The most ugly temple I've seen so far. Pakse

Tea bush. To make tea, only leaves from the top of the tree are picked and depending on the process green or oolong (red) or black tea can be made.

Coffee trees. Arabica coffee has small trees with big beans. Robusta's trees are big and beans are small. They are also processed differently. Robusa is first dried and next pelled. Arabica is first pelled and next dried.

Tad Fane

Drying robusta coffee beans



Robusta coffee ghost



Waterfall number 2

Alak village. They believe in animal spirits, and prolly in the soap operas living (see satellite dishes, officially there is no power in those villages, but still everyone has TV set, satellite dish and power generator)

Rooster - coffee guard

Drying coffee

School kids in Katu - villae where school and library were build partially from the founds gathered by the couple that I met in Sapa

School building build with the money gathered in Poland, Belgium, France, Germany and Lao

School kids

Boy

Is she copying homework from her mate?

Gangsta

Chcesz fangę w nos?

My favourite pic. Femme fatale.

Ready, set, go

In Katu kids smoke water pipe together with their parents. They even hold it for them. I had a draw as well.

Traveler's stories

When in Siem Reap in a bar a guy came to me and said - Your name is so and so and you are from there and there I was surprised to find out that it was Krzysiek with whom we've been trying to arrange traveling together, but after a while of planning we've decided that actually there is no way that we'll manage to organise our travels in a way that they overlap somewhere. So we gave up. And than I meet him in Temple bar in Siem Reap. Ok, things like that happen...
... but when in Bangkok, in the middle of the night I walk furious at KhaoSan Road, I pass by a group of guys, who check me out. I check them out too, but I keep walking. One of them follows me and asks me if I'm religious. But I look into his face and I know where he's going with that. I suddenly know who he is. It's Matt, Aussie who I met in Taize in France something like 6 years ago. How possible is that?
I even do not say about whole bunch of people who I met somewhere in Hanoi, Phnom Pehn, Siem Reap or Mui Ne and meet them just by coincidence in Dalat, Koh Phangan, Hoi An etc. And actually if you name any two places where I've been there is very high chance, that there will be someone who I've first met in the first town and than in the second one mentioned.
One more quite funny example. Yesterday I was sitting with Poles. Friends of friends, some of them living in BKK, some traveling. We chat, laugh and we come to the topic of western guys dating Thai girls. So I start telling about my cousin who dates this girl who is an actress in one of the Thai TV series and whom I had the pleasure to meet and who I really think is nice, pretty and smart girl. So one of the guys there, one who works here in Bangkok says, but I know them. He speaks some Polish but he's not fully Polish. And that girl is like 6 years older than he's. Yessss man! That's them I'm talking about.
This is how paths of random people cross now and then. I wish that my paths cross again with some of the people that I've met. Not necessarily here and now, but one day somewhere.

I've spent couple of days in BKK. This time I've been staying in hostel. Phiman Water View, recommended to me by one German girl who I've met in Hanoi. It is really different place. About 15 minutes walk from KhaoSan Road, which is main travellers' place, directly at the river bank, lead by artists. Gay artists. Which makes things even more interesting. They are so open and willing to talk to us, sometimes drink and go out with us. Like the other day when it was Maymar gay boy,\ who works in hostel, NiNi, Thai girl - friend, and her sister who looks more like a boy, Ex - guy from Peru and me. We've just had really good evening and night together.
To get to the hostel you have to go through small streets, flooded sometimes by either river water or water that they just pour out, inhabited by Thai families, their door open. A little bit like hutongs in Beijing. This gives some insight into life of locals. They are very friendly, telling hallo every time I pass by.
After all together 3 days in Bangkok I've managed to do some sightseeing. Finally. I've seen Grand Palace, where I had to rent skirt and shirt, cause you are not allowed to enter there in shorts and top. At least rent fee was 0. I had to leave deposit only.
Grand Palace itself made very good impression on me. I did not have any expectations so I was nicely surprised. It is complex established in 1782 and is a royal residence with throne halls and number of government offices and a Temple of Emerald Buddha. Everything is build very posh and packed one next to another which makes it a little bit too much, but still all the buildings are amazing. Borom Phiman Mansion which is build with great taste and made me want living there, mini Angkor Wat all statues etc are just beautiful.


Ex, Me, Nini and her sister




Boy




Somewhere within Grand Palace




Somewhere within Grand Palace



Bormo Phiman Mansion

The Phra Maha Monthain Group

Roofs somewhere within Grand Palace

Somewhere within Grand Palace - Mini Angkor Wat in the front

The Grand Palace

Phiman Water View Guest House

Double bday celebration in Angkor

Last day in Phnom Penh we've spent on a swimming pool in L'Blanc Elephant Resort. We were the only guests there, I'm not even sure if anyone was staying there. But that was even better. Silence, swimming pool only for four of us.

On the way, with my Dutch driver

In the swimming pool - very intellectual

The next day the four of us took a bus to Siem Reap. It was rather spontaneous that we went there together and booked one hostel - Garden Village (1$ for a dorm, which is almost outdoor, the only shelter that we have is roof and bamboo walls, but it makes it perfect for the hot Cambodian weather. Mattresses are on the floor and the only luxury that we have are mosquito nets). From the bus station in SR we ordered free hostel pick up which was very handy, cause bus station is rather far away from the city centre. What's more when the bus arrives they close the gate, so that all passengers can calmly leave the bus and pick their baggage without being pushed by tuk-tuk drivers and without a threat of stolen baggage. Only people who does pick up are allowed to get behind the gate, which is fair enough.

After a dinner and some drinks and fish foot massage the only place to be was Angkor What?. Which is one of the two popular backpacker places in Siem Reap. And as it was already 3rd of December I've started to celebrate my birthday. And that was great, I don't know how it works, that you can have so much fun with people, that you've met just couples of days ago and that you already have inside jokes, that they wish you all the best for bday and that next day in the morning I get a little nice gift from them at the breakfast. It's how backpackers' world is like I guess.

In alphabetical order: Hugo, Martin and Tom, thanks a lot for making my day so good!

Fish massage - it was so ticklish, that I could barely stand it at first

Bday celebration in Angkor What?

 

This is how you want your cocktails in Cambodia and Vietnam - bucket



Bday shot

 It's not that we only party in Siem Reap, we also did a lot of sightseeing. Angkor Wat is just incredible. We rented bicycles in a hostel and cycled there. Of course we've missed turn to ticket booth, so we had to come back, but cycling itself was so cool too, that I did not matter at all. Especially when sometimes you can just catch tuk-tuk and hold it for a little while, so that you do not have to put any effort into paddling.

Scenery around temples looks sometimes very European like, there were spots where it's smelled and looked like Polish indian summer. I just could stay there for ever.

There was another pleasant thing about Angkor Wat - 15th half marathon, that took place today. What a pity, that I'm not fit any more and that I do not have any running gear with me, otherwise I'd sign up, like Martin did. He did not have anything with him as well, and he went to buy it, but still it'd be too big effort for my body to run 21.097 km after almost 3 month of almost no workout.

Angkor Wat - unfortunately it's partially covered with scaffolding



Angkor Wat through window



Angkor Wat

All temples were red. Now only in some places red is still visible

Bayon if I remember well

Within Angkor Tom

Sun set, I don't know what the whole fuss is about. There are much better sun sets from my parents balcony at the 4th floor. Maybe they should start selling tickets?

If I remember well this in in Bayon Temple within Angkor Tom ancient city

Ta Prom - it is supposed to be the place where Tom Raider was shot. Place is fabulous due to the huge, centuries old trees all around

There is Buddha carved into the stone, but during Pot Pol regime that flower was carved

Polish indian summer in Angkor Wat - view from Ta Keo

Ta Keo - sometimes it gets really steep

Most of the temples we've visited by bike

Angkor Wat