Archives: July 2004
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It feels great to be home.
Things It Has Been Hard to Adjust To:
1. Parisian Time
I slept 14 hours last night to recover from jet lag. I only slept three hours on the plane, and had technically left my crib in Bangkok at 10 am, Bangkok time. I arrived at my house at 10 am, Parisian time, which would have made a sweet 24 hours of travel, if it weren't for those six hours between Paris and Bangkok. All in all, anything over 10 hours of travel is bound to screw up your body's rhythm so royally that you will need TWO average nights of sleep to make up for it. 14 hours it was, then.
2. Anything other than veggies-and-rice to eat
Starving because the only thing I had eaten in my 30 hours of travel was a bowl of noodles, I hopped downstairs and bought myself an emergency baguette and cheese. Then I considered puking it all back up again for about three hours as I writhed on my bed in pain. We went with the very wise veggie soup for dinner, which settled much better than the now unfamiliar bread-and-cheese combo. I am, however, planning on doing a strict recovery process in order to get my bod into it's usual love of the low-nutrient and high-calorie baguette and cheese.
3. French
Covered in swollen bedbug bites - something about flying irritated them - I went to the pharmacy. The pharmacist, naturally, spoke French, us being in Paris and all. But oddly enough, I didn't do so hot in the French department. And she was a chatty one, too, so we had quite the conversation ("how did you get so many damn bites in the first place?" opened a big can of worms) and I was amazed at how the language seems to have turned to mush in my brain in just a few short weeks. Still, she gave me an anti-itch cream, a dehydrating solution, and some pills, and by golly, the bites are going away. Ever. So. Slowly.
4. Duties
I have many things I have to do, and honestly, no urge to do them. While I was away, I remember thinking about these things and getting really anxious, almost excited to get these important things out of my hair. But now, back in my semi-normal groove, I'm just not excited by the idea of doing anything quasi-official. This includes going to the Sorbonne and telling them they made a database error, which is not going to be well-received by the incompetant secretaries.
5. French Keyboards
Five weeks is all it takes to put the a,q, m, period, and comma keys all in the wrong places in my head.
Things that Have Been Easy to Adjust To:
Read more »On our last day in Asia, we had a plan.
1. Eat breakfast
2. Get photos developed
3. Shop some more
4. Get a massage
5. Get a facial
6. Shower thoroughly
7. Sleep
It might seem like that's not very much to do on one's last day, but our grubbiness factor was increased tenfold over the last week, to the point where I just tossed some of my clothes in the garbage can (outside the room) because I couldn't sit in my own stink anymore. To ease the comedown of the end of one of the most wonderful trips of my life, we decided that full-on pampering was the only way to go.
This week we spent on an island in a cabin with no electricity and a very unconventional plumbing system. It rained the entire time, or almost. Back in Bangkok yYesterday, we spent seven hours in the market, tying up loose ends and arranging gifts. Today, we finish the shopping frenzy and get our bodies back to a presentable status, after the beating it took from the island. Tomorrow, we ride planes and sit in airports.
This morning, armed with our plan as we walked out of our guesthouse, I turned to Kara and asked if she had remembered to bring the film because we were going to go get it developed a bit later. Without a word, we turned back to the guesthouse and tredged up the stairs. Kara started feeling around in her bag, and the searching got a bit more frantic, and then it plateaued into a sort of lethargic acceptance that we had lost our film. We went over the lost photos and sat, depressed, amongst the upturned contents of Kara's bag. We had little documentation of our trip.
Our assumption was that the film fell out en route to somewhere. I asked her when she last remembers seeing it, and it was over a week ago. Deseperate, I suggested we call the owner of the guesthouse where we stayed in Cambodia, and that we also check with the guesthouses we stayed at earlier this week in Bangkok.
There were two, next door to one another, because we had switched after a night since one of them was just full of drunk 18-year-olds. Kara went to one, and I to the other.
In all our trip, Thais speak the best English by far. But I don't think they know the word film. I spent at least five minutes explaining, sure that they didn't have it anyway. They asked me for my room number, but I didn't know. Finally, I said, "Small plastic bag with four film."
I swear the moment she pulled it out of the drawer I thought I was hallucinating. I breathed in and exclaimed a breathy "Thank you!" followed by a more squeely version as I realized our long lost film had been recovered. I flew out of there and ran down the street to the other guesthouse, where I saw Kara gesturing to a young boy (she later told me that she had been referred to him when the other people at the guesthouse didn't understand the word film). "Kara!" I waved, triumphantly holding up the plastic bag.
We giggled and thanked God and replayed the morning all the way to the film developing place. I just couldn't believe they kept it, couldn't believe the guesthouse had it after all.
In fact, I'm totally ok with that guesthouse now, even though their mattresses had bedbugs and I am covered in bites.
So we're going home in high spirits. I can't wait to see the miracle photos later on this evening. I'm excited to pack up my stuff and head home. I wrote my final email to The Boy, letting him know I'd see him in about 48 hours. I've got great memories, some jazzy gifts, and PICTURES! It's been quite an adventure, but I'm ready to get back to the land of toilet paper and fresh vegetables.
Thailand = tourists.
That's our overall feeling.
Here's how it worked: we took the most painful bus ride in history out of Cambodia. The roads were full of potholes, and at one point our driver had to get out and set up some sort of contraption to get us out of a major rut. On the other side of the road, a truck was unpacking all of the bags of rice it was transporting, hoping the lighter weight would help it get out where it was stuck just spinning its wheels. Our bus and their truck sat in the mud for at least 20 minutes, but we made it through in the end. The whole ride was quite an adventure.
Today will be our last day in Cambodia. We've absorbed the culture and have done the obligatory tourist stop at Angkor Wat. In general, we feel the timing of our trip has worked out perfectly. Kara and I are both the most pathetic tourists to have travelled southeast Asia: we really don't care to see the typical sites, preferring to stop in a cafe and drink sweetened coffee instead of visiting another wat or some royal palace. Still, though, Angkor Wat was a must-see, so we did it. It was cool enough, but neither of us felt it merited a 7-day pass or anything. I don't know what people do there for seven whole days.
So now we're planning on rounding the bend back into Thailand. We're going back to Bangkok for a day or so - hopefully to catch a Thai boxing match while we're at it - and then will head south for a few days (more beach time) before coming back up to the city for our final weekend. Should be wild.
We're both feeling good and have adjusted to the heat. I can't believe how quickly time has passed... at this rate, before I know it, winter will be here. Luckily, by then, my tailor-made winter coat should have arrived. So no worries.
I finally bought the batteries for my digital camera two days ago, so I've managed to snag a few photos. Unfortunately, most of our pics are on 'real' film, and I doubt we'll digitize them.
I did, however, get some snaps of the monkey family we saw yesterday off the beaten path at Angkor Wat. We had said, on multiple occasions while checking out the site, "Where are all the monkeys? Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is so unrealistic.' But I guess that it wasn't so unrealistic after all, because there really are monkeys there. It was very exciting for both of us... the Camobidans thought our enthusiasm was pretty funny. As Kara put it, 'It would be like if someone came to America and got really excited about all the pigeons.'
But dude, we saw monkeys.
So there we are. I honestly can't believe we're going to Thailand tomorrow. This trip is passing with lightening speed. Yesterday we were surprised to find out what day of the week it was... I still feel like it's sometime mid-April, but here we are, July 16. I head home in 10 days. That's insane.
Last night, it rained so hard that the spattering sound on our tin roof kept us up most of the night. We didn't really mind though... we've been waiting for a rain storm most of this trip. Everyone warned us, "Oh, you shouldn't go to southeast Asia during the rainy season!" But, honestly, we've been begging for rain. Thus far, it has only rained once in Laos, once in Vietnam, and now once in Cambodia. "Rainy season" my ass.
We're in a sort of strange little town on the Cambodian coast called Sihanoukville. This is where Cambodians come to vacation, so the beaches were pretty much packed yesterday (Saturday) upon our arrival in the late afternoon. Today, however, we expect them to clear out as everyone returns home for the work week. That way, we'll be able to get down to the very serious business of getting a deep, dark tan.
Thus far, I really like Cambodia. The people are mellow but willing to help, and the ease of travel makes it more pleasant to get around in than Vietnam or Laos. We're going to hang out on the beach for another day or two before heading back to the capital for a stopover on our way to Siem Riep.
A few days ago, we passed the halfway point in our trip. Both of us agree that the first week was the slowest, probably due both to the fact that Laos is extremely calm and easygoing and that we were adjusting to the travelling lifestyle. The second week or so flew by in Vietnam, and I expect that things will only speed up from here. Both of us are pretty much in full-on travel mode, and we're finding things easier to get done. Travelling is a skill and we've been sharpening ours.
My main discovery since Vietnam has been my love of motorbikes. In all the countries we've been in, this is the main mode of transportation. At first, we were a bit scared to hop on the back of a motorbike driver's ride with our backpacks, but we're getting used to it. Actually, we're learning to love it. Scootering around town is so practical and is a good way to see things. I have fantasies of buying myself a little scooter to get around Paris in upon my return. Maybe I'll do that right after I win a lot of money or write a bestseller.
We made it into Vietnam in the craziest of circumstances. We honestly thought for a moment at the border that our driver had gone off with all our luggage. But luckily, things were fine.
We drove straight into Dong Ha, a town near the beach from which we would connect to other cities. Feeling adventurous, Kara and I strapped on our backpacks in search of the train station with no map and terrible directions.
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