Cambodia

Whats up guys, I just got back from Cambodia last weekend and thought Id tell you all about the trip. I went with my coworker, Kyle, and my good friend from CofC, Charles and we traveled north to south, stopping in Siem Reap, Sihanoukville, and Phnom Penh. Ill start from the beginning.

Siem Reap: We spent the first two days of the trip in Siem Reap with the goal of seeing Ankor Wat, a complex of massive temples constructed in the 12th century. Im sure most of you have seen some of these temples in photos and they are even more amazing in person, practically overwhelming to witness. The surrounding area is home to dozens of temples, the most famous being Angkor Wat and Angkor Tom, and we spent an entire day there and only saw 5 that were recommended by our guide/guest house. Most people spend 3 days there but after suffering from the heat and accompanying sunburns, we were content with our shorter visit.




We spent the first half of the next day on a ATV tour of the countryside, stopping at an orphanage and roadside village. The orphanage was pretty decent considering the poverty that engulfs the country, but there were very few kids since most of them had gone into the city that day to take classes. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see their open air classrooms and all they had built with money gained strictly from donations. Since there were very few kids, we only spent about 30 minutes there but left a bag full of pencils, tooth brushes, crayons, beach balls and some other odds and ends that I read was a good donation. The rest of the ride was filled with endless rice paddies, quiet roadside villages and modest homes, all with children that would run into the street and wave when they heard the motors of out ATVs.

Open air classroom at the orphanage

Some kids that ran out to meet us

We spent the last half of the day wondering around Siem Reap, which isnt really that big, looking around the markets and checking out the river. Later that evening, we caught a night bus that took us on a 10 hr trip to our next stop, Sihanoukville.

Sihanoukville: Sihanoukville is the poster beach town of Cambodia with two main beaches that stretch out from either side of a rocky cape (not sure if thats the right word, but it was a rocky point that reached pretty far out into the sea). The city's economy relies primarily on tourism so there is English everywhere and tons of guest houses/hostels and bars/restaurants on the beach. We stayed at a place that was a 5 min walk from the beach and spent most of our time lounging under an umbrella in front of a place called Khan's Shack. Although the water wasnt crystal blue, Sihanoukville is probably my favorite part of the trip, maybe because after 4 years of going to school by the beach, I really missed it. We didnt do anything for 3 days besides sit on the beach enjoy drinks made with fresh fruit, something none of us regret. The only downside was that we couldnt go 5 minutes without being interrupted by a beggar or someone trying to sell us something. I finally agreed to a foot massage for $3 and Kyle ended up buying some bracelets. We took an early bus on the 4th morning that dropped us off in Phnom Pehn that afternoon.


Phnom Penh: Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia and is pretty unimpressive if you have ever been to a big city, especially poorer one. Our main purpose there was to see the Killing Fields and S-21, reminders of when Pol Pot and the Khymer Rogue controlled the country. Here, we stayed at a guest house called No Problem that is on the shore of what remains of a huge lake and was recommended to us by a friend in Korea. Apparently, the lake used to be quite big but Korean developers have come in and literally bought most of it and were pumping sand into it so they could build on it. Ridiculous, I know. However, we did have a great patio that overlooked what was left of it. Our room, on the other hand, were pretty horrible; I wont go into detail but all of us though it best to sleep above the covers. Once we got checked in, we spent the rest of the afternoon at a government run shooting range where we got to shoot automatic weapons, a feat unheard of in USA unless you are in the Army. Kyle and I chose to shoot the AK 47 and Charles shot a US made M 16. It was some of the fastest money I have ever spent, but well worth it since it is such a rare opportunity.

View from the patio

We spent our last full day visiting the Killing Fields and S-21. S-21 was a school converted into a prison and staging ground for people that were eventually sent to be executed in the Killing Fields. The reasons for being imprisoned were vast and random, anything from being too intellectual, speaking multiple languages or even wearing glasses could have gotten you condemned to death. Over 15,000 people, including women and children, were executed at the Killing Fields and only in this past year has a trial began to bring those responsible to justice. Unfortunately, the mastermind, Pol Pot, has since died, but the man that ran S-21 is currently standing trial (or so I believe). Both of these places were horrible and it was a very solemn experience to visit them both.

S-21

Killing Fields

Mass graves at the Killing Fields

So far, they have recovered 2/3 of the bodies of the people suspected to have been killed here, these are some of their skulls

A week after we arrived, we took a red eye flight back to Korea, arriving around 6am and although we all slept on the flight, we spent most of the morning/afternoon catching up on more of it. As a whole, the trip was unbelievable and I couldnt have asked for a better time or better people to spend it with.

A few things to mention: Kymer (Cambodia) food is delicious, it puts Korean food to shame and we never had a bad meal. Almost every Cambodian we encountered, from the guest houses to shops on the street, spoke at least a little English. Also, everyone was extremely nice, either because of their nature or because they know how much money tourists bring to their country. Cambodia is extremely cheap, the most we paid for a room was $15 and the we never paid more than $4 for a meal. We hired Tuk Tuk drivers for $10-15 a day depending on where we were going and they all spoke excellent English and were full of suggestions on what to do and where to eat. Traffic is ridiculous everywhere, we heard there are laws that are supposed to govern how people drive, but no one obeys them. People drive on either side, motorcycles and scooters and abundant and darting between cars and through red lights, making my previous post on Korean traffic and drivers seem almost appealing.

Tuk-Tuk, the main form of transportation

This woman has her baby on her lap and another child that is sitting in front of the driver, and they were weaving through traffic

Ok, I guess that about sums it up, Ill be home in a little under 2 weeks, cant wait to see everyone.

Bungee jumping, rafting, Mud Fest and Charles

Ok, Im going to give a brief update of things before I head to Cambodia next week.

I went rafting and bungee jumping with Amanda 3 weekends ago. The rafting was ok, not a lot of water so it wasnt very swift, but the weather was beautiful and the little water that was there was refreshing. We went through a tour group called Adventure Korea that specializes in showing Korea to foreigners. If youre ever in the area, I would definitely recommend going on any of their adventures, everything was well organized and we met a few cool people. After rafting, they had a lunch set up for us and we all relaxed before heading to the bungee jump site. Jumping was optional but I had planned on doing it since I had read about it on the website. After about an hour of waiting, I was strapped into an ankle harness and jumped from a platform located 50 meters above a river. Jumping was an awesome rush and a lot different than I remembered, probably because I was 12 the last time. If you are interested, I think a video and pictures are up on my Facebook page.

The next weekend I went with a group of coworkers, Amanda, and some Korean friends to a beach town about 2hrs south of Seoul. This town hosts a "Mud Festival" every year that has become very popular with the foreign community and is supposed to be a must do if you live here. Honestly, I expected more, it was pretty much just an excuse to party with a ton of people on the beach. There was a lot of mud (supposedly rich in minerals and trucked in from nearby) for people to jump and play in as well as paint their bodies with. It rained on Saturday afternoon so that kind of killed the mood, but it was a nice excuse to get out of the city and go to the beach. Sadly, there are no pictures of this since everyone was hesitant to bring their cameras out into the mud.

Last weekend, my good friend, Charles, arrived in Seoul. I have known him since freshman year at CofC and am really glad he decided to make the 14hr flight here. I spent the week splitting time between work and showing him around Seoul. We are leaving tomorrow with my coworker, Kyle, to go to Cambodia for my summer vacation and my bit of traveling l before I come home.

Finally, Im sure you are all happy to hear that my plane ticket has been bought and I will be home August 19th, get ready.

Mt. Seoraksan

A couple of weekends ago, I went with some friends to the east coast of Korea to climb a mountain. Not just any mountain, but one of the biggest mountains in Korea. Named Mt. Seoraksan, this behemoth is just over 1700 meters tall (5500 ft) and took us 9 hrs to go 10km up and 5km down. Ridiculous, I know. I can honestly say we didnt know what we were getting ourselves into when we planned this trip and were a little too arrogant (or uninformed) starting out. The problem with Mt. Seoraksan is that it is deceptive; it starts with about 2km of winding, paved trail and you are surrounded by families. Even when the pavement disappears, the path is still gradual and nonthreatening. It wasnt until we had a little over 5km to the top that we realized this was going to be harder than it looked. At that point, the path seemed to head straight up with no sign of relief. The last 5km were a hellish combination of steep man made stairs and unevenly placed stone ones. Some of us wanted to turn around, but we persevered and made it to the top where it seemed we had risen above the clouds and the weather was completely different that what we had left below us.

The hike itself was beautiful and I dont regret doing it for a minute. We spent a lot of time hiking along a river that had cut away at the rock, leaving us with amazing views of rock walls to either side of us. We had lunch by one of the water falls that feeds the river and I even braved the frigid water to go swimming because it was crystal clear.

We took a shorter way down that was also riddled with so many awkward stairs that it crippled the remaining parts of our legs that hadnt given out on the way up. This shorter way dumped us out at the other end of the park, about as far away as we could have gotten, but everyone was so exhausted that we were glad to pay the cab fare back to where we were staying. Needless to say, everyone was worn out for the next few days and my legs hurt for the next week, but I had a blast and its always nice to get out of Seoul.

Compared to the hikes I have done in the city, this one was infinitely more difficult, but less intimidating since we never had to use ropes to keep us from falling to our deaths. Would I do it again? Probably not. But would I recommend it for people to do? Absolutely.

Im still alive!

For those of you out there questioning my lack of updates, heres your answer: its been a really busy but also pretty routine few weeks. Ive got "Open House" coming up at the end of June which is just an excuse for the parents to watch me teach their kids. Its pretty much a scripted performance, but the trick is to convince the parents otherwise so it appears that I typically do that much work and prep and their kids are always that smart and attentive. So, Ive been spending a lot of time working late on flashcards, posters, role play scripts, etc and a lot of class time reviewing it without specifically saying why, just in case the kids get the idea to tell mommy they have been practicing daily for their 'unscripted' open house.

I did have a great time last weekend celebrating two birthdays and enjoying the weather. I spent Saturday afternoon at the horse track with my friend, Phil, who simply wanted to bet on the ponies to celebrate his birth. I came out about $10 down and he about $5 up so no real harm done. I was disappointed with the last race, I had $5 on an American stallion named "Storm Feet" who started strong but then faded on the home stretch. However, after observing some of the locals on the way out, many of whom appeared to be crying or without enough money to take the subway home, I consider myself lucky to not have my life riding on these animals.

I spent Saturday night with more friends and coworkers for our friend Pam's birthday. We met at a local park as she simply wanted to have a picnic and enjoy time with friends. We had a great time drinking, eating, dancing and riding tandem bikes.

Sunday was spent wakeboarding on the river, lounging in the sun and eating cheaply at the Costco food court. All in all a really fun weekend and Im happy I had some great people to spend it with and enjoy some time away from work.

Hope all is well in the USA, look forward to hearing from and seeing you all soon (just about 9 weeks!)

Planes, Trains and Automobiles Pt. 3 (finally)

Ok, lets talk cars. There are only 4 words you need to know when driving (or riding) in a car here: There are no rules. Like the bus drivers, people using cars are only concerned about themselves. They drive where the want, they park where they want and they go when the want. Pay attention to the conclusion of this series, this is how not to drive.

All my comments come from being a passenger in a taxi or some one's personal vehicle, but Im pretty sure I wouldnt want to drive here. Lets start with moving forward, which means everyone else move out of the way. Cars drive everywhere here, on the sidewalk, over the curb and even through red lights. Best of all, no one cares because everyone does it. The rule of thumb is that if no one else is coming, you can go. This means blatant disregard for green, yellow and red lights, which I dont mind if Im in a hurry. It also results in a lot of honking. To increase their chances of success, they also stop pretty much in the intersection, so they either have to go to avoid being hit by turning traffic or are able to proceed at the first available moment. Ive seen a few close calls, mostly involving motorcycles and cars, but no wrecks (amazingly).

Again, like the buses, cars refuse to yield to emergency vehicles and cut them off often which is surprisingly tolerated. For some reason, all cops/fire fighters/ EMS people leave their lights on 24/7, I guess to be seen, but it can only add to the confusion when trying to determine whether there is an actual emergency. If, for some reason, a car does decide to yield, it typically pulls onto the side, but never actually comes to a stop. Instead, it proceeds to drive on the shoulder or sidewalk, honking at pedestrians to move the entire time. Ive personally witnessed a car tailgate a bicycler, on the sidewalk, because the biker refused to move for the car.

Finally, whenever the car reaches its destination, they park in the closest available spot. Often, this is not a parking spot and can be anything from the side of the road to a roadside patio. This only leads to more confusion when they leave since they have to navigate through the people so they can reenter the highway at some point.


Oh, one more thing: U-turns are more popular than rice here, its not uncommon to have a taxi pull a U-turn by crossing over two lanes into oncoming traffic just because he realized he was going the wrong way. Mind you, these are the good drivers, the bad ones try to get more money out of doing things the legal way and driving a bit further.

Good luck if you ever come here and hope to drive.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles Pt. 2

Ok, Im going to cover public transportation in the second installment of this series. Included are buses and subway trains; up first: the subway.

Having never really ridden an established and extensive subway system before this summer in NYC, I have to say they are really beneficial when done right. Atlanta's is not done well, as evidenced by the fact that no one really takes it unless they are going downtown, to the airport or trying to find somewhere to sleep. New York's and Seoul's are far better, encompassing the entire city with entrances every few blocks. I have give the edge to Seoul's system though, but only because the platforms dont smell like urine and the stations are extremely well maintained.

I probably take the subway here at least once a week and have never had a bad experience, save for the random times I show up as the doors are closing or inability to get a seat as seen here:

The subways run pretty regularly, and even if you miss a train, there is always one a few minutes behind with it's position shown on an electronic board. Every stop is announced in both Korean and English and the map of stops is written in both, ensuring that you have to be asleep or a moron to miss yours.

The only downfall to the subway is that the trains dont run all night, they stop around 11 or 12, but since taxis are so cheap (I will elaborate in pt. 3), getting home is never too expensive.

Ok, now for the buses. There is a wonderful piece of technology that links the subway system and bus system together, its called a T-Money card and is about the size of a piece of gum. This card either goes in your wallet or attaches to your phone via a cord and is rechargeable at every subway station. While you can use cash, Id say more than 90% of Koreans use their T-Money card to pay for subways and buses. In addition to convenience, one of the best incentives to use it is that it gives you free transfers. For example, whenever I take the subway home, I also have to take a 5 min bus ride, but that bus ride is free since I use my T-Money card. I can also use this card to pay for some taxis and in select convenience stores.

Like the subway, every bus stop is announced in English and Korean and you simply push a button to signal to the driver that you want off. While much of Seoul looks similar, one of the best things about the bus is the view. This, paired with the recent implementation of a HOV lane just for buses makes this mode of transportation more appealing than being stuck underground.

There are two major flaws in the bus system though, the first is that while the stops are announced in English, the maps at the stops are only in Korea. This means that unless you know which bus to take or know Korean, its going to be pretty hard to figure out which bus goes where.

The second is the driver's sense of entitlement. According to their posted licenses, many of these drivers have been in the game for many years and have the ego to go with it. What does an egotistical bus driver do? Anything he wants. Since Ive been here, Ive almost been hit when crossing the street at the appropriate time, been cut off numerous times while in a taxi and witnessed buses refuse to yield to emergency vehicles. Its goes both ways though, because I obviously enjoy the driver making haste while Im aboard, but some of their actions surprise me at best.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles Pt. 1

This is intended to be the first installment of a 3 part series aimed at describing traveling within Korea. First up: planes.


While I have only had one experience on a Korean run airline, I have to say that everything I have heard supports my experience. Some of you may remember when I went to Tokyo at the end of January; for that trip, I flew Asiana Airlines. Prior to them, I have flown primarily domestic run carriers (with the exception of Lufthansa this summer and maybe a Caribbean one when I was younger), but Asiana blew everyone out of the water. I cant imagine anyone enjoying flying domestic airlines (with the exception of first of business class), but stop reading now if you do because they are in the minor leagues compared to Asiana.

First, and perhaps most importantly, they were overstaffed (some of you may be asking yourselves what this means since US carriers dont understand either). Not only were there about 20 desk agents checking people in, there were also 10 gate agents when it was time to board. Things went smoother than smooth, in addition to the desk lady honoring my request for an exit row, the gate agent offered me a paper after my ticket was scanned.

It gets better: once on board, I noticed the flight attendants didnt look leathery and on their death bed (apologies to anyone with who's mom is/was a flight attendant, I wasnt talking about them, unless their face looks like a handbag painted like a clown). In fact, Asiana's flight attendants reminded me of the glory days of the profession (see Catch Me If You Can for insight) when it was hip to be a jet setting flight attendant. Gorgeous and courteous, they catered to the passengers like they cared and in four languages. I was constantly offered beverages and snacks which leads me to my next point of praise: the food and drinks.

Not only was the alcohol free, it was quality booze. Im talking both foreign and domestic beers as well as brand name spirits, all of which had unlimited refills. I dont know whats wrong with our domestic carriers (actually I do, their industry is in economic turmoil and is desperate need of cutting costs), but drinks on the house go a long way. Not even on my flight to Korea on United, which lasted about 13 hrs, were their any complimentary drinks. Also, the food was delicious. Im talking food that filled me up and that I could actually recognize without consulting the menu. And no, I didnt have to pay extra for it. Both entrees were fish, but the side items ranged from salad to noodles and was always accompanied by bread, dessert and rice (it is Asia after all). Take a look at this picture and tell me you wouldnt eat this.


Thats what I thought.

I guess the thing I was most impressed with was the lack of a language barrier. I was expecting them to be proficient in Korean and Japanese, but I was pleasantly surprised by their extensive knowledge of English. From checking in to disembarking, not once did a staff member have to consult another to translate anything I said. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

Alright, that concludes part one, I will be flying Korean Air on my trip to Cambodia in July, so hopefully they live up to my newly raised standards.