Southern Thailand treated me well, but now it's time for a change and to hit the road again, or should I say the sky's?! After Phi Phi we had our ferry to Phuket and then a flight the next morning to Siem Reap and since we are poor travelers we decided to just sleep at the airport. It actually wasn't too bad, because it gave me some time to talk with some friends and family and to just chillaxxxxx, however, the Burger King booths are not the best beds to sleep in. I think we were all just ready to move away from the party scene of Southern Thailand and check out a new and unknown place in the world. I had heard so much about Cambodia and was just itching to explore it. Although we were stoked to go to Cambodia it was time to say good-bye to our lovely Dan since we was going back to school. It was actually pretty sad since I only know this trip with Dan being a part of it, but then I remembered that we live in an age where it really is possible to connect with friends that you meet traveling. All of the social media platforms that we are spoiled with allow us to stay connected with each other, and I know that if I'm ever in Switzerland I can message Dan and the same goes for him if he is ever in California. I'm so happy that we have these types of technologies to stay connected otherwise I would've been balling my eyes out at the ferry building when we wer saying our good-byes. It's also important to remember that when you're traveling, especially when you're traveling alone, that you're constantly making new friends and that also means that you're constantly having to say good-bye as well. It can be hard because you develop such a connection with people that you're traveling with and then "poof" they're gone! It's the nature of the beast.
After a quick and easy 2 hour flight to Siem Reap we touched down and I was so excited to see what Cambodia had in store for me. To be honest I was super excited to get another stamp and sticker in my passport and that's the explicit sign that you're in a new place. We hopped on a Tuk-tuk and made our way to the Mad Monkey hostel where we would be staying for the next couple of days. Steph, Tharmitha, and I all kind of had different plans on what we wanted to do so I thought that Siem Reap would be the place where we would have to all split up. I tried not to think about it too much otherwise I would stress myself out for no reason. An important lesson that this trip has taught me is to think in the present and to not worry about the future. I'm literally living my life day-by-day and it's been very difficult for me since I'm such a planner, however, it's also very liberating since I can change my route at any time. If I meet some people who have a good trip planned out I can always tag along with them, or if I wanted to go somewhere I can see if other people want to come with me. There's no point in stressing yourself out about what's happening next, and rather remain in the present because I'm 99.9% sure that you'll actually appreciate and enjoy the moment you're in so much more. You can't be enjoying the sunset over Cambodian rice fields if you're worried about booking a bus ticket to go somewhere else. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the moment. Everything will fall into place, and you can never truly figure out what's going to happen in the future so don't let that take away from you're specatlur sunset!
Once we got all situated we naturally proceeded to the bar to grab a beer and then put on our bathing suits since the hostel had a pool. I was loving the new hostel environment and when we were in the pool I started talking with Rachel and David from New Jersey who were also backpacking around Southeast Asia. We ended up talking and hanging out the entire day, time in Siem Reap, and even to this day in Phnom Penh! It's funny how fast you can make friends when traveling. Yay new travel buddies! I was so happy to meet some new friends and we are actually going to Southern Cambodia and Vietnam together. Thanks to the Mad Monkey pool for bringing us together, but now it was time to explore Siem Reap and it's surroundings.
Our hostel offered a "booze cruise" to the floating villages and I thought this was extremely offensive and I don't understand how you could be getting drunk when there are people living in such poverty around you. We decided to go on our own tour of the floating villages and it turned out to be so incredible. It was about a 30 minute drive outside of Siem Reap and these villages get flooded during the rainy season and then dry up in the dry season, so all of these villages are literally on stilts. Venice of Cambodia? The floating villages of Tonle Sap, however, didn't have expensive wine shops or an extravagant glass factory like Venice. Instead I was able to see how a completely different society lives. This is what I was looking for in my trip, and although it did make me a little sad to see such poverty the people that lived there were so friendly and welcoming. Even though it made me a little sad to think that people live like this it got me thinking that this is their reality and it's probably all the know and I think this related back to thinking in the present. If you're constantly comparing your life to others and the things you don't have you can't appreciate the things you have right in front of you. People that love you, some delicious chicken noodles, or watching the waves on the beach. The most beautiful things are right in front of your face and you probably don't even realize it.
The floating villages really taught me to really appreciate the things I do have and not to worry about I don't have. I feel so fortunate to be where I am today. I'm a healthy college graduate backpacking Southeast Asia and life is going pretty swell. The floating villages also taught me that since I am so fortunate it is my duty to give back to those who are less fortunate, so when I'm in Vietnam or Laos I'm planning to do some type of volunteering. I bought some books for these children in Tonle Sap and when I saw the smiles on their faces it just made me so happy. Seeing the floating villages mixed with all of these crazy thoughts going through my head made for an exhausting day, so we all crashed when we got back to the hostel and went to bed early because the next day we were going to Angkor Wat.
We had an early morning wake up call at 4am and got a tuk-tuk to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat. I like to think of myself as a morning person, but not at 4am and especially without any coffee so it took me a little while to wake up. When I saw the silhouette of Angkor Wat in the distance, however, my eyes gleamed with excitement. We situated ourselves perfectly so that we could see the five spires of the temple and watched as the sun rose over the eight wonder of the world. Even though there were a bunch of tourists I still loved it and tried to savor it because I knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I wasn't going to let the annoying tourists take away from my experience. You're always going to have to deal with people who are complaining or annoying, but I try hard to not give in and complain as well because I'm not on this trip to complain. I'm on this trip to experience Southeast Asia and do things that make me happy. Complaining doesn't make me happy, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't make you happy. Just enjoy!
We wandered around some other surrounding temples and eventually made our way to Ta Prohm which is where the tomb raider was filmed. This was probably my favorite surrounding temple because the jungle was taking over the temple and it was so calming walking around and just go at my own pace. Our Tuk-tuk driver was awesome and took us around to a bunch of temples and back to our hostel for only $4 a piece. What a deal! Once we satisfied our temple itch we made our way back to the hostel and packed our bags to head to Battambang. The travel group has now expanded to Steph, Tharmitha, David, Rachel, and myself. We were also meeting other friends in Battambang the next day. So many friends!
On a final note I've realized that throughout my entire trip so far I've been saying "we" and I've never really been alone. Even thought I had a round trip flight booked from San Francisco to Bangkok, nothing booked, and no friends I have already created some amazing friendships and I can't wait to meet with other people throughout my journey. I've been traveling for about three weeks now and it's crazy to think what I've already accomplished. Let's see what happens next...
I really do think this trip has been sort of a bittersweet symphony so far in regards to meeting and saying good bye to the incredible people you meet when traveling. I also just love this song, because it gives me a feeling of "don't worry, everything will work out."