Winter Vacation Part I: Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand

 

                                Our month long trip spanned five distinctly different areas as well as four countries.  My journey started off by leaving cold and dreary beibei on a flight to Siem Reap's, Angkor Wat.  Since the other group members were coming from places further away than Chongqing, China to Cambodia I was the first to arrive in Siem Reap.  For some people the mere logistics of organizing such an endeavor might seem to some like a troublesome burden.  Fortunately, in our group a leader would emerge who was an expert in organization, logistics, and trouble-shooting.  As much as I would like to say that this leader was me I honestly cannot.  Although our group was already well traveled the personality of the group members dictated that someone needed to take charge and lead.  Through good leadership and the open-mindedness of our group we only experienced a couple of minor schisms throughout our voyage together.

 

                                                The first part of our trip was spent in the naturally reconditioned ruins of Cambodia's Angkor Wat.  In my humble opinion, this was my favorite part of the entire trip and something that will stay engraved in my memory for years to come.  The enormous scope of the ruins really left my imagination enraptured regarding what this place must have looked like during the height of its majesty.  I most enjoyed biking for hours alone exploring the many miles of exterior ruins, meeting fellow travelers, and day-dreaming while resting on the ruins.

 

                                The second leg of our journey took us down to the sixth layer of Hell as far as Dante Alighieri would have been concerned.  Indeed, Phnom Penh leaves much to be desired as it lacks both the comforts of western countries as well as the cultural uniqueness present in many cities around the world.  The countries incipient foreign investments still have a long way to go in order to reach the level of development its foreign neighbors have already accomplished.  Another big issue with the city is the transparent graft, sex-slave trade, and overall dirty impression visiting Phnom Penh leaves on visitors.   

 

                                For me, a lasting impression from visiting Phnom Penh was definitely seeing the Killing Fields.  Visiting these types of harrowing monuments to the atrocities which humans are capable of inflicting on their fellow brothers and sisters always leaves an indelible mark on the searching soul.  As I am constantly searching for answers regarding the greater questions in life, I would be lying to you if I did not admit that this experience was a haunting one for me to grapple with while I questioned humanity.

 

                                Our next stop was to visit Kuala Lumpur for a day in route to reaching our next destination: Thailand's Koh Phangan Island.  Honestly, this detour was not at all interesting for me since I had previously spent several days in Kuala Lumpur in 2012; Therefore, I strongly considered taking a bus from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore for a day.  Unfortunately, I just did not have enough time due to the nature of our short lay-over in Malaysia.

 

                                That next day we embarked on an all day odyssey of travel which included using the metro, buses, a plane, a boat, and a truck in route to our final destination.  Once we arrived at our bungalow everyone was sufficiently exhausted and in need of a good night's sleep.  The next few days were to be the most relaxing spent while traveling.  This portion of our vacation was perfect for resting, reading, and enjoying recreational activities on the beach.  I personally found affinity in getting up relatively early and going on a morning run or walk by myself.  In the afternoons, I spent a lot of time on the beach absorbed in reading books on my kindle. 

 

                                At this point in our journey the greatest challenge to my autonomy seemed to come from the packs of stray dogs who roamed the island.  Likewise, I found it almost untenable to go running down lengths of the road without so much as a stick to protect myself from the truculent stray dogs.  These unfortunate creatures had the natural instinct of trying and lurch at me while I ran by them on my mourning runs.  In fact, I was only able to finally ameliorate the situation when I realized that swinging a stick at them was the only sure way of provoking them to retreat from their persistent sortie.

 

                                The group next moved further north up the Thai peninsula to the island of Koh Tao.  Since Koh Tao is famous for its Scuba diving and snorkeling the group decided that it would be worthwhile to spend one day exploring the underwater world.  Unfortunately, the group lacked both the funds and training necessary for Scuba diving; consequently, snorkeling was the chosen method of exploration.

 

                                I would be dishonest if I did not say that the overall snorkeling experience left much to be desired in the minds of our collective group.  As a whole, each drop-off snorkeling location lacked much differentiation in regards to the underwater coral and fauna present.  Fortunately, one spot did have a remarkable large number of a similar type of fish in the same alcove which was noteworthy in the minds of each traveler.

 

                                After spending about two weeks on islands the group had mixed feelings about returning to the hectic nature of traveling on mainland Thailand.  Likewise, the inauspicious worsening illness of one of our camp seemed to follow us as an imposing cloud does ahead of the impending storm on our night train ride north to Bangkok.

 

                                Out of our entire trip one of the most surprising things was the uneventful nature of our stay in Bangkok, Thailand.  I think that there may several causational factors which attributed to this truism.  Firstly, the group was still in the midst of a month long trip which was starting to take a toll on our resolve.  Secondly, the group celebrated the Full Moon festival on Koh Phangan only a few days' earlier which at the time had left everyone pretty sapped of energy.  Lastly, I at least personally feel that I had a real desire to avoid getting into a bad situation in this city of admitted sin, corruption, and violence.  Knowing that a lot of people come to Thailand looking to enjoy the freedoms the country is famously associated with kept me at an arm's length away from any compromising situations.