Thailand part 3 & Cambodja part 1

Ok, where to start..?

Mae Hong Son
After leaving Chiang Mai we went to Mae Hong Son by minibus (a hell of a ride through all the hills..). After the 6 hour drive we arrived at Mae Hong Son and had no clue where to go. Luckily a fellow backpacker cycled by and showed us the way. The hostels happened to be located around a lake (which was more of a pond actually) so we had easy pickings. After we settled down, we had a look around the city to find a place for lunch. That was when we discovered that everything closes in the heat of the day. So no lunch.. but there was a nice stand for fruit-shakes (an old lady, who didn't seem to enjoy her pension as a fruit-shake-maker and therefore took her time).
The following day we started a walking tour around the city. The first place to go was the temple on top of the hill (which is supposed to have a nice view over the city and the surrounding landscape). Since it was the heat of the day, the walk was pretty hard, but the temple was nice. Unfortunately the view wasn't as good as we expected due to the burning of the rice-fields (it said that burning the rice fields makes the ground more fertile, but it's such a shame since it creates a lot of smog). After visiting this temple we continued our walking tour through the city. It was nice to see that the city was well taking care of (probably for the tourists since there were many touristy restaurants) and we enjoyed the peacefulness of the city.
Since we planned to go to Sukhothai afterwards, we decided to go to the bus station to get some information (and a bus ticket). During this 30 minute walk out of the city center, we discovered a completely different Mae Hong Son: many local restaurants and shops which showed the normal local life. Since we liked the vibe of this normal life so much, we decided to have our last dinner in Mae Hong Son in one of these restaurants. The food was fabulous and the people really friendly. The owner (who didn't speak English) had a car standing by and insisted to bring us to the bus station. At the bus station, we took the night bus to Chiang Mai to take a bus there to Sukhothai.

Sukhothai
We arrived at 5AM in Chiang Mai and were lucky since the next bus to Sukhothai departed at 6AM. After a quick breakfast we continued our journey (another 6 hour bus ride). Around noon we finally arrived in Sukhothai and a taxi took us to our (recommended) guesthouse with swimmingpool! Completely exhausted we took a dive in this (tiny) swimmingpool to refresh before heading out for lunch. We ended up in a local street restaurant where nobody spoke English. They served us some local dishes (sort of noodles with fish vs peanut curry and raw vegetables) which actually tasted very nice! The ladies at the restaurant (serving our food) seemed to enjoy our company as much as we did theirs. After ordering a coffee with our hands and feet, we headed back 'home' to make a plan for the upcoming days.
Sukhothai happened to be divided into two parts: New Sukhothai (where we stayed) and Old Sukhothai. We planned to visit New Sukhothai one day and spend one day in Old Sukhothai. In New Sukhothai we went to a swimmingpool: a real one, but not as nice as we hoped it to be (no comfortable places to relax and no exiting slides).
Old Sukhothai was a lot more interesting since the historical park is located there. As we arrived by local transport (not a bus, not a taxi, not a tuktuk but some sort of pick-up-truck-but-different), we rented a bicycle to cycle through the historical park since the park was really big and divided into 5 sections. The park was well taking care of and had many nice ruins and temples to visit, we visited only one part, which was the main part and more than enough for one day (in the end all ruins started to look alike). After we got back from our tour we met Judith (a former colleague) and had dinner at the night market. It was really nice to share our experiences and travels, so we had a good time.

Koh Chang
After Sukhothai we wanted to visit Koh Chang (the second biggest island of Thailand). We started this journey in the morning by taking a local bus to Phitsanulok. After arriving there we booked a nightbus to Trat, so had to spend 8 hours in Phitsanulok. We were this desperate for a Starbuckscoffee that we decided to walk to a big shoppingmall. Unfortunately, the walk was a bit longer than we expected, but the reward was worth it (a nice cappuccino at the airconed shoppingmall)! In the evening we started the busride to Trat. Since we wanted to go to Koh Chang we had to take a ferry from Laem Ngop and the busdriver told us that he would drop us there. However, this was not the case: we were dropped of at a local taxi driver, who we had to pay to bring us to the ferry (not really part of the deal, but the bus was long gone, so we had no choice). After another hour on the ferry, we finally arrived at Koh Chang! But, we arrived at long beach, and wanted to go to lonely beach (the other side of the island), so we had to take another taxi. Luckily for us, there was another (German) couple who also wanted to go to Lonely beach, so we shared a taxi. Completely exhausted we took the first guesthouse with a free room, which was actually really good (private bathroom, TV and really nice staff)!
We stayed at Koh Chang for a week because of the Songkran festival (Thai new year). Most of our time we spent on the beach doing nothing and the nights we spend with Felix and Carina (the German couple from the taxi ride).
One day we rented a scooter to visit the other beaches of the island and a national park with a great waterfall! The rest of the days we wouldn't dare to ride a scooter due to the Songkran.
In Thailand Songkran means one big waterfestival (it is impossible to stay dry). The point is to throw as much (ice)water as you can at anybody who passes by, smear their faces with powder and blue/yellow/red clay and drink a lot of beer: real fun!! Since the festival takes a few days, one day we joined our guesthouse staff in a pick-up truck. We had two big tons full of ice water (really cold), four supersokers and a whole lot of buckets. As we drove by the other beaches we throw as much water as we can at anybody who passes by (especially the tourists are nice targets, and more when the don't expect it, and even more when the realize it's ice water....). After this exhausting beer drinking, water throwing festival we booked a ticket to Cambodia.

Cambodia part 1: Siem Reap
Since we heard a lot bad stories about crossing the boarder, we were a little skeptic and afraid. However everything went smoothly and without any trouble. From the boarder we took a minivan to Siem Reap. During this ride we immediately discovered the difference between the Thai and Cambodian landscape: Cambodia is flat. In addition, Cambodia is really hot (April is the hottest month..) and therefor really dry. When we arrived at Siem Reap, a whole lot of tuktuk drivers was waiting for us to take us to a guesthouse. This is how we met Pon: our tuktuk driver. He took us to a nice guesthouse for free in order to get himself a job for the next day. Since he was really nice and spoke English very well, we decided to 'book' him for a day to guide us through Angkor Wat.
The day after our arrival we walked around to get to know Siem Reap and Cambodia. We soon found out that the Cambodians are really nice, friendly and willing to work and speak English for their money, a big difference compared to Thailand. Especially the younger people speak English very well and are glad to be able to go to school and study. Altogether this creates a really nice vibe. On the other hand there is a lot of poverty and begging children asking for money or food. This can create an awkward feeling. However due to the fact of their history, it's understandable and therefor less annoying.
During our walk through the city, we stumbled upon Concert: an organization who is devoted in helping people to help. So this organization helps you to find a good way to donate your money or to volunteer. Through this organization we came in contact with KKO (Khmer for Khmer organization). This organization gives children the opportunity to learn English and in addition sewing or mechanical techniques. They offer a biking tour through the countryside of Siem Reap to collect donations. Since we liked the concept, we booked a tour to donated some money.
The next day we woke up at 4.45AM and were picked up by Pon to see sunrise at Angkor Wat. It was a really nice experience, a peaceful place and beautiful views (see pictures), however very touristy. After sunrise, Pon took us to a local place for breakfast (really nice). After breakfast we visited Angkor Thom (an ancient city) and its surroundings (see pictures). At last we also visited the Tomb Raider Tomb (see pictures). By then the heat of the day was getting to us, so we headed back to our guesthouse.
After seeing sunrise this morning we decided to see sunset inside the city. We had a nice place with a rooftop terrace and a really friendly owner. This same owner promised to let us experience the real local food: Khmer spicy chicken. So she asked her cleaning lady to make the real Khmer chicken for us and her staff. It happened to be very boney (little difficult for Floor) but the taste was good (Khmer chicken are very lean and don't have that much flesh).
Our last day in Siem Reap we met the founders of KKO. With both a German and Cambodian guide we visited the local village where the school was located. During this tour, we cycled through the ricefields, mushroom farms and some local villages (small huts next to the river). Here we really experienced the countryside life and learned about their way of life. Our Cambodian guide also took us to an alligator farm (see pictures) and his own house (see pictures as well). Altogether it was a really nice experience and we were glad to donate our money.

Battambang
We left Siem Reap by bus to go to a boat which would bring us to Battambang. It was said to be a must if you have the time (which we do!). Indeed, the scenery was great: many floating villages and local people at work (fishing, washing, swimming, selling food, etc.). Since it was a local boat (the only one crossing these floating villages), we were joined by many locals. Even if we thought the boat was full, there was always place for more. So in the end, it became a bit rough (no space, no comfortable seats and a long way to go). After 9 hours of torment, we finally arrived at Battambang. But, we didn't have one foot on shore and immediately we were surrounded by tuktuk drivers willing to take us their guesthouses. The good thing: we've never been this fast in a tuktuk and on our way to a hostel. Again, this guesthouse was really nice: big rooms, clean, private bathroom and cable TV (and that for only 5 dollars). One letdown: it was really hot. That's why we decided to upgrade our room to an aircon room.

More on Battambang the next time so that we can add the pictures.

Kisskiss from Cambodia,
Floor & Rob