My Cambodian trip diary…
Day 1: Australia to Bangkok
Had a reasonably good flight to Bangkok. Flight was more or less full though. And sadly not full of nice, polite Thai people. But full of drunken, loudmouthed Aussie bogans. Aside from their idiocy “oh, but I’m Australian, why do I have to fill out an Australian departure card?” and “what do you mean you won’t serve people alcohol on the flight who appear intoxicated?”. First time flyers, ok, I can understand their ignorance on some level. But the drunken bogans who start getting verbally abusive with the cabin staff because their fall-down drunk before even getting on the plane and then get a “refusal of service” comment? Not acceptable. You get denied service for being shit faced drunk in a bar in Australia, why exactly do people think separate rules should apply just because you’re in a plane or in a foreign country? Anyway, aside from idiots providing me with amusement, the flight was pretty much boring. Arriving in Bangkok, I was through immigration in about 2 minutes. Gave them my passport and arrival card (which you fill in on the plane) and that was that. My bag was then first off the conveyor belt! Sheer awesomeness! Since I landed in Bangkok pretty late, and don’t fly out to Cambodia until early tomorrow morning, a 8 hour layover, I decided to book myself into a cheap hotel near the airport for the night so I could grab a shower and maybe a few hours sleep. I booked a room at the Silver Gold Garden Hotel for 900 Baht a night which included a return airport transfer, so like AU$34 I think. The transfer from the airport went really quickly and easily, the guy was easy to find, and the drive took just over 5 minutes from the airport. The hotel is pretty basic, but it’s got hot water, a regular flushing toilet and a bed. And to be honest, right now, that’s all I care about. Going to try and catch a few zzz’s before I have to get up at 4.30am to go back to the airport at 5.
Day 2: Bangkok to Phnom Penh
Early wake up call today to go to the airport to catch my flight to Phnom Penh, didn’t really sleep last night, so I’m pretty wiped. All went quickly and easily though. Went to check in, only to find out the dumbfuck travel agent in Australia who said “yeah, all your airport taxes are included in the price of your ticket”, is in fact full of shit. She’d forgotten to include the 700 Baht departure tax from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, she only included the departure tax for when I fly back to Australia next week. So that was an unpleasant surprise. Had to go and pay that and then go deal with customs – which went slowly, long lines, but was easy enough. Inside the place is full of shops. Pretty things like Chanel and Dior and Burberry and…Yeah, I could go on. I’m going to wait till I fly home to buy my airport goodies. And there will be goodies. Bit of a walk to the gate, but that’s fine. Flight left on time and was only about half full, so I got 3 seats to myself. But for a 50 minute flight, who cares? You want 3 seats to yourself on the flight over from Australia. Got the “visa on arrival” at Phnom Penh airport for US$20. Just be aware that you need a spare passport photo to attach to the application, so don’t forget to bring one! The guy at the immigration desk gave me a really weird look and made me have my photo taken again by their camera setup thingy. No clue why, he didn’t ask me anything. Maybe I’ve still got that CIA thing on my passport? He let me go though, so who knows. My bag again came out really quick, so I got out fast. I’d arranged for my hotel I’m staying at in PP to pick me up at the airport to save the hassle of bargaining for a taxi. They were there, so all was good (unlike the no show transfer in Peru). The drive to the hotel was amusing. The traffic is like in Mongolia – chaos – except instead of chaos in Landcruisers, it’s chaos on moto-scooters! As an aside, I get that not all adults want to wear motorbike helmets, that’s their prerogative, they’re making an informed choice not to. But kids? I saw so many small kids riding pillion on motorbikes with no helmet on. I have a problem with that. Anyway, got to the hotel, it’s simple but clean. They supposedly have wi-fi, but I’ve tried connecting to it, and despite having a good signal strength, it don’t work (I have my netbook so I can keep on top of work emails I’m missing while gallivanting about another country for a week). There’s free internet in the lobby, but I can’t upload attachments and stuff on that. Doesn’t really matter, I’ll find a decent internet café or wi-fi signal at some point, I’m sure of it.
Had a nap for a couple of hours and then went out for dinner. Caught a tuk-tuk down near the river front for $1 and ate at some local kind of hole in the wall type place. There was a good mix of westerners and locals there, so it seemed like a good bet. I got spring rolls and Amok curry (with chicken) and a couple of cans of coke and the whole thing came to like $6.50! The curry was much like a Thai green chicken curry, but was really awesome. And cheap! Then took the scenic route back to the hotel, by which time it was pissing down rain, so didn’t see much from the tuk-tuk. Now I’m just going to crash.
Ok, serious question. Why do people not take pens with them on the plane? You know you’re going to have to fill in paperwork before arrival. I had like half a dozen people, most of whom looked fairly well travelled, ask me if they could borrow my pen on the plane. Not a big issue, just food for thought.
Day 3: Phnom Penh wanderings
After breakfast I went and visited the Royal Palace getting there by “cyclo”. Got a bit of the backstory on the royal family, which was interesting, but the buildings themselves were a bit…Boring – much as I hate to admit it. Went and had lunch at some restaurant that is run by an NGO to help raise money for local kids. Good food and all (I had spicy crab meat fried rice…mmm), but the “kids” who the place is meant to be helping caused a riot. They come in and try to sell their wares, in this case, books. Some guy bought a book off one kid and not off another. The kid he didn’t buy the book off had a major hissy fit and beat the crap out of the other kid. The adults didn’t want to intervene, apparently violence is a common way of dealing with “stealing” someone else’s customer. It broke up eventually though.
Then went out to the “killing fields” at Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre on the outskirts of the city – which was a very sobering experience. Sort of reminded me of the shit that goes on in the world – even now. And also my family has a tradition of military service, not all of whom survived it, so it brought back thoughts of their sacrifice as well. Got the backstory on Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge and the atrocities they perpetrated upon their own people. Nasty. Then went and visited the S-21 prison where they kept their prisoners. Again, not pleasant, but interesting nonetheless. Then went and visited the Russian market for a bit. Bought a couple of pairs of shoes (Puma and Birkenstock), a shirt, a new hat (cos I left mine on my bed at home) and a Diesel bag. Think all up I spent $30 or so. You can bargain, but not as much as you can in Egypt for example. Here you’re doing well to get 20-30% off. It was a long day, despite my lack of detail, and right now I’ve got a headache. A pretty bad one at that. Started to get the headache when I was at the killing fields, it reeks there – really badly. Like rotting garbage. Makes you want to puke. What went on there makes you want to puke anyway, but this was just something else entirely. So I suppose I’m just saying that if you do happen to visit, be prepared for the smell. Anyway, I’m just going to head down to the hotel café, grab a snack (spring rolls or something easy) and come back, take a few panadol and go to sleep. I’d like to go out, but my head just hurts way too much right now.
Day 4: Phnom Penh to Siem Reap (and Angkor Wat!!!)
Long drive today from PP to Siem Reap on the bus. Well not really long, 5 hours, but with all the stopping it seemed worse. Left at 7.30am and hit the road. First stop 90 minutes later was at some side of the road market thingy. Kids selling fruit and random crap. I have a rant about that later since I actually got into an argument with someone over it, it’ll go in another post. But anyway, this side of the road place had spiders and snakes and all the weird and wacky stuff like that. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a nature lover, but I am absolutely petrified of spiders and I’m only slightly more tolerant of snakes. So when these kids start coming at you with spiders and trying to throw them at you so they land on your shit and you can take “oh so funny” photos, well, I don’t find it “oh so funny” at all. I damn near have a full on panic attack when spiders are around. They think it’s funny to see some silly westerner scared of a spider. I don’t. But I digress, we then kept going on down (or is it up?) the road to this silk farm. It’s a little community silk weaving farm rather than some mass production thing. Was cool, but didn’t buy anything. They only make scarves there, and I already bought silk scarves (which still haven’t been worn…) from Beijing last year. And off again, next stop, Siem Reap!
Stopped at some restaurant on the outskirts of town for lunch around 1.30pm. Ordered the Amok curry with chicken since I liked it the other day in PP. Only I really didn’t like this one. At all. It was dry and almost tasteless. So yeah, a bit disappointed about that. Then got dropped off at the hotel (Soria Moria). It’s nice enough. Beds are a bit hard, but such is life. Had a bit of time to waste before going to Angkor Wat for sunset, so had a short nap. Then off again to Angkor Wat. Bought a 1 day ticket for $20 (still not sure if I’m going on Sunday yet, so the 3 day ticket would be a waste right now), got the photo taken for it (cos you can’t transfer tickets) and went up the top of the hill at Phnom Bakheng temple to watch the sunset. It was really cloudy and stuff though, so there wasn’t really a “sunset” to speak of. It just kept getting progressively darker. So I gave up and walked back down the hill to get accosted by the kids selling stuff again. There was a much older kid selling books who I agreed to buy off. He would have been 17 or so, so I didn’t have such a problem. Bought a copy of Freeman’s Ancient Angkor and a smaller photo book which I can send to my parents (which I don’t know that they’ll really appreciate since they’ve both actually been to Angkor Wat some 30 odd years ago) for $10.
Then headed back into town to Pub Street for dinner. Cos of my dislike for the curry I had at lunch, I decided to play it safe for dinner. Ordered spring rolls and a Caesar salad. And a mojito. Was good. I’ll probably go back to the curry tomorrow since I saw other people’s curry and they did look good. After that headed to the night markets for a bit. I really want a painting and a stone statue to take home. But all the paintings I saw in the markets are screen print replicas. Nothing original. So I’m leaving my art hunting till Sunday when I’ve got some free time to wander more. Did buy a Angkor beer singlet ($3) and a couple of silk cushion covers though ($2 each). Pretty cheap I guess. Then headed back to the hotel and had a couple of drinks at the bar. Then went to bed, since I’m planning to go to Angkor Wat for sunrise in the morning. Means leaving at 4.45am. Fun, but should be worth it!
Day 5: Angkor Wat!!!
So got up at 4.30 to leave at 4.45 for sunrise. Got a tuk-tuk which cost $4 (return trip – the guy waits for you while you go inside). Paid some woman $1 and you get a cup of hot tea and a chair to sit on right by the front of the pond in front of the temple towers. Was amazing! Really amazing! Got some awesome photos despite the really low light. There wasn’t much “sun” to speak of, but with the clouds and the sun sort of kind of peeking through them, it made for great atmosphere. Not really colourful as such, but definitely dramatic. I think I’m going to hire a tuk-tuk again tomorrow and go back for sunrise again. Get it from another perspective or something. Means forking out another $20 for a site ticket, but I think it’s worth it. Then had a quick wander around inside Angkor Wat before getting the tuk-tuk back to the hotel and having breakfast (and where I’m currently uploading my piccies to my netbook!).
After breakfast, went back to the Angkor complex. First off went to Angkor Thom to check out the Victory Gate. Smiley faces! So awesome. Then went inside and checked out the Bayon temple. This is the one with all the faces carved into the stonework. It is so amazing and just…Yeah, words really can’t describe it. You just have to see it for yourself. I think I’ve got some genuinely spectacular photos from this temple. Stayed around for about 90 minutes before heading on to look at the Terrace of the Elephants (also within Angkor Thom). Kind of cool, though not as awesome as Bayon (which became the absolute highlight of my trip). There were people inside the temple selling stuff, and one guy who was a landmine victim was selling some of his own artwork, I saw him painting, so I knew it was original and not the mass produced crap they’re flogging off everywhere else. I bought a small watercolour off him for $10 which will be nice to hang on the wall once it’s framed. Also bought a “temple rubbing” for $1 which I know isn’t a genuine temple rubbing, but will make for a nice present for someone at home. I’m actually kind of thankful I don’t need to buy anything for my parents, cos they went to Angkor Wat some 30 odd years ago (before I was born – and before all the tourists took over!) and they don’t want anything. And my brother is too much of a dick that if I bought him anything, he’d throw it out cos it didn’t fit with his “interior design aesthetic” (he really is like that). After that we headed off to what I’ve dubbed the “Lara Croft” temple – more accurately known as Ta Prohm. Was interesting to see where that part of the movie was made, but more so to see one of the temples with all the jungle still growing all over the place. Made it look really foreboding or something. Loved it. Then headed over to Angkor Wat and had lunch at one of the café places. Food was mediocre, and about twice the price of food in Siem Reap town. But you’re paying for the convenience of not having to drive back to town to eat. The kids selling stuff here are a whole other world of crazy. More on that later. So after lunch, I headed back to Angkor Wat to see what it looked like in the light of day (to compare to how it looked at 5.30am this morning). Massively crowded, but that’s to be expected I guess. More on that later too. Preferred it this morning to be honest, but was still nice to have a bit more of a wander around. It started to rain then, so I headed back out and ducked for cover near one of the café’s until it was time to head back to town. A long day of temple climbing, but one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been – let’s ignore the fact that I say that about most places I visit 
Now my issue with the kids at Angkor Wat…They don’t let up. At all. My guide says that the Cambodian government (or their local counterpart in Siem Reap) is trying to stamp out the practice of kids harassing the tourists. It’s full on, and really quite aggressive. The kids will beat the crap out of each other over a sale. It is a massively unpleasant experience. The adults in the market stalls will try and convince you to buy their wares, but they won’t yell at you or chase you down or bang on the side of your car/minibus in order to convince you. They won’t push you or grab at you. The kids do. Apparently word of mouth has been causing many people who visit Angkor Wat not to return, due to this specific problem. And I can really see why. I don’t mind stall holders with their “excuse me miss, would you like to buy a t-shirt/statue/whatever”, I mean yeah it’s annoying, but not enough to send me into fits of anger. The kids on the other hand, will grab you, scratch at you, try to drag you away from their competition physically, they’ll yell abuse, throw stones at your car and basically don’t comprehend the meaning of the word “no”. It’s vile. I would like to return some day, but I would seriously contemplate putting it off until the government has put some kind of regulations in place to deal with the kids selling their crap.
The other thing that had me concerned – massive overcrowding. It’s a problem in many parts of the world, but when you’ve got monuments like this, it becomes more of a problem. I saw it in Peru at Machu Picchu where uncontrolled tourist numbers are slowly but surely degrading the place. Too many people walking over the ground and stonework wears away the carvings and the stone itself. It’s more pronounced in Peru because Machu Picchu has been open to the public for ages. But in Angkor Wat, you can totally see it becoming a problem even now, despite tourists really only coming in larger numbers in the past decade since the Khmer Rouge got booted. I saw people (mainly the Chinese and Japanese for some reason) blatantly ignoring the multilingual signs around the place saying not to touch the carvings in the stone (which is supposed to help prevent some of the wear and tear). But people did it anyway. There needs to be much stricter regulation of people numbers into the place, or there needs to be a far greater security presence there to warn visitors of the rules and to discipline them for breaking them. This is of course just my personal opinion. But I think by restricting tourist numbers (not only at Angkor Wat but also at Machu Picchu), by having a limited number of daily entry tickets, then maybe they could get the degradation of the temples under better control. Again, just my opinion, feel free to disagree with me.
Had a pretty quiet night since I’ve been up since about 4am and was totally knackered from being out in the sun all day. Stayed in at the hotel and went to the hotel bar for a few drinks and dinner. Half price drinks and food till 8pm was a pretty sweet deal! Had a pretty early night and was in bed by 11. Still not sure of the plan for tomorrow, but a sleep in will be nice.
Day 6: Wandering around Siem Reap
Ugh. Got woken up at 4am by my drunk roommate coming back. Bloody annoying. Got out of bed around 8.30 and went and had breakfast. Ran into a few other people and decided to head out with them to the markets. Got a tuk-tuk over to the “Central Markets” for a look around. Had a look around and ended up buying a pair of “fisherman” pants and set of 6 pairs of wooden chopsticks which have little elephants inlaid in the wood (dunno if I’ll get them past quarantine, but they only cost $2, so if I don’t it’s not a big loss). Then went to the “old markets” which is just down the road. Ended up buying a silver anklet with little turtles on it. Very cute. Dunno if it’s real silver or not, looks like it and feels heavy enough though, but for $10 I don’t care much. I had to talk the others out of buying gemstones. I know how to tell the difference between reals and fakes. It’s not a simple task, though I know enough given my background. But the ones these guys were interested in were fakes. After that we went and had a drink at a bar and then wandered off to a small mall where one of them wanted to visit a particular store. We then wandered off to check out an art gallery the Angkor Wat guide recommended since I wanted to buy a painting. All the ones in the markets I’ve seen so far are mass produced screen prints. Not originals. But the ones in the 2 galleries we went to weren’t what I wanted. They seemed more like photography studio places rather than art galleries. I love photography, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t what I wanted to buy. Maybe I’ll find something else before I leave. After that we headed back to the hotel and had lunch. Hopped in the jacuzzi for a bit and then had a nap.
Went out to dinner to say goodbye to people since I’m leaving tomorrow to go to Bangkok. Hilarity ensued when the tuk-tuk we went to get into tipped over on its side as we were getting in. Was funny, only not funny at the same time. Someone could have been seriously injured. Found another one though and got away. The guy who was in the tuk-tuk when it went over though made some nasty (and serious) comment about suing for compensation. He wasn’t injured, his ego just got bruised. And to say you’re going to sue for your tuk-tuk tipping over when there’s guys walking around with limbs blown off and other handicaps, well, I think this guy just needs to wake the hell up. Ended up going for dinner at Temple Bar in Pub Street to see their dance show. Food was alright, but the dance thing was a bit boring, so left after dinner was done (about half way through the show). By this time it had started pissing down rain – not just a small shower, it was full on pouring. So we kind of ran down to the night markets to finish off our shopping lists. Only because of the weather, half the stalls were shut. Including the one we really wanted to visit – which was a professional photographer who had their photos for sale matted and ready for framing. Bit of a disappointment, but such is life. I managed to pick up a painting I liked for home as well as a smaller painting which I can put in my office or something – got them for total $20. Also found a nice drawing for $12. Then got a tuk-tuk back to the hotel and went for a drink in the hotel bar. At least it’s dry there! Now I just need to pack all this stuff I bought and hit the sack. Gotta be up at 6.30am to get the bus back across the border to Bangkok. Don’t really want to leave, as this place is so amazing. At least I can console myself with the fact that it’s not that far away from Australia, and flights are cheap. So I’m determined that I’ll be back at some point when I’ve got more time to see more of the temples around Siem Reap.
Day 7: From Siem Reap to Bangkok
Early start to catch the bus from Siem Reap to the Cambodia/Thai border at Poipet. About 3 hours (or just over). Was all fairly painless. Get to Poipet and go to the Cambodia border control and get your passport stamped. Walk 200m down the road through the fences to Thai border control, fill in a Thai immigration form, pass through immigration, and you’re in Thailand. We didn’t get any of the funny buggers that you hear of at that particular border crossing with officials asking for bribes and whatnot. It was all really straight forward and didn’t have any incident to speak of. You carry your own luggage across the border. Then a 4 and a bit hour drive from the Thai side of the border (the town whose name I forgot, it begins with A at any rate) to downtown Bangkok. Arrived around 2pm and checked into the Residence Hotel. It’s pretty basic, but it’s alright for a night or two. Went out for dinner at some small Thai café. Got roast duck and egg noodles. Not had duck for ages, so it was good. Someone tried to convince me to go to a lady-boy show. Really not my thing. So went back to the hotel and pretty much crashed. Didn’t do much today, it was just really long with all the travel.
Day 8: Floating markets and shopping!!!
So up early again today to leave for the floating markets at 6.30am (it’s like a seat in a minibus organised tour type thingy). They’re about an hour drive southwest of Bangkok city. It was something different to do since I’ve already seen the Grand Palace and stuff on a previous trip to Thailand. Got a canal boat and went wandering around the markets for a few hours, buying some fresh food and then heading back to Bangkok. On the way back we stopped at a wood carving place. Was actually some really nice stuff there. In particular there was an 8 seat dining table and chairs setting carved with a really nice Thai design. I would have bought it if it wasn’t for the US$47000 price tag Got back to Bangkok and got dropped off at the MBK mall in town. Did some shopping, obviously! Bought some “Ralph Lauren” work shirts and a “Dolce & Gabbana” handbag. The shirts are made from decent quality linen and the bag is real leather, so even though they’re fakes, they’re still good quality stuff. Then had lunch. Ugh. Painful. I had the good idea of having lunch at a Thai noodle place inside MBK – all well and good. It was a buffet – all well and good. I get the spicy sauce to go with my noodles since I like spicy food and all – all well and good. Here’s the rub…Everywhere I’ve been so far, even in Bangkok, when I’ve ordered spicy food, I’ve had to add extra chilli or chilli powder to it because it’s not usually spicy enough for my liking. So I do that again automatically – just assuming that it wouldn’t be spicy enough. Big mistake. I added some extra chilli AND chilli powder to it. Jesus fucking Christ it was hot! I mean it was basically inedible. I would have struggled to eat it without the extra chilli. My eyes were watering, my nose was running. It was just all around pain. My stomach still feels like it’s got 3rd degree burns 6 hours later! I only managed to down half the plate before giving up and getting a mild one. I’m sure the restaurant staff had a good laugh at the stupid westerner! Got a taxi back to the hotel after all that, which was a bit of a ripoff, but I couldn’t be arsed arguing with tuk-tuk drivers who wanted to take me to a shop first.
Then went out for dinner at another small local café and had the soft shell crab. Added some hot sauce and all was right with the world again. So good! Then went to Swensens for ice cream. Chocolate brownie and peanut butter icecream. Topped the night off! Now I just have to pack. Gotta be up at 6am to get ready to leave for Kanchanaburi at 7am. And cos I won’t be back till 6-7pm, and I have to leave for the airport at 8pm, it means checking out in the morning and having everything ready to go by the time I get back from up north. Joy oh joy.
Day 9: Kanchanaburi and home…
Another early start…So much for relaxing on holidays! Got woken up at 5am by the hotel staff who wanted to give me a message from my guide who was picking me up at 7am. Turns out they wanted to pick me up at 6.45am instead. So wakeup was earlier than anticipated. I’d also assumed when I contacted this driver guy that was recommended to me for this trip up to Kanchanaburi, that it’d be a private tour. Turns out the advice given to me was off the mark. I ended up in a minibus with 8 other people – which in the end was fine, cos they were all Aussies or Kiwis. But still not what I thought I was paying for. Lesson learned I suppose.
A 2.5 hour drive up north to start the day off. First off we went to Kanchanaburi cemetery and museum which was all about the soldiers who died during the building of the bride over the River Kwai. We kept hearing the theme song from the movie all around the town. I’ve not seen that movie for ages, might watch it when I get home. From there it was a short drive to the bridge itself. Got to walk around for a bit and we saw a train going over it. Was cool, but sad at the same time since I had family involved in WW2. Then we headed up to near the tiger temple for lunch. The place we were taken to for lunch was mediocre in the extreme. Had some plain rice and chicken satay. Not particularly good either. We were then given the option of having an elephant ride, which thankfully everyone on the bus declined. I’ve done it before in Chang Mai and the others had done it (or were going to do it) in Phuket. So then we just headed straight up to the tiger temple. Wasn’t as busy as I expected there, but was still a fair few people. You have to hand over your camera to a volunteer who will take the photos of you so that you’re keeping your focus on the tiger’s behaviour rather than your camera. There’s also rules about no red/yellow/orange/pink shirts as it apparently can set the tigers off. First thing you do is take you on a “tiger walk” where the monks walk the tigers and you can walk along with them for a bit while the volunteer takes your photos. Then you go down into the grotto. There’s like 10 tigers there and you get to sit with them and pat them for a couple of seconds while you get photos taken (on your own camera). They let you pat each of them. For an extra 1000 Baht you can choose to have the tigers head put on your lap for a minute and have photos taken of that. Not worth it in my opinion. The photos of me patting the tigers are enough. Then you can wander back up the hill and take photos of the baby tiger cubs – soooooo cute!!! For a donation (you choose the amount – I gave 100 Baht) you can have your photo taken with a cub in front of their play pool. They’re so gorgeous! I want to take one home! There’s a few other animals wandering around the temple just randomly. Cows, goats, antelope…After that I visited their (really) tiny gift shop and bought a stuffed tiger toy. Wasn’t cheap, but at least the money is going to a good cause. Then back in the bus to head back on the 2.5 hour drive to Bangkok. In reality it took closer to 4 to get back to my hotel because we hit traffic when we got downtown.
It was a really awesome day. Just long. There’s a lot of comments floating around the internet about whether the tiger temple is dodgy or not (eg. Are they involved in illegal animal trade? Or are they treating the animals right?). I have no idea about the animal trade issue. If they are, it’s certainly not obvious. As for treating the animals right, they looked well fed to me. I’m sure PETA and Greenpeace and whoever else are always going to have a whinge about animals kept in captivity. Maybe they could be given more freedom to roam about the temple on their own – but then that endangers the monks and the volunteers who live there. Where do you draw the line? I don’t have an answer to that. I won’t go back, I didn’t like seeing the tigers chained up (even though I know it’s for safety reasons). That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t recommend that other people go. It’s worth it just for a look. But to be honest, I’d rather see tigers in a zoo where they’re in a large enclosure and somewhat free to roam. Not being chained down like they were at the temple. But that’s just my opinion. I’m sure others will disagree.
Back at the hotel I grabbed some dinner and waited for my airport transfer. He showed up half an hour early, so we left for the airport early. Traffic was actually pretty good heading out of town once you got on the motorways. Kind of funny really, in Sydney the motorways get gridlocked without fail every day during peak hour. In Bangkok, which has 11ty billion cars, the motorways actually have free-flowing traffic! It’s like amazing! Hit Swampy and got through immigration quickly (for a change). Then wandered about duty free for a while. Was going to buy a bottle of JD, but it’s AU$40 a bottle! Duty free! I can buy a bottle at the fkn bottle shop at retail price cheaper than that in Australia! WTF!?!?! I’m leaving my alcohol purchase until I hit duty free at the airport in Oz. Anyhow, it’s time to get on the plane now.
It’s been an awesome trip!!!
