I have finally settled in Nong Khai, the small city on the border of Laos, connected to it's capital Vientiane, that will be my home for about the next month and a half. Boy does it feel good to unpack my backpack after almost 3 weeks of nonstop travel, not staying in one place for more than 2 nights!
Since my last blog I visited Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Siem Reap (Angkor Wat), Phnom Penh, Phang-Na Bay, and Bangkok with a friend and their sister. Everyone always asks what was your favorite but as I'm sure you can imagine I would say, they each had something special about them. Singapore was incredible, so multicultural and modern. I finally got to go to the top of the hotel there with a huge infinity pool on the roof, about 50 stories high. Kuala Lumpur was not as fun of a city, but the Batu Caves were incredible, and it was pretty cool seeing the Patronus towers. Siem Reap was perhaps the best in all. Not only did it have Angkor Wat, a huge expanse of Buddhist/Hindu temples, but it also had a very international crowd and a fun night life with all kind of things from glow in the dark pubs to fish foot massages! Phnom Penh was a city in itself and since we arrived during a holiday, many of the attractions were sadly closed. After arriving in Phuket we went a bit off the beaten track to a quiet resort and enjoyed some pool time before taking about around the bullet islands, finally visiting James Bond Island, featured in Rodger Moore's Man with the Golden Gun. And finally Bangkok I really enjoyed! There were so many things to do... and so many Buddhas! There was lying down buddha, standing buddha, resting buddha, angry buddha... it was a lot haha. The palace was unreal, and I couldn't help but think about Anna and the King/ the King and I.
In all the places the weather was hot and humid, and I can't remember consistently sweating like this in my life! Despite that, the street food smells so good that I can't help but try basically everything I see. Sometimes I have no idea what things are but boy do they always taste good! A fun thing they do here is drink soda out of bags. They empty the soda into a plastic bag with ice so as to keep the bottle for recycling and refilling. Pretty funny looking but I guess that's one way to do it!
I took the night train up to Nong Khai, 14 hours in total. Luckily I had experience in Russia and already knew what to expect for the most part of sleeping cars. Surprisingly there were a lot of white people in my car and I sort of helped them figure out how things work out.
So far my job/where I'm living is great! Yes I did finally hear back from the Isara Foundation, and they have provided me with accommodation and so far 3 soon to be 4 awesome roommates! As I'm learning how to teach the kids in our after school program here English, I have been wandering around the week long street fair across the street and have seen already Muay Thai fights and Sepek Takraw which is basically volleyball with your feet. In the next week I hope to explore this place a bit, and get to know my roommates better, as well as what my job here will really consist of. We are supposed to also be teaching the police men and nurses here English, and I plan to go to the recycling center Isara also has. More to come next week!
No comments:
Post a Comment