Kep, lovely Kep. More or less. But at least, I was close to the ocean again. It’s famous for the crab market. While I found the market quiet I nevertheless had the best meal there. You can choose what you want and it’s prepared right there. The crab and king prawns were super delicious. And 1 kg sounds about the right quantity 😉
And the region is famous for another thing: Pepper. In German if you want someone to bid good riddance you can say “Go where the pepper grows”. Well, I was there! 😀 The road leading there looked like this is indeed the end of the world. The farm itself and free tour was alright. However, I did not buy much there as the prices were astounishing. I mean, over 100 USD for 1 kg of pepper? Nope, let’s go down to the market. And I hasseled, just to end up with 4 kgs of pepper 😀
It’s time for some island time! I heard good things about Koh Rong and decided to stay at the smaller and more quiet one, Koh Rong Sanloem. There are no streets and there is not much you can do other than relax. OK, development is also going on here with a road being built but so far it is still close to paradise. I stayed there for 3 nights and just enjoyed the slow life (and nearly no internet).
Next and final country in this 8 weeks trip: Thailand. That was fun! Boarder proceedings were not a big hassle and taking the next mini van I was worried if I would reach “my” island. I arrived in Trat just to be told that the last ferry left 2 hours earlier. Damn, but I have the hotel booked already! Then there is always somebody who knows something. A phone call later and it was confirmed that there is another ferry at 4 pm (it was 3:45 pm at that time). The taxi driver said “Go” and we did not go: We hauled ass! I mean, children jumped from the streets and I barely had my eyes open 😉 How we managed to get to an ATM and arrive at the port more or less in time, I don’t know! But I had faith. And no, I did not look into the eyes of the other passengers 😉 I laughed! 😅
Ah, another side story. Originally, I wanted to go to Koh Mak. I had such great memories from the trip 4 years prior. But either the stay would have been too expensive or not at the sunset side. So, I tried out a new island. And Koh Kood/Kut (different ways to spell it) is really beautiful. I had an amazing time there. Well, I would have preferred if the direction of the homestay on booking.com would have been right and along the ocean. And it was one of those encounters (with the owner) where bad things just happened. Lots of miscommunication and at some point I had to laugh. I mean, it looked like it was supposed to be difficult when things are quite easy. Like the answer to the question “Do you have room for another night”. I would expect a no or yes and not “We have closed the room and I am alone and…”. 😀
I did run every day on the island and picked up my morning routine from the Kung Fu retreat in Pai. Finishing it up with a jump into the ocean. What a life, eh?
I find it interesting that during vacations we worship sunsets (less so sunrises – who wants to get up at 5:30am, right?) but when at home we hardly pay notice. Why is that?
Bangkok just saw me for a couple of hours. I had to go on to Ayutthaya. It’s the old capitol with lots of temples. They are impressive but just a little bit less so after having seen Angkor during the same trip. I mean, it’s a bit easier heaving small brick stones compared to the big slates in Angkor. Still, beautiful to walk through the ruins and just letting the sweat run down your ass. Damn, have I ever sweat so much as here in this heat?
Also, this was the place, where I met with my brother’s family.
Together we drove back to Bangkok. Again, I stayed close to the Khao San street and it is really crazy what is going on there during the night. I was glad I was in a quieter area close-by.
We had only 2 days more or less and on Sunday we went to the floating market in Damnoen Saduak. Even though it is mostly for tourists I had a blast. We started hassling already at the boat dock. Initially, she wanted 2,000 THB per person for a 2 hour ride. That’s about 60 bucks. WTF! We negotiated down to 2,500 THB for the 4 of us. I continued to hassle for some coconut bowls (same insane starting price) just to find out later, at another market, that I could have bought them even cheaper. Didn’t matter, the hassling was the experience.
We combined the floating market with the Rum Hup train market. It curious. I mean, the stalls are so close to the railroad tracks and the goods are actually on the tracks that whenever a train comes they have to remove them, put up the stall and reverse everything once the train has passed. Luckily, the train is so slow that they can do it. That is basically all that can be seen here but it’s a lot of fun watching it.
Before departing I managed to visit the Grand Palace in Bangkog. It’s quite beautiful and the buildings are shining in different colours. See for yourself:
Something else I had before leaving. The best massage I had during this trip (and still all my money afterwards!). Since I had no room anymore and didn’t want to spend the time in the heat I booked a Thai massage for 2 hours. It was just heaven. And cost only 450 THB (13 USD). God, if I would live here I would do this every week.
And that’s it. 8 weeks look like they went by so fast when you look back. But…
I had some great trips. This was not one of them (but by far not the worst either, don’t get me wrong). Partly, I might be able to “blame” outside factors but the majority (i.e. how I react etc.) comes from inside. I don’t know, I am in a strange state of mind this year (or longer already?). Anyway, have you reacted to a situation that hurt you but you feel the reaction was out of proportion? What you really react to is not (only) the current situation but pain you experienced to a related event in your past. Those are trigger points. And family has a habit of finding exactly those trigger points and pressing them relentlessly 😉
Those emotions want to be released, so you can let the (old) pain go. Knowing all that and still I am unable to do it at this time 🤬
Love,
Matthias