From Khao Lak, Thailand to Siem Reap, Cambodia

Breakdown of the last two days:

-Hopped off the dive boat at 4pm
-Got on a second-class bus at 5pm (march 9)
-Arrived in bangkok, local bus station 7am (march 10)
-Local bus to khao san rd, arrive 7:55am
-Hop on bus to Siem Reap, Cambodia 8am
-Arrive Siem Reap, 8pm....

Crossing the Thai/Cambodian border was a trip! Along the way the bus people are pressuring you to let them arrange your visa for you for a super expensive price. I held my ground the whole way, insisting on getting it at the border for $20 USD.

So i get to the border and the border police guys look me up and down and say:
"Need visa? 1800 BHT."
And I say, "Nooo. $20 US."
The policeman looks at me and says, "mmmm....1200BHT."
And I point at the sign above the visa office that says $20 and say "No. $20!"
So he chats with his police buddies and says "Okay okay...$20...PLUS 500 BHT"
And I point at the sign again....Seriously, there is a freakin sign that says it is $20 right above him! And he talks with his buds again.
"Okay. $20 plus 100 BHT. For fast visa."
So I took it. 100BHT isnt such a bad bribe...but for real, where am I that you barter for your visa with the border police?!! I think Cambodia is going to be an interesting place...

(As an aside, while waiting at the border the bus drove away with my bag in it so the bus operator guy and I were chasing it down in a thunderstorm! Crazy!)

I am staying at this awesome guesthouse called Mekong village villa that has free laundry, free bicycles, free breakfast and the room is SUPER nice...a real shower and toilet and sheets and a towel and a hammock out front in a little patio. Man! All for $10/night. I met a couple from ireland and guy from germany and we are all biking tomorrow to go see Angkor wat. I have two days to see the temples and the owner, Eric, has mapped out a route for me :)

The Dolphin Queen liveaboard dive boat was incredible...SO glad I did it! The dives kept getting better....insane amount of fish everywhere! I saw octopus (they change colour and texture!), squid, cuttlefish, leopard sharks, reef sharks, tonnes of turtles, some super rare fish, eels of all sizes, shapes and colours, schools of barracudas, seahorses, sea snakes...I cant even try to list them all. Im not even disappointed that I didnt see a whale shark because everything else was so wicked! The days went: wake up at 7am, small snack then first dive at 7:30am, breakfast, nap, next dive, have lunch, hang out some more, dive again, snack, night dive and dinner after. (LOL so essentially: eat, dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, sleep!) Spent a couple nights sleeping on the sundeck watching the stars and crazy heat lightening with a couple of the guides...so awesome.

I have decided that I belong on the water and will have to figure out a way to live on a boat. This most likely will involve me working and living on a boat.....hmm.





Turtles swimming right off the diveboat! I grabbed my snokell and was swimming with them for a good hour!

Vang Vieng, Laos

So...... this place is wicked and I am staying another day! I bought my bus ticket for tomorrow so I HAVE to leave...but seriously, it would be SO easy to stick around here.

"Tubing" was a trip! To be honest, we didnt even bother renting the tubes....the bars on the river are so close to one another we just swam in between them in the current :) Each bar is pouring free whiskey shots, playing wicked music, everyone is lying around in bikinis and surf shorts on the docks, people are painting you with body paint and markers and there are these 30 foot trapez swings you can swing into the water with...awesome! One bar has a giant mud pit, another has a zipline into the water, another has a giant waterslide....and everyone is partying, wet and totally wasted. its unreal.

Yesterday went rock climbing all day to this amazing spot...no one else was there...was just myself, this guy Chris from germany and our guide, Apple. We climbed until Chris gave up and I couldnt bend my fingers anymore...I could even open my water that night! Im so sore this morning but totally worth it! It was such a beautiful spot...tree roots coming down through the rocks, leaves showering down in the breeze...there were even goats jumping around the rocks!

Went back to bar island and spun fire poi at the Sunset Bar, aka "canadian bar' ...since everyone that works there is canadian LOL (from calgary). Jason, the owner, spins fire too and we were showing each other tricks. He invited me to come with his staff to promote sunset bar on the river today...spinning poi and giving out free whiskey shots! so its another day of Tiger whiskey, trapez, sunning on the docks and dancing! :) Tough life eh? (Oh man, i gotta get outta here...this place is trouble)

Heading to vientienne tomorrow, then overnight to Bangkok and flying to phuket....then taking a bus to khoa lak and hopping on a liveaboard dive boat (the Dolphin Queen) for 4 nights and 4 days to the Similan islands. So excited! Had the best diving of my life last time I was in thailand...swimming with sharks, massive manta rays.... and now 14 dives in prime whale shark season!

xoxo
Anna