Trip to Southeast Asia
As soon as our GC positions got settled, five of us decided to do a little tour around southeast Asia before the beginning of work. Alex, Henry, Eric, Andrew and me were on our way to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos for 2 weeks to get some feel of Asian people and culture before heading to Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh City.
First stop Thailand.
We arrived at Bangkok on the 8th of May and right away hit the touristy Khao Sarn Rd. Interesting things happen there and it’s surprising how that street changes within hours. I won’t go in too many details on this blog, but it was a definitely astonishing experience, especially for Andrew who got chased by a rat on the sidewalk. The ladies were attractive and bars full!
Next day we took a walk around town and decided to take a night train to the second largest city up north - Chiang Mai. That was much more cool-down, chill place and we fit perfectly. It was amazing how many foreign people, primarily english, are backpacking around Thailand for months. So we were surrounded by plenty westerners but we blended with the locals as well.
We spent total of six days in Thailand, visiting one more town, Pai, and the impression I got from that country is that they are using the money from tourism wisely and have developed their infrastructure well. They are not a third world country and keep improving. Food is great and everyone in our group loved it, women are very beautiful, people are generally happy and most speak some sort of English, at least the ones that have direct connection with tourists.
Cambodia
Here we were for 3 nights which we spent in the city of Siem Reap. It was close to the Angkor temples (wats) and tourism was also a big money bringer for this area. But unlike Thailand, here recent wars brought a lot of troubles to this country and people from the older generations are simply missing due to recent genocides and civil war. The country is definitely struggling. With over 2 million land mines still out in the fields, many people have personal experience with fatalities or permanent injuries. But many charities are established in the area which is promising. Young kids are learning English and I think within 20-30 years the country will be able to run a little smoother.
The Temples of Angkor are incredible. I recommend everyone to visit them, but make sure you bring lots of water with you. The heat was ridiculous but the temples are worth it. They are surrounded by lots of local people living around the area and selling various goods to tourists. They are comprised of a great sales force of around 10 year old girls who can amaze you with their sales techniques. They tried so hard and made us laugh many times so we were ‘forced’ to buy something from them. Bargaining of course is a must, but many times we just folded and gave them an extra dollar, just to make their day.
Laos
This was the third country on our trip and was the most relaxed one. We were in Luang Prabang, Vang Viang and Vientiene. In all three towns you can feel not pressured by time. People are calm and not worrying about too much. Happy to see tourists and generally under strict governmental order – you can see the USSR flag on multiple places, it’s pretty funny. There is a curfew at midnight, but tourists are not bothered with that, well if there is anything open. Usually a club or two might be. In the one we went Alex was the fifth biggest person in there after the other four from the group. People are generally small and friendly. Very good experience!
In general the people from those three countries are happy to see tourists but not really showing any smiles on their faces when they see us - rather not knowing what to expect. But as soon as you smile at them you get this amazing smile back. Kids are cute and innocent looking. They don’t have much to play with but are happy with what they got and have a careless life while they are young. When they start growing up they face the reality a little more and you can tell the sadness a lot of the times. Crime is not a big factor here and I felt completely safe, especially coming from Europe. I put some pictures on this blog.
