Due to malfunction of my electronics and a new travel itinerary I will return to writing the Zentraveler blog. I have exited the Philippines and flew to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and on to Bangkok, Thailand where I rented a five star looking condominium for a month for $300.00 overlooking a huge swimming pool and the ocean. As a writer this is what you do! You get up in the morning have a few cups of coffee and take off walking wherever your feet take you. Its amazing as the smells of the local food stalls begin to penetrate your morning stroll… you are ready for a crab omelette or whatever local foodstuffs they decide to give you. As they dont understand a word of English …maybe is better to just let them serve you!
Making the ultimate travel mistake after signing my 30 day lease, I said by the way which way is town and they pointed north along the ocean! Be that as it may the following day I set out to walk to the town of Ban Chang and stopped by the office to find out how far town was from the condo…they proudly announced it is only about 30-35 minutes by car taxi! Wait a minute the internet had it located within the town of Ban Chang. The office announced its sort of is… as it is in the province. A word to the wise always only book one night stay in any condo, hotel, home-stay, or guesthouse…this way if they are jack-hammering your next door room, running a continuous loud music festival, crumpled bed with rock hard pillows crawling with bedbugs and drunken neighbors you can decline or check-out.
To make the best of things I viewed my new five star digs with marble kitchen, mahogany furniture, king side bed, 52 inch digital TV and a view to be envious of! The condo had a small front porch ten feet from the Olympic sized swimming pool and provided an excellent work-space if thats what you were into….for me I took this opportunity to try and slow down and enjoy the morning walks, the afternoon swims and just hanging out in a strange culture.
After exiting Thailand via Bangkok I flew directly to Phnom Penh, Cambodia where I became acclimatized to a new culture alive with energy. The French colonial architecture along with amazing temples and pagodas…sprinkled with every form of restaurant bar you could imagine gave the intrepid traveler many new sites and sounds.
From Phnom Penh I took the Mekong Limousine Bus to Siem Reap to witness the World Heritage Temple Wat. The bus trip was amazing with comfortable seats with leg room, a toilet and the bus driver drove sensible. We had a 20 minute rest stop and only took five hours which was supposed to take six hours. Siem Reap has some wonderful sights along the river and evidence of French Colonial architecture sprinkled everywhere. And to brighten your day after walking miles at the temple ruins you could spend endless time on Pub Street just people watching and exploring the many restaurants, art stores, and local stalls to fill anyone’s food fantasy.
From Siem Reap I returned to Phnom Penh and took a van-bus to the sleepy town of Kampot in southern Camodia where I was invited to present my novel Blowfish with a panel of six other fiction writers from around the world at the second annual Kampot Writers and Readers Festival. When electronics allow I will sprinkle my travel stories on Zentaveler with Photos.
So there you have it! Zentaveler is back on the horse and anxious to share his travel stories with his readers!
QUOTE: “Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese
THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW: “When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money”. – Unknown
THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE: The culture…If its lost its gone forever!
ZENTAVELER SAYS: Its not just the travel…Its the journey. Hop aboard grasshopper you to can enjoy the ride!
From here to Infinity is a relatively short ride! The next leg takes eons and eons as you fly through the Barycentric Dynamical Time Zone! …and on and on and on. Follow the Zentraveler Blog often for Travel, Health and Zen-like stories and such. Where else can you get a three in one blog for the price of free?
zentraveler 