MALAYSA TRAVEL PART 1: (Not really)

In order to get the cheapest possible flight, I flew home by way of Malaysia. I landed in Kuala Lumpur around 8 pm, and my flight back to China was the next morning at 8 am. I had a hostel recommendation, but I realized that by the time I took a taxi to the place, it would be late and expensive. I inquired about hotels near the airport, but they were mostly filled. "But the airport terminal is open all night," said the friendly guest services man. Fantastic!

So I spent the night in a McDonalds at the Kuala Lumpur Low-Cost Carrier Terminal, which sounds disgusting, but was actually sort of enjoyable. Given the fact that it's a popular hub, tons of people were doing the same thing and it was a good opportunity to people-watch.

I also played hours of Bananagrams by myself.

People around me were sleeping, but I couldn't bring myself to. So I drank my fifth cup of Diet Coke and wrote in my journal.

By 5 a.m. I was feeling pretty crazy but finally, finally, it was time for my flight. When I had booked it online, it said it went to Beijing, but in actuality, it went to Tianjin, a city about an hour away. Air Asia is tricky. I arrived in the afternoon and went immediately to the train station to book a ticket for Dalian. They only had soft sleepers available, which was fine, but it didn't leave until 10 pm. So, again, a sleepless Maggie loitered in restaurants and terminals and on chilly train platforms until the train came into the station. I had been awake for over 36 hours, so my night ride on the soft(ish) bed in my private(ish) compartment felt incredible.

Then, I was back in Dalian, which felt familiar and strange, comfortable and new again, and mostly cold. I had had a really exciting and lovely time traveling, but at my core I'm a homebody, so I was happy to putter and nest until my friends came back.

I've left some things out because I'm too mentally tired to do them justice, but I wanted to say "thanks" to you all for reading about my travels - I had no idea it would take me so long to recount. Now I can get back to writing about my life in Dalian: eating, teaching, learning, spending time with friends, attempting to speak Chinese, hosting seders, and freezing in my apartment. Strange thought: I'll be back in the States in 3 months! Time is flying by a little too fast.

CAMBODIA TRAVEL PART 5: Kampot

My next stop was Kampot, a seaside town in the south. In the past, Cambodia had been under attack from both Thailand and Vietnam, so eventually France offered protection in exchange for control over the country. Cambodia agreed, and thus began years of French influence, which is most noticeable in towns like Kampot. One of the strangest and coolest things I saw in Kampot was the Bokor Hill Station. It was established in the 1920's as a kind of resort for the Europeans who were living in Cambodia. There are other hill stations in places like India and Africa, but what is unusual about the Bokor Hill Station is how often it's been taken over and used by guerrilla fighters, first when Cambodia fought an independence war in the 1940's, and later when the Khmer Rouge were fighting in the 70's, 80's, and 90's.

First, we hiked up part of the mountain, in the foggy jungle.

On the way, we checked out the former vacation residence of King Sihanouk, although he never actually used it. Notice the strange red moss growing on the walls, and the bullet holes.

Then we kept hiking, until we reached the actual hill station, which was a grassy area surrounding a reservoir. This picture isn't too impressive, but I thought it would be good to give a general idea of the area.

We ate a quick lunch at the station (we = myself and a bunch of sulky Europeans) and then went off to explore on our own. The buildings right near the lake are a bunch of small, abandoned hotels, like the one below.

The insides are covered with moss and rust. There is broken glass and dirt everywhere, with weeds and flowers growing in every crack. It's a pretty incredible sight. Here are some more remnants of a small, colonial resort town:

Hotel

Post Office

Church

In the distance, up a winding road, is the main attraction of the hill station - a large, opulent former casino. I've tried to find some photographs of what it looked like in its heyday, but a cursory internet search turned up nothing. You'll have to use your imagination. Below are some photographs of the burned-up casino exterior, the ransacked ballrooms, and the battle-wrecked walls.

In addition to the fascinating clash of Colonialism and Communism, it was just a very eerie and atmospheric place to be. I know this is going to sound melodramatic, but it smelled like death. At this point, I've been in fairly close quarters with dead animals and a dead body, and I know what it smells like. I'm sure, in this case, it was due to something animal-like, but still - it lent a sense of morbid reality and history to the place. I was standing where people lived, and probably where people died.

After our trip to the Hill Station, and a sobering talk with a Cambodian man who had lost his father during the Khmer Rouge, we took a boat ride down the river. It was very, very beautiful and we stopped at a tiny inlet at sunset. I thought a lot about things I've since forgotten, but I mostly just felt lucky to be there.

CAMBODIA TRAVEL PART 4: Last Day(s) in Siem Reap

On my last day in Siem Reap, I took Hanna's advice and tried to look for ways to volunteer. It's one thing to funnel money into the economy and eat at restaurants that give a portion to charity, but giving time and resources might be more useful. Despite having more infrastructure than Laos, Cambodia is still an extremely poor country.

Now, a quick note about my Princeton-in-Asia orientation. During one session, they asked us to write down occasions where we had done some sort of service work. It was pretty easy for most of us, including myself. In high school, I tutored Spanish-speaking kids in an after-school program called Amigos, I built houses over the summer with the American Jewish Society for Service, I co-led Michigan's Darfur activism group in college, and so forth. Then they asked us to write down a time in which we had genuinely sacrificed for someone else. This was much, much more difficult. It made me realize that, while I had done some good service work, it was all pretty fun and it never required me to give a lot of myself. Yes, my grades dipped a bit in college when I was juggling a bunch of activities, but that hardly makes me Joan of Arc.

The reason I bring this up is because I'd never given blood before, and I read that Cambodia's hospitals needed donations. I'm only squeamish about a few particular things, and VEINS are one of them. It's hard for me to even type this because it grosses me out so much. The idea of sitting somewhere while blood leaves my body is...yucky. But I figured that I should make some sort of sacrifice that actually feels like a sacrifice. So I did, and it wasn't bad at all. After I read testimonials to make sure the facilities were clean and professional, I headed down to the Angkor Children's Hospital.

Wait, an activity where they give you Coke and cookies and tell you to relax afterwards? How great! I'm reminded of a snippet of dialogue between Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock:

Jack: Uh, a cookie in the middle of the day?
Liz: I gave blood.
Jack: Does that burn calories?

So maybe it wasn't the grandest sacrifice of all, but I'm glad that I did it and now I'm no longer nauseous at the thought. I plan on giving blood quite a bit in the future, as long as I bring something to distract me.

I also volunteered for an afternoon at a school, called Savong School, on the outskirts of Siem Reap. A high schooler picked me up on his motorbike and brought me to the school, where they pretty much stuck me in a classroom and said, "Teach." Granted, I should have prepared something, but I naively thought someone would give me a bit more introduction. I taught three classes, and it was definitely a case of me learning more from the students than vice versa. My favorite was the huge class of kids, ages 7 through 15. It's such a different context of teaching when you're doing numbers and animals and you can ask, "How many pigs does your family have?" and get answers like "My family has four pigs." Also, one older student asked me how to practice English and I said that listening to English music or watching English movies is helpful. I asked if he had access to English movies, and he said no. Then I asked him if he had ever seen a movie. He said no.

On my last night in Siem Reap, I took a break from eating my favorite dish (chicken and fried ginger) and tried the local delicacy, amok, which was amazing. It's fish, cooked in coconut gravy, and wrapped in banana leaves. Here is my blurry photograph:

Next stop: Kampot and Kep.

CAMBODIA TRAVEL PART 3: The Temples of Angkor

To be honest, I was ready to be underwhelmed by the Temples of Angkor. I'm generally interested in modern history and anything before 1900 puts me to sleep. But Angkor Wat is one of the main prides of Cambodia and it seemed silly and embarrassing to skip it. Ultimately, I'm so glad I went. It was really, really magical. Straight from Wikipedia and condensed for your reading pleasure: the Angkor area was the seat of Khmer power from roughly the 9th century through the 13th century. Many kings oversaw the building of the temples over time, but the Donald Trump of them all was King Jayavarman VII, who created a ton of temples, and most of the cooler ones.


There are a couple ways to make your way through all the temples, some of which are spaced out pretty far apart. The first day, I walked from temple to temple, which was long and sweaty, but peaceful. The second day, I biked, which is by far the best way to do it. It's simple and breezy and good exercise. The third day, I hired a tuk-tuk to take me around.

Angkor Wat (the biggest and most famous temple) was my least favorite. It's set apart by a moat, I didn't think it was that beautiful, and part of it was under construction. Nothing takes you out of historical reverie like bright blue scaffolding. However, all the temples had fascinating and intricate carvings to look at while wandering around.

The next day I saw temples that I loved, most notably Bayon and Ta Prohm. Bayon is a temple filled with over two hundred large, smiling faces. The rumor is that they are representations of King Jayavarman himself. I can understand that. If I were Queen, I'd probably erect tons of sculptures of my likeness as well.


Then I biked over to Ta Prohm, which is amazing because they've left it pretty much in its original state. Huge tree trunks and vines have grown over the ruins and, aside from the crowds, it's possible to feel like an old-fashioned explorer who has stumbled upon an ancient city. Like I said, magical.

Even if the temples were a bit crowded, my bike rides and walks were really peaceful. Traveling alone from temple to temple was probably my favorite part. There were different routes to take, but no way to get lost - which is my ideal situation.

The last day in Siem Reap, I shared a tuk-tuk back to town with a Chinese woman. Like almost all Chinese people, she complimented me on my Chinese after I said two words to her. (可以？ Keyi? Meaning "Can I?") And like almost all American people, I thought she was much younger than she was. I asked, "Where are you studying?" and she said, "I'm an oncologist." Anyway, she mentioned that she had gotten up before dawn to see the sun rise at Angkor Wat, and while I am not an early bird by nature, I sort of wish I had done it. She showed me some really beautiful photos - but admitted that she was jostled by hundreds and hundreds of people who joined her at 4 a.m. to see the sun rise.

Overall, it's a pretty special historical site and I'm very glad I went. I wish my dad had been there with me, because I know he would have found it really fascinating. But I was happy to be myself, walking, thinking, listening to music. As Jessica says, it's important to have Tunes to Keep You Alone and Wandering.

CAMBODIA TRAVEL PART 2: Siem Reap

The next day, I headed up to Siem Reap, the site of the Angkor Temples. To give you some idea of where I was, here's a map:

As you can see, Siem Reap is north of Phnom Penh, but not too far. Cambodia is not a huge country, which is nice: travel felt much easier and more manageable than China or even Laos. I really enjoyed my time in Siem Reap - it had a little bit of the bustle and rough edges of Phnom Penh, but not nearly as frenetic and overwhelming. Even though the economy is obviously bolstered by the tourist industry, it seemed like there was a city life apart from that.

Old liquor bottles re-used for motorbike gasoline, available to buy on many street curbs.

That being said, there was definitely quite a nightlife and tourist scene in Siem Reap. Sometimes it felt like Disneyland, with so many European children and their parents, and sometimes it felt like a slightly classier version of Bourbon Street, full of backpackers and frat boys. My favorite place to go was a bar called Laundry. They played the perfect music and I went there almost every night for a glass of wine and the occasional Khmer lessons from the nice bartenders. It was usually empty, except for a few people playing pool.

Outside, people were cavorting and drinking and eating, or getting their feet gently massaged and cleaned by little fish. This has become strangely popular.

Also, I'm sure others were out doing more unsavory things. Cambodia has a very serious problem with child prostitution and trafficking. It made me hyper-sensitive to every transaction I saw between older white gentlemen and young Cambodian women. Everything about it gave me the creeps. In most places like Siem Reap, you come across couple public service billboards addressing the issue.

CAMBODIA TRAVEL PART 1: Pnom Penh

I arrived in Cambodia on February 11th and got in a tuk-tuk headed for Number 9 Guesthouse, which I picked because it was cheap and it was surrounded by other equally cheap places in case it was full. I paid $3 for a room and while the picture below makes the place look quite nice, let's just say that I got what I paid for. It was the kind of room you see in newspapers to show where they found the victim.

I dropped off my stuff, ignored the harassment of the tuk-tuk drivers, and went out to explore Pnom Penh. I liked Laos, but it was such a relief to be in a real city, where there is clearly economic life and business parallel to the tourist industry. I felt less like an invader and more like an observer. I walked all over, which was difficult considering it's not very pedestrian friendly. The traffic is never-ending and fast, with no crosswalks. In order to cross the wide boulevard, you simply have to start walking and hope that the traffic flows around you. Or in my case, I just stood there awkwardly for a good ten minutes until a police officer took pity on me and helped me across the street.

I wandered through the streets, happily sweating. I came across a market, where people were selling fruits and vegetables and chopping the heads off chickens.

A little while later, I saw a monkey hanging out on the street. I can't tell you how much this unnerved me. I grew up feeling jealous of my sister's affinity towards animals, but now that I'm older, I can admit to myself that I am Not An Animal Person. I would have gotten a better picture of it, but I was far across the street, afraid of rabies or whatever else a monkey could give me.

A Few Thoughts On Traveling

To be blunt, at times traveling makes you feel like a total asshole. You feel this way when you speak English all the time, because you don't know the local language. You feel this way when you haggle for a dirt-cheap moto ride. You feel this way when kids try to sell you things and you say "no" or just ignore them. You feel this way when you see other foreigners acting in ugly ways. You feel this way when you arrive in Pnom Penh and the tuk-tuk drivers run up to you eagerly, saying, "Killing Fields? Tuol Sleng?" like it's Disneyworld or the Louvre. You feel this way when you realize you came to Pnom Penh to see these things, like many other people, and it suddenly feels like a perverse kind of genocide tourism. You feel this way when you realize you are an unwelcome presence, while at the same time a booster of the local economy.

I have to say, I don't feel this way often in China. For one, very few people speak English in Dalian, so I'm constantly making a fool of myself in stores and restaurants and taxicabs. I attempt to speak the language and people are equal parts helpful and unhelpful. And I think that's how it should be when you live in another country. It should feel different and you should feel a bit like an outsider. Even when buying bus tickets or train tickets, I don't have the luxury of using English, like I did in Southeast Asia. Additionally, China is zooming ahead like a bullet train, so while I definitely come from a place of privilege, I don't really feel the way an American might have felt in China fifteen or twenty or thirty years ago. While no pioneer in democracy or human rights, China is still surpassing the States in many other ways. And although I know there's still poverty and hunger in China, even the poorer kids I saw in the rural areas looked healthier and better cared for than the ones in Laos or Cambodia.

That's not to say I felt like a jerk all through Southeast Asia. I had some wonderful times and some genuine interactions and in Laos I attempted to learn a bit of the language. I think my favorite word for "hello" is in Lao. It's "sai-ba-dee" and since the language is tonal, it's said in a nice, musical way. Everyone says saibadee to everyone else all the time and so it became very natural to me. I learned a bit more as well:

Goodbye - Lai 'Gon
Thank you - Kwap Jai
Thank you very much - Kwap Jai Lai Lai
Great - Kak' Lai
Go - Bai

In Cambodia, my traveling was very different because I was alone. I had more time to think and reflect about where I was and why and how it felt to be there by myself. And I have to say, I experienced things on a much deeper level because of it. I tend to be slightly paranoid when by myself, but I actually think my anxiety is good because I am so much more aware of my surroundings and the world around me. I pay attention to directions so I won't get lost, I read maps, I'm hyper-aware of every smell, every sound, every person, every animal, every look. It's pretty awesome, even if it's a bit overwhelming and taxing. When I'm with other people I get distracted and lazy. When I'm alone, I can't help but to be completely and utterly present in a new place. It was a little exhilarating.

And last meta thought on traveling? I suck at bargaining. I got better after traveling with Hanna and watching her expertly do it, but I still start out too high and give up too quickly. Luckily, I felt slightly excused by the Lonely Planet guide book. The authors had this to say:

Try to remember that the aim is not to get the lowest possible price, but a price that is acceptable to both you and the seller. Remember back home, we pay astronomical sums for items, especially clothes, that have been made in poorer countries for next to nothing, and we don't even get the chance to bargain for them, just the opportunity to contribute to a corporate director's retirement fund. At least there's room for discussion in Cambodia, so try not to become obsessed by the price. And also remember, in many cases a few hundred riel is more important to a Cambodian with a family to support than to a traveler on an extended vacation. After all, nobody bargains over a beer in a busy backpacker bar, so why bargain so hard over a cheap bottle of water?