Welcome To The Circus

Constantly seeking new ways to arrive at/cross borders, I decided to take yet another original form of transportation to get myself to Thailand - the motorbike! No, I would not be driving it myself, but merely as a passenger hanging onto the back, along with all my luggage. My Battambang guide offered me the option of him driving me on his motorbike to the Cambodian/Thai border, and since the only other option was sharing a taxi with other travellers (which would most likely mean me being cramped in the backseat with my knees stuck in my face,) I decided to take him up on his offer. And hey, I'm always up for a new adventure.

It was about three hours or so on the bike from Battambang to the border, and it was an adventure indeed. I lucked out with the weather as it was a beautiful day, and it was great to see the rural Cambodian landscape fly by as we zipped along the highway. The first part of the journey was quite smooth as the highway had been paved in recent times, but once we got past that stretch the conditions changed almost instantly. Cambodia has the notorious reputation of having one of the worst systems of highways in the entire world. Decades of neglect and civil war have left the country with a bare-bones highway network where potholes are so large that they've actually been known to swallow entire vehicles when filled with rainwater! Apparently, Cambodia's highways are right up there with Mozambique's and the Congo's for 'World's Worst Highways!'

The highway all the way to the border became a dusty, chaotic ride as the bike whipped left and right, not only to avoid the giant potholes, but also to pass slower vehicles that were having difficulty navigating through the motorway wasteland. It was easily the bumpiest motorbike ride I've been on yet, and I really did have to hang on tight for fear of hitting a bump and then ending up on my ass in some rice paddy!

Well we were about 30 km. or so from the border when all of a sudden my driver pulled over in this tiny hamlet on the side of the road. He noticed that his key had fallen out of the ignition during all that bumpiness, yet the bike was still running! Unfortunately, we were also almost out of gas and the only way to access the gas tank is to open up the back seat using the now lost key. Oh boy...how are we going to get out of this one?

Luckily, most of the village came round to offer assistance. After unsuccessfully attempting to turn off the bike using other people's keys, eventually someone with a long thin piece of metal was able to turn it off. After that they tried and tried to pry open the back seat, but all to no avail. Someone ythen came round with a tool set, and they literally took apart the bike to not only get to the gas tank (which then was filled up by someone sucking up gas through a hose...ewww!!!) but then also hot-wiring the ignition to get the bike started again. Ahhhh...gotta love transportation in Cambodia, eh? ;-)

I arrived at the Thai border shortly after this drenched in sweat and completely covered in dust. My face especially was just caked in dirt from the dusty roads, and when I tried to wipe it off with my sleeve all I ended up with was a brown t-shirt. I must've looked pretty scary cause a few passing foreigners kept giving me weird looks! It was a breeze to get out of Cambodia, but to get into Thailand involved standing in a very long line in the very hot sun for a very long time. I teamed up with four other backpackers (who finally stopped cringing in fear over my dirty appearance after I vaguely cleaned myself off with my formerly white t-shirt) and we finally made it through immigration. Yah, I'm back in Thailand again!!

The five of us tried to round up enough travellers to hire a mini-bus to take us to Bangkok, but there weren't that many around, so in the end we just took a public bus back into the city. We arrived around 8 o'clock or so at night and I was really tired and STARVING! It was quite exciting to be back in Bangkok again. I've got lots of fond memories of this city - shopping up a storm with Michael and Kristian, chowing down on delicious Thai food in back alleys, and a joyous last-minute reunion with Katie and Kara. Not only that, but arriving back here in Bangkok (or The Kok as I jokingly like to call it!) means that I've just completed the mother of all circles! One giant two-month loop through Northern Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Wow! That's quite the feat!

So the other big news about being back here in The Kok is that tomorrow I get to meet up with my very special surprise guest, my new travelling companion who will be with me for the rest of my trip. Any guesses as to that mystery person is? Drum roll please....

MY SISTER!

Yes, my sister Janelle is flying in all the way from Thunder Bay to spend the next two months with me backpacking and livin' it up Project Wanderlust-style. My 24-year old baby sister has never been to Asia, nor ever been backpacking, and I'm looking forward to being the older, wiser, way-cool big brother who gets to introduce her to this marvellous lifestyle. She's just finished a summer of fighting forest fires in the wilds of Northern Ontario and I'm looking forward to catching up with my newly buff and tough sis after having not seen her in over a year and a half. Watch out, Asia! Here come the Erdman Kids ready to set sail and kick major ass as we head down south! Woohoo!! :-)

Being the super nice big brother that I am, I decided to splurge and get us a nicer hotel room, which will hopefully ease Janelle's transition into the wonderful craziness that is Southeast Asia. A fellow traveller had recommended a hotel on Khao San Road that was supposed to be quite nice, complete with aircon, hot showers, satellite TV, and a pool on the roof. SOLD! I could use a little luxury myself, actually...

Having never been to Khao San Road, but knowing quite well of its notorious reputation, I was a bit leary about the location, but decided that that I was quite curious to check it out. Khao San Road is THE Backpacker Strips of all backpacker strips that exist in the world, and it's a seedy, seething street full of travellers of all types, crazy bars and restaurants, stores selling all kinds of shit, plus all the nice family entertainment that one would expect of Bangkok, including cheap prostitutes and nightly ping-pong pussy shows. Yes, staying on Khao San will definitely prove to be interesting, to say the least!

The taxi dropped me off at the doorstep of Khao San, and it was like walking into the middle of an enormous three-ring circus. It was LOUD, and BUSY, with people everywhere, bright lights illuminating stores and hotels chock-a-block down the strip, and music coming from every which way. It was completley overwhelming in a spine-tingly sorta way, sorta like how a smalltown boy feels when he goes to the big city for the very first time. It's been a while since I've felt that deliciously nervous anticipation about arriving somewhere new in Asia, as having been here on this continent for quite some time now I've become a bit numb to these sorta things, but Khao San Road I definitely am not numb to.

It was sheer choas from top to bottom, and I felt like I was going to be swallowed up by all the people and activity. Stacks of diirt-cheap CD's for sale on my left. Racks and racks of colourful sarongs and t-shirts on my right. Multi-story neon signs towering high above me. Crowds of drunk Aussies pushing me forward from behind. Offerings of pad thai, banana pancakes, tuk-tuk rides, happy hour drink specials, and ping pong shows from 360 degrees. Wow! It felt like I was the one arriving in Asia for the very first time. Man, you gotta love Bangkok, just for its ability to make you feel like this!

After checking into my room (yes, the hotel indeed was very nice,) I showered up (in a shower that was separate from the rest of the bathroom...omg I haven't seen that in months and months!) and then went out for a bite to eat. I spent the rest of the night just wandering up and down the strip, taking it all in, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and just allowing myself to be carried along by the flow of people. What an exhiliration, I tell ya!

And tomorrow I get to pick up my baby sis from the airport...now how cool is that! ;-)