Keeping it Riel in Siem Riep

After dropping my bag off at Ideer Hostel iDeer Hostel BKK, Amanda and I began our journey to find the Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok. DMK International is the older, outdated international airport in Bangkok about 19 miles north of the city. There is a train that goes there, but apparently the times are erratic, which makes it quite an ordeal to maneuver. That seemed a bit too complicated to deal with ,so if we wanted to make it to our flight, a taxi was going to be the best option! There's a big street right outside the hostel, so we knew it would be easy to find a cab to take us there right away. We wave down the first pink ride we see. (The taxi cabs in Bangkok are all really bright colors, lime green, hot pink, blue.) As we hop in we ask the driver to take us to Don Mueang Airport. (This is actually really hard to pronounce..neither of us could get it right!) After repeating ourselves a few times, he understood. Before we set off, we asked the price... He quoted us something outrageous, I tried disputing the price and that's when Amanda noticed the Thai Taxi Permit on display did not belong to him. The guy photographed in the picture definitely was NOT the man behind the wheel! We immediately grabbed our bag, opened the door told him no thanks and hopped out of the car. (Maybe he wasn't dangerous, but his price wasn't right and apparently neither was his permit!) It's nice traveling with someone as keen as Amanda! So, we laughed it off and wished for a more honest driver next! Luckily, we found one! Got to the airport with time to spare. Finding vegetarian food there was not an easy feat. Amanda ordered a Greek Salad from the pizza place, I had a mushroom pastry (not delicious). I should have gone with the salad for a few Baht more, but when you're traveling on a budget, sometimes you have to make sacrifices and eat something a bit more economical! Thailand is pretty affordable, but in comparison to India, it's twice as expensive. I was really missing Indian prices ( and curry)! 

Fun @ DMK Airport, the background changes! Here we are in NYC!

Cambodian Customs, we are ready for you! (Notice Amanda's serious burn!)

Sitting in the back in the back of Bahnet's Rickshaw

Our time in Cambodia was a quick pit stop! When we arrived, Bahnet, the Cambodian tuktuk driver, was waiting for us at the airport. Major props to Amanda cause our hostel was perfect, we had a private room WITH A/C and there was even an indoor swimming pool! At The Siem Reap Hostel I even ran into my Samyak Sister, Gabriella! She attended the Samyak Hatha Teacher Training in February, now she's back in the UK firing up her yoga career! Gabriella and I had a much-needed catch up, we decided we would be up bright n'early to check out the famous temples. The following morning we woke up at 530 AM to make it to Angkor Wat before the rise of the Sun. We explored the sites and stretched and bended into some deep yoga poses throughout the land. 

Patiently waiting for the Sun to rise with Gabriella

SUN HANDS

 I wasn't aware that there are actually a series of Wats (temples) that are part of the whole Siem Riep tourist catch. So, luckily, Angkor Wat isn't the only ancient temple/tourist spot! (Like i mentioned in the previous post, I didn't do ANY research or planning before the getaway with Amanda. Which is quite unlike me, I usually spend tons of time online, getting to know the places I will visit. But when you're in India, good internet is hard to come by! Plus, who has time for that anyway? I'd rather spend my time outdoors exploring, than in an old web cafe, suffering through the slowest internet connections and attacks by mozzies (mosquitos). 

This was my day pass to ALL the temples. (Notice the price is in US Currency.)

Step 1. wake up early, Step 2. Go to place to buy day pass, Step 3. Find a ride to take you around/rent a bike

As the sun rose, we trotted around the grounds of the first temple. Angkor is absolutely huge! We climbed carefully up uneven steps and began our photo shoot. It was honestly, completely, utterly magical being there. The thousands of tourists didn't bother me one bit, it's just so vast! and ancient! and detailed! and gorgeous! It seems to go on forever! The temperature outside was perfect for exploring and jumping around for pics! We spent hours there! On the way out got stopped but a damn good sales woman and headed to her place for breakfast. Eggs & potatoes for me, with the biggest coconut in history for some tasty & real hydration!  As we walked out, we easily spotted Bahnet amongst the hundreds of rickshwaws (what a relief!) 

Mandy & Gabs

Where in the world is Gia?

Look at that coconut!!

Our trusty driver took us to the rest of the temples, too.They were all just as magical and marvelous, so much lush richness, detail and peace throughout. Despite all the people, all locations did feel really sacred and quiet to me. After exploring the 3rd temple, we didn't have so much luck finding Bahnet! There were just SO many tuktuks, thousands! and so many people, it was getting really hot, our breakfast was already practically burned off from all the walking. For a moment, I really thought we would never find him again. And it made me sad because we knew he was an honest guy, and we wouldn't want him to think we ditched him! We began shouting his name and he suddenly appeared out of nowhere! 

Cruising these streets with B

I was really amazed at the amount of child labor I witnessed. These kids are really good at selling things! They all speak perfect English, they actually are clever, they know things! They are so adorable, who wouldn't want to purchase things from them? They were selling an array of things, from snacks, to waters, to post cards, souverniers. You name it and they would probably find a way to get it for you! Some of these kids were so young, I saw a few that looked about 3 or 4 years old! It such a tough situation, I felt torn. I didn't want to encourage this kind of abuse, but it presumably for a good cause, and why wouldn't I want to help children.. especially when they tell you it's for their education and they dazzle you with their knowledge of Geography!

Lil' baby boy with his basket of products hung on his shoulder

Siem Reap also has a big pub crawl scene that completely caters to Westerner (not my thing). There are huge neon lights, in bright red, a massive sign that says, Pub Street. Here you can find bars, restaurants, souvenir shops, massage joints and ice-cream parlors.  They accept US Dollars everywhere, when you withdraw money from the ATM, you get Dollars. The currency is Riels, so when you pay at the shops in USD$, they give you change in Riels. The conversion rate is $1USD = 3990 Cambodian Riels. It's usually a better deal if you pay in Riels, since they will round up prices in dollars. But the amounts of money are ridiculous and confusing, so dollars make it a bit more simple.

Cambodian food reminded me of Thai, except creamier and less tasty! 

Once again we had noodles or fried rice for dinner. the prices were cheaper than Thailand, so that was a relief. Amanda found herself some products to relieve her sunburn. Our hunt for something natural/unharmful was not easy! We found that about 95% of skin products had bleaching agents. The obsession with white skin is insane! Among the lotions sold, there is one named "Fair & Lovely". A brand from India (not surprising)! Indians, Thais, Cambodians, they're all equally obsessed with having fair skin. There were a few  times I had debates with Indians about how beautiful their skin tone was. In the South, people have much darker skin so at times they thought maybe I was Northern Indian. They would tell me how much they loved my skin color, and how they were just "too dark"! This is nonsense to me, and we can thank the media for that. For only portraying characters on television, with "perfect" facial features, flawless fair skin and tamed hair. 

So Amanda eventually found something without bleach, after all, she was there to get a tan! not to get bleached! 

 Our 24 hours went by quickly, we had comissioned Bahnet to take us to the airport on his TukTuk the next morning. We are such good travelers, got there totally early and had a smooth flight back to Bangkok. 

Now we were ready to commence our Bangkok couchsufing adventure. ! 

Amanda and I keep it Riel!

-GIA

Cliff Tops of Varkala

Varkala is a cute tourist town perched atop a cliff in the Indian State of Kerala. This beach was a 2 hour bus ride North of Kovalam, our home for the months of January and February. I can't say much about the swimming in Varkala... I dove in once and to my surprise, my bikini bottoms weren't up for that challenge! I caught a few sunrays on the beach, stayed at a hostel the first 2 nights and met lovely people, but the homestay I switched to after 2 nights was so perfect! I was content spending all day lounging at the Maitrii House! 

view from the balcony at Maitri House

A bit of background on how I ended up at Megumi and Sunil's front porch. In Kovalam, we quickly got to know all the shop owners and locals. They would see us walking around all day back and forth from asana practice, eating and swimming! Kovalam has a million taylor shops, and we became especially fond of one of the younger guys that we saw on the way home everyday. When he found out a group of us were planning on moving on the Varkala, the younger and hipper beach town of Kerala, he gave us his friend Sunil's info and recommended we stay at his guest house! I didn't any previous experience in guest houses. I imagined it would be perhaps a really small house and that there would be a lot of people cramped in a small space and feared I would be intruding on someone's home. Our yoga-mate Ron arrived first and right away expressed how awesome Maitrii House was. I was hesitant but when he said they had a tree-house and hammocks, my mind quickly changed !

Tree house, with lamps and chairs inside!

I could not be happier with the place! Not just the house itself, the garden, the tree house, the hammocks, the WIFI! I had been living for 2 months without it! The huge kitchen, that we were actually allowed to use! I even had my own bathroom in my room! No sharing? My bed was huge and so beautiful, even the mosquito net made me feel like a princess! The room stayed cool, the fan worked perfectly, the toilet, everything! Upstairs there was a yoga shala, a back porch that was covered and had plenty of shade. Plenty of room for group yoga! Of course, there were the daily power outages, but that's completely 100% expected in India. If all those wonderful things I listed weren't enough- well there were the beautiful owners! Megumi, a sweet Japanese woman that fell in love with Sunil, a local from Kovalam! They are so absolutely adorable, friendly and helpful!

So, yeah the house was awesome! But the town was also lovely! Maybe because it was new, and I had eaten at the same restaurants and seen the same shops in Kovalam for a while. But here everything was so fresh, they had so many food options and even a juice bar! Juices and smoothies were available in Kovalam- but a place specifically for juices? And they were bigger and cheaper! More flavors and more options! And there was WIFI everywhere! I know, I may be a WIFI addict- but when you don't have a local mobile phone or internet for 2 months, it feels really good to be connected! Plus there is a 12 hour time difference from here and home, my only chance to catch up with buddies and family is either early in the AM or late at night!

Juice with a view? yes please!

Varkala was also exciting because there was a tiny bit of nightlife! What, staying out past 10pm? I did that maybe a total of 4 times in Kovalam, there were a few late night dance parties that happened at one of our favorite restaurants (Alan's) but never live music! On my first night in Varkala, we discovered the Rock n Roll cafe! I went along with a few new friends from the hostel and we fell in love with the man playing the guitar! Imagine an older, overweight Kerala man singing and playing an out of tune acoustic guitar. His favorite songs to jam to were anything Eagles, ACDC and Led Zeppelin! He also had his buddy playing a tiny, rickety drum-set next to him. He asked us to call him Jason and mostly wanted to take requests. He was so lovely and just really wanted to make us happy. We were actually the only people in the entire bar, and was always so happy to actually have an audience. We came back every night after that just to hear him play his guitar and sing his awesome tunes.

With my hair twin, Emma from London

The guy to my right is the drum player!

After a few days of being in Varkala, some of the February Hatha Samyak Yogis made the move there too! It was so refreshing to see new faces and actually get to know these people. I didn't get to chat with them much during their training course, they were always busy and running around. Seeing familiar faces and sharing our teacher training experiences was so good. We all established that we couldn't be happier with  Samyak Yoga, we felt the love and passion from the teachers. Their honestly and loyalty to their company, but most importantly, to the meaning of Yoga.

 

Oh- I also had a bit of a job for a total of one day! I stopped for a juice at an amazing spot, called the Coffee Temple! If you sit at the very front , you have an amazing view of the cliff and can catch some great shots of paragliders swaying in the wind! 

As I went to pay, I noticed a sign saying they needed volunteers. I waited tables for 6 years and constantly miss it!! The interaction, the fast-paced environment and interacting with the cooks! I love it! So I told them I wouldn't mind working for free- they said they would give me free food and coffee all day, and accommodation in their guest house if I needed! I worked from 8am-1pm and it was crazy! Not much organization, just randomly picking up tables. I didn't know the menu and there was no computer system. I had to hand write every single order and explain each one to the cooks after the tables ordered. Despite the few bumps, it was actually really fun! and all my friends showed up to sit in my section! First the yogis, came and had their juices and coffees! A bit later, my hostel friends came. The Germans and the Brits, ate their traditional English breakfast, omelettes and fruit salads! After a fun day of working, Yogi Bravo rolled up in a red scooter beep beep beeping! It was perfect timing, yes- I was a bit weary, but I figured it was a tough day at work and riding around town in scooters with the entire group and searching for a hidden beach sounded like an amazing plan! 

It was so much scarier than I expected! Being a back-seat driver comes rather easily to me! How can I not be in control of everything, right?? haha- so, of course, we survived and it was worth every drop of sweat and and grey hair ! We found The Black sand beach, did some headstands and built a sand castle. Finished the day off with veg pakoras and smoothies before heading back to our beach! 

So Varkala, the perfect balance of minimal nightlife, yoga , hidden beaches and new + old friends! All in one place!

 

-GIA