Poland in Asia

Not many people in North India, Cambodia and Laos know where Poland is. In Laos they asked me where are you from?
-"Poland"
-"France"
-"No, I am from Poland"
-"Yes, France"
-"Oki, I can be from France" (Laos was French colony).

In other countries they thought that I am from Holland (they are much better in Soccer than Polish team). Situation was a bit different in Thailand and Indonesia, where they knew Poland.

Best never taken photos in Asia.

During this travel I usually carry my photo camera with me but sometimes I did not manage or I was not able or I thought it is inappropriate or I was not allowed to take photos. So here is a list of the most photogenic moments that are saved only in my mind:

Being tall in Asia.

In the bus in Bangkok.

Usually there are great advantages from being tall. One has a broad perspective, one can notice more things around, others would notice you much easier. Asian people on average are shorter than Europeans, so some of the challenges and disadvantages of being tall are much more pronounced here than elsewhere.
It is very often that I had to bend my back and be very carefully while waking on the street or entering any kind of doors not to hit with my forehead. The most scary was one local restaurant in India were the big vets were on the height of my eyes!!!

Fooooooood in Asia.

This will be a special entry where I will sum up experiencing heaven in my mouth in Asia....

Cambodian–Thai border dispute

Do you remember No Men's Land - The Boarder experience story? Unfortunately last few days there were new clashes at this site causing the death of 11 people (mostly solders) from 4th to 8th February 2011. I really hope that they will manage to solve this issue without further casualties.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian%E2%80%93Thai_border_dispute

Cambodia – following the border

Clarification: I am already more than three weeks in Laos, but this is the last story from Cambodia. I did not have access to internet beforehand.

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Lisu on Cambodian road.

After leaving Prasat Vihear me and Lisu headed in direction to Laos, East, with the aim to first cross the Mekong and then a border to Laos. The order of this action metered a lot since the official border crossing is on the other side of the Mekong. I tried very much to get the best Cambodian map available, but I was not too lucky. There was no publishing date on my map but it had to be old. Half of the time I was biking on the roads that were not marked on my map... I tried to follow the advices that I received from local people, but it was challenging. In Cambodia people were completely not used to maps and they knew they neighborhood only in the radius of 40 km. They usually also did not know till which city or town the road is leading, they only knew to which province is going. And the province were not marked on my map. Luckily I navigated quite a bit with my small pocket compass – I knew the direction East.

No Men's Land - The Boarder experience

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Preah Vihear

I did not really plan to get to Preah Vihear but I was misdirected and I was lucky enough to meet again Cambodian Easy Riders in Sra Am.

Preah Vihear are the Khmer ruins on the Cambodia and Thailand border and for many years Thailand and Cambodia is arguing for the ownership. In 2008 it was listed as the UNESCO World Heritage Site, which caused some increase tension in this spot including some shooting and military troops movement.

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Abandoned gun.

Łódź in the middle of Cambodia

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Josephine and Cambodian Easy Riders

When you are traveling, usually the first question that one gets: "Where are you from?". Majority of people are satisfied with the answer: "I come from Poland." But next to the main temple in Koh Ker I met Josephine, American women that was not satisfied with this answer. She asked from which city I come from. "I come from Łódź" - I answered. And if someone is not a film freak (in Łódź there is famous film school), one never heard this name before. But Josephine instead smiled and said unexpected that she loved this city!!! She said that it was one of her favorite cities around the world and that her dream was to retire in Łódź. I was astonished to hear it in the middle of Cambodia.
Josephine is an English teacher and journalist and she usually stays one year in one country and than she moves to other place. She stayed one year in Tarnów (not very far from Łódź) and spent almost every weekend in her beloved Łódź. Apparently one of her favorite place in Łódź is Dętka, underground water tank that was recently transform into exhibition hall. I have to admit that I have not been there yet, but I promise that I will use first opportunity to go there.

Power of Nature

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Jungle cables.

How would Eiffel Tower look like if it would be left alone for several centuries? How would Dresden Zwinger and Warsaw Palac Cultury look like if the nature could overtake it? Those buildings could look even more impressive.

Mine the step

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Two years ago there were mines here...

On every step one can see that the war in Cambodia ended quite recently. Only 20 years ago Khmer Rouge ended.
Till today Cambodia is country with the highest number of land mines laying around predominately in jungle. I was shocked that the area around one of the temples was clear out from mines only two years ago.

Land mine are very cruel. They are designed to seriously injured the soldier and not to kill him, since injured soldier is more expensive for the enemy army than the killed one. Land mines are also not retracing and surrounding like the soldiers. They can stay in jungle and fields for years waiting for its victim.

Lisu, how far will you go?

Lisu is the name of my new bicycle. I really enjoyed exploring the temples by bike and I thought that it would be great to explore a bit Cambodia also by bike. It was not easy for me to find big enough bike. Lisu is the biggest bike I could get in town but still Lisu could be a bit bigger. Lisu is an city bike with three gears. I paid for it 38$ and I plan to try biking in direction to Laos. From Siem Reap it is a bit more than 500 km. It is quite likely that Lisu or Lisu rider will not cope with this road and then they will have to separate. We will see.

Biking Indiana Jones

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Angkor Wat.

"The Temple stands solitary and alone in the jungle, in too perfect order to be called ruins, a relic of a race far ahead of the present in all the arts and sciences"
D.O. King, 1860, French explorer

Angkor was a capital of Khmer empire in 9th-13th century. It is hypothesized that this was the largest preindustiral city with a possible population of one million. The temples were build from sandstone and are still standing.

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Ta Prohm.

I got to Siem Reap by the boat from Battambang. On the way we crossed quite a few small villages situated on the lake. Kind of water-land experience. Our boat was also delivering mail to the local people. You can find few photos from this trip here.

Bamboo train in Cambodgian jungle

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Bamboo train driver.

Deep in Cambodian jungle there is single track rail line, which the local people are using for local transport goods to and from the market. But there is a need to use this track in both directions and few people can use train tracks in the same time.... so what to do if two trains meet? Easy, disassemble one train and assemble it afterward. It is possible if the train is ultra-light and is built from bamboo.

I heard about this train on the bus from Bangkok to Siem Reap and immediately I decided to make a detour in my trip and see it, and I went to Battambang.
I wanted to ride this unique train for the sun rise. I did not manage to find any other traveler to join me, so I had to rent the whole train on my own... for 10$. I guess this was the only time in my life when I rent a train for myself.