After a three-hour  taxi ride down the highway with potholes the size of the car, we arrived at Cambodia's border to walk across into Thailand. From there we took a Tuk-tuk to the train station and sat in the hot car for about five hours. It was an interesting ride and it gave us a chance to see the country side. On the train, there are people who come by with drinks and food. A couple sitting were happy to receive our empty coke & beer bottles. The guy offering drinks would come by every hour or so and offer Jeff "Beer, beer?" We realized later that his outgoingness was probably due to the mickey of booze tucked in his back pocket.

 

Once in Bangkok, the three of us were tired and wanted to find a hotel near the train station because Jeff was leaving in the morning to return to Korea  and Zain and I were going north to Ayutthaya. The hotel cost us about $10 between the three of us but was definately not the nicest accomodation we could have asked for.  The bathroom was old and I showered with my shoes on. But... there were no cockroachs! Woohoo! 

 

The next day, we dropped off Jeff at the airport and Zain and I continued north to Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya is the former capital of Thailand, 1350 to 1767, and is an interesting historic spot to visit. Unlike other tourist centres, Ayutthaya's main attraction is not its beautiful scenery, but its calm atmosphere with the remains resulting from the destruction by the invading Burmese army in 1767. The ruins offer a glimpse of old Ayutthaya, which  was once a prosperous and majestic capital with over 400 magnificent Buddhist monasteries. The ruins can be seen in the area called the Old Capital in the centre of the city.

 

In Ayutthaya we stayed in a wonderful hotel called the Lotus Baan. I recommend it to anyone who visits the area. The lady was wonderful and signed us up for an evening tour of the temples in the area.  As beautiful as they were, they were a bit disappointing after having seen Angkor Wat only a few days earlier.  We toured the temples with a Canadian couple living in Belgium - they were lovely. After the tour, Zain went back to the hotel as he had a terrible cold and I went on to the night market to try a Thai Pancake with egg, meat, vegetables, etc. etc. It was absolutely delicious! The next day, Zain was definately not feeling well, and so I ventured out on my own. It was a very hot day and all I could think about was sitting by the beach and going into the water.

 

 

There are pictures available with captions so please view them in "Full View". Pictures of the last bit of our trip to the beach will be available in a few days.

 

 

Desde Cambodia, nos fuimos en Taxi hasta la frontera y crusamos a pie la frontera de Tailandia. De alli, nos fuimen en Tuk-tuk a la estacion de tren y pasamos las proximas cinco horas  en el carro con mucho calor. Pero con las gente que llega ofreciendo comida y bebidas, no nos hizo tan largo el viaje. Habia un caballero que le ofrecia "Cerveza, cerveza?" a mi amigo Jeff cada hora. Pero luego nos dimos cuenta que estaba super atento con nosotros en ingles porque tenia una botella en alcol en el bolsillo del pantalon.

 

En Bangkok, estabamos muy cansados y queriamos encontrar un lugar a dormir, no mas. El calor y la humedad estaban espantosos y queriamos llegar a ducharnos antes de irnos a comer. Llegamos a un hotel y tenia dos camas para los tres pero el baño... bueno... pueden ver las fotos. Pero no habian cucarachas!

 

Al dia siguiente, dejamos a mi amigo Jeff en el aeropuerto  y Zain y yo nos fuimos hacia el norte a la ciudad de Ayutthaya. La ciudad era la capital de Siam por 417 años y esta llena de ruinas. Fue destruida por los de Burma (Burmanes?!!). La ciudad es muy calmada y tiene muchas cosas bonitas a ver. Nos quedamos en un hotel lindo en estilo tailandes.  Mi amigo no se sentia muy bien y entonces conoci la ciudad solita. El calor en esa ciudad era algo que nunca habia sentido y pensaba en la playa no mas.

 

Pero eso tenia que esperar hasta el proximo dia...

 

Fotos de la playa serian disponibles en unos dias. Fotos de Ayutthaya se pueden ver con comentarios (en ingles) si lo veen en "Full View." Chao!

Hello from Canada!

 

As promised, I have attached pictures of my trip to Cambodia. I am completely and utterly in love with Cambodia and I think I would like to visit again. If you haven't been to Angkor Wat, you must go at least once in your life. It was a very spiritual experience and the people there are absolutely lovely. Cambodia is still clearing mines left over from the Pol Pot era and they still surround the Angkor Wat temples. The people are poor but extremely strong and determined to make their country better - they're inspiring, really.

 

Please see the pictures in a slide show for a play by play of the trip.

 

Hasta luego!

I leave tomorrow to go see my family.... Me voy manana a ver a mi familia... Je m'en vais demain a voir ma famille.

 

 

I've got a great job. I've got a great apartment. I've got friends who love me. I've got a family that supports me. Life is grand right now. Live it, love it.

 

Gros bisous... besos enormes!

Voy a ir a ver a mi sobrina querida y a toda mi familia! Y me queden dos dias, no mas!

 

I leave Wednesday for a three week recharge with the family. "Vacation, again?," you ask. Well, to be honest... it's more for my mom than for me. I'm being completely selfless with this whole thing, really!  I promised my family I would spend some time with them and see where I would land next. But then I got this fabulous PR job and so I'm coming back. But a promise is a promise and I'm anxious to see the little one on her second birthday.  Can you believe she's going to be two already?!!

 

Me voy el miercoles a pasar tres semanas con la familia en Edmonton. Es cierto que recien regrese de vacaciones en Tailandia PERO le promiti a la familia que me iba a Canada un tiempo para ver donde encuentraria trabajo. Pero luego me ofrecieron este trabajo en Seoul y entonces regreso en tres semanas para empezar un nuevo capitulo de mi vida. Voy a estar con mi sobrina que cumple dos anos, si! Imaginanse! Como pasa el tiempo... Mi abuelita cumple 89, mi prima... 35 (WOW!)... y mi amiga que era companera de colegio cumple 28. Entonces hay muchos cumplenos en estas tres semanas.  

 

My friend Michelle has let me stay at her beautiful apartment the past two weeks and for that I am eternally grateful. She has also been my translator and negotiator when looking for an apartment. Getting an apartment in Korea is not simply paying first and last month's rent... there is a little something called "key money." A very large deposit that you get back when you leave to go towards the next place's deposit. But the key money is not a few dollars... some places expect you to have a minimum of USD $5,000 to just hand over. Some places can ask up to $10,000. CHA-CHING!  Granted, with a large key money deposit, rent is relatively inexpensive. But DAMN! That's a lot of money! So my friend has had to explain that foreigners just don't have that kind of cash laying around. Like I said... she's been my negotiator and real estate agent. Bless her heart!

 

Estoy buscando departamento aqui y me he quedado en la casa de una amiga coreana, Michelle. Ella me ha ayudado bastante en encontrar departamento y negociar los precios. En Corea, no es facil encontrar. Los coreanos, como los latinos, viven con sus padres hasta que se casan, tienen dinero guardado para arrendarse un departamento. Aqui te piden un deposito de USD $5,000 a $10,000.  Con ese deposito, si, el arriendo no es muy caro. Pero, aqui... se aprovechan de los extranjeros y piden ese deposito y cobran un ojo de la cara para el arriendo. Mi amiga ha tenido que explicar que como Canadiense, no tengo ese tipo de plata pero si puedo pagar un poquito mas mensual. Y entonces, mi amiga ha sido un salvavida para mi!

 

But I think I have found myself an apartment. Did I mention that? It's close to work. It has one bedroom, two bathrooms, a balcony, large kitchen, a walk-in closet, a weekly maid service who does laundry and all my utilities are included in the rent. WOOHOO! It's quite lovely and I hope to get things firmed up in the next few days.

 

Parece que me encontre un departamento. Tiene una piesa con su bano, una cocina grande, un balcon, otro bano, un living grande y una senora que mi viene a limpiar una vez a la semana. Ji ji ji   Espero tenerlo en unos pocos dias.

 

Bueno eso seria todo. I will write from Canada.

 

Besos and lots of kisses. Des gros bisous a mis amis francais qui regarde mon blog de temps en temps aussi!

Well I returned from Thailand last week and my skin has unfortunately been in the process of peeling away beautiful caramel-brown colour I obtained on the crystal clean beaches of Phuket ... at Ankor Wat... along the ruins of the ancient capital of Siam... well you get the idea.

We had wonderful weather the entire time and the heat was rather intense. My friends Jeff and Zain were wonderful travel companions - they kept me safe throughout the trip although I think we all got a little ripped off when shopping for souvenirs. Oh well!

 

When we arrived in Bangkok, we tried to get a place to stay for the night. Um... not going to happen.  So we stayed up all night drinking cocktails at a local bar on a really busy/touristy street. It was interesting to watch the dozens of seedy ladies of the night  dwindle in numbers to give way to the dozens of peaceful monks in the morning sun . We then boarded a bus to Angkor Wat, Cambodia. We had to cross the border into Cambodia which was quite an ordeal and then proceed to the city of Siem Riep on the most horrendous six-hour bus trip I've ever taken. Can you say bumpy? The trip was intersting though and quickly forgotten as we arrived into the city. From there, we went back to Bangkok for Jeff's last night in Bangkok -   we were all quite humbled. The next day, we dropped off Jeff at the airport  and on to Ayuttaya we went. This little city used to be the capital of Siam and is like a giant outdoor museum with all the ruins intermingling with new buildings and traffic. That was probably the hottest place we went to but we stayed in a lovely Thai style house, called the Lotus Baan, which was a welcome treat from the flea-bag hotel we stayed at in Bangkok.  From Ayuttaya, we headed down South to the beaches of Phuket for the last three days of our trip. Amazing, amazing, amazing. There are lots of little adventures that I will share but you'll have to wait for the pictures  to get a play by play of the action. We took all modes of transportation: Tuk-tuks, ferries, long-tail boats, planes, trains, taxis, buses, cars and even a speed boat... Did I mention it was a fantastic trip?!!

 

I will be returning home March 15th to spend three weeks with my family. I am, unfortunately, missing my sister's birthday but will be there for my cousin's, grandmother's, friend's and niece's. Lots of birthdays in March!  I'm hoping to spend some quality time with them before I head back to Korea.

 

So yes indeed! I am returning to Korea. I have a new position with a medium-sized PR agency in the heart of Seoul. I will be living in downtown Seoul and will continue the tradition of having "Pam's Party Pad." Apartments in the city are small but modern and I'm looking for a one-bedroom so I can have some privacy when guests from abroad come to visit... hint-hint!   I'm quite excited to have found a position here as I thought the PR-thing wasn't going to work out. The thought of living in Dead-monton  for a few months certainly drove me to pulling out all the stops. After ten months of living here I tapped into all the people I had come into contact with which landed me this position.