Timehouse Trip to Thailand and Cambodia 2004

Itinerary

Helsinki - Fly By Night

Our fearless and slightly sad team (having just said good-bye to our loved-ones), was at the airport admiring Finnair's biggest plane: the mighty MD-11 which (hopefully) we believed was going to take us all the way to Bangkok.

Up high

All of us had difficulties to sleep but most unlucky was Kristian with his window seat, since there was a little girl behind kicking the front seat every half an hour (of course she was asleep). Day-break came quickly flying south-east so we took really nice photos of the Himalayas and weather formations on the way.

Bangkok

First we had to go through millions of people who wanted to sell us various things: transportation, presents to take back home, accommodation, trips around Bangkok, massage and so on. Determined we pushed our way through and hoped to see our travel guide - Severi - somewhere outside the airport.

Severi had got the date wrong but breaking every speed limit he managed to collect three white and hot boys from the airport, take us to the Hotel and finally guide us to the nearest bar. After long negotiations we decided that the first evening program was going to be "Bangkok by night" seen from the bar-stool.

The next day started a bit slowly and we decided to take a boat ride on the river that flows through the old center of Bangkok. Apparently that river-side is picking up again with the arrival of the modern sewage-system that has helped to clean the water. Still, you can see a person using the river as his toilet, while another person in the next hut, a few meters away, scoops same water for cooking.

Our tourist cruise was about turning to a booze-cruise because of this smiling lady on the right who kept pouring us litres of local whiskey-type drink (they called it whiskey). It mixed well with Coke.

Our second night in Bangkok included meeting a Swiss bloke - Martin. Martin had been three years in Thailand and could speak the local language. Finally we retired 4 a.m. and agreed to meet him again in two weeks on our return from Phnom Penh.

Pattaya

We started our trip towards Pattaya by visiting George the tailor. There Riku tested his suit that he had ordered the day before. The Timehouse triplet took a taxi for this 250 km trip and Severi had to go alone on his new motorcycle. After a few kilometers in city traffic Severi got stopped by police and couldn't pay his way out. His crime was to use rightmost (left sided traffic) lane which is reserved for "fast" traffic. Needless to say, locals didn't get stopped for that. While Severi was sorting this out in the police station, we went to eat in McDonalds.

When we arrived, we met Severi's old friend who lives most of the year in Thailand and has an apartment in Pattaya. He and his girlfriend showed us the main tourist attractions and we decided to leave the place next morning.

Koh Chang

Koh Chang is an island on Thailand's coast near the Cambodian border. Petteri and Riku took a minibus from the hotel in Pattaya while Severi and Kristian went on the motorcycle. We never agreed a meeting place but luckily we all met by the same ferry (actually this was due to a map reading error!).

Koh Chang was a beautiful place. From our hotel room we only had a few steps to the warm sea. The hotel was in superb condition and it wasn't too expensive either. Sea was so salty that during our moonlight swim we could float effortlessly and gaze at the star constellations in awe. We also continued our Thai-food tasting trip even if some of us grew a bit tired of fish-sauce and coconut milk...

Koh Kong, Cambodia

It was Petteri's turn to travel on Severi's motorcycle so Riku and Kristian took various vehicles towards the meeting place at the Cambodian border. It was easier to get Severi's motorcycle (Thailand plates) through than we had thought and thanks to experienced French backpackers our "visa payment" to Cambodian police was bargained down to 1200 bahts (from 2500). In Cambodia we suffered from a bit of a culture shock which we treated with beer in a karaoke bar. Karaoke seemed to be very popular in this very poor country.

Sihanoukville

Riku travelled with Severi this time on the bike while Petteri and Kristian took a shortcut by sea. Sea was rough and back of the boat was reserved for throwing up - road wasn't so much better.

In Sihanoukville we saw Miika, ex-Timehouse worker who wouldn't come and visit us in Finland, forcing us to travel to the other side of world just to meet him. Miika, his workmate Darren and his wife Manet gave Severi a well-earned rest from being our tourist guide. We had lots to catch up and less time to take photos. Second day afternoon we rented a boat and went to do snorkeling by a nearby island. By the way: Locals always swam with their clothes on.

Phnom Penh

It was again Petteri's turn to take the motorcycle for this last leg on the road since Kristian was feeling very tired after partying till 7 a.m. with Miika. Taxi took us to Cambodia's capital and Miika's home city - Phnom Penh. Miika's family came to say hello to us and our decision to go to bed early was easy to keep.

Next day we got up refreshed and ready to explore the city. Severi had a long awaited reunion with his girlfriend Wanwipa, who flew from Bangkok that morning.

We saw lots of pictures of the new king, Norodom Sihamoni, who has been outside Cambodia (mostly in Europe) all his lifetime. Some rumours say that he couldn't speak Khmer (language in Cambodia) and other nasty ones that he prefers male over female. Since Red Khmers (Pol Pot's regime) destroyed and abandoned the city, lots of restoration had to be done and next to the old buildings was a sign telling who financed this one. Normally (in Europe) you see familiar European Union star-circle but here it was Switzerland and Swiss flags everywhere.

We also went to have a look at one of the detention centers where people were tortured and killed for crimes they hadn't committed. Then we rented a tuk-tuk (extended moped) and drove to Killing Fields outside the city. Cambodian genocide (over 20% of population killed!) caused heated conversation later on that evening. Should we use our energy to study history of these 25 years old events or should we try to prevent what is happening now in Africa? Most of us wanted to do both - but: it is much easier to study history and judge already dead monsters than attack against living ones.

That evening Miika and his workmates took us out to eat, drink and dance. Miika's boss, Kim from Norway, bought us a lovely meal and we returned the favour by offering him and his employees Russian vodka and Coke. Drinking vodka in above 30 degrees temperatures can be lethal and at least those Cambodian wives and girlfriends won't be missing us back...

Next day (or afternoon more likely) we went to a market, where you could buy almost anything with just few dollars. As the evening came, we went to see Miika's office and talked about IT-business in Phnom Penh and Cambodia. Miika invited us to his home to ea at very nice Cambodian dish that his girlfriend, Pau, had prepared for us. Last night in Phnom Penh went peacefully watching DVD (Super Size Me) and saying good-byes.

Siem Reap & Angkor Wat

Our last day program in Cambodia was busy and expensive. We calculated that the last day we used as much money as all the previous days together (in Cambodia). We just couldn't leave the place without seeing the number one tourist attraction: Angkor Wat ruins.

About three hours we walked in a scorching heat trying to get good pictures of the old ruins - many of them destroyed by Red Khmers who despised the cultural background of Cambodia. Our Taxi-driver (very expensive!) lured us to pay him some extra and visit another similar looking temple half an hour distance from the main sight. At least we could cool down in his air conditioned car. We saw lots of Japanese tourists and all the prices were about double or triple to the other places in Cambodia.

Bangkok

We took the evening plane from Siem Reap to Bangkok and we very lucky to sit in the brand new Boeing 717 (DC-9 variant - was MD-90 before Boeing bought McDonald Douglas). Our luck ran out however, since all the hotels seemed to be full or they just didn't want to take guests in so late. After some search, our tailor George, arranged a luxury suite for us with a bargain price. It was close to midnight when we were finally out for our Last Night in Bangkok. Martin was busy and unable to show us around and all the bars closed at 2 a.m. so our last night was a short one.

The short night was a blessing in the morning and we managed a nice breakfast, morning swim and rest in the hotel before shops. We all felt tired to Asian food (especially Kristian who had most disgusting dish - maybe dog - in Cambodia yesterday) so we had our last evening meal in Pizza Hut. Our flight was leaving at midnight and fellow Finns were easy to recognize in the messy airport - the only well-organized cue full of white and tall people.

Back Home

It was finally time to come back to the cool and comfortable Finland. In Thailand and Cambodia temprature never dropped below 30 degrees celsius. The biggest problem was sleeping in places that didn't have air conditioning. Many times we dreamed of cold Finland while we were sweating in heat. Now winter has arrived and it is minus 10 degrees outside - maybe that heat wasn't too bad after all...

All photos

All 579 photos from Riku's and Kristian's cameras.

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