Valuing my experiences.

(Pursat)


(Phnom Penh)

Today I took two boat rides down a small dirty, smelly sewage-filled river, followed by a tuktuk ride to the National Museum of Thailand. I walked around the whole facility, read about the entire history, the profiles of the succession of Rama I - IX. Then I took another tuktuk back to the boat station, only he dropped me off at the big river to a boat-ferry, not boat-taxi. So then I walked around and ended up at a park that faces the big river. I sat under a big tree and looked at a map with an Australian man who had just spent 8 months teaching English in Northern China but is returning to Aus this afternoon.

(Bangkok)

Afterwards, I went up to some government people to ask for directions. Onward I went... I stumbled upon a travel agent, to look up flights for a friend, and was asked if I was of a mixed race. (Why was I happy to hear that I was mistaken for being half European?) There is a 7-Eleven selling delicious Asian drinks and foods every few 100 feet or so here in Bangkok. I bought some chocolate milk (Ovaltine) and some food at a food stand. And straight I went and eventually found the place I needed to go.

(Bangkok)

If you've noticed, I don't normally write in the day-to-day account sort of way. But I wanted to this time because none of you really get the scope of what my daily life is like right now. And traveling by myself for these two weeks has been really important to me. Though I have felt tremendous loneliness at times, I have experienced a lot of delightful moments, joyful conversations with strangers and seen such beautiful (or sometimes horrifying) sights. I stayed in a crappy guesthouse and had to leave my door open for ventilation. I stayed at a really nice hotel and laid in bed for hours and hours watching TV, eating chips and drinking mango juice. I stayed in a bungalow on a lake with three small beds with friends I have made here in Cambodia. I stayed in a small Bangkok apartment and shared a bed with a girl I had never met before. And I will return to Phnom Penh early Saturday morning not yet knowing where I will stay next.

It is important to include these details of travels because I sometimes get sucked into this vortex where I forget about everything that is present, like valuing my experiences. Hence, a post like this one. Sometimes I don't know what to make of what I go through and the only truth I have is that I am going through them and that they are my own. I hope that is enough for now.