Thursday, October 24, 2013

Finally arrived @ Koh Rong

Last night we finally arrived at Koh Rong, and so far I love it here. We are staying at the Paradise Bungalow side of the Island, which is the side were the youth and the backpackers hang out. Basically this place is one big white beach, and a few bungalows. It is sort of primitive, but that's fun for a few days right? We are currently staying at the guesthouse White Rose, where we have no wi-fi, and only electricity between 5 and 11 o'clock in the evening. But that does not matter, because you barely stay in the room anyway. You are at the beach, snorkeling, diving or hanging out with tons of other people at one of the very few bars/restaurants. And the most amazing thing is actually all the amazing people you meet, I've already gotten to know many lovely persons from places like Denmark, Australia, Germany, Holland, Britain and so on... I could probably go on forever! I'll shower you with a ton of pictures of this place some other day, so hold on! Now I will continue on enjoying this great Island!



Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Vacation!

Yesterday we finished our first exam in the subject "Introduction to the business of travel", I'm not so sure how it went though... I think I'll pass, but we will see if I get a decent grade or not. But now it is VACATION! It is gonna be awesome, me and my roomie, Kamilla, is headed down south to Sihanoukville. Several from our class is headed down there, so we will meet up with some of them throughout the trip, but to begin with it is only going to be the two of us. It is going to be lovely to just relax for some time, and I've heard it is very beautiful down there, so I am totally excited to be going there!



Saturday, October 19, 2013

Grand Palace

While I were in Bangkok I visited the Grand Palace. Which was built by King Rama I back in 1782, and the kings kept on living there until 1925. The current king, King Rama IX, lives at the Chitralada Palace, but most of the official events is still held at the Grand Palace. I was told that this was one of the 'must-see' places in Bangkok, but truth be told, I do not think so. It was seriously crowded, even though it was low-season. It felt more like a tourist trap. Some of the buildings is of course spectacular, but there is so many spectacular temples and so on in Bangkok that it did not feel too different. Most temples does not have a entry fee, but some do, and the most expensive one I ran into was Wat Pho, which costed 100 Baht. So compared to this the Grand Palace was a bit expensive with a 500 Baht entry fee(not compared to Norway though, where 500 Baht is almost 100NOK). But personally I loved places like Wat Arun and Golden Mount quite a lot more. 















Thursday, October 17, 2013

Birthday at Babel!

Yesterday we celebrated our girl, Hanna, she is now 19 years old. We had a huge cake, and everyone was waiting in the lounge for her. Birthday songs, blowing out the candles and everything a good birthday should have. And later on we had a huge party at a place called Triangle in the city, we had balloons and everything. It was a great night! And I think Hanna had a pretty rad birthday also. And tonight we are going to have a Norwegian night here at Babel, with BBQ with norwegian fish and norwegian waffles. So tonight is going to be a great night also!





Monday, October 14, 2013

Wat Pho

I still have a few things left from Bangkok to show you, so bear with me. And I've been told that if there is one temple to visit in Bangkok, it is Wat Pho, why? Because this temple complex has collected many types of Buddahs of different ages, and also they have the huge "Reclining Buddah" here. This huge reclining Buddah is 15 meters high and 43 meters long. But the whole complex has at least a 1000 Buddahs, and also they have a lot of Chinese figures. And there is a reason for that, because when they exported rice to china by boat they had to bring something along to keep the boat steady. And then a lot of Chines figures where the objects they brought back. I was even able to witness a monk ceremony in the main temple. But this place is a lot so I truly recommend paying for a guide when you arrive, and it is not very expensive at all, you will definitely learn a lot, and remember to ask a ton of questions!








The Thai Buddah








Angkor Wat

Last week we headed to Siem Reaps number 1 tourist attraction, Angkor Wat! And it was a magnificent place, it is incredible to think about how they were able to create everything, it definitely had to take a lot of work. We went there very early in the morning in hope to see the sunrise, but unfortunately it was a clouded day. But everything was still amazing, and I am sort of thankful for going there so early. Even if there were a ton of tourists there at that time, around 9 or 10 pm it became totally crowded! You had the place more to yourself if you go there very very early. And if you are lucky, you'll be able to see the sunrise also, they say it is magical!










School!

So then we were finished with our first group work, hopefully we will pass! We've had school for one week now, and school here is a little different then at home. Our classroom is on the top floor of another guesthouse here in Siem Reap, with 3 balconies, and from one of them you can even spot Angkor Wat! And we get served a hot lunch downstairs besides the pool, so bringing a bikini to school is absolutely normal. And instead of a cantina, we have a poolbar where we can get refreshments all day. But being a student isn't anything to take lightly, because we only have two weeks to learn each subject before it is time for the exam. So in a week it is time for our first exam, in the subject "Introduction to the business of travel". But reading for a exam is pretty chill, we either head to our neighbor guesthouse and lie by the pool there or often I head to the Sokha Hotel, where I've payed for a gym membership and can use the pool as much as I want. Then anyone can enjoy being a student!




At the Sokha Hotel!


Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Siem Reap

First week here has been insane! Lots of first impressions, tons of new people, new culture, and a lot of fun! We have had quite a few parties, since new people came everyday; each day we had a welcome-party, haha! And we've been to a local mall, and a couple of markets, been out eating, had a monk ceremony... We have basically done a lot, I have even been to a shooting range and shot with a AK47 and another machine gun(Mom, do not get worried!). But these last days I've been sort of passed out with food poisoning, which sucked because I missed out on a lot, but hopefully I will be able to do those things later. This city has a lot of contrasts, it is all very interesting to see and learn about, we are all already much wiser tourists. I can not wait to learn a lot more, and get to know this place even better!

I should so sleep now, we are headed to Angkor Wat at 5am tomorrow to watch the sunrise....