Farewell Southeast Asia: Cambodia and Malaysia

Farewell Southeast Asia: Cambodia and Malaysia

After 100 meters of walking through the gate, a couple of kilometers away from Aranyaprathet –a border town of Thailand-, we enter Cambodia. In several minutes, we get our visa for 30 days after paying 30$ and start waiting for the bus to go to Siem Reap. Currency of Cambodia is US Dollars ($). Riel is also in use, but especially in big settlements and touristic areas, prices are in $. While paying, dollars and riels are used together and make us calculate regularly as 4000 Riels = 1 $. We take a minibus to Siem Reap for 9 $ per person. Siem Reap is the tourism capital of Cambodia, because there areTemples of Angkor. We find a double room for 7 $, a bit out of the center. Cambodia is not as cheap as we expected from the articles we read before. Or our expectation is too low due to our low budget after one year on the road. You can rent a bicycle, motorcycle or a tuk tuk to go to Angkor from Siem Reap. A good stamina and a couple of days are needed to visit the place by bicycle both because of the distance and the heat. We visit Angkor by renting a tuk tuk for 10 $ for a day. Also 20 $/per person is paid as an entrance fee for one day. Angkor is a temple complex in a large area surrounded by a forest. Angkor Wat, Angor Thom and Ta Phrom are some of the most important temples. You can find information about Angkor everywhere; if you hear about it for the...
Thailand (Bangkok and the North)

Thailand (Bangkok and the North)

We leave Nepal, where we came on foot, by walking again; in the beginning of May. There are two days for our India visa to expire and we take the train from Raxaul to Kolkata to catch our flight to Bangkok. We spent only one day in Kolkata in full thanks to Pankaj who hosted us via Couchsurfing. We meet Ganga River here again, after Varanasi, before she is washed to the sea. This city, the capital of West Bengal, is the cleanest and the most modern city in India we have ever seen.  The city, where the British took their first step in India, is full of English architecture. One day is clearly not enough to explore. We land to Bangkok on 5th of May. Now we are in a totally different culture, in Southeast Asia. The officer in the airport checks our passports, stamps and gives them back. That’s all. We step into Thailand for 30 days without visa, for free. We watch outside through the window while going to the center by subway. Very tidy, very clean, exceedingly modern. Thai people are also very good looking. Beggars’ clothes are cleaner than ours. Everybody looks like they are living in prosperity. People are smiling, transportation is easy… It is also easy to hitch-hike on interprovincial roads. Most of the vehicles in traffic are pick-ups that make it great to travel with the wing in hot weather. Drivers are respectful for bikers, and in Bangkok, there are even bicycle roads. We go to Banglamphu first, the touristic center of Bangkok, to find a place to stay. After finding...
Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Our adventure in the small island country called Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka started in Colombo on 11th of December. We realized, just when we were in the airport, Sri Lanka is far different from its neighbor India. Streets are clean, there is no odor, asphalt is nice, and pedestrians have priority… People are conscious about not to litter, but in picnic places the situation is still bad. Because of that, it is prohibited to enter natural protection areas with plastic bottles and packs. In Sri Lanka, the level of literacy and education is high and almost everybody speaks very good English. There are three languages on all signs: Sinhalese, Tamil and English. Sri Lanka is in the peace (!) period after the guerilla struggle in the northern region of the country, where is inhabited by mostly Tamils, and after a long lasting civil war which was ended by a slaughter that can be considered as a genocide. Permission from the Ministry of Defense is needed to visit the Northern Province as a tourist. Still, there is something hidden from journalists and human rihgts observers. Tension is going on in the political area as we felt. The speech of everybody was tense the day we left, the eve of general elections. Gothama Buddha, Bob Marley and Che Guevara… Three important people who meet in Sri Lanka. Majority of Sri Lanka is Buddhist. Buddhist monks in orange clothing, small and big Buddhist temples, huge Buddha statues and tiny Buddha souvenirs are everywhere around. Foreigners who visit Sri Lanka for meditation form an important part of tourists. The general tolerance...
The Travellers Who Sold Their Caravan

The Travellers Who Sold Their Caravan

Up to now, we made more than 10.000 kilometers on our journey we started 6 months ago. We have been in 20 different cities, visited 10 farms and eco-villages, and camped in more than 40 different places. We met many nice people… Sometimes we stuck on the road, had some trouble. But we didn’t regret even just for one day… Throughout this time, we have written 18 blogs and shared more than 300 photographs. Now, our journey will continue abroad, in South Asia. But, we will be travelling without our fellow, Murtaza. We leave our caravan who took us everywhere and carried all our load. Both because of the length of road lying before us, and because of the extra fund needed for caravan to go out of the country (Vehicle Passport, Traffic Insurance, Carnet de Passages etc.), we are leaving with our backpacks. We won’t be on the same four wheels anymore. But with different kind of transports –by train, by hitchhiking, however we can- we continue exploring different places of Asia to learn about ecologic life and share the seeds in our bags and to share what we learned. On 11 of November, we are going to India (Chennai) from Istanbul by plane. Our journey will start form there, and our first stops will be Sadhana Forest and Auroville. Sadhana Forest is a project for the re-forestration of a land of 70 hectares effected by erosion with locals also to produce food for the people. And Auroville is the largest eco-village or eco-town of the world; population: 2500 approx. We are willing to experience these communities by...