Dangers of bites in SEA: Don't pat the dogs, and don't cuddle the monkeys.
-
- Tourist
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Wed May 15, 2019 11:23 am
- Reputation: 3
- Contact:
Re: Dangers of bites in SEA: Don't pat the dogs, and don't cuddle the monkeys.
Apologies Username Taken. You are right. I wrote the post reply after a bad sleep and didn't see the post above when I was writing my feedback.
Last edited by tefl online pro on Mon May 20, 2019 11:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Get qualified to teach English abroad with https://teflonlinepro.com/
-
- Tourist
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Wed May 15, 2019 11:23 am
- Reputation: 3
- Contact:
Re: Dangers of bites in SEA: Don't pat the dogs, and don't cuddle the monkeys.
Hi bittermelon.
I started my walk at one of the temples in Phnom Penh city center. I think it was Wat Phnom. It's been 5 years now so my memory isn't as good From there I walked up the Russian boulevard, past the airport and then continued down highway number 4. Walking out of PP was the most difficult. Lots of plastic. Cows eating plastic. Terrible air pollution. And I hadn't worked out where I would be staying in advance.
My only real objective was to find a place to sleep before nightfall and on my first night I almost failed to do this.
I tried paying for a night's stay at a rural guesthouse but they seemed really wary of me, what with my (bamboo) walking stick and disheveled look and eventually I spotted a light on in a house and walked down a grassy embankment to where I discovered a really helpful chap who was working for the red cross.
Every morning, I would wake up just before sunrise and continue on: past the immaculately-dressed schoolchildren on their way to work and past the caged vans, taking their mothers to the garment factories.
I stayed at a few places on my way. One place, I found out after I had checked in doubled up as a brothel, and I refused the "services" and just got a good night's sleep. I also stayed at a monastery for the night where we played volleyball and where I was warned to keep any valuables away from the barred windows as there had been recent activity of theft in the area.
I think the walk was the beginning of my love affair with Cambodia. Random people would just come up to me, offering me bread and water, and some even offered money. At one restaurant I stopped in at - feeling knackered and just wanting a meal - the owner gave the typical US$1 price for the meal and something within me just snapped and I walked on. A few minute's later he was hot on my tracks... with a free meal and an apology.
Actually, while walking through the countryside I got to see how much the locals pay for a meal. My cheapest came to around 1,500 Riel.
I even bumped into another traveler on the way: a girl on a pushbike who was cycling all the way from Australia to Belgium. We chatted for about 5 minutes and then said our good lucks to each other and continued on.
I never experienced any issues at all, except that the heat was of course very oppressive. I religiously had my Khmer scarf wrapped around my head most of the time.
If you do choose to do the walk then please walk on the side of oncoming traffic. That way, if you are unfortunate to meet a crazy driver, you will be able to see the vehicle approaching and be able to increase your chances of survival.
Ironically, I began the walk being a little scared of the locals and what dangers could be bestowed upon me, but soon realized that many locals were cautious of me: the strange looking westerner - stick in hand.
When I reached the intersection where one part continues to Koh Kong, I hitched a bus for the remaining section of the walk as I wasn't sure about the sleeping options along this stretch of road. I then slept in Koh Kong for a few nights and continued walking from my guesthouse to the border, and then onto Trat.
I never had any issues with wild dogs in Cambodia. I did have issues with wild dogs in Thailand.
The walk from PP to that intersection took me about 4 days. And then about the same from Koh Kong to Trat.
On my way to Trat, as the sun was setting, I took a gamble and knocked on a locals hut door and was invited inside. Turns out they were economic immigrants from Myanmar: rubber farmers. I slept the night while they farmed the tree sap at night.
Overall, a wonderful experience.
Oh, one last point. It is always better to stop for sleep just before the sun goes down. This is partly because of any bad people around who might want to steal from you, and because snakes like to come out at night and I wouldn't really want to step onto one of those on the road
I started my walk at one of the temples in Phnom Penh city center. I think it was Wat Phnom. It's been 5 years now so my memory isn't as good From there I walked up the Russian boulevard, past the airport and then continued down highway number 4. Walking out of PP was the most difficult. Lots of plastic. Cows eating plastic. Terrible air pollution. And I hadn't worked out where I would be staying in advance.
My only real objective was to find a place to sleep before nightfall and on my first night I almost failed to do this.
I tried paying for a night's stay at a rural guesthouse but they seemed really wary of me, what with my (bamboo) walking stick and disheveled look and eventually I spotted a light on in a house and walked down a grassy embankment to where I discovered a really helpful chap who was working for the red cross.
Every morning, I would wake up just before sunrise and continue on: past the immaculately-dressed schoolchildren on their way to work and past the caged vans, taking their mothers to the garment factories.
I stayed at a few places on my way. One place, I found out after I had checked in doubled up as a brothel, and I refused the "services" and just got a good night's sleep. I also stayed at a monastery for the night where we played volleyball and where I was warned to keep any valuables away from the barred windows as there had been recent activity of theft in the area.
I think the walk was the beginning of my love affair with Cambodia. Random people would just come up to me, offering me bread and water, and some even offered money. At one restaurant I stopped in at - feeling knackered and just wanting a meal - the owner gave the typical US$1 price for the meal and something within me just snapped and I walked on. A few minute's later he was hot on my tracks... with a free meal and an apology.
Actually, while walking through the countryside I got to see how much the locals pay for a meal. My cheapest came to around 1,500 Riel.
I even bumped into another traveler on the way: a girl on a pushbike who was cycling all the way from Australia to Belgium. We chatted for about 5 minutes and then said our good lucks to each other and continued on.
I never experienced any issues at all, except that the heat was of course very oppressive. I religiously had my Khmer scarf wrapped around my head most of the time.
If you do choose to do the walk then please walk on the side of oncoming traffic. That way, if you are unfortunate to meet a crazy driver, you will be able to see the vehicle approaching and be able to increase your chances of survival.
Ironically, I began the walk being a little scared of the locals and what dangers could be bestowed upon me, but soon realized that many locals were cautious of me: the strange looking westerner - stick in hand.
When I reached the intersection where one part continues to Koh Kong, I hitched a bus for the remaining section of the walk as I wasn't sure about the sleeping options along this stretch of road. I then slept in Koh Kong for a few nights and continued walking from my guesthouse to the border, and then onto Trat.
I never had any issues with wild dogs in Cambodia. I did have issues with wild dogs in Thailand.
The walk from PP to that intersection took me about 4 days. And then about the same from Koh Kong to Trat.
On my way to Trat, as the sun was setting, I took a gamble and knocked on a locals hut door and was invited inside. Turns out they were economic immigrants from Myanmar: rubber farmers. I slept the night while they farmed the tree sap at night.
Overall, a wonderful experience.
Oh, one last point. It is always better to stop for sleep just before the sun goes down. This is partly because of any bad people around who might want to steal from you, and because snakes like to come out at night and I wouldn't really want to step onto one of those on the road
Get qualified to teach English abroad with https://teflonlinepro.com/
-
- Similar Topics
- Replies
- Views
- Last post
-
- 30 Replies
- 6795 Views
-
Last post by Shazza
-
- 19 Replies
- 2722 Views
-
Last post by Grand Barong
-
- 0 Replies
- 1161 Views
-
Last post by CEOCambodiaNews
-
- 6 Replies
- 2078 Views
-
Last post by jaynewcastle
-
- 0 Replies
- 1181 Views
-
Last post by Clutch Cargo
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 197 guests