Never felt like so cut off from the world

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popping in
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Re: Never felt like so cut off from the world

Post by popping in »

lagrange wrote: Fri Oct 09, 2020 1:48 pm
popping in wrote: Wed Oct 07, 2020 5:54 pm The realisation's sinking in suddenly that I'm not going to get to south east Asia again this winter.

For all I know I might never get the chance to go back.

I've been very lucky to see the world. I've been just about everywhere.

I've also lived in UAE, and for very short periods in Oman and Hong Kong.

I'm currently in Greece, just floating around. As a Brit we could be cut off even from here in a few weeks.

And I really feel increasingly cut off from the wider world. Covid is obviously a massive part in that, but increasing red tape makes it ever more difficult to find a job overseas.

I feel like I have no choice but to go back to my country, and to save Cambodia in a little piece of my heart and my memory, and if things go really well maybe I will get the chance to return one day and remember my travelling days and the feeling of belonging I finally found in some far flung corner of the globe.

I have always felt sorry for some girls in Cambodia, like they were stuck in this lawless place cut off from the rest of the world. But all of a sudden it seems like they are the ones in the right place, in their beautiful country, and it is us who are the ones who have been cut off and set adrift.
Hey how you doing. I am also in Greece, one of the few places with easy access these days. I was in Thessaloniki for a while, then Athens, now on one of the Cyclades, living the life of a lotus eater. But I now have scored an entry visa for Cambodia, so in a couple of weeks I will be back in Blighty to get my PCR test and a SIA flight to PP....good luck mate, its all possible if you try hard enough.
Dude. Thanks for the post, and well done for getting things sorted. I've been in the islands for 2 months now, cyclades and dodecanese. I was looking into the Cambodia thing yesterday. From what I read it looked marginal, but I would probably give it a go if I didn't have a job lined up by the end of this month. But then I read the stuff about the tax patent. My reading of it now is that even if you get an employment letter, visa from the embassy, blah blah blah, then unless you have a REAL job in Cambodia, you can not now renew your visa after 30 days since they brought the new regulations in this month. Have I got that wrong ? For 3-4 months it would be a really attractive potential option, but for 30 days....personally I'd see the winter out in Greece.

Btw, Cyclades, I went to Paros, Naxos, Donoussa, Koufonisia, Amorgos (not in that order, that would have been way too logical).
Donoussa has the best view in Greece from the top of the mountain (an hour and a half hard slog up), can see everywhere. Also, the little village at the backside of the island (come down from the mountain) is very nice with good tavern and lovely swimming coves. Can get taxi back to Stavros for 12 euro from the taverna. Worth considering. There's a cool bar there as well. You could ask the barman about my dancing haha. Amorgos is also good.
Last edited by popping in on Fri Oct 09, 2020 4:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.
popping in
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Re: Never felt like so cut off from the world

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theKid wrote: Fri Oct 09, 2020 3:54 pm
xandreu wrote: Fri Oct 09, 2020 3:13 pm i'm not sure why the op is so defeatist? People are arriving here every day? If you want it bad enough, there are ways of returning.
I agree. People in this forum have shown that with a bit of creativity anyone can get to the KoW. I’ve been back home in HK now twice and also to Europe for business since the borders were shut. The worst parts are the quarantine days but in both, HK and PP, I was able to do them at home.
Hong Kong as well is still offering one year Working Holiday Visa’s so that’s another option for the OP (he wrote he had lived there before). The process to get the WHV takes about 3 weeks, plus the 2 week quarantine. I’ve just done that for a few out-of-contract rugby players that are now planning to play for HK premiership clubs.

It’s not all lost, just a bit more inconvenient.
Thanks for the post. According to my birth certificate at least, I'm well over 30. Good to get the HKWHV option out there for those who aren't though.

From what I gather if you have real job in Cambodia is little bit different, but what you've described above is nevertheless fairly remarkable I'd say considering the lockdown everywhere.

Out of interest, did you do 14 days home quarantine in KoW, or are you talking about the 2 days after arrival ?
theKid
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Re: Never felt like so cut off from the world

Post by theKid »

popping in wrote: Fri Oct 09, 2020 4:33 pm
theKid wrote: Fri Oct 09, 2020 3:54 pm
xandreu wrote: Fri Oct 09, 2020 3:13 pm i'm not sure why the op is so defeatist? People are arriving here every day? If you want it bad enough, there are ways of returning.
I agree. People in this forum have shown that with a bit of creativity anyone can get to the KoW. I’ve been back home in HK now twice and also to Europe for business since the borders were shut. The worst parts are the quarantine days but in both, HK and PP, I was able to do them at home.
Hong Kong as well is still offering one year Working Holiday Visa’s so that’s another option for the OP (he wrote he had lived there before). The process to get the WHV takes about 3 weeks, plus the 2 week quarantine. I’ve just done that for a few out-of-contract rugby players that are now planning to play for HK premiership clubs.

It’s not all lost, just a bit more inconvenient.
Thanks for the post. According to my birth certificate at least, I'm well over 30. Good to get the HKWHV option out there for those who aren't though.

From what I gather if you have real job in Cambodia is little bit different, but what you've described above is nevertheless fairly remarkable I'd say considering the lockdown everywhere.

Out of interest, did you do 14 days home quarantine in KoW, or are you talking about the 2 days after arrival ?
Yes, the 14days at home. My office is in a villa and I refurbished the upper floor to do it there, which was larger and more flexible than a hotel room. Nevertheless, 14 days without much exercise and not being able to go out and socialise are tough, and mentally draining.
I could have easily flouted the rules as absolutely no one ever checked on me, but decided to be a good boy.

In HK, things are way more strict. You get an armband and an app and once you arrive at your place you have to walk around the perimeter of the apartment/hotel room to activate it and report your temperature twice a day. Police are also periodically checking on you by phone.
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lagrange
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Re: Never felt like so cut off from the world

Post by lagrange »

theKid wrote: Fri Oct 09, 2020 5:23 pm
popping in wrote: Fri Oct 09, 2020 4:33 pm
theKid wrote: Fri Oct 09, 2020 3:54 pm
xandreu wrote: Fri Oct 09, 2020 3:13 pm i'm not sure why the op is so defeatist? People are arriving here every day? If you want it bad enough, there are ways of returning.
I agree. People in this forum have shown that with a bit of creativity anyone can get to the KoW. I’ve been back home in HK now twice and also to Europe for business since the borders were shut. The worst parts are the quarantine days but in both, HK and PP, I was able to do them at home.

I could have easily flouted the rules as absolutely no one ever checked on me, but decided to be a good boy.

In HK, things are way more strict. You get an armband and an app and once you arrive at your place you have to walk around the perimeter of the apartment/hotel room to activate it and report your temperature twice a day. Police are also periodically checking on you by phone.
I was reading something about that yesterday, the government asking all locals, landlords, shopkeepers etc to keep an eye on foreigners recently arrived, to make sure they are quarantining, and to report any suspicious behaviour. While it seems a bit like Stalin's Russia, I can understand the frustration behind this. And like they always say, if you are doing nothing wrong you have nothing to fear.
" Tried being reasonable. Didn't like it" (Clint Eastwood)
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