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**CarbonMan** · 17 September 2013, 07:48 AM

Ken44, great to see you posting! But there's an issue with your pics not showing up. Perhaps some Permissioning setting.

**9V-JKL** · 17 September 2013, 12:58 PM

Originally posted by CarbonMan View Post

Ken44, great to see you posting! But there's an issue with your pics not showing up. Perhaps some Permissioning setting.

Correct. He does not have enough post yet to be able to post pics

**StarG** · 17 September 2013, 03:19 PM

Originally posted by 9V-JKL View Post

Correct. He does not have enough post yet to be able to post pics

I think it may be incorrect links that were posted by OP.
Seems like the links were to HTML pages rather than pictures, thus they don't show up.

**CarbonMan** · 17 September 2013, 04:58 PM

Indeed StarG, that seems to be the issue. Ken44 needs to re-edit the links to get it right.

**ken44** · 17 September 2013, 05:00 PM

Originally posted by StarG View Post

I think it may be incorrect links that were posted by OP.
Seems like the links were to HTML pages rather than pictures, thus they don't show up.

Ah yes that's true. Thanks!

**ken44** · 17 September 2013, 05:09 PM

VIETNAM � Pho Bo Pho Ga Pho Bye Bye

I've visited Saigon before, and hence been to all the main sights in and around this city. So I was mainly rotting and bumming around in the day, and then meeting my friends from my ex-company's Vietnam office. It's amazing how at that point I thought riding on a motorbike around the city was such a thrilling experience, but eventually I ended up pillion riding with my giant backpack, without helmets or with cheap flimsy helmets in Vietnam/Cambodia/India. One afternoon at Pham Ngu Lao, some Filipino lady tried her luck tricking me into the card scam. Too bad for her, business would be slow since most backpackers probably have heard of it already. She tried to insist she was Vietnamese when speaking with a Filipino accent, so I said I know she's Filipino. Then she said she worked in Manila before, and then I just used some Tagalog profanities and walked away.

Anyway I was introduced to many other Vietnamese dishes, which were almost all really good. And felt healthy and not processed too. I would definitely go back to Saigon for a weekend just for the food. A Saturday morning flight out and a Sunday evening flight back, resulting in at least 6 meals, would be great.

The flight to Da Nang was, as expected, delayed. JetStar Pacific really doesn't have that good an image in Vietnam I realize. The ride from Da Nang airport to Hoi An was along a beach, but you could not see the beach because it was blocked by either expensive hotels, or construction sites (to build more expensive hotels).

Hoi An was easily my favourite city in Vietnam. If you want ancient sites and small towns, there's the old city. If you want the beach, it's at the other end. But I have to say cycling here felt alright. Cycling was definitely out of question in Saigon. The Morning Glory is a really awesome restaurant that everyone there should try.

Next was Hue, which to me felt overhyped. Stayed for much shorter than I planned, and then headed up to Sapa via Hanoi. I have to say it was a really nice place, but it wasn't my kind of thing. I like cities, be it big or small, new or old. But I'm definitely not a nature or beach or village person. I guess that's why I felt that Hoi An was the best place in Vietnam, whereas most people would say it's Sapa.

Went back to Hanoi again. Compared with Saigon, in Hanoi food was really awesome (if Saigon food was good, this is even better), cabbies/cyclos felt like they were out to cheat you, scams were more prevalent, people were less friendly, touts were more persistent. But ultimately, it's still not an issue and I liked it there as well. And it made me question myself why had I not heard of Bun Cha all my life. On hindsight, eating Bun Cha at street stalls was definitely not a smart decision (room temperature noodles and broth) but I didn't get ill.

And I decided to splurge on my Halong Bay cruise. Which turned out to be a good choice because I basically had the cruise to myself (there were 2 old couples who knew each other but they basically stayed in their rooms most of the time). And sometimes you have to be alone. Kayaking around the lagoon and through caves is really remarkable.

And then it was my flight off to Phnom Penh.

Vietnam is a really good place to backpack alone (if you can get over the fact that the average age of backpackers in SEA is around 21) because when you make friends along the way, you have a 50% chance that they're headed the same way as you and you'll meet them again along the way.

CAMBODIA � It's hard to believe all that had happened there, just 2 hours away 30+ years ago

Phnom Penh has to be one of the most depressing places I've been to, but that is not a bad thing. It's one of those places which, with an open mind and all, can kind of change your perception of things. The poverty there is shocking (but that was because India was a month away), and the genocide was really provoking, both mentally and emotionally. I mean, you would have thought that people would have learnt from WWII, but apparently some don't. (And some still have not, just look at the DPRK.) It really makes you think, and you question why these things still happen.

One of the quotes I read was that the most scary thing about these genocides is not that it could happen to us, but that we can be capable of such atrocities. S21 and the Killing Fields affected me more than Dachau, because 1. it happened much later and 2. they were killing their own people. Not that killing other races and religions are acceptable, but it's not too far fetched to imagine some sick people with twisted mentalities doing that. To wipe out your own, man your insanity must really be off the charts. It's just unreal. And it's still happening today.

Went down to Kampot after that to go to Bokor Hills, but it was a little disappointing since the constructions and renovations have progressed significantly from the last updates I found. Also did a day trip to Kep to eat pepper crab. Kampot pepper Kep crab. It was awesome.

Then headed Siem Reap to do the typical tourist trail. Now, I really felt that the Old Market area felt very much like Khao San. Except that this had a few classier places thrown in the mix of it all. Also, I was slightly disappointed with the Angkor Wat and other temples, because I like my ancient sites either left in ruins or renovated nicely. I don't like something that's in between. However, I completely understand that to be fully renovated you have to go through the in between phase. So maybe I might head back in the future to see if I change my impression of it. I think I might.

But on the whole I really liked Cambodia. And what I really liked about Cambodia is its people. It's hard to imagine what they've gone through, especially the older generation. But I don't understand how they can remain so friendly, generous and upbeat. That's why one of the things I've kept a 1000 riel note (it's the only nice riel note I received) just to remind myself that no matter how bad I think things are, they could very well be much worse.

Korea, India and China up next. I might skip Taiwan since it was not really a destination for me, and will skip Thailand because I wouldn't consider that to be part of this trip.

**ken44** · 18 September 2013, 12:12 AM

KOREA � You really can't tell it's technically still at war

So after Cambodia, I flew back to Singapore for around 18 hours before heading north to eat Kimchi. I hope that Scoot has improved their procedures at Taipei's CKS Airport, given that it was a complete mess when I was there. The flight ended up being late by more than an hour because there were many connecting passengers unaccounted for.

Anyway, Korea was on the list for only one reason � the DMZ. I'm quite a history buff, but generally only modern history. That is, there has to be someone who had experienced it still living today. If not, it's too far away for me to appreciate. That's also the next time I go back to Europe the top destination would be Germany; to me structures relating to Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece are just very pretty and impressive buildings. I wouldn't get the chills.

The DMZ really gave me the chills. The first stop was an observatory at the top of Dora-san that gave us a view into North Korea � my first. But it was a really cloudy day, and you could not see too far into the hermit kingdom. But it was enough to make me feel the most excited I had been in a reasonably long time, i.e. since I caught my flight to Sri Lanka. And it turned out that we would get a secondary guide who was a North Korean defector up till Imjingak. Seriously, that totally removed all the disappointment about not being able to have a clear view into the DPRK.

However, from the questions asked to the defector, you could really tell that some of the tourists had totally no clue about what was going on. E.g. one guy first asked how many people are still in North Korea (you can use Google or Wikipedia); and then said he wonders if it is really that bad in North Korea, and if it was why don't more people leave. I tried to remain nice but I suspect that I had spontaneously rolled my eyes.

The next stop was Imjingak, which was as close as you could get without being on a tour. Unfortunately it is now extremely touristy, but I can appreciate why they have to do that. Because there is no arguing that many families are separated, and the older generation still want to go to Imjingak to look into North Korea. However, as they get older they are less able to make that journey themselves. Hence the need to bring their families along. Now, these people are likely grandparents, and their grandchildren are most likely indifferent towards this. Yes, the thing that really shocked me was how the younger generation seemed to be almost indifferent towards this whole issue. I had read about it, but it is only when you're there when it really sinks in. So, to keep these children entertained, an amusement park was built.

Finally we went to Panmunjeom, within the DMZ itself. There's a museum, and then after that you walk into the Joint Security Area, where you are just in front of North Korea. The moment I stepped out of the building into the JSA was one of the most surreal moments I've ever had.

Then we walked into one of the meeting rooms � these are in the middle of the North and the South, where meetings can be held. It was one of the few ways which you can actually step foot onto North Korean territory. Of course, I had to commemorate the moment I actually stepped onto North Korean territory. Here's a photo of the North taken from the South.

It was followed by a drive around the area, highlighting the sites at which some of the most significant activities were held at.

And that was the highlight of Korea, and also the highlight of the entire four months. It costed under USD80 for this tour, and I have to say it was money well spent.

And for other parts of Seoul:

Cheonggyecheon...

... where you're not supposed to feed the fishes

And some street scenes:

Myeongdong

Dongdaemun

Gangnam

Oh and this is something which you probably can only find in Korea: limited edition cigarettes!

And then it was back home to attend to personal stuff, attend weddings and get my Indian visa. But first let me share the longest check-in queue I've seen in my life.

**Pinkfloyd** · 18 September 2013, 01:09 AM

Great TR! Keep it up!

**ken44** · 18 September 2013, 02:11 AM

INDIA: Delhi and around � Where the food is spicy but where you'll realize that your life is actually really sweet

My parents were not happy that I'm going to India. Alone. For three weeks. And it did not help that the day before I left, a hotel collapsed in South India. Either way I was not going to let that get in my way, and still carried on with my plans. Which included an overnight stay at Changi Airport, because the departure was at 5:50am.

Flew IndiGo SIN-MAA-(CJB)-DEL. It's one heck of a long journey but I'm a backpacker on a budget so if it saves me SGD130 I will do so. Now, I was very pleasantly surprised with IndiGo. And I think they liked me too, which is why they gave me the emergency exit row (aisle seat too) for all four legs. Anyway everything was quite uneventful, and I got to Delhi safely.

My itinerary looked like this: Delhi � Agra (day trip) � Delhi � Amritsar � Delhi � Jodhpur � Jaisalmer � Jaipur � Pushkar � Udaipur � Delhi. Again, not the most logical, but I had to make do with the tickets I could book, while trying to ensure that I travelled on 3A/C or CC (unfortunately could only get sleeper class for Delhi-Jodhpur) and I took trains wherever possible (excluding Pushkar which I had no choice but to take a bus from Ajmer).

Before I left, I received lots of warnings and advice from people. Most of whom have never traveled to India before. However, one thing that I was constantly told was that India is not a place you end up thinking is okay; you will either love it or hate it. And even if you end up loving it, you are likely to still think you hate it for the first few days at least. So well I thought it was not an issue, 3 weeks is more than enough to form a proper opinion.

Delhi

I stayed in South Delhi, which is not central but really much nicer. Honestly, you wouldn't want to be in the centre of all the action. But the first evening when I was having dinner, it started pouring. And did not stop. Which only meant that I had to walk back in the floods. You had to walk on the road with calf-high floods, not the pavement which was just ankle deep, because the pavements were potholed. Well, that's my welcome to India!

Now, I did not particularly like Delhi. But honestly I did not hate it as much as I thought I would. Maybe it was the floods that kept happening, maybe it was because I just reached India and it was my first stop that kept me from liking it. And I did question myself what did I get myself into a few times. But nothing that was so bad that made me dislike Delhi.

Here are some street scenes, of course some neighbourhoods are better than others. But I have to admit that Delhi has a rich history.

The extremes of Delhi will get to you. I've travelled to many developing countries, but nowhere have I seen such crushing poverty. There have been poor people I've seen, but they seem to still have some dignity in their lives. Here, the poverty is hard to deal with. But you know you can't help them, so what I did was tip rather generously unless the person has tried to rip me off. And the ultimate was how everything just came together like a masala, you have a nice modern mall, on three sides it's a nice five star chain hotel, a nice boutique hotel, and a nice condominium. Then you see what's on the fourth side � a slum.

Qutb Minar

Red Fort

Humayun's Tomb

Agra

As expected, the touts here were really the most aggressive (but not as annoying as Jaipur). You get hounded the minute you get off the train at Agra Cantt, and when you manage to shake one off another will appear instantly. But if you're in India, you have got to come here.

Fatehpur Sikri

Agra Fort

Sometimes you have attractions that are so popular they become overhyped, and when you finally see it for yourself, you get a little underwhelmed. Don't worry, the Taj is different. Yes it is crowded, but you get the sense of wonder as you walk towards the grand mausoleum, and you completely understand why it has always been one of the wonders of the world.

Amritsar

I only came here to watch the border closing at Watah-Agari, and Amritsar was the closest main city. It's a totally breathtaking sight, to see all the locals cheering, waving flags and all. And also the way the guards carry out the closing ceremony. Ok I know I'm a sucker for pomp and circumstance, but this takes it to a whole new level. And it's even more amazing how the guards on both sides can coordinate this ceremony, given how tense the relations are between these two countries.

And then it's back to Delhi, to prepare for what I mainly came to India for � Rajasthan.

**ken44** · 18 September 2013, 02:20 AM

INDIA: Rajasthan � Forts, Palaces and Colours

Jodhpur

First things first, I survived sleeper class. The ride was 12+ hours, and it was held up for another 2 hours midway. And I survived. Although it was really the longest, most uncomfortable night I've had since outfield in BMT. On hindsight though, I'm happy I did sleeper class once. And honestly, I get it when people say that you've never really travelled in India unless you've been in second/sleeper class.

So back to the trip report and after surviving, I checked into a guesthouse and this was the awesome view of the Blue City from the rooftop where I had breakfast.

And this is the Mehrangarh Fort, which really has one of the best audio guides I've heard in Asia. Not that it was comprehensive and accurate,;but more of that it was slightly sarcastic, bitter and had a weird sense of humour. At least that was how I felt.

Jaisalmer

Next was the desert town of Jaisalmer. I really liked this place. Had wanted to do a camel safari (because it's nice to and also because I needed to surround myself with dry land after all the floods in Delhi) but decided against it because it required us to leave the town in mid-afternoon when the temperatures were already hitting 37-39 most days. I just couldn't imagine how it'd be like in the desert.

It's one of those places where there aren't many specific sights to see, but you just walk around getting lost and absorbing everything.

Jaipur

This was my least favourite of all the cities in Rajasthan. In fact it was the only place I've actually disliked. Three reasons:

1. The City Palace was really the least inspiring in all of Rajasthan (my opinion), and I refused to head out to Amer for the Amber Fort because of the touts (see below)
2. The touts were the worst here. There are more touts per tourist in Agra no doubt, but they don't annoy you as much. Here, they use guilt to try to make you look/feel bad and talk to them, so that they can bring you to their gem store or something. Conversations go like �Why don't Japanese people talk to Indians?�, �Why don't you talk to me? You don't like Indians?�, �You not nice. Other tourists talk to Indians. You don't talk to Indians�. You get the drift. And they usually say that in front of a crowd of locals to try to make you feel bad. The worst was when one guy I ignored told me "You don't like Indians, why you come to India?" The cab drivers aren't much better, and no way was I going to get stuck with one to Amer.
3. I felt the Pink City was actually orange (see below)

Pushkar

No alcohol, vegetarian only. A little ironic that this place is so religious, yet is the hippie capital of India. But seriously, thank god for paneer.

Udaipur

Definitely the nicest place in Rajasthan. Welcome to the land of Octopussy � James Bond and Kamal Khan. Anyway I had Room 009 at my guesthouse which I refused because it's probably bad luck here. They gave me 013 instead. I gave up and just took 009.

It is really a pretty town. Or else maybe I'm just a Bond fan. Either way, it was a great way to end the India trip.

I could really understand why Alanis Morissette sang �Thank you India� fifteen years or so back. Everything you see here probably is more intense that what you've experienced before. It's definitely not the easiest trip I've taken; in fact at times it was simply frustrating, and you question why did you even come here in the first place. However, at the end of it all this is definitely the most rewarding trip I've had, and I was really glad that I went against all advice and flew here.

And maybe it's because of comparison with this experience that was why China was my least favourite of all the countries I've been to this time.

**CarbonMan** · 18 September 2013, 10:28 AM

Great pics, Ken44, a good mix of BWs and colour! And good commentary as well! Keep it going! Am glad you don't have many plane pics ... getting monotonous.

Reminds me of some of my travels a long, long time ago ... ah, to be able to take 3 months off to see the world!

**ken44** · 18 September 2013, 01:55 PM

Originally posted by CarbonMan View Post

Great pics, Ken44, a good mix of BWs and colour! And good commentary as well! Keep it going! Am glad you don't have many plane pics ... getting monotonous.

Reminds me of some of my travels a long, long time ago ... ah, to be able to take 3 months off to see the world!

Actually I generally prefer B&W photos only because I'm color blind, and sometimes I'm worried that what I see is different from what others do.

And although I went on a trip to decide what I ought to do; I ended up deciding that I just had to do a proper Europe backpacking trip before I turn 30. Since my grad trip was a rushed one to start my job early.

**GLAM82** · 24 September 2013, 08:50 AM

Love the pictures.

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