Singaporeeeeeee

-From May 6th to May 10th, 2012-

I call it the “Life saver”.

In fact, in the beginning Singapore was not in the plan at all. Having been there twice, I had no intention to visit Singapore once more in this trip. But thanks to the Vietnam consulate who refused to extend my already existing visa, I had a couple of days free to do something different. I decided to visit Singapore to see my dearest friends, Toni, Jenny and Yigit as I found a quite good deal with Jetstar airways.

 First evening in Singapore - wish well & having fish & chips after a very long time :-)

Even if I went there for only 4 days, it was totally worth it as I realized how much I really needed it. Apart from the comfortable house of Perasa in Bangkok, I was sleeping in a different bed almost every night and running from one place to another during the days, so I felt like really needed to be on my own and have a break from this break :)

Amazing Singapore by night 

Singapore was the perfect place for that. Toni, my Bulgarian friend who is about to leave back for Europe, was having her last days in Singapore and she had a separate room and a bathroom for me in her soon to be abandoned flat.

Singapore by day

I always liked Singapore, a bit too Westernized, but a definitely an easygoing place to live for a non Asian and in my third time, I felt the same again.

The only bad experience I can recall was the flight to Singapore. Obviously it is normal for Singaporeans due to the weather conditions but we had a very shaky and bumpy trip, especially the landing part. That was one of the moments that I felt closest to death again, at these times I just think about the people I love and what I need to value in my life. A couple of emails were sent to some people as a result of this reflection moment. :)

Girls night by tapas and drinks on a rooftop bar

In this 4 compact but relaxing days, I had the chance to meet up with Jenny, Ravi and Yigit as well. I knew Jenny (Swedish) and Ravi (Indian) from Brussels when they were both interns (and later) and I knew Yigit from AIESEC Turkey since 2000.. 

Finally with Yigit

After spending a couple of months in Australia in 2005, I saw him again in Singapore in 2007 and there I was again visiting him for the second time.

Raki Night and meeting up with Oscar

This short trip was good to spend time at home, catch up with emails, planning the rest of my trip and meeting up with my friends over a shisha, raki & kebaps or tapas. I had to keep it short though as Bahar, my school friend, living in Hong Kong, was going to visit me on May 11^th, right after her birthday. 

Nargile night with Yigit, Toni, Ravi and Levent 

Brunito in Laos & Phi Phi

-from April 28th to May 3rd, 2012- 

I met Bruno in Calcutta. He wanted to travel in South East Asia during his one year internship in India so invited him to join me in Thailand. After Pinar left, he joined me the next day in Bangkok. With all these friends visiting and more friends to visit later, I was already aware that I had to do some changes in my travel plans. For instance Vietnam was not there in my plan anymore due to the timing and visa issues but I wouldn’t give up on Laos.

 Before going to Laos, McDonald's - First things first! 

So no matter what I decided to go to Laos with him and even for 2 days, we went there. After he arrived on Saturday afternoon, he wanted to have a huge BigMac as he was missing the good old beef in India :). Then we took the luxurious bus ride to Laos and without spending any time in Vientiane, the dull capital of Laos, we immediately got on the first minibus to Vang Vieng. 

Beautiful Vang Vieng Silhouette 

On the minibus we met with 2 young backpackers, Wouter from Holland and Kris from Sweden.. With their advice also, we arranged our hotel and was planning to go to famous tubing in Vang Vieng rivers. However we didn’t do it because Wouter suggested that it was completely a meat market only suitable for young horny guys and girls.

This is how tubing should look like & resting in Vang Vieng 

In our one evening in Vang Vieng, we went to famous Smiley Bar, a well known outdoor bar serving very interesting drinks made of whatever you could imagine ;) . The next day, we had to head back to Thailand already as we were both impatient to see Phi Phi island to relax a bit (more). It was a crazy day. Coming back from Vang Vieng in the morning after 16 hours bus ride, we took another bus from Bangkok to go to Phi Phi.

On the way to Phi Phi & Finally at the Long Beach! 

After all these hectic trips, it was worth to see Phi Phi though. It was literally the best beach and best sea I have ever seen. Not knowing or being prepared much, we chose Long Beach as our destination and I am happy that we did. We were staying right by the beach for a very reasonable price so we enjoyed the beach the first day.

Bamboo Island near Koh Phi Phi Don (big Koh Phi Phi) 

And in the second day, we took the snorkeling tour. Shark Point, Mosquito Island, Lunch at Bamboo Island, 

Koh Phi Phi Ley 

amazing sceneries of Koh Phi Phi Ley (where the movie The Beach was shot), the amazing Maya Beach, the day was full of breathtaking moments.

Maya Beach & Koh Phi Phi Ley 

We also enjoyed the nightlife of Phi Phi Bruno playing Fire Limbo in the Long Beach or meat feast at the Phi Phi center with unlimited BBQ Bar : 

Unlimited BBQ restaurant which Bruno fainted afterwards due to unexpected meat crisis :)

Our short trip ended back in Bangkok with sightseeing, foot message, relaxing, a bit of shopping, a lot of drinking in the last day as he had to go back to Calcutta and I was heading to my dearest friends in Singapore. 

 I found Turkish flag around Wat Po in Bangkok & Enjoying our last supper Sushi in MBK 

Cambodia with Pinarcan

-from April 21st to April 27th, 2012- 

My best friend Pinar did a surprise.. a very nice one..  It was not sure until the very last moment whether she would come or not, but she made it finally. She could take days off and she came to visit me only for 6 days all the way from Istanbul. 

Until she came, I wasn’t sure about where we would be going but I really wanted her to want to go to Cambodia just like me. She arrived on the Saturday when Ozges were leaving and after spending the first evening in Bangkok, we decided to go to Cambodia with a day bus as she had also wanted to go there without even spending much time in Bangkok.

 Enjoying Bangkok rooftop 

Our bus trip was hilarious. The bus was mostly filled with locals and there were only a couple of tourists. The ticket lady was the source of our fun in the 7-hour trip. Going back and forth, she kept on counting the people in the bus, each and every time she was getting confused and she was counting again and again. Once more, starting and 2 minutes later with a confused expression on her face, she was going to the front and starting all over. When she was finally OK with the counting, she approached us and started to tell us some stories, some mysterious numbers with her more less 20-word English. :) She talked around 1/2 hour or so and what she told still keeps its mystery until today..

The Ticket Aunt on our bus to Cambodia border 

After a bit of compliments towards Pinar by the policemen at the border, we finally reached Cambodia. A taxi from the hotel was waiting for us already and after another 2 hour trip we could finally reach Siem Reap, a city that I was always curious about. As it was around 8 in the evening, we didn’t see much and after we met with Deniz who had already arrived one day before, we decided to "flow into" Siem Reap nights.

 Experiencing Siem Reap nights with Deniz

It was cheap drinks, good music and a lot of fun. My one and only night in Siem Reap was one of the best nights I had in Asia. First we started with shopping and bought a lot of dresses, bags and shirts thanks to the super cheap prices and even our better negotiation skills. 

Legendary Angkor Wat 

Our next day was our only day in the city so we went to Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm (the temple where Tomb Raider was once shot) and Bayon Temple which was full of statues of faces. With our hardworking and iniative tuk tuk driver, we had a quite efficient day in our one and only day in Siem Reap. In the evening, we were already ready to visit the beach town, Silhanoukville.

Monks in Angkor Wat & Our "highly initiative" tuk tuk driver

We took the sleeper night bus to Silhanoukville, it was the first time that I was going horizontal in a bus. My window was dark and broken, there was no barrier on the sides so at a sudden brake God knows what could potentially happen. Around 6 am in the morning, we arrived to the quite and well preserved beach town of Silhanoukville. 

Our sleeper Bus & where we reached finally, Otres Beach 

We stayed in Otres beach at a place called Mushroom Point. The hotel didn’t even have bungalows but there were HUTs with toilets outside.It had the best resting point and Pinar and I didn’t want to even move from there. More than the beach, we were spending time in the “lobby” of our dearest hotel. Pinar, reading her book, me, surfing online we were quite happy to just stay there and do nothing.

 Our motorbike adventure & Our local friends from Silhanoukville

In one evening, we even decided to go to the other side of the town, but after our short motorbike trip we decided to stay instead in our little beach town, Otres Beach. After 2 days in Otres, we had to go back to Bangkok as Pinar already had her flight back to Istanbul the next day.  After another 8-9 hours ride, we were finally in Bangkok.

 Pinar resting in Silhanoukville Beaches & Sunset at Silhanoukville 

In our last day together, we decided to "give ourselves" to the Khao San road and do shopping. Loving the style and the prices, we did quite a lot of shopping in the touristical zone of Bangkok. And after the short but very full 6 days, she was already ready to leave on Friday and I was ready to wait for my next guest, Bruno coming from India. 

On the way back to Thailand - Cambodia Border 

Ozge's Big 30th Birthday Trip!

-from April 13th to April 21st, 2012-

How it really started?

In fact around 3 years ago, when we were walking in the streets of Milano with Ozge'cim, we saw some street posters by Emirates Airlines showing pictures from all around the world and we decided simply then.. We decided that we were going to travel the world (or at least a part of it) when we are together by the time we were 30.  

Ozge and I decided to take this trip together in Milano in 2009 September.

I was too impatient though and she changed her job last year so it would be tricky to go together this year. But she came to visit me, together with Deniz, her friend (also mine) living in Zurich and Gozde, her sister (also mine) living in Istanbul. We decided to go to the 3 islands of Gulf of Thailand after a day in Bangkok indulged in shopping.

Of course, as expected from me, I was about to miss my flight to Koh Samui as I was confused with the 2 different trains going to the Bangkok airport, I took the cheaper and the slower one by mistake and I was the last one checking in after making a long run to the gate. Thanks God, Ozge and Gozde were ready to save the situation for me, but nevertheless I could still catch it and we could meet up with Deniz at the gate. 

So here we come “Koh*”s of Thailand

(*Koh means Island in Thai) 

We started our trip in Koh Samui the biggest and most accessible one. However we had a nightmare on our first night. Based on my suggestion seeking cheap accommodation, we booked that room in a hotel which I don’t remember the name of, and I don’t even want to remember. We had 2 rooms and both were literally full of cockroaches. We killed 5 of them in less than an hour, and also the giant cockroach at the restaurant walking on my leg and almost Deniz’s shoulder didn’t help us to have a good impression on this place.

 Happy and Relieved to get out of Samui! 

Another thing that left me a bad taste about this island was the taxi drivers. Getting used to the cheap and honest taxi drivers of Bangkok which are mostly working by meter, the taxis in the Thai islands were much more expensive. We booked one taxi to bring us to the pier next morning to head to Koh Phangan, however the taxi driver didn’t show up at all. We had to take another one just on the road, however this guy was paid twice 600 bahts (around 15 Euros) by both me and Gozde due to a miscommunication between us and he never said anything. With these bad experiences we were already looking forward to leave Koh Samui immediately.. 

Koh Phangan was way different.

Here we are Koh Phangan

We stayed at a very nice hotel by a "secret" beach, and we could finally get some rest, good food and some nice treatment that we deserved. Although there was a bit of crisis in the first night, as I didn’t want to pay much to the taxis and girls willing to party, the second night we went to a boat party after being convinced by an American fresh meat, Ted.  :)

 Ted singing by the sunset trying to convince us to join the boat party in the evening 

The party was wild, crowded and sweaty and you could easily meet up with people from all around the world and we ended up meeting with one of the most interesting Thai people I have seen so far.  I can not recall his name, but he was a local artist with some experiences abroad, he even had a Swedish girlfriend ;) This was the most memorable night of our 2 day short trip in Koh Phangan. 

Koh Tao was the best though!

After 2 days in Koh Phangan, the smallest of the 3 islands, Koh Tao, was our next destination. There we were staying at a very nice hotel and -I guess that was his title- our guest relations manager, Ben, originally from Manchester, was really helpful from the very beginning and I think we had such a good time thanks to him. Often enough, I had some difficulties to get along with local hotel staff so it was good to have someone who could really help especially in such an occasion when we were celebrating Ozge’s 30^th birthday.

Our Diving Adventure 

Deniz and I were really eager to complete PADI Open Water certificate in Koh Tao. Since I was interested in diving for the very first time, I heard that Koh Tao was one of the best places to get Open Water certificates as it was cheap, it was full of good instructors and there was a lot to see in Koh Tao waters.

Right after we reached our hotel, we decided to head to Sunshine Divers with the suggestion of Ben. It was going to be a 3.5 day course mixed with theory and practice. Our first impression on our German Instructor, Manuel was not super positive in the beginning. Because according to him, every single thing was very simple and we would manage it very easily. Instead of being relieved, these words sounded a bit too unserious for us.  

Now we are official PADI Open Water Divers!

But after 3.5 days, we were SUPER happy with our course and our instructor. I had no experience in diving before so I was super nervous when we were in the pool with the scuba tanks for the first time. I thought I could never make it but it went pretty smooth. In the sea, it was even much better because I didn’t claustrophobic at all.

The only time I felt closest to death was..

... when we had to take off the masks. It was a part of the exercise and we should be able to take out the mask and put it back without any problems. However once I took the mask off, I got panicked and I stopped breathing again. My eyes open in the water, I could barely see the instructor and his hand signs showing “everything is going to be alright”. In these 30 seconds or less, I could hear my own heartbeat and I felt I was so close to death. But thanks to Manuel’s insist, I didn’t (or simply couldn’t) give up and everything went pretty smooth afterwards.

I loved the waters of Koh Tao. I wish we had an underwater camera and I wish I could take pictures however I will never forget all these colourful clownfish, angelfish,stingray and many other "creatures" I would not probably see again.

So let's start the party! 

After tiring but fun 3 days, we were ready to party for Ozge’s 30^th birthday. The night started at a Mexican restaurant with good food but disappointing margaritas. Afterwards we moved to Lotus Bar full of teenagers, free cocktails and a fire show. After our free cocktails, we decided to go Fireflies which we heard from our party fella in Koh Phangan, Ted.

 Party starts in Lotus first and goes on in FireFlies! 

The place was really cool. Big cushions and small tables spread all over the beach with strong drinks, fireshow in the beginning, cool dance music afterwards we were ready to go wild for our Ozge’s 30^th birthday. Deniz and Gozde, getting tired earlier, Ozge and I  decided to stay a bit more and we made good friends with an English dude, Nick C.who claimed to be the cameraman in BBC’s Planet Earth, which is still a mystery for us. We could never find it out. 

Dancing in the sea & Nick, the mysterious man!

After the birthday celebrations we walked back to the hotel for minimum 30 minutes singing loudly 90s Turkish songs and being chased by local dogs.. It was a remarkable end for an unforgettable birthday celebration.

As Deniz already departed for Siem Reap, our last day in Bangkok was full of sightseeing for Gozde & Ozge and waiting for Pinar for me. And in the afternoon, there she was..  After a hectic week of important meetings, she could arrange her trip only in the last minute and got her ticket to Bangkok at Istanbul airport. She couldn’t make it to Ozge’s birthday but at least we could meet up in Bangkok even for a short dinner.

Saying bye to Ozge & Gozde, we were now ready to head our way to Cambodia with Pinarcan. 

OK Let's try to sum up..

I don’t know how it will be possible to sum up the last 2 months in a couple of posts but I will do my best.

Ok last time I wrote when Secil was with me in Thailand, after she left, I had constantly had guests and I never felt like opening the computer when I am next to them so I was really really bad at blogging. But here I am. I know it is not going to be the same but still I will fill here whatever left in my mind from the last 2 month’s travels. 

I promised my grand mom that i will write.

Ok so tomorrow, Hendrik and Onur are coming all the way from Brussels and we will meet up in Hong Kong. And what happened so far?

I had the best time with Ozge, Pinar , Bruno , Bahar all in Koh Tao, Cambodia, Laos, Koh Phi Phi and Bangkok..

As the guys are coming tomorrow i will just write very shortly and upload the pictures.. 

I am Back

OK Yuppieee after one month, i am back.

So much to tell.
Meetings with Utku, Irwin, Secil in Bangkok
Crazy Birthday celebrations of Ozge with Gozde and Deniz
Trip to Cambodia with Pinar
Bruno's visit, Laos and Koh Phi Phi
Change of Plans and ending up in Singapore..

it will come soon.. Stay tuned :)