Unfinished business

These are all half started never finished entries to my blog.  I have decided to share them because they all have really cool pieces to them .  However, I am sorry that they are sporadic and unfinished but, hey thats me!! 

  Cursing down the road in a tuk tuk after a full day of traveling is one of the best feeling in the world.  It maybe have been 102 degrees but, the way the wind hit my face and the sound of the city takes my mind off the heat. Phnom Pehn  is alive in a 1,000 different ways. It was the sunday after the new year and I was told most people were still out of town.  If this was empty I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle the city at its normal capacity.  On the way to my hotel I quickly learn that in Cambodia the road has no rules.  Watching people wiz past each other is terrifying. Its a tangle of motor bikes, tuk tuks, bicycles and Range Rovers.  The way people can weave in and out of traffic is amazing to see, that is if you can manage not to close your eyes at all the close calls.  After a long drive I arrive at the Green House, where I will be staying only two nights before getting sent on to my placement.  I am here in Phnom Pehn only for orientation to my volunteer program.  I had decided months ago to cut my New Zealand trip short in order to volunteer in Cambodia. I will be working with kids for 3 weeks in a small province town called Pursat. Im still unsure why I decided to do this.  Even being here now I am terrified and unsure.  I am hoping that it will come to me and during my stay I will realize what I'm actually doing here. On the way to orientation I realize that Cambodia has little to no middle class. The corruption is obvious, the rich keep gaining while the poor are left in the dust. The last few years large international companies have started investing in Cambodia. Taking land right from under people due to the loss of records during the Khmer Rouge.  People have lost homes, land, farms and are displaced to small villages far outside the city center.   However, the people of Cambodia along side the company of countless volunteers and NGO's are fighting back.  A common thread I have seen through out this country is that people are really developing.  They are looking at what is wrong and fixing it at the source.  Considering that the youth under 25 makes up over half the population and they want more for themselves, I believe that the country with vastly change over the next 10 years. 

  His name was January, simply because that was the month he was born in.  We had hired him to tour us around Battambang for the day. He was the true definition of Cambodia. Hard working, good humored and struggling.  He has lived in Cambodia his whole life. His dream is to learn English at a university, purchase a tuk tuk and create his own business. January is 24years old and currently living in a pagoda because he can not afford to rent.  The monks allow him to stay for free as well as teach him english. In return he washes their clothes and cooks. In his spare time he drives a tuk tuk and studies. He is trying to save $500 so that he can attend university. Cambodia has had extreme hardships but, the attitudes of the people are constantly optimistic.  I have currently been in Cambodia for 3 weeks, most of that time was spent in the Pursat a providential town 4 hours north of Phnom Phen.  I have been volunteering in an orphanage helping children learn english and what I have learned in return is more then I could have ever imagined. I could tell you a million times that those kids taught me more that I have taught them. But, thats not as fun. Just know that whatever you may be going though it could be worse. 

  Tonight I found my self doing aerobics on a cement incased island thats shaped like a boat. Its 90 degrees outside and I'm on the west side of Cambodia, in a small provincial city called Pursat.  I am having a "What am I doing here", moment.  One of many I have had in the past dew weeks.  I am working as a volunteer teacher in an orphanage for 3 weeks.  Im am just at the start of my third week and starting to feel normal.  Im shaking off that overly cautious traveler feeling.  I have battled spiders, lizards and cows.  I am getting used to life here, just in time to leave again.  Things here are slow in the best way.  Every little task has become a battle and a challenge. Very few people speak english and even fewer speak it well.  There are no proper food stores or drug stores.  There are mom and pop shops or a busy market.  A list of things can be found at the petrol station or the hotel gift shop. Beyond that you have to venture into the market.  A hot complex maze of seamstress, food vendor, gold dealers and barbers.  Thousands of smells overwhelm you and everyone is selling something extremely similar to the person in the next booth.  This is not a place that many tourist will ever see or hear of.  This to many people is a bathroom stop on the trip from Phnom Phen to Siem Reap and i love it. 

  

Back to Cambodia.

Happiness, Laughter and love

Three things that span every race, religion and country.

3 things that will connect every human on this earth.  Being here in Cambodia I am amazed at the love and generosity I am shown by people that have nothing.  I am more than honored to be able to volunteer and teach in the orphanage here.  These kids blow me away everyday. They instantly look up to me and respect me like I have never felt before.  One day I had ridden my bike through a mud puddle and one of the girls got down and scrubbed my feet and shoes.  The amount that these kids do for me and each other pulls on my heart string everyday. 

Cambodia itself has been though it all. Where I'm staying here in Pursat went through a food shortage while pulling its self out of the grips of the Khmer Rouge. This is also one of the main towns that the Khmer Rouge stationed themselves in. Yet the people here welcome you with only smiles, a loud "HELLO" and open arms.

I only took only picture I took while visiting the former prison in Phnom Pen.  I took this photo because it shows the spirit of the people.  This poor child is working to death. No food, 13 hours of work every day and lye is smiling. 

Sorry the photo is of  terribly quality. But, this child is smiling! He is caring a shovel back to his prison cell where he gets chained to the floor after a 13hour work day and he's smiling. This is the people of Cambodia. This child to me represents everyone I have met here so far (except for the one old man who yelled at me). 

This was written back when I was in Cambodia. But, I think about my experience there daily.  I have been beyond humbled by the love people showed me.  To have nothing, come from nothing and till be willing to give everything is very honorable. 

Its the small things like, when a women gave me her food on the bus. Or when I told one of the kids I liked their bracelet they gave it to me.  I know that it is also because I am a western woman and they want to show their respect. But, it teaches me to be more giving, supportive, and caring.  I can not wait to go back.  I am so happy with the experience I had in Cambodia.

Life with out fear.

So, Im in Thailand now...

OK, lets be real with each other here. Im not even going to pretend like I'm still in NZ, like where I left off.  I dropped the ball, I'm sorry. What do you wanna do? Talk about it? Nah I'm good.  Lets just Jump around and not do anything in chronological order. Its more fun that way right?! keep you on your toes, so that with each entry your all like "where the hell is she right now? Is she talking about NZ? That was like months ago, I thought she was in Thailand" Deal with it girl because thats just the way it is.

So where the hell am I seriously? Im in Thailand! Chiang Mai Thailand to be super specific, its in the north west, up in the hills.  I have done so much since I posted last its insane, Sydney with mom was awesome, Perth with friends was perfection, Cambodia blew my mind and here we are now.  

I am so far behind I don't even know where to start so lets just talk about this week, cool?

I arrived in Chiang Mai 4 days ago, happy to be here but nursing a sore tummy I caught on my last day in Cambodia (figures).  I did what every tourist should do when they get to Thailand. Stuffed my face with McDonalds at the Bangkok airport (because thats what a sore tummy really needs). 

Then as soon as I got to Chiang Mai, dropped my bags I ran to eat some Pad Thai and then get a massage. I slumped back to my guest house after having my back pounded into submission from a large thai lady.  My sad, gross little guest house that I had chosen based on a recommendation and I will never ever trust that person again,ever.  I suppose that by Thai backpacker standards it wasn't the worst, the people were nice, the vibe was chill and the rooms were cheap.  But, I have seen the other side of the rainbow people, I have been treated too well at points in my life and it makes it that much harder to stay in a shit hole. Dang you world for showing me so many amazing things! haha just kidding world, please don't take it all away I really like it. I knew that I had to get out of there and quick.  Dogs barking all night, Thai people yelling, German men talking in their normal (loud) voices and doors slamming all night.  I am getting to old for this shit, I just wanted a cockroach free room with a toilet that works.  That is what brought me to my current location, the best place in all of Chiang Mai, Green Tiger House. This place is amaze-balls, yummy vegetarian food, a pool, fluffy beds and AC in the room. So happy now my whole mood has changed. Anyways, what else have I done in Chiang Mai? I have done tons of walking around and checking out temples. Big huge beautiful gold temples, surrounded by monks and reeking of beautiful flowers and incense. 

Other really cool things I have done is gone to the night market, where I did some major damage and bought lots of gifts. I went and checked out the long neck (karen) village. That was pretty neat, until I found out that they mostly just do it for tourism now. 

My tuk tuk driver also took me to a monkey show. During witch I only lasted about 4 min before running out crying. Those poor little monkey are treated like crap and I recommend that no one ever goes to a monkey show.  

Then he took me to an enchanting orchid farm to cheer me up. Mr. Tong was feeling very bad for me after my break down. 

The highlight of the day was Tiger Kingdom! A place that tigers and people get to hang out all in the same cage.  I am still a bit wishy washy on how I feel about this place.  But Im glad that I went to see if for myself.  These tigers are not chained and they say they are also not drugged . They are very calm around all the visitors and seem to perk up a bit in order to play with their handlers.  All of the tigers here have either been born in captivity, brought tot he center by people who's pets got too big (as tigers do DUH) or cubs that were found after the mother was killed by poachers. They are trained from a young age to interact with people and people are trained on how to interact with them.  I bought my ticket thinking about how fun it was going to be, no fear at all.  Then I singed my life away in a statement that says "dude, its a wild animal you can die and its not our fault" and the fear washed over me.  Stepping in the cage I almost threw up. The handler kept saying "It's OK lady, no worries" and as every one knows that when someone says not to worry you only worry more. So I sat next to a few tigers in a couple different cages. Got some cool pictures to show off and left feeling nervous and confused. Are the tigers really treated well? How many people have died there? What do they eat?! Those cats were huge! After searching the internet for hours I didn't really find anything bad about tiger kingdom.  I think that everyone else is just as on the fence about it as I am. 

 The photos look awesome though….

That brings up to today, I got another massage and walked around for hours checking out temples and buying presents. All fallowed by some red curry and a dip in the pool. Feeling relaxed and refreshed.  Ready fro some more adventure all leading me back home! 

MIss you all 

xoxo

Oh I almost forgot, I also did a really cool cooking class.  You can now address me a master chef Kellett or green curry queen. And no, I will not cook it for you, my recipe is so secret that I cant even let you taste it. Or it could be that I cant remember how to.  But, I will make you spring rolls, as long as someone else fries it for me (that part scares me).

The gateway to the west coast

I left my heart in Queenstown. 

What is with my major obsession with this city anyways? I have no clue really, it could be the amazing people, nightlife, and scenery.  Tons of great hikes right out of my door step. Hundreds of cool activities surrounding me. Also its a very young crowd, the population of people under 40 is unreal. Leaving Queenstown put a very bitter taste in my mouth. I really just was not ready to leave yet.  I was all set up with a place to stay, a job and some really cool friends.  I wish I could have stayed another few months.  I suppose I could always go back.  I loved the feeling of normality, the fact that I could call a friend and meet up for lunch. Its kinda funny, because most of the time I want to run away from the every day routine. 

this is the view from my deck

And as every traveler knows the relationships you build while traveling are strong and quick.  Spending 3 days with someone could make them your new best friend only to have to say goodbye the next day.  Spending weeks with someone makes them even that much closer.  

But, lets talk a little more about my time in Queenstown.  The first day I got there I met a few girls who wanted to check out the night life, and that we did! After a great night out I got strep throat, searched for a job, got fired as you all know and then spent the next few days in bed.  From there I got a couple new jobs and started working for my accommodation at a small hostel. 

From there it was all a blur of long work hours and fun with friends.  The scenery and day hikes around Queenstown were killer!  Walking to work in the mornings I saw some of the most spectacular sunrises. Staying out late at night allowed me to see the most incredible view of the stars.  

I still don't know why I am really that obsessed, its such a small town (only 20,000 people) but, its full of good fun.  

So when my boss offered my job back to me if I will come during winter season my wheels started turning…. we shall see…. 

Hostel Life

Hostels.

Hostels are what make my trip possible.  They provide a very inexpensive place for me to rest my head, cook my meal and meet hundreds of new friends.  I am so grateful that they exist so that I can travel with out fear. I know that they will always be my safe haven when I am sad, sick or lonely.  They are filled with travelers much like me and I can always find a soul to confide in. 

They can be a great place to catch your breath

or a good place to party 

However, and I'm sure that all of you knew that was coming, I am getting tired of some parts of the hostel life. I have to side track bit and tell you about the Kiwi/Stray bus tours so that you understand this full story. The Kiwi and Stray bus tours are two different companies that travel around New Zealand with large busses packed full of young travelers.  They make it possible for people to see a lot of sights in a short amount of time with out having to do much planning yourself.  The concept is great, the kids that take the busses love them. As an outsider however, I HATE them. They always rock up to the hostel later in the day hungover, drunk or pre drinking. Screaming with their girl friends about who the slept with the night before and how drunk they were. Then they proceed to take over the bathroom to plaster on their makeup and tease their hair. All of this in preparation of whatever the bus may have planned for them that night.  Now getting on with my story, last night at BASE hostel Wanaka three busses pulled up.  My room was then invaded by 6 dudes from the Kiwi bus. The guys themselves were alright, nice enough, currently showering off their hangovers and starting their pre drink for the night before.  A tornado had hit my room and it was insane.  They were having a fake bachelor party and one of them was the groom another was the stripper.  They also had to only wear plastic garbage bags that night. I left and went out to the movies, it was just a little too much for me. 

*Side note! The movie theater was amazing!! They had couches, wood fire pizza, cheap soda and an intermission where you could buy freshly baked cookies!!!

When I got back to the room they were gone, so I stepped over all the beer bottles and garbage bags and headed to bed. Around 2am one of the Irish men came back into the room.  He proceeded to sit on his bed and poke me until I woke up. Then, he asked me what I was up to, "sleeping"

How was your night, "fine". He told me all about his night and then asked if he could sleep in my bed because it was his "last night there" 

SERIOUSLY?!

NO sir you can not come into my bed. He crewed back into his own bed and passed out.  

Needless to say I am excited that I am about to get a break from the hostel life for the next month. Its going to be much needed.

Instant new friends  

So, I got fired

Have you ever HATED your job? Have you ever been fired? 

Welp, I just got fired from a job I hated; on my first day. . . at lunch break. 

This one is a record breaker! How could I even be mad?! This is amazing, the universe knew that I hated that crap and took care of it for me.  My third day in Queenstown I got called in to do a trial shift of 4 hours (very normal thing to do in NZ) and after applying a ton of places I was so excited.  I was panicked about money and knew I wouldn't feel any better till I had made a few bucks.  So, I walked in all bright eyed and ready for action. Well, as bright as I could still be while nursing an ongoing two day hangover.  I should have known when I first set eyes on the place to run away.  But, no greed had gotten the best of me and the job sounded easy. So, I pushed aside the bean bag chair that was holding open the door, said hello to the dog and walked into a madhouse. There was kids everywhere in dirty chairs at dirty desks eating crap food and drinking soda. Half of me was so grossed out and the other half of me was wondering if they gave away the soda for free.  Still very disoriented I sat down on a sticky red pleather couch and hoped that this place wasn't just a front for a porno businesses.  I was the only girl in a group of 7 and half of the boys were wearing sweatpants. Things only got better, we got called into an office where a man talked at us for 45min and then told us to start to try calling people.  We were sent to a dirty computer with a script and were told to put on head phones.  These head phones were so gross, the other people who had been using them looked like homeless traveling carnies and yet I still stayed.  I used my strikingly bubbly personality to knock my sales out of the park.  I had this, I could do this, for $15ph I could chat with people on the phone and sell something that had to do with mortgages.

 They asked me to come back the next day and I agreed.

I woke up the next morning very sick, I had come down with strep throat and could barely move.  It was from those headphones! I know it! My system was already low due to the hangover and then I walked into that cesspool and BAM strep throat.  So what did I do? I went back into that place to try and grind out my first days work.  And what happened you ask? Well, I think that we all know. I could hardly talk, smile, or move.  I didn't sell a darn things and the managers kept telling me to perk up.  I tried, I really did but, there was no way in hell I could turn things around.  So, at lunch break I got called into the office. 

"Am I fired?" was the first things I said 

"yes sorry" was all that he could say.

He was really put off by my laughter, smiles and repeated thank you's, even more put off when I asked if they had any gift cards to the bars laying around that I could have. He was in such shock that he gave me a $30 voucher to the bar.  Pressing my luck I asked for another, of course that didn't happen and I laughed my way home.  Walking out of that dump felt amazing, did I mention they didn't have toilette paper?! Or that there was no soap to wash your hands and the sink was full of dirty dishes? Did I tell you that half the people were barefoot and wearing sweatpants? 

Fate had stepped in that day in a major way, In total I spent 6 hours there before I was fired and it was a terrifying 6 hours at that. 

Sometimes getting fired on your first day can be a good thing. 

Later I took that voucher and bought many many drink for myself and my buddy Danielle. Not sure It was worth it but it did lead to a great night out and a good story for later.

Coromandel

Alright ladies and gents, you need an update on my life. Im I right or am I right?

So, after cheating death with my adventures into the cave I hoped on a bus and safely made it to Auckland. Once there I watch the Seahawks win the super bowl (HELL YES!!), made some new funny friends and set off to rent a car. 

Headed to the rental car agency with no fear and little plans. Once there the extremely relaxed lady told me a few horror stories that made sure I was terrified while leaving the lot. My biggest fear was that I would crash before even leaving the lot. Second biggest was that I would pull the car out into the wrong lane and crash right in front of the lot. Neither happened thankfully and I was on my way!

I decided to head to hobbiton, it sounded like a place one must go while in NZ.  Incase you don't know its the set of the hobbits town from the Lord of the Ring series.  Honestly it really is not my thing but, people were all telling me how awesome it was.  So I hoped in my little red toyota, eyes filled with fear and jumped on the highway. Two tense hours later I stopped at a McDonalds to make sure I was going the right direction. Thats when I realized everything in the car was Japanese. The navigation systems itself only showed roads in Japan and only spoke Japanese. Well shucks, thank god for iPhones! I downed my first McD's in years, gripped the wheel and flew to the shire.  After about 3 wrong turns and a panicked turn around for fear of running out of gas I made it.  

McDs is super fancy here

I paid the girls $75 for my ticket and set out to see small lumps of grass with doors in it.  So this hobbit place cost like 4million to build.  Im pretty sure that I could have built it myself for less then a mill. It was really neat to see, thats the exact place the movie was filmed. But, it just wasn't floating my boat.  I thought the best part of the tour was driving through fields of sheep and the sheep like to play chicken with the tour bus ha! I did take lots of photos just incase any one was more excited than me…

After leaving the shire I needed to find a place to sleep. I headed towards the bay of plenty and found a cool campground just north of Mnt. Maunganui. While checking in the woman asked me question after question and she finally figured out I planned on sleeping in my car and only eating peanut butter. This situation sounded amazing to me but really freaked her out. So, she called over one of the resident campers and explained my "situation" and asked him to look after me. As soon as I was able to park my little red lady bug he came over with a beer and informed me that he and his son would be cooking dinner.  I chugged the beer and turned down dinner, not that his pony tail or eye brow piercing was turning me off from the situation, I just needed to rest after all the stress of driving. 

Whilst eating my peanut butter and honey sammy in the front seat of the car there was a knock on the window. My new buddy had come to get me because dinner was ready and he told me eating alone in my car was just sad.  We all sat on the front porch of his "home" that was really just a small shed with room for a bed, TV and sink. His 16year old son and I drank a few beers, ate spaghetti and watched the sunset. By that pointed I felt my chances of getting raped and murdered growing as it got darker so I headed back into my car locked the doors and put towels over all the windows. Then proceeded to have the worst nights sleep of my life. Waking up just as my friends were headed off to school/work I slowly crawled out of the car, unable to fully move my spine into its proper position.  Thankfully this campground had hot springs!!! They didn't even small bad! Holler!! After staying in the hot springs for far to long I decided to start my day.  

I headed up the coromandel peninsula towards Whitianga. On the way I stopped at a ton of fruit stands that people had in their front yard and purchased way more fruit than any one person should consume in 3 days.

I also stopped at hot water beach, where the hot spring water flows up from the sand and is very hot!

Some random man laying in the hot sand

My favorite however was Cathedral cove, I had no clue that it was such a long walk there but it was well worth it.  After hiking for about an hour you pop out on this amazing beach! I wish I had known it was such a long walk from the car, I would have brought snack and a towel. But, thats what you get when you think you know everything and refuse to read a guide book. 

Feeling exhausted from my car sleep and all the driving up and down the small mountains along the coast I decided to sleep in hostel that night. I stopped at the first place I saw "the cats pajamas" considering that I don't get along with most cats it should have been my first sign.  But, I am stubborn and didn't listen to my instincts.  The place was a filthy mess, it smelled horrible and everyone was fat and German. I wanted to go back to my car and cry but, I stayed there anyways. To help cheer myself up I went out to a nice dinner on the waterfront. 

The next morning I woke up at 7am and ran out of there as fast as humanly possible.  The weather had turned to crap so I drove straight to coromandel town, parked my car and sat in it for 2 hours trying to decide what to do.  One thing I find challenging when you have all the options in the world and no plans is making a plan.  I couldn't decide a darn thing. I was a lost sheep, I would go to one beach loose interest then go to a park get bored go to a store, Finally I decided on a hostel and checked in to the YHA where I ate some fruit and then wandered around the town.  Later that day my I met my roommate a 40 year old tornado of a woman. She was an English lesbian traveling alone who liked to party.  She later talked me in to going to the local pub for a beer. One beer turned into 7 and before I knew it we had 15 new friends I was singing "never ever" on the mic for karaoke night. If you didn't know already, now you know that is the only song I will ever do karaoke to.  We danced all night with our new Kiwi friends.  Most of them were barefoot, missing teeth and over the age of 50, two of them kept falling down and one lost his shoes.  They were winners!!! Realizing I was going to have to be the adult in the situation I rounded up my middle aged friends and led them all back to the hostel.  Where I fell asleep and they continued to dance and drink wine to some music I had never even heard. 

Here are my barefoot friends helping each other off the floor

The next morning I was off again in my little red speed racer.  I said my good byes to the old people recovering on the couch, ate 2 bowls of fruit and headed out on the highway with no clue where I was going.  The weather was still touch and go and I really had no clue what to do so I started to drive to Thames.  I got there and it sucked, I had some coffee and walked to some shops. One shop I stopped at was filled with 80 year old women and even they didn't know of anything good to do in Thames! That was that I was getting the hell out of there and contended to drive back into Auckland where I spent the night and caught my flight the next day to Queenstown.

More Fruit!!