vagablonding

“Do you have a trust fund or something?!”

When people hear about how much I travel, a question like that is usually their first response. Most people think of travel as this Really Expensive Thing that they Could Never Afford. In reality, you can travel the world for far less money than you live on at home. If you’re really good at budgeting and you’re dedicated to traveling on as little money as possible, you can see the world on less than $400 USD a month. Seriously!

Carrying our packs in Indonesia

Start at home.

Traveling on a super small budget starts before you leave home. Cutting your expenses lets you save more money. The more money you have, the longer you can travel! Get rid of your car and use public transportation, or a bike, or your feet, to get around. Move in with roommates, or your mom (yes, I did this), to save money on rent and utility bills. Get rid of your cell phone, or at least switch to a cheaper plan. In fact, get rid of any frivolous monthly bills like cable TV, gym memberships, student loans (defer them!), etc.

Completely stop all unnecessary spending. This means no going to restaurants, bars, concerts, etc. Sure, you may really want to see Lady Gaga flounce around on stage, but the $70 you save by NOT buying that ticket will get you over 3 weeks of accommodation in Southeast Asia! And that $8 you were going to spend on a movie? That’s 3+ days worth of food on the road.

You know where your money is going; examine your expenses and decide what you can live without. Keep in mind that you’re giving up some creature comforts because your money is going to get you experiences that are much more valuable than the ability to TiVo your favorite show. If you don’t know where you money is going, you need to find out. Mint is an excellent free service that keeps track of all your bank accounts and lets you see exactly what you’re spending your money on.

Choose your destination wisely.

You can travel cheap anywhere, but your money is going to go waaaay further in Southeast Asia and India than it is in Europe or the United States. Research how much you can expect to pay for food, accommodation, and transportation before you pick your destination. Don’t forget to factor in airfare, though! You might be able to travel in a country on the other side of the world for a few dollars a day, but getting there could cost you a fortune. However, if you’re planning on staying in that region for a long time, the total cost will likely average out to less than you’d be spending in a closer-to-home but more expensive place. Plus, going somewhere exotic and far away is almost always worth the expensive plane ticket.

Cheap Fruit in a Cambodian Market

Planes, trains, and automobiles.

The plane ticket has always been by far the most expensive part of every trip I’ve gone on. Unfortunately, if you want to go to the other side of the world and you’re not a strong swimmer, it’s a necessary evil. Ruthlessly searching and re-searching on cheap flight aggregator sites, like Kayak and BT-Store which search for flights on both individual airlines and sites like Expedia and CheapTickets all at once, is the best way to find the cheapest flights. [Kayak tip: you can search up to 4 departure cities and 4 arrival cities at a time!] Once you find a flight you are happy with, you should go to FatWallet, a site with tons of coupons and other money-saving deals, and see if they offer cash-back for the site you’re buying the ticket from. If the site is Orbitz, for example, you can get 4.2% cash-back if you just click the FatWallet link to Orbitz. That’s $42 cash-back on a $1000 flight!

Once you’re in the region you want to travel in, stop flying from point A to point B. Taking the train is almost always cheaper, but the cheapest option by far is using the same transportation the locals use. Many of the countries on the backpacker trail are pretty poor, so getting around local-style is usually dirt cheap. Never take a taxi if you can avoid it. However, if you’re traveling in a dangerous area late at night, especially if you’re a solo female traveler, don’t recklessly ignore your personal safety just to save a few extra dollars.

Riding the train in Malaysia

Finally, the best way to save on transport when traveling is to move around less. Instead of jetting from place to place, try staying in a town you like for 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 months, whatever. I find this kind of go-and-stay-a-while travel to be a lot more rewarding than trying to see as much as you can in as little time as possible. Posting up for an extended amount of time gives you the opportunity to really get to know a place. You get to make lasting friendships, really learn about the culture, and maybe even make a difference in the lives of the locals by volunteering your time.

A place to stay.

The absolute least you can expect to spend on accommodation per day is… nothing! With sites like CouchSurfing and HospitalityClub you can find people all over the world who are willing to let you stay with them for free. This is an excellent way to make new friends and to see a town from a local’s point of view. These sites have gotten really popular and their communities are very involved. Hosts are publicly rated and commented on by guests, and you are encouraged to speak with your host on the phone or meet them in person before staying with them. Sleeping on a stranger’s couch might sound dangerous, but horror stories are incredibly rare and many people say they feel safer couchsurfing than staying in hostels.

If you’re not comfortable with couchsurfing there are always super cheap dorm beds to be found in hostels and guesthouses. These can go for as cheap as $2 a day. If you’re going to a country with nice weather you can always consider bringing your own tent and camping. Other pretty awesome cheap options that I’ve seen in regions like Central America where the tropical weather keeps temperatures comfortable at night, are places that let you rent a hammock or hang your own hammock. Often this only costs a couple bucks a night. Plus you get to sleep in a hammock! Yet another option is sharing accommodation with your travel buds. A $12 double room gets a lot cheaper when you squeeze 5 people into it, and it might even come with the benefit of a hot shower!

Filling your belly.

Just like at home, chowing down at restaurants and going out for drinks seriously eats into your travel cash. Once again, the cheapest and most money conscious option is to do what the locals do: buy food from the market and eat from food stalls or carts. There was one day when I was in Cambodia where I ate nothing but peanuts and those tiny bananas all day, and let me tell you, it was delicious! I spent less than $1 on food that day. Eating what the locals eat gets you the added benefit of experimenting with the local fare, which I have found is really tasty more often than not. This is probably because the ingredients are fresh and there aren’t a bunch of added chemicals and preservatives you can’t even begin to pronounce like we have in our food at home. Not only are you saving money, but you’re probably also eating healthier, what’s not to like? If you’re lucky enough to have kitchen access in the place you’re staying you can save serious dollars buy buying cheap ingredients from the local market and cooking your own food. Lots of hostels have communal kitchens, and your couchsurfing host will probably let you use theirs, too, especially if you share your meal.

Alcohol is often my biggest food expense because it’s never cheap compared to food. One beer in a bar can equal the cost of 2 or 3 meals cooked yourself. Obviously, avoiding alcohol altogether is the cheapest option, but if you do want to drink you’ll save a lot of money by skipping the bar and buying alcohol, mixers, and beer from the grocery store or market instead.

Free vodka samples in a grocery store in Indonesia

Cutting costs here and there.

Always use cash. Credit and debit cards usually come with a hefty foreign transaction fee and foreign currency conversion fee which adds up quick. Take out plenty of cash in the local currency when you arrive in a country and avoid using your credit or debt card. In general, the ATMs at airports give the best exchange rates so try to withdrawal money there. Also avoid money exchangers because the exchange rates they give you are heavily in their favor, not yours. It’s a good idea to bring a credit card so you can be prepared for emergencies, though. The best credit card for travelers is a Capital One card – it’s the only card without any foreign transaction fees.

An ATM in Indonesia

Do your own laundry. Laundry is a lot more expensive in most foreign countries than it is at home because it’s generally charged per-piece, not per-load or per-kilo. Only bring quick-drying clothes that are easy to wash and scrub them yourself.

Laundry drying in the sun in Costa Rica

Use rechargeable batteries. Batteries are terribly expensive, and they’re horrible for the environment. Spring for a set of rechargeable batteries with a charger to save a boat-load of money in the long run.

Getting low on cash.

No matter how wise you are with your money, you will start to run out eventually. The only way to avoid this without coming home and rejoining the “real world” is to figure out how to generate an income while traveling. The most obvious solution is to get a job at your destination. You can teach English all over the world, and there are numerous job openings all the time for native English speakers. Dave’s ESL Cafe has an excellent job postings section if you’re interested in teaching English.

Teaching English in Cambodia

Another option, probably the best one if you want to travel for as long as possible, is to get yourself a location independent job and become a Digital Nomad. Location independent jobs are those that you can do from anywhere in the world, but you usually need a computer. You could go into freelance writing, web design, consulting, affiliate marketing, or any number of other professions. FreePursuits has a good list of location independent jobs to give you a few ideas, and AlmostFearless set up this excellent Digital Nomad job search tool. You have to be really, really serious about going down this path, though. It takes a LOT of work for what often ends up being a fairly small income so it’s not for everyone.

When it comes down to it, long term traveling on a tiny budget takes discipline. You have to be strict with your spending, you have to give up a lot of comforts that you’re used to, you have to be very good with your money, and you can’t have many responsibilities at home, if any. But if you’re like me and countless others who have done it, you know traveling cheap is worth it for the things you get to experience, the countries you get to see, and the amazing people you get to meet all over the world. If this sounds like the life for you, don’t wait, get started now!

Enjoying life in Indonesia

A heavy blanket of snow covered Beijing, China on Sunday, March 14th. My flight to Beijing out of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the morning of Monday, March 15th, was delayed 6 hours. I had a 6 hour 20 minute layover in Beijing, so we landed 20 minutes before my next flight left, not enough time to catch it.

Upon leaving the gate in Beijing I followed the mass of other people who had missed their flights to a counter where they were putting us all on the next flights to wherever we were going. I was headed to San Francisco, and the next flight wasn’t for 24 hours. They booked the flight for me and then put a sticker on my passport and told me to go through the diplomat line at customs.

At the customs desk they stamped a full page of my passport with a “stay visa” saying I was allowed to be in China until the 16th. Normally you can’t get into China without arranging a visa in advance, so if you accidentally get stuck in China like I did this is what they will give you.

I proceeded to the Air China ticket counter on the Departures level. There they had me wait with 8 or so other people to be taken to a hotel that would be paid for by Air China since it was their fault we missed our flights.

A van took us to the Jinhangxian International Hotel. It was just after 2:00pm when we were done checking in. Because of the time Air China would not pay for us to have lunch in the hotel, and none of us had Chinese money to buy food. Luckily for me I had purchased a bagel in the Kuala Lumpur airport, but everyone else was pretty pissed and had to wait for dinner. I was so tired I went to my (fairly nice) room, put the “do not disturb” sign on my door, and slept 13 hours straight, right through dinner.

On the morning of Tuesday, March 16th, I woke up at 5am and went to breakfast at 6. None of the hotel restaurant staff knew what “vegetarian” meant or which foods at the buffet had meat in them and which didn’t. I quickly learned that when a Chinese person has no clue what you are talking about they just say “yes.” I opted for lots of tea and rice for breakfast and avoided all the weird and unidentifiable Chinese dishes in the buffet.

The hotel also didn’t include drinkable water, but they did have a hot water pot in each room so you could boil your own. There was also free internet in the room, though lots of sites, like facebook, are blocked in all of China.

At 9am a van took me back to the airport and it was all smooth sailing from there. I arrived home in Portland, Oregon, on March 16th (I crossed the international date line so I got 48 hours of March 16th.)

This adventure is over, but soon there will be another. I’m already planning my next escape 🙂
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I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from Thursday, March 11th, till Sunday, March 14th. Below are some of my favorite pictures from my 4 days there. You can also check out my posts on the Islamic Art Museum and my visit to the Petronas Twin Towers Skybridge.

I flew with Air Asia from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was treated to a lovely sunset in the air:

Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia and is home to almost 2 million people. Unlike Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital which has a higher population and only 1 significantly tall building, Kuala Lumpur is full of skyscrapers. It also has multiple rapid train systems which keep the various areas of the city well connected.

While wandering around near Pasar Seni (Central Market) I saw some Graffiti I really liked:

If you’re a shopper you should check out Petaling Street (Jalan Petaling) in Chinatown. There’s plenty to buy during the day, and a whooole lot more at night when the street gets so packed with stalls and shoppers it takes you 5 minutes to walk 50 feet. It was so dense I couldn’t even get a picture! I personally liked the markets in Phnom Penh better because I found clothes that were more my style there, but there is something for everyone on Petaling Street, and the prices are great! Bargain hard, though. The prices will start out incredibly inflated and you can usually end up paying 1/4th or less of the first price a seller gives you. The walk-away tactic works exceptionally well here.

Another interesting place to check out is Little India. There’s plenty of great food to try, and there’s decent shopping too, especially during the weekly night market on Saturdays.

In Little India I bought myself a Punjabi Suit (beautifully decorated colorful long tunic + pants + scarf). I had been wanting one for a while, and after trying a bunch of shops I found one that I knew was made for me as soon as I saw it. I got the price down from 280rm to 120rm, including adjustments done in shop to make it fit me exactly. I love it so much I want to go to India just so I can wear it all the time 🙂

So there’s this fruit called Durian that smells incredibly terrible. Like gagging when you smell it terrible. Apparently it tastes fantastic though; the saying is “tastes like heaven, smells like hell”. Anyway, durian is banned from most hotels and hostels because of the smell, so you see signs like this up all over:

When it came time for me to leave Kuala Lumpur to go home I went to Kuala Lumpur International Airport and found out that my flight was delayed 6 hours due to snow in Beijing. Lame. I passed the time by walking around and taking pictures.

I ended up missing my 2nd flight and getting stuck in China for 24 hours. Post about that next time on vagablonding dot com!

On Friday, March 12th, I got up early to get in line for one of the limited free tickets for the Petronas Twin Towers Skybridge. The Petronas Twin Towers are the headquarters for the Petronas oil and gas company. Standing 452 m (1,483 ft) tall, the towers were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004, and they remain the tallest twin buildings in the world today.

At 8am I took the train from Pasar Seni to KLCC for 1.6rm.

The line for the tickets can be found in the basement of the towers. I was in line at 8:15am, they started giving out tickets at 8:30am. You can choose what time you would like your visit to be. Only 40 people are allowed to go up every 15 minutes, so if you care what time slot you get it is best to get there early to be in the front of the line. I chose to go up at 1:15pm to avoid the daily late afternoon monsoon.

I spent the rest of the morning messing around online and getting lunch on Petaling Street. There’s a place where you can get a bunch of vegetarian food for 1rm per scoop, so I got a scoop of cooked veggies and a scoop of bbq tofu, plus soy milk (yay!) for 1.5rm and jackfruit for 1rm. That’s a lot of food for 4.5rm (about $1.35). Food here is very cheap, even cheaper than Cambodia (but not as tasty).

I returned to KLCC at 12:15pm and killed time by going to the Galeri Petronas, an art gallery, in Suria KLCC which is a giant shopping mall attached to the Petronas Towers.

The Galeri was great, it had lots of captivating photographs. I took pictures, but apparently you’re not supposed to and a guard made me delete them. I highly recommend checking out Galeri Petronas if you have 30 minutes to spare. Admission is free. Afterwards I went to the Petronas Towers gift shop where I bought 2 postcards for 0.8rm each.

At 1:05pm I and 39 others queued up to visit the Skybridge on floor 41 which is 170m (558 ft) above ground. The towers have 88 floors but tourists are only allowed to go to the Skybridge. First we were directed into a small film viewing room where we watched a short 3D movie about the Petronas company. I was delighted; I’ll watch anything in 3D.

Next we went through a security check before going up to the Skybridge in a high speed elevator. You can really feel the increase in altitude when you expierience your ears popping and lightheadedness. It reminded me of going up the Eiffle Tower.

We were allowed to walk around on the bridge and take pictures for 15 minutes. It was a great view to enjoy for free!

I got in to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the night of Thursday, March 11th, and checked into the Monkee Inn, a hostel in Chinatown run by Americans. For 30rm (rm = Malaysian Ringgit, 1rm = $0.30) I had a very small single fan room with a really comfy bed, free wifi and breakfast, and a shared bath. Just fine for the price.

On Friday, March 12th, after a welcome breakfast of pb&j, coffee, and Sting for background music, I took a taxi to the Islamic Arts Museum for 10rm (overpaid!). I paid the 6rm student price to get into the the museum, so that makes up for the ripoff taxi.

The museum’s current feature exhibit was Steve McCurry’s photography and it was AMAZING! Here are some of the many pictures that were there:

There was a big group of university-aged Muslim women there, and some wanted to take pictures with me. I’ll miss people asking to take pictures with me when I get home, haha.

The permanent collection of the museum includes many manuscripts, metal work, ceramics, jewelry, weapons, textiles and more. Below are some of my favorite items from the collection.

Enameled Porcelain Bowl and Cover, China, 1772 CE:

Hukkah Base, India, 19th century CE:

Fly Whisk, Horsehair with Silver Mounted Horn Handle, India, 19th century CE:

Kitab Tuhfat Al-Husain Madaih A’Immah, Iran, 1859 CE:

Tashrih Al-Badan (Anatomy of the Body), Iran, 17th century CE:

Al Qur’an, Ottoman Turkey, 1852 CE:

Detail of above:

Bridal Crown, Uzbekistan, 18th century CE:

The museum itself is pretty neat also. Every room has an intricate domed ceiling.

I wanted to go to their apparently amazing Lebanese restaurant, but they were only doing a buffet of non-vegetarian food so that was a no-go. I bought 2 postcards for 2rm each, and took another 10rm taxi back. Tomorrow I’m visiting the Petronas Twin Towers!

On Saturday, March 6th, after a long day of classes in the morning, afternoon, and evening, 5 of us English teachers (3 girls 2 guys) took a tuk-tuk to Phnom Penh and went to the bars by the Boeung Kak Lake (big backpacker area). We hung around the area having a great time until around 3am when we went to the Heart of Darkness, one of Phnom Penh’s most popular clubs. We had a blast dancing with the security guards and laughing at all the ugly old white guys with their hookers. We stayed till closing at about 4:30am. We figured since we were still so awake we’d walk to the river to watch the sunrise.

We didn’t make it to the river. As we were walking and laughing, all in a great tipsy mood, something terrible happened. A motorbike drove by and grabbed the purse of one of the other girls to try to steal it, but the strap didn’t break. She was lifted up, swept along, and slammed into the ground, landing on her shoulder and head. I didn’t see it because I was ahead of her, but I turned around when one of the guys yelled her name. She was lying in the road and was unconscious until we ran to her and shook her awake. We sat her up and the other girl and I held her up supporting her head while one of the guys got a tuk-tuk.

The tuk-tuk driver took us to Calmette Hospital, a Cambodian hospital where they don’t speak English much at all. I wanted to go to the International SOS Medical Center, a clinic for tourists where they speak perfect English and have Western doctors, but the other 3 in the group decided we should stay where we were. We communicated to the doctors that her head hurt and she couldn’t hear out of one ear. She was very confused, but conscious, and bleeding out of her ear at this point. The doctors decided to do a cat scan, this cost $115 and we all pooled our money to pay for it, but we were still $3 short and they wouldn’t do it. I guess we found another $3, I don’t know I was on my way to the SOS clinic to see if they were open (they were, they’re 24 hours), but anyway they did the scan.

The cat scan results came back and the doctors said everything was ok. There was one more bill to pay and I waited in the bill line forever and started getting upset because I was very frustrated, worried, overwhelmed, dehydrated and still drunk by now. It was 8:30am. The 4 others went back to SCAO and I went back to Okay Guesthouse.

We all slept the entire next day.

They day after that, Monday, March 8th, I went to SCAO and the girl still wasn’t feeling well at all. Her head still hurt a lot and she still couldn’t hear, so she decided to go to the SOS clinic. The doctors there took her injury very seriously and decided to medevac her to Bangkok in a private plane that night. In Bangkok she got another cat scan and it turns out she has a skull fracture.

She’s fine now and currently recovering in the super posh Bangkok hospital, but man was it a scary experience!

Lesson learned: Do NOT walk around in the streets that late at night, no matter how short the distance is or how safe you feel in a group. This can happen to anyone. Be careful; we weren’t careful enough.

For the past week I have been volunteering every day at the Save Poor Children in Asia Organization (SCAO). SCAO is both an orphanage housing 19 children and an English school where about 100 village children total each attend 1 of 4 English classes every day except Sunday. SCAO charges nothing for the classes; it is a non-profit NGO. Located 7km North of Phnom Penh in Boeng Chhouk village, SCAO is run by Mr. Sath Samith who is one of the kindest people I have ever met.

One of the lessons for the Lets Go 1 and 2 kids. English words with Khmer translation written next to them. Notice that coat, jacket, pajamas, and sweater are all the same word in Khmer. It doesn’t really get cold in Cambodia….

The 19 children, Mr. and Mrs. Samith, their wonderful cook Poly, and usually 5-7 volunteer English teachers all live together in a 4 bedroom house. Hanging out there is amazing; I have never seen a more cohesive and loving family. The children range in age from 3 to 20. Most are from poor single-parent families that can’t afford to support them. Many of the older children lost parents in the fight against the Khmer Rouge. 2 of the children are Mr. and Mrs. Samith’s own.

SCAO always needs volunteers to teach the English classes. If you want to volunteer it is best to first call ahead and then come sit in on one of the classes and meet the kids. If you like it you are welcome to come volunteer as much as you want, and even stay at the center if you choose, after talking with Mr. Samith of course.

SCAO also needs donations of money, food, clothing, and school supplies. If you visit you can also buy a tshirt, or a wallet or purse made by students at the school.

If nothing else, just drop by to play with and read to the kids for a couple hours. They love having a chance to practice their English!

Please visit the Save Poor Children in Asia Organization website to learn more, and consider making a donation to SCAO, or sponsor one of the kids so they can go to Khmer school.

Phnom Penh is an excellent place to buy cheap knockoff clothes and accessories, beautiful fabrics, and Cambodian souvenirs. The best market for everything is the Russian Market in the south part of town. I visited this market about 5 times and bought, among other things, $2 tshirts, $1 tanktops $4 purses, $4 skirts, $3 dresses, an $8 Central America on a Shoestring Lonely Planet, and a lovely stone statue of an Apsara dancer for $25. The Russian Market, so called because the Russians used to shop there, is also known as Psar Toul Tom Pong. Don’t confuse it with the Orussey Market, they are totally different and are quite far away from each other. Apparently back in the day the Russian Market was a place you could buy literally everything: guns, drugs, children, you name it. Now it is an innocent market full of bargains for tourists and locals alike. It gets going at around 8 in the morning and is totally closed at 6pm.

Another great market for clothes, bags and shoes is the Central Market. It’s in a large ugly yellow art deco nightmare of a building in the center of town. I bought a ton of clothes here, but be warned: you won’t find much if you don’t wear small sizes. I wear an extra small shirt in the US and I bought larges here. They do have a range of sizes for men, though. The Central Market is really big and confusing to navigate. I still have no idea exactly how much of it I saw on my 3 trips there. It also opens around 8am and starts closing between 5 and 6pm.

On the weekends you can go to the Night Market. The Night Market is fairly new and is aimed at tourists, so bargain hard for low prices. Anything you see at the Night Market can also be found at Russian Market or Central Market, often for a better price. Located on the Riverfront near Wat Phnom, The Night Market begins setup around 5pm and starts winding down at 9pm.

There are also many traditional markets which are great for buying fruit, ugly shoes, or getting your nails done for $1; assuming you can stand the overpowering fish smell! These markets are where Cambodians go to shop for themselves. They are full of excellent photo opportunities, as well as stalls selling those delicious little bananas I have become addicted to. Take a wander through at least one, but be prepared to hold your breath, the smell of meat and fish can be quite strong.

We had an all day island boat trip on Thursday, February 25th. At 8:30am we boarded a little boat and cruised for 1 hour to Koh Preaus. There we snorkeled a bit, but it wasn’t very good. There wasn’t much to see plus the mask provided was very scratched up, and I kept getting stung by jellyfish so I gave up after about 20 minutes.

Next we boated for 30 minutes to Koh Ta Kiev. This island is blessed with a beautiful deserted white sand beach and a waveless ocean like a bathtub that is still waist deep even 60 feet out.  We spent about 2.5 hours here swimming and sunbathing.

Lunch was included on the island. There was  grilled tofu for me, grilled fish for everyone else, rice, salad, baguettes, and coke in a bottle, yummy!

The boat ride home took about 1 hour 20 minutes. From the boat we got a good view of some other islands and of Otres beach. It’s a very long deserted white sand beach. I would definitely check it out if I had more time here.

Mom and I had sunset drinks on Ochheuteal Beach (aka Guilt Beach). The cheap $1.50 cocktails and $0.50 beers are sort of the only reason to go to this beach, besides that it’s the closest to most hotels.

Tomorrow we are heading back to Phnom Penh and having our final dinner with our Intrepid group. Mom is going home in a couple days and I’ll be staying in SE Asia until March 15th.

In Kampot on the morning of Tuesday, February 23rd, there was a giant monsoon rain storm with super loud thunder and a lot of rain that flooded the streets for a while. Mom and I trudged on to breakfast anyway. I can’t go without coffee! We went to a guesthouse called The Magic Sponge. They had a restaurant/bar, free internet, and minigolf. Weird, I know.

We took a short 2 hour minivan ride to Sihanoukville. 20 minutes after leaving I realized I had forgotten my computer charger in the hotel room 🙁 Alan, our group leader, called and arranged to have it sent to our new hotel on another van that was about to leave. It showed up in the afternoon and only cost me $2, how awesome is that? Thanks so much Alan!

When we arrived in Sihanoukville we had an included lunch at the Starfish Cafe which is part of the Starfish Project, an NGO that provides access to social services to Cambodians in need. I had some fantastic fruit salad with muesli and yogurt for $3.50. Best I’ve had so far. I also bought a shirt for $6.

In the afternoon mom and I went to Ochheuteal Beach which I have decided to rename Guilt Beach. It is very crowded, like Hawaii crowded, and you are constantly getting hassled and harassed by kids and adults selling crap. It’s not an enjoyable place to hang out, at all.

The next day, Wednesday February 24th, mom and I took a tuk-tuk to Sokha Resort’s private beach. We hung out there for an hour an a half till we were kicked out. The beach was nice, but definitely had an uppity resort vibe.

Next we took a tuk-tuk to Independence Beach which was AMAZING! It’s a lovely wide white sand beach with plenty of lounge chairs, very few people, and a nice restaurant where we had lunch. I highly recommend this beach. We spent the rest of the day there, swimming, sunning, and reading.

For dinner we went to a place called Moon Shack III where I had bbq tofu with fries, salad, garlic bread, peanuts, and 2 beers for $3! It was very tasty and so cheap because there’s a bit of a restaurant price war going on.

Tomorrow we are boating to some of the nearby islands!