Although my brother thinks it is stupid to write that PNG is a country of contradictions, I think it is true.
PNG people are one of the most welcoming people I have ever met: they're genuinely happy to see us, they love to shake hands, my sister and I get massive hugs from women and they all want to talk to us. They share their fruits with us while we are sitting on the bus (PMV), they are impressed whenever my sister and I understand a bit of Tok Pisin and they are very interested in what we do. And they absolutely love laughing out loud! Sjoerds Wantoks like seeing us around, we got really nice bilums (colourful handbags). I really feel welcome and the people are really, honestly nice.
While writing this, there is a massive fight on the streets next to this building: people throwing stones, men shouting (sounds really frighting to be honest) and loads of noise. Sjoerd just took off with a friend to collect two other white people to make sure they are safe.
During the weekend we were in Kundiawa where we saw two ' meri fights' in other words: two women fighting because of men. And not a girly fight, but a proper fight: there is blood involved. The arguments are often about a man who has several women. The big fight on the streets is about a woman being raped: one tribe is taking revenge on another tribe.
I was planning on telling you what we did the past 5 days, going to Minj- a local village- and seeing Dutch friends in Kundiawa where we did some nice hillwalking, but I am really distracted by the noise on the streets so I am not going to. Don't get me wrong: I still ABSOLUTELY love it here, but the fight puts me off for now...And don't worry: tribes are not interested in harming whites, it's revenge they want...
And on the good side: Sjoerd, Femke and I are really enjoying each others company so there is no fighting on this side of the table...Anyway, tomorrow we will go with some other wantoks to the Southern Highlands where we will do some hillwalking and camping. Should be good!
Monday, 27 August 2007
Wednesday, 22 August 2007
Mount Hagen
Since we all love to eat a lot, we go to the local food market every day. We're eating loads of 'weird' fruits which taste delicious! My sister is starting to feel left out, because more and more people recognise me as Sjoerd's sister and they think Femke is ' just' family. We hug her more to feel part of the gang...We're meeting up with some of Sjoerd friends (all volunteers from Mount Hagen or surrounding areas), great to hear all their stories although many of those stories are not all happy ones. Well, it gives us a better view of the PNG culture....
The first day we got to meet Sjoerd's neighbours/securitygard/friends/cleaner: lovely family who are going to take us to the Southern Highlands next week. Great stuff, just with the locals! On the picture to the right you can see my brother with Linet, a kid 'from the block', eating fruit. Femke would say the cutest kid, but they all look gorgeous....
After that we went to see one of Sjoerds wantoks (family, not the ones like we have, but just friends who will help you out if needed). They are taking care of Sjoerds pig. Yes, a pig. A respectable (marry-able) man in PNG should have a pig so he can ' buy' a wife. The pigs name is Bell (from Jingle Bell, don't ask me why...) His other pig Jingle (there we go...) died recently.
Sjoerd is putting my sister and me on the market as well, so he can become a rich man...Yeah, right. I will kick your ass, big brother...
So far my first impressions: great to be here, Sjoerds is making spectacular travelplans for the upcoming weeks, so it should be great fun!!
Check out Sjoerds website for his version!
Monday, 20 August 2007
First day Papua New Guinea!
The famous three Jongerii:
From left to right: Maaike - Sjoerd - Femke
Don't we look alike....(except Femke). A friend of my brother actually recognised me as being his sister...weird stuff.
Sunday, 19 August 2007
pictures
1
4
Picture 1: Guusje (left) and me: aren't we a pair...
Picture 2: Kbal Spean: lingas in the water
Picture 3: Me on the back of the moto: practising my 'fake' smile
Picture 4: Angkor Thom: Bayon temple
For more pictures and a tiny movie: take a look a Guusje's website!! And now I am off to have a final beer with Guusje (although my pinky pills don't allow alcohol...but well, this is an exception)
off to Papua New Guinea
Just a quick preview of what is next: Sunday (tomorrow) I am off to see my brother in Papua New Guinea (in sort: PNG) . I haven't seen him for 2 years, so it should be fun!
My sister has decided to join us for 2 weeks, so I am meeting her on Monday in Sydney. Together we will try to go to PNG. With an emphasis on ' try' ...
- according to my brother the flights in PNG are often cancelled or delayed without reason...
- in July PNG had elections. Due to the results of those elections, a man who lost the elections is threatening to set fire to the airport in Mount Hagen (that's were my brother lives...)
- my expat friend in Laos said he had gotten a warning (just as all expats) not to travel to PNG due to the dangers...
- my brother wants to travel to the South West with us; an area which has been very unsafe...He likes to give it a try now.
Needless to say that I am really looking forward to going. PNG was the reason of my travelling around the world!!! Seriously; see my brother again, see what he has been doing, see the country, meet his friends: great stuff!
And, bare in mind, my brother, my sister and I have not spend more than 3 days in a row since 1997 and we are all very stubborn and we have a strong mind of our own (good self reflection, I know...), so I think we do not have to watch out for PNG, but PNG has to watch out for us...Or at least our quarrels...
gumpfff... to be continued!!
My sister has decided to join us for 2 weeks, so I am meeting her on Monday in Sydney. Together we will try to go to PNG. With an emphasis on ' try' ...
- according to my brother the flights in PNG are often cancelled or delayed without reason...
- in July PNG had elections. Due to the results of those elections, a man who lost the elections is threatening to set fire to the airport in Mount Hagen (that's were my brother lives...)
- my expat friend in Laos said he had gotten a warning (just as all expats) not to travel to PNG due to the dangers...
- my brother wants to travel to the South West with us; an area which has been very unsafe...He likes to give it a try now.
Needless to say that I am really looking forward to going. PNG was the reason of my travelling around the world!!! Seriously; see my brother again, see what he has been doing, see the country, meet his friends: great stuff!
And, bare in mind, my brother, my sister and I have not spend more than 3 days in a row since 1997 and we are all very stubborn and we have a strong mind of our own (good self reflection, I know...), so I think we do not have to watch out for PNG, but PNG has to watch out for us...Or at least our quarrels...
gumpfff... to be continued!!
Cambodia continues!
Siem Reap
Siem Reap was in one word 'magnificent'. All the different temples of Angkor Wat are truly amazing. Yes, every temple is another mind blowing image of a creative architect, using different shapes, divers faces, local animals and worshipping ancient Kings and religious Gods and Buddhas. Bare in mind that most of the temples are build in the 12th century: Europe was still living in tiny castles and wooden houses at that time...
The most interesting temples, at least that's what I think, were the Bayon (Angkor Thom) with its amazing large heads on the temple which follow you wherever you walk: freaky but really cool. Secondly, the Kbal Spean: this is actually not a temple, but lingas carves IN a river which flows in the jungle. You have to walk for about 2 km to get there and when you stand there you're sort of looking 'and yes, what am I looking for'...After a minute or so you see the carvings and it is truly amazing: you wonder who ever thought of the idea of making them IN the river and secondly who ever found them again after so many years (because everything was covered up by the jungle...). Yes, Angkor Wat deserves to be a World Heritage. (I hope to add some pictures later on so you can judge yourself!)
Seeing the temples around Siem Reap were interesting, but our transportation for those 3 days was very divers as well. The first day we took a tuk-tuk with a young driver, Rin, who just could not stop talking to us. The second day, since we are still Dutch, we hired bikes and cycled around (30-40 km). The last day -and please show some respect- we had two motorbikes with two young drivers (one was the tuk-tuk driver from the first day). For those who do not know me that well: I hate motorbikes since I had a wee-little accident in Australia six years ago. I knew Guusje really wanted to go on one, and I reckoned I should not be a 'wooz' and just get over myself...The first hour I sat frozen on that damned thing...And after a while Rin told me (Guusje was on his bike) that his cousin who was driving my moto was actually still learning how to drive a moto....Cheers, Rin, good work. But I managed, Guusje was impressed with my guts (although she could see I was lying whenever I said I was fine...) and Guusje even had her go on the moto as the driver herself....
On top of that my diarrhoea got back, with renewed energy...Perfect, when you are on a moto...
Sihanoukville
After those cultural days we decided to do a cooling down at a beach and get some sun on our white bodies, catch up with our reading and relax. Enough said: we arranged a local bus to the South of Cambodia: Sihanoukville. A trip to remember... We took the bus early morning, packed with Khmer people, luggage, food, equipment and all the stuff you will not see on a bus back home. After one hours drive, there was a little fuzz on the road, people gathering and our bus slowed down. All the people in the bus looked to the right (with paparazzi Guusje on top of them!) and there we saw what the fuzz was about: there was a dead body lying next to the road...one police cop standing nervously next to the body keeping the crowd to a distance (say 2 meters...) Blood everywhere and obviously the blood poored out of his head. Absolutely horrifying. Guusje, as a true journalist, did some investigation and found out that the man was murdered the day before (seriously, leave a body for an entire day in the stinking heat!!) and that the murderer (or two) escape to the woods. Reason for the killing: unknown...
The bus continued and after a couple of hours we were driving along side some mountains, a lot of curves on the road, when a car drove directly at us with an enormous speed (Guusje and I sat in front so we saw it all...)...Our bus driver used his claxon, reduced speed and the car in front of us just changed direction in time to fly off the road...Big shock, but it turned out the be okay (-ish). Arriving in Sihanoukville was very pleasant, as you can imagine...
Relaxing on the beach was really nice: swim, read and talk to all the Khmer kids who are very nosy (and same for us, 'coz we are very nosy as well!!). My white skin (except my face and arms...) was as white as snow until then: after the first day it was flaming red even though we put sunscreen on it...Ah well, we learned it the hard way...My sister can have a blast peeling my old skin off...
Back to Bangkok (Thailand)
After those relaxing days we had to go back to Bangkok, because Guusje is flying home this Sunday and I am flying to Papua New Guinea. We had two options to go to the border: take a horrible 5 hour bus ride on a bumpy road or take the scenic 5 hour boat trip via beautiful little islands. Exactly, we did what every sane person would do: take the boat. This boat trip would have been fantastic, if not for (no, no dead bodies or bad traffic this time) the awful bad weather... I was the first to vomit, luckily in a bin thanks to Guusje's quick response, many followed including Guusje. I lost track after the 10th time, but I vomited non-stop. The old man who was taking care of the people on the boat came apologizing to us for the bad weather (as if he could help it...), kept rubbing 'tiger balm' on our neck and head and gave me the entire stack of his 'vomit-bags' when I asked him for the third time whether I could have more bags... 'again?' was his reply...
Guusje and I have never been so happy to get to our destination, Koh Kong...
The next day we crossed the border without any hiccups: it was a bigger bordercrossing than before and more possibilities afterwards. We got a reverse culture shock: everything went so smooth in Thailand...We did not have to think at all: people just arranged everything for us, roads were excellent, buses were luxurious with just people on it and before we knew it we were in Bangkok. Because we were still shaken up by the day before, we kind of liked it...
Finally, some peculiarities (it's becoming a theme!!):
- we had mais yoghurt with our muesli. Disgusting, they even put red beans with it.
- the diarrhoea came back for the third time in Sihanoukville and I had a craving for beans on toast...
- for all my former colleagues who were always worried about my drinking habits (no, people, not the alcohol, but my coffee addiction). I have had 6 cups of coffee in the last 6 weeks...No problems here!
- I have some living creatures in my body at the moment
- no I am not pregnant, but I have bacteria in my stomach. Due to that I am taking horrible pinkish pills and my stomach is a battlefield at the moment...
So far so good. Let's see about those pictures!
Siem Reap was in one word 'magnificent'. All the different temples of Angkor Wat are truly amazing. Yes, every temple is another mind blowing image of a creative architect, using different shapes, divers faces, local animals and worshipping ancient Kings and religious Gods and Buddhas. Bare in mind that most of the temples are build in the 12th century: Europe was still living in tiny castles and wooden houses at that time...
The most interesting temples, at least that's what I think, were the Bayon (Angkor Thom) with its amazing large heads on the temple which follow you wherever you walk: freaky but really cool. Secondly, the Kbal Spean: this is actually not a temple, but lingas carves IN a river which flows in the jungle. You have to walk for about 2 km to get there and when you stand there you're sort of looking 'and yes, what am I looking for'...After a minute or so you see the carvings and it is truly amazing: you wonder who ever thought of the idea of making them IN the river and secondly who ever found them again after so many years (because everything was covered up by the jungle...). Yes, Angkor Wat deserves to be a World Heritage. (I hope to add some pictures later on so you can judge yourself!)
Seeing the temples around Siem Reap were interesting, but our transportation for those 3 days was very divers as well. The first day we took a tuk-tuk with a young driver, Rin, who just could not stop talking to us. The second day, since we are still Dutch, we hired bikes and cycled around (30-40 km). The last day -and please show some respect- we had two motorbikes with two young drivers (one was the tuk-tuk driver from the first day). For those who do not know me that well: I hate motorbikes since I had a wee-little accident in Australia six years ago. I knew Guusje really wanted to go on one, and I reckoned I should not be a 'wooz' and just get over myself...The first hour I sat frozen on that damned thing...And after a while Rin told me (Guusje was on his bike) that his cousin who was driving my moto was actually still learning how to drive a moto....Cheers, Rin, good work. But I managed, Guusje was impressed with my guts (although she could see I was lying whenever I said I was fine...) and Guusje even had her go on the moto as the driver herself....
On top of that my diarrhoea got back, with renewed energy...Perfect, when you are on a moto...
Sihanoukville
After those cultural days we decided to do a cooling down at a beach and get some sun on our white bodies, catch up with our reading and relax. Enough said: we arranged a local bus to the South of Cambodia: Sihanoukville. A trip to remember... We took the bus early morning, packed with Khmer people, luggage, food, equipment and all the stuff you will not see on a bus back home. After one hours drive, there was a little fuzz on the road, people gathering and our bus slowed down. All the people in the bus looked to the right (with paparazzi Guusje on top of them!) and there we saw what the fuzz was about: there was a dead body lying next to the road...one police cop standing nervously next to the body keeping the crowd to a distance (say 2 meters...) Blood everywhere and obviously the blood poored out of his head. Absolutely horrifying. Guusje, as a true journalist, did some investigation and found out that the man was murdered the day before (seriously, leave a body for an entire day in the stinking heat!!) and that the murderer (or two) escape to the woods. Reason for the killing: unknown...
The bus continued and after a couple of hours we were driving along side some mountains, a lot of curves on the road, when a car drove directly at us with an enormous speed (Guusje and I sat in front so we saw it all...)...Our bus driver used his claxon, reduced speed and the car in front of us just changed direction in time to fly off the road...Big shock, but it turned out the be okay (-ish). Arriving in Sihanoukville was very pleasant, as you can imagine...
Relaxing on the beach was really nice: swim, read and talk to all the Khmer kids who are very nosy (and same for us, 'coz we are very nosy as well!!). My white skin (except my face and arms...) was as white as snow until then: after the first day it was flaming red even though we put sunscreen on it...Ah well, we learned it the hard way...My sister can have a blast peeling my old skin off...
Back to Bangkok (Thailand)
After those relaxing days we had to go back to Bangkok, because Guusje is flying home this Sunday and I am flying to Papua New Guinea. We had two options to go to the border: take a horrible 5 hour bus ride on a bumpy road or take the scenic 5 hour boat trip via beautiful little islands. Exactly, we did what every sane person would do: take the boat. This boat trip would have been fantastic, if not for (no, no dead bodies or bad traffic this time) the awful bad weather... I was the first to vomit, luckily in a bin thanks to Guusje's quick response, many followed including Guusje. I lost track after the 10th time, but I vomited non-stop. The old man who was taking care of the people on the boat came apologizing to us for the bad weather (as if he could help it...), kept rubbing 'tiger balm' on our neck and head and gave me the entire stack of his 'vomit-bags' when I asked him for the third time whether I could have more bags... 'again?' was his reply...
Guusje and I have never been so happy to get to our destination, Koh Kong...
The next day we crossed the border without any hiccups: it was a bigger bordercrossing than before and more possibilities afterwards. We got a reverse culture shock: everything went so smooth in Thailand...We did not have to think at all: people just arranged everything for us, roads were excellent, buses were luxurious with just people on it and before we knew it we were in Bangkok. Because we were still shaken up by the day before, we kind of liked it...
Finally, some peculiarities (it's becoming a theme!!):
- we had mais yoghurt with our muesli. Disgusting, they even put red beans with it.
- the diarrhoea came back for the third time in Sihanoukville and I had a craving for beans on toast...
- for all my former colleagues who were always worried about my drinking habits (no, people, not the alcohol, but my coffee addiction). I have had 6 cups of coffee in the last 6 weeks...No problems here!
- I have some living creatures in my body at the moment
- no I am not pregnant, but I have bacteria in my stomach. Due to that I am taking horrible pinkish pills and my stomach is a battlefield at the moment...
So far so good. Let's see about those pictures!
Thursday, 9 August 2007
Discovering Cambodia
We made it to Cambodia!!
Last Friday we hopped on the bus to the (unofficial) border crossing Laos-Cambodia. Crossing it was an experience on its own: a bus dropped us in a forest, near a small hut: Lao Border. We signed some papers, paid $1 and walked (!) 1 km through the forest to the Cambodian Border: tiny hut was the place to be! There again: we filled in some forms even though we had visas and paid $1...Sounds not to bad: and it wasn't if you compare it with the day before that someone got robbed in the forest and that sometimes people have to pay $30-40-50 just to cross the border...Why that much? Don't know, just because they can I presume...
We hopped on another bus to Kratie (we had to changes buses another 3 times...) where we spend the night. Tiny town, hardly any tourists (great!), so we spend the night playing cards with some schoolboys (age 15-16) who wanted to practise their English while playing cards with us. Great evening!!
The next day we took a local bus to Phnom Penh (capital). During the stops we saw quite some disabled people begging for money; most of them got disabled because of landmines. And Cambodia does not have a good health system, so we give them money every time we see one. It's really shocking to see so many of them.
As most of you know Cambodia has a terrible history (Khmer Rouge / Pol Pot Regime: 1975-1979); Guusje and I both read the History Chapter in the Lonely Planet twice to understand the History, but it is quite confusing. We talked to loads of people, but our questions seem to confuse them as well. After 2 movies and an excellent book ('First they killed my father' by Loung Ung: I recommend it!) I sort of get it now. The most shocking thing to realise is that most people of my age and definately the ones a bit older than me, have all experienced the horrors. Everyone you meet on the streets has lost a relative...And the landmines are still their legacy.
Phnom Penh: absolutely lovely city! Great ambiance, nice people, beautiful buildings and just a great place to be (especially compared to Vientiane). Definately a cool place to live. Moreover, the S21 museum (old prison during Khmer Rouge) and the Killing Fields outside the city centre were truly interesting: we spend the entire day there.
Update on the belly: After 6 days severe diarrhoea (it got worse at the end...) and quite some 'shrinking' on my side, Guusje put pressure on me: either go to hospital or take medicine. So I took the easy way out: medicine. I am okay now, still bit stomach ache. Even gained some weight again. (and I always say: the more of Maaike, the better...)
Again some peculiarities:
- it has happened again: a Lao man asked me why I did not eat meat. Was it because I am pregnant...Cheers, thanks man...
- Cambodian people speak better English than Lao people
- Khmer food is superb!
- a guy we met on the bus thought Guusje and I were a couple. We found out three days later when we met him in the city by accident. It was hilarious: it was actually our first time someone thought that. When he found out we weren't, he started hitting on me...Go figure...
- Latest fashion for women in Cambodia is wearing pyjama's during day time. No kidding.
And now: Siem Reap. Place to be to check out the next World Heritage location: Anchor Wat. We just had a quick preview during sunset. Looks amazing. Suske & Wiske in Cambodia is nothing compared to the real thing...
Thanks for all the comments by the way: it is lovely to read them all!
Last Friday we hopped on the bus to the (unofficial) border crossing Laos-Cambodia. Crossing it was an experience on its own: a bus dropped us in a forest, near a small hut: Lao Border. We signed some papers, paid $1 and walked (!) 1 km through the forest to the Cambodian Border: tiny hut was the place to be! There again: we filled in some forms even though we had visas and paid $1...Sounds not to bad: and it wasn't if you compare it with the day before that someone got robbed in the forest and that sometimes people have to pay $30-40-50 just to cross the border...Why that much? Don't know, just because they can I presume...
We hopped on another bus to Kratie (we had to changes buses another 3 times...) where we spend the night. Tiny town, hardly any tourists (great!), so we spend the night playing cards with some schoolboys (age 15-16) who wanted to practise their English while playing cards with us. Great evening!!
The next day we took a local bus to Phnom Penh (capital). During the stops we saw quite some disabled people begging for money; most of them got disabled because of landmines. And Cambodia does not have a good health system, so we give them money every time we see one. It's really shocking to see so many of them.
As most of you know Cambodia has a terrible history (Khmer Rouge / Pol Pot Regime: 1975-1979); Guusje and I both read the History Chapter in the Lonely Planet twice to understand the History, but it is quite confusing. We talked to loads of people, but our questions seem to confuse them as well. After 2 movies and an excellent book ('First they killed my father' by Loung Ung: I recommend it!) I sort of get it now. The most shocking thing to realise is that most people of my age and definately the ones a bit older than me, have all experienced the horrors. Everyone you meet on the streets has lost a relative...And the landmines are still their legacy.
Phnom Penh: absolutely lovely city! Great ambiance, nice people, beautiful buildings and just a great place to be (especially compared to Vientiane). Definately a cool place to live. Moreover, the S21 museum (old prison during Khmer Rouge) and the Killing Fields outside the city centre were truly interesting: we spend the entire day there.
Update on the belly: After 6 days severe diarrhoea (it got worse at the end...) and quite some 'shrinking' on my side, Guusje put pressure on me: either go to hospital or take medicine. So I took the easy way out: medicine. I am okay now, still bit stomach ache. Even gained some weight again. (and I always say: the more of Maaike, the better...)
Again some peculiarities:
- it has happened again: a Lao man asked me why I did not eat meat. Was it because I am pregnant...Cheers, thanks man...
- Cambodian people speak better English than Lao people
- Khmer food is superb!
- a guy we met on the bus thought Guusje and I were a couple. We found out three days later when we met him in the city by accident. It was hilarious: it was actually our first time someone thought that. When he found out we weren't, he started hitting on me...Go figure...
- Latest fashion for women in Cambodia is wearing pyjama's during day time. No kidding.
And now: Siem Reap. Place to be to check out the next World Heritage location: Anchor Wat. We just had a quick preview during sunset. Looks amazing. Suske & Wiske in Cambodia is nothing compared to the real thing...
Thanks for all the comments by the way: it is lovely to read them all!
Wednesday, 1 August 2007
last message from Laos
Travelling is so excellent...we were on a night bus from Vientiane to Pakse (south Laos), arrived at 6 Am. We wanted to head for the Cambodian border straight away, but just before the border we decided to get off, take a boat and relax on ' the four thousands islands'...Millions of islands on the Mekong River, only accessible by tiny boats, little houses to sleep in...Briljant...
Vientiane turned out to be a less nice city as Luang Prabang. We walked loads, saw some temples, monuments etc. We had dinner with my former colleague, Marco. We had an interesting evening, great to hear his (expat) stories and we both had different hangovers the next morning. He had a beer hangover, and I, suprise surprise, am having a belly-hangover...I've been eating at street stalls for 2 weeks: no problem with my stomach. One evening a proper restaurant, and yes, diarrhoea... So a rice and ORS diet for me since 2 days...
So we have just decided to stay another day, and head for Cambodia the day after tomorrow. Now I am off to see the sunset (and I want to say good food, but it is rice for me this evening...). Damned, I am really enjoying every single bit!!
Vientiane turned out to be a less nice city as Luang Prabang. We walked loads, saw some temples, monuments etc. We had dinner with my former colleague, Marco. We had an interesting evening, great to hear his (expat) stories and we both had different hangovers the next morning. He had a beer hangover, and I, suprise surprise, am having a belly-hangover...I've been eating at street stalls for 2 weeks: no problem with my stomach. One evening a proper restaurant, and yes, diarrhoea... So a rice and ORS diet for me since 2 days...
So we have just decided to stay another day, and head for Cambodia the day after tomorrow. Now I am off to see the sunset (and I want to say good food, but it is rice for me this evening...). Damned, I am really enjoying every single bit!!
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