Asean traveller challenge 9

Tuhan selalu ada. Dia tidak pernah tidur. hari ini, satu pelajaran penuh makna yang sangat berharga. Tuhan, satu-satunya. Maha Baik, Maha Mengatur. Tapi Tuhan tidak mau makhluknya manja, Tuhan tidak mau makhluknya hanya berdoa dan berpasrah padanya. harus berusaha, tapi Tuhan tidak pernah membiarkan makhluknya menanggung usaha yang terlalu berat. semua ada kemampuannya. kemampuan ada batasnya. and God has never sleep to watch each limit.

In my case, my God is Allah.

so I woke up early in the morning like 6 am but I slept again. skipping dawn pray, because i'm too lazy to take wudhu. and wake up again for 8 am then do my best as fast as I can to take a bath, and run to Tuol Sleng Genocide museum.

from my place, me mate place in the riverside with a motorbike I pay for $1 (tuktuk ask for $3). genocide museum's ticket is $2 and if you come by before 10 am or 3pm you'll get the movie.

a little bit about the museum, it's really worth to visit for you who like history. tuol sleng show us how bad human being could be. they still preserved the jail, with a bed that was the victim used. and the picture how was the owner of the room die. also a one room for so many prisoners. and I was too afraid to get inside. I won't come there alone twice I guess. it's quite emotional, frightened, make me want to vomit, and depressed me. they still had the victim's cloths and the killing machine. plus the story how was it used.

i came back to  my hostel around 11am to pack up and check out. so sad because I have to be separated with nice liverpoolian (Tom) and Germanist (Mark). I don't know if I can make to meet them again. they were so nice. If you guys read my notes, just remember. come and visit bogor, I will be your guide for free. you just have to pay for yourself. and thanks for compliments my english. I guess it's not that good. lol

and here it comes to the $9 bus from phnom penh to saigon. since it's the cheapest one I guess, so not to expect a good serve from the driver or co driver. you have to put your bagage by yourself. no translation, since there is just me the tourist in the bus. the other is local people.

then here it comes to the saigon.

at first I refuse the motorbike who offer me 20.000 VND to Pham ngu lao from the bus stop. but I choose taxi to keep me safe. then taxi costs me 36.000 VND. and here it goes. I hardly find my hotel. since I have nothing to show, no map, no smartphone, no address and all i know is just in pham ngu lao hong kong kaiteki hotel.

I just walk around the pham ngu lao. the pub, the club, and im  here all alone walking down the street finding nowhere.

after one hour walk i try to rent a becak. he ask me for 100.000 VND. so crazy you old man. i have tired enough since i have no idea where to go. then I found an internet cafe. I try to make the map to the hotel then picture up with my camera. but it didn't work out. 30 minutes gone by nothing.

im still alone in the street, keep on praying and wishing. but then I know I skipped the dawn pray, and the zuhur also ashar. so that i deserve ignorance from my God. but I don't know where to wish but God. so I just keep my self wishing to God (Some other guy who don't trust the existence of God will never believe me). but yet, I still wishing to nowhere. keep my heart hang to an empty hall. which I believe that where the God is.

and 30 minutes goes by. nothing I found. not even the places that shown in map. I got mad. I got mad to God and challenging him. I whispered to my heart, God if you really exist then please show me. one tear has fall apart. I'm so tired. it was almost two hours for me to walk and find nothing. i'm tired of this difficult time. but then I know God want me to struggle.

then I stopped a taxi. I give up and stop a taxi. I don't have much money but if the taxi can take me safe and soundly to the hotel i will pay whatever it cost.

me "can you help me to find this?"
driver "yes can I help you" and he saw my camera. at first he was confused for what I pointed. and then I show him another clues. then he smile. "oh yes" he came out from his car, into the road and show me the way. "this way, and turn left" he said. I was amazingly shocked. I thought the taxi will take me and charge me a hard price but he didn't. instead, he left his car on and show me the way which I can go by myself. I said thank you and walk out. that Vinasun Taxi driver would be granted for so much. I won't take another taxi if i'm in saigon.

then I walk. later on, I lost again. it's way too crowded the place he just showed. and I almost couldn't make it until I saw one clue from the map, is really beside me. I keep on walking, passing the foreigners dancing and happy with the bar. I know some people saw me weirdly, but i never care. I remember how Mark told me to, "You know I have this height and I was like a giant in asia and you just have to make fun of it. you know, sometimes there's a girl that stand in front of me and I was right in her back and when she turns her back, she was scream loudly and scarily. I was just ha ha ha, you are frightened I'm a monster"

so I just keep on walking until I found nowhere. then there comes a mother. an old mother. she is a vietnamese, very thin, very wrinkled. she talk in vietnamese and pointed my bag. I saw nothing happened in my bag so i just about to ignore her. I didn't understand what does she say.

until it comes to the crossroads.

again, I have no idea where to go. just standing with an empty stare. I was just too tired.

and here she comes. that old mother with white hair and skinny body. "do you want to find a room?" amazing she does speak english. "no I want to find mine" i answered. "where is your hotel?" she asked. "Hongkong kaiteki hotel" I said. then she pointed out, "there there" and she pushed me into the road where the crossing lamp is green. be carefull. she scream.

and Oh God. when I was about to give up, here it comes to your guard. I can say anything but alhamdulillah.

I got nothing in my hand, no map, no smartphone, no picture, and I just get my hotel after 2 hours walk.

Asean traveller challenge 8

there will always be a shine after rain. that's what I met today. after some people, some moments, some prices, some roomates, now I found my best. I guess it really nice for me now because I just arrive at Phnom Penh and got a lot of happiness after those sorrow i got in Siem reap.

God has never asleep. He always know when to teach and when to grant you some prize. and here's my story now.

leave siem reap about 10 pm in the morning. I woke up early, find my self take a walk into the central city just to find something to eat. you know, I was in a big pain last night. can't sleep just want to cry but I didn't. make head like a bomb that can be explode in a minute but it doesn't. so I just screaming inside my head, and in a minute I lower the room's temperature so it doesn't too cold. than I aslept.

I was wondering to have some sweet porridge, like green beans or something but Cambodian like never have it. they just have some weird porridge, it's not an overcooked rice but a rice that dive in a soup. so it's quite soft but not really soft. added with fish, the taste is not bad. I add a bread too, just like the cambodians around me do. and the bread is sweet it's really good taste of bread I have ever taste all along this trip.

7 hours in the dusty road to Phnom Penh. even my bus (that's quite cold before) become not so cold and become a little bit dusty while in the outside there just like stormy dust. red dust, hot weather, red trees, it is amazingly like in an eastern of Indonesia.

after those seven hours, with $13 bus (mekong express) from siem reap to phnom penh, we made it into the phnom penh bus station. quite far from our guesthouse so we rent a tuktuk for $3.

Then I met my old friends. again. she's study in cambodia, exchange program and we met in the riverside under the Indonesian flag red and white. I made it with motorbike and he beg me for 2000 riel but I gave him $1 because I was just quite long and got the wrong way. so it's okay.

we have our early dinner in Halo Bali, Indonesian halal food. and the owner is really nice. he advice us to never let our stuffs hanging because the pickpocket like in everywhere. cambodia is not safe he said. a little talk with a hot chicken soup I made my stomach well. after those hard days eating like don't know what to eat. and they got a really nice price too. my chicken soup with a lot of chicken, potatoes, beans, and carrots are just 7000 riel and free non sugar hot tea. truly Indonesian. you should try sometimes. it's extremely in front of the riverside.

and my roomates. there are Thom from liverpool england, and mark from germany and timo from china. those are the man and really nice. I have a quite nice long talk with mark and what make me happy is I can understand him well. and I can speak english like really well without umm or eehh.. but I don't know why, like just come out from my mouth. and he said I should try to study overseas because I have a really good english so I can have a chance. I said I'd love too, besides I dream about travelling around the europe. You know what? from now on, I will do my best to make it's true and when God decide it to be, there would be nothing to make it wouldn't be. have a good night. I will have some sleep and have another morning to face.