Travelling With Friends

Hi everyone

As I wrote in this post, I recently returned home from Cambodia, a trip I took with one of my good friends, Sarah. I thought it would be interesting to write a post regarding travelling with friends, in case it's something any of you have thought about.

Pick your travel buddy


It's so important to pick who you want to travel with! Chances are, if what you want from the trip is too different - she wants 2 weeks in a five star hotel in New York, you're more the 3 weeks trekking through Sri Lanka kind of person - the trip won't even get off the ground. However, there are some other points that you really need to consider. If you love to go out and party, but your friend is more the stay at home kind of girl, one of you is going to end up a bit displeased when it comes to nightlife. If you're on a tour, or with a group of people, chances are you'll both be able to do what you want, however if it is just the two of you heading on a holiday, you might want to think about what you really want to get out of your time away, and if it's something you can still experience with your chosen companion.

Set some ground rules


Although no one wants to be the person to come out and demand rules, sometimes a bit of order makes travelling with other people a whole lot easier. Sarah and I didn't do this, and I don't think it's a must when you're travelling with just one other person, but if there's a group of you heading away, some dos and don'ts might make your holiday be a whole lot smoother. Some ideas are do your own dishes (if you're staying in something like a serviced apartment), no bringing other people back to the room, keeping your stuff tidy, and not hogging the bathroom when everyone is trying to get ready!


Compromise!


Like with most things friends related, compromise is so important when it comes to travelling with your buddies. On one night out on the town, I was happy to leave at 1, whereas Sarah had about another hour left in her. Solution? We headed home at 1:30, leaving both of us happy (albeit a bit sleepy the next day! Bed time for both of us is usually around the 10pm mark…)

Another really important thing to compromise on is of the "what to do/ see" variety. Sarah really wanted to go and see Kulen mountain, something I didn't really care that much about, while I really wanted to go and see a floating village, something Sarah wasn't too enthusiastic about. However, we both went along to do what the other wanted to do, and wow, am I glad I went to see Kulen Mountain! Sarah also really enjoyed the floating village.

…but don't compromise too much.


Remember, a holiday is a very expensive experience, and you need to make sure that you get what you want out of it as well. Don't fall into the trap of agreeing with everything your friend wants you to do - you'll end up resenting them and come home disappointed that you didn't get to see everything you were hoping to.

Alone time


Even if you're travelling with your closest friend, alone time is so important. Travelling is full of amazing experiences to share with someone, however after 12 hours walking around with only 5 hours of sleep the night before, everyone can be a bit snappy and in need of some chilled out time. I think this was how Sarah and I managed to get on so well throughout the entire trip. Every evening, we'd sit on our beds for a few hours before bed time, reading, writing or Facebooking. Although we were still in the same room, some quiet time gave us the chance to recharge our batteries and meant that we didn't get snappy with each other.

Talk it out


If all else fails and you do have a bit of an argument with your friend, give each other some time to cool off and then talk it out. Sarah and I had one misunderstanding the whole trip, but once we discussed it, it was back to smooth sailing. When you're away from home, sleep deprived, and possibly suffering from a bit of culture shock, everyone can get a bit antsy. There's no point in wasting your trip being grumpy with your companion, so, if problems arise, discuss it, learn from it, and then move on.

And…from the point of view of my travel buddy


I asked Sarah and she was kind enough to write a little from her point of view about travelling with friends, after our holiday together.

"I have always been someone who wants to travel. I have a travel bucket list pages and pages long. I read books on travel and the first thing I look at in the newspaper is the travel section. My trip with Laura to Cambodia was the first time I had travelled either without my parents or not on a school trip. It was the first piece of the jigsaw puzzle that makes up the world map, the first tick on my bucket list. So here’s what I’ve learnt so far:

Have a wish list

The best way to ensure you have a great time is to get together with your travel buddy and make a wish list. A list of attractions you want to see, things you want to do or even foods you want to try. This will ensure you get the most out of your holiday and also that you know what your travel buddy wants to do as well.

Expect to have a bit of culture shock

I think when we landed in Siem Reap we had a quite overwhelming feeling of, “Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore,” or perhaps more fitting, “Laura, where the hell are we?” We were extremely lucky to have a bunch of fellow volunteers take us out for dinner on the first night otherwise I’m pretty sure we would’ve locked ourselves in the hotel room, with quite a contingent of mosquitoes for company. It seemed as if the other volunteers had been in the country for months, let alone the single week most of them actually had. We learnt very quickly to relax and go with the flow. There’s no use stressing about the fact the bathroom floods every time you have a shower, that you can’t flush the toilet paper or the fact that there appears to be no road rules.

Don’t forget your pleases and thank yous…

I think this is the key whenever you’re travelling. Laura and I made sure we knew how to say thank you in Khmer within the first few hours of being in the country. The locals always had a big smile for us every time we said ‘Orgkun’; although perhaps we had some issues with our pronunciation.  I think being polite goes a huge way in travelling from help with directions, maybe a slight discount in the market or even just meeting the locals. This was made particularly clear to us whilst waiting in the bank to get cash out when a British man stormed in and shouted something about his travellers cheques not working. Both Laura and I were very embarrassed to be classed as a ‘foreigner’ along with this man and we knew that this was not the bank’s fault at all. 


…or your sorries 

Another thing is to say sorry. This is mainly for between you and your travel buddy. For example, “Sorry I used all the hot water for my shower” or “Sorry, I was certain we were meant to turn back there but we do appear to be lost”. Although I think my personal favourite was whilst riding our bikes home from school one day and we took the back roads past a temple and a group of monks. Laura had a big smile from under her bright white bike helmet and shouted, “hello,” across to them. They looked blankly back at us. So as we are riding away Laura quietly says, “Sorry,” and then suggests that maybe they were having a silent time or something. I’m beginning to think that maybe they were trying not to laugh about the helmet…




Sleep! 

I usually sleep a lot at home, I’m typically in bed by 9:30 and sleep for 8 or 9 hours each night. I know it’s easy to forgo sleep to try and pack as much in to your holiday but it’s not worth being grumpy and looking awful in all your photos. Laura and I had a couple of nights where we said we would sleep in and not worry about what time we were getting up. One of those nights was in Singapore and we both slept for 11 hours straight. And it did set us up well for a good day of shopping.

I cannot really express how amazing my experience was. I got to see what it is like living in a third world country, teach kids English, swim in a waterfall, climb up ancient temples, ride in a tuk tuk, face the hectic traffic on a bicycle, meet some amazing people, experience the terrible history of Cambodia, meet the locals and fall in love with a country. All of this I got to share with one of my best friends and this is something we will share for life."

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I hope you enjoyed our post!

Laura xx

Cambodia #2: Siem Reap, Weekend

Hi everyone

Just a side note before I start - some of these photos are of pretty average quality because I was using the good old iPhone 4S camera in low lighting - sorry! Most of them are from an actual point and shoot camera, so hopefully they make up for it.

Our one weekend in Siem Reap was incredibly eventful! This weekend, we jammed in everything that we wanted to do that would take the whole day, as during the week we were teaching. We started off with a bang, heading out to Temple Bar and Angkor What? to farewell some of our fellow volunteers. Temple Bar does great food, and at 7:30 every night there is a show of the traditional Khmer dancing - it pays to get there on time so you can get good seats! We danced the night away at both locations. A note on drinking in other countries - it's so important to be careful with what you consume! Angkor What? and Temple Bar are both very touristy though, but ask people who have been there before if they were okay afterwards just in case.

We stopped off for a quick fish foot massage during the night - would not recommend it at all! A very weird experience and I couldn't keep my feet in for long. Some of our friends who were in Cambodia at the same time as us said their tour guide had advised against it - apparently there is a risk of catching diseases but we were okay after ours. Jade, our friend who we headed to the fish massage with, really seemed to enjoy it, but I think all three of us found it a bit weird!

On Saturday, we headed up to Kulen Mountain, a beautiful mountain in a huge national park. The mini bus ride took about 2 hours, with everyone napping after a late night before. At the mountain, we went to see the reclining Buddah, the 1000 Lingas, (I'll leave you to discover what that means!) and swam in a beautiful waterfall. We also saw a temple, and a fresh spring which some of the local children washed our arms in.

Swimming in the waterfall was probably a top 3 moment of my life so far. It was absolutely freezing, but seriously such a memorable experience. Splashing around with some people you've known for a week but now consider fantastic friends, as well as with one of your best friends from home; fish nibbling at your toes; all while a huge waterfall dumps litres of water near you: a pretty incredible afternoon. For dinner that night, we ate at our guesthouse, before Sarah and I headed out to the night markets for a spot of shopping and a foot massage! We also visited Blue Pumpkin for some ice cream - yum!

On the Sunday, we woke up at 4:30am and headed out to a day at Angkor, where the temples, including the famous Angkor Wat, are. We saw the sunrise over Angkor Wat which was a pretty amazing experience. So many tourists but if you get there early enough, you should be able to get a decent enough spot to take photos. We also visited Bayon, Ta Prohm, and Angkor Thom. All absolutely beautiful temples, my favourite being Ta Prohm - the jungle temple that Tomb Raider was famously filmed at.

In the afternoon, we met up with some of our friends from home, and had a wonderful time with them at Blue Pumpkin (fantastic ice cream shop near Pub Street) as well as the Old Markets.

That evening, we headed out to town for a lovely dinner at Father's Restaurant with some of the other volunteers - fantastic food and great company (including the lovely waiter who practised his great English with us). I ate the macaroni cheese (I missed mum's cooking a bit!) and it was fantastic, although there was a great choice of other Western and local dishes.

Tips:

1. Bring a jacket if you are going to the sunrise at the temples. We didn't, and boy did we regret this! It was freezing cold, especially on the tuk tuks.

2. Avoid Angkor Wat straight after the sunrise, and instead head to some of the smaller, lesser known temples. This way, you get them mostly to yourself, while avoiding all of the tourist groups.

3. Bring food with you to the temples as the restaurants at Angkor are expensive, as well as few and far between. Plus, that way you don't need to stop your temple adventures - crack open some M&Ms and Pringles on the tuk tuk and you'll be good to go.

4. Beware: one way roads! We didn't realise that we were heading down a one way street until we noticed the funny looks and everyone heading in the opposite direction to us…we did the "push of shame" of our bikes down the street until a roundabout, where the road changed into a two directional path.

Thanks for reading!

Laura

Cambodia #1: Siem Reap, Week 1

Hi everyone

Less than a week ago I returned from my first solo (well, without family) overseas adventure to Cambodia and Singapore. I honestly had the most amazing time! It was my first time visiting Asia and I travelled with my good friend Sarah. Firstly, we spent 2 weeks in Siem Reap where we were volunteering at a school, teaching English to children and adults. Arriving at Siem Reap was very different to the arrival at any other country I have travelled to - your passport and visa are processed by hand, and customs involves one dropping a declaration form into an unmanned box! The ride from the airport was definitely a bit of a shock - tiny shacks are right next to massive 5 star hotels, motos weave in and out of traffic (not always on the right side of the road), and huge tour busses go flying past.

Throughout the week, we taught during the day, using our lunch breaks and evenings to explore the town. I have been to Europe and America before but nothing prepared me for the friendliness foreigners are shown in Cambodia. Although Siem Reap is very tourism-oriented (the majority of restaurants and shops have free wi-fi!), the charm of the town is still present, with miniature Angkor Wats and silk scarves being sold alongside cooking utensils and live fish in the central markets.

Definitely worth a mention is River Garden - a hotel/ restaurant on the riverfront a few minutes out of Siem Reap. We would go here at our lunch breaks, because as long as you pay for food or a drink, you can use their beautiful pool for no extra cost. The sandwiches are amazing, but huge - I would probably share with a friend, even if you are absolutely famished! This place is definitely worth looking up if your hotel doesn't have a pool, as the staff are so friendly and don't treat the walk-ins any different to the hotel guests.

Other fantastic eats for the first week include Blossom and Il Forno. Blossom is a cupcake shop, located near Pub Street. The cupcakes are beautiful (try the Peanut Butter ones), but what I think makes it so special is that it is a Non-Governmant Organisation (NGO) that takes female sex workers and teaches them how to bake. I'd want to support something like this regardless, but the cupcakes just made it that much sweeter! Il Forno was an Italian restaurant that was rumoured to make better Italian than anywhere in the world. While I'm not sure if I'd award it that title, it was definitely the best Italian food I ate on our trip - the Margarita pizza and Spaghetti Bolognese are definitely worth a try!

Other highlights of the week included going to 60 Road, a Cambodian fair with lots of rides and games (some on which you could win a bottle of the local whiskey…very different to home!); $1 tapas on Wednesday nights at the Soria Moria Boutique Hotel, and trawling through the night markets.

Tips for Siem Reap

1. Stay in a guesthouse instead of a 5 star hotel. I will do this again next time I go to Siem Reap! The guesthouses tend to be much closer to town, and still have everything you need - wifi, usually a laundry service of some sort, and quite possibly an onsite restaurant. Ours was a 5 minute bike ride out of Siem Reap town, just across the river - about 2 minutes in a tuk tuk. There are also less people at these places, so you actually form relationships with the lovely Khmer staff.

2. $3 massages…need I say more?

3. Be careful with your possessions… and yourself! Although Siem Reap seems like a very safe place (we had no problems when we were there) it still pays to make sure you watch your bag, especially in the market place. When you're on a tuk tuk, it's easy to get too relaxed, but we heard stories of people having their bags stolen as they went by! Stay in a group, and be careful when you're out at night.

Until next time,

Laura