Traveling in Asia

The kind of annoyances is an ever growing list of small pains the traveler has to cope with in Asia. I would like to dedicate this blog post to these kind of disturbances.

It almost looks like the Asian person doesn't think the same way we do. Or maybe they just don't. Not necessarily all Asians are small people, so why is the door that low? The wall allows for a taller one. I bumped my head twenty eight hundred times by now on doors or ceilings that didn't need to be this low. Once through the door, into the bathroom. The floor is wet and so are all the walls, the toilet including the seat and the toilet paper. If there is any. A toilet I mean, not just the paper. Why is everything wet? Because someone thought it would be a good idea to use the infamous, for western people anyway, 'bum-gun.' Now we need to take a shower. The heating system is actually a bit better then south American system, which likes to electrocute people, a small box hanging right next to the shower head. But the system doesn't work if you hold the shower head lower then the previously described heater box. Why the handle for the shower head is positioned below the heater box is a miracle. First the water doesn't heat up while in the handle and second, but certainly not least, you are now forced to hold the shower head in your hand above your head, because it's too low (shoulder height) anyway. So there is heating and a handle which render each other useless. What a (Asian) world.

Fees are another example. A fee to cross the bridge, a fee to use the toilet, a fee for the stamp in my passport, an extra fee because it's the weekend (?), a fee for parking you bike, a fee for entering a natural sight. To elaborate: there's a nice waterfall, viewpoint, lake, cave somewhere in the surrounding area of a travelers destination. The local farmer sees a sudden rise in visitors (mainly white people) and decides to build a wooden shack, often not more than 2 walls and a roof, and starts charging the unknown visitors. And we pay up.

Luckily for us, the fees are always in the range of small pocket change. From 10 cents to 1 euro. It's often not worth the hassle of saying something about it and just pay.

The last time I wrote I was in Northern Thailand, but from there I traveled through Laos, north to south, entering Camobodia. Now I am in Siam Reap and the famous temples of Angkor. A short summary of Laos will follow next.

Nice to read a new post, although it's a bit late I discovered it (still no rss :)). Electric showers are the devils work. They can be found in most bathrooms in the UK as well. There's never any pressure and they overheat all the time. I surely not going to miss them... Despite all these little annoyances I guess you are still enjoying yourself. Looking forward to the next update (and Angkor pics maybe?).