សូមអរគុណ, Arkoun, Thank you, Danke

សូមអរគុណ, Arkoun, Thank you, Danke

Munich, Berlin, Cambodia

Merry Christmas and a happy new year. Yes, I know Christmas is over for a while now and 2018 started a while ago, but my brain needed some time to process 2017 and the holidays. When I look back to my 2017 I have mixed feelings. So much stuff happened to me, my life changed from waking up almost every morning and making my way to school and back, to getting up whenever I want and planning trips to Machu Picchu or Phnom Chisor. From studying for my final math exam to studying different cultures and people.  From seeing my friends every day without any effort, to calculating the time difference to find a moment to talk to my loved ones.  I’m so thankful for everyday and every person that came into my life, every new thing that I learned. I filled with joy and excited for a great 2018, even though I know it won’t even come close to last year.

I celebrated Christmas with my friends and family back home. I didn’t plan to be home for another 7 months, but spontaneity is key while travelling. That could be one reason for my homecoming, but the actual reason is my failing considering planning. I was in Buenos Aires and I wanted to spend the holidays with my friend Teresa in Cambodia. But try to fly from South America to South East Asia without stopping in Europe. And if you succeed, let me know. Therefore I was forced to land in Germany and even though I love spending time at airports alone and getting stuck there I really didn’t feel like hanging out with Airport security on Christmas. So I took my opportunity to see my family and got on a plane to Munich. After a 12 hour journey I found myself back in my girlfriends arms holding her tight in my arms. Soon I hugged my parents and joked around with my brother. I was home again.

I was so excited about the luxury of taking showers without flip flops, using a dishwasher, having clean clothes, a filled fridge and a room/bed to myself! I know crazy right?? Well then Christmas happened so fast. I think I still haven’t processed everything, because I was so busy telling short forms about my journey (“Yes I was on a trip around the world”, “13 cities”, “I worked in the countries  I visited, to afford my journey”, etc.). I already know what questions I will have to answer when I meet people, that’s what you learn living in a hostel. How to tell your story in form of a really short summary, so your … doesn’t have to wait too long to share their story or loses interest. This is one of the sad aspects of travelling alone. You don’t have anyone to share your story, nobody that really understands how you felt, when you slept at an Airport scared you´ll get robbed or actually got robbed. That’s why I keep a journal and blog about my experiences, to process. Well, enough about the sad stuff. I love travelling and sharing my story.

New year’s was spent in Berlin with my girlfriend’s family. I was really scared about meeting them the first time. But I’m so glad I did. They took me in and I had a great time partying with her, her dad, his girlfriend, her brother and her aunt, and berlins high society. We went to a really fancy dinner party with guests like Till Lindemann, Sophia Thomalla, Thomas Hayo and Michael Michalsky. But the best part was being with her.

Other things I did back home were Snowboarding, partying, meeting up with friends and family. My 10 days were really busy, but filled with lots of great days. But I was ready to leave again. Cambodia was calling. 

snowboarding on the "Wilder Kaiser"

Celebrating christmas with family and friends

So I got on a plane on the 4^th of January to fly to Phnom Penh with a short layover in Bangkok. And EVERYTHING worked out fine! Can you believe it? I landed 24 hours later in South East Asia and Teresa was already waiting for me outside the Airport! I’ve been here for a week now and still can’t believe that I actually made it. Our plans to meet up changed basically every day and now I’m sitting on the balcony with her sipping on my Kmehr Coffee.

The arrival gave me no time to get used to travelling again. It was like jumping into the cold water without putting your toes inside first, quite literally, considering there is no hot water.

You have to get a visa to enter the kingdom of Cambodia and if you’re like me and don’t plan ahead, you get in line for a “visa upon arrival”, which is no problem but the registration officers are either really shady or bad at maths. I had to explicitly ask for my change back, otherwise I would have paid for his next 10 meals. After my little fight he gave up and I got into a Tuk-Tuk (most common way of transportation in Asia) and we drove to Teresas flat, which she shares with other German volunteers, close to the city center. The traffic was crazy, motorcycles everywhere with up to 4 people riding them, driving on both sides of the streets, the direction doesn’t matter as long as you’re ready for a huge storm of honking. The horn is the most important part of a moto by the way…brakes or lights might be on the 4^th or 5^th spot.

Her flat mates took me in like I had been part of their group forever. I know why Teresa likes all of them so much and only speaks well about them. I will miss them too.

I spent only one week in Phnom Penh…that might be the reason, why I still have troubles spelling the name. But I saw so much, learned a lot about the culture and had a great time with Teresa.

We went on a day trip to Phnom Chisor, a really old temple 40km away from the center. It took us about 2 hours to get there by motorcycle. After that we visited the animal rescue center which you enter by motorcycle too. It´s so big, that walking would take hours and hours.

Other things I saw where the Mekong a river running through the city, where the yearly water festival takes place, the Kings palace who doesn’t even live in Cambodia and owns a ballet school in France, the monument of independence, several markets (food, school supplies, clothes, motorcycle parts, etc.), and the Future Light Orphanage of World Made. 

almost got attacked by a monkey

buddhist statues in a traditional Pagoda

how do you like our fancy hats?

holding hands with my favorite monkey

lots of love for those kids

exploring the antique temples of Cambodia

About the Orphanage: Teresa is a Volunteer, working as an English teacher, with children between the ages 4 and 16. She clearly does a great job, considering that every child I saw immediately started smiling when she entered a room. We spent a whole day there and I fell in love with those kids. Everyone has their own special and interesting story, which they tried to share in Khmer. I played Ukulele for them; we sang together, I braided the girls’ hair. And I was close to crying, when they asked if we would ever come back.  

I had a great time. I love this country, the city, the food, the people and I am so glad to have a friend like Teresa, who took me in and showed me her new home. Thank you!

Now I am off to Australia!

By the way!!  I got robbed and a new tattoo. Want to hear about it? Text me.