Leave a message for someone you love, or something you want to put out there.
Save the planet, world peace
Whatever you feel the need to write down you can here.
Coffee and note time
Order a coffee from the friendly staff and compose a note. Then find somewhere to stick it on the wall in the many rooms or walls leading up to the 4 floors that have notes everywhere.
I spent hours here enjoying reading lots of messages that people have left. It gives you a nice feeling when you can read something someone else has left maybe a year ago or a few days earlier.
What a great idea to do this
It allows you to leave a part of yourself here.
Although very quickly it will disappear under the constant notes you can be sure it will be there forever.
Should you ever be in Hanoi, be sure to check it out and maybe you will find a few I left.😅
Capitol to over 17,000 islands and 700 different languages.
Presides over 260 million people
Jakarta is a crazy city. The traffic is jaw-dropping to watch. I still haven’t figured out which is the crazier yet. Bangkok for all its cars and mad Tuk Tuk drivers doing wheelies as they take you on a lengthy tour of the city ( making the journey seem longer than it is!)
Ho Chi Minh for its mass of Scooters flying around the streets, where you take your life in your own hands by trying to cross.
Or Jakarta where the mixture of both cars and bikes seems to be in an endless circle around the streets. Where a journey of 30 minutes can take 2 hours at the wrong time of the day.
Now the train system is in place it does help but only marginally.
The city itself allows for some relaxation as some of the bars have a great contrast of music and dance which is very popular in Indonesia.
I was lucky to see a live band whilst there. Who covered a song by a famous Indonesian band called Payung Teduh. And also as I was the only westerner in the bar played a rendition of Oasis “Don’t look back in anger” just for me.
One of the most diverse capital cities in South East Asia.
It has some really prosperous areas and yet some of the worst slums I have seen. ( not travelled to India yet for reference.)
But being a commercial network capital it has a high infrastructure and many large multinational companies have a base in the city giving many career opportunities to people who are willing to travel and work here. I guess this is why it has created some really bad slum areas as many people move there in the hope of improving their lives.
Problems
It suffers from high air pollution level that affects over 95% of the population due to industrial waste and automobiles. At certain times of the day, you can literally sit in your car for hours trying to move.
At least with the likes of Jakarta and Bangkok, the traffic does tend to move and even with a large number of motorbikes and scooters, it is possible to get by.
However, in Manila automobiles tend to be king and they just happily sit on the road along with everyone else.
I believed things would improve, but this year took a turn for the worse for everyone around the world.
I think we will remember 2020 for a long time; it will go down in history as one of those years when humanity had to endure a global catastrophe.
Beginning of the end?
It had all started well enough. I attended my fourth wedding in Cambodia, where Mr Sok, one of the cooks/ tour guides at the pepper farm, got married in March. It was a joyous occasion for everyone, and it concluded a beautiful chapter of my experiences in Cambodia—one that I will cherish forever.
Pre-Covid Plans
After travelling for over 15 months and entering my third actual year of travel, I felt it was a good time to leave and discover new things.
I originally left the UK in September 2018 and spent most of 2019 living in Cambodia. Initially, I had expected to be back home by now, but I suddenly felt the urge to visit friends and family.
This year, my plan was to explore Vietnam and Laos, possibly concluding my journey in Myanmar, where I hoped to experience more of its beauty.
However, before all that, I began with a trip back to the UK in mid-March to surprise my mum for her birthday. It turned out to be a memorable surprise for both of us.
23 March 2020 will be a day I remember for a long time. I surprised her after being away for 18 months, only to be unexpectedly faced with COVID-19 and lockdown restrictions that left me stuck in the UK indefinitely.
Long Stay
It would take almost two years for me to finally get back on a plane and return to Cambodia, where I had initially left for a two-week holiday.
The sad part is that I lost several good friends who, like so many others, succumbed to Covid-related deaths.
During this time, we experienced lockdowns, mandatory mask-wearing, and witnessed many caring and compassionate individuals stepping up to help others.
Suddenly, we found ourselves away from the pressure and stress of everyday life, which allowed us to support our fellow beings.
However, this came at a price, the effects of which we are only beginning to fully comprehend years later. Inflation, the rising cost of living, and food shortages are all consequences of the economic shutdown during the pandemic.
This means that people’s lives will be affected for decades as we face the aftermath of COVID. Additionally, speculation continues about the origins of the virus, with some suggesting that it may have escaped from a man-made laboratory.
I should have left Cambodia in January, but I ended up staying all year. It took until October for me to finally visit Vietnam, albeit for about three weeks.
I loved Sapa and climbed my mountain there. I fell in love with Hanoi, which will always hold a special place in my heart. I plan to visit again, but I doubt it will have the same impact as my first experience.
My first visit to Myanmar was surprising; I thought it wouldn’t have much appeal. How wrong I was! It’s a place that offers so much, and who knows, it might be somewhere I could spend a year as well.
The pepper farm @BoTree
What can I say that will fit on this page? I will always cherish the memories of the many good people who have been part of my life, both as volunteers and visitors, as well as the farm workers and their families. Next year, I’ll be leaving, and while there are many things that could keep me here forever, it only takes one reason to change my mind.
I have met so many wonderful people and learned a great deal from them. I’ve made good friends who I hope will last a lifetime, even though some may fade over time—that’s just life.
There are a couple of special individuals who have significantly impacted my life, especially one person who helped me learn so much about myself. I hope to carry forward the lessons they taught me into next year.
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