11. 6. 2014, on the way to Bangkok

The days flew like a jetplane in Sihanoukville. It is hard to believe that I spent there full 9 days in the end. What were we doing all that time? Nothing, that’s it. Pool, beaches, food, drinks, reading, pool, beaches, chats with Hanzi, Mr. Black, Natalie and most of all Frank. Isn’t it strange that if you do little, time flies as crazy and when you do plenty, the day is soooo loooong? I remember our second day in Jordan with Renia, on which we got up at around 5 am to catch a bus to Petra and then so much happened on that day that in the evening we just couldn’t believe it was still the same one.

12. 6. 2014, on the way to Ko Tao

I am also surprised about how much I started reading again. It began already before setting off, in the hospital I had read “Ask our father” in no time while I just couldn’t finish it before going to Holland, despite it is a last book of my favorite Czech author, Jan Balaban. Similarly, I started and then put aside The Wanderer in the Stars by Jack London some years ago. It didn’t seem very entertaining to me then. What? Here I devoured it in three days, and loved it. I have found a theory in some article that most people in their twenties experience downturn in reading. They explained it as a result of gathering so much information during one’s teenage years, high school and university times when we absorb and absorb. After that comes a period of procession and production, when we transform what we had learned previously into something new and ours. We need to form our own thinking and acting, not keep reading someone else’s thoughts. I quite like this theory. And I guess it might be that after a period of production, we had formed ourselves into some shape but we also realize we need to learn more and now is again the time for it. I don’t recall being consumed by any book in the past years, with the exception of comic books and The Goddesses of Zitkova (odkaz). Something that I could not stop reading, or at least thinking of until it’s finished. And here it happens all the time. The Cloud Atlas, 4-hour Work Week, Maus, The Kite Runner… and more and more titles that I had always wanted to read but haven’t managed so far are crossing my mind. I am finally fully appreciating this electronic box (aka tablet). It is so easy to download many books for free, which is without a card the only way to get them. It is also my research tool for all kinds of useful information, my contact with beloved ones, my creative tool, my map, GPS, music and movies player, sometimes a back-up camera and who knows what else. And it doesn’t nearly weight anything. I think I will still remain faithful to paper, real books, but this is a really handy travel solution.

We are in Thailand again. Leaving Cambodia went smoothly and without bribes in the end, despite me not having any appropriate stamps in my passport (it was raining the night before its return and the Cambodian and Thai stamps god washed out). But the guys looked strict and were shaking their heads in a “no-no” gesture. However, the higher ranks were understanding. It also helped that Mr. Black was with me both entering and leaving the country and he had his stamps all right.

I didn’t want to leave Cambodia at all. I love Cambodia! (I should have bought that T-shirt.) The beaches and beautiful people and cheap guesthouses… Not to mention the local national parks and nature in general, which looks so fabulous and I haven’t but peeped in it shortly.

Well hell, lost 180 dollars are lost 180 dollars, 50 extra on top of it, my budget has slightly changed. If I was to follow my original plans of 700 euro for Indonesia and 500 for the travel back, I could not go for the diving course any more. But as my quick-witted readers guessed already, plans are here so we can change them any time. I will reaserch on flights again and will cut some parts of Indonesia out from my trip. There is no other option. Knowing how to dive is a must for a young lady nowdays!

29. 6., on the way to Borobudur

I find it fascinating how things just happen. Not sure if I will be able to describe what exactly I mean. But I’ll try: so things happen every day – like taking exams, going for job interviews, confessions, lies, surprises, finishing projects, buying houses or lands… All those are big and remarkable things but we have them planned, in mind for some time and they don’t shock us. They come, we are at the beginning and we watch the progress and when the final comes, we deal with it and that’s it. What really gets me are things that come to us unexpectedly, without us asking for them. And these tend to be the really big, HUGE ones. And all of the sudden they are in front of us, peering cheekily into our faces and challenging us. No, they are not in front of us, we are in them, all drowning, and now is the time to prove who we are, how we can cope with anything, how we react, what’s really in us. Perhaps the most common example is falling in love. It comes out of a blue and swallows us up. Entirely. If we let it. Another situation is a death of someone close to us. He/she is here, is here, is here… and suddenly is simply not. Or somebody steals all your stuff and you need to deal with a situation that had not crossed your mind once. Or breaking up. Or getting pregnant (no, I am not). Or killing someone (no, I haven’t killed any of the annoying tuk-tuk drivers, yet). You make one mistake and a chain of events follows, with you unable to stop them. From a minute to a minute, everything changes. That moment enthralls me. How something enormous happens in one tiny second. Suddenly, there exists a clear border between before and after that second. How much we would like to go back to that before sometimes, but that before does not exist any more. There isn’t what was, and there is what wasn’t. It is beautiful and creepy at the same time. These moments I would call the fate. And the best part is that they show us the way. If we are on the right path or not. Which turn to take to be happier… If we listen, are honest to ourselves and are ready to work hard.