An Intrepid Tour Leader

Working as a Tour Leader in Southeast Asia

Tour Leader In Southeast Asia

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Follow Marlo Perry‘s travels around Southeast Asia, leading her tour groups from one new year to the next for Intrepid Travel. This article was originally posted on another of our websites, reproducing Marlo’s regular mailings each week or so. In full it’s a long read.

1. The Apprentice

27th December 2003
Hello hello,
Hope this finds you enjoying the last couple of days of 2003. I am having an absolute ball, why? For those who don’t know I have just got a new job and it doesn’t involve making coffee! I am now employed by Intrepid.

They are an Australian based company which focuses on running tours through Asia. What do I know about Asia? Well, give me a month and I’ll let you know!! My job is as group leader, so I have to make sure that the 12 odd people on the trip get from A to B having their best holiday ever in the process. How hard can that be……

My first couple of trips will be through Vietnam, where I am right this very second, listening to the millions of motorbikes hooning around Ho Chi Minh City. I will also be working in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Yes I know it sounds too good to be true. I am waiting for the Candid Camera guys to step out from behind a cyclo and tape the expression on my face as they tell me it is a hoax!

For those who weren’t part of my South American Odyssey mailing list, you have soo much to look forward to as I make up, I mean describe my goings on. Maybe a few less volcanos but I’m sure to get myself into some kind of trouble, otherwise it would be so boring for you all!

So welcome back to my mailing list, work hard, you know I will be:-)
Marlo

   

2. Trip One

4th January 2004
Hello Everybody,
Chuc mung nam moi (My one phrase of Vietnamese, soon to improve I hope! – Happy New Year!)

So I have entered the world of ‘Leader Land’ as the Intrepid crew may call it, and so far so good. I tagged along with a group down in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) where I was the apprentice as we travelled through the Mekong Delta, Hoi An, Hue and now in Hanoi.

I think I decided I would like this job sometime in Hoi An as I was travelling on the back of another leaders motorbike and was discussing the pros of leader life – free accomm, free food, free clothes and free beer… not a bad deal at all.

I saw it put into practice, especially in Hoi An, a small sea side town big on tailor made clothes. I spent New Years eve there. Started off in the usual traveller bar but had a very artificial atmosphere, just all the gringos waiting for 12 o’clock to pop around. So we (some of the group) moved along to a small hotel where one of the locals was the MC. Like walking onto a cruise ship, quite bewildering at first. Lots of older, well mature aged gringos sitting around tables singing songs, clapping hands, listening to the local boy band under fairy lights. But very authentic, all just wanted a good time, but it was like celebrating the New Year with your parents (no offense Mum!)

Had a good time none the less, there was no count down just a couple of fire crackers, a dodgy Happy New Year song and I decided to jump fully clothed into the swimming pool. Managed to get half the group in as well. Good fun indeed!

The busiest time of year for Intrepid right now. I was meant to be on the tour for another two days but another trip is starting tonight and they don’t have a leader so I am filling in for a couple of nights (am shitting myself just a little bit!) Then I have my very own first group starting on Thursday. So my training is more or less over, and what have I learnt….. I hope something, I mean what can go wrong. Me, 12 different people in a foreign country, it’ll be a breeze.

Working as a Tour Leader in Southeast Asia

3. Half Way

13th January 2004
Am about half way through my very first trip, so far so good…. phew! One guy has just managed to strain a hammy trying to kick the stupid hacky sack so I won’t be bringing that game out for awhile! But apart from that no major issues.

Have had pretty ordinary weather all the way down but I’m not the weather God so I just put on a happy face and tell everyone it adds to the atmosphere! Hard to do whilst on the motorbike tour in a downpour. Everyone was saturated but still good fun!

Am in Hoi An right now, probably my most favourite city in Vietnam. Cosy. Nice place to hang out for awhile. The group is doing an optional day trip tomorrow so I will bum around on the beach (weather permitting or bum around in a cafe – one of the few places in Vietnam you can get a ‘real’ cappuccino!) What a job!

I still haven’t learnt how to do accounts so I will have a crash course in that when I finish my trip; how far over budget can I get? Just act stupid – works just fine.

My Vietnamese has halted a bit, I am hoping for a couple of days off so I can find a teacher and get some lessons under my belt. Still cant differentiate between ba=grandmother and ba=three. Just need some time and all will be good – In a very positive frame of mind at the moment. I know it won’t last so I am making the most of it.

Still learning the craft of how to not let the group know that you are getting a free meal. Have a bit of a conscience at the moment so I tend to buy a round of drinks at the pub afterwards – more or less the same price. Tips from other leaders include going to the toilet for a very long time or asking everyone to put in what they think they owe. Tricky. But it seems to be the culture here that the leader in a group doesn’t have to pay. The way has been paved quite nicely for me!

So, five days to go. Then I’ll get my feedback on how they thought I did. I told them it was my first trip leading in Vietnam, so they have been pretty supportive.

4. Tet

17th January 2004
Yeah, I am safe and sound in Saigon and so are my passengers. We made it! Had the final night dinner last night, yes chicken was on the menu, but if anyone gets bird flu it won’t be on my shift!

My next trip is through Cambodia – I have never been to Cambodia, and I think that my pose a ‘little’ bit of a problem as I will be gasping more than the passengers when we get to Angkor Wat. So I am trying to hook up with the next group going through so I can get a feel for the place. My trip starts in Bangkok so I have to get there some how anyway.

Tet time in Vietnam, the roads are packed, colourful flower markets everywhere, everyone happy and trying to finish off all their jobs before the New Year starts. As exciting as it all sounds everything will close 21 – 23rd. So I might be able to cross the street in Saigon without getting hit by a bike but where would I go? All the banks will be closed all week but the shops are closed so there is nowhere to spend money. I am hoping to leave during this time so I might make my own way to Cambodia if another trip isn’t heading through shortly.

Cambodia doesn’t celebrate Tet (New Year) at the same time as the Vietnamese, their New Year is in April. Wow three New Years to celebrate in three months, what a great part of the world!

I really have to be going. I have to meet the boss to talk accounts. Yes I do have to do some work on this job. Too many zeros in the Vietnamese dong…

Working as a Tour Leader in Vietnam

5. Monkey Business

24th January 2004
I have enjoyed a great Tet season in Saigon. Due to lack of transport and most shops being closed a lot of trips weren’t running last week which meant that I got to meet up with several other leaders.

I am trying to figure out if they were always eccentric or if it develops with the job! My work companions are a bunch of characters that is for sure! Extra curricular activities tend to revolve around drinking and playing pool. My pool playing is improving daily – although I played an unmentionable game at the DMZ in Hue city where if my competitors had known the Australian rules I would have been dacked and running around the pool table…

The colour of Tet was brilliant, in the south people decorate their homes with kumquat trees, beautifully styled in shapes with the orange fruit looking heaps better than any decorated Christmas tree ever could! As well as apricot and peach blossoms, sunflowers, bonsai etc. The parks in Saigon are taken over by huge flower markets, cyclo men hang around outside so that they can transport the trees back to the homes. So there are huge trees being pushed along the streets by little men. The grounds around the markets are covered in flower petals having been blown off the plants. Pretty. Of course the gutters are also filled with rubbish, plastic bags, human waste but if you look past that…

The main centre street in town was closed to cars so the middle strip was turned into a flower park. Businesses and corporations sponsoring corners of outside flower art. Vietnamese families would walk through taking photos at every stop.

Tet night was a carnival atmosphere. Families cruising around on motorbikes – I have to explain the traffic to all those who haven’t made it to Asia (yet -come and visit:-). Imagine every single family hopping onto one motorbike (squeeze the kids in between Mum and Dad) and doing a motorcade down to Phillip Island for the Grand Prix. Add in a couple of teen hoons, push bikes, cyclos, buses, water buffalo, pedestrians and a limited understanding of road rules and that sums up traffic here. Crossing the road is great fun, just step out walk slowly and the traffic weaves around you – in theory anyway! You have to look at them to make sure they are looking at you but when traffic is coming from a couple of directions it can be a ‘bit’ nerve racking! I just received a note saying that Mike, the guy who trained me in Vietnam is currently in Bangkok hospital after being hit by a moto, but I’m sure extra curricular activities played a part as well 🙂

So me and seven million Vietnamese were crowded into Siagons’ centre watching the Vietnamese ballet and opera perform on centre stage, delighting in coconut juice, fairy floss and buying Happy New Year balloons. Come midnight fire works go off along the water front. In very Vietnamese style the whole lot went off with very little thoughtful planning but looked good. Whenever there was a big or pretty one the crowd would ooohhhh and ahhhh and clap. Then they got back on their motorbikes drove off and are spending the next couple of days seeing friends and family and starting their good luck for this the year of the monkey. Apparently an unpredictable year.My monkey year was meant to begin with a trip into Cambodia but most of the Cambodian senior leaders are half way through trips, in Oz having a break or lost! So I will fly back up to Hanoi and start another Vietnam trip to keep me occupied until a Cambodian leader is ‘found!’

6. Quick Turnaround

6th March 2004
Phew, just finished a three week trip from north to south Vietnam. Was good fun then crap then OK then somewhere in between then thank God it is all over. Long time to be with group, they didn’t get along excellent like, but were civil and nice to each other.

It was a really good itinerary, got to do some walking and stayed with local families in homestays. Unfortunately Intrepid has scrapped that rip this year – to make way for the European opening up market. A pity because the trip went to good places. Oh well.

I don’t know who I annoyed in the office but I have finished that three week trip today and tomorrow I start another three weeker, south to north. No break – except for the two days lounging on a beach in Mui Ne and lying in a hammock all day on the boat to the Cambodian border. Poor me!

My Vietnamese is coming along a little better. Fortunately every conversation with a Vietnamese persons involves the same questions:
What’s your name?
How old are you?
Are you married?

Any other conversation outside of those questions though and I don’t have a clue what they are talking about – in time….

Working as a Tour Leader in Thailand

7. Thai New Year

16th April 2004
Happy Easter! Apparently Easter has been and gone, I didn’t even realise it had arrived. I was on a trip at the time and decided I should go looking for Hot Cross Buns or some Easter eggs. Don’t waste your time in Hue Vietnam, I spent four hours looking and found NOTHING! And they say holidays are overcommercialised! As luck would have it my group arrived on the overnight train to Hanoi on Easter Monday and as a treat we always eat at KOTO restaurant and guess what the kids had made Hot cross buns and the passengers thought it was because I had phones ahead and organised it all. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that I didn’t have a thing to do with it! How great they thought I was. Good group.

Finished up in Hanoi and am starting my next trip from Bangkok through Cambodia to Saigon. I arrived in Bangkok on the 13th which is also the start of Thai New Year (Songkran) – Yeah another new year to celebrate, it was the best ever. I got in a taxi to get to the Intrepid base hotel which I hadn’t been to before but due to the festivities all the roads in the hotels district (near the notorious Kho San Road) had been blocked off to traffic. No prob I’ll just walk. BUT that meant walking through all the revellers who were partaking in traditional practices – the liberal throwing of water over anyone and everyone! AND giving a blessing with a handful of clay smudged onto your face. I arrived wet and clayed up but had a room.

I didn’t want to be there though I went straight back outside bought myself a jumbo water pistol which had a 5L backpack of water attached to it (all for $3) and joined in the fun. Indescribable but imagine the hugest muck up day from school ever where everyone is involved. Hot weather, water guns, buckets of water, music at every corner where anyone would join in and dance, food stalls and clay. As soon as you stepped out of your hotel you would be covered in clay and soaked.

What a great day but guess what Songkran goes for THREE days straight. No use cleaning up the streets that night you have another three days to go! So today when I have finally arrived in the office with only one pair of clean clothes left I thought I’d let you know about the fun that you should all try and come to next year. Mark it on your calendar definitely my most favourite new year (and I’ve tried a few this year!) My plans for the next week involve going down south and doing some rock climbing with a group of leaders. Then I train through Cambodia and then I have a dilemma…….

After Cambodia I have three weeks off. The tourist season has slowed down a bit so we are all given a holiday after being worked so damn hard through the start of the year. So what should I do?

What would you do if you had three weeks to play with in Asia? I end in the south of Vietnam and must begin again in the north. All suggestions welcome.

Working as a Tour Leader in Cambodia

8. Angkor

3rd May 2004
Sua s’di (hello). That’s about as good as my Khmer gets. Actually I also learnt how to count to 29. The number system is great because you only have to learn to five and then all other numbers are based around that. Unfortunately the written language is in Sanskrit so I can’t actually read anything….

Had a great little training trip through Cambodia. Really enjoyed seeing everything I had read about in the Angkor Wat temple complex. WOW just doesn’t sum it up. The trip spends three days hanging around Siem Reap the town closest to the ruins and we still don’t get to see all the temples, that’s how big the whole area is.

Of course we see the major ones; Angkor Wat and the Tomb Raider one. Night times are spent drinking Tomb Raider cocktails at the Angelina Jolie inspired pub. Also have to get up early and accompany the group on two sunrises over the area, 4:45am starts, ouch! I’m not looking forward to leading that too regularly!

Quick flight to Phnom Penh (PP), the capital of Cambodia. Nice little town, waterfront is being developed for tourists so some nice places to sit and people watch. Such a poor country, lots of NGOs setting up but a quick motorbike trip around town and you see where the directors are living, so I’m not sure if all the money is filtering down to where it should be going.

Did some trips around PP, very depressing looking at how the Khmer Rouge really f*^$#ed up their own people and country. Schools turned into prisons and torture rooms, mass graves, killing fields, landmines. Really screwed up and then to know that many of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge hold government positions today.

The local guides Intrepid uses in Cambodia are awesome. Rarn the guide in PP gave us a great insight into Cambodian life. Went and had dinner at his house. 43 people living in the one house, all the extended family. Great stories of corruption from Rarn.

He had just had a pretty bad motorbike accident. He was taken to hospital with his five year old daughter who was also pretty hurt (bled from her ear for five days!). The doctors wouldn’t touch either of them until his wife arrived with some money half an hour later. His bike was wrecked and the police impounded it. It was the other drivers fault so the police made him pay $100 to Rarn, $80 for him and they would keep the other $20. When he went to pick up his bike the police had drained out all the petrol, taken out the battery and taken other parts as well. He had to push the bike home. Daily life in Cambodia!

I don’t know how I feel about the country yet. Usually I get a pretty good feel about a place but I think I am still processing everything I saw, heard and experienced….

   

9. Bangkok

8th June 2004
Phew, welcome (back) to Bangkok! I have been working hard as always, ha ha ha. Just completed a three week trip with the hugest group ever – three people. Yep just three.

I was very very lucky that they were normal cruisy people. It could have been very bad otherwise. But they were content if I could show them to a bar in the evenings and a cake and coffeeshop in the mornings. We got along well enough together that we are meeting up in Bangkok too, a cool little blues club just down the street.

I have the joy of two weeks off, yes as I say working hard, then starting to lead trips through Cambodia. I am looking forward to challenge of that. I have to do heaps of reading beforehand though so it is good I have a lot of time off. I have three Mexicans, an Italian, a Brazillian, UK, USA and Aussies on my next trip very multicultural. Could be great could be horrific!

My new bosses were doing a tour of duty through Vietnam whilst I was leading. There has been a change of the boss in Melbourne office for the Indochina region so she was meeting all the operators and leaders. They were in the same hotel I was in for the trip in Hoi An so it meant I couldn’t play up too much and was on my best behaviour. Although my old boss was very impressed when he found out I carried around a Playstation in my backpack.

Very sad life I know, but Vietnamese TV can drive you insane. When they dub over a Chinese show, instead of using several people for the different characters they just have one voice, one voice for every man woman and child on the TV program. I never have any clue as to who is speaking to who!

The weather in Vietnam is improving up north. Second time in six months I have seen blue sky in Halong Bay. Great way to finish the trip with three people, we had a huge boat (sleeps up to 20!) them, me a local guide and a crew of five, blue skies, seafood banquet, deck chairs on top, swimming, Yes really roughing it! Well the trip does but the last couple of days we try and end on a high, so people can forget all the bad times. It was good boat crew I got them to teach me how to play Chinese chess, exercises the mind, a little tricky as all the pieces have Chinese characters on them and they are different for red and black team. Odd.

Back to doing some physical exercise as well at the Muay Thai gym here in Bangkok. Although I nearly busted my nose last night, stupid German tourist showing off and playing way to hard, but the Thai guys got him back (ha ha ha). At least the blood from my nose washed out a lot of Bangkok’s pollution. Reading the paper in the mornings they always have the air quality index, most days it sits on a charming orange colour – the unhealthy zone. Fresh air in Cambodia soon.

10. It Depends

19th June 2004
It is currently 11:30pm I am sitting in the office trying to finish all the paperwork before my latest trip leaves (7am in the morning). Just met my group – seem like a good bunch but it can be dodgy to call this early on in the trip.

Usually have mainly Australian, English, USA but have very mixed group. Including a Mexican lady who doesn’t speak English – time to show off! However there is also an Italian, two other Mexicans, a Brazilian and a Welsh guy who speaks Italian who can all kind of communicate amongst each other so I could look like an arse as I say “well it kind of depends” – my favourite Spanish phrase.

Must have looked a treat when I met them all, I have a black eye at the moment from the kickboxing gym, bruised knuckles (from taking out my frustrations on the punching bags) and a slight limp because I slipped over on the footpath (did I feel like a stupid fool!!!) Hi everyone I am Marlo and I will be looking after you for the next three weeks – can barely look after myself!

Really have to go, more number punching and packing to do. GO PORTUGAL!

11. A&E

25th July 2004
Yes I have been slack in the whole communication department but I’ve been working really hard (seriously 🙂 I left Bangkok the first week of June and have worked non stop, (well I had one day off in Hanoi) until today.

Exhausted. Actually had my worst trip ever during that period as well. I managed to lose five people and the group didn’t all meet up until day 5 of a ten day trip. Four hospital visits (infected sores, dehydrated hypochondriac and a broken arm after a motorbike accident) Yes it really was the worst trip ever.

I needed a good week to recover from that but instead I had back to back trips so no such luck. I managed to pick up an AC disease, well at least I think I picked it up from an air conditioner – do you remember those things – really necessary in the warm climate here (ha ha ha!). But the joke is on me as I more or less lost my voice, not the best thing to lose in this job, actually losing passenger passports would be worse…

Went to the doctor today and he said not to speak and to get some rest and then gave me a whole plastic bag full of drugs, they seriously weigh about half a kilo and are only for one week. It looks like I have a major disease as I sit at each meal popping a dozen pills of all didn’t shapes and sizes. Cheap doctor visit though, about $8 and the medication cost me about $9. Got to love Thailand.

So I was all set to enjoy this week off that I had scheduled after six weeks of work but not to be. I got a call from my Australian boss as I was hanging out in Siem Reap (Cambodia) asking if I could do a favour and fill in a trip, not like you can say no to your boss. So I have two days off before starting a trip which I have never run before.

It is a loop trip starting in Bangkok travelling through Northern Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and ending in Cambodia. Could be great fun however it takes one month and it is with the same group of people, so could suck big time. I am preparing myself to look like a fool for the first two weeks as I lead them blindly through Thailand and Laos but once we hit Vietnam I will know what I am doing but there is a good chance they will think I am a fool who knows nothing by the time we get there.

So it will be challenging but I am a ‘little’ annoyed that I miss out on my week off, sure I get a few days but I am spending those trying to learn about this trip so it really isn’t the same as heading off to the movies and completely relaxing.

Added to that my stupid flu so I am not going to Muay Thai cos I feel like crap and getting beaten up wouldn’t help the self esteem before this big trip.

Working as a Tour Leader in Laos

12. Laos

29th August 2004
Hello, hello, hello,
Feels like ages since I’ve sent you all a message. Can’t even remember where I left you all. Probably somewhere before I lead a blind trip (ie never done it before) through Laos. Wow – what a country, had such a great time. It was good not to be hassled endlessly.

Like the rest of South East Asia the people were super friendly but so laid back. Resting and relaxing must be a national sport. Most enjoyable town was Luang Prabang. I had been there about five years earlier and it is still as cruisy as ever, just a couple more internet shops, bakeries and tourist cafes but more or less has the same serene feel, Heaps of wats and temples are scattered around town. Monks pass you by all day and if you wake up super early (5am) you can watch as at least 200 monks collect alms in the morning. That is they walk in single file passing local people who give them food into their bowls.

The trip I lead also goes to a homestay so we stayed overnight in a small Lao village. Great experience, squat toilet, communal sleeping area – actually they only had room for my pax inside the house so I had to sleep outside on the verandah which was even better, until the roosters started their morning chorus at 3am, 4am, 5am. By 5 the whole village was awake anyway so we popped on down to the river for a wash.

I was sick the first week of the trip – really sick. Some kind of flu which really knocked me, or maybe the medication I was taking had a similar effect, high as a kite for group meeting, not a good start but my group was good. I was very lucky. It could be disastrous if the group doesn’t get along as it is a REALLY long trip – 29 days. Always together in transport, accommodation and some activities. I tried to give them as much free time as possible so they weren’t forced together too much as I think that is when things can start cracking.

By the time we got to Vietnam I knew what I was doing, similar to other trips I’ve run so felt a lot more relaxed. Then into Cambodia and the final night was in Siem Reap (a town right near Ankor Wat). And finally “me time”. I have worked 67 of the past 70 days and I am absolutely exhausted. Really draining spending so much time with people, answering questions endlessly, organising crap endlessly.I really enjoyed placing the “Do Not Disturb” sign on my door. Plugged in the Playstation – which I left behind as I didn’t want to carry it around to places I didn’t know and am having a couple of days trying to beat Omnishuba3. Go Jacques!

So now, a week off all for me no passengers Yeah and then an even bigger YEAH is my friend from Australia is coming out to see me. YEAH Jo. So we are going to have heaps of fun at the beachside town of Hoi An – my most favourite town in Vietnam. It will be great.

Before that I have to go to the dentist, again. Very cheap in Bangkok I went the other day and it cost me $12 to get my teeth cleaned at the same time she told me I had to come back and get some root canal treatment. Scary! I went yesterday for the first session (yes apparently I need a bit of work done. Its been sore for a while, I know I’ve been putting it off but a couple of sessions….) I think she is picking up a lot that isn’t too wrong with my teeth but for a clean, root canal treatment (3 sessions!) a filling (porcelain, none of this silver crap) and to block a few small holes it will come to around $150. Just do the lot but pass me the laughing gas……

1st September 2004
Traffic in Hanoi – Fortunately so far I have only had three passengers who have had accidents; one broken arm, one fall and one banged up knee.

Halong Bay – I get to hang out here about once a month. Great day swim around, seafood lunch. Some trips we stay out overnight on the boat, have a morning swim before heading back to the mainland.

Angkor Wat – Amazing place. Heaps of temples everywhere but everyone always wants to see Angkor.

Elephant Riding – Always a bit of fun.

13. Routine

13th October 2004
How long since I sent you a message? I have no idea so I thought I should send one right now. I don’t really think I have all that much to say at the moment, I’ve got into the groove at work so just the normal routine that is the life of a group leader.

You know same old same old. Sunrise at Angkor Wat today swimming at Halong Bay tomorrow interspersed with some long bus trips and dodgy airline flights.

I was scheduled for a couple of weeks off where I was going to climb Vietnam’s tallest mountain – Fansipan or affectionately known as Fancypants then head down to the island of Phu Quoc. But good old reliable Marlo got a phone call from Melbourne office asking if I could fill in a trip so today I am starting the Indochina loop trip (29 days Bangkok to Siem Reap through Thailand, Lao, Vietnam and Cambodia) The same trip I lead blind a couple of months ago. I am looking forward to it as I now have a clue as to where and what we are meant to be doing, but it is a long trip.

I have been going to the Thai kickboxing gym a bit to let out my frustrations before the trip starts and the trainers asked if I wanted to have a fight. A couple of the Thai guys are training for the competition which comes at the end of Buddhist lent (next week) so they wanted me to go along and get the crap beaten out of me, probably for a good laugh on their part! As I will be in the middle of Lao I had to decline but I’m sure it would have been pretty cool – until I bust my nose, bruise my eyes and limp for a week.

14. Pig Rabies

4th December 2004
I thought I’d drop you a note about my goings on. Just finished a trip through Cambodia as per usual had an incident, with a passenger being “mauled by a wild animal” at the Angkor temples. I suppose I should rephrase that and say bitten by a domestic pig but it really doesn’t sound the same does it? Little bit of a drama as rabies was a bit of a concern.

Went around the clinics in Siem Reap (the one near Angkor Wat) and then was phoning hospitals in Phnom Penh (the capital) to see if they could fly some vaccine in. The result: no vaccine available in Cambodia! So flew the passenger to Bangkok so they could clean out the pig bite and make sure he wouldn’t start frothing at the mouth in the near future!

Was lucky that the trip was in Phnom Penh as the same time as the water festival. The festival marks the time of year when the Tonle Sap river reverses it course. For three days there are dragon boat races up and down the river and our hotel has a river view so we were able to watch all the activity. Fireworks and river floats each night.

Heaps of people came in from the provinces so streets were marked off so no traffic could get into town. Very very busy but our local guide did say that numbers were down by at least 50% on previous years because the harvest is late and many farmers can’t make the trip in.

All the same being white and tall (for Cambodia) with light hair really made you stand out in the crowd and we were objects of curiosity for many of the local people who would stare and touch our pale arms. They were very intrigued by one of my passengers who was a rather big guy – happy Buddha.

I am really enjoying Cambodia at the moment, such friendly people. One night after returning from dinner with the group the staff from the hotel invited me out. I had no idea where they were headed but that rarely stops me so I piled on into the car and we drove down to the lake (Tonle Sap) It seems it was the final day of a Buddhist ceremony and everybody was heading to the temple for a good blessing.

The traffic jam was hilarious as it was 10pm at night and motorbikes, bicycles, carts and the odd car not going anywhere. We got out and walked the last few kms. Siem reap being the small town it is meant we kept bumping into people that I even knew – a few drivers, a few guides, the cleaning ladies from floor 3.

We eventually got to the temple where one of the girls bought a small plastic bag full of fake flowers, a few cents, a mirror, soap etc. Each item represented something like health, beauty, love, work and serves as merit in the next life. She gave it to a monk who then blessed her. I was more intrigued by the other monks who were sitting around untying all the little bags and putting the fake flowers in one pile, the mirrors in another, the exercise books in another and then counting the piles of cash that were in all the little bowls. Obviously the fund raiser for the year and a lot more interesting than a small fete with some sponge cake for sale.

Massive flooding in Vietnam and I was lucky I wasn’t leading there over the past week or so. Many trips had to make alternative arrangements and a couple of groups got stranded; two in the train, a few in Hue and Hoi An and the best was the group that had to spend the night in the local post office on top Hai Van pass. So enjoying an annual festival was definitely a better trip to be leading at that time!

I am currently in Bangkok and my Mum and Kevin arrive in a few days. I am now off to the shopping centre. A friend in Cambodia has asked for me to bring back some cocoa butter moisturiser from the Body Shop as she is pregnant and concerned about stretch marks, she is also craving Hungry Jacks but I said I couldn’t help her with that. Also to buy myself a birthday present – either a digital camera, lap top or a scooter.

15. Burma

23 December 2004
Thought I’d send a note and spread the Christmas cheer from South East Asia. I have had a wonderful December filled with very little work and lots of play. I organised for some time off work to spend with my Mum and her man Kevin. After a few days trying to lose them in Bangkok we headed over to Myanmar (formally known as Burma).

Had a great couple of weeks. Good to be doing some independent travel again without the restrictions of schedules, itineraries and bosses. Knew very little about Myanmar before we left. I had had a couple of passengers on a trip who raved about it and they were right.

Yangon the capital was rather uninspiring but an overnight bus trip later we were in Mandalay. Great little trips nearby to old cities and boat trips on the Irrawaddy river. Then went on to Bagan which in my view was more spectacular than the Angkor complex. HEAPS of little temples scattering the countryside. Got myself a bike and cruised around for three days exploring. Peak tourist season in Myanmar and you could spend an afternoon and not bump into another westerner.

Mum and Kevin took an easy option and flew back down to Yangon. And me, the ‘Intrepid traveller’ got on another overnight bus on a dirt track to road trip my way back to the capital. Heaps great time overall. So when you come and see me in Vietnam or Cambodia head on to Myanmar as well.

Christmas in a few days. Santa is meant to be making an appearance at the base hotel to try and get us into the Christmas spirit of things. Starting work on boxing day then a full on couple of months. Been scheduled to run a Vietnam Family trip which should be fun, me and a dozen kids. I’ll take the Playstation and maybe rent it out to the brats, for $5 an hour. Also bought myself a monster push scooter to handle the cracked footpaths of Vietnam and I might try the dirt tracks in Cambodia. Fun fun fun. Merry Christmas.

Working as a Tour Leader in Southeast Asia

16. Tsunami

7 January 2005
Hello to everybody. Just to report that I am safe and sound, thanks for your concern. Had a great Christmas Day, celebrated with a bunch of work buddies.

Because we all eat at restaurants each and every day none of us is all that great at cooking so we ended up at a very flash hotel to enjoy a buffet lunch. Yummo. Started at the dessert table and never looked back. Santa even turned up!

Full to the brim we headed back into our part of town (the not so flashy) to enjoy some afternoon drinks. Our Thai boss also imports Australian beer so we had a HUGE esky full of crownies, another leader had just flown in from Laos so we also had a crate of Beer Lao. Unfortunately the Thai police were not all that impressed by our BYO attitude to the park so we were thrown out.

No problem, hook the esky onto the back of a little tuk tuk and go to the next park. Kicked out again. Another tuk tuk and end up in a car park, kicked out again. So we end up opposite our base hotel at our favourite little roadside cocktail man. He didn’t mind that we BYO’d, as long as he could wear one of the Santa hats. Great day, great evening.

I was starting a trip boxing day so was working hard in the morning when the office became utter chaos with the news of the tsunami. It took most of the day to track down all the groups and leaders. Very fortunate no one was hurt. A few operators have been badly damaged and lost staff which is really sad.

I headed to Cambodia the next day so have been out of the loop for awhile. Some of my friends are “missing” which is depressing. Hoping that when I get back to Bangkok I might find out some news about them. Until then have put on my happy face and am taking a great bunch of people through rural Cambodia and Laos.
Hope you had a great new year.

17. Songkran

23rd April 2005
Hello everybody,
Wow! I have had a fantastic little holiday recently. I asked for some time off a few months ago and was very cunning and asked for it during the New Year celebration time in Cambodia/ Laos/ Thailand/ Burma.

So I enjoyed the lead up to my third New Year in 2005 with a cool group in Cambodia before I waved them goodbye and walked into the Songkran festival streets of Bangkok. Songkran again – how much fun! I told you all last year that it was the best festival ever and I will remind you again.

Officially the new year started on the 13th but by the day before most people were all geared up. The base hotel where Intrepid stays in Bangkok is smack bang in the middle of the festivities. All the roads are blocked off by the middle of the day and trying to get groups to/from bus/plane/train stations is a massive undertaking but I didn’t have a group so it was all water and fun for me.

The streets are massive water fights and ‘bang’ (white powder) covered messes. Music playing at each corner and icy water pouring beer sellers every five meters. Classic scene I walked past of an old grandmother running from out the back of her shop with a large supersoaker, she took aim at her very young granddaughter and pow completely saturated her. Huge grin on grandmas face.

Check out some photos at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4441471

Leaving a bunch of wet clothes and my faithful supersoaker behind I went off to Hong Kong. I had never been to HK before but was actually looking forward to being in a mega metropolis. I was very lucky that a leader friend was in town and he was hanging out with some of his old passengers who are teachers at the Australian International School.

Straight off the plane and I was in the trendy Soho district. A little bit of culture shock as there were so many tall foreigners neatly dressed in the area. Not one pair of Thai fisherman’s pants or dreadlocked hair to be seen – freaky!

Had a great night and tasted the most spectacular strawberry chocolate daiquiri in my life. Ended the night with a bowl of HK noodles at 4:30am and found the way back to the guesthouse only to find that there was no electricity between 4 and 8am in the morning. So barely managed to walk up the 8 floors by candle light.

Met up with the teachers again for a dim sum lunch. Tasty! And then they took us across to Lantau island for a short hike. I never thought that there would be green areas in HK but it was beautiful.

A group of boxers from the gym I train in Bangkok had also gone to HK for a fight. Got myself in for free and hung out ‘back stage’ during the fights. All was good as they won their matches with no major injuries.

Headed out for supper with an up and coming boxing promoter “Master Kim”. Dim sum eating at midnight including a taste of shark fin soup then the obligatory karaoke. Fortunately not the best range of English songs so got out of that quite well! Fascinating to watch a true HK businessman at work.

Master Kim was a meet and greet contact talking, shouting, sharing guy. As one bar closed the group would move to the next. Meeting and greeting these ‘friends’. Apparently he is only ‘middle mafia’ but working his way up. I was fading by 6am but had no idea where we were to make an easy get away. But Master Kim being the true host took us all out for breakfast – the most crazy bowl of noodle soup I have ever had the misfortune of having put before me. Usually I can be polite enough and nibble away but I couldn’t see anything besides offal, stomach, liver and clotted blood so I had to give it a miss.

I barely had enough time to do some shopping in HK but managed to squeeze a little bit in and finally got myself a camera. Very cool new toy so I will apologise in advance for clogging up your email boxes with all the shots I plan to take. Back to work in two days. All ready and refreshed for a new bunch of passengers.

18. Sick Note

27 May 2005
Hi Everybody, couldn’t remember if I had been slack or not on the email front so I thought its better to be safe than sorry.

Things going well over here in South East Asia. I am working at the moment on my favourite trip the Indochina Loop, even better is that I have a trainee with me so I actually haven’t been working all that much as I am getting her to do it all. So it has been more relaxing than normal and so far the group is getting along stunningly well so no problems on that front either.

I can’t remember who I have mentioned it to or not but it was the major event of the start of the month. Me getting sick. Not just a little bit of a flu sick but a dose of septicemia, blood poisoning. Picked it up in Cambodia where some odd bacteria got in through a small cut I had on my elbow. My whole left forearm swelled up, I lost movement in my wrist and fingers and could see the infection spreading down my arm.

The doctors got me on antibiotics pretty quick but I was down for a couple of weeks – got to take “a sickie” and hung out in Ho Chi Minh City for over a week until the doctors were convinced I was on the path to recovery. I have a $1000 (USD that is) medical insurance claim. Its in the works at the moment so until that comes through I am not a big spender.

Heaps of new leaders have joined the Intrepid family in Indochina. Five new recruits with the trainee I have and another five next month. The company is definitely expanding. Has anyone been to the shops? One is in Mebourne CBD and the other is in London in Islington I think.

With all the new recruits I have found myself in the ‘experienced’ category of leaders which is odd as I don’t feel like I have been here that long. But I am getting some great trips.

Next month I am running one of the Vietnam Expedition trips which has only had three departures. It sounds like a great trip, active as well – hiking in the central highlands, kayaking out on Halong Bay, a few homestays down in the Mekong Delta.

Should be good but before that they are again trusting me with a bunch of kids and I will run one of the Family Adventure trips. That’s also a great trip as we spend a day at the waterpark on the waterslides and have heaps of beach days and fewer travel days than a lot of the other trips.

So, after my horrific blood poisoning start to the month things look bright for the next few months. Now I just have to convince a few more of you to come and over and visit!

19. Cycle Vietnam

4th September 2005
I am still in South East Asia, working, occasionally, actually just about every day. Last month we were asked to make a big decision about where we wanted to work.

Intrepid has got very big and so they (the powers that be) decided that the region would have to be split into smaller management sections. So we were given the choice of working in Cambodia or working in Vietnam.

Hard choice but I decided on Cambodia – more diversity in trips and some trips start/end in Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok so really get more variety in countries. Vietnam was just Vietnam north to south and south to north trips. I could see myself going nuts! – or at least more nuts.

So my final Vietnam trip starts in five days, and of all trips I am doing it is “Cycle Vietnam”. On a bike for two weeks I am predicting a very sore ass! I haven’t done the bike trips but once again the powers that be in all their wisdom thought I would be the perfect candidate for potentially losing my life on Vietnams roads.

The guys who usually run the trips have gone nuts and are using a cyclo (three wheeled people mover) to ride from Hanoi to HCMC – they have given themselves a month and it is all for charity.

The other reason I was chosen as the biker was that last month I ran a half marathon. I didn’t really mean to, I had a week off in Thailand and I didn’t know what to do. I knew I could run 10km but I had no idea whether I could run 21.1km (yes that 0.1 is important).

Well, I can and I was very chuffed with my efforts, I even got a big gold medal souvenir, a t-shirt, a towel, a hat and a bag. I am hoping to run the Amari midnight run in Bangkok next month but it all depends on my allusive days off.

Sad news recently as well being that a good friend of mine died in the London bombings. Mike had just finished working with Intrepid and had gone over to be with his girlfriend (also an ex leader) in London. Moral was very low in leader land after that event as well as many of our local guides and operators.

I asked for some time off over Christmas as I was planning to go to Australia to say “G’Day” but I was told to “… get real….”as that is the peak time of year and there was no way I could bum my way out of the schedule.

Actually I am quite ‘senior’ as a leader in the region. Nearly two years and in this job that is a very long time. I don’t know how much longer I will be hanging around. I am still having so much fun I think it will be at least another year.

So when are you coming over. Noone has come and visited for months. I am a great excuse for a holiday in Asia!

20. Street Kids

12 November 2005
Hope you have been well and happy since I last got my fingers on the keyboard and sent out an “I am not dead email”. Things have been happening a plenty since as well. I survived the Vietnam bike trip (excellent fun) and was then asked to run some charity bike trips but my boss wouldn’t let me off the schedule so I was a little angry for awhile there but I should be up and running those early next year (fingers crossed).

I then did a whole series of back to back to back to back to back to back week long Cambodia trips and nearly went nuts as I sat on the bus along Cambodia’s worst road for the twentieth time in one month – 8 hours to drive 150km!! Crazy country.

I thought I would improve my Khmer language skills and I can now read Khmer script, very impressed with myself there. Also less than 50% of the Cambodian population is literate so that means I can read better than most Cambodians – scary thought!

I spent some time helping out in a new drop in center for the street kids in Siem Reap. Great fun, the kids would drag me off to go swimming each day which was in the river than runs through town. A river that every man and his dog throws his rubbish into. One of the kids was waving me over to dive in as another was having a piss straight into the water. I told them I couldn’t swim!

Actually the centre has been a great experience. It is run by an Australian lady who has a Khmer husband. She is having a little trouble controlling the kids as the place is brand new. It is only open during the day as the kids parents force them to go and beg for money from tourists at night and she knows if she starts opposing that the parents wont let them come at all.

Also one of the kids was kidnapped from the market whilst I was there. She was missing for over two weeks – there is a big human trafficking ring in Cambodia so it was very possible she was taken and sold off to a brothel in Thailand. However two weeks after she disappeared she turned up again saying that “the Vietnamese” had kidnapped her. Cambodians blame the Vietnamese for everything but everyone is happy she is back with her family.

I am currently on my favourite trip – the four countries in four weeks loop. I have a trainee along as well so I can be really slack and get him to do most of the work. Christmas I should be in Bangkok and New years will be in Bangkok as well.

However on the 1st of January I am meant to travel with the group on THAT road – 8 hours 150km bumpy as anything not a great way to start the year! Off to Lao.

21. My Life. Ideas Needed

26 March 2006
I can’t remember when I last wrote so I should say Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, all that kind of stuff just in case I forgot, I may add in a Happy Easter too as I think that is coming up. It is hard to know though as there aren’t any Easter Bunnies or chocolate eggs so I don’t know which holiday is closest.

Speaking of holidays I have just had one – a whole month. It was very relaxing. I spent two weeks in Phnom Penh (Cambodia) as my Mum came over from Australia. We didn’t do all that much; shopping, eating, relaxing. Nice not to go and see tourist spots again and again and again.

Now back in Thailand up in the hills trying to get away from the heat – yes bloody hot at the moment. Easily be 40 degrees each day with massive humidity. I thought I was kind of used to it but I still seek out an air conditioned building now and then just to give my body a break. And I found the most unreal air conditioned building in Bangkok the very newest of shopping malls Siam Paragon, MASSIVE doesn’t even to begin to describe it. When I went in I got lost in the food court – it is that big. There are about 56 Starbucks inside, and a Sea World and movie cinema, bowling alley, karaoke rooms (of course). Need a month just to explore the place!

Off to Hanoi in a few days to start work – a cycle trip. Two weeks and 40 people! Yes that is a big group but between them all they should all be able to give me a drink now and then. It should be ok, I went for a run last weekend. Another half marathon (just for the t-shirt!). It was too bloody hot though as the race started after 6:30am when the sun is already heating up. Also I had to wake up at 2:30am to catch the bus to the race location. All in all a pretty stupid idea but the course was nice and the t-shirt is very cool.

My work contract is up again in less than two months. So I have to make a decision on what to do – all ideas would be most appreciated. Should I stay or should I go? Go where, do what. Can someone please plan my life… 🙂

22. June Jambles

4 June 2006
Sitting in Bangkok where the city is preparing for the celebrations of 60 years of the king – that is 60 years on the throne. Huge celebrations are being organised, the main streets are draped in countless gold fairy lights, so beyond tacky it looks awesome. Locals are doing the rounds in pick ups to go see the lights each evening so there is more traffic than usual in Bangkok city jams. Most people are wearing yellow tops – the birth colour for the king, and street vendors are being battoned off the streets if they sell along the routes that all the foreign dignitaries are passing through from their way from airport -> hotel, hotel ->celebration,. hotel -> dinner, dinner -> celebrations. I tell you that is a lot of street sellers! And again the traffic pile up in town is immense as no one else is allowed on those streets while the dignitaries are out.

I celebrated the king’s 60 years by going shopping. Some great sales are on and the new Siam Paragon (have I mentioned this mall yet!). It is like a Disneyland. I got lost in the food court the first time I went there. I was a little evil and even took one of my groups there for final night dinner. They were a young group so it went down well, especially as we could go bowling afterwards. It is possible to walk around and get a full meal without actually buying anything as so many shops are handing out freebies. There are at least a dozen ice cream venues – Yummo! There is also a bookstore similar to Borders, with hundreds of books in English. I sit around on the floor reading, unfortunately most of them are plastic covered up, but whoops, there is a small tear, so I may as well rip the whole thing off – sorry sir!

World Cup fever is beginning. In Thailand it is against the law to gamble, so all the Thais are placing bets. My money is on Argentina. But I was a law abiding citizen and went to Cambodia to put down the money. I have checked my schedule and will fortunately be in a town (Phnom Penh) with a TV for the final. Phew, it was one night off being in the ends of the earth in northern Cambodia in Ratanikiri province. It is a great area – I love getting there as we catch a flight from the capital and land on a dirt airstrip (I never tell the passengers it is dirt and try and freak them out by saying it must be an emergency landing! Evil tour leader!) – but it lacks electricity most of the time.

My Intrepid stint is coming to an end. Two trips to go. Will be sad to no longer be a full timer but I would prefer to have a little bit more of a life than I manage at the moment. I love moving and being in different towns each week, but for two and a half years living out of a backpack in a hotel room has to drive you a little bit crazy. I have picked up some great skills though – can officially pack in 34 seconds. That would look good on a resume!

I have become a little bit of a computer nerd as I have been putting together a booklet of the towns that we visit on trips to hand out to passengers., It required using some cool programs (sold at the market for $3 each RRP around $100), to transform maps that I had ripped off the internet or scanned from guidebooks. Result was that I want to buy my own computer, which I have been saying for at least two years. But the computers I was looking at then are so much cheaper now!

Off for a dim sum lunch. Hope you are all well and good.
Marlo

About the Author

Marlo Perry is a Group Leader for Intrepid Travel. She likes looking at cakes,  is black belt in karate, and likes finding things to buy for under 10p. She has also worked as a Voluntary Coordinator for South American Explorers Cusco.

 

 

 

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