Location: Athens International Airport, 2am.
Well, I guess this is the end of my journey. But how can I tame my wandering mind after all these magical days of incessant exploration. How can I stop thinking about the early morning tuk-tuk rides in Siem Reap to capture the sunrise at Angkor Wat; the smiling faces of the Buddhas carved on the cone towers of Bayon Temple; the intense expectation to reach the breathtaking Golden Bridge by funicular at Hoi An in Vietnam; the heartbeat when I boarded the cruise ship to sail to Halong Bay; the feeling of excitement and longing to take the first steps on the magnificent ‘Changcheng’* or as it is known in English, the Great Wall of China; and what about the petite beautiful Asian ladies wearing a Hanbok dress, posing repeatedly under the blazing sun in order to take the perfect shot at Gyeongbokung Palace in the heart of Seoul, South Korea.
*Changcheng: Long Wall, Chinese word for the Great Wall.
I arrived in Athens, Greece after a long journey, having visited four countries in East and Southeast Asia also known as the Indochina peninsula. I was finally back after a 10 hour delay since my flight back to Greece from Abu Dhabi was cancelled due to a technical problem of the airplane which led to another day of adventure, not so pleasant as the previous one. From alarms singnaling at the airport all day prompting passengers to evacuate the building because an unknown incident had occurred, to the long airport shuttle ride back and forth from the main building to the aircraft, the extreme weather conditions as in August temperatures in the Emirates rise to 45-50 degrees and even higher, and of course the long hours waiting in lines to get our voucher to the hotel we would be sent and get picked up by a van to take us there and return us back to catch our next flight.
It felt different this time. I was different coming back and having seen so many diverse scenes and meeting different cultures in such a brief time. This was a life long expectation as I had always dreamt about visiting the colossal Hindu temples of Cambodia, a country rich in history, both political and religious. I had spent hours browsing vlogs and reading about my desired destinations that I was so drenched into their spirit that reaching them to see these wonders not only mentally but with my own eyes was my sole obstacle to fulfil this dream. I didn’t even plan going there in the first place since I set off with a scholarship program to study Mandarin for a month at Beijing International Chinese College in Beijing, China. My only planned adventure was a return ticket from Seoul, South Korea which meant I had to find a way to get there. Seems that, driven by fiery desire to explore the world, I had thought of a rather unorthodox way to do that. But what could be more soul fulfilling than the materialization of your deepest yearnings.
“I’ll do it!” I said to myself while searching for tickets online. This is my chance; who knows when I’ll be able to come back again even though sometimes time has shown me that we don’t always need a plan for trips. They somehow unexpectedly eventuate, as if their time was predestined or maybe one of the many gods that exist in the world’s cornucopia of religions has decided to bless you for the mere thought to pay them a visit. There I was sitting on the desk in my hotel room in Beijing clicking the payment button for a multi-city trip starting from Beijing to Cambodia, Vietnam and South Korea. Now I had to find accommodation and arrange my visits to the human stone and concrete miracles of the cities I was going to visit. This consumed a lot of time and energy but it turns out if you really want something with all your heart, you will always find a way. I only had a map and some online reviews to count on. And it worked. Follow me to this unique adventure and let’s discover together the magic and the history of these remote and mysterious destinations. I curse you to fall in love on the way and why not plan to visit them one day, if you haven’t already…bon voyage!
