I didn't worry about it in Taiwan, but in Malaysia, I really started to worry that someone would steal my pack or pick-pocket me. The constant glancing out the window or feeling my pockets to make sure I had everything really got tiring. After giving some money to the guitar singers on the bus in Indonesia, I think karma was on my side. It came in the form of a really catchy Indonesian pop song. That act of good karma gave us a safe 20-hours of travel to Cemoro Lawang. When we were on the bus from Probolinggo to Surabaya, I strongly suggested to Josephine to give the little trio of boys some money. Karma kept up safe again and let us find a really cheap hotel near the airport that night, but surprised us with a hefty Indonesian departure tax (although it was written in both of our guidebooks).
Cambodia was a great country. The people were nice and very helpful, we didn't have to haggle so much at food stalls, accommodations were big, clean, and cheap ... durian smelled good. In Indonesia, everyone littered, so we were THAT careful with our trash either, but in Cambodia, we kept all our trash with us and three it away appropriately. The bus broke down on the way to Siem Reap, but all I thought about was how hard the bus driver worked, trying to fix it in the blazing hot heat. When the bus came to pick us up, the driver apologized and shook my hand. We hired a tuk tuk driver for the whole day wen we saw Angkor Wat. From 5AM to 6PM, he drove us around, covering over 50 miles at least. Even though we haggled with him a bit, we tipped him an extra few dollars because he was really nice and informative.
Karma really showed itself in Cambodia. When Pau gave me the bracelet, karma was pulling me to buy some over-priced, but ice-cold water from her. From that point, karma took it's form in the bracelet I was wearing and I wore it throughout the rest of the trip.
The main thing I was worried about in Thailand was my pack of course, getting conned, traveling long distances with delicate time schedules, and also the red-shirt protests. My pack was fine and there were no action in Bangkok at all. I felt the potential of getting conned by that "high school teacher from Chiang Mai," so I got out if there quick (but too quick to rally know if I was getting conned or not). We were also able to go from Bangkok to Ko Tao and back to Bangkok wth enough time for Josie to catch her plane. The only problem was that she was a whole day early and had to spend one day in the Bangkok airport, half a day in The Beijing airport, as then a whole day in Narita. Karma rewarded her with a first-class seat back to America though.
I really believe that karma was in my bracelet. I has with me all throughout Thailand and in Beijing, but once I got on the plane to go back to Japan, I noticed that it was gone. I don't think I lost it, I think it was done protecting me so it went to go protect (or punish) someone else. I started to relax at that point. There were times, though, when I thought the tiny plane was going to go down. A lot of us though we had landed, but it was just really strong turbulence hitting a really tiny plane.
I didn't trust anyone while I was out this month, but I gave a few donations and tips. Karma's a funny thing. It kept me from getting my pack stolen, getting pick-pocketed or getting hurt. It made itself known in Indonesia and took it's form in Cambodia, but once it was finished with me, it left just as suddenly as it showed up. I wonder if that means I don't have to be nice to people in Japan?
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