Cambodia

After obtaining a Cambodian visa and a crazy cab ride where the driver and I debated where he would actually be dropping us off (despite having paid in advance at the airport taxi stand) we made it to our guest house in Siem Reap, Cambodia.










We had left Laos at 6:00 a.m. so after having checked-in to our guest house we still had most of the morning and the rest of the day to explore Angkor Wat, the single largest religious structure in the world. We arranged a tuk-tuk driver to take us for the day to explore Angkor and after driving through wooded and tree-lined roads, we approached the large moat surrounding the temple.







Thousands of people from all over the world come to visit Angkor Wat each day and it is believed that in the not too distant future, the government will have to impose regulations restricting people from certain areas and from climbing and / or touching the temple grounds and architecture, but currently, you are able to explore at will - occasionally being notified that you are climbing the rater steep staircases at "your own risk" (I had read in the guide book that many a tourist falls to break bones and sometimes even death...).









We spent the day exploring the temple grounds which were so big that despite the number of tourists, you could find your own section and find yourself alone for lengthy periods of time.









Large murals are carved into the outer walls of the temple, reflecting stories of the Gods and of the history of those who inhabited Angkor and their battles with surrounding forces.















We decided to take a quick break from the heat and a rest before further exploration, and on our way to a cafe across from the temple, we were accosted by Cambodian children. Literally, we each had around five or six surrounding us and after asking where we were from and immediately telling us, "Oh, the capital of America is Washington D.C.!" they tried to sell us whatever they had in their hands. We had read and heard that you shouldn't buy anything from them or give them any money as they give it directly to their parents who then make the kids go back out begging / selling, which only perpetuates the problem, but it is not easy when an adorable little girl who looks about five-years-old is holding on to your arm and telling you she likes your hair and earrings... no wonder Angelina Jolie adopted from here.






Before heading back to our guest house, we spent more time wandering the grounds and watching wild monkeys run from the surrounding woods and through the ruins. We made sure to stick to the paths as we had all read that much of Cambodia is still covered in land mines and it is advised that you never leave a well-worn path. I'm sure that Angkor Wat is 100% safe, with the number of tourists that visit each day, but the warnings were enough for us to only follow the paths.













That night, after a swim and dinner in the main part of town, we called it an early night as we had a 5:00 a.m. wake-up call the next morning in order to explore some of the other temples (there are so many in Siem Reap, I don't think you could adequately cover them all even in a week's time).



The next morning, we made it to Bayon, an ornate temple at the center of Angkor Thom, before sunrise as we had heard that catching a sunrise at the temples is amazing.

Unfortunately, the day turned out to be slightly overcast but that did not take away from how spectacular the grounds are.

Bayon was my favorite of the temples as it is much more isolated than Angkor Wat and the surrounding forest combined with the ornate carvings in the temple walls, and faces carved into the facades of the tops of all the pillars in the temple, causes feelings both eery and awe-inspiring.


Two local women who looked to be in their eighties, handed the three of us sticks of incense and instructed us to bow our heads as they said a prayer aloud, telling us as we left that we should now have, "good luck".



We spent a bit of time exploring some of the other temples in Siem Reap, before jumping in our tuk-tuk to head back to the airport and our flight to Bangkok.

Once we landed in Bangkok Airport, I had to say goodbye to Jen and Kari as they were headed home to San Francisco and I would be leaving S.E. Asia to head to The Middle East. Next stop, Cairo!

Laos

After being given a frozen towelette and a deep fried crab on croissant sandwich, combined with enough turbulence that I couldn't look at Jen and Kari because I knew they were freaking out as well, we landed in Luang Prabang, Laos. Our flight arrived ten minutes early and it took approximately ten minutes to get our visas (one passport sized photo and $35 USD) and luggage - it's amazing that some of these developing countries in Asia seem to be more efficient (or maybe just more lenient) at some things than the U.S. We jumped in the back of a tuk-tuk and rode into town.


Laos (pronounced "Lao" it was originally named Lao and the French later added the silent "s") is sandwiched between Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia so it is landlocked in terms of oceans/seas, but it does have rivers flowing throughout, including the Mekong River, which flows down into Cambodia. Luang Prabang is a quiet and quaint town situated between the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers, with surrounding limestone cliffs. You can still see much of the French influence (the French occupied Laos until they gained their independence in 1953) with signs written in Lao and in French, and many of the buildings lining the main streets constructed in the French colonial style.

After several days of non-stop rain in Thailand, we were more than excited to have the abundance of sunshine in Luang Prabang. Laos was also my first country in a month-and-a-half that drives on the right side of the road like back home! (Of course, after I had finally gotten used to looking opposite ways when crossing the street...).

We went to check-in at The Sayo Guest House and although they were full, they told us they had a new location along the river if we would like to see that one (at guest houses and hostels in Asia and Indonesia, they sow you the rooms first before you agree to stay). I jumped on the back of the guy's motorbike to rid to the other location and after a quick look, we returned without bags in a tuk-tuk and checked in to the Sayo II Guest House - a huge room with large windows throughout, a marble tiled bathroom and a sitting area with a view of the Mekong, all for the price of $10 each a night.

That night, we headed to the infamous Luang Prabang night market - blankets and red tents set along the ground with lamps lighting your way as you bargain over handmade duvet covers, bags, jewelry, t-shirts, etc. Paying in Kip (the currency of Laos) can get a bit confusing as the exchange is roughly 9,600 LAK (Kip) so you receive such a large stack of bills for exchanging even a relatively small amount of US Dollars, you feel like you are in the mafia.

The next morning, Kari and I rented bikes ($1 for the entire day) and rode along the riverside and throughout the town passing wats, outdoor markets and cafes, as the locals rode past on motorbikes holding umbrellas to protect them from the sun and many young monks walked along the streets (the monks we saw in Laos all seemed to be in their late teens / early twenties, as compared to Thailand where most we saw seemed to be in their fifties or sixties).

Later in the afternoon, we took a van ride with several other travellers to the Kwang Si waterfalls and animal rescue. At the base of the falls, a rescue has been set up for bears and tigers to save them from poachers and black market trading for their fur.

After hiking up to see the waterfall, we walked along a wooded path down to several "swimming holes" - turquoise water situated around smaller waterfalls and surrounded by trees, including one in particular that had a rope swing. Jen, Kari, and I decided to start the rope out and we each climbed the tree and swung off, landing in the pool below. Soon after, people were lining up to swing, although they looked much more graceful than us (but we get points for being the first).

Our last day in Luang Prabang, we climbed over 200 steps to reach a temple and overlook with 360 degree views of the town below. While hiking down, we passed golden Buddhas, sculptures, and images within the hillside.












That night, we boarded an overnight bus to Vang Vieng. After strapping a motorcycle to the top of the bus (sitting upright, kickstand and all...) and realizing that when they make you pay extra for the "V.I.P." bus with air con, it really means that you will be riding in a bus that has air conditioning, and not that they will actually turn it on (which they didn't), we were off. Apparently, this stretch of road between Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng is one of the most dangerous in S.E. Asia as there are frequent hijackings, so when we pulled to the side of the road at midnight, with nothing but a few wooden shack style buildings surrounding us, in order to repair a tire on the bus, everyone was a little on edge - only made worse when a local riding the bus got off carrying what looked like a machine gun on his back, to serve as "lookout / guard" while the driver worked on the tire. That roadside stop, in addition to the fact that once we were back on the bus the driver took the winding roads so fast you'd think he was driving a Ferrari and not a 30-year-old Greyhound bus, all made the seven hour bus ride a bit rough. The bus pulled off to the side of the road in what looked to be the middle of nowhere, at 2:00 a.m. (although it had been scheduled to arrive at 11:30 p.m.) and the bus driver told the seven or so of us going to Vang Vieng to get off. After unloading our bags and the bus driving off, the seven of us sat in silence for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do next - everything was closed and dark in the town without a person in sight and none of us knew which way to go to get to a place to stay. After coming to a consensus on which way to walk, we made our way down a road and spotted a light on at one of the guest houses. The security guard (or older local man smoking a cigarette in the front, that I took to be the security guard) awoke the guy who ran the place and after paying the extra $3 for air conditioning (bringing our total for the room to $15 - $5 each) we passed out.

The long and treacherous bus ride was worth it, however, when we were dropped off by tuk-tuk the next day, to tube down the river. Vang Vieng is a small town in Laos famous for it's tubing. Many a traveller raves about the tubing and in our tuk-tuk alone we were packed in with several who had done it the day before, as well.

After sitting in your inner tube, you float along the river until you come to the numerous swings, zip lines, bars, and cafes set up along the riversides. The locals working there run over to the banks with a bamboo pole to either pull you in , or they will reach it over the water for you to grab to pull yourself over. In some cases where it is more shallow and not too rocky (or for those who have had one too many "Beer Lao" and can't manage the energy to hold on to the bamboo stick) they will walk out into the water and pull you in by your leg. Ladders made of wood or bamboo are propped up against tall trees for you to climb. Once at the top, a local pulls back the trapeze-type bar and you stand on the edge of a wooden plank before swinging out and over the water and dropping into the river. The highest one on the river had everyone a little fearful and after Jen and I went, our hands were shaking from the adrenaline rush. We were so glad we did it, although happy just to make it a one time thing as the guy who went after us got a bloody nose with the force in which he hit the water...

The next few hours we floated along the river occasionally hitting some rapids or bumping into others in their tubes, and then stopping for a drink before getting back in our tubes.

Vang Vieng is infamous for it's "Friends bars" - Nearly all of the restaurants and bars along the main street play the T.V. show "Friends" non-stop and all hours they are open. After tuk-tuks picked us up at the river, we ate dinner in a big couch-style table and watched a few hours of "Friends."

The next day, we took a bus to Vientienne, the capital of Laos and also our last stop before Cambodia. We had read about a popular bowling alley near our hotel and after a look of shock from the girls behind the counter when I told them my shoe size (I may have what are considered big feet in the U.S. but in Laos I think they are more in the "unheard of" range) we bowled alongside the locals.

We arrived in style the next day to the Vientienne airport as we had decided to have a splurge night after all those bus rides, and the hotel drove us in their Dick Tracey-esque car.

Laos and the tubing, in particular, were experiences to add to the long list of highlights for me on this trip. Now on to Cambodia!

Jack Talk Thai

Thailand was the first country on this trip, so far, that I have been to before, however, I was equally as excited as I loved it the first time around and on this trip I was able to see some sites and spots I had not yet been. I arrived at 3rd Street Cafe Guest House in Kata Beach (one of three main beaches of Phuket, on the southwestern coast of Thailand) and felt as though I was staying at The Ritz Carlton (compared to the places I had stayed in Indonesia) with the air conditioning and TV in the room (I realized I hadn't watched TV in over a month). My first day, I checked out Kata - a small / quiet beach and town - followed by the Thai owner of the guest house having me try a fried worm... She told me beforehand that they tasted like french fries... WRONG, at least no french fry I have ever had. It tasted more like a sardine, but an experience nonetheless. That night Jen and Kari arrived and I was more than excited to see friends from home. After just having travelled for over twenty four hours to get to Phuket from San Francisco, they were slightly tired, so we called it an early night after some Thai food for dinner, on the beach.



The next day we took a boat trip to several islands, including the one featured in the movie, "The Beach" with Leonardo Dicaprio. The landscape of the islands was absolutely beautiful - limestone cliffs and jungle set against clear turquoise water and fine white sand. Disappointing, however, was the amount of tourists and the trash thrown into the water surrounding some of the islands and cliffs. It was like a cattle heard down the beach with so many tourists, it made it difficult to even find some space to sit. This being the beginning of the "low season", it made me wonder how intensely crowded it must be in the "high season". With some deceiving photo work, my pictures, like the tour books, don't show the hoards of tourists.




Next we visited Monkey Beach. The guides give the tourists bananas to feed the monkeys so they are waiting for you hanging in the trees and running along the sand waiting to be fed. With the number of tourists visiting the beach, we were told you have to time it right as the monkeys retire into the jungle to sleep off their banana feasts from the tourists, at some points throughout the day.





After some snorkeling, we travelled to Phi Phi Don Island. Miniature winding streets filled with food stalls, bars, cafes, guest houses, shops, and scuba diving offices (diving here is supposed to be amazing), all sandwiched between one beach lined with long tail boats and a ferry dock, and another beach which serves as a launching point for kayaking and scuba diving. We loved it so much we decided we would take the ferry back the next day and spend the night on the island.




That night, however, we took a tuk-tuk (an opened backed truck with a roof and benches in the bed of the truck) to Patong. We were told Patong is the "party" area of Phuket and our visit was definitely entertaining. We ate dinner at a crowded open-air restaurant that offered a view of the main road - perfect for people watching. Many "western" older men walking along with young Thai women and "lady boys" (this is what they're called in Thailand - we would say drag queen or transvestite) making their way through the busy streets. It started to rain (more like a torrential downpour, in my opinion) so we ran across the street for massages. My one hour Thai massage cost $6. Jen and Kari both had one hour foot massages and loved them so much that Jen was prepared to ask the masseuse back to San Francisco.

The streets are always lined with people selling different foods from carts, but late night in Patong there were also a few soup and curry stations set up where you choose your base (either a soup or curry) then sit at benches along the street and add vegetables or whatever else you would like to your own plate. It seemed that only locals were eating at these stations, so the three of us decided to sit down and try it. As we tried to act as though we knew exactly what we were doing, some local girls across from us started laughing and stopped us from eating what was apparently the stem of some form of eggplant. The laughing continued as they watched us dare each other to eat the dried out miniature fish sitting in a bowl in front of us (which we did eat - I preferred the worm from the day before...).



The next day, we took the ferry back to Phi Phi Don Island. Despite this island receiving much of the tsunami, a few years ago (200 people died on this island alone...), much has been rebuilt. We checked into our bungalow and I then introduced Jen to her first Thai pancake (they are similar to what we consider a "crepe" and you can get whatever type of filling you'd like). I am craving one again just writing about it.







After wondering through the shopping stalls and beach bars of the island, we stopped in to watch a movie at an outdoor cafe. This is one of my favorite things about the nightlife of Thailand beach towns - all the open cafes that play movies nightly. You can stop in for dinner or a drink and watch a movie before heading out for the night.




The next day we took the ferry back to Patong (the water was so choppy, as it had been stormy, that Kari and I got so sick on the boat I hope to forget about it forever after writing this) and spent one last night in Phuket before flying up to the north of Thailand, Chiang Mai, the next morning.




Chiang Mai is located in the northern, more mountainous area of Thailand and is said to be known as the "spiritual center" of Thailand. Two of Jen's friends from home, Steffanie and Josh, had been living in Chiang Mai for the past four months teaching English, and we met up with them for our first night starting with a dinner of vegetarian Thai food and then to a favorite bar of theirs where Kari, Jen, and I all ate a cricket... They have all of these carts and stalls around Thailand selling various types of bugs to eat, so we gave the crickets a go (the picture below shows us just before we tried them).


















One of the highlights for me on this second trip to Thailand was the Thai cooking class we took in Chiang Mai. Usually, I not only am a horrible cook and dislike cooking as well, but this cooking school was amazing! We first went to the local market with our Thai instructor, Gaye, where she pointed out various foods and explained what they were and what they are used for. She also bought some pink eggs (literally the shells are pink) and bananas wrapped in sticky rice, for us to try for breakfast before cooking class. The pink eggs are soaked in ammonium so when you open them, the egg is black and the yoke is a purple gel. I wasn't a big fan of mine as I could taste the ammonium, but the others in the class (aside from us three girls, we were joined by an Israeli couple) seemed to like theirs. Gaye gave us each a cookbook and had us pick out four Thai dishes she then taught us how to cook. We made: khao soi , papaya salad, tom kah gai soup, and panang curry. We then all sat down together in the open kitchen and patio area outside and enjoyed what we had made.

After cooking school, we took a tuk-tuk to Doi Suthep, a Buddhist temple up in the mountain, regarded as a "must see" if you visit Chiang Mai. Since Kari and I were wearing shorts, they gave us wraps to cover our legs, as it is considered "respectful" to cover your shoulders and legs to your knees when entering the Wats (temples).

After leaving the Wat we made our way back down the mountain to Chiang Mai market for some shopping. Hundreds of stalls line the sidewalks selling everything from bootlegged DVDs, to silk pillowcases, to knives, to pashminas, etc.

We met up with Stephanie and Josh and went to see "Spiderman 3" for our last night in Chiang Mai. Seeing movies at the theater in Thailand is another unique experience. When you purchase your tickets, they show you a digital representation of the theater, showing which seats are taken and which are available so that you can choose where you sit. Your ticket then has your chosen seat number on it so that when you enter the theater you find your seat (as they are all labeled) similar to a concert, play, etc. Before the movie starts, they play the Thailand National Anthem and show images of the King and Royal Family, mixed with images of Thailand, and everyone in the theater must stand. Thankfully, this experience and the Thai subtitles on the bottom of the movie screen, made up for the movie...

The next morning we said goodbye to Stephanie and Josh and then said a few prayers before boarding our Lao Airlines flight into Laos - the airline is notorious for not releasing their flight / safety records and even the Lonely Planet says that the routes between bigger cities are "ok to take" but no guarantee on the trips between smaller cities... Some Lynard Skynard seemed appropriate for the ipod, and we boarded our propeller plane to Luang Prabang, Laos. More to come from Laos!