Category: Travel

The next morning we were up as early as can be to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. It was beautiful and worth it.

We took a tour with our guide through the structure after the sunrise. It is one of the biggest religious structures in the world. It was built by the Khmer as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu in the 12^th century. The Khmer rulers became Buddhist through the centuries, and the changes can be seen in the temples. The Buddha Park in Vientiane also incorporated both faiths. Angkor Wat was the capital city in the Khmer Empire, which is why these beautiful temples were built here.

I was able to go up the stairs to one of the towers and get some amazing views. A warning for the ladies: you must bring a skirt to cover your legs, as well as make sure your shoulders are covered. They are very strict and will not allow you to use a tied shawl; we saw ladies get kicked out of the line for trying that. It was hot so I wore shorts and a tee shirt, but I had a long skirt in my bag when I needed it. The place is breathtaking…you can wander the hallways, just soaking it all in…take allot of pictures, but also take the time to just look. You can take a seat at a window ledge, and journal and sketch.

 

After a break, we came back in the late afternoon to see the Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm temples that are north of Angkor Wat. Angkor Thom has the smiling faces on the towers…you can get a photo kissing one of them if you are silly like us.

You can tell these temples were built later since they are dedicated to Buddhism. Ta Prohm is nicknamed the “Tomb Raider” temple since part of the movie was filmed there. There are these massive trees growing out of the structure…it feels like another world.

The temples were beautiful, and there is all this amazing plant life growing through them. I feel so fortunate to have been able to go and wander through this amazing complex.

We left late the next day so we were able to go to this amazing spa, Bodia, for massages and facials. They served us delicious tea before and after. There was a pond with fish and blossomsinside the spa. And when I was getting a massage, below was a blossom in water…the place was just beautiful, and the people that worked there were so nice. I was able to bring some tea and products from the shop home. I highly recommend this place.

We found a café owned by an Australian guy that had great sandwiches and smoothies. It was so hot there that we took tuk tuks whenever possible. We ended up hanging out at the pool in our hotel since it was refreshing after walking around in the heat. We arranged for transport at the hotel to take us to the airport. My sister and I were both going to Seoul for a layover. This was where we, sadly, had to part ways since she was going back to Las Vegas.

I think this was the trip of a life time, and we both had a blast. I feel so blessed for having gone and had all these experiences. I can’t recommend it enough. I wish I had the time to go to Vietnam like allot of people from the group did, but two weeks was all the vacation I could take at a time. I hope you enjoyed the experiences I shared!

 

We flew from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, famous for the incredible religious complex Angkor Wat. I just have to mention that the airport had the most amazing coconut smoothies from Blue Pumpkin, made with the real stuff.

We found a standalone Blue Pumpkin once we were in town since we loved it so much. Try Blue Pumpkin when in Cambodia.

Once in Siem Reap, we went to see the floating villages on the Tonle Sap River. People actually live in these villages on the water…missionaries have even come and built a church there. The best thing about the boat ride was the children trying to make an extra buck by doing massages. It was pretty simple, just the neck and shoulders, and they would not take “no” for an answer.

You had people fishing with their children along the riverbank, and it was incredibly hot…I admire the fact that anyone can get anything done in the heat. After the ride, I regret not buying a plate that someone had slapped my sister’s photo on…it was amazing. Definitely, one of my biggest regrets. So if you see your face on some random plate at a market, buy it.

That night we fell for another tourist trap and went to Koulen Restaurant to watch different kinds of Asian dances. Don’t get me wrong, the traditional Khmer Aspara dance performance made the whole thing worth it. That was the reason I went to the place. The costumes were great. The food was terrible, and it was so packed that you had to wait in line for everything at the buffet, not to mention the tourists that were pushing and cutting the line. It took forever to pay the bill since they didn’t want to give change, and kept trying to charge people in our group for things they did not order. Do not recommend this place.

The night market in Siem Reap was our last chance to experience Southeast Asian shopping. Phsar Chas is what the old market is called…we wandered through it as well as the shops in the streets. I found these bowls made of coconut with mosaic tile in the inside that I wish I had gotten more colors of…We mainly used the time to get last minute gifts for people on our lists.

The main road is full of shops, salons, and places to get massages in that you can go to pretty late. We also had to try Angkor Beer, which was similar to Beer Lao. The stout would have been nice to try, but it was too hot for that. Having a pool at the hotel in Cambodia is a must since you will definitely use it every day.

 

We took a flight from Vientiane to Phnom Penh. There is a definite heat increase when you get to Cambodia…probably the most humid place I have ever visited. And I went in February. We had a guide explain some of the history of the country, especially about the Khmer Rouge regime, since our first stop was to the Killing Fields. It is estimated that over a million of the population was killed from 1975 to 1979 when the Khmer Rouge ran the country.  The killing only stopped when Vietnam invaded in 1979. Pol Pot’s regime targeted foreigners, people that worked with the previous government, monks, Christians, intellectuals, and professionals. At one of the sites there is a stupa filled with the skulls of victims.

The graves are roped off and you can see bones protruding from the ground. It is a horrific place, but necessary to preserve the memory of what happened. It is one of the saddest places I have visited; I still can’t wrap my mind about what happened.

We also went to the Tuol Sleng Museum, which was a high school that served as a prison (Security Prison 21). There are pictures of the victims and the rooms where they were inprisoned are preserved.

In some of the rooms, the pictures of the victims surround you, creating a haunting experience. Only a few survived the prison. I met one of the last remaining survivors, Chum Mey, at the site. He was selling his book, recounting his experience there. This is an important site to the Cambodian people. I am really glad that Contiki took us there.

I knew about the Khmer Rouge genocide since a woman from my church recounted her story, which had the group in tears. It was quite a different experience to see the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Museum firsthand. These places preserve a very horrible time in the Khmer people’s history.

On a more uplifting note, we had dinner at a restaurant called Friends that employs street youth. The children are trained in hospitality, and the organization helps them find work, getting them off the streets. The food was great, as well as the service. Our guide special ordered a Cambodian delicacy, fried tarantulas. I tried it and to me, it tasted like bacon. It’s not like I ate them raw.

I also recommend the mango margarita with chili peppers.

There is a great fair trade store next to the restaurant that you can get really nice gifts/souvenirs from. I know many people want to buy from stores like this and Phnom Penh has some good ones, like Daughters, (which helps women get out of the sex trade). I definitely recommend having dinner at Friends…there are other locations in different cities, and there are various ways you can support the organization if you like what it is doing. For example, you can sponsor a former sex trade worker to help her establish a new life. Daughters sells handmade items created by the women. This trip helped me get involved with some great organizations that I would not have been exposed to.

Our last stop in Laos was the capital city, Vientiane. Before entering the city, I convinced a group to go to the Buddha Park or Wat Xien Khuan. I saw this on Pinterest and decided I had to see it for myself, and I am so glad I did. We hired and split taxis to take us there since it is outside the city. It is a park containing 200 Hindu and Buddhist sculptures.

The park was founded by Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat in 1958. He believed that Hinduism and Buddhism could be integrated, which is why there are sculptures of gods, animals and demons from both belief systems. There is a pumpkin shaped structure in the middle that you can walk up to the top where you can take some great photos of the whole park. The Wayfaringgals profile photo on Facebook was actually taken there.

I could not stop taking pictures…the statues looked so old and ancient…it felt like another world. The place is a photographer’s dream.

Another amazing place was the COPE center, which helps the victims of UXOs (weapons that did not detonate when they were dropped), the most common being cluster bombs. These bombs are all over the countryside so children find them as well as farmers, causing not only death but the loss of limbs.

In a previous post, I mentioned that Laos is the most bombed country. COPE estimates that 50,000 people have been killed or injured since 1964 (the US bombed Laos from 1964-73, 24 hours a day). COPE provides prosthetic limbs to victims, and people can donate money to buy a limb…for $75 you can buy a prosthetic leg. You can also get a shirt that kids design to raise awareness for the center. There are various donations that can buy food, equipment, or toys. It is a really great organization to support.

After the visit to COPE, we were able to walk around the city, and see, you guessed it, the Night Market, which was pretty large and sprawled across the riverfront. I think we tried rice on a stick there. We had dinner with the group at a restaurant where we sat outside on balcony. A really amazing day where we learned a lot.

The next day we hired a tuk tuk, and a very nice man that spoke English helped us translate to the driver that we wanted to see Laos’ ‘Arc de Triomphe’ or Patuxai Gate, which is worth taking a look at. I was reduced with trying to draw a picture of where we wanted to go before the kind stranger interceded for us. He took us around the gate and waited for us as we looked around. There are some paintings and interesting artwork on the inside on the ceiling. It’s also scary getting across the street like it is in Paris. It was nice to get some sightseeing in before we left for the airport.

A amazing experience I got to do in Luang Prabang was yoga at Ock Pop Tok Yoga, which is on the Mekong River. We did yoga as the sun was setting, with a beautiful view of the river. It’s a great place to go on a yoga retreat and I wish I had more time to spend there as the place was magical. I could make a vacation just out of the yoga studio!

Another beautiful place outside Luang Prabang is the Kuang Si Falls. It is a three tier fall and we walked to the top to see as much as we could. There are parts of the falls where you can swim so we did just that. If you are in your bikini you will be photographed by tourists, so be prepared for that…it was a strange experience.

Vang Vieng was our next stop touring Laos. You will notice the hammer and sickle all over there as you can see in the photo I took on the bus ride. It is a communist country and people have a curfew, so places close early so people can make it home on time. Vang Vieng was a rest stop in that we had no planned activities, but complete free time to do whatever we wanted. I wanted to walk around and then relax by the pool. The trip was so “go go” that it was nice to read and relax. The view from the hotel was nice, you can see mountains in the background; it was just beautiful. I also witnessed a couple caught up in herd of cattle, which was pretty funny, and something I didn’t see every day.

We decided to go for a hot air balloon the next morning before leaving. I have never done it, and thought I should try it out. It was a scary and hilarious experience…I’m so glad I survived. A group of us went, and were all crammed into one balloon. I was praying that my hair would not burn off since I was standing so close to the flame that propelled the balloon…it was so hot. I kept trying to move, but we were squeezed in like sardines so there was nowhere to go; plus there was no one that would switch places. I kept moving my head over the edge of the basket.

We took some great photos as the view was incredible. You can see how amazing the landscape is there! The best part was the landing though. We were all falling on top of each other, bouncing back and forth…I could not stop laughing…the men that were stopping the balloon even started laughing. It was definitely an experience. If you are a person that likes to play it safe, don’t go on the hot air balloon…we were living dangerously…But it definitely makes a great story, and was a bonding experience for us all.

While in Laos, we did the most touristy thing you can do in Southeast Asia, we decided to go for an elephant ride. It was my chance to see an elephant up close.  Each elephant has a mahout that works only with that specific elephant. The mahout served as our guide and let us take his position at the front of the elephant…thank God I wore pants since an elephant’s hair is course and prickly. It was hilarious watching my sister when the elephant was going up a small hill, she thought she was going to fall over. I included a picture for reference.

The ride wasn’t that long, but we were able to purchase some food and feed the elephants afterwards.

I know this is an activity that many people find problematic. We asked our guide and she said Contiki picked the place because the elephants are well cared for, and each one has its own caretaker. I’ve always wanted to ride an elephant, and I’d ride a camel if I went to Egypt. So if it’s something you want to do, go for it. At least local people are employed and the elephants are being cared for…

We did the elephant ride in the early morning so we wouldn’t be in the hot sun. In the afternoon, we spent time walking around the town. In Luang Prabang, there is a bamboo bridge over the Nam Kahn River that is dismantled before the rainy season then rebuilt afterwards. The price you pay helps pay for the upkeep of the bridge and the family’s salary that builds it. Spend time walking around and you will run across this bridge…cross to the over side and spend some time exploring. It’s sturdy, so nothing to worry about.

While exploring the town, we saw that there are some great cafes in the area…we had lunch at one that is a book store. These are the places where you will run into other tourists. But nice to sit in the air conditioning, browse through books, and have an iced tea. There is Thai iced tea and coffee sold by vendors on the street for way cheaper, and it is delicious but very sweet. Later, we found a beautiful restaurant that overlooks the river, and I remember we sat on the floor.  I was happy to have a glass of wine…was getting tired of beer.

The next morning we were up at 5am to give alms to the monks at sunrise. A local family prepared sticky rice for us, and set up mats for us with these scarves to wear across our bodies. We made sure to be dressed appropriately as well. We had some strange moments with some Chinse tourists that were taking pictures of our group. Our guide got really annoyed and started taking pictures of one of them, who did not want his picture taken…go figure. Taking part in the giving of alms was a great experience. The monks are supported by the town; they collect enough rice to feed them for their two daily meals. So at sunrise they walk through the town to get their rice…they also receive fun items like chocolate bars and other things. There is a great range of ages since young boys to older men can be monks. As I mentioned before, being a monk is not a lifetime commitment…a boy or man can do it for certain periods of time like a few months or years. It was worth getting up at 5am for this cultural experience, and it’s hard to describe this with words alone. It’s unlike anything I have ever witnessed before, and it was great to be able to be part of the experience.

After Chiang Rai we left for Laos, where you do need a visa…it can take a while to cross the border since they look over these documents, so it’s best to go early to avoid the crowds.

We started our journey in Laos by traveling on a beautiful, wooden boat owned by a Lao family. They made us lunch, so we got some homemade ginger chicken and other treats. I also got to try Beer Lao, which is similar to Chang since the family sold it on the side. We were only allowed on the top of the boat, since it is the family’s primary residence. There was an awning they removed so people could sit and bake in the sun. Otherwise, there was tables and chairs where we able to journal, play cards, and talk to each other.

The weather was beautiful and showed off the landscape, and we had a local guide that explained a brief history of the country. He told us that much of the population died during the Vietnam War since Laos was the most heavily bombed country so the majority of the population is young. The US was trying to get at the Viet Cong, but ended up devastating the landscape with landmines…many are still there and people still die or lose limbs to this day.

 

Once we got to Pakbeng, where we were spending the night, Kristina paid a local kid to take her bag up the hill to the hotel. It’s a thing the children do to make extra money for candy, and the kid was cheeky and made us laugh. The town is really small and pretty much a backpacking stop. The hotel was pretty simple, but the food was good. We ended up staying at the hotel since there wasn’t anywhere we could really go. In the morning we had a great view of an elephant bathing at the river as the sun was rising. We had to be up early to hop back on our boat.

 

The next morning on the way to Luang Prabang we stopped at the Buddha Cave or Pak Ou Caves…I did not know a cave could be a temple, so no shoes. These caves are filled with various sizes of statues of Buddha…you can go up the stairs and take a look at all the different ones. The view from the caves are beautiful since it is right off the Mekong. The caves give you a different perspective on spirituality and how nature can be incorporated into this. It’s definitely worth taking a boat ride to.

 

Luang Prabang is a beautiful city, in fact part of the city is a UNESCO world heritage site. The city is amazing, and after visiting, I understand why our guide said she’d live there. There are beautiful temples and monasteries. Plus western comforts like cafes and bakeries since you can get homesick for silly things like a chocolate chip cookie.

Wat Xien Thong, (the Golden City) is temple that we visited. My sister was part of a bike excursion there while I took a tuk tuk with a friend. The site has around twenty structures and we visited many of them.  It was built in the mid-16^th century. If you like dragons, there are some neat sculptures as well as representations in sculptures and paintings.

 

We climbed a million steps on That Phu Si & Wat Tham Phu Si park which is considered a sacred site that overlooks the city. I was pretty proud of myself for being the first person from the tour to climb to the top. The views are stunning! We watched the sunset and got to see the doves set free (I think they do that for the tourists).

Afterwards we tried a local delicacy, snake whiskey. It tasted exactly like you would think: terrible! But when in Rome…

 

 

 

We ended the night by going to the Night Market…and I have to say Luang Prabang’s was my favorite. The things I saw there I did not see anywhere else on our tour. There was hand painted packages of coffee and tea, beautiful tea sets, earrings made with thread and silver, and I can go on and on… We ate dinner at one of the street vendors where a woman made us a spicy papaya salad and some meat on a stick. We stayed until closing time since the market there is massive and there is so much to see.

 

 

 

The next day we headed to Chiang Rai, and stopped at the White Temple (Wat Rong Khun) which was absolutely amazing. It was created by the artist Chalermchai Kositpipat on the site of an old temple, and he opened it to the public, with free admission all year round. The artist financed the project with his own money, and only took small donations. The really neat thing is how the artist included modern figures like Batman, George Bush, Michael Jackson, etc. in the paintings in the temple, as well as some sculptures on the outside. Since I couldn’t take a picture of the inside, I included one from the outside. Did you notice Batman’s head hanging off a tree branch?

You cannot miss the hands reaching out in front of the bridge to the temple, which look creepy and beautiful at the same time. I also liked the contrast of the monk’s orange robes next to the white of the temple, as well as the gold structure.

The White Temple is an amazing site that will make you want to capture as many photographs as possible since there is so much to see!

Our next adventure was to see the Hill tribes people, one of the most recognized is the Karen (known as the “long neck”). They left Myanmar to seek sanctuary in Thailand. The tribe people have land reserved and schooling for their children, but they are on display as a way to make money. Many people do not like that it is a sort of zoo, but my sister and I wanted to see how some of the indigenous people live.

The tribes’ people also sell their own handicrafts and other trinkets. I bought a green and blue scarf that is so delicate that it can only be put on display to preserve it. The Karen people are the ones whose women wear the rings around their necks, which push their shoulders down, causing their necks to look elongated.  The process is painful and keeps the women from doing much; they basically weave and clean. It’s sad to see the rings on the little girls. The men farm. It’s a very rural landscape…you’ll see children playing with things like wheels. The women played some traditional music for us as well, and even had us help with the heavy instruments. Our guide also showed us maps and gave us information on where the tribes people came from.

That night we went to the night market (as usual) and had our typical fare of coconut water…the girl was really nice, and had this device that shaved the coconut on the inside so we could snack on it.  I wandered around and found a café with Wi-Fi where I had the most delicious pineapple fried rice. All the fruit and vegetables tasted so fresh…the pineapple was so good! There were bars where you could grab a drink, or even sit outside at the market and people watch. The weather was perfect for being outside! It was a nice and low key night to end our stay in Thailand.

Lastly, I had to include this store since it is so neat, and I love its message. It is called Cabbages and Condoms which promotes, you guessed it, condom usage. I included a photo of their condoms.

They do sell food and souvenirs as well. I did buy the most delicious coconut chips there, which only a true coconut lover would enjoy.

They also have a café there where you can get Thai iced tea or coffee…both are really good, but very sweet since they are made with condensed milk.

That ends my stay in Thailand, which I enjoyed so much! I plan on returning and spending more time in the south and seeing the islands. Next stop: Laos, a country I knew nothing about before I went, but fell in love with.

 

As we were exploring, we found the night market in Chiang Mai, and it was great! So many beautiful things. I bought the guy I was dating a silk tie (I knew he’d get a kick out of getting a tie from Thailand…yes, we were corny like that…).

A couple of my best friends are guys, so they got the beautiful silk ties as well. The coolest thing to me was this artist that made things out of rope. He had all these amazing dragons in varying sizes.  I couldn’t decide between a unicorn or a dragon.  My sister decided by getting me a dragon. I still display it in my living room, which probably looks like a Hallmark with all the different things I have brought from around the world. This is one of my favorite things I have brought back home.

Another great thing about the market was the food! I had basil chicken with egg, and drank coconut water from the coconut itself. It tastes so much better than the stuff you buy in the store. There is no comparison. The markets have all this amazing food, and you can get delicious smoothies made with all kinds of exotic fruit…I had a thing for dragon fruit, maybe because of the name. We definitely made it a point to go to all the night markets in every city we visited.

Thailand has a high population of trans-gendered…men that get sex changes or are in the process of becoming women. We found a cabaret that featured men dressed up as women. These women were gorgeous! There was a guy who performed as half man, half woman that was really good. The best part was when they picked this tourist from the audience, and one of the performers gave him a lap dance. He was loving it!  The show was right in the night market so we were able to browse, and get some more stuff before we headed back to the hotel. There is a picture of us with all of our bags on the table that makes me smile.