Backtracking.....Siem Reap, Cambodia in photos

I feel as if I haven't posted enough pics....so screw the writing and here is a photo summary of Siem Reap, Cambodia....we sadly only had about a week to cover this great country and split our time between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. I'll take you through both cities via photos....Phnom Penh to come next  :)

First full day in Siem Reap: We wandered around in the scorching heat, spent a few hours at the center that supports the Angkor Children's Hospital (there is a large potential I will volunteer here at some point in my future....this place is amazing), and then headed to Angkor Wat for sunset.

Wandering around Siem Reap

Full moon over Angkor Wat....if you show up for sunset, your ticket is valid for the next day so we were able to spend a day and a half at the temples for the price of one day :)

Near our hostel

Dinner at Green Curry: Pretty excited about green curry and a blue margarita

While checking out the local markets is entertaining, you can only see so many markets. I think my favorite so far has been the actual local market (Phosy) is Luang Prabang....where there were no other white people.  It seems that any destination sans tourists ends up being my favorite....

The tuk tuk bar.....the owner just opened it a few days before we got there and the first night we were there, there was only 3 customers and by the 3rd night of hanging there, he had about 20...we were so proud of him!!! Katy and some new French friends are in the righthand corner

Ride home from Angkor Wat after sunset

Local Pharmacy

Best and Worst

In honor of my amazing brother, who for some very strange reason loves lists.....I figured a best and worst list was in order. We are just over 40 days into our trip now, almost 25% of the way through our itinerary (yikes!!!)......so let's have a period of reflection:  (And Jeff, I am terribly sorry they can't all be top five lists but I think that may draw on forever).

Hostels:

I'd say I have three favorite places:

1. NapPark Hostel in Bangkok, Thailand:
This place was the perfect place to start off our trip. We stayed in dorms and the whole place was so conducive to making friends.  There were places to nap in the lobby (and people always were!)...and the location was perfect- just one street off of the backpacker hub Kho San Road....so you could be close to the action but have some peace if you desired.

Outside Lounge Area

Outdoor cafe.....the doors on the 2nd level lead right into our dorm

2. Champa Lao Villa in Vang Vieng, Laos:
I couldn't tell you if it was the great friends we made in Vang Vieng, the plethora of outdoor activity at our disposal, the unlimited coffee, tea, and bananas available in our hostel lobby, or the extremely friendly owner and his three dogs that always greeted us when we came home, but I loved this place.  We were here five nights and I would've stayed five months if possible.

Hammock area outside of our room

Our colorful room

3. Bich Duyen in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam:
Megan had prebooked a hotel for us for Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam.  While a little pricier than Katy and I have been used to, it was definitely worth the extra $$

We had a shower door!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was the first time we have had any type of curtain/door the whole trip- we were able to shower without completely soaking the bathroom......it was glorious

Pretty fancy, eh?

Now for the down side.....

Dirtiest Hostel:
Please refer to my moldy shower pics from earlier on in posting.....we got outta here as fast as we could: Halolao Backpackers in Luang Prabang, Laos. But don't worry, we found a great replacement place for the next day and enjoyed a good two nights there.

Potential Worst Place:
Katy and I had booked a trekking in Chiang Mai (3 days, 2 nights) that included staying at an elephant camp. The first day and a half of our trek was great- we saw beautiful scenery and had a lovely homestay in a hilltribe village with a local family.  However, the second day we were meant to stay at the elephant camp...and long story short, when we arrived, we didn't agree with how they were treating the elephants there and asked if they could take us back to Chiang Mai. We were supposed to spend the night there.....and this was also part of the reason we asked to leave. Upon arrival, we were led into our room.....there was a bed and a half (?) with some sheets that looked like fleas had chewed through them, a naked lady calendar on the wall, and a creepy old man with a beer belly watching promiscuous music videos sitting outside of our room.

Ahhhh, no thanks.

Luckily, the tour company operator understood our problem with how they were treating the elephants and refunded us for the time we did not spend at Mae Veng Elephant Camp.

Happy as clams as we snuggle up for a good night's sleep in our homestay

With our family in the village

As much as we wanted to play with these guys, we saw a bunch of them tied up and realized that they only reason they were being allowed to eat is that they had spent the morning performing tricks for tourists....we decided it was something we didn't want to be a part of.

Transportation:
Sweatiest Transportation Award:
The chicken bus that I so fondly described in a previous post definitely takes the cake for this one.

Oh chicken bus, how I miss you. Please notice the seats in the back left about to fall through the floor...and the row of stool sitters in the aisle.

At least we had one other backpacker on the bus that we made friends with

However, there is a close runner-up that has never been discussed before: the accidental 3rd class train ride from Pak Chong (outside of Khao Yai National Park) to Ayuthaya, Thailand. There was a large group of us traveling together and all we thought when we got to the ticket counter and they said "23 Baht" (60 cents) was...Score!! Cheap ticket!  Then we got on the train and realized why.  We were traveling with the locals and it was a sweaty sweaty mess in there. Luckily, if you got hungry there were people constantly wandering up and down the aisles selling strange smelling meat on sticks.
 Good part of this train ride?  We were with some of the best company we could've asked for so the morning flew by.

International train crew....together we represented Canada, the USA, England, Belgium and Holland. And between us, we spoke (and I say we, but what I mean is all of them as Katy and I only sadly speak English): English, German, Spanish, French, Dutch, and Tamil (a South Indian dialect).

While this is a horrendous picture of me, I publish it to show the train and the sweat that came with it :)  Not pictured: the local man next to me who, during this 3 hour train ride, consumed 6 beers, grinned creepily at all us, and gave his phone number to our strong looking friend, Vord (in the gray), before exiting the train.

Best Transport so Far......

The winner in this category is definitely our initial flight from Chicago to Hong Kong (and then on to Bangkok). While the snow delayed us 2 hours, who cares when you are already going to be on the plane for 16.  And this flight was pretty much empty....so we all had a row to ourselves. I highly recommend Cathay Pacific for anyone in the market!!

Our route (over the North Pole!)

And our runner up is.....

The overnight train from Ayuthaya to Chiang Mai (Thailand).  Not only were the beds probably one of the most comfortable that I've had the whole trip, but I wasn't hot AND Katy made a new friend on the train who we ended up rooming with in Chiang Mai and then seeing again in Vang Vieng, Laos!  (We were split into different cars, hence only Katy making friends).

Our new friend Jesus in Chiang Mai!!!

Overnight accomodations

And finally, food:

I don't think I can list the worst food.....as I have barely had any. While I don't think I would be interested in visitng the kitchens of most of the places where I dine, almost everything I"ve had has been great. (And I also don't appreciate viewing the dishwashing area- just yesterday on our boat ride in Hoi An, we noticed some local women peeing directly next to a group of ladies washing dishes in the river)......hungry?


So....... we'll move on to Best Food!!! 

Best Super Cheap Food:

Street Pad Thai!! At the bargain price of about 50 cents, you can't beat it.

Best Unexpected Really Good Food:

The yellow curry at Diva Guesthouse in Chiang Mai, Thailand: It is made by some random guy that seems to pop up at any of the 24 hours of the day as soon as someone sits down. I have been searching for yellow curry this good since Thailand and haven't even found a close second.

Best Food at an Actual Cafe:

Masaman curry: Had this two days in a row at a cafe called "Happytime" in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. De-licous. No pics, sorry.

Best Western Food:
As previously mentioned....the King Kong Burger. Yummmmmmmm.

Overall Winner:

And probably the best meal....homestay food! Cooked by our host family during our hilltribe trek in Chiang Mai, Thailand: yellow and green curry, vegetables, sweet and sour chicken, and sticky rice for dessert.

Gooooood Morrrrrning Vietnam!!!

We've made it to our fourth country in Southeast Asia.....it's exciting but very very sad as I can see how people could easily spend 6 months tooling around this region....I think I'll be back soon :)

So anyway, we made it to Vietnam which means....we got another travel buddy: Megan!!!! For those of you who don't know who Megan is, she is a girl Katy and I used to work with in Chicago who currently lives in Shanghai for her husband's job- so it was easy for her to fly south for a bit to meet up with us. I am a little surprised she doesn't want to kill us yet as it's been a rough initiation to the backpacker lifestyle for her...her original flight was cancelled so she arrived in Ho Chi Minh a day late, giving her less time before we started our train of overnight buses (they dominate overland travel in Vietnam).  But I think she's getting used to the lifestyle and I guarantee you she's spending less money than she anticipated :)

So on to Vietnam....traveling through this country in only 2 weeks has, and I am certain, will provide us with a multitude of climates, cultures, and experiences.  We started in Ho Chi Minh (or Saigon), which is a city of 6 million people and 3 million motorbikes....you literally can't walk 2 feet without being in a sea of motorbikes. We quickly took the "how to cross the road" advice that we had heard so many places: close your eyes (or look straight ahead, whichever makes you more comfortable), and just walk at a steady pace across the road. There aren't many stoplights, and trying to wait for a break in traffic is a laughable concept. The motorbikes are used to pedestrians and will swerve to your anticipated movement. Looking left or right and then speeding up, slowing down, or stopping will surely get you hit- so just hope for the best.....and we'll usually see ya on the other side :)

Hungry?

Near our hostel

Many backpackers had relayed to us that Ho Chi was too busy for them, but being a city girl myself, I found it refreshing. Don't get me wrong, I love all of the small towns we have stayed in, especially places that have been a little less touristy than average, but it was comforting to see tall buildings, men in suits (versus farming clothes and straw hats), and to hear the sound of traffic and horns.

And the other thing I was bracing myself for? I had been told by everyone that Vietnamese people were not the nicest, were very pushy, would not back down when trying to sell you something, etc, etc. I had mentally prepared myself to feel irritated and be ready to shake it off.....but so far, everyone has been really nice! Katy and I got a little turned around the first day and went up a bank security guard with our map...he couldn't speak English (and we obviously couldn't speak Vietnamese)....so he went into the bank, found one of the workers, brought him out. He looked at the map, looked confused, told us to hold on, went and got another friend- together they figured out in Vietnamese where we had gotten lost and then explained to us in English where to go and THEN said they were heading that way for lunch (it was noon and everything in Ho Chi closes at noon for lunch) and we could follow them if they wanted. They dropped us off at the corner where we needed to turn and we were back on track (and following a local is a much safer way to cross traffic, so added bonus). Other examples? Our hostel, which we paid only one night for, let us stick around all day the next day until our night bus left. This entailed storing our bags, letting us use towels/showers, and even providing us with umbrellas when we encountered our second big downpour since we have been gone!

Moral of the story: With the exception of two nasty cab drivers (see Katy's blog for stories on that) so far, Vietnamese people are just as nice as the rest of our Cambodian, Thai, and Laotian friends :) 

So after the big city we headed up to Nha Trang, a town completely opposite of Ho Chi. With a population of less than 500,000 people, there is really nothing to do here except for wander around and lay at the beach.....bingo. We spent 2 days doing just that, and then the third on a boat tour to the local islands. The climate was also much milder here. Each night we were able to sit outside without completely sweating through our clothes in a matter of minutes, which has been unheard of thus far. We were also able to celebrate our Irish heritages (ha) at a bar called "Booze Cruise" on St. Patrick's Day...you can use your imaginations for that one as it was quite the entertaining night.

Beach across the street from our hostel in Nha Trang

Island tour around Nha Trang

I clearly packed the wrong beach attire......for all of the Southeast Asians, you don't go out in the sun without sweaters, hats, umbrellas....and usually gloves and socks.

St. Paddy's day celebration

The celebration may or may not have lasted all the way until sunrise.......

After sadly leaving Nha Trang, we moved onto Hoi An for just about 24 hours. This was a whole new type of town. Hoi An Old Town (a section of the town) is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Chinese, Japanese, and European influence is apparent as you roam around this town full of colonial looking buildings with colorful lanterns hanging throughout.  Once dusk hits, lanterns outside cafes, along the bridge, and dangling from trees fill the streets with light.  There are nightly streetside performances by traditional dancers and singers as well and it is just really a very cute, romantic, town.

Today we will arrive in Hue, a former capital of Vietnam, and in a few days we will move on to Hanoi, where it is currently only about 60 degrees. I am quite excited about the variety of cities we are experiencing in this country...hopefully more pictures to follow!

We made it to Hue!!