Day 25-Christmas bus ride Siam Reap-Bangkok

I didn't wake up to a stocking full of goodies, or even a single present from Santa Claus, but at least I woke up! After a Christmas celebration the night before, I was lucky that at 7 am I woke up without even setting my alarm or asking for a wake up call.

I showered and somehow shoved all my stuff into world's heaviest backback with Yorks help, and downstairs we went for our last breakfast and my last morning at my favorite hotel in the world. We got the contintal free breakfast option and had our usual (Me-omelet w/coffee, York-sunny side up w/tea) along with the hashbrowns, fresh fruits, and rolls. I didn't want to say goodbye to my luxury life at the Elephant de Terrace hotel, but I had to catch a bus to Bangkok at 8am.

The bus ride to the Thailand border must have been ok because I don't remember anything. I slept the entire ride! I only awoke to some rude lady behind me saying, "You need to move your seat forward, I can't even read my book... Or you can move to another seat". I thought that this lady could shove it considering I had been on the bus before her and she choose to sit behind me. Additionally, did this cranky lady forget that it was Christmas?!?! Anyway, I moved my seat and chose to let it slide and just muttered, "Merry Christmas" in a sarcastic voice to her.

The border crossing was long and interesting. After we got to the Thailand side, we had to wait for almost 2 hours for the bus to bring us to Bangkok. There were tons of little beggar children everywhere and at first it was almost unbearable. It is hard to not give them money, but that only encouarages the begging, and you never know what they are going to do with it.

So, I actually had a good idea of how to entertain these cute kids and help them have a better Christmas. I gave them paper from my agenda book and a pencil and let some of them draw pictures for me, and taught a few of the diligent girls how to make paper cranes. One little girl was concentrating so hard, and she wouldn't let me see what she was drawing until she finally finished her masterpiece. She had drawn a beautiful little sketch of a women dressed in traditional Cambodian clothes. She smiled and presented me with the scrap of paper, obviously proud of her creation but shy to give it to me. That was the only present I got today for Christmas, but that was the best gift I could have gotten!

The bus guide took us to a cafe where we had to wait for another 2 hours before the bus would take us to Bangkok. I think it is part of their scam to get people to try to pay extra for the mini VIP vans or take a taxi. I was not going to shell out the money, and I was content with the wait, so I updated my blog on a computer and chatted with some friendly Koreans and Japanese people that were also waiting.

The bus left at 230 and arrived in Bangkok at about 7 because there was so much traffic. I started reading one of the books I had bought, and it is already really affecting me. It is called First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung and it is the true story of a girl who was born in Cambodia and experienced and survived all the terrible things that happened at the time of the Khmer Rouge from 1975-1979. It is so sad to hear how the people were killed, tortured, and forced into communist control. I have so much respect for Cambodian people, and it makes me want to go back and help them.

I believe that every child should have a chance. Every person has good in them, and I think that education and love are the answers that can help alot of children. Experiencing Christmas with children that had dirty clothes, rotten teeth, and were running around barefoot begging for money made me want to help them. I live a life where I am really unaware to the true reality of the world around me at times, and just seeing these children like this on Christmas broke my heart. But I think that is maybe the best gift I could have gotten, learning that there are people out there that really need help.

I want to help Cambodia, and I will. I am going to take this Christmas to take some time to really be thankful for everything. I am so lucky for having my health, my family, and being born in a rich country full of opportunity. I want to give opportunity to more kids in Cambodia too.....

Day 24-Cambodian Christmas-Lets eat SNAKE!

We had to wake up early and pack all of our things into our backpacks and switch rooms at our posh hotel because they had already had a reservation for our room for that night. By 830am we had transferred up to the new room which we liked even better! When I went down to tell the friendly staff we didn't need help moving our bags they laughed at me and said, "Don't you remember us telling you last night you didn't need to switch rooms?"

"Oh my god.... to many vodka redbulls!" I laughed and ran to York telling him our stupid mistake. (It actually worked out in our advantage because we got an even better room).

We made our way to the patio and had another gourmet complimentary breakfast before heading out to the town to buy bus tickets, use the computer and shop. We then made lunch in our hotel and watched a movie about Ankor Wat.

We wished that we had watched the movie before going to see the sights because it was quite informative and made everything more interesting. Angkor Wat was really impressive and beautiful, but as York said, "It is really cool, but 1 day is enough unless you are really into rocks". I agreed, until I understod the history and stories behind it. I would like to visit it again and take some time to just slowly enjoy it, but this time around schedule didn't permit.

Of course we had to take advantage of the roof top pool so waterproof camera in hand we headed to the top. A dip in the pool turned into underwater photo session to jumping/diving photos and I am sure the other guests at the hotel were probably annoyed as we spent the afternoon splashing and yelling, "One more photo ok!" "No, no, just one more!" SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH.... And keep in mind all the other guests are 40+ years old, so cannon balls and jump contests weren't really their cup of tea at this tranquil hotel.

All the hotel sun patio chairs had a orange tangerine towel on them for the guests which inspired me. Hmmmm, I thought. That shade of orange reminds me of the monks robes. PERFECT! So, within minutes, York and I had figured out how to create our own monk costumes and were wandering around the statues trying to figure out how to pose like monks for our next photo session. I think the other guests were confused as I suppose we looked like real idiots or drunks but this was pure sober fun.

At 830 we headed to dinner at the Cambodian BBQ restaurant. We had made a special reservation and comprimised since it would be our Christmas dinner (in Germany Christmas is on the 24th). He wanted to eat weird animals and I wanted to sit on a terrace in a pretty restaurant, so we found a place where he could eat strange creatures while I was on a balcony.

The table was all set up for us and all other people were very jealous I could tell. Everyone wanted our single balcony table on the second story of the Cambodian BBQ, but we were the lucky ones (hahhahah I thought).

Soon, York had a BBQ in front of him with his basket of creepy meats waiting. Kangaroo, snake, alligator, ostrich, and frog meat were seperated in little dishes for him to BBQ. I ordered chicken, but agreed to try all the stuff he ordered. Here is what I thought of each of the meats

Kangaroo- Good, tastes similar to beef
Snake-Creepy to eat, soft texture but not gross kinda like a combination of seafood and beef
Alligator-Just like chicken
Frog-Gross to look at, but really like chicken
Ostrich-Best overall! Good flavor like a nice soft beef.

After dinner, we went back and had a rooftop pool party! Late night swimming and hanging out by the pool was fun and we had a great Christmas! Our last day living the life of luxury.... we made the most of it!

Day 23-Tomb Raider style at Angkor Wat

"Oh jesus, I don't want to wake up!" I complained, while throwing on some clothes at 4:30 in the morning.
We had decided to go to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat, which had sounded like a good idea the night before. But after arriving in Siem Reap and drinking $1 mojitos and martinis this idea sounded less than ideal.
Dressed in our comfortable clothes, we trudged downstairs and hopped in our tuk tuk on the 10 or 15 minute ride to the temple. York had worn just a t shirt, so we had to huddle into my hooded sweatshirt shivering in the back of the tuk tuk as we made our way to the big event.
We were shocked as we saw some hard core couples riding bicycles through the darkness in the cold air to get to the big sunrise. We were feeling like death, and we just had to sit in the back of a tuk tuk.
We arrived and York purchased our $20 one day passes which would allow us to go to all the temples around Ankor Wat. Most people buy a 2 or 3 day pass, but both of us figured that we could do a really quick tour and make the most of it. They shot our photos for our passes and when we got them we burst into laughter at how disgusting and disheveled we both looked.
We then made our way inside and found a nice spot along the perimeter to watch the sun rise behind the 8th wonder of the world. To be honest, I had no idea which temple we were exact because it was dark and there are so many. Also, our tuk tuk driver smiled alot, but spoke no english so we pretty much just had to guess where we were being taken to.

Every asian tourist was clicking like crazy on their expensive SLR cameras trying to capture the perfect shot of the sun rising behind the temple. I own a waterproof unbreakable camera (Olympus tough) so my photos were less than professional, leading me to frustration.

After the sun rose, we wandered inside the temple to check it out. Tons of people walked through with tour guides listening to the stories and the meanings of all the carvings that covered the walls, but we had opted to just start off on our own, so as we walked through the temple we just took lots of photos and admired the detailed carvings that adorned every corner.

Later, I watched a movie and learned that the temple itself is supposed to resemble a mountain range and that there are 5 peaks. Also, each peak is supposed to represent a closed lotus flower. The temple of Angkor Wat was made by a king in the 12th century because he made himself a God King and he was supposed to do this. Also, the actual temple of Angkor Wat is the largest religious building/structure in the world which makes it one of the 8th wonders of the world. The building itself isn't too huge but it is surrounded by water that is supposed to represent the ocean and it is enclosed with walls as well which help to account for it's size.

Anyway, after wandering through the temple we headed back to our hotel for the complimentary breakfast and to rest before going back to check out all the other temples later. The breakfast was wonderful, as we sat on a balcony overlooking the city. After breakfast, we wandered up to the top of the hotel and took a look at the pool. BIG MISTAKE! Within half an hour York had thrown my into the pool and I was completely soaking wet.
York napped while I showered the chlorine from the pool out of my hair. I had no idea what to wear and was feeling super cranky from no sleep, so tears were welling in my eyes as he barked at me to hurry up. Even though we had only been traveling together a short time, we were already comfortable enough to treat eachother like old friends that can fight with no consequences.

"Hurry up! You are selfish! The tuk tuk driver is waiting, "York yelled to me.

"You shut up! You are selfish! I am trying to get ready but you threw me in the pool! If you hadn't, I wouldn't have had to shower!" I retorted.

But after we had managed to reconcile and regroup, we got back in our tuk tuk and headed back to the temples. This one was Yorks favorite temple of the day, and I really enjoyed it too. "Tomb Raider Temple" is what he called it, because supposedly the Angelina Jolie movie is filmed there. I have seen the movie but can't seem to remember, so I need to watch it again.
This temple had huge trees that had grown over parts of it, causing it to look as though the trees had eaten parts of the temple. Long ago, the temples were abondoned and only in the 18th century were they rediscovered by French explorers, so many of the temples were completely destroyed by the trees that took root there.

This temple has parts that have been left with the trees and other parts that they have restored. It was really cool because it felt like we were really explorers searching through the rubble of ruins. We walked through the dark corners of the temples and climbed over the broken pieces, taking pictures of us posing like we were Indiana Jones.

After that, I was still feeling tired and I really need to use the bathroom and grab a coffee. York agreed, so we searched and searched but there were no bathrooms in sight. Finally we came to an exit where there were bathrooms and sellers selling food and souveniers.
"Is there a bathroom around here, "I asked to one of the ladies.

"You can use the jungle," she replied, as though peeing in the jungle was just a normal thing

Ok, I thought. I grew up in the country, so I am fine with peeing outside. I followed the lady into the jungle and she guarded the path from any people that might happen to come across the path.Only in Cambodia, I thought.

I had coffee and York and I bargained with some children selling bracelets and souveniers. There are so many children begging for food in Cambodia, but if they are selling things it is ok to give them money, but if they are just begging it isn't good to give them money because it only reinforces the behavior.

We continued on our journey to see the temples and our tuk tuk driver took us to one we hadn't heard about along the way. We thought it might be cool to check it out, but didn't think much of it. Once we got closer, I realized that it was going to be alot more exciting than I had anticipated.

The steps up the temple were so steep that you had to literally climb up them. We are both in good physical condition, but the endless stairs up this steep temple left us both dirty and drenched in sweat.

After that, we went and had lunch at a little restaurant in an area where there are literally 20-30 little shops all selling similar food for similar prices. We ate food and drank beer while kids came buy and sold us their goods.

A girl about 14 came buy selling books, and had some that looked interesting.

"If I can tell you the capital of Madagascar, will you buy a book, "she asked me.

I laughed at her eagerness, and told her that if she could tell me the capital of Washington (the state I am from), I would buy a book from her. Although she had no idea, I told her if she found out I would still buy a book from her. Off she went, searching for someone that could tell her.

York was on a mission to get special travel bracelets to give to his friends. He had many children swarmed around him bargaining for the best deals.

A little boy came up to us holding small golden figures of elephants, gods, and other things. He was cute and knew it! Additionally, this boy was incredibly smart and new exactly how to sell. He took all of his little trinkets out and put them in my hands and tried to offer me them for $2 for 1. The bargaining was endless with him, but his English was perfect, so it was fun to joke around with this cute kid even though he wouldn't drop his prices low enough.

The little girl came back but admitted she didn't know the capital of where I was from, but I agreed to give her another chance. I told her if she could guess within 3 guesses I would buy a book from her at her price.

"France,"she quickly answere"2 more chances," I said, thinking she would never get it.

"Germany," she said confidently.

Shit! I thought. I handed her the money and congratulated her on her success. We finished our meal and were heading back to our tuk tuk and the persistant seller boy was still trailing behind me. I offered him my deal once more, but he told me he couldn't afford to sell at such a low price because he has other associated costs that I wasn't considering (cost of product, petrol for driver, etc). Just as we almost got into the tuk tuk, he reluctantly came over and offered me the small gold souveniers for a decent price, although he pretended he was not making any money. We laughed at the little genius, who was brilliant at selling and watched as he walked away with my money.

It was getting late in the day and we were ready to go to the last temple to watch the sunset. The tuk tuk driver began telling York that he needed 5 more dollars to take us to sunset. This is what York loves to do, so I let him deal with the tuk tuk driver and settle a price. Alot of times in foreign countries, people will try to rip of the tourists, and usually no one makes to much of a fuss. York will NEVER allow himself to get ripped off without a battle.

I walked away and bought some Angkor beer in a bottle and let them handle the issue. Eventually, York and the driver agreed on a price and to sunset we went. We bought 2 more bottled Angkor beers and started on the 15 minute journey up the hill to the sunset viewing point.
A crowd was already gathered on the top of the temple ready to watch the sunset. The click of cameras and the chatter of foreign languages were all around us. We were trying to get pictures, but many people were in our way. We found humor in a few people, that didn't seem to notice they were blocking the view as they stood up and took photos for long periods of time in front of the group.

Luckily, we snapped our photos, drank our beers and escaped before the herd of people behind us could leave us stuck in a traffic jam of tourists. We hopped in our tuk tuk and headed back to the hotel before heading out to dinner.

That night we went to dinner and had Cambodian BBQ at a roadside restaurant. It was basically just meat that is cooked in front of you similar to Korean galbi or Korean BBQ and then served with veggies and sides. It was decent, but nothing wonderful.

The long day turned into a long night, and to the club next door to the restaurant we went. Drinking red bull and vodkas, which we drank too many of, we danced and made our way back to the hotel .

Day 22-Bangkok to Siam Reap and BEST HOTEL EVER!

6:15 wake up calls are terrible things. Not to mention, they don't come equipped with a snooze function. So at 6:50 I threw all of my belongings recklessly into my bag (which is now overflowing and has things attached at all points), and wandered down stairs to catch the bus to Siam Reap.

The bus was actually a big van with only 5 other people besides York and I. He hates mornings as much as I do, so we both slept until we reached the Cambodia border. When we arrived there we had to fill out multiples forms and wait in some lines, but overall it was a quick and painless border crossing. I had already had my visa to Cambodia, thanks to Robyn and Jay Young, so it was an easy deal for myself.

After we crossed the border we had to take a charter bus to Siam Reap which took about 3 or 4 hours. We finally reached Siam Reap (home to Ankor Wat-8th wonder of the world) and were given a "free ride" to the hotel of our choice by tuk tuk drivers who were waiting outside of the bus.

We had a driver and then a man who sat and talked to us during the journey to a hotel we were interested in (one we had found in the Lonely Planet travel book). The man tried to tell us he would get us a good hotel and then tomorrow would take us on a tour of all the temples. He seemed like a great guy, and was quite funny too!

BUT.... first rule is NEVER trust anyone! Especially, the nice people! Anyway, as we went in to inquire about vacancy for the night, the driver waited outside. I was super annoyed at this point because I had been on a bus, am PMSing, and hate people who don't listen to me. Anyway, I wanted to go and find a nicer hotel for 3 days because York and I would be staying there till Christmas, but he was a bit content with a less than luxury room and so we were arguing about where to stay.

This tuk tuk driver approached me on the wrong day and at the wrong time, and when he said, "Miss you come stay in my friend hotel. I give you good deal!", I started feeling my blood boiling.

I knew his friends hotel would be crappy and I was tired so I said, "Sorry, no please don't ask again."

And of course, the sneaky tuk tuk driver chased me down the street going, "You give me job miss! YOU PROMISE ME!"

A girl on pms who is hungry is not one to be messed with, so at this point I said, "No! I will never give you a job, and stay away from me!"

Now, being a blond haired 26 year old American in Cambodia, I should have known better. NEVER START A FIGHT... but it had already been done. The angry little tuk tuk driver charged at me yelling, "YOU FUCKING! You lie, you lie! Give me job, you already say!"

Thank goodness, I had a 6 foot German boy to stop this crazy tuk tuk driver from attacking me. Granted, I think I could have taken him. He was pretty small, but York calmed the guy down and told him that I was a bit cranky and explained our situation to him and got us free of the danger.

At this point, I was so thankful to have him as a travel buddy and I learned to be more careful and watch my attitude! I definitely wanted a safe place to stay in that night as well, so we wandered the streets and peaked into hotels until York spotted a beautiful, towering yellow building on the corner.
"WOW! That is it!" I said as he tried to convince me against it.

We checked it out and got the best deal I have ever gotten. The hotel room is LAVISH!!! A 7 foot golden fountain in a pool with lilly pads floating, raised terrace to shower on above the pool, high definition TV, balcony, rooftop pool, I can go on and on and on! Screw Ankor Wat, this is way better I thought!

Anyway, we had to go through a rough bus ride and fight, but in the end we are living the life for only $40 a day!

Day 21-Wakeboard Cable Park in Bangkok Day 2

After going to Club Taco the cable wakeboarding park outside of Bangkok yesterday, I was frustrated and wanted to go again. Even though the night before turned out to be a party hardy night in Bangkok, York and I decided to make it a mission to hit the cable again.

The night before his friend he had studied with Lars(a Swedish boy he met studying in Singapore) had his 2 brothers with him and it was going to be his last night in Bangkok before heading on to Thailand with his family for the holidays. York and I went to our favorite mojito street bar spot on Khaosan road, where the drinks are strong and the reggae is playing along side the famous Mr.Thailand (a man that wears wild outfits and walks around with huge gold chains dancing to reggae and promoting bars). We met up with the wild Swedish boys and ate some fried scorpions on the street before continuing the party with more mojitos until the wee hours of the night.

So, to summarize we had a late night but had to wake up early enough to get to the cable park. York and I went to use the computers and then I looked up flights on the internet and found a cheap round trip flight to Singapore from Bangkok, so I decided that from the 26th-3rd of January I am going to head with York to Singapore to ring in the new year and check out the country. Booking the flight took some time and we also had to book a bus ride from Bangkok to Siam Reap for the following day (it cost 450 baht plus cost of visa), so we didn't make it to the cable park till late again.

After getting a taxi for 350 baht to Club Taco, we arrived at 4pm just in time to get in 2 hours of boarding. York nailed at least 3 back flips, but my success rate was not as high. The cable runs counter clockwise so everyone who rides switch can do it pretty easily, but I kept falling when I was carving on toeside and trying to do a left turn around the bend. I finally got in one nice turn and made it only to fall on the next one and have to spend my time swimming back to the dock!

The day was good fun, but we were exhausted! We ended it by taking a bus back to Bangkok(hours of misery), and eating a quick bite before preparing for our journey to Cambodia the following morning ..... 7 am departure.... AAAAAHHHHGGG!

Day 20-Cable Wake Park outside Bangkok

Sunday, December 20th and the 20th day of my trip. I can't believe I have been on this trip for almost 3 weeks. The night before I left, I didn't want to go. I was crying all the way to the airport, and today as I awoke in my hotel room at the Sawasdee Bangkok Inn down an alley in the infamous Khaosan Road, that all backpackers have traveled, I don't want it to end.

Today, York and I decided that we were going to go to the cable park to wake board on the cable just outside of Bangkok. It is called Club Taco and supposedly was going to be fairly easy to find. So, we ate our complimentary breakfast at the hotel and then chilled out for a little while before going.

We got the directions from a travel center in Bangkok the day before and so we were told to wait for a bus that would take about an hour and take us to the airport, from which we were supposed to get a taxi and then find the park. In actuality, this was much easier said than done and it took us hours to finally find Club Taco because the signs were really small, and none of the taxi drivers could read the English directions and no one was answering the phone.

When we finally got to Club Taco, tons of people were cruising around the Cable Park and doing jumps off the obstacles, which looked super intimidating to me because I had never ridden in a cable park. York was super excited and I could tell he was pumped to be there. He took off first and did great around the cable. Within the first few minutes, he was doing a backflip off the ramp and landed it no problem.

When it was my turn to go, I waited for the cable to pull me up and I got up fine, but the feeling was alot different than starting on the boat. I went about halfway down the first straight away and crashed hard in the water. A few more trys and I was starting to get the hang of it, but at the corners I bit it hard and face planted because I wasn't used to the way the rope pulls and most people were riding goofy and I had difficulty feeling th edge and knowing how hard to push it.

York was seriously amazing on the cable and made me super jealous! 360s, jumps, and an awesome backflip with only a few minor falls. It made me really frustrated, but I want to ride again there and get the hang of it. I love wakeboarding, and it is alot different on the boat, but I will definitely try to get the hang of it on the cable.

We got a ride back into Bangkok with a nice couple that lived there and then headed back to the area around our hotel for dinner. We had a dinner in the street, which was cheap and good. He had some sort of seafood pancake and I had a mix of spicy chicken, veggies, and rice with some cheap Thai beer.

We were both exhausted but I forced myself to go and get another mani and pedi while York shopped. I met a really nice girl there that was getting a mani and pedi too and we chatted while York came back and brought beer and showed off some of his shopping purchases.

Now, I am here at the internet cafe doing my best to update this blog, but I have to admit it is getting hard. The days are flying by and I am having a tough time keeping track of the details. I am loving this trip and tomorrow will be my 21st day traveling..... Another day to master the cable park! To Taco Park we will go!

Day 19-Bangkok-Shopping, palaces, buckets of mojito

We got to Bangkok at about 5 am after the 15 hour journey from Vang Viene, Laos. We were tired and sore from the bus ride, so we basically just wandered the streets with our heavy backpacks until we found something that was decent enough to stay in.

We got a room at a hotel called the Sawaskee Bangkok Inn, which was right off Khaosan Road. The pictures of the rooms looked much nicer than they actually were but we did get air conditioning, HBO, and a hot shower.

We crashed from about 5-10 and then all met up for a brunch on the famous Khaosan Road. It was already a party going there with tons of people drinking beer, playing pool, vendors everywhere and just a street filled with energy. We got some overpriced food, and then I made our plans for the day.

I convinced York and Lars to accompany around Bangkok and check out some touristy stuff before they went off shopping. I had been to Bangkok 3 years ago but didn't manage to do anything other than party, so I wanted to go see the palaces.

We went to the Grand Palace and wandered the streets of Bangkok trying to get things figured out around the city and then the boys headed to do some shopping on their own and I went my own way.

The boys were lucky! Masses of new tank tops, skirts, and cheap sundresses shocked my senses and I couldn't get enough. It definitely required alot of bargaining, but I found that if I stuck to one seller and bought a few things prices were ok.

I went for a run around the city by myself around 5, and found it to be quite difficult, because there weren't any great roads nearby and it got dark quick. On my way back I ran into York and Lars who were heading to Lars hotel. Lar's family was flying in that night from sweden, so he was going to hang around and wait for them.

York and I went to an awesome Lebanese restaurant called for dinner that night and had pitas and delicous hummus. It was called Sarahs restaurant and was a little bit off the main drag, so it wasn't as noisy and expensive as the other restaurants in Bangkok.

The end of the night was a good one for me because it ended with one of my favorite drinks at a cute little outside reggae street corner bar. We got 2 buckets of mojito for only 500 baht and shared those, as we watched the chaos of Khaosan around us. Bangkok is definitely a city that is hard to sleep in.... unless you have 2 buckets of mojito to help you out!

Day 18-Bus ride from Vang Viene to Bangkok