Day 10 - 1/31/10 - Kayaking Around

We wanted to get up early so we could avoid the hot part of the day. We succeeded somewhat and end up getting up around 7:30. After a wonderful buffet breakfast we rented a double kayak and around 9 am we headed out on the sea to explore the surrounding beaches and islands.
The islands around Railay are nothing like we have seen anywhere else. They are huge limestone towers that rise high from the azure sea. There is a multitude of caves and stalactite and stalagmites all around these magnificent rocks. We kayaked around many of these islands and snorkeled around some. We also stopped at the PhraNang beach - one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and explored the Princess Cave. Princess cave is a cave filled with phallic symbols where people pray for fertility.
We slowly paddled our way back to our beach and we finally arrived after 1pm when it was starting to get really hot.
After a delicious curry for lunch we retired to our cottage for a well deserved nap.
In the evening we booked our tour for the next day - Snorkeling trip to the Phi Phi islands and finished the wonderful day with dinner and drinks.

Day 9 - 1/30/10 - Arrival in Paradise

In order to catch our early morning flight to Krabi we had to leave our hotel in Bangkok at 5 am. We got to the airport just in time as a huge downpour started right after we arrived. I have never really witnessed a true tropical storm - it was amazing how much water feel in such a short amount of time.
There was no sign of the storm upon our arrival in Krabi. Our hotel's shuttle picked us up and transported us to a local harbor where we boarded a longtail boat - the transportation of choice in this area. We end up sharing the boat with another couple from Norway - Yngve & Anya. They were wonderful and really fun to talk to. We were both secretly hoping that we could stay in touch with them once in the resort but we didn't want to appear like stockers. The boat ride was fantastic, the sea is so blue and the islands all around plentiful. This area was 180 degrees different from Bangkok.
We checked into our spacious, brand new cottage and went on to explore the area a bit. We spent some time on the beach, by the pool and finally taking a nap during the hottest part of the day. While watching the sunset on Railay West we ran into our friends from earlier that day and agreed to meet up for dinner. The dinner by the beach was fantastic and the conversation even better. We were both wishing that they were not from Norway but rather somewhere closer to us as we could truly see being good friends with these two. The conversation was so engaging that we didn't want to end after dinner so we all moved over to the Laughing Tree - a small bar with beach mats and candles right on the beach. We didn't go to bed until 1am. Now we have truly arrived in a paradise.

Day 8 - 1/29/10 - Finally at Peace with Bangkok

This morning I out-smarted the rooster and put tissue paper in my ears (my husband's idea, as he just pointed out) - ha Mr. Rooster, can't get me... but he still did manage to wake me up but it was easier to ignore him and fall back asleep.
We got up around 7 as we had a tour to catch at 9. We signed up for a bike tour through Bangkok with Grasshopper Adventures. It was #1 activity on TripAdvisor, so it must be good right?
We got fitted on our bikes and our tour guide Tammy took all 9 of us to the streets.
I was not really sure how we were going to navigate these crazy streets, but it was amazing. Tammy took us through the big roads, the small ones and the tiniest of them all. We were going along these canals through people's backyards while dodging cars, motorbikes, tuk-tuks, babies, dogs, cats, food stalls vendors, and who knows what else. It was really a great experience. Tammy even took us to a local market where we sampled some cool local foods and great fruit. We end up taking the ferry back over to the other side of the river. We even got bits and pieces of history and cultural references. Oh, did I mention we even saw a dragon? Well actually it was a water monitor, a huge lizard that can be over 9ft long. Our was only about 5 ft long but still very impressive.
We have also met wonderful and interesting people on the tour - a couple from the US living in Manilla working for EU and another family from Whistler who escaped the Olympics and decided to travel Asia for two months instead.
Once we said our good byes we went back to our hotel, took a much needed shower and headed down to a spa for a wonderful 2 hour long Thai massage. It was a very healing and very relaxing experience.
In the evening we took a dinner cruise and finished the day with shopping in the Pad Pong market.
Tomorrow we are flying to Krabi and finally heading to our island destination. Can't wait, but the Internet may be little sketchy there so not sure when will be our next update.
And the title of this post... I actually enjoyed Bangkok... so I am finally at peace with it.

Day 7 - 1/28/10 - First Full Day in Steamy Bangkok

Unfortunately, I started the day little bit sooner than expected at 4:30 am. There is this very loud rooster right outside of our balcony that started to tell us that the new day is coming and he would not shut up until 7 when a parrot took over his lonesome singing. Chris slept through it all!!!
We had a very good buffet breakfast in the riverside restaurant in our hotel and once finished we thought it may be a good idea to go explore the city before it gets too hot. Ha ha... I don't think there is before it gets too hot time in Bangkok. At first we wanted to walk to all the attractions but after five minutes of walking we decided that it may not be such a bad idea to check out how the extensive boat transportation works. Thank God!!! It was so worth it. Our hotel is right by a pier and the boats come by every five minutes or so. It costs 13 baht and it takes you to all the major sightseeing attractions that happen to be conveniently located along the river.
Our first and just about the last destination was the Royal Palace Complex, I say the last because it took us over three hours to explore it all. We were somewhat warmer than necessary as one is required to wear appropriate clothing while on the palace grounds. Appropriate clothing means long pants for men and long skirt/pants (below knees) for women and a shirt that covers the shoulders for both. If one does not come dressed appropriately one can rent clothes or be refused entry.
We got there just in time for a free 10 am English speaking tour so we took advantage of it. We got to know some more about Thai religious symbols and other interesting facts about the surrounding plentiful buildings. The grounds were beautiful and we truly were in awe. We were happy that we found our way here.
Little bit of trivia information - The royal monastery of the emerald Buddha houses a Buddha image carved from jade, which was first discovered in the year 1434. A ceremony officiated by the king is held three times a year to let the emerald Buddha wear different outfits according to the season, summer, rainy season or winter (basically hot, hot and hotter).
After our visit to the palace we were hot and tired and thought about taking the boat back to our hotel, but once we set down in a shade for a drink we felt much better and we took on yet another site, the Wat Pho, also known as The Temple of the Reclining Buddha. The gold plated reclining Buddha is 46 meters long and 15 meters high, and is designed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana. The feet and the eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration. It was very impressive but after walking around the 20 acres worth of grounds we decided to return into our hotel and cool down a bit.
As of right now we are still hiding in our AC bunker and Chris is schemeing about how to kill our resident rooster & the parrot.
If we get brave enough we may even go out for a dinner.

Day 6 - 1/27/10 - Our Arrival in Bangkok

Prior to our departure we at last got some of our questions answered by our wonderful cab driver in Siem Reap:
1) Who owns all the Lexus in Phnom Phen? Not even in Marin have seen as many lexus as we have here -> the govermant officials (hmmm makes you wonder how uncorruptable they may be)
2) What is the average (good) salary in Siem Reap -> about $100/month
Just for piont of reference - cost of tuk tuk - $2000 - resulting tuk tuk salary - $200/month
Bike for a kid so it doesn't have to walk 5km to school - $30
3) Why was there a mile long line in front of the Childern's hospital -> each family in need gets a number assign to them and when their turn comes - they come to Phnom Phen or Siem Reap to get care for their sick child in this privately run free hospital. Since then I have read much more about this program and it is amazing what Kantha Bopha & Dr. Beat Richner do for these children. If you want to know more check the link out.

We were sad to leave this wonderful country but we were excited to see what Thailand had in store for us. I have to admit that I was rather overwhelmed by Bangkok - as Chris put it is a high energy smelly chaos. After an hour long cab ride from the airport we checked into our wonderful hotel - Navalai River Resort (again an osais in the middle of this crazy place).
After we settled in we went out to explore around the hotel on foot. We were warned by other travellers about scams that are plentiful in Bangkok and guess what... two minutes into our walk we almost fell for one ourselves. Thank God we are smart :). We explored around 'The Backpackers' Mecca' - Khao San Road and finished the evening with a nice 'stomach safe' dinner. Oh, did I mention how freaking hot it is here?!

Day 5 - Wonderful Last Day in Siem Reap

This day started really early, we were both awake before 6 am. I guess we were rested enough from our sick time the previous day. We didn't even eat breakfast, because we didn't want to take the chance that it could spoil the rest of our day. We hired a tuk tuk just outside the hotel and headed for the farther parts of Angkor Park. There was hardly anybody out there, well at least at first. We visited couple of small temples followed by Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is the temple seen in The Tomb Raider movie. This temple complex is only partially cleared of jungle overgrowth in order to present some 'tree-in-temple' photo opportunities. It was pretty cool, but unfortunately there were many tourists at this point.
From there we visited Banteay Kdei and Sras Srang, which were nice but nothing exceptional. The farthest part of our visit was Neak Pean and Preah Khan and they were definitely worth the visit. One was a group of pools with a sort of a fountain in the middle that were believed to have healing powers and the other was a very serene complex, without any tourists and it still had many 'tree-in-temples' left, which were great to see.
At this point it was nearing one pm and we were both 'templed' out so we headed back to town. We found a nice bakery and filled up on bread as that was one safe thing we thought we could eat.
Once again we found ourselves spending the afternoon by the pool before heading to the town for dinner and some shopping. We thought it would be waste not to have Khmer food on our last day in Cambodia so we tossed the dice and ate a real meal and it was worth it! Now we just have to figure out how to make it at home.

Day 4 - 1/25/10 - Cambodian Detox Treatment

The plan for today was to sleep in and take a cooking class in one of the local restaurants to learn how to make some of these wonderful Khmer dishes, followed by relaxation, shopping and perhaps even some massage. But instead we checked into a Cambodian Detox Spas. I was the first one to partake, starting the night before and Chris followed my lead the following morning. The enrollment was not voluntary but it sure did detox us thoroughly and did wonders for my waistline.
As you may have already guessed we got sick. At least this time we were able to pin point the source. It was our lunch the previous day in one of the restaurants in Angkor Wat area. Looking back... probably not the best choice. Needless to say we didn't take the cooking class but instead we spent the day in the bed and in the other area nearby. Fourteen hours and two cyproflaxins (stomach antibiotic) later I felt slightly better, at least as long as I didn't drink nor eat anything, so I went to read by the pool and left Chris in the room to sleep it off. I think I am out of the woods but he is still fighting it... hopefully tomorrow we will be both better and will get to go explore the rest of the temples. Luckily, today was not supposed the be an action packed nor travelling day, so really it was the best day to get sick. The way I see it, one has to get one of these stomach bugs on each continent one visits. Hopefully, this will have Asia covered.

Day 3 1/24/10 - Angkor Wat

Our first full day in Siem Reap we decided to visit the main purpose of our travel to Cambodia - Ankor Wat. We arranged our tuk-tuk pick up the night before. Sunny, as he called himself picked us up at 8:30. We got lucky as it was cloudy and not so hot, at least for now. There are many temples in the area with Angkor Wat being the most famous of them all. We stopped by the front gate to purchase our $40 tickets and through an alley of monkeys (they were everywhere) we finally arrived at the main gate. The enjoyment of this place and its magnificence increased dramatically once got away from most of the Japanese tourists. This place was amazing. We were both so happy that we didn't decide to omit Cambodia as originally contemplated. The detail on all of walls, the statues, the size, it is impossible to describe. We wandered around Angkor Wat for a while in absolute awe.
Once we gout our fill Sunny took us to the next destination - Angkor Thom, a fortified Royal City (10 square km) surrounded by a moat 30 feet wide. The best part was the Bayon. Bayon is a temple mountain that stands in the center of the area. It's towers are decorated with over 200 smiling faces. We walked around some more visiting the Terrace of Elephants and of the Leper King but it was getting really hot and we were getting really tired and hungry, at this point it was close to 2pm.
We had a lunch on one of the restaurant in the area. Chris seemed to have enjoyed it but I didn't like one of the dishes so I left it alone.
Once again we spent the afternoon by our wonderful pool and in the evening we headed for dinner in the Temple Restaurant that offered traditional Apsara dance show during dinner times and also had cooking classes one could attend during the day. The food here was absolutely amazing and the price ($3 for a meal) unbeatable so we decided to sign up for a class the next day. Beat we headed to bed around 9.

Day 2 - 1/23/10 - Bus Adventure - Phnom Phen to Siem Reap

We got our tickets the day before for our early morning bus ride to Siem Reap. The whole journey is about 320 km and it takes about six hours.... oy... like we didn't have enough traveling already. But it was actually an amazing experience - the incredible things that you get to see from the bus window! And once again I was surprised how absolute poverty can exist side by side next to such luxury. In the middle of nowhere you could have a HUGE HUGE mansion next to a thatched hut. We spent the whole ride observing everything passing us by - people taking baths in their mud ponds, babies running around naked in their yards, super skinny cows grazing in dirt fields, Buddhist monks walking on the side of the street with their huge umbrellas and people carrying their whole families on one motorbike. Hey, you can even fit building supplies, two dead pigs, huge sack of rice and a wife on one scooter...who needs a car! Why do you need a hitch on the back of the bike when you can have your friend sit behind you and put it over his torso... safe right?... oh and did I mention there was a horse on top of the trailer that was being pulled?!
Anyway... it was a fantastic drive from one town to the next with no dull moments...
Once in Siem Reap, we got a tuk tuk to take us to our hotel - Bopha Angkor. The hotel is amazing... a little oasis with fountains and secluded corners where one can relax. It has a very spa like feel with a fantastic pool that sure feels great in this sticky hot weather. We chilled by the pool and after a little R&R we went on to explore the town itself.
Siem Reap finally feels like we are on vacation. A cute little town with silk lanterns in the trees and plenty of small shops and restaurants around every corner. Oh... did I mention you can get a massage for $6/hr... we are thinking about having foot & leg massage at the same time as head and shoulder one. I think $12 just may be worth it!
We finished the day with our complimentary 6 course meal at our hotel's restaurant. Oh my god, I fell in love with traditional Khmer (Cambodian) food - Fish Amok... soooooo good. Basically it is a green curry with fish, but so much better.. and their version of Thai beef satay is unbelievable!
Tomorrow we are heading out in our tuk tuk to finally explore Angkor Wat!
The connectivity here is limited so I will have to post it all at once when I have a chance.
Stay tuned.

Day 1 -1/22/10 - Rude Awakening in Phnom Phen

After a long day of traveling - approximately 24 hours, we finally arrived in the capital of Cambodia - Phnom Phen. Our vacation didn't exactly start on a good note. On our last flight from Taipei to Phnom Phen we sat next to a nice man who was coming home to Cambodia. He has been living in the US for last 30 years after leaving as a teenager. As of 2000 he has started coming back to Cambodia for the sole purpose of looking for any surviving relatives. Out of his immediate family he was the only one able to escape, all of the rest of his immediate relatives were killed by the Khmer Rouge. Of all his extended family he was only able to locate one of his younger cousins who is now in his late thirties. After listening to his stories and all that his country has gone through at the hands of the Khmer Rouge I felt guilty for coming here for a vacation. Going to places like these sure makes you appreciate ALL that we have.
On our way from the airport we talked to our cab driver who also survived the brutality of the Khmer Rogue. After all he has gone through, he has a little baby for whom he is not able to get proper health care for but he is lucky enough because his wife and two kids at least have a place to live - he is renting a room in a house near the airport.
After our "refreshing" start we finally checked into our wonderful hotel, took a shower and went out to explore the town. You wouldn't believe how crazy the traffic was. We almost considered renting a tuk-tuk (a moped pulling a rik-shaw) just to get across the street! Since we heard plently of bad stuff about Phnom Penh, we were prepared for the worst. It actually turned out to be not that bad - expectations are everything! We walked around for a bit but that got old fast as the city is really polluted and the drivers use lanes only as a suggestions not necessarily as rules. Who says you can't pull into the ongoing traffic head first without stopping? and why shouldn't a two lane road have about six lanes of traffic going through it?
In the end we gave in and took the tuk tuk to the main temple where we saw an elephant and a crazy family of monkeys making their home in the middle of the city and unfortunately a $1 dollar baby. These little 5yr old kids where sent out by their moms with fresh, FRESH newborns strapped to them to go beg for money... saying '$1 dollar for baby', It is so scary... our social services should see this!!!
We were so tired prior to visiting the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda we needed at least a drink to reset... and that's when the legless man shuffled over and the elephant man came by (he had a floppy head tumor that hung from his temple down to his shoulder). It was little too much for me.
Needless to say, our first day of vacation did not feel like a vacation at all. The funny thing about Cambodia was that you see all these poor families on bikes and mopeds driving around between luxury Lexuse and Escalade. Guess some people are better of!
Luckily by the afternoon we finally started to feel like we were on vacation when we went to explore the beautiful grounds of the palace and finished the day with drinks and dinner by and in the pool of our hotel. We just had to escape it all for a bit.

The picture with the bottles is the gas station ;o) no kidding. There are plenty of these on every corner.

Cambodia & Thailand here we come

Ok... I know it has been a loooooong time... but finally here is an update! We are getting ready to embark on another adventure this time on a new continent for both of us - Asia has so far been a mystery for both of us. We are going to try to change that by visiting Cambodia & Thailand.

We are leaving tonight so stay tuned for updates! Here is just a few highlights:
1) After 14hour flight to Taipei followed by 4 hour flight we will arrive in the capital city of Cambodia - Phnom Phen
2) The following day we depart early in the morning for Siem Reap - our base camp for Angkor Wat exploration and our home for the next 4 days
3) From there we will visit the capital city of Bangkok for a couple of days and explore around there
4) The final and hopefully the most relaxing part of our trip will be spent on the coast of Thailand in Railay West... voted to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world... ahhhh

Like I said .... Life is Good!!!