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After a rejuvenating week at Kamalaya , Lacey and I joined each other’s company once more in Phuket, Thailand!

Accommodation: Marriott Resort and Spa, Merlin Beach

Thoughts: AMAZING! It’s located a bit outside of Patong, which is the main tourist location and a MAJOR party place! It was actually recommended to me by someone I’d met who was actually from Phuket originally, to only stay about a night in Patong then to go see the rest of the island, but we didn’t. The main reason we stayed there was because places were a little pricier than we had been paying and we were hoping to continue to save a bit of money. It worked out that my Dad had extra points on his Marriott rewards so we were able to use those and stay there for free. Points are a beautiful thing people, don’t ever underestimate the power of accumulating points.

The resort itself had a private beach, and I swear one of the biggest, most incredible pools I’ve ever seen in my life!! We were obsessed!! There’s also a swim-up bar in the pool that has an amazing happy hour (I don’t think we ever missed this) then you can continue the drink specials in the lounge once happy hour in the pool was done! There’s like 3 restaurants and a coffee shop in the hotel as well. Also, because it’s located slightly out of Patong, there’s shuttles running every hour or two to and from the city centre until like 8pm, and if you want to be out later, you can just taxi back.

Things to do:

Honestly, because we had such an amazing resort that we were staying it, we mostly lounged by the pool for half the day and went into town and walked around. However, we did do a couple of things before we left!

Phi Phi Island Tour

We did a day trip tour of some of the neighbouring islands, including the famous Phi Phi island. It was a great day! It was an early start day, I believe we were at the harbor around 8am. There was free coffee available once you arrived, but if you do this tour, bring water, towels, and breakfast.

We hung out for about an hour before getting on the boats, but everyone finally piled into the speed boat and got ready to go. The water was a little choppy but, I find that to be insanely fun! Between all the  bumps, jumps and falls, I can never help but laugh along the way. After a significant ride on the boat, we arrived at our first island: Khai Nai. Here, we just laid on the beach and swam in the ocean for a while. Snorkeling was offered, I would recommend just buying your own snorkel gear before going on any snorkel trip in Asia, the ones provided really aren’t that great.

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Next, we headed to Yao Yai Island for lunch. Now, typically we would have been given beach and exploring time here, but, it started to rain, and hard! Everyone and everything was soaked by the time we arrived to the lunch spot. Lacey and I were laughing and all our valuables were in a water-proof bag (also recommended, you can find really cheap ones around). Rain is just apart of how it goes in tropical areas most of the time, and having lived in Florida, we were both used to it, knowing it would likely clear and be nice again in an hour or so. Lunch was a buffet, so you were able to eat your fill, however had to purchase drinks. That was all well and good, once everyone was full, and had used the toilet, we made our way back to the boat, the rain had stopped but was still threatening to start again.

Monkeys!

We got a little more rain as we made our way to our next destination, which was Phi Phi Don Island. Here, we were able to do a bit of sight seeing of Monkey Island. This was hilarious to watch actually! There were monkeys all over the cliffs of the island and would climb up and then just dive into the water and swim their way out…I don’t think I ever really knew monkeys could swim before seeing that! I mean it makes sense that they could, it’s just not something I had ever considered. The tour guides would throw fruit and such into the water and the monkeys would jump down into the water to get it, other times they would just jump on their own. It was pretty funny.

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After being thoroughly entertained by the monkeys, we made our way to Bamboo Island to do a bit more swimming. We just jumped off the boat into the water and would swim

around. It was a lot of fun.

Finally, we arrived at Phi Phi Leh Island, which was riddled with people on tours as it’s not just a beautiful beach, but the filming site for the movie “The Beach” starring Leonardo DiCaprio. We did a bit more swimming but were kind of over it quickly as there were so many people.

At last it was time to head back. Lacey, myself and a few others piled into the very front of the speed boat, which is not covered. We were racing our way back to Phuket, when it started to rain again. They stopped the boat and gave us the option to move in the back if we didn’t want to deal with the rain. 2 people moved, but the rest of us decided to tough it out…probably the most amusing decision we could have made. We were in bathing suits, so not really covered, and with how much rain was coming and how fast we were going, the raindrops felt like bullets on our skin. We were also flying over waves, crashing down hard as we went. Holding on for dear life, we all couldn’t help but laugh every time the boat slammed down and our bodies were red from being pelted with water bullets. Some of us were able to get our towels out from under our butts to cover our faces or arms to help a little, but mine failed miserably so I just ended up turning around so my face was at least not getting hit directly with the water. Lacey and I both looked at each other and the end and said “we finally had an arm day!” and laughed because up until that point every tour and excursion we had done was excessive walking and stairs, so it was always leg day, we finally got to balance it out.

All in all, it was a great tour, we had a lot of fun, despite the weather, so if you’re ever in Phuket and are thinking about it, I’d recommend it as a tour for sure!

We arrived back to the hotel around 7 or 8pm, so it was truly a full day!

Phuket FantaSea

I really can’t decide which was better: the island tour or the FantaSea show/experience. FantaSea is a Thai Cultural Theme Park. However, not the typical theme park we think of. There aren’t rides or anything, but there are loads of shops, and all the buildings are heavily decorated. It was fun to just walk around! So, the park is only open before the show, and so you’re able to enter a few hours before the show starts and see everything. In addition, you have a choice of paying for dinner, which we chose to do, it’s a buffet with plenty of options and the food was pretty decent!

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In addition to the dinner, and colorful shops, there was a zoo portion of the park so you were able to go see some animals native to the area. I have previously mentioned that when we were in Chiang Mai, we went to a zoo that was truly amazing and the animals were clearly treated well and had plenty of space to roam. I will disclaim that if you are going to FantaSea and you’re not typically a fan of zoos, I would NOT recommend going into this portion of the park. the enclosures are small, and like the tigers were indoors and kept behind glass. Not the most ideal conditions for the animals.

Also, before the big show, there was a small performance and it was like the most amazing thing ever! Oh, it was so good!!! It was a group of Thai performers singing and dancing to what made me think of 90s pop music and wearing bright colorful clothing that matched. Seriously, I couldn’t stop smiling it was truly fantastic!

After that cheese-tastic mini show, Lacey and I were really wondering what the big show was going to be like, but it couldn’t have been more different! The main show was 100% worth the trip over to the park to see it! There was dancing, singing, traditional costumes, acrobatics and again, disclaimer for those who may be upset by it, there were live animals in the show, who had clearly been trained. If the animal thing is really going to get to you, then I’d recommend not going, but if it won’t then go and I really think you’ll enjoy yourself! Afterwards the park remained open for a little bit for shopping an they have elephants outside that you can take pictures with, and you could also pay to ride them (which we did not do).

We headed out the next day for our flight to Melbourne! We were headed Down Under again to explore the Outback!

  Phi Phi and FantaSea After a rejuvenating week at Kamalaya , Lacey and I joined each other's company once more in Phuket, Thailand!

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Airport Lines

I’ve told you great ways to maximize your downtime spent at airports, now we’re going to talk about how to make the process of getting through the airport as painless as humanly possible. Checking-in Obviously, it’s the very first thing you have to do! Things you know you have to have: your ID, and either your boarding pass from online check-in, or a credit card to find your reservation/pay for…

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Layovers

Travelling is an amazing thing! But, there are some drawbacks to it: the literal travelling part. The process of getting from location to the next. Now, personally, if I could choose and one way to travel everywhere, it would be by train. In my opinion they’re the most comfortable, there are food cars for long rides, toilets, and enough space that if you’re with another person, you can play cards…

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We finally arrived in Thailand! Now, I LOVED seeing Vietnam and Cambodia , but, Thailand had been a long time desire so I was really excited to get here. First stop was Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. We arrived late at night 2 days before Songkran began… technically 3 but everyone began celebrating the day before anyway. I’ll get to that.

Accommodation: Jimmy and Jeng Homestay

Thoughts: I HIGHLY recommend this place!! The people who run it are absolutely amazing! They’re so welcoming, helpful, and speak perfect English. We had our own ensuite to our room, and it was so clean! We didn’t feel like there was any need to wear shoes in the shower (idk about you, but I always count that as a win as I just don’t trust the cleanliness of the shower floors in hostels). They were also extremely helpful when it came to planning excursions and could give discounted prices.

The location is fantastic as well! It’s a little out of the way, but, if you go out, turn right and walk straight for maybe 10 minutes, you’ll be right in the centre of town. It’s perfect! It was even better during Songkran because it was a good place to be able to stay out of the way of the festivities if you didn’t want to take part.

Additionally, they have water and sodas available, you just keep track of what you take from the fridge and pay at the end. They also offer breakfast and coffee in the morning. It’s a really great place!

Day 1

As earlier mentioned, we arrived fairly late, we checked in and walked into town to get some food, had a really lovely meal, walked around a small bit, then went home to sleep.

Day 2

Alright so, first full day! Over breakfast, we made some decisions: to book the elephant sanctuary tour for the following day, and to go to the zoo as both Lacey and I love the zoo! Say what you will about them, but I have a younger sister who has been obsessed with animals my entire life, and has always made us go to zoos in almost every city we’ve visited and I can honestly say I’ve only seen a small handful where I felt the animals were kept in closures too small or might be mistreated, and only one where I can definitely say I KNOW they were mistreated simply based on looking at the animals, and that was ironically in Zurich, Switzerland.

To get there, we took a shared tuk tuk, which are very common in Chiang Mai. They’re red, and have long benches, can hold around 12 people I believe. You can pick them up anywhere, you pay a flat rate, which is printed on the side (was slightly higher while we were there because of the holiday), and they’ll take you where you want to go. It’s a great way to get around!

Anyway, so we went to the zoo and spent all day walking around, and still didn’t see it all! This place was HUGE! It was fantastic! The animals looked healthy and their enclosures were big, I loved every minute of being there! Definitely recommend it if you have the chance. Once it came time for the zoo to close, I think we caught the last tuk tuk out and headed into the markets. As previously mentioned, in Southeast Asia, even if you’re not actually buying anything, the markets are definitely worth a look.

We eventually headed back, went out for dinner, and went to bed as we had an early morning the next morning for the elephant sanctuary!

Day 3

There are two elephant sanctuaries that are more encouraged for you to go to as they are the ones that don’t allow you to ride the elephants. People try to discourage the ones that allow you to ride them as the point of the sanctuaries is a safe place for the elephants so they won’t be mistreated or hunted….and riding them isn’t natural. So, we went to the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary as we were able to book it last minute, the other one that is highly recommended is the Elephant Nature Park however, this one you have to book in advance, they were booked about 2 weeks out when we were there. If you travel like we do, Jungle Sanctuary is definitely your better bet.

We were picked up in the morning by someone who was going to take us to the sanctuary location, we were the first stop, we made 4 or 5 more along the way at other hotels. It was tuk tuk-esque. It was a pick up truck that had a cover and benches in the back, then the last 2 we picked up sat inside, up front with the driver. On our way out, Jimmy gave us plastic bags and told us to put our things in it as we’d be getting wet. We took the bags and said thank you, although we really didn’t understand why we’d be getting wet…we soon found out.

Along the way, we all chatted in the back of the truck, there was a couple from Miami, a couple from Canada, a couple from England and then me and Lacey….a couple of crazy people. Everyone seemed really cool and we all got along really well. There was a stop made along the way so we could use restrooms and buy water if needed or anything else, but also, our driver handed out plastic bags to everyone else to put their things in, and advised us all to do so at that time. Still unsure as to why this was necessary, we all followed his advice and protected our things. Shortly after doing this, as we were driving along, through a few smaller villages (this was an hour’s drive at least), we were assaulted with water flying into the back of the truck! Whoever got hit in the back screamed out of surprise and jumped out of their seats! All of our jaws were on the floor in shock, which quickly turned into fits of laughter as it proceeded to happen a few more times during our drive.

We finally arrived to our location with minimally damp clothing. We were driven down quite close then had to walk the rest of the way over to the shelter. As soon as we were down past the trees, we saw elephants! It was mind-blowing!!! We made our way to the shelter, and were given special shirts to put on while we fed the elephants. They gave a demonstration on the proper way to feed the elephants, then handed some of the food out to each of us and let us begin mingling with them! It was absolutely incredible! There was a baby who would stay nearby its mom most of the time but was really adorable and fun to pet…and when I say baby, it was almost up to my shoulder in height! The elephants are extremely comfortable around people and are really friendly, however, they are obviously massive, heavy animals who don’t quite realize just how big they are. They are playful, which obviously means you have to be careful as they could easily hurt you by accident, and they can’t see behind them, so you have to be sure you won’t get stepped on when they decide to reverse. With that said, no broken bones or injuries occurred while we were there.

Once the elephants were fed, it was time to feed ourselves. We ate a provided lunch, had time to use the toilets, and if we finished early, could feed the elephants a bit more. Once everyone had their fill of lunch, we changed into bathing suits and went to give the elephants baths! There was  mud bath pit, and clean water to rinse them in. To give them mud baths, you literally just picked up loads of mud and rubbed it on them. This was all well and good…until the people working there started rubbing the mud on us. It basically turned into a massive mud and water fight. Oh, and side note: the elephants will poop in the water, and the people working there will pick it up and throw it out. Sounds gross, but when you stop and think about an elephant’s diet, it’s basically like picking up a fallen tree branch and throwing it aside.

Once the mud bath was completed for elephants and people alike, it was time to rinse. The people working there led the elephants to the clean water, and we all followed. You had to give plenty of room each time an elephant entered or left the water, because when entering, they would walk in and roll over on their sides, they loved it! But exiting, you again just need to be sure you won’t get stepped on. Once again, this basically ended up turning into a water fight. While the water/mud fights were fun, I would have rather had a it where your group is assigned to one elephant to bathe, that way you get to spend a little more time with them. From what I’ve heard, that’s more the way it goes in the Elephant Nature Park. But, personal preferences.

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Additional note: Everything I described here is part of the full day tour. There are half days offered, personally, I can’t imagine doing a half day as I believe all you get to do is feed them. It just doesn’t feel like it would be worth it to me.

Once we were done, we dried off, made sure we had everything and loaded back into the truck to head home, once again, putting our things in plastic bags for protection….this time we were SO happy we did this. On the way home, more people were out, with kiddie pools, hoses, and emptied trash bins loaded with water. They had water guns and buckets waiting to shoot water at passersby. As soon as the first one hit, it didn’t stop the entire way back into town. We were SOAKED! Soon, we started looking out the windows and would figure out which side of the truck it was coming on so we could prepare. The worst was when it was on your side and they clearly had just melted blocks of ice for the water, it was FREEZING!! Thankfully, it was hot out so it was alright. Between the 8 of us in the back, we started using empty water bottles to collect water from the bed of the truck (yes it was that wet) to throw water back out! It was pretty fun!

We finally arrived back in town and started making drop offs. This time, there was no relief between water attacks, I would have been less wet if I had just jumped in a pool. Not only was it wet, we were freezing! And as we were the first ones to be picked up, Lacey and I were the last to be dropped off…meaning we were definitely the wettest. When we got back, they just laughed at us for being so wet and asked if we had fun. We took warm showers, and went out to get food, and water guns for the next day. I’m not really sure why we wasted the time to shower to be honest, as soon as we stepped outside the safe confines of the Guesthouse, people were at us again with water guns. The only way to stay dry is to stay home, no joke. So, although Songkran wasn’t scheduled to start until the following day, people definitely started celebrating early. Lacey and I each bought a water gun, and goggles and were ready to go the next day.

Day 3

Official first day of Songkran!!!! We got up, loaded up water in our guns and headed out to meet everyone. When we arrived, we were greeted by blasts of water from their guns. People had lined the streets, shooting water guns and launching bucket fulls at each other. I mean, this is the water fight you dreamed of as a kid! Cars and trucks drove through, most cars kept their windows rolled up, but in the trucks, people were loaded up in the beds, bins full of water throwing it on everyone, and getting 5x more wet than everyone else in the process. There was a river nearby as well that pretty much everyone from the streets was filling their buckets and guns with…this is definitely something to note if you ever go: DO NOT DRINK THE  WATER BEING THROWN AROUND!!! It’s definitely not clean and you could definitely get sick…as I did later, and no I didn’t drink the water, or at least not intentionally, so it can happen either way.

After a while we decided we wanted to head down to a bar, especially because most of the bars had bins and hoses so you could fill your water up for free (a lot of places tried to make you pay…this is a silly thing, don’t do it if you ever go to this festival, walk around, you’ll find free water to fill up.

Lacey and I had walked around the first night and found that one street with all the bars….yeah you know the one I’m talking about (there’s always one). We told everyone we knew where we needed to go, and led them over that way. Once we arrived to the street, it was just a matter of finding the right spot, which we did about halfway down the street. Ended up being this really small bar with like one or two other people in it, we sat down, had a few drinks, started dancing and having fun, then went and hung out on the street to play water war some more. It was amazing! We were there for a few hours, everyone smiling, laughing dancing and singing! Just absolutely amazing! After a while we all realized we’d had a fair few drinks but nothing to eat, so we went to find food.

After lunch we all sort of lost our energy and finally decided to call it quits for a while, saying we’d meet up again later tonight to resume the activities. Lacey and I returned, and our lovely, lovely guesthouse owners had some friend over and were cooking and having some drinks, they weren’t big on going out into town for the festival. They invited us to sit down with them and have some food, it was all amazing! Then, we went to shower and take naps. Somehow in the process of all this, I started feeling ill. Not like I ate something bad or anything, but just overall did not feel well, and it felt like I had a fever. So, instead of heading back out for the night, we ordered pizza from Pizza Hut, watched a movie and fell asleep.

The next morning we flew to Bangkok. We took an uber there as to not get wet because we did have to drive through town. We kept the windows rolled up, but the car still got hit with water as this was only day 2 of the 3 day festival. We got to the airport, then to Bangkok, to our hotel where we were going to meet my Dad and sister!

Chiang Mai During Songkran! We finally arrived in Thailand! Now, I LOVED seeing Vietnam and Cambodia , but, Thailand had been a long time desire so I was really excited to get here.

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The Value of a Tan

So, we’re taking a break from my past Asian adventures to jump into the present for a moment. For those of you who don’t know, I am currently living and working in Ireland, I have been for 6 months now. I absolutely love it there! The people, the old buildings, the countryside, it really is an incredible country. However, for someone who lived between Arizona and Florida from 2011-2016 and then…

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Day 1

We arrived!

Accommodation: The Local

Thoughts: Great place, great location, great staff! It is run by a friend of mine, but genuinely, he’s great at his job so staff is great! Room was comfortable, clean, private bathroom, same thing, clean, nice water pressure. If it’s super hot out as it was when we were there, you are able to walk to one of the neighboring hostels to use their pools only for the cost of a drink! It’s excellent. As mentioned about the Lazy Gecko as well, they have a tuk tuk driver that works for them, so prices are fair, and he’s a really sweet guy! There is also a bar on the first floor, and more recently they have started brewing their own beer! There’s also a pool table that Lacey and I enjoyed losing slowly at (no one wins when we play).

First day, we genuinely just arrived, we got to the hostel, got settled, ran a couple of errands, had some drinks and lost slowly at pool. We may have left once to grab some food, but more or less just hung out around the hostel that day.

Day 2

This was our wander aimlessly day. If you have been following, you’ve noticed we have a tendency to do this a lot. Half the fun of travelling to me though is truly just walking around whatever city I’m in and seeing what they have to offer. We wandered the markets a little, and just up and down the streets looking at the shops, the bars and restaurants, seeing what was around.

Sometime in the afternoon, we got tired and it was scorching hot out, so we decided to head over  to The Golden Gecko (literally just down the street) to use the pool. It is run by 2 fabulous gay men (the way it was described to us) who are super sweet, and the pool is truly FABULOUS!! There’s a waterfall, lounge chairs and a bar. Seriously, perfect way to spend a day, and as previously mentioned, all it costs is a drink.

There are multiple accommodation places along this street, everyone who works at/owns them all know and are friends with each other. So, people from around the neighborhood will show up throughout the day for a drink or to use the pool as well. Everyone is extremely friendly and chatty, so whether it’s the bar at The Local or the pool at the Golden Gecko, it’s a great place to be!

Day 3

Today is the day we were to see Angkor Wat! However, our day got off to a little bit of a rough start. We had mad arrangements the night before to go for sunrise, meaning a 4am start. We didn’t drink the night before so we would have no trouble getting up in the morning, yet somehow neither of our alarms went off, so we woke up to David (my friend/one of the owners of The Local) banging on our door telling us we were past time and needed to get going. We threw clothes on and headed downstairs as fast as we could. I thanked David for getting us up, but man were we tired!

We made it there, and not quite in time for sunrise, but were still able to get a few pictures with the sunrise colors. Either way, it was a cool thing to see. But, we needed coffee and breakfast before we could get going any further. We were clearly not the only ones. There’s numerous local people waiting to bring you to their restaurants with a smile on their faces. They all have more or less the same menus, so it doesn’t really matter which one you go to…pick your favorite movie and take a seat! Yes, favorite movie. Each of the restaurants was named after a movie or a character, and the representative from each who would escort you from the crowd to their set of tables and chairs, would introduce you as said movie title or character. The ones I remember were “Honey” (the one we ate at), “John Rambo” and “Harry Potter”. Once we had our coffee, this concept seemed highly amusing to us.

While eating and getting our energy back up, we took turns going to take pictures as the crowds slowly dissipated. The local people from the restaurants or shop stands were happy to take pictures for you as well. I also learned a pretty cool trick! There were tall palm trees that nicely framed the temple, and a girl who was taking my picture told me to stand between them. She put my phone on panorama mode and did a vertical panorama to get the whole of the trees in. It turned out really cool! But, Lacey and I learned from trying, it didn’t work on her iPhone, but it did on my Galaxy. So, if you want to try this, play with your phones and see if it’s an option or not, it won’t work on all devices.

Once we were fed and coffeed, we headed into the temple. Be aware when you’re visiting, your knees and shoulders do have to be covered. There are plenty of places to purchase elephant pants and scarves if necessary, Lacey and I wore yoga pants. Lacey brought something to cover her shoulders and kept it off when in between temples. I wore a light long-sleeved shirt with a tank underneath…I recommend something easy to take on and off like a scarf or cardigan or something if you choose this option. Half way through the day I was sweating so much I didn’t want to take my long sleeves off for fear of not being able to get it back on.

This is a long day of temples; steep, terrifying stairs; heat; photos and walking. Some people don’t take tuk-tuks, I would highly recommend taking one. We went with the driver who works with the hostel and he was THE BEST!!! He meets you at the end of the temples, takes you to the major ones, and had a cooler that cold water in it waiting for us at various points, although we had brought our own water bottles, it was so hot that our water went warm quickly, so we would rotate the bottles we took. This is really important! HYDRATION HYDRATION HYDRATION!!! Really can’t emphasize that enough, along with sunscreen. So important on this day!!! Also, go to a market or something and get Royal D, it’s a powder that’s like Gatorade or Power Aid or something, it basically helps replenish electrolytes and such because the water there is pure reverse osmosis, and contains no minerals the way ours usually does in the Western World.

Anyway, we spent the day touring temples after temples, check it out:

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Along the way, there are places to stop for food and to shop if you wish. I say enjoy your day, and go at your own pace. Lacey wanted to power through and do it all then go home and eat, I wanted to stop for a while and chill, we compromised at one point and stopped for fruit juice- which was DELICIOUS! They made it right in front of you, took the fruit and blended it right there, just absolutely amazing!

Once we had completed our viewings of the temples, we headed back and spend the rest of the afternoon at the pool and the evening around the hostel, chatting with people, and playing games.

Day 4

We had another exploring day around the city, into the night. At night the city is a different world!! There’s this street called Pub Street, and it’s INSANE! Walk down the street, there’s loads of people with carts: some are bars, some are food. There’s music blaring, lights flashing, you know when the party has started! After a couple of hours the party moves from the streets to the bars, people stumbling up and down the street, music pouring out of the bars, people can be seen dancing everywhere, it’s quite a sight to see! Lacey and I weren’t really up for a big night out, but wanted to see what Pub Street was all about so we walked around, got rolled ice cream- this stuff is crazy! They take ice cream, and whatever toppings you like and mix them together. Then, spread it out on what looks like a hibachi grill, but is cold. They spread it out completely flat, then roll it up like a sushi roll. It’s so crazy to watch! I recommend splitting one if you ever get to try it, neither of us could finish ours.

After ice cream, we went to a calm rooftop bar, took a table by a window and people watched for an hour or two. People watching on streets like this is the best.

Day 5

Another full day! We went to the Silk Farm, which is pretty cool, they teach you about how they get the silk from silk worms and transform it into materials. It was a really cool process to watch. Then, of course there’s a shop and a cafe at the end.

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This is a place you have to tuk tuk to. My recommendation though: definitely ask your accommodation location how much it should cost to get there. Our normal tuk tuk driver wasn’t available so we had to get someone else, and am pretty sure we paid more than we should have.

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Once we finished the silk farm, the tuk tuk driver asked us if we wanted to go to the Floating Village on the way home. We said okay, and it was alright to see, but would have been better if we had made it a full day event. He ended up telling us once we were there how much more we owed him instead of negotiating a price before leaving the silk farm (which was in fact our fault for not asking, I think we were just too used to our hostel driver at that point that we forgot). Then, we ended up only staying about an hour. It was cool to see but, you can go, and check out some shops, have a coffee and a meal there, but we were a bit pressed for time as we were going to go to the circus that night.

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Since we didn’t particularly like our tuk tuk driver from that afternoon, we decided to get a different one to get to the circus. You have to be firm with them if you decide to switch drivers. He wasn’t around when we went to get a tuk tuk that night, but saw us getting into another tuk tuk, pulled over on the street, tried to block our tuk tuk driver and make us switch into his. It was a bit shocking as we had never promised him any future business, but is what it is. However, the new driver didn’t understand us and took us to town instead of where we were trying to go, so we just switched to a new one in town. The guy was really nice and gave us a fair price, so we had him pick us up after the show as well.

The Circus: THIS IS AN ABSOLUTELY MUST DO IN SIEM REAP!!! It’s pretty cheap and SO COOL!!! It’s a show put on by acrobatic performers. These performers aren’t just anybody, they are all young locals who were at one time living on the streets of Cambodia. They were educated as well as taught to perform and were given an opportunity to work for this company! Many of them have done traveling performances as well as the local one. It’s truly an amazing show, and they like to take pictures with you after the show! But, it is out of town so you do have to tuk tuk there and back, and I would definitely arrange pick up after the show with the same one.

This was our last night, and SUCH a good one! The next day we flew out to Chiang Mai, Thailand and on to the next adventures!

  Siem Reap Day 1 We arrived! Accommodation: The Local Thoughts: Great place, great location, great staff! It is run by a friend of mine, but genuinely, he's great at his job so staff is great!

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As previously mentioned, en route to Cambodia from Vietnam, we were stuck for 6 hours in the Bangkok airport on our layover with nothing to do and 2 food vouchers to use. We had a grand ol time (like really it was actually fun) just wasting time in an airport bar and catching up on life (as if we hadn’t just spent 2 and a half weeks together through Vietnam). What wasn’t mentioned was the primary reason I ended up in Cambodia at all during this grand adventure I’ve been embarking on, is because a dear friend/previous co-worker of mine moved there recently from the states to purchase a hostel and start a brewery! But, he was in the states ironically when we were arriving. So, his place is in Seim Reap, but, we stayed at the Lazy Gecko, run by one of his friends in Phnom Phen.

By the time we arrived, it was late, we were tired, went down to grab a drink, ran into Danker’s girlfriend, and chatted with her for a bit, then went to bed.

Day 1

Accommodation: The Lazy Gecko

Thoughts: The staff and regulars are sexy…and then just wait until you get to Seim Reap!

Okay, on a serious note, I will give the most unbiased way I can review it as I can. The room was really nice and clean. Towels were provided as well, which is always nice! Toilet paper, and hoses were available in the bathrooms (if you don’t know, hoses are the typical way of cleaning throughout SE Asia). Water pressure in the shower was great as well. They also had large water jugs at the reception/bar that you could fill your own water with so you don’t have to always buy water while out and about. The biggest down side for me was that mosquitoes found me in the night. I am the ultimate mosquito magnet. But really, if I’m around, no one else needs to worry as they will come to me. My arms and legs were COVERED! I looked diseased. This is not a joke, no one had seen it this bad.

Mosquito Solutions for  Cambodia!! Once the millions of bites showed up, I went to a pharmacy, they gave me a cream and a pill to take, the bites started clearing up. I also found citronella soap at one of the markets and started using it to wash in the shower. This helped a lot actually. I’m pretty sure I was radiating citronella, in addition to wearing bug replant the entire time I was there. That finally seemed to work. I’m an extreme case, but if mosquitoes like you, you’ve been warned!

After the first night where I was attacked by mosquitoes, we woke up at our leisure, and ordered some food in the hostel (delicious by the way!) Then started asking John of things to do and places to go.

It was raining a lot, so we decided to check out the National Museum which was good. It explained some of the Cambodian history and contained loads of statues and artifacts that had been found around the country.

As the rain had calmed down a little, we decided to just wander a bit and grab some lunch eventually ending up at the market! No matter where you are in SE Asia, the market is always fun for a day. If for no other reason than to just walk around and look at stuff, which is what we did 90% of the time. From there, we were heading back to the hostel, and just wandered around some more now that the weather was a bit better.

We had asked the taxi driver from the airport for advice on places to eat. So, we decided to check one of them out! It was DELICIOUS! The name of the restaurant was Khmer Surin. Good service, great atmosphere and great food.

We took a tuk tuk both to and from the restaurant: tuk tuks are the way to travel in Cambodia! As you go, you figure out what fair prices are and yes you will argue over a dollar. It’s fine.

Day 2

There was another large market we had heard of called he Russian Market, so we decided to check that out and walk around it for a bit. It was entertaining but, we actually preferred the market we had found the day before to this one. Once we had had our fill of wandering around the market, we headed back to the hostel once again. It was hot out and we wanted to go swimming.

We ended up finding this hotel that you could use the pool at as long as you wanted for $5! It was perfect! So that’s really how we spent the rest of the day: laying by the pool, swimming and having beverages. We met some lovely gay men who were there and gave us some friendly travel advice about being in Cambodia. Their biggest tip: be careful of the booze! They said it could come in any bottle with any label, that stuff is moonshine and extremely high in alcohol content. It’s fine, just be aware of how much you consume.

All in all that was our second day! Nice, easy, relaxed.

Day 3

Wildlife Sanctuary!! The Phnom Pneh Wildlife Sanctuary is totally worth the visit. It’s a full day excursion, probably about an hour or so by tuk tuk each way, and completely worth it! Another thing I loved about the hostel, was that they had specific tuk tuk drivers that worked with them, so if we said we wanted to go somewhere, John would go out and get it set up, price and everything. It was really nice.

Fortunately the weather was good as well, so we got our tuk tuk sorted and headed on our way. As we went, the roads were really dusty and so dirt was blowing in our faces. Our driver was absolutely wonderful and made a stop along the way to get us doctor masks so we wouldn’t have to breathe in all the dirt! We didn’t even think about it or have to ask, he just did it as a courtesy!

Once we arrived at the sanctuary, we paid our entry fee and our driver drove us into the park. He dropped us off by the largest Sun Bear habitat and said to just meet him there when we were done. We spent ALL DAY there! It was so fun!!! So many animals everywhere, I still don’t think we saw them all. It’s also really fun, there’s hammocks hung around the park so if you want to take some time to just sit and chill you’re able to. There are also stands around selling snacks and beverages as needed. Once you get over to the elephants, there’s people selling food for them so you can feed them! It’s great! There’s also bananas you can buy to feed the monkeys. We didn’t do that but many did.

After many hours, the dark clouds started rolling in and we knew we should start heading back to our tuk tuk….when he came rolling around the corner! I’m telling you, this guy was the best! We made it out of the park before the rain hit, but as we were on the road it started pouring! Fortunately, ours and most of the tuk tuks have coverings, so our driver just pulled over, unrolled and zipped up the flaps of the cover so we wouldn’t get soaked on the way home, he put a poncho on and called it good. They’re obviously used to it, but we felt bad for him! That rain was crazy!

Once we got home, we just ate at the hostel and hung out chatting with some of the other people from the hostel.

Day 4

Photos from walking around the city

Another super hot day out in Phnom Pneh! But, regardless, we decided to walk it instead of taking a tuk tuk. So, we walked through the city over to the Genocide Museum. The Cambodian Genocide Museum is at a location that looks like a school….which is exactly what it used to be prior to it being turned into a prison. This, as all the other genocide museums I have been to, was a very enlightening experience to have. This was Lacey’s first time at a genocide museum, so I told her if at any point she needed to take a break to let me know. She didn’t need to but, it’s definitely an intense experience. If you’ve never been to a genocide museum, I highly recommend going to any and as many as you can. This was my 3rd museum, in addition to the concentration camp I visited in Germany. Every time, it’s eye opening, shocking, and saddening. It hurts my soul to see so many horrific things have occurred in the world, but it’s good to expose yourself to them simply to know they happened, and to learn from them.

One thing, that’s extremely good in my opinion, especially as an American, is learning about genocides that have continued to occur throughout history. Lacey and I discussed this afterwards. In our public education system, we were taught about the Holocaust, and the way that it was portrayed to us was that it’s the only genocide to have occurred, and after that the world learned its lesson and never occurred again. During my travels, all three of the genocide museums I have visited were of events that occurred more recently than the Holocaust. Don’t get me wrong, I think that the Holocaust was a horrific, tragic event that happened in history and should be taught, however, it should also be taught that this wasn’t the only time it happened an that it continues to occur today. One of the museums I have visited during this year was the Tibetan museum in India, this is of events that are STILL HAPPENING TODAY. As I said, each time you visit one of these places, it’s extremely eye opening and humbling.

What was even more humbling was at the end of the tour, there was an old man selling hi

s book, which I bought, because he was a survivor of the genocide. To be able to see someone standing in front of you who survived all the horrific things you just learned took place in the buildings around you, and has managed to continue life and still be able to smile, is incredible.

  Another huge tourist site in connection with this event is the Killing Fields. They aren’t in the actual city, so we didn’t have the opportunity to go see them, but people we talked to who did said it was absolutely worth the trip out to see them.

A very basic overview of the Cambodian Genocide 1975-1979 : The Cambodian people saw the United States as their enemy, mainly due to what had happened in Vietnam. Due to this, they believed the Communist party must be the right answer if America was so against it. They fought to have their Communist leader. The day they got their wish, there were parades in the streets as they were so happy. The next day (literally), families began being ripped from their homes and from each other. Many were forced to walk hundreds of miles, dying along the way. Others were put in prisons, like the one we saw, tortured and forced to make false confessions to things that had never occurred. Many were killed. Many never knew what came of their families. It was an absolutely horrifying event.

Once we had completed our tour (it took about 2 hours), we decided we wanted to go check out the mall. We had been to the markets, but wanted to go see the massive shopping mall. So, we spent the rest of the day wandering around there, ending up back at the hostel eventually, again just having a relaxed night in, hanging out with other people who were staying there as we were leaving the next morning.

Day 5

Pretty early morning to catch our bus to Siem Reap. The bus was quite comfortable actually which was good as it was quite a long bus ride. We stopped half way to use the toilets, get drinks and lunch. We ordered a chicken rice thing. We were eating and it was fine, until one of us noticed these black strands in it that looked like hair or something. Upon closer investigation, I realized it was actually feathers from the chicken that hadn’t been completely plucked. Needless to say, we were pretty much done eating. I had a couple of more bites of rice but there were some loose feathers floating around. I just couldn’t continue after that. I know it sounds picky, almost petty even, but sometimes when it comes to eating food in foreign countries, ignorance is bliss.

Upon arriving in Siem Reap, we loaded ourselves into a tuk-tuk to get to our hostel, and spent the rest of the night drinking and hanging out with my friend as he showed us around the hostel, the improvements that had been made and still needed to be made as they had just acquired it a few weeks before.

5 days in Phnom Phen As previously mentioned, en route to Cambodia from Vietnam, we were stuck for 6 hours in the Bangkok airport on our layover with nothing to do and 2 food vouchers to use.

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I have previously written about things you might need a hostel here. But, in the process of all this travel I’ve done recently, I have purchase a number of things to make my life just a little bit easier while travelling. Sometimes while I was skeptical about them when I found them or started using them, but most of them have proved to be useful, some not so much. We’re going to talk about the ones that have blown my mind and have been worth every penny!

1. Microsoft Surface Pro

Alright, so it’s a tablet, I have the Pro 2, and have for a few years, but particularly while travelling this thing is the best! They advertise it as “the tablet that can replace your laptop” but really, it can. I do have an external hard drive to keep my pictures and such on, but still between the two items, they still take up less space than a full laptop would. I seriously have barely even used my laptop since purchasing this thing, really can’t say enough good things about it.

2. Collapsible Water Bottle

Yes, you read that correctly! I found this at REI in the states, it is the HydraPak Stash. This thing is a lifesaver! It holds 1 Liter of water, and when it’s empty, you can collapse it down so the top locks into the bottom! 1 L water bottle that takes up no space in your bag WHAT IS LIFE!? This might actually be the coolest thing I own right now, everyone who has seen it absolutely loves it. I’ve had other travelers take photos of it so they can buy one. At times it has been my trademark item “the girl with the cool water bottle” no jokes.

3. The Healthy Back Bag

I talked about this in 2 Southern Cities of Vietnam, hands down best purse I have purchased in my life to date. Especially for travel. It’s big enough that you can put everything you’d need in a carry on for flights, but small enough that you can carry it with you daily and not feel like you have a massive pack on your back. It’s light weight, and designed to fit your back nicely so as not to hurt it the way cross bodies do. Absolutely incredible!

  4. Betsy Johnson Wallet/Purse

So obviously I just went on about the Healthy Back Bag and how it’s my favorite purse, and it is. But, while I was in the states I went shopping at Ross (love and sometimes really miss this store) to find a bag that was small enough to not take up much space while I went out at night and didn’t want to take my full purse. This handy item was EXACTLY what I was looking for. It’s basically a large wallet, BUT it has it’s own detachable strap. So, I use it day to day as a wallet, but then if I’m going out, I stick my phone and keys inside, put on the strap and I’m good to go. It’s even better than having a small bag too because you don’t have to transfer your stuff from one bag to the next and wonder which one you left your ID in.

5. Electronics Roll

I’m not sure if that’s exactly what it’s called, but that’s what I’m calling it. Again, this was while I was in the states and quite frankly had nothing better to do than find cool travel things. But, although I would have all my cords and outlet adapters in one place, they’d always get super tangled or I could never seem to find one I wanted. Ta-da! Not anymore! I found this particular one at Target, but really there’s loads, you could find them in travel stores or on Amazon. It’s one of those things that you never saw until you did and once you’ve seen it, you see it everywhere. But, this particular one rolls out and has a bunch of elastic slots for your cords and a pouch on one side for adapters. I am such an organizational freak and so this thing is just the best for me.

6. Luggage Cubes!

Speaking of being an organizational freak, luggage cubes are right in line with that! I have 1 for shirts, 1 for bottoms, 1 for dress, 1 for bathing suits, and 1 for bras. It actually helped a lot especially with backpacking. Now, sometimes you’ll be able to fit more stuff in your bag if you don’t have the cubes, I will say that. However, what I love about the cubes is I knew exactly where everything was, I could find it quickly when needed (example the night we slept outside in the outback of Australia and could really only pull out things we needed to change into the next morning). It helped. It also helped because I knew exactly how to pack my bag each time. They were all just pieces in the puzzle that were put in the same way every time. Find these anywhere!

7. French Press Coffee Mug

It’s a coffee mug with a French press screen. There’s not much more to say here. I love this. Find it on Amazon. Photo credits of ZYLISS Travel French Press on Amazon.com.

8. Kindle

I have the Kindle Paperwhite. I chose this one because although I could download books on my tablet, I can’t read with a backlight on the screen. It really bothers my eyes. So, I got this because although I much prefer an actual book, I’m not going to carry around a bunch of heavy books with me while travelling, especially not when I’m reading a series and each book is about 500 pages. Find the kindle and case on Amazon.

9. Pop-ups!

COOLEST. EVER. They look like little tablets, but then you put water on them, they expand and you unfold, and BAM! you have yourself a little towel. I USE THESE EVERYWHERE. They are also biodegradable so if you’re in an outhouse or something and need to use it as toilet paper, you don’t even need to feel bad about it. I have had to use them numerous times as toilet paper in a variety of countries. I’ve used them as moist towelettes to wipe my hands and face, or in the heat of Egypt to just have something cool to put on the back of my neck. LOVE THEM!!

10. Kipling Foldable Tote

1 bag, 3  different sizes. 1) small cube to store 2) small duffle 3) big duffle. I mostly use this for dirty laundry. It’s an excellent bag for that, and if I don’t have much, I can keep it smaller so it doesn’t have to take up as much room. It’s also nice in case you buy a bunch of stuff on your trip and need extra room to put it.

11. Slippers

I bought thin, hard bottomed slippers to have on long flights. I don’t like wearing my sneakers the whole time, but also don’t want to wear my socks to go use the airplane toilet…you can’t tell me pee doesn’t end up on the floor. So, I usually wear my socks in my seat then slip my slippers on to go to the toilet. They are thin, weigh nothing and just slip into my carry on easily. However, I’m realizing this particular item is no longer made, so if you can find a duffle that’s easily folded or collapses, it will work just as well.

12. Travel cord organizer

I told you could find them everywhere. But, actually what I use this one for is a First- Aid kit. It has enough sections that I just bought some pill bags, filled them and stuck them in. It’s worked like a charm. Also, if you think you don’t need a basic first aid kit while travelling the world, you’re lying to yourself. even as basic as ibuprofen, Pepto-Bismol and Band-Aids (plasters). I have a few more things in there but that’s just because I am a little picky about what cold medicine I like to take. This one is from Amazon, photo credit: Uinvent on Amazon.com.

13. Spice Jars

Sounds silly, but for an active traveler like myself, a few years ago I got fed up with constantly having to pack small but necessary items such as cotton swabs, bobby pins and safety pins. So, I bought spice jars from Target, and I keep all of these items in them regularly anyway. When it’s time to head to the airport, I just pop the lid on, throw them in the bag and go!

  Those are my favorite things! Disclaimer: These are all items I have purchased, own and use regularly and have used over the last several months while travelling through SE Asia, Australia, and Europe. I have not been paid by any company to advertise any of these products…and yes, I love Amazon.

Taya’s Favorite Travel Things! I have previously written about things you might need a hostel here. But, in the process of all this travel I've done recently, I have purchase a number of things to make my life just a little bit easier while travelling.

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