Our month long excursion is finally over. Over the last month we travelled to 4 countries, had 11 flights (no delays and no lost luggage…that’s got to be a record), fought 2 bouts of stomach issues, hung out with dear friends, and had a little R&R.
So much has happened, I don’t even know where to begin. So we will let pictures tell the story…
First, a pre-trip haircut. My first haircut since moving to China.
Saw this at the airport on our way out… Gotta love Chinglish!!!
Our first stop was Thailand. We spent a few days in Bangkok catching up with old friends… Which basically just meant hanging out at the pool with them and their 2 boys!!! As much as our pasty skin would allow anyway. As well as filling up on foods that we can’t find in China… like Lay’s potato chips, and BBQ ribs.
Also, Kristen thought this was a great ad campaign.
The graffiti art made us miss Austin…
Next stop was Phuket, one of the more popular beach spots in Thailand, where we met some other great friends for a week. The snorkeling was awesome here — spotted over 25 kinds of fish, and even an octopus! right off the beach. But time with friends we hadn’t seen in a year and a half was the highlight.
View from our room!
Hiked a nearby mountain/hill one day
During the hike, we found this monkey. Kristen knelt down to take a picture, when he swung around and acted like they were besties who hadn’t seen each other in years. “Haaaayy!”
At a local cafe. Old people can’t take selfies…
Also found Thai Elvis…or Thai Rob Schneider. Honestly, not sure.
After Thailand, we flew to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to visit my Chinese tutor. He is studying abroad there and we were able to celebrate Chinese New Year together. He took us around the city to see the sights, then cooked hot pot at his dorm on campus.
Eating hot pot with his roommates as we ring in the year of the Monkey!
Next stop…Singapore, where we stayed with some college friends who recently moved to the city. We hadn’t seen them in 4 years!
Day 1 was a trip to the botanic gardens – a massive and beautiful public park near their house.
I’m pretty sure the monitor lizard wanted to eat me.
Unfortunately, this was the only day we spent sight-seeing in Singapore. The next 3 days, I was laid up in bed with fever and other stomach issues that do not need to be discussed. Singapore was a great place to get sick though – with international health clinics and my buddy’s guest bedroom, I was able to recover quite nicely. Hopefully we’ll be back again to redeem our time there.
Last stop…Cambodia!
Phnom Penh sunset the night we arrived.
Must-see places in Phnom Penh are the S21 museum and the killing fields. What humans are able to do to other humans is unbelievable. In a 4 year period, the Khmer Rouge killed 3 million out of the 8 million people living in Cambodia.
Originally a school, the Khmer Rouge overthrew the city and turned this into a torture facility.
Here were the “rules” at S21.
They didn’t shoot their victims because of the cost of ammo. Instead the 3 million were killed by being beaten, stabbed, or strangled.
Hard to believe this was just 35 years ago, but a quick glance at the news today and we can see that these tragedies are still occurring.
After our time in Phnom Penh, we took a 7 hour bus ride to Siem Reap – site of the famous temples. Most of the temples were built in the early 12th century.
Angkor Wat
entrance into one of the temples
Our favorite temple was Ta Prom, where many of the buildings are overtaken by trees. This is also the site of where the movie “Tomb Raider” was filmed.
But Kristen was more captivated by the monkeys than the temples.
After watching sunrise at the temples, we stopped at this nice restaurant for breakfast. I ordered pancakes.
Our driver and his tuk tuk. Most people spend at least a full day touring the temples. Kristen and I knocked it out in 3 hours. Our driver was impressed – I think it was because he had the rest of the day off.
One of the coolest things we did was take a bicycle tour through the Cambodian countryside. We were able to meet with locals and get a good idea of what daily life is like for them.
She put me to work and allowed me to water her plants… she told me afterward that I over-watered them.
Here we met a mother and daughter who weave baskets for a living. Working 5am-5pm, they can each make about $1/day.
I think this was the biggest pig I had ever seen. The picture doesn’t do it justice. In addition to raising pigs, this family also makes rice wine. All rice wine makers raise pigs, since they eat the fermented rice waste and the alcohol helps them gain weight.
We had a great time connecting with friends and seeing SE Asia, but by the end, we were ready to be back in China. Chinese isn’t gonna learn itself, so this will be us… skipping to class on Monday morning:
(this is a guy Kristen videoed on her way to class one day last semester)
nomadic texan 