Siem Reap, Cambodia _ 29 March - 3 April 2014

Siem Reap is the kind of place that reminds you why you go backpacking; to see the world. It is not nearly as developed as chaotic Kuala Lumpur or touristy like the backpacker party epicenters of Thailand. It is simply just Siem Reap, home to the ancient temples of Angkor Wat. The pace here is slow (probably due to the 38 C/104 F weather) and everything seems to just be a little behind.

super sweaty from hiking around in the heat !

The sunsets and the sunrises at the famous Angkor Wat are truly inspiring with the colors of reds and oranges. I was fortunate enough to spend my 26^th birthday in Siem Reap. We woke up at 4am to head to Angkor Wat and watch the sunrise. It was so beautiful. This temple is thousands of years old and to be there in 2014 on my 26^th birthday made me realize how lucky I was. I couldn't ask for a better present to myself than to just be there. The Angkor Wat temples are a UNESCO world heritage site and were constructed between the 9^th and 15^th centuries. The famous ones are Bayon and also Ta Prohm, where the movie Tomb Raider was filmed.

celebrating my birthday watching the sunrise over Angkor Wat

What really stood out to me was the spirit and kindness of the Khmer people. It was not too long ago that war ravaged the country under the hands of the Khmer Rouge. It wasn't until the late 1990s that the country was able to start to rebuild from the destruction of the wars. However, even though the war is over and Cambodia can start to flourish, the people are effected everyday by old landmines and UXO’s.

Children who are not even old enough to remember the war are still injured due to the undetected landmines. It truly is so sad. Yet, Khmer hospitality and kindness is mind blowing. Most people in the country are old enough to remember the war, but still have such an unbreakable spirit.

Meas and I ! Meas took us everywhere in his Tuk Tuk

We went to the landmine museum, which also is a home to children who were injured due to landmines or UXO’s & it is an NGO. We learned so much on how this is still affecting the country. (Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos still are facing this problem). The head of the Landmine Museum and School, Aki Ra, was a child soldier himself. Now his goal is to clear Cambodia of all remaining landmines. In 2010 he was named as a CNN hero for his work and was awarded in the top 10. He and his team have estimated that they have cleared 50,000 mines or so, but the government still believes that there are still 3 million to 5 million mines still undiscovered. That is how severe this problem is.

It is truly inspiring to know what the people have gone through, yet they are so welcoming. Just walking down Pub Street or the Night Markets, everyone is smiling and saying hello wanting to practice their English or sell you something. It was an eye opening experience. Siem Reap was a cute little town filled with history. I couldn't ask for a more inspirational place to be during my birthday and to remind me why I travel.

sunset at Angkor Wat

night market

Brilliant Bangkok, 25-29 March 2014

in front of the Grand Palace

After an interesting 16 hour train ride from Southern Thailand, we finally made it to Bangkok! It was an overnight train that had decent food and as we were 2^nd class, we got a bed. The toilet was interesting as it was literally a hole in the train so anything that went in the toilet hit the track…. unique! However, it was a good experience and we arrived safely and soundly compared to a mini bus.

getting ready to board the train

Bangkok is a must see in Southeast Asia!! The city is hustling and bustling, modern and historical, crazy and relaxing. So many things are going on and it is absolutely fantastic. It is such a large city and if you do not know where you are going, quite easy to get lost…. But that is what makes it fun!! It was definitely way more exciting than island hopping, that is for sure!

koh san road

The old town area is where most of the sites can be seen. All the temples and the Grand Palace are within walking distance, or preferably tuk tuk or water taxi, from each other. The legendary Koh San road where backpackers get up to no good is only about a 20 minute walk from the Grand Palace. My favorite temple was Wat Pho which is the home of the large reclining Buddha.

We stayed in a more modern part of town called Sukhumvit and it is near an airport themed mall called Terminal 21. We also were only a few MRT (the very clean subway system) stops from a few high rise hotels. We went to the Moon Bar on top of the Banyan Tree Resort one night. It was such a great view!

heading to our "fancy" dinner... first time we got "backpacker" fancy since Singapore !

at the top!

We splurged on some red wine and dinner at their Vertigo Lounge in order to relax on the 61^st floor of the hotel. Sipping red wine overlooking the city was a pretty awesome experience. It definitely was completely opposite to the idea of dirty Bangkok I had in my head; it was anything but.

Bangkok was an excellent way to end our time in Thailand. It was a little bit of everything. I absolutely loved this international city. It was full of culture, history, fun, and most of all, nonstop excitement with something to do whenever you wanted to do it.