#what to see in cambodia besides angkor wat

[wanderlustphotosblog]

Top 15 Things to See in Cambodia: Guide to Must-Visit Attractions

Plan your unforgettable trip to Cambodia with my guide to the top fifteen things to see. From ancient temples to pristine beaches, there's something for everyone to enjoy in this captivating country.

From the awe-inspiring temples of Angkor Wat to the lush tropical landscapes and vibrant cities, Cambodia beckons travelers to immerse themselves in its rich heritage and stunning beauty. Whether you’re seeking to uncover ancient history, immerse yourself in natural splendor, or simply soak up the unique atmosphere, Cambodia offers a truly captivating and unforgettable travel experience. In this…

[sunmarketing]

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Siem Reap, Cambodia

    I’ve returned from a 90-day trip around the globe to every time zone on the planet. My mission is world peace through cultural exchange.

  In this episode, the FAQ is: How can I stay hydrated when it’s humid and hot?

.

Today’s Destination is Siem Reap, Cambodia

Today’s Mistake- Taking the long way instead of a more direct flight.

Travel Advice: Practice Google Maps on foot before you leave on your trip

  FAQ: How can I stay hydrated?

  From my personal experience, I needed help with this in Southeast Asia. The climate was so different from Southern California, where I live. I had to adjust my body to these climate conditions. I had to be very aware of my intake of liquids and not drink much if any, caffeine.

I am not a medical doctor, but here’s what I learned. Rest during the day. Swim if you can. Keep your body cool and do it early in the morning if you must go out.

I had to respect my kidneys as they filtered all of this water.

I had to monitor the color of my urine to try to keep it clear in color.

  Today’s destination: Siem Reap, Cambodia

  Siem Reap, a resort town in northwestern Cambodia, is the gateway to the ruins of Angkor, the seat of the Khmer kingdom from the 9th–15th centuries. Angkor’s vast complex of intricate stone buildings includes preserved Angkor Wat, the main temple pictured on Cambodia’s flag. Giant, mysterious faces are carved into the Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom.

  The capital is Phnom Penh. Listen for the earlier episode on that city.

  I arrived by bus and immediately rode to the Backpacker’s Chill Hostel. My tuk-tuk driver was named Nuk, and he was reliable. He brought me to all of the places I needed to see. Ask for him if you go there because he could use the business.

What are some of the things that I did? The first was the temple, Angkor Wat. I went at sunrise, meaning I had to get the ticket first. So, he knew where to get the ticket and how to navigate the complicated process, making it easy.

Then we drove to the temples, which will take a full day. It’s so hot, you should go early. It was raining, but still very humid. Bring an umbrella for the sun. Limit your outdoor activities besides swimming.

  Angkor Wat reminded me of Disney in some ways, but this was REAL. It was from 1000 years ago. The temple is huge and not crowded like Disneyland.

https://pharecircus.org/

      Cambodian Food: 10 Traditional Dishes You Should Taste, even if you are not a foodie….

●               Amok (Coconut fish curry) ...

●               Kuy teav (Noodle soup) ...

●               Nom Banh Chok (Khmer noodles) ...

●               Samlar machu (Sour soup) ...

●               Kampot Pepper Crab. ...

●               Lap Khmer (Beef salad) ...

●               Pleah sach ko (Beef ceviche) ...

●               Samlar kari (Chicken curry)

  Today’s Mistake- Taking the long way instead of a more direct flight.

    Today’s Travel Advice-Practice Google Maps on foot before you leave on your trip

    I want to bring meaning to your travels. Send a question or travel tip to info@drmarytravelbest.com. Sign up for the mailing list here. We can connect on my website, Facebook page, group, or Instagram. Subscribe to YouTube, Twitter, or other social channels. Find the 5 Steps to Solo Travel series on Amazon. The show notes have more details for you to connect. Support this podcast with a review, please.

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[stella-maria7]

THE UNTAMED FAN FIC: DARKNESS & LIGHT

2: LAN SIZHUI

“Sizhui, are you alright? You look quite pale.” Yichen, my Chinese friend from the same class, asks me when we are walking out of the classroom.

“I am fine. Just lack of sleep I guess.” I answer back.

“Jet-legged?” he asked.

“A little.”

“Or is it because you study too hard? Please, it is just the start of the semester. Don’t take things too seriously, okay?”

I only smile at his comment. The fact is, my lack of sleep isn’t caused by my studying schedule. It causes by my dream. A dream I have been having ever since that night before I leave to America. Every night when I close my eyes, the man’s eyes keeps flashing before my closed eyelids. Those eyes, the piercing silver eyes. I can never shake that picture off. There is something about them that I can’t put my hands on.

“Well, any plan this evening?”

“No, I think I am going back to the dorm.”

“Nonsense. You are going with me then.” He swings his arm to put around my shoulder as if preventing me from running away.

“Why? Are going somewhere?”

“I just make some new friends this morning and they invited me to have dinner with them tonight at the Japanese restaurant not far from here.”

“They invite you, so why do you tag me along? They don’t even know me.” I try shaking his hand off but he is just too strong.

“Friends begins from stranger Sizhui. Besides, you are going to manage a big conglomerate in the future so you should get to know lots of people. It benefits you to start building up connection.”

He has a point. In the future, I am going to have to meet lots of strangers for business purpose. I should really get to know people and familiar with how to make conversation. “Alright then.” I replied and we both hopped on a cap to the restaurant.

We are the first to arrive. Picking a table the corner, we sit down and wait. Half an hour later, a group of young people walked in and turned their head sideways as if they are looking for someone.

“Oy! Over here.” Yichen stands up and waves his hands at the group to which they nod back in return.

Four more people filled up the table quickly. The waiter come and hand them the menu. To give them time to read, he walks back to the kitchen to bring glasses and a jar of water for everyone. When everything is set, he politely asks. “Are you ready to order?”

“Yes, please.” Sizhui smiled at the waiter before looking back down to scroll his eyes at the menu. “Well, I would like this black garlic ramen please.”

The waiter nods in understanding before turning to Yichen.

“I want this spicy ramen. But I want to add one more egg yolk. Oh, and give me this combo set as well.” He turned the menu to the waiter and pointed at the picture. After everyone places the order, the waiter collected the menu and says. “Thanks for your orders. Please wait patiently for food as it will take 10-15 minutes.” With a polite bow, he walks away.

“Okay, everyone. Let me introduce. This is my friend, Sizhui. He’s Chinese, just like me and Steven here. He is pursuing business management degree for he will become the future heir of the well-known Lan conglomerate one day.”

“Yichen…” I tug at his shirt a little to stop him from blabbering too much.

“Oh, the Lan conglomerate which has subsidiaries all across Asia?” the guy with black hair whom I assume to be Steven asks. “Oh, forgive my rudeness. I was just overjoyed to be able to share the table with such an opulent person. My name is Steven.” He reaches out his hand to shake mine and I do the same.

“Nice to meet you.” I reply back.

“Hello. I am Kiro. I am from Japan. Happy to make an acquaintance.” The boy named Kiro stand up to shake my hand and bow. I return the gesture.

“Hi. I am Lina, and this is my boyfriend Ronald. He is a local. You must have it figured since he is somehow standing out amongst us, just as you can see. As for me, I am from Cambodia. Though you may not have heard of the name.” she tries to hide her sad smile. How hard it is to introduce where you are from but no one knows.

“Oh no, of course I have heard of that country. It is a country in between Thailand and Vietnam. It’s well-known for the prestigious Angkor Wat Temple right?”

“Yes.” Her face lightens up immediately. Then she turns to her boyfriend “See Ronald? Finally someone besides you who have heard of my country.” Her boyfriend pats her head and smiles at her.

Thanks to all the books I have read, now I am able to make people happy using that knowledge. I think to myself.

“Sizhui, if you don’t mind what I am asking, the Lan conglomerate just open its first European branch at Italy right?” Kiro asks politely.

I nod my head and explain. “Yes, my adoptive uncle wants to open a branch in Europe but he isn’t sure where. My adoptive parents suggest Milan to which he agrees. So right now, my adoptive father is managing the branch in Italy whereas my adoptive uncle is managing the main branch in China.”

"Your adoptive uncle is Mr. Lan Xichen, the CEO right?"

"That is right."

"He is one of my most well-respected businessman. Talented and gentlemanly."

I smile at those words. Surely, uncle has that kind of aura that draw people in. Contradict to his father's cold demeanor which drives people away.

“Does your uncle have any plan of expanding into other countries?” Kiro continues to ask.

“I am not sure yet. I haven't participated in their business much yet so I have limited knowledge regarding the matter.”

“I see.”

Steven sighs which makes the whole table go silent and look at him. He rubs his temples and says. “This is what happens when business major students meet. Always business talk saying that time is everything. We come here to relax, okay? Can we don’t talk business please?”

“Sorry.” Both Kiro and I apologize at the same time.

“Then, let’s find a new topic to discuss.” Yichen steps in. “But what can it be?”

“Something leisure of course. My computer science class is killing me already. Please don't bring up anything that involves more complications.” Mina says.

“How about something relaxing? Like sports, outdoor activites?” Ronald speaks for the first time.

“That is great Ronald.” Steven flicked his hand. “Since you mentioned outdoor activities, it just comes to me. Let’s go hiking this week.”

“What?” everyone asks in surprise at the sudden invitation.

“You see, we will have a holiday on Monday. So with the weekend plus Monday, we have three days to enjoy ourselves. As we just get to know one another, I suggest having a bon fire and talking our heart out. What do you think?”

“I don’t think it is a bad idea. Will you be available?" Lina asks her boyfriend. He takes out a phone and checks his schedule.

“Yes, I will be available this week.” Ronald replies.

“Perfect. Then, both of us are in.” Lina gives the first result.

“I will be free at the end of this week too, so I don't think there is any harm to join.” Says Kiro.

Yichen raised his arms up to his shoulder's level vertically to mimic one voice in a vote. “I am without a doubt in.” then he turns to me. “Sizhui?”

I nod my head affirmatively. “Yes. Count me in.”

“I just found the perfect place while surfing the internet this afternoon.” He fishes out his cellphone from the pocket. Let me show you the picture. It is called…”

The waiter arrives with the tray of food before Steven can finish his sentence. He places food on the table accordingly. “May I help you with anything else?”

“No, thank you sir.” I response.

“I hope you enjoy your dinner.” He says with a slight bow and leaves to take an order at another table.

“So…” I turns to Steven and asks him to finish what he left unfinished. “What is the name of the place?” He shows his phone screen to me. It has a picture of mountain, valleys and greenery. Enthusiastically, he replies, “Yosemite.”

[goasiadaytrip]

TOP 10 DESTINATION IN CAMBODIA

you intend to travel to Cambodia but do not know where to go, what to do to be able to discover all your culture, enjoy the beautiful nature and have the best experience. Then refer to the top 10 destination in Cambodia. Cambodia with wonderful nature, beautiful beaches, unique temple architecture, a vibrant capital, lovely people is definitely one of the countries worth visiting!

1. The

Angkor Wat temple

– TOP 10 DESTINATION IN CAMBODIA

Angkor Wat is one of the destinations that Cambodian tourists are self-sufficient and follow the most visited tour in the world. In particular, during the holidays this place attracts thousands of visitors to visit. Because, the architectural ruins here are not only beautiful but also hidden something very subtle.

Angkor temple complex includes more than 1,000 temples and sanctuaries within 200 square kilometers. In it, Angkor Wat temple is the most popular Cambodian tourist destination. Besides, there are some other temples that are also worth visiting, such as Ta Prohm with the ruined ruins of trees, the temples built between the 8th and 13th centuries have been restored.

If you still wonder, we have Angkor Wat tour – which will guide you everything of this place

2. Koh Rong Island

Want to find a Cambodian tourist destination to relax? Here is TOP 5 DESTINATIONS IN CAMBODIA. You dream about endless beaches with white sand, clear water and magnificent tourist resorts but still keep the pure nature? So, Koh Rong is the most suitable island for you!

The island is about 25 km from Sihanoukville. So far, the Cambodian landscape on this island still keeps its peaceful beauty, shallow beaches with blue water in the bottom, the wooden piers reach the sea full of romance. In particular, coming here you will not be disturbed by the noise of engine cars, motorbikes or tuk tuk but only a few hotels and resorts to serve tourists.

3. Phnom Penh

Located at the junction of Tonle Sap River and Mekong River, Phnom Penh is the vibrant capital of Cambodia with about 1.5 million inhabitants. It is interesting to sit on the cyclo and explore Phnom Penh city center, visit the beautiful Wat Phnom temple, Cambodia Royal Palace and the fair.

In Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Killing Fields you can experience and learn about Cambodia’s dark history. In addition, along the streets of 240 interesting shops located close together easily satisfy the shopping pleasure of all visitors. Therefore, Phnom Penh is one of the 10 most popular Cambodian tourist destinations.

Before going to Cambodia, you should know best tips for travellers!

4. Banteay Chhmar Temple

Banteay Chhmar temples are located in the northwest of Cambodia, 165 km from Angkor, near the Thai border. The Banteay Temple of Chhmar is the same size and splendor as Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, so it is also one of the attractions that tourists traveling to Cambodia cannot miss. However, in this area visitors will not be able to find a hotel. However, you can apply for an overnight stay in a family in Banteay Chhmar, this must be a unique experience that you should try.

5. Beng Mealea / Banteay Srei

You will have a great day trip from Siem Reap by car, or motorbike when visiting Beng Mealea and Banteay Srei. Beng Mealea temples are located in a forest, trees are growing from the middle of the ruins in cool light. Banteay Srei is a complex fairytale temple from the 10th century and is one of the most popular Cambodian tourist destinations. Unlike other temples, Banteay Srei temple is built of pink marble and gently sculpted. It’s one of TOP 10 DESTINATIONS IN CAMBODIA.

Trust me, Banteay Srei tour will make you happy! Contact us if you need any support via email: support@goasiadaytrip.com or hotline: +84941618080!

6. Sihanoukville

Sihanoukville is famous for its long and beautiful beaches. According to the Cambodian tourism experience of many people, Sihanoukville is the best at night with sparkling lights from restaurants, hotels, bars.. In this city, you can go to small bars and bars and siton rattan chairs, beach chain to enjoy seafood and fireworks.

7. Sambor Prei Kuk – top 10 destination in Cambodia

Sambor Prei Kuk is a complex with more than 100 temples located in a forest, 30 km north of Kampong Thom to the north. It belongs to one of the first temples in Asia, called Isanapura. Sambor Prei Kuk was built during the Pre-Angkor period in the 7th century, for the god Hindu god Shiva. This archaeological site is still out of the slot, so only a few Cambodian tourists visit this site. At some temples you can observe the work of restored temple archaeologists.

8. Koh In

Koh Trong is a peaceful island on the Mekong River near Kratie suitable for visitors to stop. So far there are no cars in Koh Trong, only some scooters and tuk tuk cars circulate on the island. When cycling around the island, you will see a cool green countryside at your sight. Therefore, Koh In is the ideal place to rest on your round trip to Cambodia and become the top destination in Cambodia.

9. Wat Banan – top 10 destination in Cambodia

Wat Banan is a well preserved temple on a hill near Battambang. According to the Cambodia travel guide, there are at least 360 steps from the parking lot to this area, but it’s worth your effort. At the top of the hill you have great panoramic views. Where there are not many tourists often come and be peaceful.

10. Kep / Kampot – a romantic Cambodian tourist destination

Kampot is also one of the top 10 destination in Cambodia. This is one of the few cities that maintains many French architecture, located in southern Cambodia. The city is famous for its majestic Bokor mountains, ancient French palaces, abandoned churches in mysterious fog. In particular, this city is also famous for the small town of Kep, where the beautiful sunset and wonderful crab markets make every Cambodian tourist love this place!

Contact us if you need any support via email: support@goasiadaytrip.com or hotline: +84941618080!

[alexracheltravel]

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

-Percy Shelley

Most folks like to cite the tenth and eleventh lines of Shelley’s poem: “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings/Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!” It shouts out to the reader, and is one of the most memorable verses. But, lest we forget, the twelfth line reveals the more important meaning of the poem: “Nothing beside remains.” Time has swept away the successes of great Ozymandias, leaving nothing but a “colossal Wreck” amongst “lone and level sands.”

“Ozymandias” by Shelley is about the ephemeral nature of successes. The crawl of time sweeps over and erases the accolades and triumphs made in one’s lifetime. While the poem references Egypt, it also relates to the long-lost Khmer empire, which ruled from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries. At its height, it controlled what is now Cambodia, Laos, most of Vietnam, and even parts of Thailand.

We started our day with a hotel breakfast. Noodles for Alex, and eggs for Rachel. The breakfast came with tea, fresh fruit, and bread, and it was quite good! We finished our breakfast just in time to meet our guide outside the hotel. Nak, our guide, is a native Cambodian and former Buddhist monk who would be leading us around the temples. We had ordered a group tour, however, when we asked Nak who would be in the group, he said “just us.” We got a private tour at a group rate! Wow!

Nak was kind and explained the history of the Khmer empire to us, who some of their great leaders were, and what the purpose of such epic temples were. The first task was not to go to the temples, but actually to take a balloon ride almost two hundred meters in the air! As we rose, we saw the tops of the temple peeking over the jungle trees, like mountains rising along the horizon. Although the trip was only about ten minutes long, it allowed us to see the scope and shape of the ancient capital that at one point housed a million people.

The first temple we visited was Angkor Wat. As we approached, we could only see the five towers and spires, mere silhouettes against the bright sky. But as we approached, it became a more concrete, real apace. It was once a temple meant to serve an ancient king’s prayer services. But, it was also surrounded by a moat, and contained spaces for the king’s generals to live and stay. The majestic site was an architectural work of art. The temple faces the West, in honor of Vishnu, god of preservation and salvation. The five towers represented five elements of the world, and there were plenty of smaller towers that represent the many other gods in Hindu mythology. Murals, or “bas-relief” depict ancient myths, like comic books carved in stone. We can go on and on about the site, and that could fill an entire book. Instead, our highlights included climbing to the top of the temple, learning about some of the deities, and gazing at the most intricate carvings that were cut into the side of the temple walls. We have been to Mayan pyramids, and the Great Wall of China (Rachel only), yet Angkor Wat stood out due to its sheer elegance and picturesque craftsmanship, down to the way the windows perfectly framed the light, and how even the most minute aspects seemed to have an intentional purpose.

Ta Prohm was the next temple we visited, and it was one of the smallest. Yet, it was popular due to its unique aspects. Tall, white trees took hold of the temple walls. Roots clung to the gray sandstone, wrapping themselves around the manmade features. The temple looked as if it represented the link between the jungle and society, harmonizing in both faith and nature. Yet, this was also the most crowded temple, since the shade provided respite and there was one section that was used in the Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider film. Yet, one of the most interesting aspects came from the central dance hall, located near the entrance to the temple. We saw a beheaded Buddha statue, and beneath it, the winding Naga dragon, a deity that best resembled the “world snake” of Nordic mythology, or of Mayan legend. Naga, god of prosperity, according to legend, helped to lift Buddha up during a period of meditation. His spirit was there to help and to protect with its many heads.

We took a break for lunch afterwards. We arrived at a nearby restaurant to eat some local foods. Cambodian, or Khmer food, is much like Thai food, and chicken curry was among the best items on the set menu, but we also had pork in caramel sauce, spring rolls, a fish tom yum soup, and fresh fruit. While this meal didn’t compare to the food we had in Vietnam, it was absolutely the best meal we had on a guided tour so far on our trip. We paired our meals with fresh squeezed juice: one mango, one passionfruit, and returned to the temples soon after.

Angkor Thom (pronounced Tom) is known for its sheer size and space. Unlike Angkor Wat, which was a singular temple, Angkor Thom was a city, and behind its walls, were a dozen different temples. We only saw a few, some dating back to the tenth century, and others a little later. Each showed strong differences between the royal leadership, and the technology in which they were created. During the tour, our guide, Nak, explained in detail all of the different religious movements of the time, and what the cultural context of the time was like. We even got lessons on Hinduism and Buddhism, and the meaning of the symbols that we continually passed. While Angkor Wat was built for the king, Angkor Thom felt like it was built for the people of the Khmer, and for that, we enjoyed it. Along the way, we finally got to see wild monkeys resting in the shade, or fooling around with water bottles. One was licking ice.

Our last temple was Bayon, the capital of Angkor Thom. Like Angkor Wat, it contained etchings that told grand tales. These tales were of war, battle, and history. The tour began in mythology; we learned about the creation of the world in Angkor Wat, but here, in Bayon, we saw the successes of the kings, and the battles they won against the Champa, a muslim group hailing from Southern Vietnam. But that wasn’t even the best part of Bayon. No, it was the many faces that were carved on the temple walls. Faces, depicting the four sublime states of Buddhism— equanimity, love, compassion, and joy—were perfectly carved up, down, and around the temple.

After this long day, we said farewell to the temples, the long stones, and we had to leave. We rested at the hotel for a little while before going out to dinner. It was a little shocking that it was seven o’clock, and we were for some time the only people in the restaurant. Something clicked for us at that moment, while we were eating more delicious Cambodian curry (btw, Alex got to eat beef with ants).

Nak told us that the temples were built by the Khmer empire to show the world how powerful they were. The temples were built out of their own showcase of strength. But not only has the Khmer empire fallen, but Cambodia is among the least developed nations in the world. One American dollar goes a very long way out here. Post-pandemic, Cambodia’s tourism industry is in big trouble. Hotels are empty or shuttered. Crowds have dwindled, or are non-existent. For us, this was a blessing, but for people like Nak, it means they can’t earn a decent living. It’s one thing if your business fails in America. We have plenty of opportunities here. But in Cambodia? This pandemic hasn’t just ruined livelihoods, but it has eviscerated them. We have gone a long way from the great Khmer empire to see what it has become. Like Ozymandias, nothing beside remains. The temples are now ruins, and the empire has become fractured beyond simple repair.

Yet, there’s some hope. When a king builds a temple, he does so the people can remember him. It may have taken hundreds of years, but the world will recognize the importance of this history, the artistry of their craft, and the beauty of their culture. We can only hope it is enough to prove to the rest of the world that Cambodia has so much in this world to offer.

Total distance: about six miles, and many staircases.

Alex: Out of all the ruins you saw today, which was your favorite? By the way, we should probably not call them ruins. I feel like that is not kind to history.

Rachel: It’s gotta be Angkor Wat. (I just typed that with two Ts because I have JJ Watt’s retirement on the brain). But anyway, I feel like it was just so incredible from the detailed etchings to the sheer size to the incredible restorations that have been done. It really felt like a true wonder…of the world.

A: I think I would agree with you. A lot of people said that Angkor Thom was the superior temple but I think that is because there is just so much more to do in that complex which is a system of multiple temples. Angkor Wat is perfection in architecture and design in the way that shadows cast similarities to the spires and how uniform the design was. I can’t imagine what it would be like on the equinox because the sun matches over the center tower.

R: It was an incredible day overall, I feel like we saw a lot, we learned a lot, and after an almost 9 hour tour, I am really proud to say we barely got burnt.

A: Ha. And you didn’t wear a hat either. I got a lot of “Where’s Brooklyn At?” photos. You know what the most whatever point of our tour was today? The hot air balloon.

R: I disagree. I loved starting the day that way. It gave us a great bird’s eye view and it felt so impactful to start from this far away view, and to walk closer and closer until we were in it. There was something about that journey that felt really meaningful. I also just love to see things from high up like that, it puts so many things in perspective. I am thinking a lot about what I am now coining “cuterism” which is people who travel just to make sure they have cute pictures of themselves in places. I was so shocked to see professional photographers with families and couples staging elaborate photos with this incredible piece of history as their backdrop. But other than that mild annoyance, I really feel like we saw all the major sights.

A: Yeah, there wasn’t exactly a downside to the temples themselves. They were all really cool. And maybe one or two of them we probably should have gotten to see or we would go to morrow to see but overall I don’t think we needed to do more than what we did today. Maybe, sunrise. But I also heard, mixed things about it.

R: Yeah, and I think our hotel breakfast felt like a nice way to start the day and we wouldn’t have gotten to keep our hotel breakfast tradition alive if we went to see the sunrise. I know that isn’t the most important buuuutttt....

A: I can confirm that the coffee here is just as good as in Vietnam, at least at this hotel. What do you think about the food? I expected it to be more Vietnamese inspired than Thai.

R: I feel like I am liking it more than you are. I love Thai curry and Cambodian or Khmer currys (the now three that I have had), have all been unique and delicious. Way more vegetables than in Vietnam, which I am not mad at. Also way more vegan and vegetarian conscious which makes me feel much more comfortable around the food not having sneaky dairy.

A: I think I am going to eat more vegan food too, as our honeymoon continues. I like how even vegan wines are an option around here.

R: Tomorrow we will see even more temples and sights, and can’t wait to enjoy them all!

[prussiumscribbles]

Time Is Dancing

SUMMARY: Alfred and Arthur used to travel the world together. Then, something went wrong along the way and they went their separate ways. Two years later, they meet again. (Backpacker/post-breakup AU).

[Read on AO3]

“Kirkland!”

“Jones.”

Alfred Jones’s face broke into a wide grin. “Wow, it’s really you! I mean— wow, ha ha! I haven’t seen you in so long! What are the odds?”

Arthur took a sip from his pint of beer and smiled, trying to calm the wild beating of his heart. The moment he stepped into the rooftop bar, he’d spotted Alfred in the far right corner, chatting with a group of tipsy travellers.

He couldn’t believe his eyes either. Perhaps the darkness and the neon lights were playing tricks on his weary mind. Of all the people he’d bump into while backpacking, it had to be his ex-boyfriend. At a party in Siem Reap, Cambodia, of all places. How bizarre could it get?

Was it really him? If he was, could he still remember Arthur?

Because Arthur remembered him. After all this time, he could never forget that face.

His questions were answered when he saw a glimpse of recognition in his eyes as he looked towards his direction.

Alfred told his friends to go ahead and sat beside Arthur, who came alone.

“How are you? It’s been what— two years?” said Alfred. He couldn’t seem to wipe the grin off his face. “Funny how we meet again, huh? In Cambodia, no less!”

Beside them, a Scottish and an Irish man were mocking each other’s accent. They were surrounded by so many people engaged in countless drunk discussions. The festive vibe was too distracting, making it difficult to speak. Before Arthur could reply, a crowd of laughing 20-somethings sat on their table, and suddenly, the entire bar became part of their conversation.  

“Arthur, didn’t you say you’ve been to Bali?”

“Oh you’ve been to Bali? How was it?”

A series of random questions and answers came in waves and in different directions. I spent six months in Vietnam. Are you travelling alone? I don’t know if I can do that. There was nothing to do but drink and smoke and talk and talk. The entire time, Alfred kept getting drinks and taking back his seat beside Arthur.

He listened whenever Alfred shared something about his travels, something that would explain where he got the colourful wristbands on his arm, or his tan lines and freckles. They finally got the chance to talk to each other when someone brought up Angkor Wat.

“Have you visited the temples yet?” asked Francis, a bearded, long-haired bloke from France.

“Jones had been here a couple of times before,” said Arthur. “Hadn’t you?”

“Yeah,” replied Alfred, slightly caught off guard. “I majored in Archaeology and I’m a major temple nerd, so going here’s a childhood dream come true, ha ha! I just can’t get enough.”

I could study it forever, he told Arthur as he gazed at the monument with reverence a long time ago, when they first visited together.

“How about you, Kirkland?” asked Alfred. “What brings you to temple town?”

“I— er— I just wanted to see if the sunrise tour was worth the hype,” replied Arthur.

The truth was he was on a month-long vacation in Southeast Asia because his boss believed he was working himself to death in the office. He had a few extra days before his flight back to London, and dropping by Siem Reap seemed like a nice idea, not to be nostalgic or anything of course.

He did the sunrise tour and visited the temples he and Alfred missed when they did the sunset tour for Arthur’s birthday. They couldn’t make the most out of it because they got stupid drunk the night before, so they spent the entire day tour hungover. Thinking about it, most of their night outs were followed by those tides of hangovers. Some nights Arthur couldn’t remember the details, but he could vividly remember the feeling.  

“Wait, sorry, aren’t you two travelling together?” asked Gilbert from Germany.

“Oh no, not really,” said Arthur.  

“We met a while back,” said Alfred.

“You seemed to know each other a lot,” said Antonio from Spain.  

Arthur chuckled and downed his whiskey. “Well, you’re not wrong.”

He and Alfred briefly exchanged looks. If it wasn’t dark, he’d think Alfred was blushing.

Someone yelled about a pub crawl on the other side of the table and the entire bar stirred.  

“Arthur! Are you coming?”

Giulia, a bubbly Italian girl with long brown hair and bright amber eyes approached him, beaming widely. They met each other the night before, their first pub crawl together.

“‘Course I am, sweetheart!” He replied, and she jumped and gave him a big hug.

And off they went to the next party with around twenty other people. It was a series of ordering drinks, chatting, smoking, and dancing. Arthur felt like he didn’t leave West London at all, with the crowd and the music and the strobe lights.

Hours flew by without any of them noticing. On the third party, at around quarter past midnight, everyone went wild. Some girls were dancing on table tops as the DJ played their jam. Some boys drank and rapped.

Alfred found him dancing with his own circle and joined them. By the end of the song, he and Alfred were dancing together, not saying a word. They let their bodies sway with the music, never mind if they could really call it dancing or not.

And then Alfred flashed a smile that reached his eyes, and it was like meeting each other all over again.

Looking into his blue, blue eyes, Arthur remembered hot and sweaty nights and the weight of Alfred’s body against his, the morning after.

But their relationship wasn’t all that. Arthur’s chest swelled with realisation.  

It was also tight hugs once homesickness kicked in, ice cream on an unbearably hot day, and contagious laughter as they recounted a terribly embarrassing thing they did.  

They shared intimacy that went beyond getting naked and having sex, something Arthur never had with other lovers. They had intimacy and warmth.

Another hour or two had passed and they found each other again outside the bar. This time, it was only the two of them. In the dark, away from the party. Alone with their feelings and the truth.  

“Are you happy, Arthur?” asked Alfred, leaning against the wall.

Sparks danced across Arthur’s skin upon hearing Alfred call his name.  

“I am,” he replied. He searched his pockets for cigarettes and a lighter.

Alfred nodded to the ground, running his fingers through his dishevelled hair.

“But it was never the same without you,” continued Arthur.

Alfred raised his head in shock. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.  

Arthur blamed the amount of alcohol he consumed for letting his guard down. But maybe it was time to be vulnerably honest. Heaven knows there were only a couple of times he let his guard down with Alfred and let the truth out.

“You know, after we ended, I tried travelling again,” he said, “But after a while, everything was a routine of packing bags, hopping on buses, meeting people, and excessive drinking… It was a never-ending cycle.”

He paused to search Alfred’s face. He was looking at Arthur as if he was trying to answer a difficult riddle.

Arthur gulped, willing the words to come out of his mouth. “Sometimes I’d find myself searching for you in the crowd, then I’d remember we weren’t together anymore, and feel… empty.”

“Arthur, I—“ said Alfred, “I feel the same way too.”

It was Arthur’s turn to be speechless. He fiddled with his cigarette to hide the shaking of his hands.

“There was a point when I wanted to stop because everything reminded me of you and it drove me crazy,” said Alfred. “I got mad at myself for deleting all your contact details because I wished I could see you again.”  

Silence fell upon them. Arthur was breathing heavily, his chest felt like it was being stabbed a thousand times.  

“But it was good while it lasted, wasn’t it?” He said after a while.

“It was,” replied Alfred, his lips curled into a sad half-smile.

At some point in their relationship, they realised travelling as a couple wasn’t always romantic. It wasn’t like what they saw in movies or social media. As time passed, the ugly parts surfaced, mostly coming from their own personal issues, and started destroying them, tearing them apart like the temple ruins they admired so much.

Sitting on the pavement, Arthur was relieved he and Alfred could talk about the past calmly, not raising their voices with anger and blame. People were going back to their hostels, and some tourists were getting ready for the sunrise tour, tuk tuks zooming along the streets.  

He remembered the last time they saw each other. It was in Vietnam, at around dawn, which felt like a lifetime ago. They knew that they were already finished— Arthur was going back to England after deciding they were over— but Alfred asked him to stay even just for a moment. They had a very early breakfast like a normal morning after partying, eating pancakes and drinking black coffee.  

“Would you like to have breakfast with me?” asked Arthur, standing up.

“Sure,” said Alfred. “Though we might have to wait for a while because I don’t think there’s somewhere open at this time.”

Arthur hummed in agreement. “We can walk around a bit. I could use a stretch, my legs are sore.”

They walked in silence, side by side, as the sky turned from black to a deep blue.  

“Where are you going next?” asked Alfred.

“Home,” replied Arthur.

Alfred bit his lip. “Any chance you’ll come and visit me?”

Arthur smiled. “Maybe.”  

“We worked out as a couple when we were travelling. Well, almost,” said Alfred, “Do you think it would have worked if we met at home? Like, if we lived in the same country?”

“Who the hell knows?” asked Arthur.

They laughed together. The next thing Arthur knew, Alfred had pulled him into his arms, and he let him. His lips found Alfred’s and it was like meeting each other all over again.

A/N: The title is from Time Is Dancing by Ben Howard. 

If anyone’s wondering why I disappeared for months, it’s because I moved abroad and am currently traipsing across Indochina (and trying to get my shit together). Peace out.

[akhnatenmallya]

Angkor Wat complex. Walking through the ruins and forests of Angkor Wat is like transporting to another world. Depending on your frame of mind, you could be like Indiana Jones in search of the holy grail, or Lara Croft trying to get her hands on ancient artifacts. A day may not be enough to see all that Angkor Wat has to offer. Chances are even three days may not do it. My suggestion is to take a relaxed approach to everything you are doing around here, lest you tire yourself. However, if time is of the essence and you want to get a feel of this magnificent site without spending  too much time and money, perhaps a day should suffice. You can opt to start your day before the crack of dawn, to capture the sunrise, or much later. Either way, see what works best for you. I have never been a morning person. So rushing for that sunrise shot was never on my agenda. I am sure a lot of you would love to capture that too. Whichever way you approach your visit to this UNESCO World Heritage site, you're guaranteed a fun time, besides the fact that you will have soaked your garments in sweat and also perhaps lost a bit of weight. ________________________________________ @nofixedaddrs #nofixedaddrs www.nofixedaddress.in _________________________________________ Kingdom of wonder 🇰🇭 #KingdomofWonder @visitcambodiaofficial #visitcambodiaofficial #visitcambodia _________________________________________ ………. ……... …….. ……. …… ….. …. … .. . #angkorwat #cambodia #siemreap #angkor #khmer #angkortemples #angkorwatcambodia #explorecambodia #travelcambodia #cambodian #cambodge #smileofkhmer #tombraider #indianajones #temple #beautifulcambodia #unesco #visitcambodia #unescoworldheritage #cambodiatravel #travelcambodia #indochine #unescoworldheritage #explorecambodia #whenincambodia #passionpassport (at Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia.) https://www.instagram.com/p/CFMJQWNM0S1/?igshid=1hx197upde5yq

[plussixtytwo]

The one with crocodile meat and deep-fried tarantula

I’ve always wanted to travel alone for my birthday and I decided to make that happen when I turned 25. I chose to visit Thailand and Cambodia since both are extremely exotic, diverse, and have some delicacies that I’m super excited to try. Besides, an exotic guy needs exotic destinations. *wink wink

 Chatuchak Night Market

The plan in Thailand is to explore nothing but food. I asked the hostel receptionist about their famous night markets and she directed me to go to Chatuchak weekend market. I had a yummy bowl of Tom Yum Goong, followed by mango salad, sea foods, bugs, and scorpion skewer (I’m not kidding). I didn’t normally eat that much to the point I was bloated, but you gotta do it when you’re in Bangkok, right?  

The next day, I went to the Train Night Market and made friends with a German girl who thought I was a local. We both then explored the market, bought some stuff, and tried some crocodile meat. It tasted like pork but just more chewy. We ended up eating sea foods - like the one in Chatuchak was not enough - and mango sticky rice while trying to understand Thai songs they played out loud on broken speakers.

Scorpions at Train Night Market

I managed to see some old friends in Bangkok and they took me to Ayutthaya, a historical city located north of Bangkok. Ayutthaya is such a bae and everything about it very much feeds my old soul. This archaeological gem features ruins from the Siamese kingdoms and its cultural value attracts travelers to do a day trip from Bangkok. We visited some temples and I personally was blown away with the beautiful ruins and the rich history behind them. The most popular attractions include Wat Phra Mahathat, a large stone Buddha head set in a colossal and deep-rooted tree. We finished the trip with another Thai food galore in a restaurant overlooking Ayutthaya river.

The stone Buddha head set in a deep-rooted tree in Ayutthaya  

Before flying to Cambodia, I managed to explore the city a bit more. I went to Wat Arun and The Grand Palace only to find that those places were swamped by tourists. You know that “A huge wave of zombies is approaching” phrase from Plants vs Zombies game? That’s exactly how I felt about the whole situation. I just didn’t feel like getting squeezed by the crowd so I decided to just walk around and ended up at a cute coffee shop. 

CAMBODIA

I landed in Siem Reap in the middle of the day and my friend, Syiqin, picked me up with our personal tuk tuk driver. We stayed at this up-and-coming hostel which was only 5 minutes walk from the lively Pub Street.

Pub street is where all the fun at. From cheap Cambodian snack stalls and fancy restaurants to clubs blasting reggaeton and local selling extraordinary Khmer delicacies. Few minutes walk from the street was this little restaurant called Bug Cafe where you could taste various cooked bugs, including tarantula - next level exotic. Though you can find these roadside on carts and at street food markets, for something this unappetizing, I opted to visit a proper restaurant to try it.  

Pub Street

I ordered their small platter which consisted of bugs salad, bugs skewers, fried tarantula, fried silkworms, and ant spring rolls. The spring rolls barely tasted like ants, the skewers were just alright and tasted like, well, bugs, as well as the salad. The silk worms were disgusting, but the tarantula indeed tasted slightly better than the others. It was probably the dough because the tarantula itself tasted rather bland. A few people had mentioned that it really looked and tasted remarkably like soft shell crab. When you tear off a leg you’ll notice a flaky whitish meat inside which is very similar to crab but the taste is nothing like it, at least for me.

I didn’t finish all of them but it was indeed a once in a lifetime experience. Did I regret spending 15 bucks for a small platter of bugs? Nope! I didn’t plan to do it again anyway, so it was totally worth it.

We explored Angkor Wat the next day and managed to catch the sunrise. We had to leave at 4 in the morning and queue for the ticket, at goddamn 4 in the morning! As if I didn’t stress that enough, they had to take our pictures for the ticket. 

Angkor Wat is massive and we’re told to spend 3 days to actually explore the whole area at a reasonable pace. Since we didn’t have much time, and were also on a budget, we squeezed the 3 days adventure to just a day, needless to say, we couldn’t really feel our legs after hours of walking and hiking under the intense heat and dry air of Cambodia.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

I’ve got a pleasant surprise when we’re just walking around the Bayon temple. I bumped into this guy that I met in Colombia back in 2016 when both of us were participants for a Spanish Course. We didn’t really talk to each other during the program but we just kinda knew each other. It took me a while to recognize him and he was as well giving me “man, I know you but who are you” kinda look. We both later greeted each other and talked for a moment. 

The last temple we visited was Ta Prohm, which was featured in Tomb Raider. I took a decent picture with the trees that overgrown and covered the temple. I didn’t stay long because it was packed with lots of tourists and I was just too tired with all the hikes. We went back to our hotel and took a well deserved nap and later went to Pub street for dinner and shopping. 

My heart was full when I left Cambodia. Though I live in a country that has Borobudur, I really don’t think that there is another country in the world with the ancient temples as amazing as Angkor Wat. Plus, I found the people here are extremely nice and genuine. It’s not as cheap as I thought probably because of the imposition of the dollar, but still affordable and I definitely recommend you to visit the beautiful country. I mean, Angelina Jolie comes here often and even Beyonce, so what else can I say?

[itsyokythings-blog]

Hanoi

Loved the Noble and Swan Boutique Hotel in Hanoi. Spent I think 3-4 days in Hanoi and would highly recommend. Lots to do and see and eat!

This street food tour was super fun. We went with June and she was a blast. It's also just super fun to zoom around on the back of a motorbike; I would be too afraid to drive myself, so this was the perfect way to get a feel for it.

If you don't take it, still make sure to try Egg Coffee (literally everybody will tell you this, but it's super tasty) and Bun Bo Nam Bo (yummy beef noodles).

We really really loved the Women's Museum. Expected to spend an hour or two here, but ended up staying until they closed and loving every minute of it. Give yourself a few hours!

Ninh Binh

We did a day trip with Funny Travel to Ninh Binh and it was so much fun. Our main objective was the Hoa Lu Temples which are carved in to the rock and while the place isn't big, it's not super touristy and it's definitely very beautiful and unique. Would definitely recommend. We also rode a boat between the mountains and rice paddies (so pretty) and then rode our bicycles around the rice paddies. We had a private driver and they took us to a lunch spot and we did a little shopping, too. Generally an excellent day trip in an air conditioned car and so much fun, although also swelteringly hot (dripping sweat on the bikes). He also helped us book our flight to Cambodia, which made everything easy and I think we got a deal on the tour for booking the flight as well. I can't remember exactly, but I think our tour was about $80/person for the driver, temple, bicycles, lunch, and boat ride. It was about a 2-3 hour drive from Hanoi.

Ha Long Bay (Cat Ba Bay)

We did an overnight tour into the bay with IndoChina Junk and their prices are worth the value. Highly recommend: well run, high quality, good accommodations, excellent kayaking and swimming, good food, kind people, and, most important of all, really really fabulous views and isolated spot to dock for the evening. Such a magical spot: definitely get up early for sunrise!

  Da Nang

We stayed one night here for a little beach getaway on our way to Hoi An and I would recommend. It was really fun to swim in the ocean and enjoy the beach. Finally a place where the heat was a good thing! We rented chairs with an umbrella for cheap and it was really nice to just chill and enjoy.

This area is by far one of the more expensive places in Vietnam, but for one night we lived it up and enjoyed ourselves. We stayed at the Adamo Hotel which was right on the water and was pretty great. They were fairly new and had some customer service bumps, but in the end we figured they'd probably work them out. In the meantime, we had the rooftop pool to ourselves, which was a blast, and the breakfast buffet was amazing. Rooms were comfy and clean and had an incredible view of the beach.

We went to A La Carte for dinner and sunset drinks, which was an excellent decision. Good drinks, good burgers, excellent views of the city and river and ocean. Downside was they wouldn't let us swim in the pool with purchase, it's for hotel guests only (laaaaame).

Hoi An

Hoi An is where I got my fabulous pink coat made and is so nice. It's a smaller town, but if you want clothing made, you need to spend 4 or 5 days there. You can borrow bikes from your hotel (probably) and cycle around, eat, enjoy sunset on the river. Super super touristy, but in a really enjoyable way.

We stayed at the Lasenta Boutique Hotel and it was the best. I would stay here 100 nights a year if I could. So cute, comfy, great service, etc. Their adorable tile work everywhere is so representative of Hoi An in general. Room rates were around $50/night. We borrowed their bicycles (for free) and used them to get everywhere.  You'll want to spend most of your time in the Hoi An Ancient town, which is a UNESCO world heritage site and super cute, but there are restaurants and fun places to go outside of this tourist heavy area, too.

Got my clothing made at Tony the Tailor's and I would come here again. They are so nice and accommodating and talented. I do feel like getting more artistic custom clothing is more difficult than getting business suits or more traditional items. The more specific photos you have of exactly what you want and the more clear you are about what you really want, the more you'll be happy with what you get. They'll pay for you to get a taxi cab from your hotel, email ahead to make an appointment. Plan on going immediately when you arrive in order to give yourself as much time for them to make the clothing and for you to come back and get it tailored as possible. Sometimes you'll want to come back a few times to get it right and giving yourself that time is worth it. Downside of this place is that there is no AC and so it's hot as hell and super hard to try on tighter clothing, but I think all of the places are open like this and they do have ice water and fans so that's probably the best you can do. If you go, tell them the girl with the custom pink coat from July 2017 sent you; she has an amazing memory for all her customers.

My favorite custom purchases were two pairs of leather sandals at Thang. They did a really great job and I ordered two pairs and my friend ordered some after seeing mine. Reasonably priced (maybe $20-30, depending on what you want and your bargaining abilities) and high quality. My friend also got a great belt here to bring back for her partner.

I had a bad experience with Song Leather. I ordered a purse from them, very careful to select exactly the leather that I wanted. When we came back the next day, they had made it not out of the one I picked, but another very different. From there, I had to fight pretty hard to get them to make me a new one, and even then they charged me for it (I kept both and sold one when I got back to the USA to a friend). After I picked it up, they were pretty pushy about trying to get me to leave a 5 star review on Trip Advisor, which felt icky. My friend ordered shoes from here too, and they were not good quality. They were heels, but the heel slipped out from underneath her foot every time she stepped. She ended up leaving with them for full price and they insisted that they would get better as the glue dried, but it didn't really happen.

Banh Mi Phuong was my favorite, packed with locals and a crowded line. Get two because they're only $1 and fairly small and SO DELICIOUS. We came back twice.

We also went to Phi Banh Mi which is more catered towards westerners, but so much fun. The owner is the sweetest and his sandwiches are SO good. We also came back here twice. (I mean, when you're here.... haha)

I loved our chill afternoon spent in the Lapin Café, which played French music and was run by a French-Vietnamese couple. It felt like coming over to somebody's hip house and I wanted to be friends with them after we left. No AC, but such good vibes.

The Reaching Out Café might have been my favorite find in Hoi An, run entirely by deaf locals who have the most serene, wonderful spot in the middle of the bustle. Come here! It's magical.

Siem Reap

The Jaya House in Siem Reap is far and away the best hotel I have ever stayed at. Start to finish it was an incredible experience and well worth the pennies we paid to stay here. In July 2017 rooms were $135/night for their basic room, but they ended up upgrading us to a room with a private jacuzzi and it was incredible. Swinging tables, the most amazing food you've ever tasted, incredible massages, two amazing pools, lotuses everywhere, a fabulous sunset bar, THE BEST SERVICE ever ever ever. I could go on and on: this place is incredible. We weren't sure what we could get that was better than the Lasenta Boutique Hotel (for only $50/night), but once we showed up we completely understood. They organized everything for us: our tours through Angker Wat and the others, etc.

The only downside of this place was that we barely saw Cambodia outside of the hotel and the Wats, which is a pretty big bummer to me, although our guide Khemerin was very forthright about how bad the Civil War had been in Cambodia and I got the feeling that maybe there isn't much besides these places.

We did go to Temple Bar one evening, which was a crazy expat bar experience and pretty fun. Insanely loud, cheap bevvies, tons of people from all around the world, and we danced like crazy. Not sure I would do it again, but it kind of felt like the only thing to do around Siem Reap and it was certainly a memorable club experience.

For Angkor Wat, do make sure you go at sunrise (and go early to make it worth it). We watched it from outside the wall where you can see the whole thing and then headed in to the pool to see from the inside. Not sure, but I might go to the inside instead next time if I was there early enough. We got the two day ticket (well, three day, but we only went two days, but it's still cheaper than buying two individual tickets) and I was glad we didn't try and cram everything in to one day. We did do the side trip to Banteay Srei and I am glad we did: it's different than the others and so fun to see.

Definitely take your time and definitely get some blessings from the monks; it's a few dollars and you'll feel like a tourist doing it, but it's authentic and cool. The monks are the only ones allowed to still live in Angkor Wat and they rely on only donations for their food and clothes. It's worth asking your guide more about this (and definitely about the modern political landscape and the Civil War and so on).

I would say that while biking around looks picturesque, it's so hot that you'll want to save it for another day when you're not relying on this to get you around. Splurge for the tuk tuk (or stay at our hotel and let them spoil you with cold ice towels and water whenever you get back from a temple).

The post Vietnam & Cambodia Travel Guide: What to do in Two Weeks appeared first on We Are Adventure.us.

[good-job-good-news]

Chris van Laak／以群眾為中心的吳哥攝影節

「對攝影師來說，連結非常的重要。」吳哥攝影節暨工作坊（Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops）總監林登麗（Jessica Lim）在開幕致詞中，回應前來參與的人群。活動舉辦的小鎮位於柬埔寨最具盛名的吳哥窟旁邊，會場附近遍布新殖民法式建築。一年一度的吳哥攝影節和吳哥攝影工作坊已舉辦14屆，是亞洲歷史最悠久的攝影節慶；即便地點偏遠，良好的口碑仍吸引亞洲攝影師每年前來共襄盛舉。

然���，對於最近參與吳哥攝影節的攝影師、編輯、策展人和其他攝影工作者來說，接下來工作將會備受挑戰，甚至比以往更加冒險。近來，有知名攝影師受到異常的拘留與逮捕：孟加拉攝影師Shahidul Alam才在（2018年）11月20日被保釋，在此之前他因為聲援示威的學生，而被送進監獄超過100天。他的言論被孟加拉當局視為挑釁，因而受到該國法規懲罰。

在這個每年12月初舉辦、為期10天的攝影節中，許多專業工作者都曾參與了要求釋放Alam的運動，他們對Alam重獲自由表示鬆一口氣。

新聞記者和攝影師依據工作地點和主題，多少會暴露在一定程度的風險中。但在這個一年一度的聚會裡，彼此的連結讓大家覺得安全。這是個交換想法和解決問題的地方，相較於許多專業工作者的母國，這裡的新聞自由度更高。

自2005年成立初期，位於柬埔寨的吳哥攝影節即不斷地在尋找空間。發展至今，他們的重點不在成果展示，而是專業間的交流與啟發。「多樣性是我們的重點，」林登麗補充說，「年輕的攝影師來自亞洲各地，回去後在各國宣傳我們的活動，希望將來能有更多台灣攝影師申請參加工作坊。」

除了為時一週、專為新銳攝影師而設的工作坊外，攝影節也為當地6～16歲間的孩童舉辦工作坊。

來自柬埔寨暹粒的Roun Ry是位專業攝影師。除了拍攝商業作品之外，他也以家鄉傳統生活方式去發展與社會和環境相關的議題。他的攝影職涯從2011年的兒童工作坊開始，現在他也是吳哥工作坊的導師。藉由攝影節，開啟了他與編輯和策展人之間的連結，並有機會與像路透社（Reuters）、世界新聞攝影基金會（World Press Photo Foundation）這樣的專業機構交流、討論他的作品。對Roun來說，攝影節「激勵年輕攝影師去深入探討並更上層樓」。

此外，攝影節也規劃了一個小型特展。在暹粒的市中心，Huiying Ore的作品沿著暹粒河畔展示在戶外，吸引遊客和當地人��目光。

她的作品記錄了寮國北邊的小鎮——磨丁市（Boten）。中國投資客曾承諾斥資15億美元，將這個邊境小鎮打造成博奕度假區。由於在中國賭博是違法的，他們期待這裡能成為探險的財富天堂。即便一切都照計畫進行，但最終投資客似乎失去興趣，在鎮上徒留半完工的觀光建設，及無人光顧的商店。

Fill 1

在戶外的小型特展。（攝影／Chris van Laak）

吳哥攝影節不針對特定政治議題，而是開啟藝術作品表達真相的空間，爭取其自由發聲的環境。在許多亞洲國家和世界各地這種創作自由都備受威脅，攝影節所面對的環境和其他地方大同小異。林登麗強調，這是全球共同面對的問題：「拒絕普世價值，或用西方帝國主義觀點來一味地批判，並沒有任何幫助。」

在新聞自由指數排名第142的柬埔寨，言論自由在政府不允許異己立場的管控之下，幾乎無生存空間。然而，吳哥攝影節因其國際化形象、並以聚焦當地觀眾為導向，成為當代最重要的相關攝影節慶之一。

攝影節成立以來雖已有數年，但仍需不斷地和瞬息萬變的環境磨合，例如他們需要維持各種贊助來源，或是在印刷技術有限的柬國製作專業印刷品。在中國的投資下，近年柬埔寨許多產業已漸趨專業化。

暹粒提供的高級住宿，遠超過前來吳哥攝影節的參訪者的預算。愈來愈多的中國遊客在此砸下大錢，而柬埔寨則張開雙手歡迎他們。柬埔寨在各領域都和中國有所合作，近年還跨含政治與行政層面。對此，自2005年即參與攝影節的Francoise Callier，他的觀察是：「對中國來說，寮國已開發完畢，接下來輪到柬埔寨了。」

而中國政府與柬國政府間愈趨親密的關係，可能會間接影響像吳哥攝影節這樣的組織。雖然在當地和柬國官方的合作上並沒有審查方面的問題，但類似的節慶在中國的情況就不一樣了。同樣於2018年12月開展的連州國際攝影年展，策展小組到最後一刻都還在與審查制度協調，其中Erwin Blumenfeld的代��性時尚攝影作品，最終在當局的意見之下取消部分展出。

在吳哥攝影節中，其中一晚的幻燈片投影展示了中國當代紀實攝影作品——這個區塊活動在攝影節行之有年，而今年由王溪策劃。攝影節自創辦初期即與中國藝術家及記者合作，這些少數但知名的專業攝影師也是團隊的一份子。

自2010年起開始加入策展團隊的盧廣，在這次的攝影節中突然行蹤成謎。2018年11月初時，中國攝影師盧廣被西北邊的新疆省政府拘捕，直至12月，公安局才證實盧廣被他們羈押，但沒有說明原因。他的作品被展示在幻燈片上，而他被拘留一事也成為攝影節中的話題。

在12月的暹粒聚會中，這些攝影工作者雖然在不同的國家中工作，創作主題也不盡相同，但他們有共同面對困境的感覺。

與菲律賓環境難民工作的Veejay Villafranca，在他身處的環境，記者常遭到非法處決，他相信媒體應該用真相抵抗權力：「我們不會用政府想要的方式滿足大眾。對記者來說更重要的是，我們有彼此作為後盾」。

Fill 1

2018吳哥攝影節開幕放映。（攝影／Chris van Laak）

“For photographers, community is now more important than ever.” The opening words of Jessica Lim, director of Angkor Photo Festival and Workshop, resonated with the crowd that had gathered around the lavish French neocolonial architecture of the Cambodian town close to the famous temples of Angkor Wat. The annual Angkor Photo Festival and Workshop is in its 14th edition, which makes it the longest running festival of its kind in Asia, – it has established itself very well in the schedules of professionals all over the continent despite its remote location.

But the photographers, editors, curators and other professionals, who visit the festival most recently, know that doing their jobs might be more difficult, even more dangerous than ever. Some high profile photographers have been arrested and detained for unusual long times recently : Shahidul Alam of Bangladesh has recently been released on bail on 11/20 after he had spoken out in favor of protesting students and therefore spent more than 100 days in prison – as his statement was deemed “provocative” and therefore punishable under Bangladeshi laws.

Many of the professionals involved in the festivals events and exhibitions which run for 10 days in early December have been involved in campaigns demanding Alam’s release – now many express relief that their friend is free.

Depending on the location and subject of their work, journalists and photographers are exposed to more or less of a risk, but here, where people come together annually, the ones involved feel relief in a strong community. It is a place for exchange of ideas and solutions to problems – a forum that many professionals don’t find in their countries with a lesser developed journalistic infrastructure.

From its beginning in 2005 the festival has been working on filling that void in Cambodia. And still today the focus is not as much on showcasing works, as it is on exchange between professionals and aspiring professionals. “Diversity is crucial for us.” described Jessica Lim. “Young photographers from all over Asia join our festival and then become our ambassadors in their countries. We hope we will get more workshop applications from Taiwan in the future”, she added.

Besides a weeklong workshop for aspiring professionals, the festival also runs workshops for local children between the ages 6 and 16.

Roun Ry of Cambodia is a professional photographer based in Siem Reap. He shoots commercial assignments, but he also covers social and environmental issues, as well as traditional lifestyles in his home province. His career started as a participant in the children’s workshop in 2011. Now he is also a teacher in the workshop and sees the festival as an occasion to connect with editors and curators, to show and discuss his work in Portfolio Review events with professionals of institutions such as Reuters or the World Press Photo Foundation. For Roun, the festival “encourages and pushes young photographer to go deeper and understand more”.

The festival also showcases a small, but eclectic selection of photographic works. Huiying Ore’s photos were displayed in an outdoors exhibition along the Siem Reap River that meanders through the city center catching the eyes of tourists and locals alike. In her works she documents the small town of Boten in Northern Laos. The Chinese investors had promised 1.5 billion for further developments in a casino resort there. As this kind of gambling is illegal in China, the town at the Laotian border was supposed to become a paradise for fortune and adventure seeking Chinese in which even all clocks are set to Chinese time. Eventually the Chinese investors must have lost interest in the project, leaving the town with half finished tourist infrastructure and local businesses without customers.

The festival doesn’t follow a political agenda, but it showcases art that speaks truth to power and requires an environment of freedom of artistic expression. Even though this freedom is challenged in many countries in Asia as well as worldwide, Angkor still finds an environment to thrive in an unlikely place. For Jessica Lim, global issues need to be addressed, as “rejecting universal values and denouncing them for example as Imperialist Western is just a stupid argument”.

Cambodia is ranked 142th in the Freedom of Press Index, freedom of expression is “drastically curtailed” under a government that doesn’t allow an independently operating political opposition. Still with it’s international outlook combined with a focus on a local audience, the festival manages to stay relevant.

The festival has grown over the years, but it still needs to adapt to an ever changing environment, for example funding has to be secured from a multitude of sponsors, prints have to be made in a country that that still has little experience in professional printmaking. Still in recent years Cambodia has developed in many sectors and professionalism many industries with the help of Chinese investments.

Siem Reap offers world class accommodation far beyond the budget of the ordinary visitors to Angkor Photo festival. Nowadays more and more Chinese tourists visit the city and the famous temples for a short luxury vacation and Cambodia is glad to cater their very specific needs. Between Cambodia and China there is cooperation in all sectors and as of late especially also in politics and administration. Francoise Callier, who initiated the festival in 2005, observes the developments: “For China Laos is already done, Cambodia is next.”

The governments of Cambodia and China moving closer together might have impact on institutions such as the Angkor Photo Festival. While the organizers cooperate with local Cambodian authorities and censorship is not directly an issue, at similar festivals in China the situation is much different. At the Lianzhou Foto festival which started last December, curators had to negotiate with censors until the last minute and significant works, such as iconic fashion photos by Erwin Blumenfeld had to be pulled from the show due to some very late changes in the opinion of the censorship authority.

At the Angkor photo festival, one evening of slideshow projections is reserved for the works of contemporary Chinese documentary photography – an event that has been part of the festival for many years and is curated by Wang Xi this year. The festival has been cooperating with Chinese artists and journalists since early on and few, but high profile Chinese professionals are part of the community that gathers here.

Lu Guang, who has been member of the team of curators at Angkor in 2010, was missed dearly in the festival’s most recent edition. In early November 2018 Lu Guang was abducted by the authorities in the Western Chinese Province of Xinjiang. Only recently his detainment has been confirmed by the police without reasons given. His photos are still shown in the slideshows and his detainment is discussed among visitors to the festival.

The professionals gathered in Siem Reap in December work on different subjects and in different countries, but many feel like they are struggling together.

Veejay Villafranca who works on environmental refugees on the Philippines, in an environment where extrajudicial killings of journalists happen frequently is convinced that journalists have to speak truth to power : “We will not spoon-feed the public with what governments want. It is important that we journalists know that we have each other’s backs”.

第15屆吳哥攝影節與工作坊（The Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops）

2019年5月1日開放申請。 申請期限至2019年6月30日PM5:00(GMT+7)。結果將在2019年8月中旬公告。

申請與選取標準和要求： 申請者必須是亞洲國籍並有經驗的學生或專業攝影師。 工作坊將以英文進行。 參與者必須自備數位相機及筆記型電腦。 參與者必須會使用基礎的照片編修軟體。

費用： 免申請費，免工作坊學費。 提供2019年11月27日到12月7日的住宿。 參與者需自行規劃到柬埔寨吳哥窟的旅程。 不提供簽證及轉乘費用。

申請文件： 個人簡歷、個人論述、一組12～20張照片的作品集。

Application Opens 1st May 2019 Deadline: 30th June 2019, 5pm (GMT+7) Application results will be announced by mid-August 2019.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA & REQUIREMENTS

Applicants must be either a student OR a professional photographer of Asian nationality with limited professional experience. The workshop will be conducted in English. Participants will have to bring their own digital DSLR camera and laptop. Participants should be able to use basic photo editing software (eg: Lightroom, Photoshop, Aperture etc.)

EXPENSES

The workshop is tuition-free, with no application fee. Accommodation will be provided from 27th November – 7th December 2019. (Checkout on 8th December) Participants have to make their own travel arrangements to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Visa fees and transport expenses are not provided.

【SUBMISSION MATERIALS】

1. BRIEF CV / RESUME 吳哥攝影節與工作坊For Students:

Course and institution of study Expected year of graduation Any previous photography workshops/internships/courses attended

For Professionals:

Details on current and previous professional experience (including freelance and internships) Any previous photography workshops/internships/courses attended

2. PERSONAL STATEMENTWe want to get to know you better. Tell us about your experience with photography, and why you would like to attend our workshop. (Maximum 250 words).3. PORTFOLIO SUBMISSIONYour portfolio of work should reflect your vision and style as a photographer.

Filename: All images should include your full name. (Eg: Amy_Tan_001.jpg) Number of images: Minimum 12 – Maximum 20 photos per portfolio Image Size: 2,000 pixels on longer side / 72dpi / JPG format / Medium quality (8)

[ Optional: You may choose to upload one additional file with text or caption information in the following formats: .doc, .docx, .pdf ]

好報新聞來源：報導者 想要收到更多新聞、工作、兼職資訊，歡迎訂閱工作好報!!

[domhovasse]

Single and ready to mingle.

After Alyssa and I said our goodbyes in Ho Chi Minh city, I head out to get some food and walk around a little before catching my bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I hadn’t gotten sick at all on the trip yet, and knew that it had to come sooner or later. I think it was a combo of the heat/lack of sleep/alcohol the night before but I felt nauseous the entire 6-hour bus ride and ended up throwing up on the side of the road during our washroom/meal breaks. I got to my hostel pretty late in the evening, and went straight to bed after checking in. Not sure what had gotten into me, but I knew the best thing to do was to try and sleep it off.

The next morning I woke up at a decent hour, had a nice big smoothie for breakfast, and headed out to explore some of the city. I began at the National Museum, which was quite mediocre in my opinion, and then after checking out one of the cities’ many temples, I got lunch along the river, before heading to the Grand Palace. My buddy Thomas, who we had met on our Ha Long Bay cruise, and then again in Hanoi, happened to be at the same hostel in Phnom Penh at the same time as me. He hadn’t visited the palace yet, so he decided to join me. Turns out I wasn’t fully over my sickness yet, because I ended up almost fainting and throwing up on the grounds of the Grand Palace. Thank God I was able to keep it in, because wow, what a place to get sick. After the temple, I knew I had to get back to the hostel, so we shared a tuk-tuk back, and I spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping. I woke up just in time for my dinner plans with Alyson, a friend who had been living in Phnom Penh for a few years. After catching up over dinner, she dropped me back off at my hostel, and since I was feeling much better, decided to partake in the hostel’s bar crawl, although I didn’t partake in the drinking aspect of it.

The following morning, Rohini, one of my roommates during my exchange in Paris, flew from Singapore to meet me and we caught a bus to Siem Reap together. We arrived in the afternoon, checked into our hostel and then spent most of the day walking around town, getting food, and browsing the market. After dark, we eventually made our way back to our hostel, and went to sleep at a decent hour, after participating in a few hostel games.

The following day began at 4am, to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat (classic tourist move), and then exploring a few of the incredible temples around. I honestly didn’t know too much about this temple complex going into is, but I very quickly learned the significance and importance of it, and how it was once the largest civilisation in the world. I was continuously blown away by its intricacy - how immense and how impressive it was especially for its time, and how much of it remains intact today. It was quite an incredible experience and at the end of the day, it actually left me feeling quite insignifiant and miniscule. We stayed longer than the tour and rented a tuktuk to check out some more temples that were a little more off the beaten path, before heading back to the hostel in the afternoon. There was a pool party going on, but we were quite exhausted, so we took a nap and hungout for a bit before heading out to grab dinner, walk around town, and get pedicures.

On our last day, Rohini and I were wanting to do different things, so we ended up going our separate ways, me to a floating village on a lake (w/ Thomas who I had originally met Vietnam), and her on some mountain/waterfall excursion. That night, we met back up at the hostel to grab food together and then met up for a beer with a guy Rohini had met on her excursion. He was living in Shanghai at the time, so it was interesting to talk to him and compare experiences.

Later that night, we caught our overnight bus back to Phnom Penh, and we spent half of the day diving into some of the dark, awful history of the genocide that affected Cambodia not so long ago. After visiting the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Genocide museum, Rohini had to catch her uber to the airport, so I checked into my hostel and freshened up a little bit. Later on that afternoon, after wandering the Central market for a while, I walked over to Wat Phnom Temple. From there I went to the night market, where my friend Alison picked me up on her scooter, and we had the BEST nachos for dinner. (I know it’s not very ‘Cambodian’, but at this point I was so grateful to eat good western food.) After eating, she dropped me off at the hostel and I hung out in my room for a bit before going to bed.

The next morning, I took a shuttle bus to Kampot, a quiet river-side town with a beautiful backdrop of the Elephant mountains. After checking in at my hostel, I recognized a girl from my previous hostel, who also took the same shuttle bus as me, so we got to talking and ended up joining forces since she was also travelling alone. We spent the rest of that afternoon & evening on a booze cruise along the river, blasting music, drinking a couple beers, and getting to know everyone. We also stopped at a little secluded beach to play some volleyball and go swimming before watching the sunset over the river. That night when we got back to the hostel, we ate dinner, and went out with some of our new friends.

The following day we went on an excursion through our hostel, driving scooters around the countryside, first stopping at the salt fields, then a pepper farm, a few temple caves (one of which we swam in), and lastly, at a ‘secret lake’ that apparently was built by slave labour during the Khmer Rouge time. It was so nice to scooter around the beautiful countryside, learning a thing or two about the region and also how pepper is made! That night our hostel was having a pool party, so we hung out at the pool for a bit, ate dinner, and then went out to a bar with our little crew. Long story short, halfway through our night, I ended up burning my leg on the exhuast pipe of our tuktuk. Because I was at the beach and in the water for the next few days after the injury, I wasn’t really able to let it heal properly, so now I have a nice scar that will probably be stuck with me for a loooong time.

On our last day, we slept in and then decided to spend the day at Arcadia, a famous hostel with a riverside waterpark. We took a tuktuk there and spent a few hours hanging out in hammocks, floating around in innertubes, rope swinging and ziplining. There was a huge slide and a blob, but I opted out because I didnt want to risk rubbing my ankle burn and making it worse. When we got back to the hostel it started pouring rain, as in torrential downpour, so we hungout in our room for a while. That evening, we decided to walk into town and get dinner at the market, since we hadn’t really seen much of the actual town yet. Since we had sort of become friends with both our tuktuk driver and the owner of the bar we had been going to everynight, we decided to have one last hurrah (& say our goodbyes.)

The next 6 days were spent on the beach, first on Koh Rong Island, and then the smaller, more remote Koh Rong Samloem. Both were so beautiful, and quiet. I originally wasn’t planning on making it to the islands, but I had met so many people were very adamant about the Cambodian islands being even better than the Thai ones.

Because of the lack of internet, it’s quite difficult to book accomodation online, so we ended up walking around with our bags for most of the afternoon before finding an available guesthouse. Funny story, we actually walked all the way to the furthest beach from the pier (25 minute walk), and ended up paying for a water taxi back to the main beach since there were no vacancies and we didn’t want to walk all the way back. It was a really windy day and the waves were pretty rough, plus we were in a small rowboat, so with every paddle, water came pouring in over the edge and all our clothes and bags got completely drenched. When we finally found a guesthouse, we gathered our clothes to be cleaned and walked around a bit before getting dinner.

The next day we slept in and spent the majority of the day at SokSan Long Beach. I have never seen such white sand, or clear water in my life, plus we surprisingly had almost the entire beach to ourselves. The only downside was that I got attacked by sand flies and for the next few days my legs were covered in flea bites. It literally looked like I had chicken pox all over again. After making our way back to the village to freshen up and eat dinner, we met up with Thom, Liam and Sam at a bar, and then we all went to a beach party together. On our last morning, Maren woke up feeling sick, so she decided to stay in while I spent the day on a boat excursion snorkeling, visiting a few tiny islands hanging out on some beaches, sitting by a campfire during sundown, and diving underwater to see bio-luminescent plankton after dark. I hit it off with a Swedish girl on the excursion, who invited me to meet up with her and some friends for some drinks after dinner. The next morning we caught our ferry boat to Koh Rong Samloem, where we spent 3 of the greatest days of my existence.

There was no wifi at all on the island, and we were staying in little cabins in the woods/along the beach, so it honestly felt kind of like summer camp for adults, and I loved every second of it - mosquito nets and all. We were reunited with our buddies Thom, Sam and Liam, met some new wonderful people, and had the most wonderful technology-free couple of days. During the day, we spent our time hanging out at the beach sun tanning, swimming, and relaxing before playing games and having themed parties at night. One day we went on a boating excursion where we got to snorkel, visit some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen, and even go fishing for our own lunch (& then grill it on the boat). The only minor downsides were that there were no food options besides the hostel restaurant, so obviously the food and drinks were a little expensive. They also used a tab system for payment, where you pay up at the end of your stay, which caused some problems for a few people who didn’t have enough cash on then to settle their tab.  

We took a ferry back to Sihanoukville, ran into Thomas at the pier (who was leaving later that afternoon) and spent an afternoon at the beach there together with our buddies Sam and Liam. There isn’t much to do at all in this city - we were actually told to avoid it by several people, but both their buses and my flight wasn’t until the following morning, so we ended up staying the night. After the beach, we said our goodbyes to Thom, then got khmer massages and ate dinner at our hostel with our the British boys before going to bed.

From Sihanoukville, I caught a flight to Kuala Lumpur, where I spent the next 2 and a half days. After settling in and then getting dinner at the nearby market in Chinatown, I returned to my hostel, where much to my surprise, I discovered that Killian, a french guy I had met during the pub crawl in Phnom Penh, was not only staying in the same hostel as me in KL, but he was put in the same room as me. That first night we had gone to a rooftop club, and had quite a late night, so the following morning I had to force him out of bed, and after getting lunch at an indoor market, we spent most of the afternoon at the Islamic Arts Museum and the National Mosque. That evening we got dinner, and I spent the rest of my night hanging out, napping, and catching up on tv shows.

We woke up pretty early the following morning to make the trek out to Batu Caves (a series of caves and Hindu cave temples). We got back to our hostel in the afternoon to change/freshen up and then spent some time walking around the financial district and taking pictures with the Petronas Towers. From there we went for sunset rooftop drinks at the Heli Lounge bar, before heading to Bukit Bintag neighbourhood to wander and get dinner at the Jalan Alor street market.

My third morning, I checked out of my hostel, visited one last temple and got on a bus to Georgetown, Penang. Once again, in hindsight I totally should have booked an overnight bus and squeezed in another city, instead of wasting a whole day travelling, but now I have something to look forward to for next time. It is such a lovely and quaint little city, with picturesque buildings and world-famous food. It was such a lovely mix of so many cultures and religions living in peace, and harmony. When I arrived at my hostel, they had made a mistake and I wasn’t in the system, even though I had made a booking online, so I spent the rest of the evening walking around, trying to find an available hostel. It took me a while, but I eventually found one, got some dinner, and had a pretty early night.

The following morning I got up quite early, checked out of my hostel, and spent the entire day walking around, visiting various sights, including temples and old Peranakan mansions, (desendants of Chinese immigrants who settled between the 15-17th centuries.) It was quite an exhuasting day, so in the early evening I headed back to the hostel, where I met my American roommate, Trey. The rest of the night I just hung out, got dinner, and then participated in the beer pong tournament and pub crawl put on by my hostel.

The next day was quite brutal. One of the worst hangovers of my life, plus the 35 degree heat, but I knew I would feel at least a little better if I got up and did something. With Trey, the guy from my hostel room, we visited the Upside Down museum, took some funny pictures, and then spent a few hours walking around, mostly by the water, checking out some of the Clan Jetties, (floating villages occupied by Chinese clans) and street art. We were both still very exhausted from the night before, plus walking around all day, so we went back to the hostel and hung around most of the evening before getting dinner, and having an early bedtime.

On my last day, I woke up early to go on a free walking tour before taking the tram up to Penang Hill, where I walked around for a bit and enjoyed a nice view of the Island. From there walked over to Kek Lok Si Temple. It’s a massive Temple on a hill, and honestly one of the most beautiful, impressive temples I have ever seen. There was some sort of ceremony going on which added to the experience. I eventually made my way back to my hostel, stopping for athentic Penang Laksa on the way, and spent the rest of the evening hanging out at my hostel, before catching an uber to the bus station.

That night, I caught an overnight bus to Singapore. I arrived just before noon, dropped my things off at Rohini’s apartment, and took a public bus into downtown to meet her at work. We went on a little bike ride, and then walked around downtown and Chinatown. At one point we were walking along Robertson Quay, when I thought I recognized 2 people walking in our direction. We realized we knew each other at the exact same time and ran into each other’s arms. What are the odds of me randomly running into Kelowna friends in Singapore! Rohini also introduced me to a few of her coworkers, whom we met up with for a snack and some afternoon beers. After walking around  a bit more and passing through the National Museum, we went home to hangout before having dinner at a Hawker Center near Roh’s apartment, and had made plans to meet up with Meghan and Nick for rooftop drinks at Marina Bay Sands.

We went to Universal Studios one day, which obviously was a good time. Rohini doesn’t like roller coasters so I did those alone, but thanks to her free fastpast from work, we were able to essentially do all of the rides once! In the evening, we met up with Rohini’s roommate, got dinner together at an outdoor food court/market, and met up with an old friend Patricia (whom we had both met back during exchange in 2015 when we were visiting Poland.) First we went for drinks at a cute wine bar, and then we did some dancing at a salsa bar in Clarke Quay.

On my last day, we went for brunch together in a cute area called Tiong Bahru, and then I spent the rest of the day alone, walking around and exploring different areas including Little India, Kampong Glam (the Malay-Muslim neighbourhood), and a bit of the downtown core, before meeting back up with Rohini and her roommate at Gardens by the Bay to watch the sunset and  grab dinner at an outdoor foodcourt.

That night, I caught an overnight bus back to Kuala Lumpur, because flights back to China were much cheaper from there. I had a bit of a layover in Kuala Lumpur, enough to transfer from the bus station to the airport and still have to wait a couple of hours, and eventually caught my flight to Kunming, where I had a 6-hour layover before finally boarding my flight to Wuhan. It was one of the longest travel days of my life, and when I finally got home just after 1am, I couldn’t have been happier to be back in my very uncomfortable chinese bed.

[sarcasticgamerandwriter]

Jealousy

Hello everyone! So this is it, a new one shot. Still, this one is not the continuation of the main story on which I’m still working.

Enjoy and sorry for any mistakes!

Fandom: Assassin’s Creed

Pairing: Jacob Frye x OC (Gwen) -> pre-relationship

Warnings: none

“Jealousy”

“Who would have thought that we meet here,” Ryan smiled compellingly, still a bit surprised. “Max told me that you were gone. I didn’t know that you came back.”

“Yeah, well I’d been away for couple months,” I shrugged.

Ryan Dwyer was my brother’s childhood friend. He came from Ireland and since I remember he was handsome as hell. Even now I noticed how most of women kept looking at him dreamily. I was amazed when I entered Dougal’s pub and saw Ryan with my brother sitting at the counter. I still felt a bit awkward around him (and all people that are attractive) so I just wanted to say ‘hi’ and go. But he insisted that I stayed. Ryan even continued talking to me when Max went to other table because he wanted to talk to someone from work.

“You look great,” he said after a while. “Last time when I saw you, you were skinny.”

“Yeah,” I mumbled.

That wasn’t my favourite topic. After my holidays in Scotland I put on weight. Mostly because of aunt Moira’s dinners. I knew that I had extra curves that weren’t desirable. And my mom kept saying that I got chubby. Honestly, I didn’t have time to exercise or do something about it. Sure, sometimes I was just lazy but most of the time I was working my ass off.

“You’ve changed,” he continued, eyeing me.

“Well you haven’t changed in a bit,” I laughed nervously and pointed at the group of women that were observing us. “Still attracting the attention.”

“Like I would care,” he rolled his eyes, and sipped his drink. “Tell me what are you doing?”

“Nothing special,” I admitted. “I help grandpa, Dougal. I translate documents. And I babysit Regina’s children.”

“You always were the responsible one,” he smiled warmly.

“You wanted to say that I always was the boring one,” I snorted.

“You are too modest,” Ryan chuckled.

“Trust me, I’m not,” I assured, and changed the subject quickly. “Better tell me what are YOU doing?”

“I travel as always,” he shrugged.

“And you take photos of fashion models who are incredibly beautiful,” I added smirking. “Yeah, that sounds very dull.”

Ryan laughed, and I noticed that he touched my hand.

“You would be surprised,” Dwyer mocked.

“Oh, come on! Every man envies you!” I grinned. “You can’t deny it.”

“All right, that’s true,” he admitted. “I actually wanted to ask you something.”

Well, that would explain why he wanted to talk to me in the first place.

“I’m listening,” I looked at him expectantly.

“I’m going to Cambodia, and I wanted to ask about places to visit,” he explained. “I know you’ve been there with your grandpa, and I know that your recommendations are always the best, so...” “You should ask my grandpa,” I suggested. “He knows the place way better than me. Besides, we were only in Angkor Wat. Grandpa Ben was finishing his works on the Khmer Empire, and we didn’t do much visiting then.”

“That’s fine. I’m sorry that I brought this up,” he said nervously. “I just... I thought that you... that we...”

“Hey, Gwenny,” behind I heard familiar voice.

And before I turned to see Jacob’s face, he sat next to me, giving me a brief smile, and looking curiously at my companion.

“Hi Jake,” I nodded. “I thought that you were going to see Pearl.”

“Plans have changed,” he shrugged. “Who is this?”

“Ryan Dwayer,” the Irish introduced himself. “Close friend.”

“Jacob Frye,” Jake shook his hand, and narrowed his eyes a bit. “Very close friend.”

They glared at each other for a while and I felt quite uncomfortable. I noticed that Ryan became very frustrated that someone had intruded us. Jacob, on the other hand, seemed relaxed but I could tell that he was tense, and... irritated? He probably had an argument with Pearl again.

“So you are Max’s photographer friend?” Jacob guessed.

“That’s right,” Ryan verified. “Sorry, I was just talking with Gwen. It’s quite private conversation.”

“Don’t mind me,” Frye laughed darkly. “We have no secrets, right Gwenny?”

“Well...,” I stuttered a little.

I didn’t know what was going on, and honestly I wanted to go home.

“Here they are!” we heard Max’s cheerful voice. “My best friends and my sis.”

“Hey Max,” Jacob smiled at my brother when he sat next to him, and patted his arm.

I didn’t have to look carefully at Max to know that he was drunk.

“How are you guys?” my brother smiled goofily. “Ryan, you bloody dog, do you have any new stories about models?”

“Not really,” Ryan snorted. “How about you? Still chasing the little sweet nurse?”

“What nurse?! I don’t chase anyone,” Max rolled his eyes. “Gwenny, where are you going?”

I decided to take a chance and sneak out since they focused on Max. But apparently I couldn’t get away that easily.

“I have to help Dougal,” I started, thinking about good excuse. “He got new supplies delivery and someone has to take care of it.”

“I’ll go with you,” Jacob and Ryan offered at the same time.

“No, thanks,” I responded quickly and went away.

“What’s wrong?” I heard Max’s confused voice from distance. “Leave her alone. More drinks for us!”

[umichenginabroad]

Cambodia - My Favorite Travel Experience

This weekend I had the most incredible opportunity to travel to Cambodia. Out of all the places I’ve been in Southeast Asia, and probably all over the world, Cambodia has been my favorite. From the four short days I was there, I quickly realized how kind every person I met there was. This post is long and heavy at times, but I feel that it’s important to share what I experienced and learned. 

We arrived in Phnom Penh, the capital, early Thursday morning after sleeping on the floor of the Kuala Lumpur airport the night before. This was to save on plane tickets, like typical broke college students. In Phnom Penh, the first activity we planned was to visit the Killing Fields. To explain, in the year 1975 the Khmer Rouge, an agrarian communist group headed by Pol Pot, took control of Cambodia and began a genocide on the Khmer people. They targeted the educated, those living in cities, foreigners, and the minority Christians and Buddhists. The people in metropolitan areas were forced to the countryside to work in labor camps, under extreme conditions with little food or water. Many people that weren’t taken to the work camps were sent to the Killing Fields to be executed. This went on for 4 years until 1979, and by then an estimated three million people or 25% of the Cambodian population had been killed. The pictures below are from the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, one place where prisoners were sent to be killed by Pol Pot’s military forces. 

When we visited the Killing Fields, it could immediately be felt how solemn the atmosphere was. There are no guided tours, but rather audio tours with headsets which better suited the quiet environment. At the middle of the field sits a large Buddhist stupa to commemorate the people who lost their lives in these fields. 

As we made our way through the tour, we learned how mass graves in this field had been uncovered after Pol Pot’s regime had ended. I can’t imagine the horror of discovering what had happened in these fields, which before the genocide had been a peaceful apple orchard and Chinese graveyard. 

The Khmer Rouge often used extremely brutal and terrible means to kill the prisoners, including beheading, and killing with axes, shovels, and crowbars because bullets were too expensive. 

I had seen the tree where infants were murdered on a travel show on TV, but seeing it in person was an extremely hard moment for me. I had a tough time holding back tears. 

The hardest part of this tour was when I arrived to the part where they described that no one was spared, not women, not children, and not babies. The reason for this was to get rid of all the children, because they feared they would grow up and come back to avenge their parent’s death. Infants were murdered by beating them against this tree, and they were buried in mass graves as well.

The audio tour concluded at the stupa again. Inside holds many of the skulls that were unearthed in the 80s at the Killing Fields. These were studied for cause of death and they tried to piece together who they had belonged to. There are still many thousand that remain un-excavated. Those are being left where they lay to keep their peace, although every year more bones and bone fragments are unearthed due to heavy rain storms. Maintenance on the grounds includes picking up bone fragments and clothing from those victims forty years ago. We saw a large bone in a path of dirt, possibly a femur, that had been pushed to the surface. 

The hardest part of all of this is how very recently this had all occurred. We said never again after the Holocaust, but then thirty years later another atrocity happened. I don’t know if this was confirmation bias, but I distinctly recognized a lack of older Cambodian people as we traveled around the country. We couldn’t stop thinking about how our parents had been alive during this, and wondered why the rest of the world didn’t realize what was happening in this small Asian country. The wounds of this genocide are so deep and so recent, but I was shocked how amazingly kind the people were to us. 

One example of this when we stopped to get smoothies after visiting the fields. and the young lady serving us brought over a paper with some words written. We were confused at first, but realized she wanted our help spelling English words - she said she was practicing her English. I was happy to see the Cambodian people’s willingness to welcome visitors to learn about their history, and to hopefully prevent this from happening to anyone ever again. 

I realize this is a lot and very heavy, but I want people to know how deeply important learning as well as traveling is. I don’t think there could be any way for me to understand these events as well as I did going there and learning from the people that it actually happened to. 

After spending the day in Phnom Penh, we took the overnight bus to Siem Reap, a city in the North of Cambodia. We hopped off the bus at 5am and immediately took a tuk tuk (a small carriage pulled by a motorcycle, the Cambodian version of a taxi) to Angkor Wat. 

We had the incredible experience of watching the sun rise over Angkor Wat. 

Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world, and was constructed in the early 12th century as a Hindu temple, but was later converted to a Buddhist temple when Buddhism took over Cambodia. Unfortunately, many of the ancient Buddha statues had their heads cut off and sold to Thailand by Pol Pot during the Khmer Rouge era. 

Inside the top of the main temple, I’m wearing a sweatshirt and leggings because in temples women are not allowed to wear tank tops or shorts. Also, it was a little chilly at 5am before sunrise. 

There are three main areas in the complex, all are great examples of Khmer architecture. These pictures are from the main temple, but there are also smaller temples down the road which are great examples of ancient monument restoration. Some of the temples have been restored to allow people to see the original architecture, but some have been left to grow into the forest to show the age and wonder of the complex. 

Almost every surface is limestone carved with religious murals and stories. 

Devin and Emma (mechanical and chemical engineering students) have a Michigan moment

Where Tomb Raider was filmed, can you picture Lara Croft here?

Andrea (a Michigan industrial and operations engineer) and I had a monk at Angkor Wat give us a water blessing, it’s said that we will be blessed until the bracelets he tied around our wrists fall off. 

The next day we visited the Floating Village Kompong Khleang. The floating village is about an hour outside of Siem Reap, and the people here have built their houses up on stilts to accommodate the change of water levels of the Tonle Sap lake. 

A young boy who seems very strong for his age helps dock the boat we will ride on. 

There seemed to be a lot of children working, I told myself that it was a Saturday so maybe it was his day off from school, but this is probably not the case. Our guide told us there was one primary and one secondary school in the village, but for 900 families that does not seem like a lot of schools. He also said 95% of the families are Buddhist or Hindu, which seems to be close to the general demographic of Cambodia. 

The flood season is in the fall, but now is the dry season, so the houses were all up on stilts and you could walk the streets. 

Fishing is one of the major occupations in the villages, our guide said they catch tiny shrimp in the river and lake, cook them, then lay them to dry on the dusty street. Our guide was very helpful in answering questions, he said that many families either get their water from wells or from the river - which was troubling because the river is also where all the waste is dumped. Electricity is run only at night from a generator in the temple. 

Shrimp cooking over a fire on the side of the street.

To conclude the day, we took a boat ride through the mangrove trees surrounding the large freshwater lake that the city sits beside. Overall, it felt very strange to go through someone’s town and take photos, but I thought that overall it was positive because they receive money from the tourism and donations and we get to learn more about their life and their history. 

I noticed all the boat drivers were women, some even had their babies on their lap. I thought this was good that they were able to make money for their families while staying close to their young children. 

One thing that still troubles me is the amount of children we saw working, from the little boys running our boat, to the little girl that helped her mother cook my food at a roadside cart coming home from a late night out. I’m stuck between wanting to help the extreme poverty I witnessed in the floating village, and not wanting to change the way these people have lived for many years. 

We concluded the evening by watching the sunrise over the huge lake, it was definitely an amazing view and a great way to reflect on what we had experienced and learned in the past few days. 

Overall, I’m so grateful to be able to have this experience. Truly every person I met was so kind and willing to accommodate foreigners who had come to learn about the history of Cambodia, both the beautiful masterpiece that is Angkor Wat and the more troubling lesson of the genocide.

When I was in middle school, we read a book about a refugee family who came to America from Cambodia called Children of the River. I found myself thinking about this experience a lot while I was in Cambodia. It had been great that we read about refugees, but I wish that children were taught more about Cambodia’s history and why we need to help the refugees of the world whose own country has turned against them and left them no where to go. 

When I had read this book as a child, Cambodia and even Southeast Asia seemed so far away, and I still can’t believe I’m actually here now. Going abroad has given me a chance to see things I’ve only read about as distant destinations. I realized in Cambodia that I had never seen a rat (that isn’t someone’s pet) until I came to Southeast Asia, I’m so lucky to have grown up where I did and also be able to experience the world. 

- Reilly Wong

Computer Science Engineering

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 

[indochinavoyages]

Top 8 things to do in Da Nang

Top 8 things to do in Da Nang https://www.indochinavoyages.com/travel-blog/top-things-da-nang-vietnam-tours

Da Nang is located in the central region of Vietnam. As Da Nang city is near the well-known Hoi An, travelers often plan Da Nang and Hoi An on the same trip. To take the best out of Da Nang city trip, I would like to recommend you top things to do in Da Nang. Because of its entertainment activities, Ba Na Hills might be the most popular among destinations in the city. Another popular destination you have probably heard from the recent buzz is Golden Bridge. Two other worth-visit places in Da Nang is Hai Van pass and My Son Sanctuary. Besides, food is another main reason why both local and foreign travelers visit the city. 

Things to do in Da Nang

Pass through Hai Van Pass

The coastal route is famous for amazing view and scenery on the way. To avoid the hassle, you can get a private driver for you for the trip. Therefore, you can stop to see the breathtaking view along the way, which is admired by people all over the world. 

  [caption id="attachment_16432" align="alignnone" width="960"] Breathtaking view from Hai Van Pass[/caption]

Drop by Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture

The museum owns the largest collection of Cham artifacts in the world. All displayed pieces date back from the 5th to the 15th century. It is a good chance for curious travelers who love to explore more about Cham culture in the past. 

The opening hours are from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm. An entrance fee of about US$3 is required. Detailed descriptions and guided headsets are available for history lovers.  

Wander around My Son Sanctuary

The ruins date back to the 4th century. The design of towers follows Champa architectural style. If you have visited Angkor Wat in Cambodia, you can find some similar patterns in the architecture in My Son Sanctuary.

  [caption id="attachment_16433" align="alignnone" width="960"] The historic My Son Sanctuary in the hills of Central Vietnam[/caption]

Explore Ba Na Hills

It can be considered as an amusement park on the top of the mountain. There are fun activities that would be a good fit for families with kids and couples. Once you reach the top by either walking or cable cart, you can enjoy the scenic view from Ba Na Hills. 

As it is one of the top attractions in Da Nang city, the crowd is unavoidable during peak hours. If you prefer to enjoy the place without crowds, you should go in the early morning.  

Because Ba Na Hills is high compared to sea level, it might be a little cold or rainy when you visit during winter. Raincoat, umbrella or waterproof coat would keep you warm while enjoying the scenery and activity there. 

  [caption id="attachment_16434" align="alignnone" width="960"] Ba Na Hills - one of the highlights in Da Nang trip[/caption]

See Golden Bridge

What makes the Golden Bridge Vietnam special and popular among travelers is its unique design. Similar to Ba Na Hills, the attraction is popular for both local and foreign travelers. 

To enjoy the full view of architecture, summertime is perfect with a clear sky. The presence of fog during winter or autumn would not allow you to see its beauty.

It takes a while to reach the bridge. The scenery you view from the bridge can speak itself why people put this architecture on the top of their sightseeing lists.

  [caption id="attachment_16435" align="alignnone" width="960"] Golden Bridge is the most magical, beautiful tourist destination[/caption]

Soak in beach vibes

Once landed in Da Nang city, you can feel the taste of the beach in the air right away. Travelers just cannot leave the city without taking part in activities on the beaches. Moreover, the weather in the city during the summer is perfect for sunbathing.   

  [caption id="attachment_16436" align="alignnone" width="960"] The long attractive coastal beaches in Da Nang[/caption]

Shop in Han Market

What would you buy during the trip to Da Nang City? If you ask a local Vietnamese from other regions in Vietnam, they would say ‘buy Stir-fried Dried Squid in Tamarind Sauce from Han Market’. Cho Han a.k.a Han Market is known as the shopping stop for everything for both locals and travelers. 

You also find a lot of vendors from snacks to souvenirs like T-shirts with the name of the city on.

Enjoy local foods in Da Nang city

A variety of local foods are available for travelers in Da Nang city. 

The first dish you definitely should not miss is My Quang a.k.a Quang style noodle. You may try Pho or other types of Vietnamese noodles in other regions and find it slightly different from My Quang. It does not have broth like other types of noodles.

  [caption id="attachment_16437" align="alignnone" width="960"] My Quang[/caption]

The second dish that every traveler visiting Da Nang should try is Banh Xeo. It is a Vietnamese savory sizzling cake. Being made from rice flour and turmeric powder helps it have a tempting golden color. Each cake is stuffed with pork and shrimp. You can find this dish in almost all food vendors on the streets of the city. To have the best Banh xeo in the city, we would recommend you to take a look at TripAdvisor reviews about restaurants well-known for this dish.

  [caption id="attachment_16438" align="alignnone" width="960"] Banh xeo[/caption]

The final one in the top 3 dishes you should try in Da Nang is Nem lui. Basically it is lemongrass pork skewers. Once you start trying this dish, it is difficult to stop eating these skewers.

Best time to visit Da Nang

For perfect weather, the suitable time to visit Da Nang is from April to August. However, it would be the peak season for the city. Herds of tourists are expected. To have the best experience, you should plan for each attraction to avoid the time of the day with a high volume of tourists. 

An alternative for the visit time is late September or early October. There are not many tourists choosing this time because it is after the summer holiday, so attractions are much less hectic than peak seasons.

Suggested Vietnam tours including Da Nang

Da Nang Luxury Beach Vacation 4 Days

Vietnam & Cambodia Discovery 15 Days

Grand Sensational Vietnam 20 Days

With the list of top things to do in Da Nang, are you ready to build your own list of attractions for Vietnam tours 2020? Let’s start!

  Linh Nguyen - Travel Specialist

#Indochinavoyages #Indochinatours #Timlee #Vietnamtours #Myanmartours #Cambodiatours #Laostours #Thailand tours

[divertliving-blog]

What To Expect - Siem Reap, Cambodia For The First Time 🇰🇭

New to Cambodia ? There are so many things about Siem Reap Cambodia that totally shocked us as foreigners traveling here for the first time. We will take you to Siem Reap town to see what it is like here and why it's visited by many tourists. In this video, we will also show you some of the most amazing places to see, our favourite places in Siem Reap; Where to go, what to eat, where to eat, together with other things that you will experience out of Siem Reap, Cambodia besides Angkor Wat 🇰🇭 

Siem Reap, a resort town in northwestern Cambodia, is the gateway to the ruins of Angkor, the seat of the Khmer kingdom from the 9th–15th centuries. Angkor’s vast complex of intricate stone buildings includes preserved Angkor Wat, the main temple, which is pictured on Cambodia’s flag. Giant, mysterious faces are carved into the Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom. (SOURCE : GOOGLE.COM/DESTINATION)

[offseasonedtravelers-blog]

Thailand and Cambodian Adventures

Thailand and Cambodia had always been on our bucket list of places “to go someday”. The trip felt like more of an adventure than our average vacation due to our unfamiliarity with the language, food, and culture. The most daunting part of the trip was preparing ourselves mentally for its almost 24 hour plane flight. We loved the two countries and choosing to go in June/July was hot and muggy, but the temple crowds were minimal. We were able to makes some last minute changes with no issues due to the decreased number of tourist. 

Off season time we traveled: end of June (2015)

Weather: hot and muggy! but mornings and evenings cooled off

What to pack: lightweight clothes, clothes that cover your knees and shoulders for temples, lightweight scarf to cover your head, lots of sunscreen

Our favorite part about traveling there in off season: we got to see the temples with less crowds and almost no lines

One regrettable thing about traveling in off season here: its hot! Everything is open and available 

Favorite run: it’s too hot. I did all treadmill running

Guides we used to plan our trip: Nytimes 36 hours in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Battambang, and Siem Reap 

Itinerary

Bangkok

Tuk Tuk life

I can summarize most of our time in Bangkok into two words TukTuks and temples. We stayed in Bangkok for three nights and felt like this was more than enough time to cover everything. We stayed the the Marvin Suites which was centrally located, easy to access the skytrain, and reasonably priced. 

Wat Arun

On the first day we explored the “wats” (temples) of Bangkok. Our day started out with some mishaps. First we made the mistake of taking a random TukTuk. This TukTuk took us to his friends tourist boat and not to the wat. After getting a new TukTuk we made it to Wat Arun. This temple was remarkably tourist free and beautiful. We were directly across the river from the Grand Palace and could see many smaller wats around. 

Next we headed back across the river to the Grand Palace. This was also beautiful and lavish. You can spend hours here if you want to cover everything in detail. We spent an hour or two and were ready for some food and reprieve from the sun. 

We headed indoors for massages and were incredibly impressed. The massages are extremely cheap and a great afternoon activity to avoid the muggiest hours. 

Lumphini Park

The next morning we strolled around Lumphini Park. It is a beautiful urban park conveniently located near the most massive malls we’ve ever seen. Even if you don’t plan on doing any shopping I recommend checking out the malls just for the experience. We went to Siam Center and Siam Paragon. The malls are large and have everything you could possibly want, but unfortunately are still normal American prices. 

View from the Sky Bar

If you want great views of the city, the Sky Bar is the place to go. Its 820 feet high and has 360 degree views. A couple things to know before heading up there: they have a dress code (check the website before going), its windy (bring a sweater or light jacket), and its drinks are not cheap. Its very westernized and touristy and wasn’t our favorite activity. 

Bangkok street food

Our favorite part of Bangkok was the food! It was always amazing and extremely fresh. We ate at the street market and small hole-in-the-wall places. All the food was extremely fresh and yummy!

Chiang Mai

Next up on our adventure was Chiang Mai. We enjoyed the city of Chiang Mai a lot more than Bangkok and would definitely suggest spending more of your time here if you are debating between the two cities. Chiang Mai is tucked into beautiful heavily forested hills and is much less congested compared to Bangkok. We stayed at an airbnb that was near the Chiang Mai University and loved this area. It had a lot of great restaurants and felt very safe walking around at night.

Wat Chedi Luang

Our first stop was Wat Chedi Luang which was a smaller temple compared to the ones in Bangkok, but this one was definitely my favorite. Chedi, which is a buddhist supta, dates back to the 15th century and has large elephant statues on its sides. It is located within in the walls of the Old City.

Nights in Old City

Besides visiting Way Chedi Luang, the Old City, has lots to offer. It has a vibrant nightlife with great restaurants and lots of markets for shopping. 

Wat Phra Lat

The next morning we got up early and hiked to Wat Phra That Dei Suthep. This hike was beautiful and includes two temples. The hike starts on Suthep Road by the Chiang Mai Zoo. You can find the hike by taking Suthep Road toward the zoo, then walking up the hill past the signs for the zoo until you see a TC tower on the right. The trail is called Monk’s trail and you can see the trail head starting there. The hike to Wat Phra Lat takes only 45 minutes and was my favorite of the two temples. Wat Phra Lat is tucked away in the jungle and had almost no other people with the exception of the monks living there.   

Hiking to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

The next part of the hike was much more challenging. It was straight up clay like steps and takes between 1 and 1.5 hours. We definitely recommend taking water and wearing sneakers to make it up this part of the hike. 

Final steps up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

There are buses that will take you straight to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, but we thought the hike up the mountain was most of the fun. Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is impressive temple with great views of Chiang Mai, but it was definitely more crowded. We only walked around it for a short bit. Due to our hiking attire we could not enter some of the areas. 

Patara Elephant Farm

For our next Chiang Mai adventure we were “Elephant Owners for a Day” at Patara Elephant Farm. There are many elephant farms in the area, but we choose this one due to its conservation efforts, ethical practices, and effort to educate everyone about the elephants. The day started with being assigned to one elephant (sometimes you got a bonus of a mother and baby!) and learning the daily routine for caring for the elephant.

Learning to care for the elephants 

We learned how to feed and bath the elephants along with check the elephant poop to make sure they were healthy! 

Baby elephants playing with water is possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen

Overall I couldn’t speak more highly about our experience at Patara Farm. Everything from picking us up at our Airbnb, a beautiful lunch, to the interaction with the elephants was perfect.

Food market in Chiang Mai

No trip to Thailand is complete (or any trip, anywhere in my mind) without a cooking class to learn the culinary secrets of the country from a native. We took a cooking class at Thai Farm Cooking with Benny. (Benny has now left and opened her own cooking school). The Thai Farm cooking class started with us being picked up from our Airbnb and first going to a local market. 

Chiang Mai Thai Farm Cooking School 

At the market we explored and saw many fruits which we have never heard of before and learned vital information like don’t keep your fish sauce more than a month or two. Next we headed to the farm where we picked some of the ingredients in their garden to prepare our meal. 

Our delicious meal that was actually quite easy to replicate once we got home

The entire process was hands on and we had a couple options to choose from. At the end of the meal they gave us a cookbook so we can replicate the curry we made at home. The TripAdvisor reviews for this cooking school were near perfect and after taking the class we all agreed that this should be on everyones to-do list for Thailand!

Battambang

Sunset over Battambang

The next stop on our trip was Battambang, Cambodia. We flew from Chiang Mai directly to Siem Reap. From Siem Reap we were able to take take a couple hour cab to Battambang. Battambang was my favorite town on our trip. I was first intrigued about it when I read an article in the NYTime “A Pocket of the Past, Battambang, Cambodia.” Unlike the rest of the places we visited, it was not built up with tourist. 

The town of Battambang

The town is built along the river and had been ruled in the past by France, Thailand, and most recently the Khmer Rouge. The French Colonial rule is apparent in the architecture of the city. 

The countryside tour of Battambang

We stayed one night at the Classy Hotel and Spa which was a great central location, had a nice pool, and clean rooms with very ornate wooden furniture and carvings. We rented a tuk tuk driver for the day who took us to several locations around the city. First we stopped to watch rice paper making in the countryside.  

Our next stop was a ride on the Bamboo Train. It was small train cars that are powered by a tiny little engine. It was about an hour ride through the countryside however at the end where they dropped us off we were swarmed by children trying to sell us things. Overall this was my least favorite part of the tour. 

Wat Ek Phnom

Wat Ek Phnom was a couple miles out of the city and very similar to some of the temples at Angkor Wat, but with almost no other people. We enjoyed climbing around these 11th century ruins. It was peaceful and just as interesting as Angkor Wat however it was a much smaller scale. 

Siem Reap

A Day at Angkor Wat

Our final stop in Cambodia was Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat. We stayed at the Empress Angkor Hotel for two nights. It was nice accommodations that included a full buffet breakfast and had a pretty pool to sit around after a long day of temple going. The hotel set up a driver to take us to and from the temples. We had a nice early 4:30am wake up to see the sunrise over the main temple. 

(Cloudy) Sunrise over the main temple at Angkor Wat

It is a bit of a production of waiting in line for a pass and then again waiting with a bunch of tourist, all camera ready, for the perfect sunrise. Unfortunately our sunrise was less impressive due to the cloud coverage. Angkor Wat however didn’t disappoint us. We spent several hours roaming a couple of the over 100 temples. Due to the size of the property the driver would drive in between the various temples. Each temple was unique and impressive. 

One of my favorite temples at Angkor Wat

Beng Mealea

After spending all morning at Angkor Wat we drove an hour away to Beng Mealea. Beng Mealea was built around the same time period as Angkor Wat with similar architecture however less is known overall about the temple.  We enjoyed this even more than Angkor Wat. It is relatively untouched within an overgrown jungle. With almost no other tourist it made us feel like explorers first discovering the temples. 

Detail of rubble in Beng Mealea

Beng Mealea exploring

Kanchanaburi

Good Times Resort

For the final two days of our trip we headed back to Thailand. Originally we had planned to spend another couple days in Bangkok, but all of us were over Bangkok. We decided to go to Kanchanaburi a small town towards the Myanmar border that is known for the Death Railway which was built during WWII. It was about a 3 hour bus ride to Kanchanaburi from the Bangkok airport.

Erawan National Park

We stayed at a charming little resort called, Good Times Resort. It was on the river and had cute updated rooms that all had big porches with swings. The staff set up a tour for Erawan National Park and the Death Railroad.

Swimming at Erawan

The tour picked us up at our hotel and drove us about an hour away to the Erawan State Park. Once we arrived we had lunch and then hiked up a lush, forested mountain with cascading waterfalls. We were able to stop and swim along the way in the clear water and slide down the smooth rocks of the waterfalls. 

Death Railway

The second half of the day we rode on a small segment of the Death Railway, which was constructed during WWII by civilian laborers and POA. One hundred thousand people died during the construction of this railway that was made to connect Burma to Thailand. 

We ended on our day walking over the Kwai River bridge.  It was a sobering ending to the tour, but definitely fascinating and worthwhile. 

Bye for now Thailand and Cambodia!