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siem reap/angkor wat

We both had our hesitations about moving away from the cool waters of the Mekong River in Laos to the hot city of Siem Reap, our first stop in Cambodia. Knowing little to nothing about the country or its cities, we headed into it with a slight trepidation. Apart from Bangkok, it was going to be the first town where we weren’t in the immediate vicinity of a large body of water. That coupled with the fact that the average daily high is over 90′F year-round was a little unnerving. Fortunately, the hotels around town are well aware of this and you’d be hard pressed to find any hostel or hotel that doesn’t boast about it’s swimming pool. The quality and price of accommodation was some of the best in Asia of our travels to date. With just a minimal amount of searching, you can find the equivalent of a 4-star hotel at the cost of about $8 USD per night.

The second hesitation about Siem Reap was, “What are we even going here for?” We’ve described in previous posts the “temple fatigue” that a traveler throughout SE Asia can easily acquire. The only attraction we knew about in this area was the nearby Angkor region – an area that once comprised of over 1,000 temples in approximately 150 square miles.

With our worries about heat exhaustion squashed by our comfortable air-conditioned hotels and their refreshing pools, we took off to explore the main temples of Angkor. If pictures are worth a thousand words, then we’ll just let you take a look at the gallery below. In reality, although we tried, these photos do no justice to the size, details, and sheer awesomeness that Angkor truly is. Temple fatigue does not not apply to this amazing display of the ancient Khmer civilization’s architectural prowess.

In direct contrast to the history and antiquity of Angkor is the city of Siem Reap, a mere 30-minute tuk-tuk ride away. The center of this city is as cosmopolitan as they come in this region of the world. The cafes, bars, and restaurants lining the alleys and streets could all easily rival any you could find in the hippest neighborhoods in NYC.

June 10, 2011 | Categories: Cambodia | Tags: angkor wat, siem reap, temples | 1 Comment »

been there…Don Det

Yes it is intentionally corny, and yes it is true. When hearing about 4000 islands you feel overwhelmed with such a staggering number. In reality, all you need is Don Det. A river-island carved by the Mekong, a large river flowing south from China, spilling into northern Laos then traveling and widening out at the southern end of Laos, creating “4000 Islands”.

Spending the days lying on the beach, quenching your heat exhaustion by diving into the cool waters. The murky yet fresh look makes you think it’s 20 meters deep, but your inability to comprehend the depth doesn’t give you enough courage to dive to the bottom. So just relax, watch a movie at Adam’s Bar, and enjoy the weather…cause there ain’t much else to do, and that’s exactly why you do it.

Spending my days with David talking what he called “nonsense”, set my perspective on socializing. That termed coined in any other conversation of a serious matter, would have been offensive. But, that was exactly what our conversations led to, and what most conversations without thinking lead to. Which is the quickest way to get to know a person, and an amazing way to socialize while traveling.

Time is limited with the people you meet, like svenska supermodeller, so make sure you talk nonsense until you have nothing else to say. I took that idea to Cambodia and continue to talk “nonsense” with every new person I meet.

April 30, 2011 | Categories: Laos | Tags: bicycle, dolphin, don det, kids, laos, mekong, waterfall | Leave A Comment »

laos – an eclectic gallery

Having left Laos, we decided to sort through some photos of this beautiful country and show you all some of our favorites. They mostly speak for themselves. So…

April 30, 2011 | Categories: Laos | Tags: boat, buddha, flag, kids, laos, luangprabang, mekong, shopping, slow boat, stairs, sunglasses, temple | 5 Comments »

slow boat Luang Prabang

Spending six days in a place is never enough. From chatting nonsense on a slow boat, hiking a waterfall into the mountains, to crossing a river to an old temple, we made due with the time we had. The food was horrible but the surroundings exciting. Plus! throw in some pain, some zoom, and some kids…and you got one heck of a video.

April 21, 2011 | Categories: Laos | Tags: asia, cave, hiking, laos, luangprabang, slow boat, temple, waterfall | 4 Comments »

Luang Prabang basketball

Luang Prabang (Laos) is a magical town. We arrived here after a two day “slow-boat” ride. It is situated in the crevice of two merging rivers, one of them being the mighty Mekong (one of the world’s biggest rivers). We’ll have a lengthy video and post on it in the coming days, but we figured we’d give you a taste of one of our favorite parts of the city.

After chatting up the owner of our guesthouse, we learned that he played basketball 7 nights a week at a indoor/outdoor gym located in the town center. Our eyes lit up as he asked us to join in. Once we arrived, we felt like we were on the set of a movie. Supposedly about 2 months before we arrived in Luang Prabang, one of the locals cleaned up the court, fixed the lights, and started gathering others to play. At first glance, we both had thoughts of old-school video games where they let you play with NBA players in abandoned courts across the globe.

It was extremely difficult to leave Luang Prabang. The fact that there was almost zero verbal communication between us and the local ballers didn’t matter at all. Communicating through sport was much more powerful. We could only hope that the strong connection we felt after playing ball with these guys for 6 days straight was even slightly mutual. And we have reasons to believe it was.