Two Weeks of Exploration

So as soon as I found out Chris was coming to visit I began to plan out every step of the trip and fit in all the things we wanted to do into two weeks. We made a Google Docs page to try to keep up with everything, but planning a trip across the world from each other is pretty difficult- especially not knowing much about the places we planned on visiting. But it all came together with only minor speed bumps along the way; that are already funny stories. After the initial shock wore off that Chris was coming to visit reality kinda hit- woah, how adult of us- taking a vacation together and traveling to new countries together, how is this my life?? But that thought has been reoccurring since I landed in Phnom Penh- how am I actually doing this? That feeling is amazing, it’s exhilarating, and means you’re leading an exciting life- and how neat is that? So this blog post is to explain our experience of the places we visited, places we stayed, and what it’s like to travel with your boyfriend (and another place to put all my super cool pictures :O)

I have a never-ending string of unfortunate and laughable luck and Chris’ life, I like to joke, is the exact opposite. He mentions he needs sunglasses and a man literally walks up to him with a tray of knock-off Ray Bans- this actually happened. So I was interested to see how all of our plans would work out on our trip, knowing that no matter what we would enjoy our time together. After arriving in Phnom Penh Chris had about 24 hours to try to adjust to the heat, the food, the time change, and culture shock then we were off to the Sihanoukville! Well sorta- we took a night bus from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville- that did not have seats but tiny beds where you had to lie down in; basically on top of your neighbor- thankfully we had seats together. I found this hilarious and laughed for about an hour. The bus was literally just rows of tiny bunk beds. We took off at 12:30 AM and held on for dear life as we hit bumps in the road and feared the bus would cap side. The bus stopped numerous times without explanation and new people would climb on. It was the strangest experience, which was funny with Chris but would be pretty alarming if you were to travel this way alone (which I had planned to do before knowing he was coming). Then around 4:30AM, roughly two hours before the expected arrival time, we were all told to get off the bus- “last stop!” It was dark and we had no idea if we were in the right spot, but hey-turned out we were! After sitting in a restaurant for two hours before they even opened and buying ferryboat ticket to take us to Koh Rong Samloem -a resort island 45 minutes from the main land, we were soon on our way! We boarded our ferryboat and all was well—until we could see our island about half a mile away, and the engines stall and began to heavily smoke. Again, nothing is explained (customer service isn’t really a thing here) and we sat and waited. Just staring at the island just out of reach. After about thirty minutes of thinking we will have to swim to land the ferry finally moves again, still sputtering grey smoke- but eventually we made it to the dock in one piece. The island was beyond breath taking, and neither of us could believe we were really there. We then took an even smaller boat to our farther away resort. We spend the day pretending to be fancy at the Moonlight resort. The staff was amazing and the bungalow was like nowhere else I’ve ever stayed. I would recommend this resort to anyone thinking about traveling to Koh Rong Samloem. It was a 5 star hotel experience for the fraction of price in any other country. The island had maybe 300 people on it; it was quiet, relaxing, and so beautiful. We spent our day in the clearest water, with huge grins plastered to our faces and coconuts in hand. Then we went to sleep under the stars, the bungalows have a dome with a glass ceiling right above the bed. The next day we went snorkeling and took a ferry back to the Sihanoukville, blissfully happy.

on our night bus to the beach!

The clearest and calmest water

The staff brought us fresh juice and a beautful fruit tray at check in, this was in a huge dome that had a bar and tables #class

Happy one year!

The coolest beach bungalow of all time

The ceiling of our bungalow!

Once we made it back to Sihanoukville, we found the hostel we were staying in that night. This place was called Coasters and it had pretty good reviews on Trip Adviser- and was $12 a night for a beach hut. However once we got there the hotel looked ran down and we questioned if it was even opened… but we climbed our way up to our hut and it was really neat, mosquito net and all! Then the sun went down and there were questionable noises and unknown animals crawling on the hut’s tin roof- the hut had openings all around- allowing whatever to creep it’s way inside. So like true adventurous travelers we ran like hell to the front desk and changed rooms. The next morning we left on a fourteen-hour bus ride to Bangkok. I did plenty of research about how to travel to Bangkok and stumbled upon a fair share of horror stories and bad bus experiences, so we were fully prepared for a crazy day. Once we finally got on the bus, not even 100% certain we were indeed on the right bus, with no explanation we were off! The bus continued to stop and pick up travelers from different locations until every seat was full and then some. We continued to take on passengers and they were simply ushered to sit on plastic stools in the isle way. This was so crazy to me; can you imagine a company doing that in America? Or a customer just going along with it? Again we felt lucky to be sitting by each other in actual seats! We eventually made it to the Cambodian /Thai Border, Koh Kong, and were pretty much yelled at to get off and to go to immigration. Then locals came asking where we were going next and filed small groups to get their visas. We were told to leave our bags with someone else- reluctantly we followed our guides. We got our stamps on the Cambodian side and walked across the border to Thai immigration- having no idea what bus we would get on next or where our bags were. At this point we relied on other travelers and felt somewhat reassured that absolutely no one really knew what was going on. Finally we found our bags and were forced to pay a small some to even receive them. We were stickered with “Bs” to allow drivers to easily know our final destinations- kinda like a nametag for a Kindergartener. We waited in the blazing sun, without any food for the day and maybe half way through with our journey- and eventually we are told to cram into a mini bus. We squeeze as many possible people into this tiny van that's also full of all of our bags. Hot and crammed- we are headed to Bangkok! After several immigration checks, and winding roads that induce nausea we arrive at Trat, a bus station I read about. We all rejoice thinking we will soon be on a larger better-ventilated bus. Nope. We are ordered to climb into the back of a pick up truck. We are all so hesitant, knowing we still have many hours of this journey a head of us. We are reassured that this pick up merely just dumps us at our next stop up the road. Soon we arrive at a travel agency that we have never seen before, and with no explanation (see the pattern yet?) we all sit in the waiting room. We have a chance to use squatty potties (without running water) before we are herded to a new minibus. Now our familiar group is split in two- leaving us all in question again. Our new driver takes off like a mad man. A couple of hours pass and we stop for gas and for the first time we shovel some food in our mouths and off we go again. Our driver is flying down the road and again, I’m carsick. He’s also constantly on the phone. We begin to talk to a German couple that has been on this crazy adventure with us all day, and they voice their concerns with the bazar means of travel- they have been to Bangkok before, but never like this. We talk about cultural norms of each of our countries and ask questions. It is all very interesting and they were very friendly and open-minded. Hours pass and we fly down the highway, airborne at times do to the speed of the driver. Then he pulls over without warning on the side of the highway, and says “Bangkok”. And that’s that. We get off clueless. Thank god for our new German friends who at least know the backpackers district, where we end up staying our first night. They take us to Khaosan Road- which is lively and full of insane sights. We see bars everywhere with loud music and street vendors selling fried spiders, cockroaches, and scorpions. Tuk Tuk drivers ask us if we want to go see the "ping pong shows"- Google that one on your own…It’s pretty much a nightmare and a Manwers episode I watched in like 8th grade. After an intense day of traveling this is all so overwhelming. Thankful for arriving safely ,we find a guesthouse for the night- which is pretty disgusting.

The "over-flow seating"

Backpackers district

Our lovely guesthouse

After sleeping with the lights on (I was pretty freaked out) we check out of our guesthouse and headed out in the city with all of our bags, soon to check into our Air BNB. Dirk is our host and he maps out how to get around the city and things we should do on our short stay. His loft is amazing with an incredible skyline view from his balcony over looking the river on the 22nd floor. We are thankful for a clean place to lay our heads and the great hospitality of Dirk. In our time in Bangkok we take the sky train to a mall unlike ones in the U.S. and eat a meal at the "food court" that was made to order and actually really nice! We go to night market across the river, where we eat a macron ice cream sandwich and Chris buys me a beautiful hand painted elephant. We enjoy drinks at a sky bar, eat street food, see Wat Pho the temple of the Reclining Buddha, go to the flower market, take an hour long canal ride to see “Old Bangkok” and all the houses on the river, and hang with Komodo dragons at Lumpini park- the “central park of Bangkok”. Bangkok is amazing, and so much more developed than Phnom Penh- it’s actually pretty shocking. It’s sad to think a bordering country can be so different. Here I’m thankful for sidewalks, public trashcans, readily available taxis, and way less trash along the roads.

I had to buy a wrap to properly cover to be in the temples

Wat Pho

Buying another souvenir ;)

Just hanging out

Our next leg of the trip is Siem Reap and we are beyond thankful for flying this time! We stay at the Babel Guesthouse, which is amazing, and the staff is very friendly and the owners are committed to help further their education and support responsible tourism. I love to see so many NGO’s in Cambodia, almost everywhere I go my money goes towards education, aiding the poor, or helping women in bad situations. We decide to go the Angkor Wat at sunrise, and leave the guesthouse at 5AM to make it in time. Angkor Wat is incredible. Well worth waking up that early. We go around the inner circle of the temples, seeing the ruins of the past. We take our time and admire the history in front of us.

Since we woke so early we are finished with the temples by noon, and head back to nap at our guesthouse. We decided to go to the Phare, the Cambodian Circus that evening. The circus is also run by a NGO that raises money for the students to attend performing art schools on full ride scholarships. The show was great and the performers were beaming with happiness, the organization has truly changed their lives. The next day we went to the Angkor Museum, which was a tad over priced and not super impressive. Our last night in Siem Reap we went to the night market and Pub Street. Pub Street is a smaller version of 6th street in Austin- but a fraction of the price. We shared a pitcher of Redbull and vodka for $4 and had beers for 50 cents- insanity. The next morning we flew back to Phnom Penh.

Angkor Wat at sunrise

Takeo Temple from tomb raider

Twins at the Angkor musuem

Chris’ trip is almost over and we only have a couple things left on our list to do. First we venture to the Tuol Sleng Genocide museum. This is haunting, we spend three hours exploring the once high school turned concentration camp. Here over 20,000 Cambodians and a few foreigners were tortured and all but 7 people were killed- all innocent. This was incredibly moving and terrifying. I encourage you all to research more about the Khmer Rouge and even read First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung- it’s an incredible heart breaking story. The Khmer Rouge over threw the Cambodian government in the 70s and killed nearly 1/3 of the citizens. This is something I think about daily living in the city where it all happened not too long ago. This is the reason Cambodia is so poor and so many people are left uneducated and with PTSD. While in Phnom Penh I took Chris to a couple of markets, showed him the tonlè workshop and boutique, and we even order Dominos pizza- we were curious—ok?? Then with a blink of the eye it was time for him to leave. We made a foolish mistake and took a Tuk Tuk to the airport late the night he was leaving. For the first time since my first week in Phnom Penh, I felt scared and pretty unsafe. We were circled by a motto driver who wanted to steal our bags, and without our driver being smart and proactive; our bags would have been taken. With my amazing luck, I chose the world’s slowest Tuk Tuk and we went down a very sad and shocking street, full of bars with rows of women waiting for men to enter. Things I had only heard about up to this point. This was just another reminder to be thankful for where my life is, where I was fortunately born, and the circumstances I’ve been dealt. Finally we made it to the airport and Chris left on his flight- I learned my lesson and took a taxi home.

Fruit market at Tuol Tom Poung

An amazing project about empowering women who were forced to marry in the Khmer Rouge era

Pre birthday cake(s)

And my "treat yo self" get well impulse buy of the day

After two weeks with my best friend I’m feeling pretty lonely and miss his company. Now we are back to the 12-hour time change, and briefly talking. I’m fighting a stomach bug and have only three weeks left of my internship. It really went by so fast! We learned a lot on our adventure and saw amazing things I never thought I’d see. Thanks for coming to see me, Chris!

Things I learned:

-Traveling with someone you’ll learn a lot about how that person works.

-Traveling is much easier when you can laugh with whom you’re traveling with.

-Things will probably not always go according to plan.

-When you’re with someone for 2 weeks straight you’ll have silly fights.

-Your stomach will probably not adjust well to traveling :O

-Trip Adviser hardly ever lies.

-Even after a year of dating, a vacation will accelerate your relationship and cross new boundaries.

-Drink a ton of water.

-Coconuts cure all things.

-Be thankful for your opportunity to travel.

-Take time to soak it all in.