March 25 - back in the game.

So far in Vietnam, Internet has been great. Fingers crossed, I'll be able to reinstate my travel blog!

My last post was early February, and since then I've been a bit all over the place. Quick rundown:

Since enjoying the southern islands of Thailand, I've been back to Bangkok, then to Lophuri to see a gaggle on monkeys (not sure of the technical term, but i'm deeming this either a "troop" or a "gaggle", they were just hilarious).



Then we took an overnight train to Chiang Mai.



Then a slow boat along the Mekong to Luang Prabang in Laos.



Laos was absolutely beautiful! We spent about two weeks travelling Laos.


then moved into Cambodia.

In Cambodia, we started with Siem Reap, and saw the temples of Angkor Wat (and surrounding, less touristy temples).



Then we went to the southern coast of Cambodia and spent a week relaxing on the beaches.





Next, we visted Phnom Phen and toured the Killing Fields and the S-21 prison, which was a moving and harrowing experience. An Israeli guy we were with said it was much more intense that even the comparatively sanitized holocaust memorials in Europe. It was just incredibly raw.



There were human skulls piled high.


Chains and blood stains left on the floor of tiny prison cell.



There were instruments of torture just right out on the floor rather than in a glass case or something as it would be in a western museum. When we were walking through the killing fields, there were large pieces of human bone littering the grass, as many of the mass graves have not been dug up and when it rains bones and such float up to the surface. It was very intense. I shudder just thinking about it.

Whoa. Ok, so, after that, we went to a sleepy, relaxed oceanside town in Cambodia called Kep. There were still reminders of the Khmer Rouge - the town had once been a sea side resort for affluent Cambodians and French nationals, and there were skeletal remains of burned out French villas shattered along the seashore. But there were also lively Cambodian families picnicking along the ocean, and the seafood we ate at a restaurant on bamboo stills over the ocean rivals any I've ever had! Here's my buddy Tomas enjoying the tasty fare.



Yesterday, we left Cambodia and moved into vietnam. Today, we rented scooters and rode for over an hour down a red gravel road along the coast to a beautiful secluded beach where we spent the afternoon. I love scootering!



It is actually pretty dangerous, I know, but with locals breezing past me on scooters loaded with mom, dad, baby 1 and baby 2.... I can't help but try! I love that the south East Asian "family vehicle" is a scooter, and we in the west feel we need SUVs or minivans... I am trying to hard to get a good family scooter photo, but honestly, they move so fast!!

Anyway, hopefully I can keep this up again. I will be spending the next three weeks or so making my way up the coast of Vietnam. Hopefully Internet works around here!

Cheers,
Jessica


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Cambodia, and Vietnam.