Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

As Jeff and I sat down for one of our first meals in Siem Reap, I asked him (probably prematurely) what would be his lasting impressions of the trip. His response was simply “the little things”. I figure to a large extent, mine will be the same. I kept a log of daily events in my notebook so that I could remember as much as possible but my friend Gerald very wisely commented, “The best memories are the ones you don’t have to write down.”

While memories of this trip may fade, my primary takeaway from this trip has little to do with Thailand, Laos or Cambodia. It’s a realization of how much I love to travel. Seems silly to say but I enjoyed every part of the experience. Why am I so surprised? Well, before taking this trip, I worried about just about everything when it came to international travel. I figured it would be hard to communicate, hard to get around and hard to find things to do without tagging along on some watered-down tourist tour.

I’m well aware Jeff and I took probably one of the more touristy routes through that part of the world. The spots we visited are heavily dependent upon tourist dollars and have no choice but to be as accommodating as possible. Jeff also took care of the majority of the travel arrangements. All of these things helped make my first real international travel experience in over 10 years quite comfortable.

Given this newfound love of travel, Jeff and I have starting planning another trip for later this year or early next. It’s looking like Europe in the Fall or South America in the Winter for another New Year’s adventure.

Can’t wait.

I wanted to share a few odds and ends from the trip that didn’t warrant their own individual post…

The national currency of Cambodia is the “riel”. However 11 of 24 national banks in the country won’t accept deposits in the currency. All ATMs (that I used) dispensed US dollars, all items were priced in dollars and we only paid in US dollars. It was weird.

The serving size of food in Asia is perfect. Jeff and I would typically have an appetizer, a main course and often desert as well. Very few times did I leave a meal feeling stuffed. I can’t remember ever leaving food on my plate which happens a lot at home and is usually accompanied by some guilt.

While I am right-handed, I play pool left-handed, shoot a gun left-handed and apparently zip line left-handed.

Put this on the list of memories I never thought I’d have… returning the fist bump of a falling down drunk Asian girl at a bar in Chiang Mai, Thailand as we listen to an awesome all-Asian band cover American music like U2, Jason Mraz and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

As we passed the gate at the Chiang Mai airport, we noticed the lone security guard asleep… with his gun in his lap. Security FAIL.

You don’t realize how limited a point-and-shoot camera is until you travel with a real photographer.

During a three week trip, I was never able to get more than one side of a Rubik’s cube completed. Despite this futility, it’s a great way to kill time on a one hour flight.

$1 US = 34 Baht (Thailand) = 4000 Riel (Cambodia) = 6800 Kip (Laos). It pays to be good at math… literally.

Nearly 1500 photos taken this trip consuming 5.96 GB. And this doesn’t even hold a candle to what Jeff took. He filled his laptop’s hard drive as well as 10+ DVDs.

Since we were always on the go and knowing that food portions were a little smaller, I wondered early on whether I would lose weight on the trip. Turns out I lost 6 or 7 pounds dropping me to my lowest weight since college. Let’s see how quickly I put that back on.

Stray dogs are EVERYWHERE in SE Asia. One temple alone that we visited had about 200 strays.

Traffic in Asia is an odd mix of chaos and calm. There are no stop signs and a scant few stoplights outside of Bangkok but traffic moves slowly enough through intersections that most people don’t need to stop… they just slowly merge into the flow of traffic whether they are within the painted lines or not. Everyone just kinda lets you in. For example, our Chiang Mai tour guide, Peter, decided he wanted to pass three cars that were moving a bit too slowly while a pickup truck was in the oncoming lane and obviously too close for us to actually complete the pass. No worries though… he just pulls out in the lane to pass and the pickup slides over to the shoulder to avoid the head-on collision. No stress though… Peter and presumably the pickup driver didn’t even bat an eyelash.

A few things about being American…

• Americans don’t travel much. This surprised me but seemed to be something Jeff was well aware of. Apparently we think we have everything we need at home.
• Americans still have a bad rep abroad. Arrogant, loud, obnoxious, etc. And from what I observed, it’s fairly warranted. Most of the few Americans that I met on this trip thoroughly annoyed me.
• The first thing people wanted to talk about when they found out we were Americans was Obama… what the sentiment was in the US, how people we reacting, etc
• Also after finding out we were Americans, most were surprised we weren’t fat.

While in Chiang Mai, we walked by a girl selling paintings although when Jeff stopped for a brief second to take a look I could have sworn the girl said, “Would you like to see my panties?”. I did a nice double-take on that one.

And finally, Bizarre-o moment of the trip: While waiting for the 8am taxi (that never showed up) to take us home on New Year’s day and after having been up for 24 hours straight, Jeff and I ate breakfast in a restaurant that had “Friends” on their TVs in English but with Thai subtitles.

Good times.