Cambodia and Vietnam

Last week we spent 4 days in Siem Reap Cambodia, visiting Angkor Wat. A totally opposite experience from Singapore, but we loved it. Although Siem Reap is much more built up than when I visited it 7 years ago, it still has a really innocent feel to it. Prices are still really low, streets are still made of dirt, and none of the people hassle you too much! A must visit for anyone out there looking to come to SE Asia. Although the temple of Angkor Wat and all the surrounding temples are more crowded, they are still awe-inspiring to visit. Chris and I rented a guy and his motorcycle rickshaw for 3 days to tour the sights. It was great to have our own private chariot take us from temple to temple!

 

Sunset

 

 

Amazing Angkor Wat

 

I forgot just how enormous the temples are and how many temples there really were. They just go on forever. And the detail of the carvings are stunning. It’s amazing to compare these temples to the sights in Egypt and Petra, temples in India, and the Roman ruins previously visited on the trip. How similar everything is in so many ways, and how far apart they were built, in time and distance. It’s so amazing what Chris and I have been able to experience in this once in a lifetime adventure.

So this brings me to our next topic….
Chris and I have decided to come home!
It wasn’t an easy decision, or a fast one. But in the end we think it’s the right one for us.
We have had the most wonderful trip so far. But unfortunately, we’re getting tired of traveling. We want to make sure when we see each of the amazing sights and countries this world has to offer, we see it with the same excitement and amazement that we set out with. We feel like these days our energy is running low and we’re growing tired of making ALL the decisions traveling brings. We’re tired of the scams and the hassle, and well truthfully we really miss our friends and family! I’m sure once we get home and feel the cold, we’ll want to get right back on the road, but we still think this is the right decision at this time.
We know we’ll get back out here again. Maybe not for as long… but there are still so many places we can’t wait to visit. (We are already planning our next trip!)

Anyways, back to the trip… we’re not done yet! We wanted to make sure to see Vietnam before we came home. (As I write this I’m in a big sweater, a scarf, and under 2 thick blankets, and I wonder if this final destination was the right choice for our last leg (I hear the beaches in Bali are nice this time of year)… but alas, we are here, so we are making the best of it!)
Chris and I flew to Ho Chi Minh City from Cambodia leaving the small city and sunshine behind. We spent our time there dodging the motorbikes as we walked around the city! It’s a crazy place to try to cross the road. If you are looking for a break in the bikes, think again. You just have to walk straight and they will dodge you. Some old lady saw Chris standing a the side of the road waiting for a clearing and grabbed his arm to help him walk across! It’s so crazy! We loved it!

While we were there we went on a tour of the Cu Chi tunnels. They were tunnels used by the Viet Cong during the wars. It was a really interesting tour and Chris got the chance to fire a AK47. That was ridiculous. He might tell the guys it was cool, but seeing how powerful and loud that gun in up close, in the middle of the Vietnam jungle, made me sick to my stomach. I can’t imagine what people who have seen war up close have been through. Just being here 40 years later and hearing a first had experience is hard.

Our next stop was up in Hoi An. It’s a cute little town with hardly any cars and Chris and I rented bicycles for $0.75 a day to get us around. Hoi An is famous for their tailor shops (I think there is about 200 shops in total) where you can have anything you want made to measure! It was a fun experience to have something made that fit perfectly the first time we slipped it on. I have to admit, once we each had one thing made, we went back for more!

Vietnam is currently preparing for ’Tet’, their Lunar New Years (like Chinese New year). It is their biggest holiday of the year and the cities and towns are vibrant. There are flowers for sale everywhere, shops and restaurants are hanging bright lanterns and flags, and everyone is buying new clothes, furniture, and appliances to start the new year off right! It’s amazing to see. Sadly it’s also the worst time to travel as everyone is closing up and going home for vacation. Chris and I were lucky enough to be recommended a guide who has been fabulous in taking care of us. We are currently on a 3 day motorcycle trip from Hoi An to Hue along the Ho Chi Ming trail. It’s a pretty cold ride in the rain but Mr. Tu came prepared with rain boots, rain pants, jackets, ponchos and gloves to help keep us warm. Sadly it’s not quite enough and both Chris and I are freezing! We would kill for a hotel with a heater!!! Maybe the hotel in Hanoi will have heat?!? Although chilly, the trip has been beautiful and we’re glad we found Mr. Tu. He has even invited us to spend Tet with him and his family as all the restaurants will be closed! I think it will be a really fun night! Stay tuned for photos!

Me handing out candy to some village kids.

Us at the DMZ. We were really cold at this point.

The rain didn’t help.

Breakfast time!

That’s all for now,

Looking forward to seeing you all again soon. (We come home on the 14th of February)
Miss you,
Ashlyn and Chris.

Cows on the beach

Goa

Hello from Varkala, India!  It’s hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner, especially being in southern India.  (Varkala is on the very southern tip of India, just off to the west side of the point, if you’re looking for it on a map).  You’d really have no idea what season it is here, other than the odd shopkeeper that has dressed up as Santa Claus hoping to win a few more western customers.

We’ve just arrived in Varkala after a great week in Goa.  In Goa we stayed in a town called Palolem, which was a little hippy town at the very southern tip of the state.  Louisa and Conrad met us down in Palolem and we’re spending a couple of weeks with them.  We’ve been having a great time with them (as always), and it was really great to see some familiar faces…especially at this time of year.

Back to Palolem, Goa…the town was a little paradise and if we didn’t have a hotel booking in Varkala, we might have stayed there forever!  All of the restaurants were located right on the beach and most of them were made from palm trees and big blue tarps with a bit of thatch thrown on for effect.  Their basic business strategy was to put a bunch of lounge-chairs and umbrellas out on the beach and wait for the customers to ask how much it cost to rent them for the day.  The deal was that you could use them all day if you ate lunch at their restaurant and drank their water, beer, and Tom Collins during the day.  So, for about $25 per day, all four of us could sit on the beach drinking beer and water all day and eating huge lunches that were delicious.  Not a bad deal, for $6.25 each!  We spent a week laying in the sun, relaxing on the beach, playing paddle ball (157!!), telling people on the beach that we weren’t interested in buying their crap, and taking dips in the ocean to cool off.  It may not sound like it, but the week flew by faster than any week we’ve had on the trip so far.  Here are some pictures from our time at the beach:

At night the town was a bit sleepy, other than the ‘Silent Noise’ night, which was a total blast!  There had been some bars on the beach that were getting shut down because of noise complaints, so someone came up with an idea of having huge dance parties that were 100% noise free.  So they bring in hundreds and hundreds of headphones that are hooked up to 3 live Djs that are playing and everyone dances around to the music in their headphones, which you could flip between 3 different channels of music.  We thought we’d go because it sounded fun, and it would be a good way to stay up past 10PM, which was the latest we’ve gone to bed in months.  Easily the best part of the night was taking off your headphones and watching all these drunk people hop around in silence, stumbling around and singing along to the music in their heads…it made for a pretty good show.  Going to the Silent Noise party was good, being four of those drunk party go-ers was great, staying up past 10PM was outstanding, having a full day of travel in India the next morning was poor.  Here are some pictures from the Silent Noise party:

So that pretty much covers our stay in Goa. We would highly reccomend it to anyone! talk to you all on Christmas!