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Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Choeung Ek Genocidal Center
Warning – this one is heavy… From April 17, 1975 to January 7, 1979, Cambodia was controlled by the regime known as the Khmer Rouge, led by a ruthless man named Pol Pot. It was the goal of this leadership to push Cambodia to a completely self-sufficient agrarian society, so upon taking power, Pol Pot immediately cleared the people out of the cities, shut down factories and schools and declared all currency and private property obsolete. The people were herded to collective farms where they were forced to work, many of them to death. Others met their deaths much earlier – intellectuals and ethnic minorities were killed almost immediately. The…
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The Temples of Angkor
Our first stop in Cambodia was to the city of Siem Reap to see the Angkor Wat temple. This is a temple I have wanted to see for a long time, but I admit, I was very ignorant in regards to the extent of the importance of this place. Angkor Wat is an 800 year old temple that originated as a Hindu temple but eventually was transformed to be used for Buddhism. But there is so much more than just this temple! Angkor was once the capital city of the Khmer Empire (9th-15th century) which was larger than the Byzantine Empire at its peak. It was home to nearly 1…
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Thai Food and Drink
The food here has been fantastic! Although I have to work extra hard to avoid spicy food because I am a wimp, the prices are super cheap and there really hasn’t been anything I have disliked.
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Thai Randoms
There are many things we experienced here that do not warrant their own post, so I am just going to throw them all here… Adventure to Taco Lake Cheryl and David live in a suburb of Bangkok, really close to a place called Taco Lake. There is a canal that separates the area where they live from where the lake is and according to Google Maps, you have to walk a really long way around the canal to be able to get there. Kaitlyn and I decided we were going to see if there was a bridge somewhere that we would be able to cross to make the trek easier,…
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762 Curves to Get to Pai
Our final destination in Thailand was up to the northern hippie town of Pai. Nestled in the mountains, the landscape of this town takes your breath away and I would say that, for the most part, I loved it, however, the place is crawling with youngsters who were just there to party, which is more annoying than it is charming. That said, it was very nice to get away from the chaos of large cities and enjoy beautiful natural settings. As the title states, the road was fully of winding curves to get there. It was rough for a person who gets motion sick and who was stuck in the…
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Chiang Rai
The next stop on our Thailand tour was to the city of Chiang Rai. This is a smaller town in the far north of the country surrounded by tree covered mountains. It was really beautiful! We booked a day tour that gave us the opportunity to see most of the main sights at once. We ended up being with an awesome group of other travelers from all over the place, Canada, Switzerland, Argentina, Portugal and Denmark. There was even a girl from Nigeria! The sights were fun but this group made it even more entertaining. Wat Rong Khun (The White Temple) Although I have been suffering from wat fatigue, the…
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Chiang Mai – Thailand’s Second Largest City
From the monkey town of Lopburi, we took a 12 hour, miserable train ride up to Chiang Mai. It went from being hot and sticky on the train during the evening to freezing cold in the middle of the night! But, I made it through and we arrived to our hotel at 6am and were able to get a few hours of sleep there before hitting the town. We stayed in the Old City, which is about a one square mile area that houses a lot of boutique hotels, restaurants, massage parlors and some of the historic wats. Typically this is where many people will go to visit elephant sanctuaries,…
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Monkeying Around in Lopburi
Our next stop on our journey north was to the lesser visited town of Lopburi. It is one of the oldest cities in Thailand, and my favorite that we have been to so far. There are several reasons for this; first, the traffic is significantly lighter here than in the places we have previously been; second, the people are so friendly and laid back; and third, the monkeys! About 800 years ago, a Hindu shrine was built in the middle of a densely forested area. This forested area had previously been the home to a number of macaques. As the town grew up around this temple (which eventually was converted…
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Ayutthaya, the Former Capital of Siam
Our first stop on the way to northern Thailand was to the historical city of Ayutthaya, about 90 minutes north of Bangkok. We were going to take the train but the seats were sold out by the time we went to buy, so we opted for a $4 van ticket. Not a bad ride at all! This city is known for its ruins of many old wats (temples). Although there was a ton of litter all over the place and giant monitor lizards trolling around, the feeling of actually being transported back into history made this city worth the stop! Wat Khun Muang Jai The first wat we stumbled upon…
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Mueang Boran aka Ancient City
There once was a rich businessman in Thailand who was passionate about art and culture. He decided he wanted to make an educational park that had miniatures of all of the cultural landmarks of Thailand (formerly Siam). Initially he thought he would create a golf course but then he decided to go all out and make an open air museum that was shaped like the country. It blends replicas of old landmarks that are no longer in existence with current attractions, some to full scale and others much smaller than the originals. Let me tell you, this place was incredible! We were only there for three hours and could have…
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Biking Backroads and Dining with Friends
