1.8.16-1.12-16
After our two days of living off the grid, we begrudgingly headed back to civilization with a visit to Chiang Mai. We stayed at a lovely hostel called the Green Tulip Inn, owned by a woman named Stella. We obviously thought this was serendipitous. We were in a great location in the middle of everything. We found a delicious vegetarian restaurant (Taste of Heaven) and then met up with our fun new friend Samart (owner of the Spicy Villa). We went to this ridiculous place called the Freedom Bar. It was a hippies dream. We made some new friends, danced to the local band, drank too much happy water, also known as rice whiskey or moonshine (Samart’s mom made it, we couldn’t refuse) and even hopped behind the bar to help when the owner took off for a few hours.
The next day we cruised around Chiang Mai, walked along the water, went to the fish spa, did some shopping, got a massage, went to the night market – amazing but so intense. We ended out the day with Ellen Whelehan, a childhood friend who is teaching english a few hours north of Chiang Mai. It was great catching up with Ellen and hearing about her experiences down here, she also introduced us to our new favorite beer – Beerlao and a fabulous jazz bar – the North Gate Jazz Bar.
Chiang Mai was great, most people who shared memories and tips from their time in southeast asia all raved about Chiang Mai and I understand why. It is a laid back and welcoming environment, lots of ex-pats, lots of good food, easy to navigate, cute little alleys, more manageable temperatures. Also – fun fact, the airport has the best bathrooms we encountered our whole trip. Overall we really enjoyed Chiang Mai and the mountains. We packed up our belongings and said goodbye to the land of smiles (for now) and headed off to Cambodia…
Cambodia. A much different feeling then Thailand, it feels more like India. We touched down in Siem Reap, and headed to our hotel. The driver which was a “safe” option, harassed us most of the ride, insistent we hire him for a tour the next day, we passed and he was pretty nasty to us, luckily we still got to our hotel safe and sound. The neighborhood of the property left much to be desired. We were dropped on the main street and left looking down a dirt road with slanted telephone poles, construction and a car shop. Luckily at the end of this alley was our hotel which turned out to be perfect. A good lesson on not judging a book by it’s cover. The rooms were nice, clean, cold AC, warm water, the food was good, a basic pool and common area. Everything we needed! We got comfortable and walked around a bit, grabbed some dinner. Even at 9pm the heat was oppressive, not bad enough to keep the mosquitos away.
We woke up and headed to the temples! There is so much to take in it is quite overwhelming (over 1000 temples). We ended up hiring a lovely tuk tuk driver Nyam and he took us around which was perfect. The first day we visited the Angkor Thom west gate, The Bayon, The Baphuon, Phimeanakas, Khyo say tight, Chau Say Tevoda, Thommanon, Ta Keo, Ta Phrom, Banteay Kdei, Srah Srang lake and finished the day with a few beers while watching the sunset over the lake. It was a long day, with little rest (except for our delicious lunch) but overall incredible. After enough stops, the temples start to look a bit similar but completely breathtaking, you can’t put your camera down. It’s the same same but different. Huge structures that are for the most part in tact. Uneven steps, steep stairs to the top, all set within a jungle. The photos don’t do it justice, it’s well worth the experience when in this part of the world.
On the 12th we left our hotel at 5am to experience sunrise at Angkor Wat with our 500 best friends. This was an experience. There were so many people there, and it is a bit of a walk to the pond where you watch the sunrise. The walk is on an uneven ground and next to water (no railings), you blindly go through a little structure that has steps and uneven flooring. It was hard to capture the beauty as there were so many people around and it was a hazy morning, but it was worth the experience.
Being a bit templed out, we opted out of doing more around the complex and decided to head to Banteay Srei which was described as a pink temple and about an hour away. The tuk tuk ride was a highlight. So incredibly beautiful to see the countryside of Cambodia. Riding past little towns and farms, it was interesting to see loose animals, people bathing in rivers, markets, and towns that featured a different specialty (i.e. – straw baskets, hats, wood for fires, different foods). It was pretty incredible. This temple was a bit more relaxing and remote, pretty.
After another long day, we went home to relax, nap, refresh before hitting town. We visited bar street to check out the local pubs and ended up at a very cool rooftop bar with great tunes and bean bags for chairs. It was a lovely evening filled with drinks, dancing and new friends – some sweet aussies and canadians. A good end to Siem Reap.
How Sasha Got Her Groove Back 