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Published: January 13th 2011
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Wild Monkeys
They were everywhere! It was fun to feed them, but this one lunged at my bag of pineapple and stole it. Alpha male reign of terror. This year, my Christmas and New Years were spent with elephants, monkeys, temples and sunshine on a 17-day backbacking adventure through Southeast Asia.
The Deets: We flew into Bangkok, bussed down to the beach island of Koh Pha Ngan, bussed back again and flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia. From there we bussed to the capital, Phnom Penh, and flew to our final destination - Vientiane, Laos.
The Favs: On planes, buses and tuk-tuks (three-wheeled motorcycles with little carriages for passengers) throughout the trip, my friends and I recapped our favorite highlights in a growing number of categories, so it only seems right to describe the trip this way.
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Favorite Place: Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Hands down. It fuses the laid-back pace of Southeast Asia with hip restaurants, nightlife and wonderful people. One night as we were headed back to the hotel, we saw big circles of people near the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Monument and stopped to check it out. Apparently, crowds gather there every single night to learn hip-hop dancing, and within the circles we found students-turned-pros showing off their moves. Just one of the ways this city is freaking awesome.
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Favorite Activity: Playing with elephants in
Kanchanaburi, Thailand. We rode them through a forested area, fed them sugarcane, and then swam with them in the river Kwai. It was like a dream, especially when they sprayed us with their trunks. And, even better, I got to share this experience with Becca!
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Favorite Sight: Bayon temple in Angkor, Cambodia. The most prominent details of this temple are the giant faces on the top, which our guide told us are a blend of the features of King Jayavarman 7 and the Buddha. Every temple we visited had a completely unique character, but the narrative carvings on the walls and happy faces of this one charmed me the most. Close behind Bayon on my list is the golden reclining Buddha in Bangkok, whose gigantic body lies in a glittering room of jewels and sparkles, and also Ta Phrom temple (or the Tomb Raider temple) in Angkor. The winding roots of trees grow from the pieces of its jungle-set ruins, and after our guide told us it had been closed for a time because it was home wild animals, I couldn't walk through it without thinking of the Jungle Book.
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Favorite Hotel: This one is a
toss up between the most expensive hotel of the trip and the cheapest. In Siem Reap, Cambodia, we stayed at a fancy resort, which was a heavenly antidote to the ferry, overnight bus (from Hell) and plane that brought us there. As soon as we sat down in the lobby they served us iced teas in cocktail glasses, the perfect pre-choma/nap-in-the-most-comfortable-bed-in-the-world drink. The next day, after a sunrise visit to Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world, we spent a day in the lap of luxury at the pool, joking that the staff all knew the room numbers of the rowdy, dirty, clueless backpackers.
When we left Siem Reap for Phnom Penh, we travelled as far away from the lap of luxury as we could, and perhaps this was foreshadowed by the dogs, cats, goats, cows and piles of trash hanging out at the rest stop on the way there. For $3.50 per person, Natasha and I shared a room (and a bed) with no AC or hot water, right next to the speaker of Top Banana Guest House's bar.
Upon our arrival up the funky staircase and into the outdoor hangout area (there is no
reception desk, just a bar) we met the main man, and I knew there was something different about this place. Our reservation was messed up, but he just shrugged and grabbed the key to a second room - always with the expression that he was going to burst out laughing. I'll admit I was sketched out at first, but I also couldn't help laughing with him.
After our showers, we returned outside to the bar to start celebrating New Year's Eve, and what turned out to be the guy's birthday, with the other travellers at the guest house. We met people from all over the world, some who joined us for sightseeing and exploring during the next few days. We also got to know the birthday boy and the other employees, who were celebrating together like a big family. The guest house is also a central spot for local expats, so I felt I got a glimpse of what it would be like to live in Cambodia by stumbling upon this little place "where everything is happy."
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Favorite Night on the Town: Phnom Penh was cool, but nothing compares to the Christmas party on the beach of
Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand. Sand, bubbles, buckets of mixed drinks, body paint, fire and tons of dancing are not usually how I spend my Christmas, but this was pretty amazing.
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Favorite Massage: Yes, we got massages in every country we visited because they were so cheap. I felt incredibly spoiled when I got my Thai massage
on the beach on Christmas day, but my favorite was the "Lao herbal massage" which combined massage, heat and stretching - the traditional massages involve putting your body in various yoga-like positions.
I think I emerged from this trip just a little bit changed. I'm in love with Cambodia, even more so for the sad parts of its history that continue to tear at it. There are landmines everywhere, and we hardly saw any older people there due to the 1970s genocide by the Khmer Rouge. As the only American on the trip, our visits to the Landmine Museum, the Killing Fields, and S21 - the main interrogation center of the Khmer Rouge - were particularly difficult. It seems that every depressing monument I visit in Asia has a grim connection to my country.
And poor Laos didn't get mentioned
at all in my favorites list, not because it wasn't awesome - although from what we saw the nightlife is pretty terrible. The countryside is gorgeous, as we saw while ziplining through the jungle, and the people seem even more laid back than in Thailand or Cambodia. They also aren't as used to tourists or foreigners, which was pretty cool - the souvenir-selling children and beggars in Cambodia are extremely aggressive and can get a little freaky, but in Laos this wasn't a problem at all.
The laid-back attitude of everyone we met in Southeast Asia was especially refreshing to us JETs. I love Japan with all my heart, but you can't achieve the best service in the world without being just a little (or maybe a lot) uptight. But still, it's good to be home.
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Michele Lewis
non-member comment
Hi Susan- I can see SE Asia has worked its magic on you! It just somehow gets under your skin forever and ever...I lOVE your pics and video, especially the elephant picture. It looks like you had an amazing trip. Thanks for sharing. Oh, and Happy (belated) Birthday! Michele