After heading out of Thailand I landed in the Siem Reap Airport in Cambodia. It was late at night and the immigration officer literally threw my passport back at me when he found out I had neither the right money, photos, nor forms. After I found some forms and paid a lot more money he allowed me to pass through. I arrived at my guesthouse, wandered through the relaxing lizards to my room where I was met by my new friend for the next few days, the spider. Some hotels leave mints on your pillow, in Cambodia they leave spiders. I [View Full Entry]

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Not to be too cheesy but I will never forget flying into Lao, the rugged green mountains were a sharp contrast to the mostly flat Cambodia in which I had just departed. I also found out why Lao was so green, our plain landed safely, thankfully, in middle of the daily monsoons of the rainy season. I splurged in Lao and rented a nice quiet bungalow on the river, but it was in the town of Luang Prabang that I fell in love. The food was amazing, the people were great, and as I mentioned before it is breathtaking. Thankfully I [View Full Entry]

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The first stop on my big solo South East Asia backpacking trip was Thailand. I landed in Phuket, spent a night complete with a visit to the fruit stand, and the store I swear was made just for me, Banana Variety. I was very proud of myself for making it to the bus station the next morning, I hate asking directions, and got on a minibus to Koh Lanta. The ride wasn't bad, about 5 hours, but nice views and enjoyable people made it go by quickly. After some confusion and hanging out at the local 7-11 I got a ride [View Full Entry]

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A quick stop on my way back to Korea after my big trip, was in Hong Kong. This was my third trip to Hong Kong, but since it was a quick stop I just stayed at the same sketchy hostel and went to the same yummy restaurants! It was really hot and humid but I found my way out to the tiny hostel and had to laugh when they "upgraded" me to a double because the singles were so small. Seriously I couldn't stretch my arms out in the double, I can't even imagine how small that single was! I found [View Full Entry]

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One of my last days in Korea, I was lucky enough to go up to the North Korean city of Kaesong. Our trip started out with special Visas that were to be worn around our necks at all times, and some serious searches of ourselves and our bags. Getting into North Korea you could tell an immediate change. The guards looked like leftovers from the Cold War era, and near the border the North Korean Government had chopped down all the trees to better detect deserters. We were briefed on the way up what would happen, when to take photos, [View Full Entry]

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My last full day in Thailand was probably one of the best of my whole trip. Combining an old hobby, photograph, with a new hobby, scuba diving, was a great experience. I was nervous at first since I had just gotten certified, but with my fantastic instructor Tara who talked me through everything we were going to do, it turned out to be the best dive yet. We started in the Lagoon taking pictures of Porky the puffer fish, eels, barracuda and a great big thriving table coral community. The visibility was the best yet, such a great day to dive! [View Full Entry]

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Last week was Buddha's birthday so my friend Dawn and I headed out to the Cheonggyecheon to partake in the lantern celebration. The Cheonggyecheon, is a stream through the middle of Seoul, it has a great history of being a Royal washing place, a meeting spot for seperated families after the Korean war, then a dangerous shanty town. After all of that the Korean govt decided to build a highway over it to prevent all of the homeless people from living there. Later after realizing how much the highway was polluting the once beautiful stream, they decided to make it a [View Full Entry]

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Hello! I hate back-blogging but I want to get some pictures up from my trips outside Korea. I went to Malaysia and Indonesia during the first week of Korean school last March. We started out in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia then took a short flight out to Medan, Indonesia. Malaysia was really great, we had great food, saw the Petronas Towers, some really big mosques, and the Hindu Caves. But it was Indonesia that completely stole my heart. I was only there for the short side of a week, and I think it is my favorite place I have ever been. [View Full Entry]

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Hello everyone! Well I am almost finished with my year here in Korea. I can not believe how fast time has gone by. I have 3 more weeks of school and then Im off on a backpacking trip! I am so excited! I am going to Thailand, specifically Koh Lanta, to get my scuba certificate. Then I am going to head up to Siem Reap Campbodia, see the temples in Ankor, do some treking and then finish up in Laos. On my way home I am spending a night in Hong Kong, then hopefully I will get a partial nights sleep [View Full Entry]

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