Rae Keim
I am currently a M.Sc. student who has taken some time off to travel the world.raedawn
Travel Blog Posts
March 3rd 2012
Hello Again, Well this will be quite a mixed-bag blog. I’ll start off discussing what we learned about the recent genocide in Cambodia and finish with our happy times in the south of Cambodia at Kampot and Kep/Rabbit Island. Phnom Penh To set the stage during 1975-79 Pol Pat and the Khmer Rouge communist party took over Cambodia, they renamed the government Democratic Kampuchea. During this time period approximately 2 million of 7 million Cambodians were killed through a combination of execution, forced labour, and starvation. What Matt and I both found astounding was that this happened just years before we born and well within our parents lifetime and yet no one knew it was happening at the time and even still it is not well appreciated worldwide. We had been greatly affected at Phonesavan in ... read more
February 29th 2012
Hey Everyone! So Angkor Wat, where to even begin besides confirming that this UNESCO World Heritage Site certainly deserves the recognition! We decided to split our time at the site into two days, both with a guide. We’re really glad we had our guide, Tokla, to teach us and show us everything we could ever want to know about the temples. Our first day was spent going to the outer, less famous, and somewhat smaller temples. We decided to do it this way so as to avoid what I’ve dubbed ‘Grand Palace Syndrome’. We saw the Grand Palace Wat inBangkokwhen we first arrived and every other wat after just failed to compare. Our day started a t8am and it was already hot and it would only get hotter. We both melted all day. I don’t remember ... read more
South Vietnam and Reflections
Published: February 24th 2012Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Nha Trang
February 24th 2012
Hello Everyone, This blog may be a bit more reflective than informative so I’ll get the info out first and if you want to stop reading you certainly can. After Hue we moved onto Hoi An. It was a really lovely town, very clean with lots of restaurants and shops. The whole river area was lit up by coloured paper lanterns at night – very beautiful. The main attraction in Hoi An are the tailors. Tailor shops line every street and can make you custom clothes in 1 day. Matt and I got sucked in of course. I got 2 dresses, a pair of linen shorts, and a fall coat made. Matt got 2 button up shirts and a long winter coat. We were both very pleasantly surprised with our purchases! From Hoi An we moved ... read more
February 15th 2012
c Hey Everyone, Just a quick update to tell you about our Halong Bay trip and Hue. We arrived into Hanoi on the 8th late, we met up with and did some touring around with April and Kyle on the 9th. We visited Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum which was kind of a bizarre experience. His body was interred in a glass case in the middle of a large stone building. There were guards everyone and you were not allowed to speak. I didn’t do much else that day because I felt ill and because Hanoi is insane! The traffic is just unreal. I can’t even begin to explain it to you. Just picture super narrow streets, sidewalks covered in motorbikes so you have to walk on the street, thousands of questionable motorbike drivers, the occasional car, ... read more
February 6th 2012
Hello, Since the last blog we’ve done the Plain of Jars and Vang Vieng. I’m writing this from our room in Luang Prabang where we came to escape the midday heat – just roasting out there! The Plain of Jars is located outside of the city of Phonesavan. This area in eastern Laos not only has the Plain of Jars but was also heavily bombed by the US during The Secret War. I personally had no idea that this war ever happened and I still only have a tiny bit of information to share on it, but it’s all very interesting and very sad. So here is my version of the story. Laos was a monarchy for most of its history but during the mid 20th century the people started to rebel and the Pathet Lao ... read more
January 31st 2012
Hello Everyone, I’m writing this blog post from an airplane enroute between Luang Nam Tha and Vietenne. We’re heading south to visit the Plain of Jars, then back up to Luang Prabang where we’ll meet up with April and Kyle again. So the Gibbon Experience. . . What to even say besides it was incredible and most definitely a once in a lifetime experience. We didn’t see any Gibbons, we heard some, but it was still likely the best thing we’ll do all trip. We left Huoy Xai in a pickup truck with 4 other people, all Americans. Us girls (4 of us) got to sit in the cab of the truck and the boys got the back which was quite cold and apparently scary as part of the road was nothing more than a track ... read more
Touring Around Chiang Rai
Published: January 23rd 2012Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Rai
January 23rd 2012
Hey Everyone, I’m writing this from the shore of the Mekong River in Chiang Kong. We are taking a boat across it to get to Laos tomorrow and then we’re heading off into the jungle for 3 days for the Gibbon Experience – can’t wait! Zip-lining, gibbon monkeys (hopefully), and sleeping in a tree house. We travelled to Chiang Rai from Chiang Mai via Thaton. Thaton is beautiful, sleepy river town. From there we got on a longboat with 3 other people and headed off downriver to Chiang Rai. The trip was gorgeous and it was a good ride besides one little incident with some rapids. Long story short we missed the correct path through the rapids, our driver made a terrified noise to alert us that something was wrong, we smashed into some rocks, ended ... read more
January 18th 2012
Hello everyone! We are currently sitting in Thaton in northern Thailand waiting to get on a longboat to take us down the river to Chian Mai. Our latest adventures all took place in Pai, northwest of Chiang Mai. The road to Pai is interesting, it is quite possibly the curviest road I've ever experienced. 762 curves, 95% of which are hairpin in nature, combine that with some crazy driving and it made for an interesting ride in. Pai was the town we've all been waiting for. It is a quite, chilled out town on a river full of bamboo huts, hippies, markets, and restaurants. We stayed across the river in our very own bamboo hut which was reached by crossing a rickity but apparently stable bamboo bridge. The hut was awesome except for the fact that ... read more
January 13th 2012
Hello Everyone, Well it's been a couple busy days in Chiang Mai. We arrived the morning of the 10th after taking the night train from Bangkok. Definitely a great way to travel - cheap, comfortable, and we had adjoining berths so quite fun. The 10th was spent wandering around the Old City in Chiang Mai and arranging tours. On the 11th we did an all day cooking class at a farm about 30 minutes outside of the city. It was a really fun day! We each made 6 courses, all of which were quite yummy except the Tom Yum Soup which we all overspiced. Our instructors name was Anne, she spoke excellent English and was quite funny. Spicy = sexy so if a dish was spicy it was called sexy and Matt was called 'Sexy Man' ... read more
January 9th 2012
Hey Everyone, Well after travelling for, and being awake for, well over 24 hours we arrived in Bangkok. Our driver hosed us on the cab ride here by taking the scenic route but what can you do? On our one (and hopefully only) day here we visited the Grand Palace and Wat Po. Both were amazingly ornate, they made any Christian church look like childs play. There were statues everywhere and gold plated tiles. Everything was done by hand and took decades to complete. At the Grand Palace there is the Emerald Buddha which is the most important Buddha statue. He was tiny but very impressive. At Wot Po there was a GIANT and I mean GIANT golden reclining Buddha. Google it as my words and pictures cannot begin to do it justice. The heat combined ... read more
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