Angkor Wat I wasn't really sure what to expect. Angkor Wat was definitely impressive simply because of it's size, but honestly it wasn't my favorite of the Angkor temples. The carvings were amazing but the actual design of the structure was very simple. Each of the Angkor Temples are so different that it's hard to compare and I definitely agree that you have to spend at least a week and go through most of them. Apparently Angkor Wat is best seen at sunrise and sunset, which we unfortunately missed, but our guide said that the sunrise and sunset are only really amazing around the 20th of March and September when the sunrise is right behind the center tower.
Thanks for reading!!
-Erin
Nice Well I am glad your still having a great time, and its so nice to see your latest photos!!! I can't wait to see Angkor Wat myself, but what were your thoughts of it, was the place more amazing that you thought, or about the same? I'll be tuned for your next story!
Ciao again
Jeff
great new pictures I just love the photo of two guys sitting at the quiet temple. The serenity and peacefulness of the area shines through the photo. Tell us more about the 'hell bus' when you have some time. Thanks for telling us about the clean needles - first thing that came to my mind: omg what is he doing, deng fever is NOT a souvenir.
wow What an experience to learn about, its just bewildering to find out about some of the things elsewhere in the world that hasn't existed to us over here.
Have fun in BKK
Good Old MUD Well i am glad to hear that you have become better aquainted with MUD and its marvelous ways! Oh to be in a mud volcano again.......ah the time will come! Anywho you'll get used to that uncomfy travel style, you may eventually forget what it feels like to sit on a couch, I know I did at somepoint. Well best of luck with the camera shopping, i am sure we are all dying to see some more picts!
Ciao
Jeff
Phnom Penh What a first impression of Cambodia. You are so right, people (at least those my age) know about the Vienam war, but relatively little is known about Cambodia. The name Pot Pol is familiar, the the killing fields are known, but the extend of the attrocities is not ccommon knowledge. It's amazing how resilient people are: all that tragedy, and people are friendly. We look forward to your next report.
pol pot yeah. on this side of the ocean, you mostly hear about the holocaust and the soviets killing their own people but there is totally messed up stuff wherever you go. pol pot, mao, hirohito. people are jerks.
in thailand now? you're way behind your updates
we're on our own... Alright, so we're finally on our own here in Bangkok, and it's an awesome city, really! We will post our plans to you tomorrow, as we are going to a travel agent person today to figure out how we're heading south, and where we're starting out after Bangkok.
The internet, for the most part, is pretty expensive, but we have now found a really cheap place (less than $1/hour), so we'll be using it for the next few days for sure, to get up to speed on everything.
The soft sleepers were softer than the hard ones (a piece of wood with blankets, pretty much), but the movement of the train made it really hard on the muscles to not fall off the beds while sleeping.
We're going to get a camera in the next day or two, and I'm looking at this one
http://www.dcresource.com/news/newsitem.php?id=3609
it goes for under $400. but it's a really good camera, and this one will hopefully last longer than a few weeks (joking, I intend to keep it for years to come), but we just need to do a bit more shopping around to make sure we get the best deal (as I'm not buying from a street market).
At any rate, we best be off, but we'll update the blog up to date either today or tomorrow.
Have you been recieving erin's emails? She hasn't heard from you via email, so she's wondering if you've been getting them or not.
Thanks for the wishes,
Ben
so you're on your own now.... Hi guys, good to hear from you again. Promise to post more often now that you are on your own, otherwise we worry. Please tell us what your plans are. Don't rush from place to place, take some time to enjoy and explore your surroundings. What's the problem with the internet? finding a place? cost? time? one always hears that internet access is everywhere! So the soft sleepers weren't particularly soft? Was it a bench with a sheet on top? How is the search for the camera going? take care!
YAY! Sounds like you had a muddy time (ohmygod, what's London doing to me? I've lost my charming wit). So you are finally finished with Vietnam, what was your favourite part? Ben's?
CAMBODIA NEXT!! Don't forget about Anklor Wat!
It's great to hear from you guys! Sorry to hear that someone took your camera. Ben - I have downloaded the Skype program but, have not test driven it. Too many people in the office. Think of a day, and a time (our time) that may be good for you, and we will try it out. Have put $200.00 towards your travel visa. No $ from your dad yet. Erin - happy belated birthday! Remember - play safe and as Erin's mom suggested, keep the line of communication open and more often when you are travelling only by two. We love you - P.S. Amber misses you terribly! Love maman
bugs and other things Haha. The bud situation is pretty good actually, a few roaches and ants but nothing really exciting. I got a bunch of mosquito bites on the first few days all over my feet and they look gross, we found a tiny lizard in our hotel today so I think he will protect us.
The malaria pills seem to be fine, no weird reactions yet but I just started taking mine yesterday.
And as for my birthday, it was alot of fun!! We got to do a boat trip to some islands with swimming and snorkling (the snorkling really wasn't great and I got away from the rocks as soon as someone saw a sea snake).
I will make a new post about it as soon as we get to our next hotel where we hopefully won't have to pay so much for internet. We are really behind on the blog posts so hopefully we can catch them up in the next few days.
Thank-you all for the birthday wishes!!!
sorry for your loss/hurray updates "they were married at midnight. on the beach. in the rain. a marriage of inconvenience." - gary larson, the far side.
anyways, the ben. cool haggling trick. what you do is argue with on dude as low as he will go, then say "okay, thank you." then leave and then go to some other guy and start haggling with that price.
the billiards game was most likely balkline, if you played the hardcore version, otherwise it's the champions game or carom billiards.
total bummer about the camera. hopefully insurance ponies up and it doesn't put a total damper on your trip.
party on and come visit meeeee.
good to hear from you again it's great to read that you are enjoying your tour although losing the camera and photos is terrible. Good idea to wait till Bankok to buy another camera. IT's nice that someone will be sharing their pictures; keep after the fellow to make sure this will happen, sometimes people say they will do somethingand they have good intentions, but they forget. It would be to bad if you have no pictures of your Vietnam/Cambodia tour. Seems like hotel rooms are not secure anywhere, whether 5 star or no star. The last 2 weeks went by so quickly, and it won't be long before you are travelling on your own - then you will need to post more often so we don't worry about you guys. We keep hearing about the weather disasters, and although it is not where you are, the grandparents are getting concerned.
As you are heading into Cambodia, we hope that the maleria pills will agree with you - no night terrors. How are the bugs anyway? Are you using your net? Tell us a bit about the other folks on the tour. Are they old, young, nice, stuck up, boring? Are you getting some ideas for your travel through Thailand and Malaysia? Also, is the countryside in Vietnam and Cambodia as pretty as people say it is? have you discovered new food?
take care
! Sounds like a dream!! I am insanely jealous, but not too jealous because I am abroad as well..... I love hearing about all the juicy details, even spending an afternoon biking, it all makes me feel like I'm there with you guys!
Shame about the camera though! I hope it's sorted out... Somehow... Good luck with that!
Looks like y'alls are having a blast! Carry on! (Y'alls?!)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Happy birthday, Erin. I'm sure you'll be able to buy yourself a great gift from those piles of designer clothing you described. We all spent the day out at Ardele's yesterday...all the little kids together. I even rode a horse. What a sight to see.
Enjoy your special day.
long pants?! wat
also: you could just buy designer* pants for dirt cheap.
good to hear things are rockin' out. party hearty.
JJJJJ (...ulia?) you can get pho in e-town. it's in loads of places. tasty + cheap = surefire winner
traffic: I KNOW we had a bet going on between me and my brothers of how long it would take for one of us to forget the roads are all screwy and look the wrong way.
in other news: seen a manwich yet? it's three dudes on a scooter and they're supposedly a fairly common mode of travel out there.
oh the blerin... hey wankers. got back a couple days ago. the HK airport is indeed massive. too bad i missed you there. we got stuck having to walk to the absolute farthest end possible. i actually recognize that area of the airport. small world.
seriously though, what's up with airplane food? stand-up comic material staple aside, the "mushy rice type soup" is congee and the airplane version is revolting. i know this because it was served on our flight and no asians would actually eat it.
have lots of fun, and remember to ask yourself: "what would jesus do?"
READING Hi to you both. I'm following your tour. Enjoy that ancient culture. Stay healthy! Make the most of meeting all those new people....what fun.
Love from us all...Gloria is still in Bolivia.
So excited.
May 4th we leave for Vietnam. Our generally plan right now is to fly into Hanoi head south and then through Cambodia into Thailand. From Bangkok we'll go south and visit a bunch of the islands and then it's into Malaysia and to Singapore. We then head back with a few days in Hong Kong. ... full info
ExcellentAdventure
Ben and Erin
Angkor Wat
I wasn't really sure what to expect. Angkor Wat was definitely impressive simply because of it's size, but honestly it wasn't my favorite of the Angkor temples. The carvings were amazing but the actual design of the structure was very simple. Each of the Angkor Temples are so different that it's hard to compare and I definitely agree that you have to spend at least a week and go through most of them. Apparently Angkor Wat is best seen at sunrise and sunset, which we unfortunately missed, but our guide said that the sunrise and sunset are only really amazing around the 20th of March and September when the sunrise is right behind the center tower. Thanks for reading!! -Erin