Trevor, Aaron Kyle, and I traveled through Thailand, Cambodia, and LA for three weeks.
We met in Bangkok and stayed for five days. This is Trevor driving a "tuk-tuk" on KohSan Road. The place for all travelers to rest, organize, and equip in Thailand.
Taking Tuk-tuk ride through Bangkok.
KohSan Road at night.
Trevor and Aaron doing what they do best....bargain.
An outdoor restaurant next to a gas station.
This was Aaron's first time in an Asian country and he was not happy to learn that fish are served whole.
We went sight seeing through Bangkok.
We climbed a temple and were able to see all of Bangkok.
The next day we went to the Grand Palace in Bangkok. I wasn't dressed appropriately so I had to rent the pretty blue shirt. And the boys were in shorts, so they had to rent cotton pants.
This is how they spent their whole three weeks, nose deep in maps. Thank goodness I didn't have to.
A wall painting with gold leaf.
When we left the Grand Palace we walked around the park outside and found free lunch (noodles) sponsored by the police force. Every Monday they give away lunch to the city. This is Aaron with one of the generous officers.
The next day we started our trek to Cambodia. We had a 12 hour bus ride until we entered Siem Reap, where the Temples of Angkor are.
Our bus ride was possible the worst traveling I've ever done. It was 6 hours in Thailand on a nice aircon bus. After we crossed the Cambodian boarder (and after we got ripped off by the Cambodian boarder patrol) we had another 6 hours on a tiny 15 man bus with little aircon and more bumps than we could handle. It was impossible to even rest your head on this ride because of the bouncing. Trevor and Aaron were still all smiles at the beginning of the ride, unknowingly.
We joined up with Nick (far left) and John (next to me). They are friends of ours from Korea and were traveling before and after us.
Trevor feels most comfortable in a strange situation if he has a child close-by to relate to.
Once we got into Angkor Wat (Wat = Temple) we rented Tuk-tuks for a few days to help us get around. In this picture you can see the constant tourist harassing. Everyone wants you to buy something in Cambodia. These ladies approached Trevor and Aaron as their tuk-tuk slowed down to try and sell them books.
These are the tuk-tuk drivers we had.
This is the entrance to Angkor Wat. I'm sorry that I don't have all the details prepared to share. But http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_wat could tell you alot.
This is the Bayon. And the face you can see carved in there is one of the four faces of Avalokitshevara. 
Next is Ta Prohm. This is a temple that has been overtaken by trees and their roots. This is where the Lara Croft movies were filmed.
Trevor, Nick and Aaron.
This little boy was supposed to be selling his souvineirs and got distracted by them instead.
There were so many temples in this area of Angkor Wat that some, like this one below, would get completely ignored.
And this is THE Angkor Wat. It's the most famous and if you google Angkor Wat it is what will come up.
Nick, Monk, Trevor, Aaron. I wasn't allowed in the picture because I am a woman.
When we reached the top of Angkor Wat these performers were resting before their time to go home.
Aaron loved his bottled water.
When we got to the other side of the temple we came across monkeys eating fruit. Trevor some how thinks moneys are nice like people are nice. (you can see it's back side sitting on the rail by Trevors bookbag.)
Trevor wanted to get near and the monkey didn't really like being so close to him. Trevor remembered that I had a banana in my purse and asked me to get it to appease the monkey. But when I reached into my bag to get the banana the no-conscience monkey hunched down and locked eyes on my purse. Maybe he knew I had a banana, maybe he knew the word for banana, or maybe he just wanted my purse for the heck of it...but he came charging. I passed it off to Trevor and raaaaaan. Trevor thought he could act quickly, give him the banana, and keep the purse. No such luck. The monkey went after Trevor and so he dropped my purse and ran as well. Obviously the monkey tore apart my purse. Which had: my passport, camera, wallet, orange shirt, and banana.
In this blurry picture you can see my purse on the right bottom with my orange shirt hanging out after it. I started screaming and one of the tour guides around threw rocks at the monkey until he left. Thankfully nothing was missing.
Here is a Buddah.
I later read that the monkeys come out at sunset...
That night we went for Mexican food and met a little Cambodian boy (sitting between Aaron and Nick). He spoke English very well and wanted us to buy his post cards. Instead we bought him a milkshake and asked him to join us. He answered alot of our questions about the country's issues of prostitution, beggars, and peddlers.
The next morning we went to the country's capital, Phnom Penh.
In this blurry picture you can see my purse on the right bottom with my orange shirt hanging out after it. I started screaming and one of the tour guides around threw rocks at the monkey until he left. Thankfully nothing was missing.
Here is a Buddah.
I later read that the monkeys come out at sunset...
That night we went for Mexican food and met a little Cambodian boy (sitting between Aaron and Nick). He spoke English very well and wanted us to buy his post cards. Instead we bought him a milkshake and asked him to join us. He answered alot of our questions about the country's issues of prostitution, beggars, and peddlers.
The next morning we went to the country's capital, Phnom Penh. 
Another long bus ride. This one wasn't as bumpy and we were able to rest. (as you can see on your bottem right)
Nick and Aaron.
John.
Trevor and I.
The city of Phnom Penh.
There was a genocide of about 1.5 million people in Cambodia durring the 1970's. I'm not so possitive of all the details... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_pot will let you know.
Nick and Aaron.
John.
Trevor and I.
The city of Phnom Penh.
There was a genocide of about 1.5 million people in Cambodia durring the 1970's. I'm not so possitive of all the details... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_pot will let you know.I do know that Pol Pot was running the Khmer Rouge party, and he wanted Cambodia to be an agricultural society. So he put all the educated people into slavery for 4 years and then killed them.
We visited the Killing Feilds. All the holes in the ground are where they dug up bodies.
This is the memorial.
And these are the skulls of the people who were burried in the Killing Feilds. They are inside of the memorial now.
These boys were on the other side of the Killing Feilds. They tried to trick me and take my camera. "Lady take a picture! Can I see the picture?" Its awful to not be able to trust anyone.
Later that day we continued our grim tourism by visiting the Toul Sleng Museum. It had been a school and was taken over by Pol Pot as a prison.
On the bottom right you can see a swing set with two clay pots under. There was a third, but it is broken now. In one pot was freezing water, one was hot water, and one was sewage. They would dunk people head first looking for answers.
Phnom Penh, as well as the rest of Cambodia, have not recovered from this devastation. Here are some sights from around our hotel.
Deep fried bugs.
After a long day of troubling sights, we enjoyed our "Happy Pizza."
The next day we went to the Royal Palace.
We then started our adventure down to the islands in Thailand. Instead of the 12 hour bus ride we came to Cambodia in, we decided to leave by plane. From Bangkok we took an overnight train to Surat Thani.
And then a boat to Koh Tao.
Koh Tao is famous for scuba diving. Trevor got his Advanced Scuba Diving License, Aaron got his Scuba Diving License, and I got my tan base. 
Drinking a Bucket.
After they finished their scuba time, we went to Koh Phangan for a little group relaxation.
Trevor made friends with a sea cucumber.
This was our bungalow.
We said our goodbyes to southeast asia and headed to LA. My dear friend Devery met up with us. The ocean water was much colder then in Thailand.
Trevor and I took Devery and Aaron out for a Korean night. Here we are eating Galbi and drinking Hite.
And no Korean night is complete without Nori Bang! Aaron took to the mic more then I expected.
And Devery less.
This is the memorial.
And these are the skulls of the people who were burried in the Killing Feilds. They are inside of the memorial now.
These boys were on the other side of the Killing Feilds. They tried to trick me and take my camera. "Lady take a picture! Can I see the picture?" Its awful to not be able to trust anyone.
Later that day we continued our grim tourism by visiting the Toul Sleng Museum. It had been a school and was taken over by Pol Pot as a prison.
On the bottom right you can see a swing set with two clay pots under. There was a third, but it is broken now. In one pot was freezing water, one was hot water, and one was sewage. They would dunk people head first looking for answers.
Phnom Penh, as well as the rest of Cambodia, have not recovered from this devastation. Here are some sights from around our hotel.
Deep fried bugs.
After a long day of troubling sights, we enjoyed our "Happy Pizza."
The next day we went to the Royal Palace.
We then started our adventure down to the islands in Thailand. Instead of the 12 hour bus ride we came to Cambodia in, we decided to leave by plane. From Bangkok we took an overnight train to Surat Thani.
And then a boat to Koh Tao.
Koh Tao is famous for scuba diving. Trevor got his Advanced Scuba Diving License, Aaron got his Scuba Diving License, and I got my tan base. 
Drinking a Bucket.
After they finished their scuba time, we went to Koh Phangan for a little group relaxation.
Trevor made friends with a sea cucumber.
This was our bungalow.
We said our goodbyes to southeast asia and headed to LA. My dear friend Devery met up with us. The ocean water was much colder then in Thailand.
Trevor and I took Devery and Aaron out for a Korean night. Here we are eating Galbi and drinking Hite.
And no Korean night is complete without Nori Bang! Aaron took to the mic more then I expected.
And Devery less.
That was March! My travels are now finished. I've moved back home with my parents for the 13 months it will take to get my teaching degree. Wish us all luck!
2 comments:
jackie, that was more of march than march could handle... i had so many comments about photos that i wanted to post, but by the 10th interesting/funny/shocking/sad photo i forgot them. except the sea cucumber. i didn't forget that one.
Hi Jakie! pretty nice to see many stun pix of yours from Cambodia, specially a couple of shot on the roots. It not merely look beauty but scary as well...Don't you think so?
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