Chúc Mừng Năm Mới to all of
our family and friends! Life has ben busy and full, so although its mid-March,
this post focuses on our experiences in February. After many Tet
celebrations with work and friends in Saigon, we enjoyed our Lunar New Year holiday
in Cambodia! We took a 10 day trip, starting in Siem Reap and ending on a small
island off the coast. Cambodia is very different than Vietnam, from its
infrastructure (or lack thereof) to the culture. Cambodia uses the US dollar,
which felt foreign to carry again! It's amazing how the human brain can adapt
to new things, including currencies! The main mode of transport all around
Cambodia is tuk tuk. Each tuk tuk driver is independent, so you are left to
negotiate your way around town, leading to some interesting broken English
conversations. Khmer cuisine isn't as well known as Thai or Vietnamese
but is delicious nonetheless. Fish amok and beef loc lac are two popular dishes
that Madelyn tried, and Kevin loved :) It feels nearly impossible to capture
this month in pictures, but here's a glimpse into our adventure!
 |
| Riding in style (tuk tuk) from the airport to downtown Siem Reap |
 |
| First stop? Find some good, local beer! Mot, Hai, Ba, Yo (one, two, three, cheers!) |
 |
| Our first glimpse at the breathtaking Angkor Wat Temple at sunset |
 |
| Biking through the silent, pitch black streets of Siem Reap to Angkor is something we will never forget! |
 |
| Elephants walking around- totally "normal"!? |
 |
| Bayon Temple |
 |
| Very steep stairs at Ta Keo Temple |
 |
| Kevin was very excited to find the mysterious dinosaur bas-relief in Ta Prohm Temple |
 |
| Pub Street, similar to Vietnam's infamous "Bui Vien Street" complete with scorpions for sale as a snack! |
 |
| One evening we enjoyed a Cambodian Circus show! |
 |
| Day two in Angkor started with a bike ride up to the complex to catch the sunrise. |
 |
| A picture of our dear bikes is a must in order to truly capture our trip to Angkor. We rented these bikes from our hostel and biked over 40 miles through the streets of Angkor, from sunrise to sunset. |
 |
| Ta Som Temple |
 |
| Ta Prohm Temple |
 |
| Angkor Wat Temple |
 |
| Angkor Wat Temple |
 |
| To end our 15 hour day at Angkor, we watched the sunset from Phnom Bakheng mountain-top temple. |
After leaving Siem Reap, we
arrived in the Cambodian capitol city, Phnom Penh. Although some nasty stomach
bug hit both of us, we were still able to enjoy this bustling city.
 |
| National Museum of Cambodia |
 |
| Royal Palace |
 |
| Royal Palace |
 |
| We spent a very sobering day touring the Killing Fields and the Genocide Museum. Completely heartbreaking and astonishing how little American's know about this tragic part of history |
 |
| One of our favorite parts of Phnom Penh, a sunset boat cruise with bottomless beer! We met a great couple from Canada on our cruise and ended up meeting back up with them in Saigon later in the month. |
 |
| Phnom Penh's famous night market, complete with rice soup. |
Our
next stop (after an adventurous five hour bus ride) on our trip was Kampot, a
small riverside town. Kampot is known for their pepper, which if you know
Madelyn, was very exciting! We found a Kampot pepper farm and got to see the
process of making pepper.
 |
| We stayed at this amazing treehouse bungalow right on the river. |
 |
| Kevin taking a quick dip in the river. |
 |
| Peppercorns drying |
 |
| Grabbing cocktails by the River, soaking in the mountainous landscape! |
Our final stop on our
journey was a small island called Koh Rong Samloem. This place was truly
paradise! The journey to get to this island was a long one, and one we will
never forget. The process included multiple busses, late boats, with very
little, actually no communication from officials. Let's just say that by the
time we arrived on the island, we were very ready for a beer!
 |
| After an hour boat ride, we arrived on this pier, and walked along the beach until we came across our wonderful bungalow. |
 |
| This was the view from our front porch. We were speechless! |
 |
| PARADISE! |
 |
| We walked through the jungle from Saracen Bay where we were staying, to the opposite side of the island known for the best snorkeling. |
 |
|
One of the best parts of Koh Rong
Samloem was snorkeling. The experience was similar to being in a dentist's
office fish tank, or in the movie Finding Nemo. The tropical fish and coral
were so breathtaking that three hours passed before we knew it and we brought
home some very sunburned backs!
|
|
 |
| Catching one final sunset in Cambodia before heading back to Saigon! |
As much as we loved being away, it was wonderful to come "home" and get back into our routine again. We truly love Saigon and have a newfound appreciation for this place after visiting Cambodia.
 |
|
Happy Valentines Day! If you come
visit us, we will most likely take your to Pasteur Street Brewery right
away. The best craft beer in Vietnam. We are here at least once a week,
and even got a free brownie for taking this picture!
|
|
 |
|
We both aren't big golfers, but a
driving range overlooking the city with cheap beer sounded like a fun way to
spend a Saturday afternoon!
In an effort to get out of the city and be in nature,
Madelyn joined a group for their monthly hike about 1.5 hours out of the
city. A great, hot afternoon of hiking, but nothing like hiking in the Pacific
Northwest!
|
We ended a busy month by
welcoming our friend and former coworker, Jennie to Saigon. One of Jennie's
friends from college, Lauren, lives in Saigon and has been so gracious in
welcoming us to Saigon. It was great to be all together to celebrate Lauren and
Jennie's birthdays!
That is all for now! Life
here continues to be full of adventure and interesting experiences.
Sending everyone lots of
love from Saigon!!
Madelyn and Kevin
No comments:
Post a Comment