I'm back in Phang-nga teaching the second school term, and it is really strange that I am already half way done when I am just finally getting comfortable with teaching and I am getting closer and closer to my Thai friends and co-teachers.  But for now I'll tell you about my travels...
In between term 1 and term 2, I had a month to travel around southeast Asia.  I saw a ton of different places, and each city/town presented a new experience.  Some places were touristy, while others required a 4 hour tandem motorbike ride on a dirt road.  At times I was alone, staying in home-stays, or with friends I met along my trek, and at other points in the trip I was with good friends, staying in resorts, and relaxing.  This mix of experiences made for an incredible month. Each country was different from the next, and within each country, each city/town had a different vibe.

The line up was:
       Singapore- 3 days
       Chiang Rai (northern Thailand)- 5 days
       Cambodia- 14 days
       Vietnam- 8 days

Singapore:

I headed to Singapore within hours of turning in my students' grades for term 1.  I stayed with one of my best friends from Princeton, Sammy. I hadn't seen her in over a year (because she had been teaching in Japan) so it was amazing to catch up with her!  I also got to hang out a lot with my friends Andrew and Mario who I know from Princeton and La Jolla.  We explored China town, Arab St., Little India, Sentosa (an island), and the Singapore Night Safari.  Singapore is an awesome, relatively western, Asian city... plus it's clean.  The only downfall? The prices.  With my Thai teacher's salary any more than a few days would definitely break the bank.  But hanging out with my friends was well worth the cost, and I'm sure I will be back there again.

Singapore! Mario and I

On the lift to do the luge: Sammy and I

Singapore Night Safari: Sammy, Andrew and I

A little pre-Halloween fun

Before going to Singapore I communicated with the founder of Blessings in a Bag (an NGO who collects donations and redistributes them to children in southeast Asia), and arranged to pick up 50lbs of donated items for the International Humanity Foundation orphanage in northern Thailand (an NGO who houses and educates children in need).  So I was a donation-mule and made my way to Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Chiang Rai, Thailand:

I arrived here in the evening, just in time to celebrate Kerry's birthday!  Chiang Rai is a small city surrounded by incredible mountains.  My PiA friends, Caroline, Kerry and Zach are teaching at a university just outside of the city of Chiang Rai.  Zach went to school with me, while I met Caroline and Kerry at PiA teacher training/orientation (Caroline crashed on my couch-- I wasn't sure how I felt about hosting a rando, but when Caroline introduced herself with a plate of cookies in hand, I knew we were going to get along well).
The three of them had to proctor exams for a few hours each day, so when they couldn't entertain me they let me use their motorbikes to explore the surrounding area.  Caroline showed me Wat Rong Kuhn (the White Temple--which depicts heaven and hell), Kuhn Kon waterfall, and Doi Mae Salong (a mountain with many hilltribe villages). 

Wat Rong Kuhn
Chiang Rai Thailand

At Wat Rong Kuhn

Exploring around Chiang Rai

The view from Doi Mae Salong

On the last day in Chiang Rai, I visited International Humanity Foundation (IHF) with the donations from Singapore in tow.  The children were at school, so I didn't get to meet all of them.  But I did get to see the center, meet the volunteer staff members, and meet a few older children who were already on their term break.  IHF is an organization that I worked with for 4 years between high school and college, doing administrative-based work in the US.  This was the first time I got to see one of the international centers, so it was a really exciting experience for me!

En route to IHF Chiang Rai, with donations from 'Blessings in a Bag'

IHF Thailand children with their new clothes and games

At the end of the week Kerry, Caroline and I headed to Chiang Mai for a night, en route to Cambodia.  We met up with two PiA fellows living there, had an incredible dinner, and went out for the night.  It is definitely a city that I need to visit for a longer period of time.


Cambodia:

Phnom Penh
The three of us headed to Phnom Penh, Cambodia the next morning.  We stayed in a nice little hotel along the river front, ate amazing food (they actually have bread here... one advantage of the country being occupied by the French at some point), and learned a lot of recent Cambodian history. We spent an entire day learning about the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge against the Cambodian people toward the end of the Vietnam war [sadly, I knew nothing about this before visiting... google Khmer Rouge if you haven't either].  We visited Toul Sleng (a prison/torture center) and Cheung Ek (the killing fields), where we briefly talked to a survivor about her experience. The following day, we explored the royal palace and the Russian market (which had anything and everything).  The city itself was really cool to walk around, and once we got away from the river front it wasn't overly crowded with tourists.  

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The Royal Palace

Toul Sleng Prison

Monument at Cheung Ek (Killing Fields)

Siem Reap
Then we headed to Siem Reap. 50 cent beer? Definitely the place for us.  Oh yea, and the ancient temples were pretty incredible too.  Kerry, Caroline and I spent the first day going to/exploring a remote temple (Beng Mealea) a few hours away.  Then Caroline's father and aunt arrived and put us up in an incredible hotel for 3 days, treated us to incredible meals, a foot massage, and explored more temples with us.  We saw 5 other temples, a riverbed carved into art (Kbal Spean), and the land mine museum (which explained how land mines are still a huge problem in Cambodia, and often result in limb loss).  The temples (wats) were all really amazing... the highlights for me were probably Ta Prohm Wat and Angkor Wat. The four of them (Caroline, Kerry and Caroline's father and aunt) then headed off to southern Thailand (where I live), and I decided to stay in Cambodia for longer.

Sunrise at Ankgor Wat

Monks at Angkor

Angkor Thom- Bayon

Bantea Srei Wat

Hiking to the River... Caroline and I are so strong

Kbal Spean (Carved river bottom)

Land mines found live in Cambodia

Battambang      
I met Wes, a former PiA fellow, while in Phnom Penh.  He is living in Cambodia and invited me to hang out with him in Battambang, Cambodia.  So after my friends left Siem Reap, I headed on a bus to Battambang.  I met up with/stayed with Wes and his friends.  The weekend was relaxed and totally random, but it was one of my favorite parts of the trip.  The three of them were really welcoming, gave me a bicycle to explore the city with on my own, and took me to see sights near town.  After biking around lost for 2 hours, I found the Bamboo train and went on a 15 km ride through the countryside on it.  They also took me up the Phnom Sampeau Mountain.  But not before introducing me to the embryonic duck egg (a fertilized/mostly developed duck egg...).  I kept telling myself that the strange things on the outside of what I was eating couldn't be feathers, but in fact they were... it's amazing what Asia can do to a vegetarian.

Battambang, Cambodia
Bamboo train

Going for a ride

Phnom Sampeau Mountain

Phnom Sampeau Mountain: Wes and I

Banteay Chhmar
Wes knows Cambodia well, and told me about a few cool towns I could visit, eventually ending with the Preah Vihear temple on the Thai-Cambodia border (the two countries argue over ownership).  So I made my way in a shared taxi (with a random Khmer woman sitting on my lap...awesome) to Banteay Chhmar, and stayed in a home-stay.  I visited a silk production sight, another cool temple, walked through the town and then chilled for the afternoon on a bridge in town. While sitting there I made friends with 1/2 the kids in town, and gave them my camera to play with and take pictures of each other.  I had so much fun exploring in Banteay Chhmar and hanging out with the kiddos.  I had been to/seen a lot of touristy places in the past few weeks, and it was the perfect break from that.  Being alone was also really good for me because it forced me to figure things out on my own, and to connect to people in a community in a different way.
 

Banteay Chhmar Temple

My unofficial tour guide for the day... aka he followed me everywhere,
pointed, grunted, and didn't speak any English.  He was a sweet kid.

In town

Banteay Chhmar: My little friends

Adorable little girl

The boys

They loved taking pictures of each other with my camera...

...and counting "1, 2, 3" for their friends.

Anglong Veng
The next morning I sat on the back of a motorbike for 4 hours, driving on a dirt road to Anglong Veng.  The road was horrible, I had to get off 5 times to forged mini rivers, and my body was in excruciating pain for 2 hours of it.  Nonetheless, it was a beautiful drive, and I got to see the more rural Khmer lifestyle.  Anglong Veng was the last hold out for the Khmer Rouge, so I visited the cremation sight of Pol Pot (the horrible leader of the Khmer Rouge) and Tol Mok's house (another leader nicknamed 'The Butcher").  Then I explored town, made friends with a few more kids at a bridge in town, and took it easy for the night.  Unfortunately, I got sick and decided that I couldn't make it to Preah Vihear.  So, I took it easy for two days in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh.  When I was feeling better, I headed to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.

 

Anglong Veng, Cambodia
Hanging out with more kids on bridges.  The little dude in front was a champ with my camera and took it around town for 10 minutes taking pictures.

View from Tol Mok's house

Vietnam:
Ho Chi Minh City
I took a bus from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.  After making it through the border/visa check I arrived at night in Ho Chi Minh City.  I was completely shocked at how big the city was... it reminded me of NYC with huge skyscrapers, tons of traffic (fewer cars and more motorbikes), and a lot of people.  I met up with Caroline, Kerry, Zach (the three fellows in Chiang Rai) and Gina (an American studying the university in Chiang Rai).  We ate dinner and hit up the rooftop bar.  The next morning we visited a Cadoi Temple outside of the city to watch a ceremony, and then to the Chu Chi tunnels (TINY tunnels the Vietcong hid in/fought from in during the Vietnam war).  Both places were really cool, but I think the Chu Chi tunnel exhibit could have done without the shooting range for tourists within it... that was definitely a bad call for a war memorial.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
The whole gang! (Top: Gina, Kerry, Zach, Bottom: Caroline, Collette)

Cadoi Temple

Chu Chi Tunnels

After crawling through the tunnels

Mui Ne
From Nha Trang we took a bus to Mui Ne... a small beach town in Vietnam.  We stayed in a hotel on a beautiful beach, which really reminded me of the beaches back home in La Jolla, CA.  We lounged and took it easy the first afternoon, and then the next morning we went on a sunrise tour of the sand dunes and the 'Fairy River'.  The sand dunes were awesome.  We were chased by some locals with little plasticy sleds and after hearing "OK you slide" about 50 times, we finally slid down the dunes a bunch of times... it was pretty awesome.  Then we did a little more relaxing on the beach. 

Sunrise at the Sand Dunes
Mui Ne, Vietnam

Sliding down the dunes!

"OK you slide"

Nha Trang  
The next day we headed on a 12 hour bus ride north to Nha Trang.  The highlight of the town was the food, the night life, and the so-called "Booze Cruise".  The cruise consisted of us snorkeling (in the words of our leader, "You Norkel?"), drinking a infant sized cup of crappy sangria, listening to a sweet band (where the guitarist used his leg to play 'air guitar' and the drummer was playing trash cans for drums), eating good food, and cruising on the water.  It was a nice relaxing day

The band... they were really into it.
(Caroline saw the drums on the top deck and thought it was a toilet...haha)

Floating and tossing the horrible Sangria in the water

Traveling to Hoi An...
After the day on the cruise we headed on a sleeper bus to Hoi An.  The sleeper bus seemed like a great idea, and in the ones we had seen drive by, the seats looked really nice and reclined.  Well, unfortunately we were put in what we like to call "The Cave".  It was basically well...a cave... in the trunk end of the bus where there were 5 "seats" with seats over you and in front of you, so that there were only two openings for the 5 of us to crawl out.  It was a 12 hour bus ride, and you couldn't sit up or raise your head more than about 18 inches from the pillow.  To make matters worse, the window next to me had no glass, and instead had a piece of cardboard that made for a loud journey.  Butttt we finally arrived, safely, in Hoi An at 5 am 

A different sleeper bus we took during the day.  The seats look nice, right?
Well imagine sleeping 5 people in 'the cave'... the space in the middle where you see that guys arm underneath.

Hoi An
Finally we arrived in Hoi An, which is a touristy town on a river, known for tailoring clothes.  Those of you who know me well, know that I usually last about 45 minutes shopping.  But I made it through most of a day and got a few dresses made for myself.  We stayed here for a few days, shopping, exploring the city, eating great food, and riding bikes to the beach.  The markets were also really cool... two women kidnapped Gina and I into their 'salon' where they were threading eye-brows, giving manicures/pedicures, and just about anything else you can think of.  Then we had a fancy night where we all dressed up in our new clothes and went out.  We all had a great time here!

Hoi An, Vietnam
Collette, Caroline, Gina

Riding bikes to the beach
Zach, Caroline, Gina, Kerry

Fancy dinner
Gina, Caroline, Collette, Zach

New dresses tailored in Hoi An!
Kerry, Caroline, Collette, Gina

Hue

After Hoi Ann we headed to Hue.  Hue definitely catered less to tourists, but it was a nice change because it seemed to be more representative of a true Vietnamese city.  We visited the Citadel, and a few pagodas/tombs along the river.  The pagoda houses the car that a monk arrived in before immolating himself (burning himself as an act of political protest) in 1

The Citadel
Hue, Vietnam

Heading back...     After seeing the pagoda and tomb, I had to start heading back to Thailand because my second semester was starting again.  The other four continued on for another week to Hanoi and Halong Bay, in the north of Vietnam.  Instead I took a bus to Danang to fly back to Ho Chi Minh.  Two other westerners and I got off the bus, and after talking to them for about 30 seconds they said they were going to the airport later too, and invited me to kill the 5 hours at dinner with their friends in town.  They were a really cool couple living in Ho Chi Minh City, and let me crash in their apartment rather than try to find/pay for a hotel at 10 at night.  After that I headed from Ho Chi Minh to Bangkok, and took a sleeper bus from Bangkok to Phangnga... home sweet home.

The trip was incredible.  I got to see a lot of my old and new friends, and being around them definitely gave me a nice dose of familiarity, which is lacking in the town I live in.  I am already excited for the travels I am planning to do after the school year is over.  Nonetheless, coming back after a month away has also really opened my eyes to how much I love my life here in Phangnga, and reminded me not to take my time here for granted.  The teachers living next door to me have become my best friends, and I plan to keep spending a lot of time with them while I can!