Day 43 Motorbiking...my new love and some Muay Thai boxing

Today got a mid day start with my Chiang Mai buddies from Germany and the UK by renting motorbikes to see some sights that were a bit of a distance away. I think I may now be addicted to motorbikes. Or really Vespas. If I didn't live in one of the rainiest cities in the states I would be all over buying one when I get home!

Chiang Mai has over 300 hundred wats aka tempels. We stopped at one because I wanted to take a few pictures now that my camera was cooperating.





I am sparing you here as I think all of the next post will be temples, temples, and more temples!
After a few more kilometers of biking we stopped at a tiger place where you pay 10 or so dollars to go in and take pictures of the cats. I was put off the second I saw a sign that stated something to the idea of....Q: Why are the cats woken to play with tourists? A: Without money the cats would starve. So, they must do their job to eat. This pushed me to a solid no in purchasing any time for pictures. I am sure you could get some amazing shots but that isn't right. I am not a big fan of zoos in America even and they don't do anything like that....so we move on.



Next we headed to a waterfall to see if we could do some swimming. To our disappointmet there really wasn't an area for swimming until you climbed up pretty high and by the time we made it that far the sun was gone leading us to believe it would be a chilly adventure. But now worries. We had to head home anyways as the Muay Thai fight was set to start soon and we wanted to get cleaned up!



Muay Thai was pretty exciting. I was set to go in Bangkok until I saw the pricetag. Not being a huge fan I thought the more afforable fights here would be a great experience for me and it was Stuart, a fellow backpackers, birthday, and he was set on making this a manly one.

The first fight was a bit of a disappointment with a quick knock out. But the next fighters out were kids. While it was weird to be excited to see them going at each other it was fun to see how intense they got at the end and I don't think there were any knock outs or big blows in which they got hurt.



That can't be said for the following fights. A few of them ended with major blows to the head that had people carrying them out of the ring. Muay Thai is freakin' brutal! I took some pictures but found the lighting to be a challenge. So some editing will be in order here are just a few of the shots I got. We were able to go ring side to take pictures which was pretty cool and not going to happen if we had been at the big show in Bangkok!













The final fight was an obvious win for the massive Australian. The match was one muscle man from down under versus one not so big, not so built Thai guy. It was a quick battle with a knock out in the first or second round. Overall I thought it was a worthwhile and different way to spend the evening.

Day 42 A Truly Massive Market Experience

I arrived bright and early fresh off the night train to Chiang Mai. I was lucky on the train and found myself in good company for my time in the city. I trekked to a guest house with a few people I met on the train and started exploring the city.

Chiang Mai is the second biggest city in Thailand but the vibes couldn't be more different than those of its big brother Bangkok. I really liked the backpacker's area. There were a nice assortment of restaurants, bars, shops and temples. I guess there are over 300 wats, aka temples, in the area and many of them pop up at you between a coffee shop and an Italian bistro.

Wanting to save our energy for the infamous Sunday night market we went to a few of the closer temples and then relaxed to some music before heading out to the madness.

We found dinner from stalls in the market to be just dandy. I had a dish that I order quite often at home Phad See Ew. Wide rice noodles with chinese brocolli and and chicken. It was pretty good. I still don't understand how to use their sauces...but anywho. We then embarked on a shopping adventure. Having seen the chaos in Bangkok I decided to keep my purchases to a minimum since I will be ending my journey in the best place to spend my Bhat. But I didn't leave their empty handed. I replaced my lost watch, got a Thailand mask for my collection. I think I am up to 8 or so now. Where I will put these is still a mystery but I will work it out...

Sadly my camera is being a pill. I think there is something loose between the battery and camera so sometimes it doesn't work. I hope someone in Bangkok can fix it before I head off to Burma! So I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked!


tuk tuk lady?


The stall where I dined that evening for dinner.


One of the many relentless jewelry sellers




I loved this dog's shoes!

Day 41 Heading North

Today I had booked a ticket to Chiang Mai in hopes to get on with my travels and spend time in Bangkok later. I did however have the day to meander around as I was booked on the night train. I hooked up with a few girls from the hostel to visit the weekend market. Let me talk about how I will be spending an entire day/large sum of money/baggage allowance there before I leave this place. I showed some stellar restraint, only purchasing a pair of sunglasses, but I will be back.

The train was a bit of a surprise. At first I thought the guesthouse had ripped me off as I couldn't see how this train was a sleeper train. Each "compartment" had four big chairs. Is that where you curl up?? But after I sat down someone explained how it all worked and then I relaxed and got to know some of the people I was sitting with. All and all a decent experience I would rank as better than China and less stellar than Vietnam. But being in the middle isn't so bad sometimes.

I wanted to take some pictures but my camera has been acting up. Hopefully I can get that sorted in the next few days!

Day 40 Bangkok or Bust

Today I got out of Cambodia. I wasn't the biggest fan. I felt that the cities I saw were really touristed. The children selling things and the constant want for me to open my wallet turned me off a bit to the place in general. It wasn't bad, but not my favorite!

To get from Siem Reap to Bangkok there was a 8 or 9 hour bus and there are tales on the backpacker circuit that they run you ragged so you are inclined to pay more for their guesthouses in Bangkok. I have no hard evidence of this but there were many stops and it seemed we were pacing with another bus so that when we got to immigration we would have to wait through loads and loads of people.

Arriving in Bangkok I found that the accommodation I had booked on recommendation was pretty far away, a lot far. A bus, sky train and loads of walking later I arrived. The guesthouse was nice enough but near nothing. Sad reality.

Day 39 Bumming around town...

After the temples its hard to get excited about anything happening in the town of Siem Reap. I did a little souvenier shopping and putzed around with a couple of guys I met at the hostel. Here are a few shots of my journey about town.






Crocodile wallet anyone? It was this guy's brother!




Sometime I wish my career could be as simple as a lime seller.

In the evening I took an hour long Pradal Serey, Cambodian kick boxing, class. It was intense. My legs were like jello at the end! I am not a little intrigued by the idea of taking a kick-boxing class back in the states. Something to look into!

Day 37 and 38 Nothing and Everything

Today I dove into the Da Vinci code in my quest to read all the uber popular books that I have been neglecting while in Korea. It was great and relaxing day concluded with dinner and stroll around town with some people I met at the hostel.

The following day I split a tuk tuk (motorbike pulling a cart) to the main temples with a guy from Belgium. We spent the entire day running around taking pictures, by the end I was exhausted. My intention was to spend three days exploring the temples, but after hitting all of the highlights and battling the 95+ degree heat I am going to call Angkor Wat good for now. I wish I had my mac to touch some of these up, but I am sure I will have time for that come summer....








It breaks my heart that this photo is blurry. If anyone knows a trick to clean it up a bit I would love you forever! Probably one of my favorite photos of the trip!

Bayon - This was my favorite. I am in love with all the different faces. I was here for awhile. Everytime I wanted to walk away I got sucked into another new face. You might think they look all the same but in the moment they were worlds apart. Each their own person!


Men guarding the beginning of the temple. One side was demons the other angels. I think.







We stopped at a few others but I don't really have the patience right now to sort out through the notes I took and try and remember where they were....again, I am sure the task will be a thrill when I am job searching this summer, but now I move to the last temple we saw that day. It was the "tree temple" used in the Tombraider.

Day 36 The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda

On my last morning I made a dash out to see the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda. It was an impressive complex. There were so many beautiful buildings and statues to take pictures of. I read the royal family still uses this beautiful palace as their residence for part of the year.

The silver pagoda was really something. However, you were unable to take pictures of it so you will have to take my word for it


The palace


I am now addicted to taking pictures of doors....


Temple cat peeping in on the days lessons


Pagoda


An Abundance of Buddhas


Cool Tree

An hour or so later I hopped on another bus to Siem Reap. It was an interesting ride on the local bus with every seat filled and people sitting in the aisle. Good thing it was a short six hour journey!

Day 35 Traveling isn't always smiles.

Today I did all the sombering tourist things. I went to the killing fields and the Prison that were used in Pol Pots atrocities against the Khmer people only thirty or so years ago....

I set off early to the Tuol Sleng Museum so that I could walk there and see the town instead of being shoved into a tuk tuk to be carted around and not seeing the town. I got a bit lost....not too off the the beaten path but walked through a few neighborhoods and had a stroll through a wedding. The locals got a kick out of that!

Fortunately for me I got to the prison just in time to watch the documentary about the place and learn about how people were treated. It was a horrible thing to see but it was necessary and educational! The prison itself is a converted school. People were brought here to stay until they were killed either on the grounds of the school or at the nearby killing fields.


The School/Prison


Where they kept the prisoners until taking them to the killing fields


A cell the size of a small, small closet


I overheard a tour guide telling his group that this was a spot of blood from that time.


I read the book, "First They Killed My Father" to help me understand more of what was going on during Pol Pot's reign, In the book it describes the lengths the ruling party went to in order to create a single identity. This picture is of a family wearing their "black pajamas" as the author described them. These were some of the very few lucky Cambodians that were able to stick together during the work camps, or so the picture description told.

The next stop was the infamous killing fields. The Khmer Rouge murdered somewhere between 1.4 to 2.5 million people. Some were executed and thrown into mass graves in locations such as these. Others were killed slowly through hard work, malnourishment and random assaults from party members. I really wish that there were guide services available for the sight. A constant annoyance to me was the need to hire an guide for the day versus just catching a tour at the sight itself, then there are few if any signs explaining what is there. I think I would have gotten much more out of it if I would have hired a guide.


My tuk tuk out to the fields


One of many many mass graves


A tree near one of the graves that still had clothing buried beneath it


Memorial for those who were killed


Offerings


The skulls of those who were excavated from the graves during the 80s


International Sympathy

Day 33 and 34 Buses.....more buses and wait. a bus?

I loved Vietnam. Met great people. Had a ton of fun! However, all good things must come to an end. So, 20 hours on two buses later I made it to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The trip was uneventful, again it is a bus.

There were some funny sights to be seen on the short ferry ride. Here are a few of the pictures I took from the bus.


Chickens en route to be family pets I am sure.


Pigs out for a comfortable drive.

Day 32 New Years on the Beach!

Today I didn't take my camera out. I been getting a lot of flack lately for having the biggest bag ever and the guys gave me some very minimal purse packing suggestions. So, I will have to wait for someone that had the camera with them to upload their pictures so I can steal them.

I couldn't think of a better place to be for New Years than at a big beach dance party! I was with great people and have a ton of fun! I hope all of you did to!