Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Paradise!!

DAY 1 

(20 Hour Flights to Hanoi, Vietnam)

Taylor and I love to travel and wanted to go somewhere very different than we had experienced before. After some research and talking to a few people, we knew South East Asia was where we wanted to go,

Flying is not very enjoyable (unless you fly first class of course) and especially when one of your flights is 14 hours long. It was well worth it and I would do it all again for the experience we had.

 Upon our arrival, we grabbed a taxi for a 40 minute ride into central Hanoi, Vietnam where we were able to check into our hotel room. We were very worried when we pulled up to our hotel which seemed like a back ally. We were a little uncomfortable at first, but soon realized that was the way the whole city was. Once we walked in, the people greeted us and very accommodating. They gave us appetizers and drinks while we waited for our room to be ready (it was morning when we arrived). They also gave us suggestions on places to visit. We decided to take a couple hour nap before we braved the city and could regain some energy after the long flight.

 Oriental Central Hotel

 It was a gloomy day, but that didn't stop our sight seeing. We bought some ponchos and were whisked away in a tuk-tuk. Our first stop was one of many worship buildings and temples. We saw a bunch of turtles in buckets they wanted us to buy. I wasn't sure what they did with them, but we were told they are very sacred in their land. I was relieved they keep them as pets rather than eat them.

 Taylor and me in our Tuk-Tuk. 

 The first thing that caught our eye in the city was how many scooters and motorcycles there were! We were told that cars are at least double, if not triple, what we can buy one for in the United States. We saw entire families balancing on one small scooter. It was incredible. They honor very few traffic laws as well. There a little horns honking all of the time, just letting you know they are there or passing you.

 We loved the fresh food they served. There were markets all over and fruit and vegetable stands like this on every corner.

We found a catholic church (which is apparently rare there) and sat down to listen to the praises and singing. It was beautiful! I felt like it was back in Europe for a moment. We then went to eat an incredible 5 course meal for $20 and gave a tip. They were not sure what we were trying to do, but we insisted they keep it. I think it brightened their day.

DAY 2

(Hoa Lu, Tam Coc, Temple seeing, boat ride, bike ride)

Breakfast is served. We loved the food in Vietnam. They always served each meal with fresh fruits and vegetables. We never experienced anything that would have been frozen and heated up in a microwave... Clean eating!

We really liked the Rambutans we found at each meal, Taylor enjoyed them a little more than me I guess...

Our hotel conierge recommended a day tour to Hoa Lu and Tam Coc. The tour bus picked us up from our hotel and we were off. We loved the variety of beautiful architecture here.

One of the things that Taylor and I found everywhere we went was that everything was very random. He snapped the above picture just to get the scenery and when he looked a little closer he saw he had captured an odd shaped cement scooter, 3 wheeler whizzing by the opposite direction. The people really make things function and work for them. They are not wasteful at all.

Hoa Lu was the capital of Vietnam in the 10th and 11th centuries. We were able to tour the temples of King Dinh and King Le. The temples and surrounding buildings were beautiful. Each temple has a large concrete block you have to step over in order to enter the surrounding areas. This is said to keep evil spirits out. They said they don't believe they have knees to step or climb over objects so it keeps them out of the temples.

Once again, random... A water buffalo on the side of the road all dressed up.

Because cars and trucks are so rare, the people pile as much as they can on their scooters. We were amazed at what they could stack on a scooter and still ride. This woman looked like she sold merchandise in a small store or a street vendor.

We then were able to visit Tam Coc Wharf. We had a great Vietnamese lunch then we walked over to the little boat harbor to have a relaxing Sampan boat trip through the rice fields and caves. We have never seen anything like it. It was amazing.

There are mostly woman paddling the boats and usually rowing with their feet.

This particular area on the mountain was the location where the newest King Kong was filmed. They had to stop working for a few days while they captured the shots they needed.

The rowing definitely looks easier than it really is. Our cute tour guide let us both try rowing the boat. I took us in a full circle before giving up. Taylor was a little better and took us a few yards down the river.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was a bike ride around the country side. It was picturesque and we were able to really see how the people lived outside of the tourist attractions. It was definitely a humbling experience.

After the tour, we headed back to Hanoi. We were exhausted, but because it was our last night there, we decided to walk the streets and visit the night market. They had some great food and fun souvenirs were were able to find.

DAY 3

(Hanoi City Tour, Fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia)

We had a few hours to tour before we needed to head to the airport. So we hired a Tuk-Tuk and he took us around the city for a tour.

Once again, this bike had all sorts of glass dishes balancing on each side. She wasn't able to ride it, so she just pushed it through the streets.

We were impressed with their electrical and power lines. This would have never passed any codes in the US. It certainly works for them.

This was our last meal in Vietnam. We couldn't resist taking a picture of the beautiful arrangement and colors they would serve.

After a short hour long flight, we were in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Our resort was incredible and the staff was very accommodating. We decided to spend the evening at the hotel, relax, eat dinner and have a massage. It was a little rougher than I like, and was sore over the next couple of days.

DAY 4

(Koh Ker Temple Tour, Cambodia)

We took a tour to the Koh Ker temple. It isn't a very popular tour due to the time it takes to get there. It was about a two hour drive to the temple itself, but well worth it. We were able to see a lot of the countryside and how they live during our long drive. Most of the houses are on stilts there. This is to prevent flooding during the rainy season. We were there during the dry months. It was extremely hot and humid. They mentioned it is always hot there. There are no cooler months, just wet and dry months.

Random!

We passed a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints building.

We noticed how detailed their architecture was. It's amazing what they could do and make by hand.

Koh Ker was the location of the capitol of Angkor for a short period of time (928-944 AD). It was moved here and built by 2 kings. It was quickly built with about 40 surrounding structures only to be left desolate and the capitol to be moved back to its original destination up North. One piece of information we found astounding is that they have never had an earthquake here. The tour guide mentioned if there ever is a quake, the rocks and buildings are only stacked upon one another and will collapse.

Taylor couldn't resist a picture of the lizard.

We saw several children playing on the rocks. Many without shirts or shoes. We had a few snacks and treats in our bag that Taylor got out and shared with the local children.

Our tour guide stopped along our travel back to Siem Reap at several temple sites. This particular site, we were not able to get any closer. He mentioned they had placed land mines all over many of the temple sites back during their revolutionary war during the 1960's and 70's. They had not cleaned up all of the sites yet and they continue to find them to this day.

It was amazing to see how the trees would grow on and around the temple sites.

After a long day touring, we cleaned up and went to an authentic Cambodian Dinner.

Day 5
(Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom - Siem Reap, Cambodia)

We didn't have much time the next day before we had to go to the airport for our next excursion. So we woke up bright and early to go witness the sunrise over Angkor Wat. It was full of tourists, but well worth the wait. It is an incredible place.

We hired a tour guide at the entrance who was able to give us the background and history behind Angkor Wat. It is considered the largest religious monument in the world.  It was originally build as a Hindu temple, but soon converted to Buddhist.  The temple only took 37 years to build!! It took 300,000 workers and 6000 elephants to construct the temple. They were able to move the 1.5 ton pieces of stone down canals.

It continues to be a place of worship.

We were unable to visit the 3rd floor at the top due to it being the one day of the month they hold special religious meetings.

Fresh coconut drink.

We then traveled a short distance to Angkor Thom established in the late 12th century. It was known to support a population of about 80,000-150,000.

The trees were amazing. They would grow so tall and many of their roots exposed and growing over rocks and buildings.

Random! (Full chickens roasting at the airport)

We took about an hour flight to Bangkok. We had reservations to a night show and decided to take a quick boat ride around some of the surrounding waters of Bangkok. We, unfortunately, got stuck with the "slow boat" and didn't have time to finish the tour. But it was fun to see the surrounding buildings and architecture along the river.

We made is just in time for our dinner and night show called Siam Niramit. It was an amazing show on an extremely large stage. Unfortunately, they would not allow pictures or cameras inside the show. It was based on Thailands history and culture. There were elephants and animals on stage as well as a river.

DAY 6
(Bangkok, Thailand)

We decided to take the next day to just tour the city. It was incredible to see the amount of temples and worship houses they had. They were all amazing!

Wat Saket temple

Crazy Tuk-Tuk ride through Bangkok

Wat Pho started construction in the 17th and 18th century. They kept building new temples and sanctuaries. Once again, the architecture and detail is incredible. It was a very hot and humid day the day we visited. There are very few places to cool down.

There were hundreds of yards of hand painted walls around the site.

We then walked over to the Grand Palace to tour the grounds. It is still a functional building, so we weren't able to go inside.

After a long day of touring, we cleaned up and went out on the town and found a Hard Rock Cafe. It was such a fun environment and the live band played all sorts of iconic American songs. They let us request a song. Of course it was "Don't stop believing" by Journey. They did an amazing job!

DAY 7/8

(Phuket Thailand)

It was a completely different experience in Phuket compared to the rest of our trip. It was much more touristy and expensive. We lounged around our private villa with a pool and the beach the first day.

We took an hour boat ride to tour the the Similan Islands. The water was an incredible blue color and clear to snorkel in. Taylor saw a sea turtle.  Unfortunately, I wasn't in the water yet.

So glad we don't have this size of a beetle in Utah!!!

Enjoying the sunset on the last night of our trip from our resort!

We wanted to experience at least one market in Phuket and we definetly found a good one. There were isles and isles of food, souvenirs and merchandise. It was a great way to end an incredible trip!