Angkor What?!
Our stay in Cambodia was very short because there is still so much of the world to see and so little time. Less than two months to go before the end of our "adventure of a lifetime"!
Our main goal was to visit Angkor Archeological Park. We spent one day checking out the sites of Siem Reap including Pub Street and the day market. We also went to the night market where I got a pedicure done by tiny little skin-eating fish. It tickled at first and I'm not gonna lie - I didn't notice much difference. Oh well, I've always wanted to try it.
Fish massage and pedicure
We wanted to see all the major sites of Angkor in one day so to get the most of it we joined a group tour. At $13 a person we had transportation in an air-conditioned bus, a guide and unlimited water which is much needed on a hot day. I would recommend this option as opposed to getting your own tuk-tuk. Firstly, it costs about the same. Second, drivers don't offer much information. Last, AIR-CONDITIONING!!
Angkor Wat
The temples did not disappoint! We checked out Bayon and Ta Prohm which is the famous "Lara Croft Tomb Raider" temple. Angkor Wat was saved for last where we watched the sunset over the magnificent temple.
Monks at Bayon
From Cambodia it was back to Bangkok. We took the opportunity to catch up on some shopping. MBK Mall is six solid floors of shopping goodness. You can buy anything and everything here. Of course, Koh San Road offers some great deals too. As a break, we went to the Royal Palace which was far more beautiful than expected. The temple is incredibly decorated with little mirrors that twinkle and dazzle in the sunlight.
Thai Royal Palace
That marked the end of the "Asia" portion of our trip. It was time to change gears and move on. Australia, here we come!
Pad Thai and beaching around
I don't know if it is getting harder to write this blog or our beach time in Thailand is just making me lazy.
Yeah, we are in Thailand. Our stay here started in Bangkok. We arrived just in time for the most important Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement. As we are far from family we decided to spend our fast with some fellow Jews. In this part of the the world most of the Jews that you will find are Israelis and loads of them. But all the sudden we heard English being spoken in the Beit Chabad. Coincidence brought us two Canadian Jews from Montreal (Shona and Ariel) to hang out with.
Our accommodation was greatly provided by an Israeli couchsurfer, Yuval. As we contacted him we understood that we will be hosted in his house. Well, it was sort of his house. His place is an abandoned whore house turned bar-hostel-long-term-living place, oh did I mentioned that it is a hot spot for the whole Hippie community of Bangkok? We didn't quite fit in, we just didn't have dreadlocks and marijuana chimney. It's a really cool scene if you are into that. For more info go to The Overstay website.
Rebecca pretending to be a rastafarian
Once the fast finished we were able to eat the delicious street food from the famous Kha San street. The pad thai and all the excellent fruit did it for us. To me in comparison with street food in India, Thailand has some hygienic standards.
As we discussed in a previous post (Plan to Plan) we rarely book hostel/hotel in advance and we never know what or where we will be the next day. Well, we were convinced by our new Canadian friends to follow them to a travel agency they knew and we ended up booking our lives for the next two weeks.
Do we regret it? Maybe a little but it's not too bad. Now we don't have to think too hard for the next couple of weeks.
Our first stop was at Koh Tao, a small island with some of the Top 10 diving sites in the world. We came specifically to this island to get certified in the PADI's Open Water course. This course consisted of in-class, confined and open water lessons. Yes, we pass with flying colors! Rebecca got a better mark than me on the written exam but no surprise there.
Rebecca getting ready to scuba
The dives were great. So many fish from every color and shape.
Our next island in our itinerary was Koh Pha-ngan. As planned we arrived there for the World famous Full Moon Party. Basically an excuse to party your ass off until the next day. As we learned later is that the whole week prior to the date there are multiple of other parties like the "Full Moon Warmup Party" to give you and example. In this island they sure like their parties. The even celebrate the Half Moon and Black Moon with a party in their honor.
Well for this party we were lucky to meet family friends. Yeah, we hang out with Tali, Einat and Michal Haymann. Our parents have known each other for the last three decades and we are always planning our next get together. The party preparations started by getting the whole crew all painted up with glow-in-the-dark colors. The whole beach is lined with bars playing different kinds of music. They compete against each other with drink specials and by seeing who can play the music louder. Everyone just goes crazy dancing on the beach. The rest of our days were spent recupperating by relaxing on the beach and eating lots of Pad Thai.
Kiss me baby!