Siem Reap & Angkor Wat

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Kyle here -- We spent 5 days in Siem Reap, the city closest to the temples at Angkor (So many damn temples!) Essentially, Katy made me wake up at 4 fucking am on a vacation to see sunrise over Ankor Wat, on a fucking morning with fog/pollution so thick we couldn’t fucking see the sunrise. Yeah, we saw Angkor Wat and all of the surrounding temples, including the one featured in the movie ‘Tomb Raider’. It was fascinating, but without extensive knowledge of the history it was difficult to understand the context of the temples due to limited information. Also, and not to appear xenophobic or hateful -- just reporting the facts, people -- but every Chinese tourist needed at least 20 selfies and/or instagram photos in bottle-neck locations.

We also went to a museum where Khmer Rouge-planted mine fields once existed. This was a fascinating/morbid museum full of artifacts and descriptions of the war. One main display revolved around how ‘secret’ US bombings in Cambodia led to increased Khmer Rouge recruitment of soldiers. Also surprising was the fact that more bombs were dropped in Cambodia than in Vietnam during the war. If interested see- http://www.warmuseumcambodia.com/

Katy again — Our first night in Siem Reap we happened to overlap with Brian, Kate, and Brianna Clark on their final night in town. How strange to run into familiar faces we haven’t seen in ages halfway around the world! We met up for an amazing meal at Haven, a training restaurant for local youth and then cocktails at Miss Wong’s.

A few other highlights: a street food tour our last night. A little pricey but we got to eat foods we’d be too scared to try otherwise (or unable to figure out). Cheap massages and spas were all over the place as in Thailand but special to Siem Reap was the fish pedicure (“Dr. Fish”). For $3 you can put your feet into a tank full of fish who will eat the dead skin from your toes and heels. I asked the attendant how long our $3 lasted and he replied, “as long as you want.” We didn’t stay long enough to emerge with smooth feet partly because it was so strange a sensation but also because a small fire broke out around the corner — due to poor wiring that’s common in the city — and we had to join the crowd gawking as it was put out.

Ko Phi Phi

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After Ko Lanta, we took a ferry to Ko Phi Phi for 3 nights. We’d heard this island was more crowded than Ko Lanta but was even more beautiful — The Beach and a James Bond movie were filmed here, and the landscape is covered in limestone karst peaks iconic to the Thai islands. We found a hotel on a quieter side of the island with spectacular views of the ocean. It was a little isolated but within walking distance to a small village with a few restaurants, massage spots and a beach.

While Kyle took a diving trip, I spent the day at a cooking class in Tonsai town and learned to make the best pad thai I’ve ever had along with tom ka gai soup and green curry.

Kyle says:

Built for Leonardi Di Caprio; made for Kyle and Katy. “The Beach” was filmed on the island to the right of Ko Phi Phi (Ko Phi Phi Leh) and I ended up diving around the “Beach” island. Not too impressive in terms of diving as the waters were a little murky from the full moon tides, but I did see a large turtle as well as normal stuff one might see in coral. Perhaps the most striking place on this island, though, was the eerie beach and resort ruins that were destroyed by a 30ft series of tsunami waves in 2004.

Ko Lanta

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After our trekking in Laos (and all the transportation it took to get there), we were ready for some beach time. Instead of saving the Thai islands for last we decided to move it up in our itinerary. First we spent 4 nights in Ko Lanta, chosen because of its relatively smaller crowds.

Getting there was interesting. We had planned to take a ferry from Krabi, but a travel agent convinced us to save a few dollars (literally, $4) and take a minivan, which had more departures and meant we wouldn't have to wait several hours for one of the two ferries that day. Though we were the first to board a spacious air-conditioned van, it did not stay spacious or cool for long. Over the next hour we picked up more passengers and luggage than I thought was possible to fit. When it seemed we were full, we pulled up at the airport arrival curb where a jet-lagged backpacker couple stared into the van wondering if there was a mistake. Those of us already inside glared back, but somehow two more seats materialized.

We spent our first night at a pleasantly rustic hotel on the beach and enjoyed the best sunset of the whole trip here. The beach was rocky though and the hotel in a noisier, party scene area (we saw signs for body painting, mushroom shakes and buckets of liquor), so we decided to explore the island to find a quieter, more serene beach.

The best way to get around Ko Lanta is by motorbike. Our hotel rented one to us for the day and we zipped around the island in search of our perfect spot. (Kyle drove, I rode on the back and we were relieved at the end of the day to have stayed upright and on the correct side of the road.) Towards the south end of the island we found a quiet, sandy beach and after inquiring at a couple hotels, booked a lovely cabana for 3 nights that we would never be able to afford in most other parts of the world.

We signed up for a boat trip that would take us to two snorkeling sites and a hidden beach that we would have to swim 50 meters through a cave to get to. The water was clear and warm, we saw some colorful schools of fish, and we were treated to a delicious Thai buffet lunch on the beach.