12/28/09 - Cambodia II

Day 2 in Cambodia...

Enjoying breakfast at the hotel for heading out for a long day of sightseeing and fun.

On the way to the lake we passed some really rural towns

We headed to this huge lake and took a boat ride out onto it

The lake is actually home to a ton of people! They live on the lake in boat houses and make a living by fishing at night.

Lake house

We stopped at a place where they harvest crocodiles and sell them to restaurants - there was a souvenir shop and restaurant there and a woman sitting on a bench holding a live snake which she let me hold. I've never held a snake before - it felt really bony which I wasn't expecting.

Lake village

Running errands

Remember when you were 8 years old growing up on the lake and it was 85 degrees in the "cold season" and you would play in a boat you made for yourself out of a bucket? Fun! :)

Cambodian kids were so cute and friendly!

Baby on board...

The school the lake kids attend - it moves around as they do during the rainy season when the water rises.

She didn't seem thrilled that I took her picture

After the lake we went to a place where deaf and mute people do stone and wood carving by hand. It's incredible.

Work in progress

Restaurant for lunch - seriously nothing beats eating curry out in the open

After lunch we went back to the hotel for a couple hours so we sat by the pool - this is the terrace outside our room.

The beautiful pool!

After the pool we got cleaned up and then headed to the poolside bar for a pre-hiking drink

Then we headed up this mountain to a temple at the top where there were elephants and an incredible sunset.

Temple on a mountain (12th century I believe)

Beginning of the sunset

Breathtaking

Back in the city for dinner and some Cambodian beer and (can you guess?) more curry!

Curry, fish, and noodles. Amazing. This meal, including the beer cost $4. And it doesn't get much fresher than this as that fish is from the lake we took the boat trip on earlier!

Nothing beats a full-body massage at a spa after a day of sightseeing. Did I mention the massage was an hour long and cost $6?

to be continued....

12/27/08 - Cambodia

Our trip day 1....

Here we are all excited at the airport in Korea, waiting for our flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia (we had a brief stopover in Hanoi, Vietnam on the way).

Outside the pretty airport in Siem Reap - 75 and sunny!

Inside the airport (how many airport have you been to that have a disco ball?)

The Angkor Hotel - where we stayed for 3 nights

Our bags being taken to our room - the hotel was really nice and the breakfast every morning was amazing!

All freshened up and ready for our first night out in Cambodia!

There were 2 options for transportation at night - on the back of a motorbike for about $1 or in a tuk-tuk for about $2. Either way we were guaranteed a hair-raising ride, which inevitably involved driving into oncoming traffic for extended periods of time (see the photo). A tuk-tuk, by the way, if you don't remember from my Thailand trip, is a cart with seats pulled by a motorbike. It's a great way to ride!

Us in the tuk-tuk

Motorbike traffic - everyone rides a motorbike, and you usually see more than one person on them, often entire families of 4 or 5 including little babies.

Enjoying one of the best parts of traveling in Southeast asia - eating amazing curry outside!

My travel buddy and great friend Tabi (from Toronto)!

first restaurant we went to in Cambodia

one of many incredible dinners - Cambodian curry a.k.a "Amok"

Another delicacy, this one a bit less appetizing to me - cockroaches for eating!

Shopping at the night market which was full of scarfs, art, souvenirs and handmade crafts

sorry!

I will blog soon about my amazing trip but I'm working 10 hours a day right now and haven't yet found time to blog since I've been back! Soon...

Christmas in Korea

Well it's CHRISTMAS EVE but it doesn't feel like it yet because I'm STILL AT WORK at 8pm!! Aaah!! Oh well, it's been a fun day, the students are so excited about Christmas and I wore a Santa hat to all my classes which they thought was hilarious. Also it's test day so it isn't a very demanding day of work. Still I would much rather be in NJ, heading off to my uncle's house or heading to church with my family! Having had Christmas a bit early while I was home in NJ I thought I'd try to keep my head down once 12/25 came around. I figured if I didn't really focus on the holiday I wouldn't be as homesick. Turns out it's next to impossible to let Christmas go by unnoticed, even in Korea. So about 30 minutes into today I decided to abandon that plan and get totally excited about Christmas even though I'm not spending it the way I'd like to be. So in an hour I finish work, put on the most Christmas-y outfit I can find and head out with my friends to a Korean private singing room to sing Christmas songs all night! Not too late though because for our Christmas dinner tomorrow I'm in charge of the turkey, the (from scratch) stuffing and the dip for veggies. We already had a cookie making/decorating night so those are all done and ready to be consumed with gusto!

Then on Friday it's Get-ready-to-go-to-Cambodia-and-Vietnam-because-I-have-not-put-any-thought-into-this-trip-at-all-since-booking-it-and-I-haven't-even-started-to-think-about-packing Day!! Wooohoo and I leave on Saturday!!!

Classroom Photography