I spent the last two weeks in Bangkok, Cambodia (Siem Reap, Phnomh Penh), and Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Mekong Delta, Phu Quoc, Hanoi, and Halong Bay). It was an amazing trip packed with adventure, intrigue, romance, scandal, serenity, conflict, sun rash, giddy gastronomy, cultural faux pas... overall a very rough intro to the complex and fascinating peoples of Southeast Asia. Below are the highlights (and lowlights) of my brief time in Southeast Asia this winter:- Sitting on the street with Brendan at 1AM after my 24+ hour journey having street cart pad thai, fried chicken, beer, and watching large white men "accompanied" by petite, scantily clad, overly made-up (yet still very gorgeous) Thai women (or ladyboys) in Bangkok.
- Getting a foot massage on Khao San Road in Bangkok. Talking to the women massaging my disgusting feet about her village and whatever else she could understand in English. She was amused by me and laughed hysterically (I think they are conditioned to do this around Westerners).
- Laughing at Brendan slam into the side of a parked car while trying to do a bunny hop on his bike during our bike tour. Unluckily for him, that car was the only one on the entire street with a driver in it... who chased us down 10+ blocks via motorbike, to tell us there's a scratch and we needed to pay the $48 to repair it.
- Taking a 3rd class train 6+ hrs to cross the Thai countryside into Cambodia. Meeting hot Norwegian girls on the train. Waiting more than an hour in the scorching sun to cross the border. Thinking I was going to be sold into slavery when the taxi drivers at the border were yelling at each other instead of driving us the remaining 3 hours to Siem Reap. Jumping into the pool at our awesome boutique hotel (Viroth's) after our 12 hour journey.
- Angkor Temple complex. Bayun temple (the one with the Buddha faces) was the tits.
- Night out in Siem Reap... awesome backpackers pub street. Partying with the hot Norwegians at Angkor What?
- Meeting the 2 lone survivors of the 7 people that weren't killed in the S-21 Prison in Phnomh Penh (out of the 20,000 that were placed there... most of whom were imprisoned for "being too advanced" for Pol Pot's vision of a pure Agrarian communist society). Lily cried. I would have too if I weren't dead inside. It was a bit off-putting/sad that they were selling their books there to tourists though...
- Skulls stacked on top of each other 30 meters high in the killing fields.
- Ho Chi Minh City... Motorbikes, motorbikes, and more motorbikes.
- The coconut shrimp on the Mekong cruise. Simple, yet probably my favorite food on the trip.
- Squeezing through the incredibly tight coochy tunnels while holding my Dong. (Coochee Tunnels = tunnels Viet Cong used to execute guerilla warfare tactics in the Vietnam War; Dong = Vietnamese currency... what were you thinking I meant?)
- Constant immature Dong jokes.
- In Phu Quoc, karaoking Sweet Caroline with Matt while the cheesy Pinoy girl group took on the role of our back-up dancers... Cute little French girl came and joined us on stage. Pretty epic karaoke experience. Also... skinny dipping later that night.
- Taking motorbikes around the gorgeous island of Phu Quoc and seeing an amazing white sand beach on the other end of the island.
- My neck literally getting fried by possibly the most brutal sun I've ever experienced (In January, in the northern hemisphere).
- Hanging out with Tan's family on the night of New Years. Karaoking with the family, playing Angry Birds with the kids, listening to the grandfather's war stories (he was Viet Cong), scrumptious food, visiting the priest's family and having rice wine with them, presenting the kids with the little red lucky envelopes with money and seeing their eyes brighten.
- Biking through the rice paddies in Tan's village.
- Kayaking in Halong Bay
- Frantically looking for Pho on the streets of Hanoi (it was Tet and everything was dead)... Finally found a little cart with an old woman serving Pho... and it was everything I had hoped for and more.
