say wat: thailand to cambodia

(the rain and our unhappy stomachs have us holed up indoors in cambodia, so this post is a bit wordier than the last few. the good thing is you can just look at the pictures.)

we left railay at low tide, which meant josey and i, along with some other travelers and a local fire-throwing troupe, piled into the back of a tractor. it drove us out through sandy mangroves to waist-deep water where we could then pile into a waiting longtail boat. the longtail boat trip took just a few minutes, just enough to take us to even deeper water where the ferry boat to phuket was waiting. slightly dilapidated but totally charming, the ferry boat had a static-y tv playing asian women's volleyball, free tea and cookies (be still my heart), and the coming storm only rained -- poured -- for a few minutes so we could stand on the deck and marvel at the clouds.


longtail boats and storm clouds in railay.

the ferry to phuket. i was hepped up on free cookies at this point and this scene was very exciting.

storms!

the cheapest flight we could find into cambodia left from phuket had an overnight layover in singapore, which is very out of the way, but worth it to save some dough. we got off the boat in phuket and headed straight for the airport, where we hated ourselves a little bit for eating subway in the airport, hated ourselves a little bit more for totally loving it, and landed in singapore, where kelly was kind enough to put us up for the night. singapore is almost eerily clean and very expensive (they wanted $7.25 for a toothbrush! not a chance!) which was a shock, but it also has some of the best couches i've ever slept on. kelly, you and your sofa are heroes in my book.

we landed in phnom penh on sunday morning, then took a 6-hour bus ride to siem reap. the bus was equipped with a (barely) working dvd player, generating great personal excitement that was quickly extinguished when it became clear the only programming was very odd, very loud cambodian vaudeville variety shows. the monsoons have been causing a lot of flooding in cambodia lately and the road was a rather relaxing combination of deep potholes and giant puddles, but we made it to siem reap around 2:30am where a brave and lovely tuk tuk driver took us to a guesthouse for some sleep.

we waded out to dinner in siem reap.


neither rain nor floods nor weird stuff floating down the street stays this flower-seller from the old market.

next up was angkor wat and the other temples in the area, a short drive from siem reap. they're enormous and in various states of repair and disrepair. angkor wat is the largest and the best-preserved, while others have been almost totally overrun by the jungle. they were built in the 12th century and were first used by hindus, then by theravada buddhists. then apparently they filmed tomb raider there. by far the most phenomenal sites are the strangler fig and silk cotton trees growing through the stone.


inside angkor wat.


so much of the temples' surface area is carved with amazing detail. oh the things people did before tv!

the jungle taketh over.

rather than being cleared of the overgrowth, this temple, ta prohm, was left pretty much as it was found in the early 20th century, as a "concession to the general taste for the picturesque." someone french made that call, obvi.

artsy!

tomorrow we explore phnom penh and friday we head to vietnam. for now, we are exploring the world as we recuperate by watching the discovery channel (read: america's next top model) in our hostel and eating lots of pepto bismol. fingers crossed.

bangkok to railay

before we left bangkok on sunday night, kelly came up from singapore to hang with us in bangkok for the weekend. she got introduced to thai mosquitoes. apparently they spray some sort of insecticide all over singapore to kill the mosquitoes so she had been bite-free for a while, but that might explain her slurred speech and lack of balance. or maybe it was the beers on friday night.

i, for one, had a changover.

saturday we took a city bus to chatuchak market, open only on the weekend, where you can buy quite literally anything. vintage levi's (among a ton of vintage americana merchandise, t-shirts being immensely popular), housewares, foodstuffs, pets, and a trip to the bathroom (costs 2 bhat to use the can).

 costumed bunnies for sale.

also for sale: "cialis"

we set off for chinatown the next day, beating the traffic by taking a commuter boat. there are lots of them that go up and down the river, like a city bus on water, and they pull up to the dock and get people on and off with lightning speed. the whole process takes maybe a minute and a half. an overbearing german tourist tried to steer us in the wrong direction but we held strong to our plan and made it.

 pork buns are delicious the world over.

 those fish are somewhat alive.

 these flower charms are very common. again, i had to stop myself from buying flowers.

 chinatown!

 greenish yellow pomegranates.

 i love these two.

 boat ride so fun.

 and so cheap. 20 bhat!

 i was very taken with the orange and yellow motif.

that evening we set off for railay in the south of thailand. sleeper train! so fun! the food was actually awesome and after dinner this sweet dude comes around to make your bed for you. i slept like a baby.

 a veritable feast.

 the dude in bunk 39 caught my eye.

 good thing i looked so awesome. he bought me coffee in the morning.

after 22 hours of travel via train, bus, pickup truck and boat, we arrived in railay, explored some awesome beaches, met a dude who has a pet sea otter, climbed some rocks and swam to our hearts' content. we're heading out tomorrow for cambodia and i'm sad to say goodbye to this joint.

 the crabs make little sand balls for reasons yet unknown.

 then they organize their sand balls into awesome patterns.

 i think it's some sort of tourist gimmick.

 i set up shop on phra nang beach but no one was buying.

 got a little obsessed with the shells.

josey is an expert climber and very studious to boot.

 

we did some deep water solo climbing, where you just fall in the water if you eff up. our guide luang was one cool, sweet man.he gave me a seashell ring he found on the beach and advised me to take it off while i was climbing lest i break it.

until internet access becomes available again--

5:30's not so early

we made it! 13 hours in the air, a stop in taipei, another 3 hours (bridesmaids is a great movie, by the way), and we hit bangkok. the city is incredible, and we've come to terms with the temperature and our levels of sweatyness (both quite high). our days have been starting before sunrise because we've been having a hard time fighting the overwhelming tiredness that sets in about 6pm and the nagging awakeness that comes around 3am. i'm also pretty sure our bed is made of some sort of bamboo and cement epoxy, but we have good pillows and air conditioning and thai iced coffee so all is well.


josey loves traveling with me.

we rode to our hostel in a tuk tuk, a three-wheeled open-air car thing. i want one real bad.

 rest stop for water, snacks and beer.

 insomnia attacks. our street at 4:30am.


i wandered into this market, which was buzzing at the crack of dawn. i saw lots of crazy stuff.


eggs come in brown, white, and pink.

this was just sitting out on a table at the market. he looks like he's napping. i can't tell if that makes it more or less creepy.

 thankfully, he actually is napping, amid bags of kibbles and bits. life is good.

 wandering down the street we found mini pancakes! i'm inviting these folks to the next bishy's baby brunch.

 we went to some temples. this one is wat bensomethingoranother. there's a good story behind this temple trip, which i'll write up later.

 we also went to the grand palace, where the dress code is strict. josey wore his translucent t-shirt, which was a no-no. so embarrassing!

 

buddha just relaxing at wat pho.

in the words of the wise rafi ajl, most honorable pedicure.

the flower market was filled with orchids and i had to keep fighting the urge to buy stuff because who buys flowers when they're living out of a backpack but OH MY GOD these prices are so cheap! 20 baht is less than a dollar! (i am my father's daughter.)

kelly gets here today for the weekend! then we're off to krabi on sunday.