Angkor wat, Cambodia (aka:longest post ever)

After Malaysia I flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia to visit the largest religious temple (complex) on earth, Angkor Wat! Its so large and spread out that I needed (at least) a three day pass just to see the main temples. I traveled by good ole fashion bicycle my first and third day and hired a moto driver for the day in between so that I wouldnt kill myself in the heat biking to the outlying temples. I've only put up pictures of my favorite temples so to try and not bore everyone so i hope you enjoy......

this is a map of the main temples of Angkor...there are so many more outlying temples in a 10km radius around the main complex but I stayed mostly in this main area and only went to a few outlying temples (ie:womens temple)

my first view of the famous Angkor wat temple (most of the temples were built between the 9th and 15th centuries, so all of them have similar architectural features but have some unique features depending on which period they were built)

this is probably my favorite picture...it is a great illustration of a typical scene at Angkor wat

part of the bas reliefs that run along the whole lower level of Angkor wat temple. they are intricate rock carvings that illustrate different wars with the gods and important stories of the Khmer civilization.

a typical buddist shrine in almost every temple

Ta Prohm temple, one of the few temples that the govt is not restoring bc it illustrates how most of the temples were found after being "forgotten" for thousands of years. the silk trees are actually ruining the temple bc they grow under and between the huge rock blocks and topple the structure.

the enormous silk trees over taking Ta Prohm

inside Ta Prohm temple (just trying to change up the "normal" picture poses)

Ta Prohm temple


one of the numerous ladies that care for the buddist shrines in all of the temple, i paid tribute to the dead by lighting an incense and she tied a red piece of yarn around my "right"wrist (the left hand is considered dirty(used in toileting only)...sorry lefties!) for good luck.

atop the highest temple in Angkor, watching the tourist ride the elephants to the top of the hill.

this is a must see/do while visiting Angkor, go to Angkor wat for the sunrise. so i dragged myself out of bed at 5am to rush to the temple along with thousands of other people to see the sunrise over the ancient temple.

while i was trying to plan my next course of action after the sunrise, a lady came up to me while i was sitting on this temple and said that she just took my picture bc it was the typical traveler's pose (sitting in a corner reading a book, trying to find their way) so she offered to take the same picture with my camera...this is pretty much what i did throughout my tour of Angkor, find a quiet shady spot to read about where i was and to try to figure out where i was going.

entrance to the woman's temple....it wasnt as large as the other temples but the carvings were much more detailed and preserved. I couldnt stop admiring the craftsmanship! it was one of the only temples that had barriers stopping people from touching and walking on certain parts of the temple.

women's temple


women's temple

the women's temple

bridge over the moat of Angkor Thom, the tuk tuk in the pic is the preferred method of travel for tourist viewing the temples.

my favorite temple, the Bayon temple. It had so many different tunnels and corridors and the huge faces throughout the temple made it stand out from all the temples of Angkor. I had my fortune told by a Cambodian monk inside...he kept emphasizing that I was going to have a good marriage and was going to be very wealthy and make millions...my response to that was, "you probably tell everyone that!" but he insisted otherwise so i guess we will see...hahaha

a resting (probably korean) tourist...it was funny to see these tourist wearing the cone hats, they looked so out of place!

i was constantly amazed at how intricate the stone carvings were in all of the temples...it must of taken ages to carve such detail.

inside the Bayon temple, near a buddist shrine

one of the dozen enormous faces throughout the temple

inside the Bayon temple

Bayon temple, if you look closely all the large faces have different expressions

Bayon temple

Bayon temple, buddist shrine

begging children, arent they so cute? i wanted to buy something from all of them...


Baphuon temple, inside Angkor Thom

walkway to Baphuon temple

Elephant terrace inside Angkor Thom

"my world" for two (out of three) days....a mountain bike and Cambodian mango served in a plastic bag (scrumptious!)

cameron highlands

Since I had to wait 4 days for the "express" visa at the vietnam embassy I decided to get out of KL and head north to a place that was highly recommended, Cameron Highlands. From only being 4 hours away from KL it was like entering into another world. First off the temperature dropped from 30+degrees(90 degrees F) to 20degrees (70 degrees Fahrenheit). I was so not prepared for the cold nights too (around 60 or so degrees) but it was a refreshing contrast to the heat I have been enduring for the past 2 months. The drive up to the highlands took us on a windy 2 lane mountain road with (what I would later find out) more than 600 curves. The views were breathtaking and the quaint little mountain town was a relief from KL.

On my first full day a few guys and i decide to hire a guide to take us through the jungle. we climbed up two mountains which was a feat for all my smoker companions. but the views were worth it! and it helped that the temperature was a lot cooler in the highlands.

view of a tea plantation atop the first mountain we climbed

view from the top of the second mountain we climbed during our jungle trek

farm fields in the only Malaysian village in the cameron highlands

a Malay village, they are not bound to regular Malaysian laws

waterfall at the end of our jungle hike...you cant see it here but it is very polluted. the locals try to clean it up but right after the clean up its polluted with trash in less than a month.

this was my guide through the jungle, Bob, the jungle junkie. (the name not only comes from his obsession for the jungle but i guess a while back he used to be an actual junkie, which can be seen during his jungle tours as he pointed out pretty much every plant that get you high and believe me, there are a lot of them in the Malaysian jungle!)

on my second day in the Cameron Highlands, Sebastian, a swiss, (who was staying at the same guesthouse as me) and i decided to go and check out the tea plantations. the local bus dropped us 2 km from the tea plantation (restaurant/factory) but the walk was well worth it. the views of the tea plants on the rolling hills was spectacular and warranted a new photo opportunity at every bend in the road. The BOH tea plantation was interesting and we got to tour the factory on the premises and see how the tea making process works.

another view of the plantation

yet another great view of the plantation

this is the view from the restaurant at BOH tea plantation. I sampled some mango tea and had a strawberry tart (strawberries grow really well in the Cameron highlands and are abundant)

closer view of the tea plantations, i just love how the rows of tea plants look on the hillside

a tea tester at the BOH factoy

Kuala Lumpur X2

I took the overnight train from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur (KL), Maylasia and arrived early in the morning. I took the monorail into the city from the train station and headed for Chinatown, here I heard was the place for cheap guesthouses (i have long dismissed the idea of using guidebooks since the lonley planet I bought for NZ and Oz was a waste, instead opting for word of mouth and the free maps/literature upon arrival at each destination). I met a girl from Germany, at the first hostel i checked out. we decided to share a room and headed out to look at the hotels to share a cleaner/less sketchy room. we ended up in a dorm to ourselves (3 beds...thats a luxury for a dorm) at the Chinatown Hotel (2), for $20 ringgit ($6) which was ok considering it was maylasia. I headed out to the city to explore and to find the Vietnam embassy for my visa. I quickly learned that KL did not take after the grid like cities of the US with intersecting roads but had roads winding everywhich way and sans alleys connecting the roads between buildings. It took forever to get around and their public transportation (subway and monorail) seems to never get romotely close to any of the major sights. So I relied on my two feet and a terrible map with childlike drawings to help me navigate my way around the city in the tremendous heat and humidity.

view of a monorail station

the most notorious symbol of Kuala Lumpur, the twin towers. they used to be the tallest towers in the world but not anymore. you can go on the sky bridge for free but people queue at 6am for a ticket everyday and they are sold out in an hour so because i was only in KL for 2 days (one of the days the tower bridge was closed) I didnt get the opportunity to go on the bridge and see the view.

a decked-out tuk tuk......imaging riding around chicago in that? haha

a view of the "supreme court building" near the nation's mall in the center of KL

during my second trip to KL, Stuart (aussie I met on the bus from Cameron Highlands to KL) asked if I wanted to join him and a family friend for a drink later that night. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, i thought we were meeting a 20 something old at a hole in the wall bar but I was so wrong. Unbeknowing to me, Sunny(our 50+ yr old host) was one of the wealthier residents of KL. He showed me a side of KL I otherwise would have not seen. I learned that Stuarts parents and Sunny had both attended Cornell University to complete their PHd's. He first took us to the oldest English club in KL (I think its like 200 or so years old), where we sipped english style gin and tonics. They just recently started allowing women in the club-women are still not allowed to go to the bar, so because of me we had to sit out in the veranda (the boys gave me shit for that all night!) The club was right in the middle of town near (what we would call) the supreme courts and the nation's "mall" (lawn). He then drove us in his Audi to another club he was a member at. This club was more family friendly and was a mix between a country club and fitness club with restaurants, movie theaters, spas, swimming pools, tennis courts, and squash courts. We had a couple of drinks in the bar while a Malay women tried poorly to sing english songs. All in all it was a great spontaneous night out and a great way to see the more wealthier side of Malaysia and hang out with them.

I found that Malaysia seemed wealthier than its neighbor Thailand but not as well off as Singapore. There were places in KL that were poor like Thailand but then there were very wealthy areas, like for instance....this mall (ironicly called Times Square) that had an amusment park inside and 10 levels of shopping.

I just thought this was funny/interesting concept...."McDelivery"- imagine if the US had this? (would we be an even fatter nation?) haha Another interesting thing about McDonalds is that the menu changes in every country...(i should have taken a pic of the menus in each country..oh well too late) for example there is a McCafe/deli in Australia which also serves pasta on its menu and in Malaysia they serve these pita like sandwiches with rice cakes inside and they also have "rice burgers" (burgers between rice cakes instead of buns) hmmmm, interesting!