Goodbye Cambodia

Today I arrived back in Bangkok after a wonderful 5 days in Siem Reap. As I mentioned before we stayed at Smiley's Guest house which was sublime! A huge room with a balcony that overlooked Terra Cotta roof tops and a great view of the sunset. Every morning we were able to indulge in home made bread, coffee, and fresh fruit and eggs for a measly $2.50 each.

The best part about visiting Siem Reap, was biking around Angor Wat. Angor Wat is a massive explosion of temples from the 1100's. It is where Tomb Raider was filmed and has a very unique construction compared to other ruins of the time. So, we jumped on some mountain bikes and traveled down the dirt roads until we came across the beautiful Angor Wat. Words can not describe the intensity of coming across this site in person. The view of it is something between a fairy tale and a strange surrealist painting. There were carvings on the majority of every wall, small shrines in every door way, endless hallways and more things to look at than seemed possible.

(Brief background knowledge: Angkor Wat (or Angkor Vat), is a temple complex at Angor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation—first Hindu, dedicated to Vishnu, then Buddhist. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors. ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat

So, after the initial astonishment of coming up to a temple like this, we parked our bikes and went inside. Every wall, every door way, every pillar has super detailed carvings on it. One of the most popular themes were smiling dancing, or sitting woman. This struck me because they were... all smiling. Every carving had details beyond explanation and expressions that told of pure happiness. Each had a detailed outfit and were put in different positions, sitting, standing, or dancing.

The corridors had war themes that were just as detailed but even more astonishing due to not having weathered as much. The walls told stories of wars with fighting elephants and monkeys and had so much detail that I could entertain myself by staring at one spot for an hour... if I had that kind of time... Every inch of these temples were thought through, every inch stood for something and had a purpose. Not only the construction of the temples was amazing but the carving upon them was just as prolific.

We biked around the temples for 2 days and on the third we woke up at 5am and rode a tok-tok to see the sunrise. It was a crazy eerie feeling walking up to this monstrosity in the dark... and we forgot our flashlights. So, we kept close to people who had thought ahead, and stepped into the temple. We followed the crowd to the other side of a court yard and by sun up, there must have been at least 300 people standing to see it. What can I say, it was Beautiful!

Then, we took our tok-tok to see the temple from "Tomb Raider" and quickly took our pictures and did some exploring before the crowds from the sunrise got to it. After, we headed back to town, had breakfast and went back to bed.

Nothing could have made these past 3 days better. It was a sublime experience. Riding around the streets of Seim Reap with the locals. Eating like a king, and exploring a fairy tale temple that few get to see in a life time. I wouldn't change a thing. Life is beautiful!

Now, I am back in Bangkok for the night and tomorrow we will board an overnight bus to Phuket. There, we will spend one night and head out to the islands for the next 2 weeks.

Side note:

There are people traveling here from across the entire world. Young and old, all shapes and sizes. It is an amazing thing to be around such diversity. We saw tour groups of people in their 50-70's from France, Germany, and England... families from Eastern Europe, Belgium, and Austria... and travelers from everywhere you could imagine. It's a life changing experience that you can't get from reading a book... I am blessed to have this opportunity.

It's all worth it now! (Thailand and Cambodia vacation days 1-5)

Before I even arrived in Korea I had a magical trip to Thailand and Cambodia planned. No matter how bad, how frustrated, how annoyed, or how sick of the food I became these last 5 months, I just continued thinking about my winter vacation. The best perk of this job, aside from not paying rent, free plane tickets, and a life in another country is the chunk of time between January 12th and March 2 that is a paid vacation. So, here I am, in Siem Reap, Cambodia getting paid to see temples, eat amazing food, and relax. Life is good.

I arrived in Bangkok on Sunday after a 5 1/2 hour flight. I was planning on sleeping but was seated next to a very chatty Aussie who talked extensively about his life in Thailand the entire length of the trip. The flight was smooth and I got off, met up with Jared, and was whisked way to our very clean and comfortable Guest house in the heart of Bangkok (Khao San). We grabbed a quick chicken kabob and strolled the busy streets.

The next day we leisurely woke up, got a delicious breakfast and walked around. We made our way to the Royal Palace but could not go in due to a ceremony. The king of Thailand is an amazing leader who is loved by the people and keeps his head out of the real politics of the country. He deals with non-profits and other things for the Thai people. No one would dare say a bad word about him and Thai's will go out of their way to tell you how wonderful he is. His photo is everywhere. We found our way into a massive temple area called Wat Pho where there is a giant reclining Buddha. The Buddha was so massive that a photo does not do it justice. It is 46 meters long and 15 meters high, and is completely gold plated. The pose of the reclining Buddha is to show the him passing into nirvana. The feet and the eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration, and the feet also show the 108 characteristics of the true Buddha.
The mass of this sculpture was aw inspiring and there was no detail left untouched or without purpose.

The next day we left for Cambodia. We boarded an 11:00am bus that took us to the Thai/ Cambodia border. It was a very slow ride that gave us the opportunity to see the Thai country side and the small towns outside the city. We arrived at the boarder, got a "tok-tok" (a motorcycle with 2 seats in the back like a carriage) and headed for the boarder to get our visas. Here, we met up with a French couple who was going our way and decided to share the 3 hour taxi ride. Next we walked across the boarder into Piopet Cambodia, which is like a Tijuana, Mexico... it's fun to walk across the boarder, but once you're there you want to get out as soon as possible. So, we got a taxi through a headache of bartering and communication issues and we were off on a very bumpy, dusty, adventure through the Cambodian countryside.

The vast majority of cars here in Cambodia are Toyotas. The roads are mostly dirt, and it is surprising that after a 3 hour car ride the car doesn't stop and just fall into pieces. Of the three hours, there was probably 30 min of smooth pavement. Not only were the roads dirt, but also under construction and there were stretches that seemed to be made out of huge rocks laid out on the ground. Arriving into Siem Reap was like getting into Vagas. Nothing, nothing, nothing, and then a city! We got out of the cab, got into a tok-tok, and found a very nice guest house where I could see myself relaxing for a long time. $7 a night for a clean room, a garden court yard, very friendly staff, and great cheap eats for breakfast. I would recommend"Smileys Guest House"to any traveler staying here.

Will update later, need to go eat. It's 95 degrees here and beautiful! Next update: Tomb Raider Temples, bikes, great food, and a great time...

'Till Next time!

Yoga and Puppies

I woke up this morning to check my e-mail and could not believe my eyes.  I had an invitation to go to a free yoga class and then go to a puppy cafe.  Yes, a puppy cafe.  If a free yoga class wasn't enough of a treat, after it was over, we got to drink smoothies and play with more than 20 different types of puppies.  All the while eating as much cake, cookies, and other treats as we could fit in our stomachs.  Here's how it went down:

Yoga was in a small studio with a Korean man who spoke English pretty well.  I went with 2 girl friends who were semi-experienced in practicing yoga.  There were three more older woman there who seemed to know exactly what they were doing.  I am very much a beginner at yoga, but consider myself flexible and in shape, so usually I can keep up with most classes that I take.  This man was nice enough, but had an annoyed air about him, and had us doing more advanced poses than I have ever attempted in my life.  Even my experienced friends who have studied yoga for 10 years said that the poses we were attempting were at least semi-dangerous and if done wrong we could have hurt ourselves.  It was an awkward hour of sporadic poses and the teacher seeming annoyed that our bodies didn't stretch the way they were supposed to.  Luckily, I knew enough about yoga and my body that I was controlled and didn't hurt myself.  But, the strange thing was that he seemed perplexed that we couldn't stretch farther, bend more, and twist our bodies into his contortions.  All in all, it was a good experience, and I laughed out loud several times to break the silence due to his attitude towards us.  

I have been in animal withdraw since living in Korea!  I miss my cat and dog very much, and every time I see a stray on the street I have to fight with my conscience to not bring it home.  So, this puppy cafe idea seemed too good to be true.  It's above a pet store and as soon as you walk in the door you get bombarded my more dogs than you can count.  At first glance there were two Golden Retriever puppies, a Cocker Spaniel, a Poodle, a wiener dog, Afghan, Chow chow, and on and on.  The size of these dogs was just what I missed from home, big sloppy hyper puppies!   Most people in Busan, if they have an animal, have a designer "tea cup" dog that they can dress up and parade around like a moving stuffed animal.  Therefore, seeing "real dogs" again was really nice.

After I got over the initial shock of where I was I noticed a top a 3 story cat condo was a beautiful white cat with a hair cut. pink cheeks, purple tail, and bright yellow paws.  This princess was wearing a lavender shirt with ruffles and buttons on it.  I've seen these types of animals through pet shop windows here, and always stared, but this was an opportunity to get up close and personal with the real thing.  Of course to go through all of that beauty shop torture, the cat was super mild mannered and didn't mind being in a room full of 25 dogs all barking and running around.  No matter how long I stared at the cat, my eyes could still not believe what I was looking at.  

It is only logical that this cat would have a dog counterpart that we nick named "Popples".  Popples was a small, white Perenise with bright orange ears, neon green paws, and a pink tipped tail.  This dog was super cuddly and wanted nothing more than to be a lap warmer.  Still, every time I looked down at my lap I couldn't help but giggle to myself about the dog's crazy die job.  

Several other dogs were wearing accessories and clothes including a tiny little brown dog that looked like a gremlin and continually and very voicetrously grunted like a pig.  This 5lbs noise machine was very boe-legged, wore a red striped sweater, and sported a Rhine stone encrusted heart pendant with a picture of his owner dangling from his collar.  It has been a long time since I have laughed as hard as I did tonight.  

Now, if playing with puppies isn't great enough, this was a "Puppy Cafe".  Thus, a one time fee of 6,000 won ($4.50) got you a smoothie, tea, or coffee, and all the cake, cookies, or bread you could eat.  So, I had a strawberry- kiwi smoothie, cheese cake, a couple cookies, and a small piece of pecan pie, all the while playing with puppies.  A woman asked if we had something like this in the states and my friend replied "No, we have very strict laws about animals and food...".  Oh-right!  I knew there was something weird about this place...  As much as I loved it, there were animals "doing their business" on the floor of the same area where I was eating pie, and a litter box directly behind my friend Livia's head.  It didn't bother me, I was just excited to play with dogs.  

Korea can be very frustrating, but as soon as I think I've hit the end of my rope something surprises me and makes it all worth it.  Like... Puppy Cafes and Vacations to Thailand for over a month while still getting paid.  I leave Sunday for over a month of gallivanting around Thailand and Cambodia.  No real plan, just relaxing and seeing where the wind takes me.  I start school again March 2nd.  

Kori-stmasu and New years

I think the holidays always bring a time of reflection and assessment of how life is going.  So I always look back on the past year, and see what I have done, where I have been, and what I have accomplished to get where I am now.  Last year, I was living in Chicago,  teaching high school art, working at a studio making pottery, teaching classes at the studio, teaching classes at an elementary school, and working as a wine demonstrator in my spare time.  I was happy and life was flying before my eyes due to my busy schedule.  For the holidays, I was home for a quick vacation in Michigan.  Then, on Christmas day, I was on the road again back to Chicago to catch a flight to London for my birthday and new years.  I was going to hang out and see friends for about 10 days before I started the second semester in school.  I find it crazy to think that last year there was no inkling or thought that a year from then I might be in Korea.  I believed I was content with my life and saw myself staying in Chicago for at least a couple years to come.  But, I guess life is funny like that.  Now, another year has passed, and I have realized at my ripe young age of 25..... YIKES yes... 25 I need to slow down a bit, smell the roses, see the world, and not take life SO seriously, just yet.  So, I'm in Korea!

To start, winter here is nothing like home, or any place I have ever lived before.  Lets see, I grew up in Michigan, then I went to University in New York state, then I moved to Chicago.  The common link here is?  COLD, SNOWY winters.  So, it's very pleasant to walk outside in the middle of December and hardly need a hat.  The temperature is usually between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit and it does not snow.  That is a very nice perk about living in the southern tip of the Korean peninsula.  

Christmas time in Korea is not the crazy consumerist hub bub that I hate at home either.  There are not enough Christians in Korea to make a huge deal about Christmas, so there are no Christmas sales, no crazy people in the shopping center, and no Christmas sensory overload starting after Halloween.  There is a nice even spread of decorations and lights, with the ever so iconic Salvation army bell ringer who stands seemingly 24/7, in the mall ringing a single bell for a small donation.  But, in Korea, when you make a donation to the person in the red coat, you get an individually wrapped apple.  I like this idea.  At home the people give out small candy canes, but I think a fruit makes a much bigger statement of saying "thank you for giving to charity".  Plus it's better for you.  

Due to Christmas not being a big deal here, everyone had to work up until the Wednesday the 24th.  Thus, I decided that our apartment complex should have a "traditional" Christmas eve dinner.  We all gathered at our friend Ellen's apartment, and each brought various dishes.  I am the only one lucky enough to have an oven in the apartment, (because Koreans don't bake here, ever), so I brought an assortment of brownies, chocolate Chip cookies, and apple pie bars.  Jared made some excellent garlic mashed potatoes, and other food consisted of chicken fajitas, curry soup, chicken curry, and garlic bread.  All of the food combined with a tasty yet dangerous punch, created a beautiful evening.   

We ended up staying up until all hours of the morning playing a very competitive game of pictionary - battle of the sexes style.  This was a hilarious game of female intuition mixed with male competitiveness that created a very heated and amusing game.  Lets just say the girls won, and some of the male players swore off pictionary for life.  At the end of the night, finally acknowledging that we had been sitting on the floor for hours and hours, we went for a nice walk around the apartments.  There were 12 of us, walking around like a flock of geese at 4am on Christmas morning, totally unaware of how late/early it was.  As soon as someone mentioned the time, everyone seemed to crash and decided to part ways to their own beds.  It was a great night.  

Christmas morning was simple and peaceful.  I called home on Skype to see everyone open the package I sent was a great experience!  It was exciting to see the things that I had sent arrive across the world and opened.  It made me really homesick to not be there with everyone, but happy I could share part of my journey with traditional or funny mementos from Busan.  

After the phone call, Jared and I exchanged gifts and decided to go on a hike.  It was a beautiful day and a sunny, crisp 45 degrees -perfect for a hike.  We hiked for about 2 hours to Children's Grand Park.  

Children's Grand park, is a crappy amusement park in the middle of a mountain.  It's really funny to think of the logic behind putting something like this in the location that it is.  But, as illogical as it is from a business standpoint, it's just as wonderful because of those things.  Just think, a roller coaster in the middle of some mountains.  In the middle of nature.  Not in some gross congested tourist trap.  The first thing we saw was a shooting game with the oldest, grossest, most decrepit looking action figures/ manikins you could ever imagine.  It was a bar scene with manikins that looked like one-eyed prostitutes and stuffed animals with missing appendages.  This game was SO gross I needed to take a picture of it.  BUT! as soon as I did, the figures all moved and made a creepy sound.  I didn't put the pieces together, so I took another photo of the other side of the panorama.  Suddenly, a man who was working the booth across from this machine came over and by making a big "X" with his arms said "NO PHOTO".  Then I realized that this was a game where you shoot the targets on the objects, and the light from my flash must have made all of the sensors go off at once, therefore, making all of the creepy dolls move at once....funny!  So, we walked back as far as we could handle, and took a cab back to our apartment.  I made up some home made pizza and we called it a night.  

My birthday was about the same, relaxed and peaceful.  I woke up to a famous Jared- egg and cheesy sandwich and relaxed until we decided to go on another hike.  This time we didn't' really know how to get up the mountain to the path, so we just kept walking up until there seemed to be a place where we could just wing it.  So, we grabbed on to trees and rocks while trying to avoid thorns.  We scaled the mountain until we came to a path.  This time we walked and walked and walked and just went up.  We made it to the peak and found a splendid spot for a summer BBQ on a flat slab of slate that overlooked the whole city.  We rested while taking in the sites and breathing some fresher air than we're used to, and began our decent.  Tired, and hungry we went to a great Turkish place for a group birthday meal after.  It's always nice to indulge in non-Korean food whenever possible!  

The next week, everyone still had school, even up through new years eve.  So, we were very excited when that day was over and we were able to gather for some Italian food and start celebrating the new year.  We ended up at this club... yes club, with a lot of foreigners and spend most of the night talking, laughing and people watching.  At the count down everyone was given a candle to hold, of which I am grateful that no drunk person started a fire with due to only one exit.  The count down was as usual, and the night was young.  As a wonderful surprise, my friend Paula, who teaches in Seoul, was in for the holiday and swung by for a bit.  I had met Paula 2 years earlier while working in the Adirondacks in up-state NY.  It's funny how life paths keep crossing when you least expect it!  I found myself all tuckered out at about 3am and put myself to bed.  Hello 2009- farewell 2008, it was a good year!  

Now, I'm sitting here at 1am on a Thursday morning anticipating my next adventure.  I leave for Thailand a week from Sunday.  My first big trip!  Happy new year to all!

I'll keep you posted!