Beachside Valentine

After a few days of temples and history, we were ready to head to the beach! So we caught an overnight bus to a town called Sihanoukville. Of all the overnight buses we’ve taken in the past few months, this one was by far the best! It was called a “Hotel Bus” and was awesome….

Temples, Temples and more Temples (Day 2)

In order to get around to see all these temples, we hired a private tuk-tuk for both days. Not only was it cheaper ($20/day) – but it also meant we got longer, personalized tours. This allowed us to see more for our money, avoid crowds, and not overheat or get lost on a bike/motorbike. (We…

Temples, Temples and more Temples (Day 1)

As most people do, we spent our first two days in Cambodia visiting a TON of temples in Siem Reap. All were absolutely stunning – some indescribable. So instead of telling you about them, we will show you! (AKA get ready for lots of photos!) DAY 1 Sunrise at Angkor Wat Entering Angkor Thom from the…

On Belay? Belay is on!

After the fun we had climbing in Vang Vieng, we were eager to get in some more practice. When we heard about Thakhek, which is a big stop in the area for climbers, we added a couple of days to our time in Laos. And our friend Monika (who we met climbing) was also heading…

COPE-ing in Vientiane

If you are planning to come to Laos, and looking at a stop in Vientiane, stop looking. There is very little to do there. The night market sells more knock off clothing, pjs, watches, etc… than anything else. There was very little food and souvenirs (even t-shirts) compared to other markets. Almost everyone we met…

Vertical Limit in Vang Vieng

As a kid, my favorite activity at Greene Family Camp (GFC) was climbing the Alpine Tower. A 50-foot, wooden structure with rocks, ladders and ropes to climb. But after seeing the movie Vertical Limit, I was sure I had been scared out of trying rock climbing on, you know, real rocks. That was until we…

Luang Prabang

We were so happy to get off the slow boat!! Though I will admit that it was much more pleasant than a stuffy, bumpy, winding bus ride. We grabbed a tuk-tuk and head to the center of town to find a hostel for the next 2 nights. On our way, two guys on a motorbike…

Oooff tooooo Laaaoooossss

Tooooo geeeet to Luaaaaang Prabaaaang (Laaaooosss), we toooook the sloooooow boaaaaaat. (We heard the speed boat was uncomfortable and dangerous. Don’t do it.) The sloooooow boaaaaaat took twooooo daaaaays with a quick stop in Chiang Khong to cross the border, and an overnight in Pak Beng. It was ssooooo sloooowww that wee leeearrnneed  tooo speeaaak…

The White Temple

We spent about a week longer in Thailand than planned, so we decided to make a quick stop in Chiang Rai on our way to Laos. We had one full day and a small to-do list which made for a relaxing morning. Our first stop was to the White Temple. We’d heard from some that…

Moon Bears & Monkeys, Oh My!

NOTICE: Please do not share this post due to certain sensitives we must respect. Thank you. Because of some people we met during our time in Thailand, we stumbled in to a second volunteer opportunity. This time, we would be working with moon bears and monkeys. We were thrilled! Every day while we were on the…

Our Week with Elephants

Our week with the elephants was one of the things I was most looking forward to on this trip – and it was even more amazing than we had hoped! As we mentioned before, we joined Elephant Nature Park (ENP) for their Journey 2 Freedom (J2F) project because it offered not only lots of up…

Nothing Irrelephant about Elephants

As you very likely know, elephant interaction tours are a big thing in Thailand and all over Southeast Asia. What you may not realize is how bad many of these programs are for the elephants, and how horrible the training is for many of them. This first elephant post is going to be a bit…