Angkoooor WAT

Siem Reap, Cambodia (Currently in Bangkok, Thailand)

We woke up very early in Don Det, Laos, took a boat to the next island and then boarded a bus. One of the coolest parts of the trip was when leaving Laos and entering Cambodia we had to literally walk across the border. The bus stopped one one side, we walked into Cambodia, got our visas, then got back onto the bus. This is a shot looking into Cambodia.


This is one, looking back at Laos.


We were supposed to go straight to Siem Reap, Cambodia (Location of Angkor Wat Temples), but after the 12 hour journey we landed in the capital city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We were told the bus does not go any further and we would have to connect the next day. That was a very long day of busing. These are some photos I took on the bus ride.




We ended up staying in a hotel which was located directly above a kitchen and the heat was brutal. We went out that evening and found a big night market.


The next day, we woke up early and jumped on another bus ride to make it to Siem Reap.

The bus stations were so hot, they had water spraying from above to cool people down.


We ended up getting on a really bad bus, which was a 6 hour ride and had no Air Conditioning. It was another sticky brutal ride. Fresh pineapple available at rest stops, was always good.


We arrived in Siem Reap, found a place to stay and just relaxed for the evening.

In Don Det, Sebastien and I met a guy traveling alone from Australia named Darren, so we traveled with him through Cambodia. Meanwhile, Jacob was with Curtis, still in Vientiane, Laos waiting for his passport. It would be days before he got it and they decided they would skip Cambodia. After another night of no air conditioning in our room, we decided it was vital to have some.

We found a new hotel which gave us a room for $5 each. The room was absolutely deluxe. It was a proper hotel with amazing air conditioning and real mattresses.

That evening we went to watch the sunset at one of the spots in Angkor Wat. It was quite an amazing site, even though there were lots of people.





That night we hit the town and just relaxed. There is this huge area called Pub St. in Siem Reap which is just full of tourists. I could not believe the scene I was in, in the middle of Cambodia.


The next day we visited the main temple, Angkor Wat and it was an amazing site to see. The pictures cannot do justice to the ruins which are over 800 years old.









At the same time, the weather was on a whole new level. I believe it was over 40 degrees and very humid; which was very hot at times. I have never sweat so much water in my life.




We stumbled upon this market, which was pretty cool. It was full of locals and busy at all times. It had to be covered very well because of the heat. I got a nice Versace belt out of there. Definitely genuine.


The next day we visited Ta Pronh which was amazing. It is the temple which has roots growing out of it. The pictures describe it all.







That night, we found a luxurious $100/night hotel and snuck into the roof-top salt water swimming pool. Being westerners, the clerks assumed we were guests. The pool was gorgeous.


The next day we decided to do nothing and just relax. This trip has actually gotten me into reading, so I ended up reading Angels and Demons within a span of a few days. It was good to relax. That night we decided to eat well and do a Cambodia BBQ. We got our own BBQ and ate all different types of meat. Chicken, Beef, Squid, Crocodile, Snake and Kangaroo (for our Aussie friend). It was super delicious.



The next morning, we woke up at 5 am, hopped a bus back to Phnom Penh and then hopped a plane to Bangkok.

On the way, we stopped at a rest stop and I met a kid who was trying to sell me bananas. His language skills of English were impeccable and his selling were even better. He could have sold American mortgage backed securities during the recession.


This is one of my favorite shots of Sebastien and I on our way to the airport in a tuk-tuk.


We had to fly to Bangkok in order to receive a 30 day Visa. It was more pricey than usual, but had to be done to stay in the country of Thailand. After about 14 hours, we finally reunited with Jacob and Curtis and stayed right off Khoa San Rd. Anyone who has been to Thailand, knows it is where all the backpackers go.


Most Valuable Buds

The Most Valuable Buds of this leg of the trip is Darren Bonehill.


He is doing his own one year world tour and was a great guy to travel with. He is a real estate agent in Brisbane, Australia so he gave us a crash course on how to sell property anywhere.

Easy losing time while in Vang Vieng...

Vang Vieng, Laos (Currently in Siem Reap, Cambodia)

Laos is such an amazing country.

First of all, on almost every street corner, they sell sandwiches and pancakes for about $1. It doesn't make sense. They also sell fruit smoothies on every corner for about 55 cents. I truly loved Laos.


On our last day in Luang Pra Bang, we visited the oldest temple in Laos. It was not very big but it is said to have been around the longest time. It was right along the Mekong river.



Once again it was really awesome to see the Mekong River and just relax with some mango shakes.


We spent most of the time in Luang Pra Bang just going through the night markets and seeing local sites.

The next day, we jumped on another bus to Vang Vieng. The bus ride was as usual, very gorgeous. It only took about 6 hours. They are becoming easy now.


Our lunch stop was very nice as well.


Vang Vieng, Laos is known as the tubing spot of Southeast Asia. They basically found a river and set up dozens of bars and restaurants along this river. As well as rope swings and water slides. It is just a big place for all foreigners from across the world to gather and have fun. If you have been, or heard about it, you know what goes on in the city.

We were glad to have met up with our buddies from Vietnam, Matt and Dave. We also made friends with another guy named Alex from Edmonton.


Vang Vieng was indescribable. The surrounding areas were beautiful.


I normally have a great amount of photos, but not many for this city. Especially since we stayed 7 nights, I wish I had more photos. We ended up getting a bungalow along the river for about $3 a night. It was amazing.


The first day we spent on the infamous river, taking 40 feet ropes swings into the air. There are no photos to prove it, but I actually did some of them. To be launched 45 feet in the air is scary to say the least. I am sure YouTube has some videos of it. We also played a pretty crazy game of mud volleyball. The river was 3 km and we barely made it 200 m the first day, for whatever reasons.

The next day,we rented motorbikes and drove outside of town. The four of us and Dave and Matt joined us along for the ride.


We found a water filled cave and sat on a tube and just floated through it. It was absolutely remarkable, to be in a tube floating in a cave.






After that we rode our bikes to another nearby cave.


This cave was very long and narrow.



Within the cave, there was a really large Buddha statue. It was amazing to see something built so deep into a cave.


After that, we made our way back to the town. Driving on motorbikes throughout the trip, was probably the activity I enjoyed the most.



The next day we went back to the river and Jacob, Curtis and I tubed the whole thing. It was pretty fun to sit for 4 hours and float down a river.That night, we somehow found a bar which was showing the Canada - US Gold Medal game. We made our way there around 3 am and celebrated with cheers around 6:30 am when Canada took it. There was a huge Canadian community in the city who came to watch it, so it was great. I have had such an amazing time during my whole trip, but that was surely a moment I wished I was in Canada. Crosby scoring in Overtime couldn't be scripted any better.

The next day, the other boys went rock climbing while I just stayed behind and sat in a hammock all day. It was quite enjoyable.

Everyday we went to the same breakfast place. The service was good, the people were great and the view was... really nice.


The next day, we once again went to the river. The river is very addictive and so much fun. I ended up taking this water slide which basically flings you 20 feet into the air. Flying was pretty awesome.

Every night while there we heard some great tunes. One of my favourites which always played was What is Love; it is a great song, which reminded me of a great Szyjka at home.


On our last day, we took a trip to a nearby lagoon and did a little bit of caving. This is Jacob jumping into the Lagoon.


We went to the caves with Julie from Switzerland and Vanessa from Vancouver.




There was once again another Buddha statue within the cave, really well done.


Overall Vang Vieng was a place we all thoroughly enjoyed and will never forget.


The day after (somehow we spent 8 days there) we decided the city had abused us enough and we had to leave. We made our way to the capital city of Laos, called Vientiane by bus. It took about 5 hours. At which point, we were to stop for one hour and then take another 12 hour over night bus.


While eating in an Indian restaurant (great reminder of home) our friend Jacob could not find his passport. The bus was leaving in 30 mins and he didn't know what to do. Long story short, I boarded the bus with Sebastien to Don Det, Laos (4000 Islands) and Jacob and Curtis remained behind. Update on that is, they had to miss Cambodia and we will meet them in Thailand. Medium.

The bus ride to Don Det was pretty ridiculous. At first I was excited it was a sleeper bus. When I saw my bed, I thought wow, I only have to share with one person. Of course, nothing is what is seems. Imagine a double bed, that is only 5 feet long, with myself, 3 Laotian men and a German man. It was uncomfortable on so many levels. 10 hours later, I was still alive.

We finally made it to Don Det the next morning and just relaxed.


Don Det is known for having 4000 Islands and the beach was gorgeous.



This was the bungalow I stayed in for $3. It looked really good, especially with that towel they offered me. But it was too hot and just another miserable sleep.

We spent the day just swimming and relaxing. This was the background of our breakfast table, it was awesome.


Right The next day we embarked on another 13 hour journey to Cambodia (where I currently I am). Right before the bus ride, in this super town that was clearly lacking infrastructure, we discovered one of the most beautiful rice fields.



Most Valuable buds

The Most Valuable Buds for this leg of the trip has to be Dave Bene from Kelowna, Canada and Matt Matheson from London, England.



We met these boys in Vietnam and ended up meeting them in Vang Vieng. We spent all 7 days with them. They are some good guys and hopefully we meet up with them again sometime soon.