The Trip
Day 1 — Bangkok
Tuk tuk and boat rides, and lots and lots of Buddhas and Temples.
Salt Flats & Maeklong Railway Market
Traveled outside Bangkok to salt flats and then took a train to The Maeklong Railway Market. A train runs right through the market — unbelievable!!
Damnoen Saduak Floating Market
Damnoen Saduak Floating Market
Ariyasom Villa, Bangkok
Saying goodbye to Ariyasom Villa — an oasis in the middle of Bangkok with an exceptional restaurant, salt water pool and jacuzzi. My fav hotel ever!
One Fish, Two Fish...
One fish, two fish, red fish…
Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai
Did an overnight stay at Elephant Nature Park in northern Thailand and even met the founder and renowned elephant rights advocate, Saengduean Chailert (pictured below). It was an amazing experience and a truly special place where they care not only for elephants but many other species.
Wat Pha Lot, Chiang Mai
Our favorite temple so far is Wat Pha Lot which means "Monastery at the Sloping Rock". To get there you hike up the monks trail about 1/2 hour — not easy in 100 degree heat but worth it.
It was constructed in 1355 after King Kuena's white elephant died at the site of Wat Doi Suthep. He ordered construction of this temple complex where it took breaks to rest. There is now a road to Wat Doi Suthep so this temple was empty of people and is now used as a meditation site for monks.
Thai Cooking Class, Chiang Mai
Thai cooking class in Chiang Mai. We went to the market then prepared Shrimp Pad Thai, Stir Fried Chicken and Cashews and Panang Curry. Yum!!
Mother's Day with Sophia's Family
Happy Mother's Day 🌺
I got to spend it with Sophia's Cambodian family!!
This is the elementary school where she teaches — no fans in the classrooms and boy is it hot here!
Takeo — the nearest town, about a 20 minute drive from Sophia's village.
Let's go Mets!
Sophia with Rayu — he's adorable!
The view from Sophia's bedroom
The road to the Temple from her house
One of Sophia's sisters and her husband and son
Cows roam freely in the rice fields and enter the area where her house is — they have to chase them out!
Part of the temple in her village.
Koh Rong Samloem Island
We spent a couple nights on a small island off the coast of Cambodia called Koh Rong Samloem. Gorgeous beach and pool but hard for me to enjoy fully because of the incessant bad pop music being played. I'm getting old, lol!
Matching Khmer Dragon Tattoos
Met some tattooed guys one evening and the next morning Sophia and Evan were off to the artist they recommended. They got matching Khmer dragons!
tusamuk_tattoo
The tattoo parlor was on the outskirts of Phnom Penh — hard to find as there was no signage anywhere!
Detail of Sophia's
Phnom Penh
Final stop Phnom Penh! Difficult saying goodbye to Sophia but we are hoping to make it back again to visit before her Peace Corps stint is finished 🤞
Jack fruit
We highly recommend The Palace Gate Hotel — absolutely gorgeous, and when you enter the smell of jasmine lingers throughout.
Lots of unfamiliar food at the markets
We ate tons of yummy street food throughout our trip with no issue, except that at the markets everything is given to you in plastic bags. Garbage is a real problem in Cambodia.
One of Sophia's favorite Cambodian meals — Kuy Teav (Cambodian Rice Noodle Soup)
Another view of the hotel — sculptures and foliage everywhere you look!
Meat left out to dry on the streets of Phnom Penh — close to 100 degrees that day.
Right outside our hotel a street vendor selling boas — a typical Cambodian snack stuffed with a combo of meat and spices, delicious!
Rooftop bar at our hotel overlooking the Grand Palace.
It's amazing what you see motorcycles pulling — check out the little boy riding on top!
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum of the Khmer Rouge — located in what used to be a school in Phnom Penh. From 1976–1979 around 20,000 prisoners were tortured here and only a handful survived.
A monument to Prince Norodom Sihanouk who secured Cambodia's independence from French colonial rule.