Since we were a bit "templed out" after our 1st day in Siem Reap, Mr. Sok suggested visiting one of the three "floating villages" in Cambodia off the Tonle Sap Lake. Wanting to see a bit more of the everyday life of Cambodians, Nate and I were in! When Mr. Sok picked us up from our hotel, we asked if we could donate or bring anything for the locals. He told us school supplies for the children of the village are much appreciated #done #shoppingspree After a quick stop at a local shop for these, we were on our way for about an hour drive outside the city.
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The second half of our temple day involved us visiting King Jayavarman's capital, Angkor Thom. The richly decorated Khmer temple, Bayon, stands at the center of this ancient city, was the last state temple to built at Angkor, and represents the intersection of heaven and earth. It was originally named Jayagirl, meaning Victory Mountain. The name was changed after the French occupancy, after Banyan trees since Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment under these.
For the second part of our trip for Nate's birthday, we headed to a place that had been on our must-see bucket list since we arrived in Asia: Siem Reap, Cambodia! This place is most known for the historical, breathtaking temples of the Angkor Wat. (FYI: It did not disappoint)
We walked off the plane from our one hour flight from Laos, into the small, Siem Reap airport. I quickly found a spot at a crowded table and started filling out Nate and my customs forms so we could get our visas and start exploring. The girl next to me said she could move over so Nate and I had more room and I told her not to worry about it, without looking up. Next thing I hear is this girl asking me if I went to Cal? (For college). Say what? Why was this chick asking me this? I finally looked up and holy shit - it was Melissa, who was good friends and dorm floor mates with one of my sorority sisters (#Jyo)! What. the. hell. How? Out of everywhere in the world to be - we ended up filling out customs forms to enter Cambodia at the same table in the airport, at the same time (and apparently was on the same flight from Luang Prabang, Laos and they were there the same time we were too). What a small world and a very pleasant surprise! Melissa and I immediately started catching up while our hubby's took care of the visa stuff to get us into the country. We shared our whatsapp contact info, promising to meet up and do dinner before departing the airport #yay! #stillcantbelieveit #gobears We headed outside and met our tuk tuk driver, Sna, who would be taking us to our hotel - the Moon Boutique. We began the next part of our trip in Luang Prabang by taking a cooking class at Tamarind, which was recommended to us by our friends that we met at the cooking class we took in Hoi An, Vietnam #paystomakefriends #cookingaroundtheworld Just think, we'll be professional world chefs by the time we get back to California!
In March, we decided to visit Laos, Cambodia, and Bangkok for Nate's annual birthday trip this year (especially since Peach was having a sale from Okinawa -> Bangkok for only $55!) I was super excited to go explore some more of Southeast Asia! #seeingtheworldonecountryatatime
On a weekend in August, Nate and I headed out in search of the famous Heart Rock of Okinawa, located on Kouri Island.
Nate and I took a short flight over to Taipei so we could watch the Pingxi Lantern Festival, one of the top 14 festivals in the world according to Fodor's Travel. We arrived on a Friday night, checked into our hotel, and then set out in search of one of Taipei's many night markets.
After visiting To-ji, we had a quick train ride over to Osaka. We put our bags in a coin locker at the train station near our hotel and headed off to go explore this culinary, modern Japanese city.
Not gonna lie, it was a bit of a rough morning after our big karaoke night #worthit But we got some toast and coffee in us and head out. On our walk to the metro station, we had to do a double take... is that Coy?!? We recognized Coy in the advertisements ALL over this suit store - we couldn't believe it! #quitethefamousmodel #weknowhim Naturally, we freaked out a bit :)
On our 2nd full day in Kyoto, it was Monday, February 6, which meant it was Superbowl 51 time! So I set my alarm and got up early so I could head down to go watch the game at Man in the Moon at Kyoto Station. I ended up seeing this great couple Paige and I had met Saturday night, who recently moved to Japan, and got to enjoy watching the game with them. I enjoyed a nice breakfast of fish n chips, a Guinness, Irish coffee, and a hangover shot to wash it all down (yes, Japan sells hangover shots - this have been put to good use by Nate and I). Paige was finally able to drag her butt out of bed and join me once the game was in overtime :) While enjoying the game, I met another group of travelers who were also heading to Nara for the day, so we decided to team up and go exploring together! #lovenewfriendsmetinbars |
Megan Bond - AUTHORJust a girl raised in California and loved exploring Southeast Asia with my husband! We're back in the States but still exploring the world as much as we can! Archives
February 2019
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