Why we need Vitamin Y (yoga)

​(This was written about a week ago during our second last night in Siem Reap, Cambodia.)

It’s our last night in Siem Reap (again.) John has had a serious case of food poisoning that is still lingering. Tomorrow we are headed to Sen Monorom, Mondulkiri; a province to the east that borders Vietnam.

Today I did yoga for the first time in about a month and a half. Before I left for the trip I was too busy planning, organizing, packing, cleaning and moving, and now during the trip we’ve been busy sightseeing, walking, hiking, traveling, wandering and planning our next move.

John’s food poisoning (and inability to walk about) inspired me to get back to my center and find my roots, which plant best on a yoga mat. I went to the Ahimsa Academy in Siem Reap, which is a rooftop studio that overlooks all of Old Town, including Pub Street.

My yoga teacher, Thomas, has been practicing yoga for 40 years and took us through a semi stationary, semi vinyasa practice. My mind raced at first, louder than usual but I expected this due to the fact this was the first time I’ve practiced in a while. Eventually the yoga poses got harder and my mind got quieter as my ujjayi breath got louder. Presence in the posture leading to presence in my bodymind and eventually peace in my heart and soul.

Sometimes we fall off our yoga bandwagon and it’s easy to make excuses for why we can’t go (and then if you’re like me, you judge yourself constantly for not going), but eventually we (I) need to understand that everything is a cycle. Sometimes we cycle into yoga and sometimes we cycle out, the only thing that matters is that our yoga mat waiting for us without judgement (svadhyaya).

Yoga gently pulls us out of the madness of our mind and introduces us back into our body and the present moment. Practicing yoga is such a euphemism for practicing life. Yoga can be difficult, but then when we invite air into our lungs and patience in our heart, we find a little more space in our tight muscles and a little more stretch in our bodies. Life can be difficult too, and the same applies; we bend so we don’t break.

I am a recovering athlete. I played soccer all my life and then swam competitively in high school and then throughout college I began to run. All of these were distractions to get out of my mind, finding I had to do something to get rid of my ‘lesser’ emotions like anger. When I found yoga a few years later it brought me back into my body, helping me through emotions instead of getting tossed around by. You can’t think your way out of a yoga pose, but you feel your way through it.

I have scoliosis and my slightly-bent spine has always made it extremely difficult to even touch my toes; which has always a judgement toward myself. Through practicing patience through yoga I have been able to touch my toes and then some. That being said, I do still get caught up with how my practice should look. Being a yoga teacher, I feel like I should be able to do more poses and stretch in certain ways, and for now I need to understand that my spine is not ready for that. One of my favorite things that I’ve heard in yoga during the different stages of more difficult poses is “this is the pose, stay here until you feel stable.”

My first yoga practice was Bikram and due to the ‘athlete’ mindset I would pull and tug my body into the different postures; I thought how it looked aesthetically was the goal I was aiming for, but through slower practices I found that if I have patience and gratitude for where my body is, it will open in time; it needs my support instead of my judgeyness.

So thankfully amidst the madness, I’ve rediscovered my inner peace, located inside myself of course, but also on a 68’” by 24” magical ‘peace’ of plastic. And my daily practice of svadhyaya – self study & non judgment continues ☺✌🏻

Mobile Misadventures (& tips on how not to get screwed)

Happier days with Chen 😭💔 

To preface this helpful little blog, john and I are on a budget. We have saved enough money to do this for about 2 months, so we are trying to stay frugal and spend $50 or under per day, so about $3000 total over the 2 month time period.

We have had multiple, and I mean MULTIPLE, mobile misadventures which has inspired me to write some tips for how to get around in Cambodia without screwing yourself ☺

Day 1:

John and I are picked up in Cambodia and taken to our hostel by our Tuk Tuk driver, Chen, who I’ve written about before. He seemed very nice, helped us around town picking up the things we needed, he took us to the Floating Villages the first day, and Angkor Wat the second day for sunrise, and then later that same day he tricked us a little .

This is what happened:

Chen said the Tuk-tuk ride around the Floating Villages for our first day out together was 18,000 Riel ($4.45), which John confirmed “eighteen, as in one-eight.”

Chen said “yes.”

So we paid him the first night 20,000 Riel and told him to split the change (2,000 Riel) with another guide that had helped us out.

When we got back after the second day at Angkor he claimed the night prior that he had said “80,000 Riel,” ($19.81) and not “18,000 Riel.” So we owed him 62,000 Riel from the first day (18,000-80,000) PLUS what it cost for the Angkor Trip.

After some come-to-jesus discussions we were able to agree on an amount where we met in the middle.

So! Tips for Tuk-tuks so you don’t go through what we went through:

1. Prices depend on how far you’re going; start the bid price ultra-LOW, they will start mega-HIGH

2. Don’t get a Tuk-tuk in a major area (ie. Pub Street in Siem Reap, or Khoa San Road in Bangkok) as the prices are inflated

3. Decide on the price BEFORE you accept the ride & get in the Tuk-tuk

4. Confirm on the price, perhaps write it out on paper so there is no miscommunication between “eighteen” and “eighty.”

Day 2:

John and I are bummed about losing 1/2 a day’s budget on the Tuk-tuk so we decide to rent a motorbike.

John grew up in New Hampshire, riding four wheelers and dirt bikes all the time so he’s needing the freedom that a motorbike gives him. I don’t trust the bikes at all due to the fact that they look like they are glued, twist-tied and taped together, but… they ALL look like that and we’ve seen other foreigners riding them around and John’s a mechanic so we look it over and do our due diligence.

We take pictures of the motorbike because we’ve heard that the company you rent from will claim any damage that was already done to the bike is your fault and make you pay for it. We don’t see anything too bad (except of course the headlight is smashed and it looks like it lost a fight with Godzilla, but it’s still in working condition so whatever.) We are excited to not have to count on a Tuk-tuk and be independent. This is our second day at Angkor so this time we venture farther out. It’s really nice being able to go down the mini side roads in the jungle and be able to ride faster and not depend on someone else to drive us where we need to go.

John taking a picture, perched atop the motorbike, on a trailer, where I'm sitting, driven by another motorbike. 

Of course we get lost a thousand times and John knocks the bike over with both of us on it and we suffer some minor injuries, but that’s neither here nor there. Fast forward to about dusk, the sun has set, it’s beautiful out, bats are flying around our head, we're getting nommed on via mosquitos; john and I are just about to turn around and make our way back home, when, dun dun dun! John hits a pothole, all of a sudden we smell a LOT of gas and the bike dies.

We call the company who said they would come get us if something happens and they refuse. They say it’s our fault and they will fix any MECHANICAL error but because this is a gas line, read: TECHNICAL error, it’s our fault. They tell us we have to somehow bring the bike back and we may be responsible for the repairs.

A $15 tuk-tuk ride later (with john riding the motorbike ON a trailer ON a tuk-tuk) we get the bike back to the company and pay $10 for our stupid fatally flawed motorbike. Thankfully, the guy doesn’t make us pay for the repairs, so we walk away with our tails tucked between our legs vowing to not trust anyone (again.)

So! Tips for motorbike rentals:

1. Motorbikes in Siem Reap should cost $10/day

2. Inspect your motorbike, any holes / tears / damage in ANYTHING can & WILL be an issue on these roads! They are potholes aplenty!

3. Check your blinkers and headlights to make sure they work

4. Take it out on a spin before you buy/rent, so if it dies you can a) return it then before you’re responsible for anything or b) learn other crafty ways to restart it

5. Take pictures of your motorbike, they’ll claim the damage is your fault regardless if it really is

6. Make sure it does NOT say on your receipt that you are responsible for any damages done outside the shop (this one’s a doozy)

7. Make sure the company tells you they will COME PICK YOU UP if it breaks! It might break and you won’t want to have to pay for repairs AND a tuk-tuk to come pick you up AND the motorbike! It’s terribly annoying and cuts in to your fun!!

8. On your way to wherever you’re going, takes notes of where any street mechanic is, you most likely will need to know where they are at least once on your journey

Day 3:

John wants to rent a motorbike again despite my feelings to the contrary. I think it’s a stupid idea because everything I’ve already mentioned.

So, naturally, we go get a motorbike. The lady shows us the first one which is nicer than the one we had the day prior.

John starts it and it dies.

He starts it again and it dies.

The lady doesn’t seem to think there’s anything wrong with it and shows John a new fancy way to start it. He takes it for a spin and it dies 3 times.

We tell the lady “nooo, thank you.” And she offers us another one. This one looks glued together but doesn’t seem to have any mechanical or technical errors, just superficial ones, so we ask her “if something happens, will you come get us?”

She promises “yes.”

Our glued together bike, smashed headlight and all!  

So we take the motorbike out, meander around all the rest of the temples at Angkor and on our way back, nighttime, we hit something mysterious and get a flat tire. We call the lady and ask her to come get us because we’re mildly far away from the location and guess what?! she’s not there.

Another dude is, who, naturally, DOESN’T BELIEVE US! (Crazy!)

He tells us to go to a street mechanic, fix the flat and bring it back by 8 o’clock or he’ll charge us for another day (oh, and it’s 7:00pm).

Luckily numerous Cambodian people on the street felt bad for us (I think the look on my face was utter despair / mild loathing); they helped us bring the bike to a street mechanic and get it fixed. We brought the bike back and had more problems about how much gas there was in the tank when we began our journey…. Inspiring more tips:

1. Make sure on your receipt it says how much gas there was when you started your journey. They’ll claim you had a full tank no matter what, so when you rent it have the person write out the amount of gas presently in the tank.

2. Get the phone number of the person you rented it from, don’t count on them to share information to the other employees because they won’t.

Hopefully this is helpful on your journey. Trust your intuition and perhaps your girlfriend when she says “this is probably a bad idea.” Good luck! 🍀 

Just a monkey straight chillin with a banana  

10 fun things to do in Bangkok

These are my super awesome travel tips for fun things to do in Bangkok. These, like my thoughts, are in no particular order. Enjoy!

1.       Take the public transit system; bus, Tuk Tuk's & the Skytrain!

#wedidntdie

It’s exhilarating, mildly dangerous but overall efficient and fun. The US could take some pointers from foreign public transit systems. Once you get used to it, it’s a very easy system to navigate but at first glance it can seem a little daunting.

The buses are numbered (obviously) and the bus stops are labelled with the bus numbers that you pick up. Bus stops are located all over the city so you’re never far from one and there’s always at least one person on the bus who knows English well enough to translate for you. Just make sure you're holding on when they round a corner, at times it does seem like they're trying to kill you!

Tuk-tuks are the main transportation system in Thailand, and before we got here we read from a ton of different travel sites warning us to be on the lookout. However, John and I took 2 tuk-tuks and both of them were really cool and helped us around the city. They were also honest and transparent with us, letting us know they would get free gas if they took us to a suit shop. (The suits shops are actually kind of cool and custom make suits special for you. They show you the different suits, you pick the style, the fabric, the number of buttons, the cut on the collar, etc.)

2.       Temples; duhh!

Metal claws at Phra Mondop

There are so many to choose from and it would take a couple days to properly explore all of the ones in and around the city. My favorite temple in Bangkok was at Wat Pho, Phra Mondop, the unique green architecture stuck out right away and spoke to me. There were faces in the design that reminded me of Green Man (Celtic mythology) and the symbolic structures along the roof top were hands reaching up into the sky (instead of dragons or another type of animal). It had a very different look than the other temples and had a mystery all on its own.

Wat Arun is a beautiful wide spread temple that we approached by sea (riverboat); they are currently restoring it so it's surrounded by bamboo scaffolding, which adds a new dimension to its already spectacular build. Wat Arun is where I had the opportunity to be blessed by a Buddhist monk, so it holds a very special place in my heart.

3.       Khoa San Road; known as the famous backpacking district.

It’s loud, overwhelming, busy with drunk foreigners, but it wouldn’t be Bangkok without it. You can buy anything on Khoa San Road from eating a wide array of bugs, to getting tattooed, to purchasing all sorts of handmade crafts (ninja pants galore!!). It’s like Las Vegas on crack, fun to visit and say you were there & laugh with other travelers who have also been there.

4.       Take a Longboat ride, not a long boat ride! ha!

Long boats and their pretty tassels

The boats are also decorated with beautiful bright fresh flowers from the flower district. They’re all stringed together, different colors and hues, from yellows, pinks to blues. You feel like you’re on a little party barge jumping from wave to wave. You can see so much of the city from the boats that go up and down Chao Phraya River. Poor neighborhoods with houses more or less under water and then stunning views of the temples that you can’t get from being on land. We were able to see the feets of the Sitting Buddha from the sea (again, river).

The long boats are really exciting because the captains (if you want to call them that) are fun and they interact with you and the surroundings! Ours pulled up to people offering us beers and treats (also on boats!) and pointed out a gila monster! Natives call these creatures crocodiles (I’m not 100% positive if they are gila monsters but I know they’re definitely not crocodiles). They’re long and serpent-like with longer arms and legs than crocs have, and my favorite part, a blue tongue. Oh, and they climb, so they’re definitely not crocodiles.

5.      Eat something weird; dooo itttt.

Nomming on bugs  

Of course Thailand has the most delicious Thai food (especifically my favorite, curry pad thai!) that you’ve ever eaten, but the opportunity to eat something really weird is only steps away. John, his brother and I all ate bugs, crickets (I think) soaked in soy sauce. As Nate put it “it could have been way worse.” There are bigger bugs available to nom on like cockroaches, scorpions and tarantulas, but those are terrifying. Mostly the spiders. Because wtf? What if it’s fangs get caught in your tongue? Now what?

6.       Stay in a hostel; make new friends.

Hotels are super cheap in Thailand so it’s very easy to get a great room for a cheap price, but the experience of a hostel with other backpackers and travelers is the real prize. John and I stayed at Canale Hostel, which was amazing and I would highly recommend it. It’s centrally located right on the canal, not far from Khoa San Road, and all the other fun neighborhoods. It’s very Encinitas-esque, being mildly hipster-y, with wood finish and sparkly lights on the ceiling upstairs. The beds are built into the walls and there are curtains for privacy, also… it’s air conditioned! I met a German lady named Karen who has been to 104 countries thanks to her sales job and 3months vacation per year (damn you US!) She had great travel tips and helped me and John fine tune our Vietnam adventure. “Kay,” the guy that worked at our hostel is Thai but works to travel in such faraway places, like Chicago! He was extremely helpful in planning the more northern adventures we’re about to take part in. You meet so many interesting people that have been to such awesome places but it’s the cozy familiarity of the hostel that brings out the helpful traveler friend.

7.       Get your hurr did (hair for those who don't understand me sometimes) 

I watched a girl get her hair dreaded faster than I’ve seen anything hair-related being done. Thai people are fast, efficient and do such an amazing job. You can get dread, cornrows, braids with extenders or adding an extra fun splash of color. Now that you’ve been to Bangkok your life is a little bit different from those around you and this is a great temporary change to symbolize this rite of passage. For the people leery of getting something permanent like a tattoo or piercing, this is easy and removable.

8.       Thai massage; also duhh!

Thailand is where Thai massage, or it’s other name, “lazy man’s yoga,” originated. Thai masseuses rub you and gently pull you into yoga poses so you achieve all the goodness and stretchiness of yoga AND a massage without having to go through the trouble of moving your own muscles. Thai people are tiny but they’re so strong and fierce! I got an amazing Thai massage that worked out every muscle of my sore backpacking-carrying body.

9.       Get lost! Honestly!

'This looks pretty, let's go this way.' 

Bangkok is amazingly fun and I found it pretty safe, extremely friendly and easy to get around. Everyone was super kind; and in the event that we were lost, we were easily guided from an English speaking Thai person AND there are maps all around the city. Getting lost pushes you outside your comfort zone (if you weren’t already out of it) and gives you the opportunity to learn a little about yourself. Do you stay calm under the pressure of not knowing where you’re going? Are you okay with giving up control? Can you handle wandering off into the distance of an unfamiliar place? What crazy experiences could be waiting for you to be out of your mind and in the natural flow!? John and I got lost leaving Wat Pho and ended up experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime-occasion of watching the King of Thailand’s body being moved! (seriously! He died in October!) We didn’t even know that was going on and happened to stumble upon it! Getting lost opens you up to new experiences and perspectives! Live a little!

10.  Go to Unicorn Café; okay this one is realllyyyy biased I will admit.

The other recommendations are pretty objective, super fun things that ground you into the weird culture of Bangkok, this one is more subjective because I have an extremeeeeee love of this fantastical horned creature and you should too!

Culinary cuteness overload at Unicorn Café 

Unicorn café is in the city area of Bangkok, down a little alley (like most cool places are in Bangkok). You can tell right as your rounding the corner because the sign is rainbow tie dye. You walk in and are immediately blasted off to the most magical spectacular land full of rainbows and clouds and unicorns. Unicorn wallpaper greets you while big pink and purple couches are buttoned together with large sparkly buttons. Unicorn stuffed animals are lined up all along the couches so you can have a tea party with a few of your horned friends and most everything on the menu is unicorn treats!! Rainbow Rolls and Glitter Shakes and even a Unicorn Tower (basically crepes, milkshakes and ice cream!)

I hope you were, at the very least, entertained by my 10 fun things to do in Bangkok. I hope you have an amazing journey! 🦄🦄🦄

Endless staircases at Wat Arun

Cambodia

We took a bus from Bangkok to Siem Reap about 5 days ago. I've been writing all sorts of random things but I have this necessity to talk about my travels chronologically, so I'm going to try.  

Photo by John Perez

Our first experience in Cambodia was crossing the border with our bus mates, all from different counties. Crossing the border  was mostly just waiting in long lines only to get through and wait in another line. We saw many other backpackers doing the same. John and I passed the time by listening to Alan Watts wisdom. 

Back in the bus about 2 hours later we stopped for food at this amazing farm-restaurant where we saw the sun setting over the rice fields. Vines hung from the ceiling of the restaurant and cats, kittens, chicks and chickens ran around our feet as we ordered noms and drank Angkor beer.  

We landed in Siem Reap not to long from then and were told the bus couldn't drop us off at our hostel so we boarded a Tuk Tuk with a driver named Chen. Chen was nice, spoke English well and was expressive and fun. He dropped us of at our hostel and told us he'd meet us tomorrow morning to begin our Angkor Adventures. 

Photo by John Perez

The hostel we stayed in was Garden Villa hostel, just around the corner from The Night Market and Pub Street. It had a pool and a hang out area with loud music and flashy lights. Super bro-y, but fun and the staff was very sweet and attentive.  

The next day we woke up and had an amazing breakfast of Dragonfruit, my new favorite fruit (sorry strawberries!) and eggs, and of course, coffee. 

Chen was waiting for us outside and he recommended us seeing the Floating Villages before Angkor. John thought that sounded exciting so we went there instead of Angkor. We spent the morning boating with Chen and a few other friends we made. We had beers on Lake Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in SE Asia.  

Photo by John Perez

After boating on the lake and buying rice for an orphanage near by, we heard that there were crocodiles so we went to see them. After that we realized it was a crocodile farm where they were made into handbags so that was a little sad, but I sent them my love anyways. 

On our way back to the land there was a mangrove jungle and we took a tinier boat through it. I love trees so much and Redeoods and Banyans are a few of my favorite, mangroves are as well but I've never seen them in person like I was able to in this jungle. Rowing through them is so incredibly peaceful and relaxing, being amongst the water and the trees is so serene. Then we got to climb some so that was pretty awesome as well. I made John go up first so if there were spiders he could take care of them before I saw them (the spiders here are scary as fuck) 

Chen invited us over to his house afterwards and his wife prepared fresh fish with a peanut sauce and cilantro with rice. It was so delicious and we were so happy that we found such a nice Tuk Tuk driver (more on this so keep reading!) Chen took us home to our hostel and we jumped in the pool, excited we had had such an amazing day out on the water and among friends. 

the next day Chen picked us up at 330 am and we made our way to Angkor Wat for sunrise, a must-do / must-see if you come here. We walked through the gateway in the dark so we weren't able to see too much of the gate, just shadowy outlines of epic carvings and huge stones. We sat on a temple facing Angkor Wat and watched the sunrise. It was overcast so we weren't able to see too much of an epic sunrise, but it was nice being there doing the same thing that so many people before us have done for over 9 centuries. 

Photo by John Perez

Exploring Angkor Wat was incredible. The size of the stones and the whole city is breathtaking. Through Angkor there are repeating symbols at mostly every Wat. My favorite was the nagas, or 7 headed snake that showed up along the walkways, under the Buddhas and over the archways.  

Photo by John Perez

The mythology of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk is painted on the walls of Angkor Wat and portrays the teams of good and evil working together for a common goal. Both sides pulling on Vasuki, the king of the nagas serpents, who is tied around Mount Mandara, a cosmic mountain put into the ocean. Both sides are pulling on Vasuki to churn the ocean in order to recieve ambrosia. This is a super short version of the myth, look into it yourself, because it's an epic tale. Anyways, the nagas serpents are my favorite. 

After exploring Angkor and the East Gate John and I decided to 'off road' it a bit and began hiking through the jungles of Cambodia. Now I love hiking more than most things in life, but the spiders of Cambodia are 1. Way too healthy 2. Everywhere 3. Bright colored (so def poisonous) and 4. John came across two he swear had wings. So our hike did not last long and we had to get our Tuk Tuk back to save us from imminent death. 

After that whole deal we continued on to Pre Rup, which was beautiful and where I took my lion picture on facebook. we went by East Mebon, but I didn't feel very well and it looked like Pre Rup so we just more or less waved at it. Then we went to Ta Som, I was explaining to John the metaphysical history of the earth and he was extremely curious about all the truths weaved into myths and legends. He wanted to know more so we did a past life regression, which was very telling. 

After Ta Som we continued our journey to Neak Pean, a temple that you have to get to via a long boardwalk through a huge moat. John felt very at home here. 

After Neak Pean we were exhausted and came back to the hostel, where we got screwed over big time by our nice Tuk Tuk driver. He lied about the price for the day and the day prior and we lost some money. We were pretty upset but at the same time, it's part of the journey. If you ever land in Cambodia and a driver named Chen wants to help you, don't let him. But I'm sure most Tuk Tuk drivers are the same (dishonest).  

We went to the Night Market and wandered around Pub Street. This is where all the foreigners go for gifts, trinkets, and beer.  

The Night Market does have some great products, I got really amazing ninja pants and the fresh fruit smoothies are delicious. We got beer at Angkor What? A bar down Pub street. Pub Street is basically Khoa San Road (Bangkok). ​

the next day we opted for a more chill day, we switched hostels to save some money and landed at Cambodia Backpacking Guesthouse, down the street and over the bridge from our last hostel. We ended up stumbling upon Bambu Stage, an amazing little creative space and restaurant that was hosting Temples Decoded: Angkor Wat, showing how it was made featuring Nick, an ex-museum designer and Mala, the restaurant manager.  

Nick showed us, in a multi faceted way, how the temples were built, how Cambodians honor trees they cut down and how the spirits of the forest protect them. Later that night we (re)watched Graham Hancock's Lost Civilization episode on Angkor Wat and relearned how Angkor was designed to look like Draco the constellation and built as, of course, a giant astrological calendar to honor the Golden Age, 10,500BC. 

Photo by John Perez 

We headed back to Angkor the following day, this one on a motorbike, not trusting anyone anymore(!) and began with Prasat Kravan, a little temple dedicated to the Hindu diety, Vishnu.  

We hung out at Srah Srang, a huge aqueduct and gazed over the calm waters (see John's facebook post).  

We followed that up with Banteay Kdei, which I dubbed 'bantay kittehhhhh' for those not familiar with my vernacular or tendency to call things different then their namesake). Banteay kdei was really beautiful and disheveled, as most temples are here, and we read some interesting history that after the death of the Buddhist King, the next king believed in Brahmanism and had all the Buddhas destroyed, beheaded or hidden underground.  

From Banteay Kdei we headed through the jungle on a motorbike ducking to miss vines and narrowly escaping being hit by trees and stones to Ta Prohm, or as everyone calls it (and by that I do mean everyone, even the tour guides) Tomb Raider! 

Photo by John Perez  (honestly I can't remember where this is but I'm pretty sure it was Banteay Kdei!) 🐱

Jungle Gate into Ta Prohm  

 I was so excited to see this one and my dad, brother and I used to play Tomb Raider on the computer many moons ago, but it was so freaking full of tourists. There is a fence around 'The Tree' and I didn't have the patience to wait in line and get a picture, so I found a different epic tree and did my best Lara Croft impression. 

Obviously a dead ringer for Lara Croft

Ta Prohm

Ta Som (?) 

We were able to sneak away from the tourists and go against the grain, stealthily running back into the temple where an Exit Only sign lie. There we found some peace and quiet amongst the ruins before the legions of Chinese Tourists took over.  

After Ta Prohm we headed over to Ta Keo, which is being restored, and found some stillness at the top as most people were not brace enough to climb the extremelyyyyy steep stairs to the top.  

As the motorbike adventure continued we did get lost in the backcountry, did ride through a huge patch of prickers which clawed at my legs and John's hand, did stumble upon a beautiful serene patch of open farmland, did ride up to some backcountry Cambodian houses on accident and did in fact, fall off when John got over confident about a wet sandy corner, but #wedidntdie, and that's pretty much all that matters.  

also our motorbike did die last night just before sunset but we were saved by a super sweet Cambodian couple who called a big Tuk Tuk so we were able to  'fit.' And by 'fit' I mean John rode on the motorbike, on the trailer, on the Tuk Tuk as we ventured back into the city of Siem Reap from deep in the jungles of Angkor. 

So far it's been crazy amazing and the adventure continues!  

Bangkok

Scampering off to the next adventure! Photo by John Perez  

​Telephone wires hang like spaghetti noodles all across Bangkok, the aromas of food range from delicious to absolutely foul and if you have your mouth open at the wrong moment you can catch all sorts of tastes from the street vendors that line the roads. Tuk tuks and taxis drive slowly by yelling and grabbing your attention, ripping you out of your daydreams to ask if you want a ride. We seldom take tuk tuks because that's the only true sketchy thing we heard about Bangkok (well besides the red light district).

Gila monster? Tiny Dinosaur? 

We've taken the sky train all around the city to see the different architecture of the different neighborhoods. Like china, high rises exist next door to dilapidated housing in which the jungle has began to reclaim. Trees and vines sprout of the roofs and windows of houses. 

Yesterday we took a longboat ride down the river and saw a number of amazing temples lining the river. We saw a Gila monster sunning himself along the cement holding wall. Cat fish came close to jumping out of the water, mouths open asking for food. People fish and gaze at the river as they do in all cultures; water holds the answers of all wandering minds. 

Longboat ride  

The long boat we were on was lined with fresh flowers from the flower district we passed on the way to wat pho yesterday.

We saw quite a few temples from the river and the amazing artistic architecture they flaunt. The finest details, always being restored with much respect and much care.

The restoration of Wat Arun

Standing Buddha  

We saw the Sitting Biddha, Reclining Buddha Standing Buddha, Sleepy Buddha etc. Okay, so I'm joking about the last one but there were quite a few different buddhas we got to see. All huge. All beautiful. All unique.

Reclaiming Buddha was my favorite one because of his feets. All sorts of magical symbols done in abalone!

Reclining Buddha Feets

Due to my inappropriate style of dress (it was hot?!) I got to wear an amazing lime green bathrobe when I entered The Temple of the Reclining Buddha, but I was not alone as most foreign girls also got to sport this for cool style.

My favorite temple was at Wat Pho because it had hands on the ends of the roof reaching up into the sky and also Green Man-Esque faces. 

I got blessed by a Buddhist monk at WatArun  which was an incredible opportunity that I am so grateful to have.

The Jess abides, and dresses appropriately. Photo by John Perez 

Khoa san road is the very popular backpackers dostrict that was a little overwhelming. In china we were the only foreigners, in khoa san there are only foreigners. It's very much like Mexico or Peru in the sense that there are all these markets open and people shoving their products in your face, that coupled with the huge amount of drunk foreigners makes it a little too much, however, I did eat a bug so that was fun. (It mostly tasted like the soy sauce it was soaked in.)

At night something really magical happened. We were leaving Wat Pho trying to find a bus (the public transportation is a must!! it's so fun and scary and awesome and exciting!) ...And there were all Thai people dressed in black - and by all Thai people I mean every Thai person in Bangkok - we couldn't really figure out what was happening but about after 2 miles of walking along the road and not being able to find a bus a little Thai army dude told us to sit down at this crosswalk because the KING was being moved!!!!!!

Favorite temple at Wat Pho

For those who don't know, King Bhumibol Adulyadej  of Thailand died in October and the Thai people loved him very much. This was a really big deal because he reigned for 70 years. So last night we literally sat in the streets with all the Thai people watcheing his body being moved. After being extremely humbled that we were able to witness this incredibly unique experience we kept wandering in search for a bus, my feet were about to give up. 2 miles later, still walking, another little army dude called us over and told us the princess was coming. I asked 'should we sit?' Feeling good I knew the appropriate thing to do and he shook his head, pointed onward and said 'no, walk very quickly!' So we ran to the end of the road and sat and patiently waiting for her to pass. It was awesome. 

Jess & Nate nomming on a bug. Photo by John perez  

Today I got to check off a huuuuge bucket list item as I went and experienced the Unicorn Cafe in Bangkok, and it was every bit of magical you'd expect! Everything is unicorn-something. Glitter drinks, magic burgers, and delicious treats! We had some fantastical drinks and rainbow crepes that were super sugary so I might have diabetes, but it was so worth it!

Tonight is our last night in Bangkok and we board a bus tomorrow for Cambodia. Angkor Wat here we come! Thanks for listening to my rambling thoughts! 💕🦄

My magical feast at the Unicorn Cafe

China adventures

Photo by John perez

​Being on the other side of the world is very much like being on the other side of the world. China has been absolutely amazing and different in every way, yet is still familiar at times. I love to travel because it pulls emotions and tendencies from you that you wouldn’t normally have and highlights things about yourself that you wouldn’t have known otherwise.

Photo by Lee

We landed in china after a 14 hour flight; apparently I can't do math and was really surprised and thought we had emergency landed in Russia – I blame the lack of sleep. We meandered through the airport, through the lines at customs and began our search for the subway. It’s a very efficient method to buy subway tickets but if you don’t know Chinese it can get a little challenging. We hopped on the subway and it was very much what you would expect from a Chinese subway – just as many people as possible squeezed like tiny sardines into the subway car. It’s kind of fun to push and shove yourself in and out, nothing personal, just subway survival.

We made it to the train station and hung out there for a while waiting for our train and the last leg of our journey to take us to Liz and Lee. The only food options we had were mcdonalds and honestly we were pretty grateful for the food after the long flight and general deliriousness. The train station was my first real experience with a Chinese bathroom- which is a square hole in the ground that you just have to hover over and hope for the best. It took some getting used to but I do see the logic behind it – very much like our “squatty potty” unicorn facebook commercial. Also, I'm almost 100% sure two people on the train were eating cat food, so again, grateful for the mcdonalds. At this point my brain was trying to make sense of the Chinese language and translating the words without my approval so I heard lots of swearing and random conversations about Shamu and gingivitis.

Landscapeyness

Riding the train was the first time we were ‘outside’ and able to see the Chinese countryside which is such an amazing landscape! These mountains would just come out of nowhere and fade away just as quickly as they erupted out of the earth. It was almost as if the creator was holding a box of mountains and tripped over something and they all flew out of the box and fell randomly to the earth. The mountains also just gave away to the water, much like Big Sur, not really bothering with beaches.

From the train we could see rice patty fields next to high rises and dilapidated housing in which the Detroiter in me really wanted to explore. Staring out the window watching the world go by is one of my favorite past times, but so is sleep, and I was able to do a lot of that on our 4 our train ride to Lizzie and Lee. They picked us up at the train station and took us around the city where we got to experience the market and mall. At the mall they had all these kid rides that were so sparkly that John and I had to jump in and ride around in. they were these little Tron vehicles that rolled around and were full of shiny glowy lights. We went back to their apartment and met Zac Efron, their cat who looks like a tiny snow leopard, who gives the best hugs.

Photo by lee  

Adventuring around china with liz and lee is so much fun! Culinary adventures in the form of hot pot, feasting with Lee’s parents in a hotel room like a Chinese gangster, barbeque (Chinese version – very different then American version) and mango cake, with some weirder things sprinkled in between like pig penis and durian (a fruit that tastes good but smells like ass). Eating Chinese street food is a staple to visiting china, little street vendors line the roads and youre not quite sure if they’re selling food or stuff from their garage at times, but spicy noodles are delicious, and the spiciness totally killed any bacteria I may have eaten.

First Liz and Lee took me and John to an international friendship park where we rode a roller coaster (while Liz safely watched from below). Chinese people really like taking pictures of tall Americans and tattooed Americans so it seems me and John are floating around in a lot of random Chinese people’s pictures. Liz said that was pretty normal.

I've tried to make Liz teach me a couple Chinese swearwords, which I’ve already forgotten, and I'm also try to learn a couple words myself to help me get by, but basically the only word I know is shi shi, which is thank you.

Photo by John Perez  

Pooping adventures are a continuous thing as you always need to go to the bathroom (the food is pretty much all cooked in oil and fat) but you have to be very discerning on the bathroom you select. There were a few bathrooms me and Liz ventured into that I thought would be our last. But we prevailed!

Lee took John and I on an e-bike adventure through the city of Liuzhou to a park. Lee assured me he was an amazing driver, and we didn’t die, so I believe him. He dropped me and John off to a park where there was a mountain in middle.

We started wandering aimlessly towards the mountain, hoping it was climbable and then to our happy surprise we found a trail. On our way up we found a lesser travelled dirt path through the trees and followed that to the top. Once there the stairs turned into stones and we had to maneuver cleverly to avoid death. The rocks at the top were a little sketchy and mostly held in by bolts and nets that looked excessively old, but we managed to monkey up to the top overlooking the whole city with a 360 degree view. It was so cool to stand on the top just overlooking everything, as far as they eye could see and the smog would allow.

Photo by John Perez  

We went to the East Gate, which is the oldest wall in the province of Guangxi and then Confucius Temple, which was closed, but the architecture was beautiful and we were able to sneak around the back and climb some stairs for an epic view of the cityscape and bridges of Liuzhou. There was a cave that me and John started to sneak into but Liz and Lee assured us that’s where crackheads lived, so our cave adventure was short lived.

John and Liz overlooking Liuzhou  

We took a river boat ride and got to see all of the amazing sparkly city lights of Liuzhou and the waterfalls that you could only see from the river, which were incredibly beautiful. They light up the mountains at night with green and yellow and orange lights so the whole city looks like a crazy jungle.

Photo by John Perez

Basically China is fucking rad, an amazing mix of city, nightlife and epic backcountry all rolled into one. It’s fun to blog while I’m here and keeps my memory sharp by documenting and reliving all the epic things we’ve done. We’d love to stay longer and do more Chinese adventures but Thailand is calling & we’re answering the call!

Last night in China

begin at the beginning and go on

 

Planes, trains and automobiles, or rather in our case: automobiles, trains & planes. From saying farewell to our roomies, fur babies and friends, we depart from San Diego with only our packs and far flung hopes for the long journey ahead.

We bid goodnight & good luck to sleepy Southern California while preparing for the long flight ahead, Lizzie-bound, to the other side of the world to visit my friend from college who's been living in and loving China for a number of years. 

The tops of palm trees hang in the cotton candy skyline of Los Angeles, we watch the sun, from a bus window stuck in LA traffic, gently set over the Pacific Ocean. We await our sun rise over foreign land; two days ahead of us separated by only 22 hours. 

Airports are always high energy and exciting to me. The quote from Love, Actualy always rings in my ears as soon as I step inside: "Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere." Both me & John are feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed as we wait in line. Wearing the high-collared neck pillow I feel like a rattlesnake (naturally) and begin my best interpretive dance as such. 

The check-in guy at security looks excited for mine & John's trip, in fact, most people do. We are The Backpackers, people respect and fear us. He asks 'how this backpacking thing works' and we respond 'we're about to find out!'