Chiang Mai Tweet-Ups

Day 399-403, December 31,2011 – January 4, 2012

At the start of my trip, oh so long ago, Chiang Mai was really just another Thai city on my list of ones I wanted to see. There was no real particular reason behind it, I didn’t know what there was to see or do in the city. That all changed probably around the beginning of October when I learned that Warren and Betsy of Married With Luggage were going to be settling down for a few months in Chiang Mai. Suddenly, I had a major incentive to go to Chiang Mai. A reason 1 year and 3 continents in the making.

A Very Laos Christmas

Days 391-395, December 23-27, 2011

I grabbed the bus from Vang Vieng rather than the minibus as it was a tad bit cheaper and left a few hours later in the morning, allowing me the opportunity to sleep in a bit more. In the end, it probably wasn’t the smartest idea as the bus tends to always arrive a bit later than scheduled because it’s harder to navigate the tight corners on the cliff sides around the mountains than in a mini bus. I still made it in one piece though, and that’s all that matters.

My destination: Luang Prabang, where Lucy, Janine, and I were meeting back up with Isabella to spend Christmas together. Once again, we got into separate guesthouses as we arrived at different times and had no means of contacting each other besides Facebook. So after finding a place in the heart of the old downtown and messaging them, I grabbed a wonderful Oreo Shake from the night market and settled down to sleep as I wanted to be up early for the Alms.

Heaven

The Temples of Angkor

November 25-29, Days 363-367

I only spent two nights in Phnom Penh that first time before I took off for Siem Reap in order to meet up with Val, a fellow travel blogger whom I had been chatting with for months through Twitter. I knew I would be coming back through Phnom Penh later so I wasn’t too worried about missing anything the first go around.

There are a multitude of options to get from the capital to Siem Reap, home of the Angkor Wat temple complex. Myself, Nicola and Juno, and Jens and Julia were all heading there on the same day on three different buses. And the journey is another one where paying a little more does mean a better experience. I paid a whopping $10 for a mini-bus ride to the town. Nicola and Juno, on the other hand, paid $9 for their bus ride. They left an hour before me, got in an hour later, and from the sounds of it, had the stinky ride from hell as a baby had messed their diaper at the beginning of the trip and the parents decided to change him on the bus and leave the diaper on board.

I slept the whole way in Air Conditioned bliss with a single stop for lunch halfway through.