Southeast Asia

It's been a few weeks since we've been back, but Wes and I were able to escape to Southeast Asia for a week!

My parent's watched the kids, I cried as I boarded the plane(s), and off we were on an Asian adventure.
Wes was working in Cambodia for a week and I met him there.
I flew about 24 hours all the way to Penom Penh, Cambodia.  I was the only American on the flight, and they double/triple checked my boarding pass to make sure I was on the right flight.

First stop, Cambodia.
Wes had been staying at a very nice hotel that week that DEA set him up in.  So nice that a Thai pop star, and the Prime Minister of Cambodia were staying there as well.  We were spoiled with our super nice pool, steam room and sauna, and not to mention the extravagant breakfast every morning.
There wasn't too much to do there.  We went to a market where the shopping was cheap.  We got lots of shady/cheap massages.  We visited the Killing Fields.  That about sums it up.  It was hot and dirty, and the food was blah.

At our luxury hotel

We were provided these lovely masks due to the dirtiness of the city.

A temple

Our main mode of transportation.  A tuk tuk

 From there we flew to Bankok, Thailand for the night, and the next morning we caught a morning flight to Chaing Rai (northern) Thailand.

Chaing Rai, Thailand.
It was beautiful there.  It was green and full of lush jungle.  Wes' co-worker that he went to Cambodia with has in-laws that live in Chaing Rai.  His wife is Thai and grew up there.  Her family was nice enough to allow us to stay in their home, and her cousin is a tour guide and took us around in his van.  Needless to say, we got a very authentic view of Thailand.  Their house was a traditional Thai home in that the kitchen was separate from the house.  They eat chicken and rice for every meal, had 9 Husky dogs on the property that eat just as well as they do, and have no AC in the house.  They were very kind to us, even though we weren't able to communicate with them.

We went to the Golden Triangle which is where Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet.  It is separated by the MeKong River and was one of the drug capitals of the world.  Oddly enough, DEA donated benches a while back.  Thanks for providing seating for us DEA. We took a speed boat tour of the MeKong, stopped in Laos for a bit, and then made our way to Myanmar.  We walked across the boarder and headed in for some major shopping.  Myanmar is the Tijuana of Southeast Asia.  It is dirty, filled with poor people who like to bargain, and knock-off central.

The rest of our time in Chaing Rai was spent visiting temples, eating amazing food, getting real Thai massages (which is painful yet enjoyable at the same time) and walking around the night bazaar.  Oh and did I mention we rode elephants?  Our elephant was 50 years old!  It is not a comfortable ride as you sway from side to side, but it was a beautiful ride through the jungle. After our visit with the elephants, we stopped to see a waterfall.  Our tour guide said it wasn't that long of a hike, so we made our way.  He was wrong.   It was far, tough, and hot.   My limbs were constantly moving and swatting at the mosquitoes.  The Thai native woman we were with turned around because she was afraid of getting Malaria.  Malaria people!  We kept going until a giant snake came full speed toward us down the mountain.  I, leading the pack and being closest to the snake, noticed it first and screamed like a little little girl.  The big strong men behind me jumped, yelled, and cursed.  We turned around after that never seeing the waterfall, but not before I slipped and landed in the stream.  I've never run during a hike, but I could not get out of that Malaria and snake infested jungle fast enough.

Buddha watching over Golden Triangle

At the Golden Triangle

Boat ride on the MeKong River

In Laos

In Myanmar (Burma)

Give me food yo!

Our final stop was Bangkok.  We visited the Grand Palace, which contains a giant reclining Buddha.  We took our pictures next to monks, and Buddhas, visited MBK mall which is a giant mall filled with anything you'd ever need in life, rode the Skytrain like a Thai, and visited a night bazaar that happened to be in a more risque part of town.  We were ready to head back home.

At the Grand Palace w/ some monks

ready to go home.

We shopped til we dropped.
Ate the best Thai food imaginable.
Risked getting Malaria.
Missed our babies like crazy.
Crossed 4 countries off our list.

It was a great trip.  Til we meet again Adventure. . .

Shout out to my parents for watching our little crazies, and to the McQuiston's for staying at our house and watching our mutts. <3