Siem Reap, Cambodia: Lady, you want cold drink?

Sua s'dei from Siem Reap!

First impressions of cambodia: killer food with interesting flavors (ginger, pumpkin, sesame) and delicious french bakeries, cheap beer, amazing temples, and really nice people. The cambodian people, however have also experience a tragic history and extreme poverty that often makes you feel like you are a walking dollar bill. Begging landmine victims, dirty shoeless snotty-nosed children, ragged mothers carrying their tiny babies - it weighs down on you after a while. Its hard to see. People will literally do anything to get some extra cash out of foreigners. One time on our way home from dinner, a dishevled woman clutching her tiny baby with a little beanie on its head came up to me, asking us to buy her baby formula. Baby formula?? This is completely different from the University District where Ave rats ask you to throw "a couple extra bucks" their way so they could indulge in a pack of cigarettes and a beer. When we took her to the nearby quickie mart, we found that a big tub of formula mix was actually $4 and we didn't have enough money on us. Luckily a couple other foreigners our age saw our dilemma and threw in a couple extra thousand riel so that we could buy it for her and her baby. As I was buying baby formula, Erik was outside the quickie mart being harrassed by a creepy, scar-faced tuk tuk driver. Here was their conversation:

Tuk tuk driver: You want lady?
Erik: No, I already have one (pointing to Megan)
Tuk tuk driver: You want marijuana?
Erik: Not today
Tuk tuk driver: You want tuk tuk?
Erik: *silence* (walking away into the minimart to escape)

There was a little girl dressed in a filthy oversized yellow shirt, with no shoes or pants, that grabbed onto me just after. She clenched two of my fingers in her tiny hand and literally wouldn't let go. She didn't speak any english. I tried offering her money. She just wouldn't let go! She literally walked with us for 3 blocks on our way back to our hotel and then finally gave up and let go. It was so hard, I just wanted to take her away from everything. Maybe I'll come back and bring one home someday.


Whew, okay onto something more uplifting. We spent 3 busy days tuk tuking around with our driver Lee to see the temples surrounding Siem Reap. Enjoy the pics!

Angkor Wat:

Entrance to Angkor Thom:

Bayon:

A temple overtaken by a strangler fig:

Me hugging an elephant's big bum bum

Erik and his new best friend:

Erik standing amongst the ruins of Beng Mealea - an hour and 40 minute tuk tuk drive. Left in its ruined state and overgrown with jungle vegetation, this was Erik's favorite because you could monkey all over the temple and even clamor up on top of the roof (you just have to be careful not to step on any remaining carvings). It was like an ancient jungle gym.

Another shot of Beng Mealea (Looks like it's straight out of Indiana Jones, huh?):

One of the many bands of mine victims that play outside of the temples in hopes of collecting money from visitors:

After our seeing our final temple, we went and visited a local school for orphans and poor children. We brought some paper, pens, soap, and a bag of candy There were about 50 kids (ages 5 to 18) and they were all really eager to practice their english. On the fly we made up this little game where Erik would point to a part of his body (some parts excluded hah) and the kids would raise their hands, and whoever could name the body part in english correctly, would get a sucker from the candy bag. They were so polite and well behaved - everytime I would give one of them a candy, they would put their hands together and bow, saying "Aw Kohn" (Thank you). We really wanted to take some pictures (they were SO CUTE) - but felt like it would compromise the atmosphere. So I just took a little picture from outside the school (with the teacher standing in the doorway):

And here are some random shots of from our evenings around the city.....

A random funny sign (read the whole thing):

Another good one:

A sign posted in our hotel room (nearly ever Cambodian carries a gun since the Khmer Rouge):

Erik holding up $1 and its equivelant in Cambodia Riel in the other hand:

After several pitchers of beer with some Aussies, they showed us a delightful game that they had invented once while intoxicated. All you need is a fast shutter speed on your camera and one drunken person willing to embarass themselves for the entertainment of the rest of the group. They have to relax and let their lips go loose while they shake their head vigorously so that the camera can document their face as it becomes contorted. I couldn't do it very well becase I was laughing too hard.

A weak attempt, but successful:

Classic:

No words to describe (this is Heath, the brains behind the game. A true master of his art):

Ohhh we still pee ourselves evertime we see that one.

Welp guys that about sums it up for Siem Reap...more to come about Phnom Phen!

Thanks for reading!!

xoxo

megan and erik

Koh Chang, Thailand: The 1-2 Punch

Here comes the part where everyone is like, I KNEW IT.

WE'RE ENGAGED :)
And here is the after picture YAY:




The funniest thing happened, when he popped the question, this little dog ran out of no where and virtually jumped into my lap. I think it could sense my emotion or something. The only thing is, we weren't sure if it was some kind of rogue lamb or just a "special" puppy. The picture explains it all:



Okay, here comes to the second half of the 1-2 punch. Breathe. It's okay. We got tattoos of each others' full names, across the center of our backs, surrounded by red love hearts. Just kidding! No names, but definitely tattoos! Our first and only ones, inked in traditional thai style with bamboo. We wanted to get them to commemorate our engagement, the trip, and an amazing future together. We got tattooed by the "One". Yes, Neo himself. Haha no but really he goes by "One". He has been tattooing for over 25 years and learned from his father who learned from his grandfather and so on. We later found out that his dad actually inked one of Angelina Jolie's tattoos in Bangkok (the tiger on her lower back). At first we were pretty skeptical but he has like these blurry personally snapped photos documenting the occasion. Crazy stuff. One also lived as a monk for 3 years and learned how to read and write in traditional ancient buddhist language. So we grabbed a couple bottles of Singha and plopped down on his living room floor. And, well, the pictures explain the rest...

One's student, Ton (very talented), inked my lotus flower and the outline of Erik's tattoo. I can't say that smile is entirely genuine. When he started and the pain registered, all I could say was "Oh, that sucks!"



Erik and One. Feels like getting rubbed down with rose pedals.


This is the random hedgehog living in One's bathroom. When he gets sleepy, he snoozes inside of his coconut hideout. So random.



Me and Ton.

Erik and One. This picture is so typical One. He always does this weird wink with the click of his tongue. Here is a typical conversation that One has when he meets potential customers: "You tell me wha' you like. You li' a thai styyyle? I write speshul message. Like..good luckk...something something. You tell me, I make for you. Free hand. Original thai styyle." When he was jabbing Erik's back with the bamboo needle, he kept repeating "relaaaax, have a beer, make a party, how's your body? Good? (wink) (tongue click)." And anytime he agrees with you on your vision for the design, he says "sound rike a pran" (sounds like a plan). Love this guy.




Anddd...here's the finished product! It's a lotus flower. Becase the lotus flower grows up from the bottom of a mucky pond and moves upward toward the light, it represents positivity, enlightenment, new beginnings, and good luck in pushing through difficult times. Below the lotus image are three lines of monk script - the first wishes good luck for marriage, the second for family and friends, and the third for health.



And here's Erik's (click the pic to blow it up and see the details). This is a traditional image that monks inscribe on men to wish them good luck and protection for the family. The two intertwining snakes represent the family (me and erik or Taylors/Haleys). The writing in the snakes mirrors the writing in my tattoo. The right snake wishes good luck for marriage and family. The left snake wishes good luck for friends and health. The 4 circles are the 4 corners that make up a protective house. And the 6 symbols on the outside are locks that keep the house secure. It took about 2 hours!




YESS!! Big news, we know. We couldn't be happier.
Thanks for all the loves and support
we love you guys!
Megan and Erik

Additional photos: Here are a couple pix of One with his students (they all tattooed each other)

Koh Chang, Thailand: Beach boxing, Mo-mo, and Elephant Dookie

SAWADEE-KA from Koh Chang, Thailand!

We've spent the last 8 days on a gorgeous paradise of an island - Koh Chang. Here's a picture of our little bungalow...


Erik got to know our bungalow well while praying to the porcelein gods for 4 days. First it was general traveler's diahrrea. Then after a couple days running around on the beach, he had to turn around and glue his arse to the toilet bowl - good old giardia, most often spread through fecal matter (yum yum). We suspect it was from swimming with elephants and their giant elephant poo.

Anywho, once Erik was feeling better, we spent every day on the beach. UHmazing. No rocks, warm blue water, beach dogs chasing each other, some guy walking around selling bags of pineapple for 20 baht. And, unfortunately, not pictured here, many speedo-clad Europeans. Check it out:



We ended up spending a few days hanging out with this Thai guy that we met at a local bar. To this day, we still call him "thai boxer' because he never told us his actual name. He wanted to stay one more day to party with us but had run out of vacation money, so we let him crash in our bed next to us. He even used Erik's precious sleep sheet! Here's a picture of our last night with him, goofing off, doing thai boxing moves on the beach at sunset:



That night we also went to a big beach party at a backpacker guest house called "Treehouse". Here's a picture of us getting crunk to some techno beats. SWEET



Other than my obsession with chapstick and vasoline (which Erik calls my "crack"), i LOVE puppies!!! So here are a couple rabie monsters for your viewing pleasure (both coincidently named mo-mo). The second one acts JUST like lucy!!:



One of our big splurges on Koh Chang was going on a 2 hour elephant trekking tour. We did our research and found a company who at least claims to be part of a foundation supporting the health and survival of elephants in Asia. Our elephant was named Poppy and he was 35. I guess elephants live to be around 100 so he is relatively young. For the first hour we road side by side in a seat strapped to the top of his back, but on the way back, we got to ride bareback on their broad necks/upper backs. We rubbed his bristley little head the whole way. Once we approached the lake, they all started wiggling their tails and flapping their ears, they were so excited to go in the water! We got to go swimming with them (and their poo) for about 20 minutes (giardia fun!). SO AMAZING.

Tuk-tuk-ing around BKK: Where you wanna go? 10 baht all day (or not)

Sa wat dii and happy new year from Bangkok!
So we had only planned on staying in Bangkok for a couple days because we had heard it was a crazy pollution-y busy city. Which it was. But with amazing temples, buckets of samsong whisky and thai red bull sold street side, and a rooftop pool at our hotel, we ended up staying a full 5 days (minus one that I spent glued to the hotel toilet :( Too much street phad thai? Anywho...here's some pics..enjoy!





Buy one get one free booze buckets on khao san road. Most were mixed with red bull (originally made in Thailand). We convinced some German guys from a neighboring table to go in on it with us.









BUGS a la carte. Choose between large grasshoppers, small grashoppers, silk worms, ants mixed with onions, and roaches. After a half a booze buckt I opted for the ants mixed with onions. They seemed the least offensive.








We met this guy at a beer stand on the corner of Khao San road. He is deaf. We never learned his name, but he had this amazing way of communicating with anyone without being able to speak or use sign language. On top of that, whenever his boss wasn't looking, he would assist us with our budget and point us to cheaper beer stands. Love this guy.





TEMPLE TIME!!






This is part of Wat Phra Kaew.















One of the many spirit houses you see along the streets. People provide the spirits with offerings of food and drinks to give them comfort. Looks like it's leftover Fanta today. On New Year's eve, the spirit house in front of our hotel was offered an entire feast - a whole chicken, rice, bread, veggies, and other delicious yum yums.









Wat Pho - The Reclining Buddha - 46 meters long and 15 meters high. It's the oldest (16th Century) and largest temple in Bangkok. On our way there, a scamming tuk tuk driver tried to convince us it was closed due to a "ceremony" to try to get us to pay him to take us to a different temple. Side note: We later met an Australian who got a roofie slipped into his drink, only to find out that he ended up punching an elephant and robbing a tuk tuk driver in his blacked out stupor. Too bad it wasn't the bastard driver mentioned above.













Wat Arun

















View across the river


















A monk placing an offering at Wat Arun










Right now we are kicking it, being beach bums on Koh Chang - a paradise island off the southeast coast of Thailand. Having an UHmazing time.

Thanks for reading!
LOVE YOU
Erik and Megan