A (rough) map of our route! We began in Thailand, ended in Bali.
Red denotes travel done by land, blue is by plane, and green is by boat.
Four months, seven countries, and twenty-four hours of travel later, we have arrived at our ultimate destination: HOME! It doesn't seem at all like it's been 4 months since we left, and yet here we are, back in Seattle, not at all ready to jump back into real life...but we know it's gotta happen sometime! Preston starts law school at UW in September, and Jessica is biding her time (working, etc.) until she applies for medical school next year, but in the meantime, we are both ready to enjoy some good old fashioned Seattle summer. (Just in time for SeaFair!)
We thought we would do a quick "best of" list so those who didn't get a chance to follow our blog word for word can get glimpse at the highlights of the trip. So here we go! (Highlights are listed in the order we visited them, not ranking.)
Songkran in Chiang Mai, Thailand:
Our first highlight is, of course, Songkran (a.k.a. the Water Festival) in Chiang Mai, Thailand. This was nearly our first experience in SE Asia, and it proved to be one of the best. Not really knowing what to expect, we stumbled into Songkran and were more than pleasantly surprised. As Preston put it: "Songkran is the single coolest party in the world", and it's got to be true. Mix 104° heat relieved by a city-wide water fight, lots of beer, and the largest gathering of genuinely happy people you've ever seen, and you have the amazingness that is Songkran. As the Thai people said to us: Happy Thailand!
This picture is Songkran in a nutshell.
The canal surrounding the old city of Chiang Mai is the epicenter of the action.
Luang Prabang, Laos:
One of only two cities we went to in Laos, we loved Luang Prabang simply because it was beautiful. Add to that the Kouang Si waterfall we shared with the teenage monks, and you have a definite highlight of our trip.
A typical street in Luang Prabang.
A Wat.
A riverside restaurant in Luang Prabang.
The scene we stumbled upon at Kouang Si waterfall.
Four brave monks... It's a 200+ ft drop behind them.
Jessica and the monks. They loved us!
Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island, Vietnam:
Ha Long Bay was a highlight for a lot of reasons, one of which is obviously it's sheer beauty, and another was doing this part of the trip with Kelsey and Stuart, friends from back home. Not to mention our good luck in getting bumped up to the "Luxury Boat" and not having to pay the difference (things like that just don't happen in SE Asia...especially not in Vietnam). We also spent a couple nights at what ended up being somewhat of our own private beach on Cat Ba Island, a place we found hard to leave.
Stuart and Kelsey kayaking in Ha Long bay.
Preston jumps from the fourth story of our Junk (vietnamese boat).
Cat Co 2 Beach on Cat Ba Island, where we were the only guests at this little resort.
Ninh Binh, Vietnam:
Ninh Binh has been called Ha Long Bay on rice paddies, boasting giant limestone formations jutting right out of the land. Absolutely gorgeous. Ninh Binh was also our first foray into driving motorbikes in Vietnam, an experience that will always be remebered--and not necessarily in a good way...
Our boat driver on the Ninh Binh river tour.
Living up to the name "Ha Long Bay on rice paddies."
View from a sky-high temple.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam:
The king of big cities on our trip, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is easy to love and easy to hate. We were more on the 'love' side of things, and with millions of motorbikes, and a "live out loud" personality, what's not to love about this city?... Right? In all honesty, what we really loved about Saigon was how much we learned there. From our visits to the Cu Chi Tunnels, Independence Palace, and the War Remnants Museum, we gained a much better understanding of the Vietnam War, and as a result, Vietnam.
A Saigon street at night.
This is a prime example of the absurdity of motorbike travel in Vietnam. They will carry anything and everything on a moto... Including, but not limited to, lots and lots of toilet paper.
At the Independence Palace.
A local demonstrates that it is actually possible to fit into this tiny hole in the ground. It was a secret entrance to the Cu Chi tunnel network.
Jessica's first time shooting a gun... It just so happens to be an AK-47. Holy cow.
Not Preston's first time, but he enhanced his experience by looking devious.
The Temples of Angkor, Cambodia:
An obvious choice for our highlight list. Angkor is one of the ancient architectural wonders of the world, and it's breathtaking. Our favorite temples were Bayon and Tha Prohm (a.k.a. Tomb Raider). In reality, though, the whole of Angkor is what is most impressive, as it was a technologically advanced city with a population of over a million inhabitants at a time when the whole of London was a small town of 50,000.
Beneath the central tower of Angkor Wat.
Bayon: the temple of faces.
Bayon from a distance.
Mother Nature is slowly reclaiming the temple of Tha Prohm.
Tha Prohm.
Sailing on Mango Moon in Thailand:
Sailing on a beautiful Catamaran for two days with Preston's aunt and uncle? Yes, please. We were lucky enough to be able to visit Lisa and Frank on our way through Thailand, but we were even luckier that we got to go sailing with them for two days! Margaritas, home cooked meals, sailing lessons, and lots of family time made this a definite highlight of our trip.
Jessica took the helm for a minute and did not crash.
Preston and Frank raising the spinnaker.
The spinnaker is up!
There is no better way to drink a margarita than in a hammock off the back of Mango Moon.
Thanks Frank and Lisa!
Koh Tao, Thailand:
We reached Koh Tao by night boat, a first in our already vast repertoire of transport, and ended up spending nearly a week on this tiny dive-centric island. We did our Advanced SCUBA diving certification courses here, and met up with some friends we made in Vietnam, Calum and Dave. It was great to see these guys, as well as do some very quality diving and beaching. Our favorite dive site was called Chumphon Pinnacle, which boasted giant schools of fish, crystal clear waters, and fields of coral.
The main beach of Koh Tao.
Fire dancers at a beach-side bar.
Cocktail hour on Koh Tao.
A tiny island just off Koh Tao, Koh Nangyuan.
Pulau Perhentian Kecil, Malaysia:
Pulau Kecil is a tiny little island, with no roads, no vehicles except for boats, and absolutely no one trying to sell you anything while you relax. It was also the location of the most beautiful beaches we experienced during our trip; clean white sand, turquoise water so crystal clear you'd think it was a bathtub, and cheap bungalows with a sunset view... How can you go wrong? We also did some amazing diving here, the best of which was a dive site called Temple of the Sea; a giant submerged pinnacle absolutely covered in fluorescent corals, anemone, and fish. This island is also where we had our close encounter with some giant not-so-shy monitor lizards!
The "village" on Coral Bay: five restaurants, and a few bungalows.
Amazing sunset as seen from the porch of our bungalow.
The daytime view from our porch wasn't bad either.
Preston reading on a small beach we hiked to.
These monsters passed right by us.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:
Like Saigon, it's hard to put a finger on what made us love this city, but we think it has something to do with the fact that such a giant, bustling city even exists in a country we previously would have labeled as "underdeveloped"--an assumption we definitely no longer have. There is an array of amazing sites across KL, but the truly interesting thing in this city was observing the incredible mix of cultures--Malay, Indian, and Chinese--while sampling the foods all three had to offer. (Roti Canai (soft and flaky Indian bread) was our ultimate favorite!)
The Petaling Street market = cheap knock-offs galore.
Jessica at the National Mosque.
The shopping district of KL.
The Petronas Towers, the quintessential example of modern east-meets-west architecture.
Pulau Sipidan, Malaysian Borneo:
Anyone who read our full-length blog on Sipidan knows how much we loved this place. Truly one of the best experiences of our lives, and if we were forced to pick an "ultimate highlight", diving Sipidan would be it. There just really isn't anything like boating out to a tiny looks-like-nothing island, jumping in, diving to 85ft, seeing more turtles and sharks than you can count, as well as giant schools of baracuda, a spawning school of Humphead Parrotfish, more turtles, every shade of sea life you can imagine, and then some more turtles. Wow.
The island of Sipidan. There is a lot more to this island than meets the eye.
A school of Baracuda during our dive at the aptly named Baracuda Point.
A sleepy turtle posed for us.
Jessica at the entrance to Turtle Tomb Cave.
A 6-foot long Gray Reef Shark... Yikes.
A sea feather and the beautiful reef it calls home.
Mulu National Park, Malaysian Borneo:
Famous for the enormous Deer Cave (featured in the Planet Earth "Caves" episode), Mulu was by far the coolest (land-based) national park we visited. Not only did we get to see millions of bats make a nightly mass-exodus from Deer Cave, we did some rugged spelunking in Racer Cave, walked through the forest canopy, and met some amazing friends from all over the world.
The endless stream of bats exiting Deer Cave on their way to hunt.
The mountains of Mulu at sunset.
Photo-Op! Racer Cave had some beautiful formations.
Jessica "rappelling" down a wall in Racer Cave.
Abe Lincoln at Deer Cave.
Preston walking the forest canopy.
Ubud, Bali, Indonesia:
More than any other city we went to, this is a town that feels like you're in a painting. Moss-covered stone statues and greenery abound, art galleries, silver shops, and restaurants are everywhere you turn, and on top of that, the sidewalks are littered with colorful offerings to the Hindu gods. It's intoxicating. So although this was the "scene of the crime" so to speak for Preston's terrible bout of food poisoning, we still both agree that this was a definite highlight.
More than any other city we went to, this is a town that feels like you're in a painting. Moss-covered stone statues and greenery abound, art galleries, silver shops, and restaurants are everywhere you turn, and on top of that, the sidewalks are littered with colorful offerings to the Hindu gods. It's intoxicating. So although this was the "scene of the crime" so to speak for Preston's terrible bout of food poisoning, we still both agree that this was a definite highlight.
Offerings to the Hindu Gods.
A moss-covered Ganesha, the Remover of Obstacles.
The very talented chanters at the Fire Dance.
The storytelling dancers of the Fire Dance.
A hindu temple. These were everywhere in Ubud.
Campuhan Ridgeway walk. Beautiful.
So there it is! This is definitely not to say that these were the only things we enjoyed about the trip. Everything (good and bad) made this trip what it was: an excellent adventure. We partied with Songkraners, took 15+ hour bus rides, got lost, saw amazing ruins, went SCUBA diving all over, were asked to "buy something?" everywhere we went, ate great food, ate terrible food, got attacked by bed bugs, stayed in beautiful bungalows, laughed our heads off, yelled at each other, suffered from food poisoning, swam in countless different Seas, made friends from all over the world, dealt with 100°+ heat by sweating (a lot), drove motos in the world's worst traffic, went spelunking in Borneo, spent over two weeks in the jungle, suffered limitless bug bites, learned to say "Hello" and "Thank you" in 6 languages, and so much more. And now that we've checked a few items off the proverbial "travel list", we have at least twenty new additions. Maybe our next blog will be coming from South America...
A HUGE thanks to everyone who followed our blog; god knows we spent way too many hours in internet cafes working on it, but in the end, you all made it well worth the effort.
Until next time!
Preston and Jessica
