Koh Tao, Thailand

After several days of sailing, relaxing, and enjoying the American atmosphere on the Mango Moon with Lisa and Frank, hopping back into the crazy jumble of Southeast Asian life was a bit of a culture shock. Add to that the purchase of our third camera, and it made for a bit of a depressing mood. However, an hour-long taxi ride, a one hour flight, and an 8-hour overnight ferry took us out of our gloom and into the Thai paradise that is Koh Tao Island.

After unpackaging our new camera, this elephant walked by. It made for a good test-subject.

The overnight ferry that we took to Koh Tao

Luckily, we are traveling during the 'low season,' so only about 75% of the beds were filled. Apparently, the ferry is quite uncomfortable when hundreds of people are sardined together.

Koh Tao, meaning "Turtle Island," is a gorgeous, lush island landscape surrounded by massive corral reefs. It is a haven for both sun-worshipers and divers alike. Not wanting to miss out on any of the action, we decided to partake in all Koh Tao had to offer.

The main street of Koh Tao

The main beach

The view from lunch -- what a hard life.

At night the bars all featured local fire-dancers on the beach

Koh Tao cocktail hour

We both received our beginner's dive certification in the freezing cold waters of the Puget Sound a few Decembers ago. In contrast, the bathtub-warm waters of Koh Tao offered a perfect setting to earn our "Advanced Diver" certifications. At one point, diving to a depth of over 90 feet, our dive computers still registered water temperatures of 86º! Though these temperatures felt fantastic, this season's unusually warm waters are reeking havoc on the local marine life, and will possibly cause irreversible damage to the local coral due to bleaching. We hope that's not the case, because Koh Tao's marine parks are too beautiful to be lost.

During our dives, we saw just about every fish featured in the movie "Finding Nemo," including Panda Clown Fish and Hawksbill Turtles. There were also aggressive Trigger Fish that attack divers who enter their territory. Luckily we were unscathed, but a guy that we were diving with had a chunk bitten out of his shin! The only thing we didn't see was a whale shark, which we hope we can find in Malaysia or Indonesia.

Besides diving, Koh Tao offered plenty of leisure time. On a typical day, we would wake up at about 6:30 AM to go out for a couple of dives. We would return by lunch, leaving plenty of time to walk the beaches, hike, throw the Frisbee around, and enjoy the sun.

On our last day, having completed the diving course, we took a taxi boat to a small island called Koh Nangyuan. This private island featured a pristine white beach, turquoise waters, and a great hill to hike.

Taking the long-tail boat taxi to Koh Nangyuan

Forever young. You need to be for the hike ahead...

A view from the top! As you might notice, we were just a little bit sweaty...

Koh Tao was a very hard place to leave. The friendly locals, entertaining divemasters, delicious food, and beautiful surroundings kept beckoning us to stay one more day, but eventually we had to leave; afterall: the show must go on. But don't feel too sorry for us, our next destination is Koh Phi Phi, yet another beautiful Thai island!

Pattaya, Thailand

And now it's back to Thailand! Has it been two months already?? Seems like forever since we held Bhat (Thai money) and said "Sawadeekaaaaaaaaaa" (means hello; the "a" can be held out for an indiscriminate amount of time), but here we are again. Heading west from Siem Reap, we were lucky enough to meet up with Preston's aunt and uncle, Lisa and Frank, in the costal town of Pattaya where they are currently living on their beautiful catamaran, Mango Moon. Frank and Lisa are in the beginning stages of a 5-10 year trip around the world on Mango, and happened to be in Pattaya when we were passing through (like I said, lucky us!). This turned out to be one of the absolute highlights of our trip--but how could it not be with some much needed family time (or "American time" for that matter) on a sailboat in Thailand!

We set sail the morning after our arrival, and Preston and I immediately got some on-the-go sailing lessons. With the spinnaker flying, we headed to our first island destination. When we arrived a few hours later a bit more boat-smart (and incredibly sweaty), we immediately jumped in the water, did some snorkeling, and then lazed around the rest of the day. We both agree that the highlight of the day was drinking margaritas with Frank and Lisa while cooling off in a half-submerged hammock strung between the hulls of the boat. As Lisa would put it: This doesn't suck. How true it is.

Our arrival to Pattaya and Mango Moon!

Amazing sunset from the Marina.

And we're off! Frank let Jessica steer for a few minutes. She DID NOT crash. Thank god.

Preston and Frank raising the spinnaker.

Then the real experts (Frank and Lisa) took over.

The spinnaker is up!

Margaritas in a hammock? Yes, please.

So many beautiful little islands in this area.

Getting ready for some much needed snorkeling.

The next day we hopped from island to island looking for good snorkeling spots, then anchored in a quiet little cove on Koh Sak. Essentially, it was two days full of sailing, snorkeling, swimming, great food, and good company. We couldn't have asked for more.

Thanks Lisa, Frank, and Mango!!

Siem Reap, Cambodia

An easy six hour bus ride brought us from Phnomh Penh to Siem Reap. One memorable moment from the trip was a rest area that served fried tarantulas... we decided not to try them.

No thanks!

The main draw to Siem Reap is that it serves as base camp to visit the incredible temples of Angkor. Though Angkor Wat is the most well-known and best preserved site, the actual city of Angkor was the largest pre-industrial city in the world. Angkor stretched nearly 1,000 square kilometers, roughly the size of modern day Los Angeles. At its height in the 13th century, Angkor had about one million inhabitants at a time when London had a population of only 50,000. Though less is known about the ancient Khmer civilization than comparable western civilizations, its is clear that it had incredible leadership, master engineers, visionary architects, and a massive labor force.

After an early bedtime, we arose the next morning at 4:30 AM to begin a long day of exploring. We started the day by watching the sun rise over Angkor Wat, the largest single religious monument in the world. After a few minutes, it became clear that we were in for a color-less sunrise, so we booked it inside to beat the crowds. Inside Angkor Wat was gorgeous; full of intricate bas-reliefs and decaying statues. Though the highest and most impressive towers of Angkor Wat were "Closed One Day for Cleaning," slipping the janitor $5 gained us private access to the coolest parts of the temple! (As we like to say: TIA. This Is Asia.)

Sunrise over Angkor Wat

Jessica ascends the stairs to the temple

Standing inside an ancient swimming pool

Jessica and Preston in the "closed for cleaning -- unless your bribe the janitor" area

Nature constantly tries to reclaim the temples

After a few hours of exploring, we leave Angkor Wat

After Angkor Wat we spent the rest of the day touring other impressive Angkor sites, including Angkor Thom (the capital of the city), Bayon (the temple of faces), Ta Keo (the mountain temple), Ta Prom (the overgrown jungle temple), and Bonteay Srei (an intricately detailed temple). Our driver offered us unlimited free ice-waters and refuge in his air-conditioned van through the day, which was more than necessary in the 100º heat.

The entrance into Angkor Thom, the capital of Angkor

The statues may look mean, but are actually quite friendly!

We found some friendly monkeys near the entrance to Angkor Thom

Though the baby monkeys were fun, we steered clear of their larger parents

Jabba-the-Monkey.

The children that run around Angkor are cute, but we had to resist their begging. Giving them money only fortifies their parents decision to keep the kids out of school.

Bayon, a temple filled with giant stone faces

Another shot from Bayon

Bayon from a distance

Bonteay Srei, a temple covered in well-preserved intricate carvings

Bonteay Srei

Massive trees strangle the buildings of Ta Prohm

An accurate statue of Buddha

After thoroughly exploring Angkor, we spent another couple days wandering around Siem Reap to see what else the city had to offer. The city surrounds the 'Stung Siem Reap' river, and consists of a great mix of old French colonial buildings and new Cambodian buildings that have been constructed since Angkor-bound tourists began flooding the city a decade ago. Among its highlights are several markets and a very lively nightlife on 'Pub Street.' Anyone that contemplates visiting Angkor should know that they will not have to 'rough it' in a 'third-world' country; Siem Reap is beautiful, clean, and offers any amenity a westerner could want. We even saw hotel rooms priced at over $400 a night!

A local Wat

Giant trees border the Stung Siem Reap, providing shade along the river. Due to the heat, the standard routine is to run from one area of shade to the next.

French colonial buildings fill Siem Reap

Pub Street

After seeing advertisements all over SE Asia for "fish massage" we finally gave in to our curiosity in Siem Reap. Two dollars buys you 20 minutes with the fish and a 'free beer' thrown in!

A 'fish massage' feels about as creepy and uncomfortable as one would imagine. It feels like hundreds of fish with very small teeth attempting to eat your feet

However, after about 10 minutes, it begins to feel alright

The fittingly-named 'Night Market'

Overall we loved both the ancient city of Angkor and the modern city of Siem Reap. Angkor holds its place as one of the 'Wonders of the Modern World,' and Siem Reap provides a great city to call home for a while! It was a great place to spend our last few days in Cambodia.