KEP!

            The month of May was riddled with days off for PUC, so we decided to take a quick road trip to one of the less tourist-inhabited vacation spots of Cambodia.  Kep or “Kaipe” quickly became one of our favorite locations in this great country.  For this trip, we decided to go with two of our good friends from PUC travelling via car.  The four of us packed into our rented Camry and started our adventure toward the Southwest coast of Cambodia.  Our drive took us through the beautiful countryside of Cambodia’s provinces, and we stopped several times to take in the scenery and snap a few pictures.  There were large, recently constructed statues of Buddha along the side of a hill that were extravagantly colored and stood out from the green background.  The ride was extremely pothole laden and we also had to stop to collect a hubcap along the way.  Fortunately, there was minimal traffic, and it wasn’t too dangerous of a situation.

            Upon arrival in Kep, we immediately took in the gorgeous ocean scenery.  Since it was a major holiday, a large amount of Cambodia youths were wading in the ocean and perfect weather.  Our hotel was up a dirt road and surrounded by lush plant life and fruit trees at the top of a hill.  The rooms were surrounded on all sides by gigantic bamboo trees and tropical plants.  Each room was separate from the main lodge area and had its own porch with included hammock.  From the lodge as well as the pool, there was a view overlooking the ocean.  The lodge was made mainly from trees, and it had a thatch roof.  The pool was lagoon-esque with clean saltwater. 

The first night, we decided to have dinner down by the waterside.  Everyone was craving crabs, so we took a quick two minute drive down to the crab market.  The restaurant was perched on stilts on the edge of the water, and we dined on crab, fish, and steaks while listening to the crashing waves.  This turned out to be some of the best food we’ve ever eaten in Cambodia.  The next day, we planned a day trip to Rabbit Island.  After a short boat ride we jumped overboard into the waist deep water and waded over to shore.  We then took an overgrown dirt path to the other side of the island and probably the coolest place I have ever been.  The shore was lined with small wooden decks with thatch bamboo roofs, each with two worn hammocks slung across overlooking the ocean.  There were minimal people, no sellers, and a tiny little shack of a restaurant that sold fresh coconuts and seafood all day.  We relaxed, took in the sights, and fell in love with Kep. 

Toward the second half of the day, a group of Cambodian’s with party in tow reserved the decks and had a cookout.  We took our party of four to the small restaurant shack and ordered our lunch.  It took a while to come out, but we couldn’t complain because we literally watched them haul the four plates of crabs out of the ocean by hand.  We dined as we listened to two tourists have the nerve to complain about their food taking too long and eventually decide to gorge on a container of Nutella with spoons.  After a healthy lunch of crab, fish and fresh coconut, we got back aboard our boat just as the storm clouds started to roll in.  It never did rain, but the wind churned the ocean to a point that our boat ride was just a little less dry than a swim in the ocean.  Once grounded, we drove back to the lodge to rest before having some delicious dinner at the crab market. 
On our way home, we decided to make a pit stop in the city of Kampot for some famous peppers! (Kampot Peppers!)  We ended up taking a different route for the ride back to Phnom Penh.  Instead of taking 2.5 hours, it nearly took 4 hours, but we were able to relax and stop for fresh coconuts in one of the remote villages that were along side of the semi-dirt road.  The ride was again extremely bumpy, but we managed to keep our hubcaps on as we rode back to the noise pollution (and regular pollution) of Phnom Penh.  Kep is truly amazing and we hope it stays remote and unmolested by modern society’s need to promote tourism.  

Country hopping.

Keith and I have been busy country hopping in Southeast Asia. Over a two-week break we took some time to go to some new places. We saved our money over the last few months so that we could add some stamps to our passports. We were able to go to several places for a really great price including Bangkok, Thailand, Penang, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

We bought our tickets to Bangkok with AirAsia for $11 each! Of course that was before taxes and fees, but still, it was an amazing deal. I think in total for 2 one way tickets to Bangkok we paid about $50 ($25 per ticket). The flight was just over an hour long, so paying a little extra for a flight rather than a bus ticket was a good move time wise. We were unable to see a lot of the tourist attractions because of some ceremonies that were taking place, but we still enjoyed walking around the city and checking out some local spots.

From Bangkok, we flew to Penang, Malaysia (again on AirAsia).  We were unaware at the time, but during our flight an earthquake hit the Indian Ocean and was felt in Penang. When we landed we were informed of the situation, and were a bit nervous, but kept an eye on the news and the weather. Fortunately, we were unaffected by the quake and were able to enjoy our time in the city. We stayed a small hotel with a private beach. We spent the days kayaking, shopping, testing out the public transportation, and eating.

 Next, we hopped on a quick flight from Penang to Kuala Lumpur. This was the best bargain at 30cents per ticket, again that’s before taxes and fees, but come on THIRTY CENTS how can you say no?! We had been to Kuala Lumpur before, so this time we just hit up the markets and relaxed instead of running around trying to see everything. We got a lot of goodies and enjoyed the surroundings of the buzzing city life.

From Kuala Lumpur, we headed back to Phnom Penh, but only for 2 days before heading to Ho Chi Minh. For this leg of the trip our friend Sophia joined us. We took a bus for about $12 from Phnom Penh to Vietnam. The bus driver was very heavy on the horn, so napping was pretty much impossible during the six hour drive. When we finally got to the city we enjoyed venturing around, eating, getting lost in the city and in translation, and haggling at the markets. There were a lot of similarities and differences between Ho Chi Minh and Phnom Penh, so it was a unique experience.

Overall, we had some really amazing opportunities. Each city was different and had a lot to offer. We didn’t like one more than another, but each in it’s own way. We are so happy to have the ability to go to so many awesome places and will remember our adventures for years to come. Here are a few photos from our trip!

Surprise!

Who doesn't love a good surprise? As the months wind down and we get closer to the end of our journey in Cambodia we thought we'd spice things up a bit around here.

Friends of ours has been encouraging us to get married while in Cambodia. After many discussions explaining to them why we would not tie the knot at this time, one of our friends came up with a "great" idea. Our friend Sophia thought that it would be fun/funny to have a pretend Khmer wedding for April Fool's day. She helped us find a local photographer and pick out traditional outfits. We posted the pics on Facebook for our friends and family back home to see. It gave us quite a laugh to see some of the responses to our "ceremony".

The same weekend that we came up with this plan, I decided to coordinate a surprise birthday party for Keith. The past few years haven't been so great for Keith's birthday, so I wanted to do something special. We gathered at his favorite restaurant in Phnom Penh, where we set up some decorations and waited. Keith was completely shocked when he arrived. It was a great night with delicious food and wonderful friends. Here are some photos from the two surprise events!!