Postcard from Angkor Wat

Even with all the hastle getting to Angkor Wat, it was well worth the trip.



Around Angkor Wat are a collection of temples that were built during the height of the Khmer empire. This one is Bayon which has 216 faces of the king facing tons of directions. Angkor Wat itself is the most impressive since it is almost completely still intact and has some incredible long murals almost undamaged for 800 years. We'll leave these to your imagination though so you have some reason to go to Angkor Wat yourself.

There was also Baphoun which was painstakingly takeen apart by archeologists in the 60's in order to be renovated. Unfortunately the records of what pieces went where were lost during the Khmer Rouge period so the temple is now the worlds largest jigsaw puzzle.


Baphoun currently under construction

Pieces of the puzzle


It rained several times while we were there so we had to take shelter where we could. Here is Stephen waiting out the rain in a ruined corridor.


Ta Prohm was one of the coolest temples because it has largely been left unrestored. I kept having songs from The Jungle Book running through my head because it reminded me of the movie so much.

Part of Tomb Raider was filmed in this temple and it definitely feels like it. This one makes a person feel like they are living in Indiana Jones, until you see the tourists with cameras getting their picture taken that is.


This one is another where's stephen picture. It is a photo of him at Ta Keo which was built in a pyramid style but was never finished. The steps up are so steep it is more like crawling up a cliff than climbing steps.


All over the place were incredible carvings covering almost all of the doorways walls and anything else made of stone. Here is one of the best preserved ones we found.

One of the murals at Angkor Wat shows the gods and demons playing tug-of-war with a snake above the sea of milk. This was used as balustrades as well which look really awesome.

Here is me doing my part to help out.


Finally, at Preah Khan is this strange building that looks very greek.

Cambodia in general felt like a huge tourist trap with everyone out to squeeze money out of the tourists. If it wasn't for how incredible Angkor Wat is, it wouldn't be worth it. Stephen and I were both very glad to be back in Thailand after the trip where we were able to easily and cheaply get where we wanted to go. Angkor Wat stands higly recommended on things to see. Next stop, Vientianne, Laos and picking up Ryanna and Katie. Needless to say we are excited.

Postcard from Bangkok

In spite of Bangkok being a backpacker's paradise, we were only there for a couple days. One day really. We just didn't have time to fit much in. It is a big city though so we didn't miss a whole lot.

We did go to the Grand Palace though.

It has some very old and brightly colored palaces and temples that are very thai and unique in their brightness. They were renovated not too long ago whith colored mirror pieces all over the place.

For example, this giant golden stupa is actually covered with millions of one inch square golden reflective mirrors. The effect is really cool.

We also tried to go to the snake farm where they collect snake venom to make anti-venom but it was closed in the afternoon due to the coup.


Speaking of which, there were tanks and soldiers all over Bangkok and Thailand. As we were leaving for Cambodia, they were all over the place and even had a few checkpoints along the roads. Everything was calm though and no problems really anywhere.

On our way to Siem Reap where Angkor Wat is, we got caught in the bus scam. We got on a bus that took 9 hours to do the 4-5 hour trip so that they could dump us at a guest house at 11pm and then we wouldn't go looking for another one. Needless to say we marched off in a huff.

Update from Bangkok

We arrived last night in Bangkok and wandered around Khao San for a while. It is incredibly packed with backpackers, more so than anywhere I have ever been.


This is Khao San filled with backpackers. Where's Stephen? (He's there)

So we woke up this morning and went to check our e-mail and found out that there was a coup last night and Thailand is now under martial law. We are fine and hopefully things won't go crazy here. Either way we are planning on heading to Cambodia in a few days. I'll post a postcard for Bangkok later.

Postcard from the Kwai River

Mr. G in High School had us watch "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and I really was fascinated with the movie. I even made a model bridge out of popsicle sticks. Well I've finally gone and seen the bridge and all it represents. Turns out that the movie isn't very accurate to what happened with the bridge but does portray the suffering of the soldiers.

One of the oddest things about the bridge (and you won't find this information in Thailand) is that the bridge doesn't actually cross the River Kwai. The railroad follows the river kwai for 300 km but never crosses until it joins the Mae Klong river. The author of the book just assumed it was the kwai river since that is what the railroad follows. When the book was written and the movie made, people started showing up looking for the bridge on the river kwai but the Thai's had no idea. Once the figured it out, in a very thai decision, they renamed the upper branch to Kwai Yai or the little Kwai. The main Kwai is now called Kwai Noi or the big Kwai.


This is all that is left of the original wooden bridge. Actually, if you look on the right side of the picture, you can see the original. The left side is a recreation. The Thai government asked the Japanese to remove the wooden one in 1944 because it was obstructing river traffic.

In its place was built a steel bridge that was actually dismantled and transported from Java to Thailand by the Japanese during WWII.


The steel bridge was also set up by prisoners of war and in 1945, it was bombed repeatedly by American bombers. The middle three spans were knocked out and rebuilt after the war by the Thai Railway. You can see the two spans that look different in the photo and there are still some pockmarks on some of the pylons near the end.


See, we really were there.


There was also a very touching memorial and gravesight for the POWs killed building the railroad.

Postcard from Penang

We decided to take a train from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok which just happened to have an eight hour layover in Butterworth on the way there. Butterworth is a short ferry ride away from Penang island so we decided to make a quick trip there.

While there we visited Fort Cornwallis

Fort Cornwallis was founded in 1786 by Fracis Light and named after the Governor-Generl of Bengal Charles Cornwallis but is probably more recognizable to Americans as the British General who lost the last battle of the Revolutionary War. It was set up as the first base of the East India Trading Company and was strategic but unattacked throughout the colonial period.



Above is me storming the fort near some cannons. One of them is Seri Ramai which apparently is a really famous cannon from that era. It was originally built by the dutch and you can still see the VOC on the barrel. They gave the cannon to the Sulton of Johore who later gave it to Aceh and in 1871 the British seized it and move it to Penang where it has been ever since.


I don't know how many times I've seen "No Littering" signs but luckily at Fort Cornwallis littering is allowed. I guess they wan't to leave more clues for future archeologists.

Penang also included some very impressive victorian era buildings including a clock tower presented to Queen Victoria on her Diamond Jubilee, all of which I didn't take pictures of.

Here is me on the ferry back to Butterworth.


And Stephen in our sleeper car to Bangkok.

We have now traveled by train, bus, ferry and taxi. Seeing as we are going to Thailand and Laos, maybe we will add elephant soon.

(Last) Postcard from Kuala Lumpur

This is my fourth and final time in Kuala Lumpur for this trip. I've been staying at a tiny little but very nice guesthouse named the Red Palm that I would highly recommend if you are in Kuala Lumpur.

The good news is that all of our visas are finished here in KL. We now have China, Kyrgyz, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia in our passports. The only one left is Tajikistan and we need to go to Uzbekistan for that one since there isn't a consolate around here anywhere.

Stephen and I have got train tickets tonight for an overnight train to Butterworth near the island of Penang and will probably spend the morning sightseeing in that area. Then we have overnight tickets for Butterworth to Bangkok.

We also tentatively have added Angkor Wat to the itinerary which adds Cambodia to the list of countries.

Postcard from Perhentian Kecil Island

Stephen and I have spent the last few days on Perhentian Kecil Island after an overnight bus trip from Kuala Lumpur. We decided to go after dropping our passports of at the Kazakhstan Embassy and being told that we would have to wait till friday to pick them up. We decided instead of hanging around KL for a whole week, we might as well head to the beach. Everyone said Perhentian Kecil was the best so we headed there.



Here is a picture of the beach. The main beach, long beach, is a really beautiful white sand beach with lots of cheap bungalos and moderately priced restaurants lining the shore. There is also a path across the island to coral bay. Coral bay faces the west so it has a great view of the sunset. Our first night there we hiked the 15 minutes across four dinner with a view of the sunset. It was all well and good until we started heading back and realized we forgot our flashlights. By then it was very dark and the path went through the woods and over the central hill. We decided to just do it in the dark. What an experience that was! We had to go pretty slow and rely on our other senses to feel where the path was. Along much of the path though was phosphorescent fungus that glowed. The cool thing was that it was on each side of the path only so we just had to walk down dark part with the glowing on each side to find our way.



The next day (yesterday) we decided to rent a kayak and paddle around the island. Kecil means "little" but don't be fooled, the island wasn't small. It took us about 4 hours to go around the island and we were paddling pretty quickly the whole time. When we got to coral bay on the opposite side from where we started, we pulled in for a half hour break and saw a few guys sitting around. We went up and started chatting with them and they, like many others, love the fact that we speak Bahasa. We were quite thirsty by then and saw they were drinking green coconut milk which is very good and refreshing. We asked if we could buy some to which they told us that they don't sell it but they had just cut some down and they would love to give us some. Needless to say it was very tasty.

This morning we took it easy, partially because we are both a little sore from the paddling and partially from the fact that the disco next door was pumping bass until 2 in the morning. We hopped the ferry back across to the mainland and are now waiting for the night bus back to KL.

Friday we're going to pick up our passports from the Kazakhstan Embassy and then Saturday head to Thailand. Our first stop will either be Bangkok or the Bridge on the River Kwai. I love the movie and have always wanted to see it.

Postcard from Jakarta/Medan

Since I only spent one day in each city and didn't do anything photo worthy, this will be a short post without pictures.

I went to Jakarta from Bandung on Thursday morning, catching a ride with a friend who was going down for a meeting. I met up with some other friends who now live in Jakarta and we went to the mall together. Two highlights of the trip are that we ate Krispy Kreme doughnuts for the first time and saw Snakes on a Plane.

I bought stock in Krispy Kreme a while ago when it was really low and have been stubbornly holding on ever since. I figured that the doughnuts were really good and it was low priced. I had never tasted them before though until Jakarta! They were everything they were cracked up to be and then some. There is another company that has been moving in before them called "J-Co" that is very similar but the doughnuts don't taste nearly as good. Go Krispy Kreme!

Snakes on a Plane was definitely interesting. It was a lot of fun to watch it with my squeamish friends. I don't think I have laughed so hard in a very long time. There was some very gratuitous violence in the film that was hard to watch but overall it was very funny. If you do see it, make sure to bring someone squeamish with you. It enhances the movie very much.

Friday morning I flew in to Medan to pick up Stephen (finally!) and to say goodbye for the last time. I met the new country director who is a really cool guy and had dinner with the Medan staff as a going away party. They also gave us some signed tsunami books to remember our work in Indonesia.

Then Saturday morning we flew to Kuala Lumpur where we currently are getting our Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan visas. That means our trip has officially begun. More to come later.

Postcard from Bandung

As most of you know, I lived in Bandung for three years only a little more than a year ago so my time here is kind of like a reunion/final farewell. I've spent most of my time at the school where I taught and many of my friends are still here although it is interesting to see how many are now married or seriously dating someone.

Anyways, to start things off, here is a picture of the gate at the school.

I did some substitute teaching for various teachers including 8th grade bible. I really like teaching bible and wish I could do it more often. I also did junior high chapel on friday.

I had a great time relaxing in Bandung and hanging out with old friends. I even got to help design the new lab at the new school that is under construction now. Now for a little bit about Bandung and some sightseeing.

Bandung used to be called the "Paris of Java" or the Paris of the East. Back when Indonesia was a dutch colony, Bandung was a resort and relaxation city for citizens of Jakarta trying to escape the heat. It saw rapid growth after independance and was the center of Indonesia's textile market until the crash in 1998. Still, many textiles are made there (check out the labels next time you go to the store). There is one particular outlet street called Cihampelas (chee-amp-las) that has gaudy facades in front of all the stores. Unfortunately I haven't taken any pictures of them yet.

All you texans out there would be interested to learn that Bandung is a sister-city of Fort Worth.

I've seen this monument for four years but have never gotten around to taking a picture of it until now. Next time I am in Fort Worth I'll have to find a similar monument. If anyone knows where it it, please let me know.

Because Bandung was a rest city up in the mountains away from the heat, there are still many Dutch colonial villas around the city. There is also still tons of classic Dutch architecture.

And of course next door is something a little more... um... modern.


Bandung also has the Kimia Farma plant right in the middle of the city which is where the world's supply of Quinine was made for hundreds of years (maybe not that long). Quinine was the primary anti-malaria drug used for a long time despite the fact that you almost died from the side-effects. They have much better drugs now, not to mention that malaria is much more treatable than it used to be.


That does it for Bandung. I'm leaving tomorrow morning to spend a day in Jakarta with more friends, then heading to Medan for a day to pick up Stephen, then to Kuala Lumpur. More to come.