carmy in korea: summer vacation 2010.

cambodia was amazing. period.

i had such a great time! spending time with friends and exploring a new country. one post for an 8 day trip...here we go.

Saturday July 24, 2010

I left my apartment on this day at about 11am to catch my 2:15pm flight to Guongzhou, China where we had a 4 hour layover. we finally arrived in Cambodia at about 9:30pm cambodian time. as I made my way to the immigration counter...i was really nervous since we got our visas online so i was a little worried that they were fake...or something. Anyways, as i am waiting for the immigration officer to get everything figured out he looks up at me and says, "you have cambodia face." it was amazing. maybe because it doesn't matter where i go people think i am their ethnicity. we got a driver to take us to our guesthouse and went out for a little exploring and a beer.

ME all ready to go! @ Incheon Airport in Korea

kaleen & natalia all ready to go toooo!!!

the headphones that were given to us for the plane ride. they were different...

in the cab in CAMBODIA! on our way to the guesthouse.

the girls getting unpacked and relaxing for the night. the guesthouse was amazing!

jess and i at a French bar on our first night. This is where i had my first sip of Angkor Beer.

first tuk tuk ride. me, kim and natalia.

Sunday July 25, 2010

After having the most amazing breakfast ( which consist of assorted fruits, passionfruit cocktail, eggs and bread) we went out to explore Phenom Penh. We hired a tuk tuk driver to take us to the Genocide Museum, Killing Fields, and a restaurant for lunch. He drove us around all day and what seemed like around the whole town and waited for us when we were looking at the different attractions for only 20 USD. It was pretty amazing. For lunch we had some good Western/ foreign food. And for dinner we had some traditional Khmer Cuisine. I had a Banana Flower Salad, which was a papaya salad, and some fried noodles. It wasn't all that new to me since i've had these dishes at home...but my friends really enjoyed it! That night we hit up the night market and then we caught the midnight bus to Seim Reap.

it was very blowy and scary on those tuk-tuks. haha not really but it was fun trying to take some action shots.

at the night market purchasing a beautiful scarf...im obsessed.

Monday July 26, 2010

We arrived in Seim Reap at about 6:30am. Our plan was to watch the sun rise at Angkor Wat but that didn't happen because it was raining so hard. So we made out way to the guesthouse, showered and got some breakfast. I went to get breakfast with Natalia since the other girls wanted to rest a little. We went to a little cafe called Blue Pumpkin. Here they had some delicious sandwiches! Again, doesn't sound very exciting but in Korea it is near to impossible to find a good sandwich... it was sooo delicious! then we did a total of like 4 minutes at dr. fish.We have these in Korea as well but i haven't experience it yet... however it is very different in Cambodia. Basically you stick your feel into a huge fish tank filled with little fish...these fish eat all the dead skin off your feet. The fish that they use in Cambodia were rather large. I swear they looked like baby bass'. it was soo scary...let alone there were dead fish floating around and poop everywhere...haha it was a terrible experience. I am going to try it again in Korea...apparentely the fish are smaller...

our accommodations in Siem Reap.

at blue pumpkin posing with delicious sandwiches.

natalia too afraid to put her feet into the tank at dr. fish.

finally built enough courage to stick my feet in...while i was screaming.

look at those things snacking on the dead skin off my feet.

We then headed to the floating village. This was one of my favourite parts of our trip. We got to get into a boat and ride down the river to a rather large village of houses that just floated in the water. You could find almost everything in this floating village from schools and markets to pig farms. it was quite amazing seeing how these people lived on the water...having to ride a boat for about 30 minutes in order to get to shore.

a group photo of us on our boat during the floating village tour.

an O.G with a cigaret hanging out of his mouth fishing as we were boating to the village.

a small portion of the village

a pig farm on water...

a market on the shore of the floating village.

a lady doing her thing in her kitchen. haha

this little boy could not be older than 3 years old was rowing this boat better then i would be able to

these girls had these huge snakes wrapped around them like it was nothing. they make money by better tourists take pictures with them...

my firend kaleen loves snakes so she held it while we surrounded her for a group picture.

We also visited a school which was run for orphans by the Vietnamese Government. We went to a store before visiting them to buy them notebooks and pencils so that they can continue to study. These kids were so precious. We got to watch them play in there "playground" which consisted a deck...there were girls picking at each others hair for lice, naked boys jumping into the water for a quick swim before class, children playing marbles, and a bunch of girls skipping. I got to skip with the girls...showed them what i got. They were too cute...but we didn't get to play for long because after my first turn skipping with them it was time for them to start class...so they all ran off... As we were pulling away from the school there was a little boy at the gate watching us leave and blowing us kisses. he was so cute. i couldn't handle it.

some of the kids that were playing on deck at school.

the little boy that was waving and blowing kisses to us as we were leaving

After the floating village, we went to the old market to get some shopping done. We then decided to buy some street food off this sweet boy. He was selling these things that were doughy and filled with a type of vegetable. He was such a cute little thing...

kaleen taking a big bite of the deliciousness.

This night we went to a mexican restaurant for happy hour. 1 dollar tacos and margaritas. we ended up meeting some guys from JERSEY SHORE. well jersey...but i was quoting all my Jersey Shore lines...and im pretty sure they were pretty impressed...hahaha or just really embarrassed for me...as my friends were. we eneded up drinking about 40 margaritas between the 7 of us...which isn't too shabby. We then headed out for some Khmer food. I had some fresh spring rolls, mango salad, and coconut naan. it was delicious. after the delicious meal we went to Temple Bar and had a few drinks.

cheers of 1 dollar margaritas and cambodia!

kim loving the mango salad.

kaleen loving all her crazy meat...ostrish, kangaroo, snake...shes wild. hahaha

my sexy eating face.

the ladies with the jersey boys. haha they were definitely not that type of jersey boys that would have been impressed with my guidette talk.

That night I was up all night. I got food poisoning. so i was puking all night long and my stomach was not happy. i think i got a total of about 2 hours of sleep...

Tuesday July 27, 2010

Angkor Wat. one of the main attractions of cambodia. We made out way to the Temples and after walking for about 10 minutes in the heat...i knew that i had to go back to the guesthouse and rest for my own safety. Walking through the rest of the temple which was about 25 minutes longer i swear i was going to pass out or puke all over the temple. I was soooooo bummed but i knew that i had to do it for myself. I went back to the guesthouse and slept for a few hours. That night we went out for some thai food...i had some rice but wasn't able to eat much without feeling really sick. The good thing was that they had GINGERALE...i did feel a little better...i think it was all in my head that... I went back to the guesthouse and slept for the rest of the night...it was a really big sleeping day.

we were a colorful bunch! kim, kaleen, me, and natalia at the beginning of angkor.

trying not to puke inside one of the temples.

saying bye to the girls as i go back to the guesthouse and sleep.

Wednesday July 28, 2010

I felt a lot better this morning. The girls had decided to go horseback riding through the country side of cambodia. we originally wanted do four-wheeling in Phenom Penh but that was all booked for the day we were interested in doing it. so i agreed to do the horseback riding...if you know me well...you know i don't like big animals like that...they scare that crap out of me... but i did it!!!! hahaha...it was quite the experience... while everyone was riding on their own...i had a young boy leading my horse...basically i didnt have to do anything...just sit on the saddle. thats why i enjoyed it so much.

before we got on our horses. we got fanny packs and helemets for the ride.

i look so unnatural on a horse. my horses name was Silver.

my savior for this ride... i didn't get his name cause he didnt speak any English.

there are so many skinny cows in cambodia.

it was perfect weather for a ride in the country side.

the scenery was beautiful.

After the wonderful ride we went to a war museum that was set up outside...it was very different and pretty cool. We then went back into town and grabbed some Khmer food... and then got ready for our 10 hour bus ride to the beaches.

i have the worst posture of life. us at a khmer restaurant. last night in Siem Reap.

the patter that we ordered for dinner.

fresh spring rolls, fried ribs, morning glory vegetables, fish amok, green chicken curry, and mango salad.

Thursday July 29, 2010 & Friday July 30, 2010

After a 10 hour bus ride we finally are at the beaches. two long days of relaxing...it was a great way to end the trip. we stayed in bungalows, ate delicious food, got mani, pedi's and massages from old viet ladies, and talking to the kids on the beach. there were many kids who sold friendship bracelets and fruit on the beach that we befriended. they were too cute for words...i mean a group of teachers on vacation...obviously we're going to support the kids. we ended up taking the kids to the local market and buying the bags for school/ working on the beach. they were a good-ish bunch of kids...for the most part they all went to school in the mornings and nights so that they can sell during the day.

as soon as we got to our guesthouse it started to pour! so we had our handy dandy ponchos!

elizabeth, natalia, kim and i on our first night.

tuk-tuking to the local village with Peter and Aom.

all the kids and us with their new bags. group picture!

Peter. he was a special boy. he was like a 50 year old man trapped in a 10 year olds body. his voice sounded like he'd been drinking whiskey and smoking a pack or cigarettes a day. he tried to sell fruits and friendship bracelets to us all day long.

reading with Peter before he left for school that night.

last night on the beaches.

Saturday July 31, 2010 & Sunday August 1, 2010

we took the morning bus back to Phenom Penh on this day. we spent the day at our beautiful hotel. we swam, read and chatted by the poolside and then went out for our last Khmer dinner. We went to bed early to catch an early flight back to korea. it was a wonderful trip...surrounded by wonderful people, food, and laughter. just what i needed after working 6 months straight.

our most interesting Khmer dinner. the one of the left was a beef dish with red ants in it, a banana flower salad in the middle, and amok chicken on the right.

kaleen enjoying her frog leg soup.