alright. back again. we are settling in for some sand and rays here in sihanoukville, southern cambodia.

the '4000 islands' were very remote.. electricity was on for limited amounts of time at our first little bungalow, and our last night spent on another island had none.. we rented bikes our second afternoon and road all around the 2 islands we occupied during our stay.. kind of reminded me of the movie 'now and then' with our gang of girls riding our colored wheels over the dirt roads, singing and talking about life.. rice fields on one side, trees and huts on the other.. dodging water buffalo and stray dogs along the way.. it was crazy taking the boat out there and barely seeing treetops sticking out from the rushing water.. hard to imagine that the rainy season is only just beginning there.. there aren't 4000 islands this time of year i don't think..

took a boat back to the mainland and boarded a gruesome bus ride down to siem reap.. at one point we were attempting (..successfully, thank god) to drive through a lake, basically. there really is no other way to explain it.. water all around us.. a small mud island about 10 meters away.. waiting for the engine to stall out and for us to get washed out to sea.. hours later i was woken by some rapid swerving and brakes, only to see that we were in fact swerving through what looked more like a gravel pit with random gravel piles, and much less like a road.. what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

day one was angkor wat. breath-taking. one of the 7 man-made wonders of the world.. we spent the entire morning and afternoon there, very thankful for our tuk tuk driver.. we walked around 5 temples (one an abandoned city and none small), each one very unique and beautiful.. some of the girls said one day was enough, but i can understand how some people take a few days to go check it all out.. we saw the infamous 'tomb raider' temple with the 100+ year old trees sporting roots as thick as.. (tree trunks are presumably a bad descriptive choice..?) growing over the ruins and around passageways..

we went to a cute little alleyway full of restaurants and pubs for supper and spent the next day checking out the city. we got massages at a seeing-eye hands place which was pretty neat. we walked by the same place later on and they were all sitting on the step calling out for us to come in, so we had to explain we'd already been! they were all so wonderful.

which brings me back to the aformentioned beach.. glorious.

vientiane.

we've been two days in the capital of laos, vientaine. the city has a population of 250,000 people roughly.. amazing when compared to bangkok which is what.. 10 million? so it's pretty small town. we've gone out both nights, basically to hang out together.. not really hopping on a monday and tuesday night! today we said goodbye to michelle, who has been such a solid foundation in our travel crew.. kind of like we're losing a part of our little fam.. so we celebrated last night, rented a private karaokee room and went to town! christine and i belted out a little "achey breaky heart" just to clarify that we are in fact, well.. i suppose you can just fill in the blank on that one.. i remember doing that line dance around the living room for hours on end.. (i was really really cool).

today we went to check out a visitor center called "cope". it's a foundation that was created to help laos people with disabilities and amputations due to warfare. it's was an extreme eye-opener. stories of real people who lost limbs, families.. there were pictures and movies and it broke my heart. these young children who never experienced war, who are innocent, still feel the effects.. laos is the most bombed country in the world, and about 30% of the bombs dropped did not explode. they estimated about 580,000 bombs are still alive today.. scrap metal is a hot commodity for people here to provide money for their families, so many people of all ages see these UXO's as food for a month, and not as a danger. they don't understand that it could detinate. many of the accidents are also from children who see bombie's and think they are fruit or something to throw, and go to play catch with their friends.. i left changed, to say the least.

we take an overnight bus down south, to a place known as the '4000 islands'..

to my disappointment, i just realised that i wrote an entire blog a few days ago, and it didn't post! so that's a little discouraging, but i will do my best to recap..

so the blue lagoon did not in fact have this aforementioned rope swing, it had been removed. however, it did have a tree where said rope had once been tied to, and we did jump off of that. it also did happen to have a waterfall, which we jumped off of as well. so there were no hard feelings..

luang prabang was such a chill place, we spent four days there and loved it. rented bikes.. checked out a few temples.. the night market.. amazing food.. the morning before we left we woke up at 4am and went to watch the monk procession. every morning they walk through the streets with these containers strapped over their shoulders and collect food offerings from the locals. it's their food staple for the day, they do it every morning. it was just so humbling for me to watch.. i was slightly irritated by the tourists who were standing in the middle of the road with their cameras flashing incessantly.. it just seemed so tainting to the experience. these monks aren't doing this to be on display, they are doing this because it's a traditional element in their culture and beliefs.. we tried to just sit and be respectful, although i still feel hypocritical because i'm sure i do so many things that are unintentionally insulting or disrespectful.. but i am trying to understand..

we've now been in vien viang for 4 days. we went tubing down this river which is spotted with bars and places to hang out.. so you float down and get pulled in by these people with bamboo sticks and you stack your tubes and go hang out! there were zip-lines and acrobat swings that you climb up on and jump into the water! there was a volleyball net in the middle of a mud hole.. so many people.. we left at noon and got back just before 6 o'clock..

went caving yesterday which was quite the ordeal for myself being slightly clausterphobic and afraid of the dark.. we hiked through 3 caves, and then the last one you get on a tube and you pull yourself over the water by this rope.. then you have to lie down and squeeze yourself under a rock into a cave, and then proceed to pull yourself through the insides of this cave on a tube in the water! it was petrifying!! but ultimately amazing. all the girls had a really good time. some faulty head lamps and crawl spaces made the adventure what it was..

today we are off to vien tiane. stacy, christine and i are meeting melissa, michelle and jess there as they left this morning to kayak about 6 hours down the river and then take a bus the rest of the way! i would have liked to have done it, however we've decided that having some sort of budget is necessary.. and so, one can only do so much. it's all an adventure..

vang vieng.

so, the blue lagoon did not in fact have a rope swing as we had been told.. however, we did jump off the tree which used to rep said rope.. and we did jump off a fantastic waterfall right into the water.. and we definitely had a great time.. so, no hard feelings. there was also a moon bear reserve for mistreated animals down a path from the waterfall and we went to check it out. they were fairly small bears, all marked with a white strip under their necks.. almost pig-like snouts, they were very interesting to look at..

our last night in luang prabang we went out for a bit and got to bed at a decent time to wake up at 5am and watch the monk procession.. they walk single file through the streets with these tin containers strapped over their side to take food offerings from the locals. some of the girls were going to buy some rice, however felt it might be imposing on their culture as we didn't understand how exactly it worked and did not want to be offensive in this ignorance.. the monks actually do this every morning in order to obtain food for the day. they are very dependent on the locals which is very humbling for me to comprehend.. we sat on a street corner and watched them walk past, slightly irritated with all of the tourists standing in the middle of the roads with their cameras flashing incessantly.. it just felt so degrading to the entire process.. although i'm sure there are many things i do without a second thought that may cause offense.. pretty amazing regardless.

after grabbing breakfast we boarded a bus to vang vieng. a 6 hour drive with the most pot-holes, swerving roads, sketchy mountain passes, and near-misses with cows, dogs, and stray animals ever.. but somewhat amusing with all things considered. we've been here 2 days now, and are gearing up to go tubing down the river this afternoon! it can take anywhere from 3 to infinite hours, depending on how many times you stop, and there are rope swings and zip-lining and everything along the way! wish us luck..

slow boat, etc.

leaving chaing mai was actually a little sad! we had been so graciously hosted by all of the staff at 'panda house' and it was hard to leave the comfort of it (basically of nic giving us everything for free..) we had a personal taxi that we never paid for (besides tipping them because they were wonderful) free internet.. clean rooms.. amazing food.. what more could you ask? nic had all of our names memorized the morning after we arrived.. one day we asked him where a good place to go would be because we wanted to swim.. just so happens that his japanese friend is renting a place in a condominium with their own pool on the roof? so of course he calls his friend up and away we go.. now that's service. he even gave us a bottle of red wine as a going away gift. can't complain. the joys of being girls..

so from chaing mai we got on a slow boat which takes 7-10 hours, spending the night on the thai side of the river which separated us from laos. the first day on the boat actually flew by surprisingly fast! we had so much fun, definitely brought the party. we left our seats and sat up at the front by the driver, played cards, had music, made some friends.. fantastic. the next day, not so much.. we were pretty spent. enjoyed nic's going away present, however.

we've been 2 days already in luang prabang and love it. small town vibes, very relaxed. last night we went out on the town and enjoyed some amazing food and drinks at a few little places with patios out back surrounded by trees and candles.. they have a government curfew here of 12 o'clock, however it isn't enforced with tourists.. so after the restaurant we were at shut down, do you think we went home to bed? nooo. we went bowling! obviously..? it's the thing to do. we had our own lane and everything. got a little competitive (with nothing to back it up) and had so much fun.

today we're going to check out the blue lagoon.. there's a waterfall and a rope that you can swing from into the water.. more to come. xox.

in the jungle..

the 3 day 2 night trek was phenomenal. i wasn't sure what my expectations were to begin, but regardless, they were exceeded! our tour guide (we called him j.j.) was the most animated person i have ever met in my life, a fantastic cook (we ate like kings), and the most in-shape chain smoker of life..

the first day was especially gruelling. we hiked for about 3-4 hours, the majority of it straight uphill.. and by hill, i mean mountain.. it was rainy which made the paths especially muddy and i was very happy for our bamboo walking sticks.. the little ledges could be pretty slick. as challenging as it was, j.j. kept us motivated and was really good for stopping after an especially tough stretch to rest (while he smoked and sang at the top of his lungs.. i swear, the guy is incapable of being winded). the first night we reached camp, showered, and hung out with everyone on the deck of our little hut which was made entirely of bamboo. we stayed in a little village at the top of the mountain. all around was valleys and mountains and green tree tops peaking up out of the clouds.. breathtaking.

the second day trek was much more relaxed. we split into 2 groups (there was 13 of us all together) and us girls opted for the shorter trek which allowed us more time to swim at the waterfall! we had a private camp that night with a little hut and a long dinner table where we all hung out late into the night..

on the third day we hiked for about two hours before reaching the river where we put on life jackets and flourescent helmets to do some white water rafting. i've never been so terrified and thrilled at the same time! stacy and i almost got tossed out after a particularly big drop off, but my cat-like reflexes kicked in and there was no way i was getting thrown out of that raft.. we had some chanting going on, a little bit of competition between the 4 rafts.. a really good time had by all. we all bailed ship at one stretch where there were no rocks, and just floated for a bit. the current was much stronger than anticipated and we had trouble getting back to our rafts, but with the help of chris (who single-handedly held christine, jess and myself against the water) we got back on.. and from there, we got on a long bamboo raft which brought us back to the truck and our packs, and we headed back into chiang mai.

doi suthep

last night we took a 20 minute drive up a mountain just outside of chaing mai to a temple called 'doi suthep'. i am so happy that we went to see it at night because it was empty besides us, a few locals, and some monks. during the day it is a big tourist attraction and they sell small buddha statues etc, taking away from the wealth of what's really there.. we walked around the chapel area, and then took our shoes off and walked around the temple. there were 2 monks up there polishing a buddha statue and talking quietly amongst themselves. it was extremely peaceful and humbling and i wished i had my journal with me.. i felt i could've sat for hours thinking and writting.. we saw a woman monk dressed in a white robe performing some sort of ritual and walking extremely slowly up an aisle.. the 2 monks polishing the statue visited with us and answered some questions.. one was only 22 and had been there for 4 years.. pretty incredible.

regardless, i lied about not blogging until i got back.. i didn't want to overshadow this amazing experience with stories of jungle trekking. so, we leave in 30 minutes to the market for supplies, and then, jungle here we come..