8 January to 20 February 2011
This latest part of our trip was the least planned and it ended up being fluid and unpredictable. Using Bangkok as our base we first headed down to southern Thailand to the paradise island Koh Ngai. From there we headed northeast and spent a week exploring the beautiful temples around Siem Reap, Cambodia. Chinese New Year in Thailand forced us to flea jetbound to Penang, Malaysia. On a whim we island hopped over to the wild, jungle clad island of Sumatra, Indonesia. After a pitstop in Kuala Lumpur, we jetsetted up to Chiang Mai, Thailand where we indulged in a cooking class, Thai massage, and a whole lot of doing nothing. Tonight is the last of our four visits to Bangkok, a city we love, and our final night in Asia. It has been a wild, surprising, spiritual, and remarkably memorable seven and a half months. Tomorrow, with a little more than two months to go in our adventure we will find ourselves in New Zealand, a completely new part of the world. Today in Bangkok it was 98 degrees with about 90 percent humidity. We will arrive in Christchurch, NZ where the forecast high is predicted to be about 70 degrees (and this is a “warm day”). We sure are glad we bought those down jackets in Kathmandu!
Nepal By the Numbers
Countries Visited: 4
Days in:
Thailand: 23
Cambodia: 8
Malaysia: 4
Indonesia: 10
World Heritage Sites Visited: 3
Days Trekking: 3
Cooking Classes: 2
Massages: 4 (2 each)
National Parks/Natural Areas Visited: 2
Bus Rides: 3
Flights: 4
Train Rides: 2
Helicopter rides: 0
Stomach Illnesses: 1 (Nick ended his 6+ month healthy streak after eating lettuce-filled springrolls in Bangkok)
Photos Taken: 2089 (46 per day)
Best’s
Best Day
Nick: Trekking in Gunung Leseur National Park, Sumatra and seeing orangutans
Rachel: There was a lot of relaxing going on here…so any time I lay on the beach, in a hammock, on a couch, or on a massage table for more than 3 hours a day J
Best City/Town
Nick: Bangkok…is a GREAT city
Rachel: Bukit Lawang, Sumatra. It is less of a town and more of an atmosphere.
Best Meal
Nick: The feast prepared for us while we were trekking in Sumatra (tofu sambal, curry chicken, awesome veggies). It was gourmet and was prepared under a tarp in the middle of the jungle in the pouring rain.
Rachel: The first Gado Gado (peanut sauce over vegetables) I had upon arriving on Sumatra--- Obama and I both love this dish.
Best Wildlife Experience
Nick: The orangutans, of course. Being stung by a scorpion is a close second, pause…not.
Rachel: Spotting orangutans swinging in nearby trees while we were trekking!!
Best View
Nick: The sunrise over Angkor Wat, but Koh Ngai is a close second
Rachel: The view from the beach on Koh Ngai, Thailand
Best Surprise
Nick: Everything about Sumatra, although I had pretty high expectations already
Rachel: How easy it is to cook Thai food!!!
Best Hotel/Hostel
Nick: Our bungalow in Bukit Lawang. It is hard to beat a place where you can see three species of monkeys from the hammock on your deck and are awakened by marauding macaques each morning.
Rachel: This one is too hard- the best room is lost somewhere between rooms with amazing air conditioners and hot showers and the bungalow we stayed in the rainforest
Place to which we’d most like to return
Nick: SUMATRA!!!!!!
Rachel: SUMATRA!!!!!
Most Fun
Nick: Cruising around in our tuk tuk in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Our driver kept our cooler well stocked with beer
Rachel: rafting in an inner tube (also the most stupid thing we did)
Funniest Moment
Nick: Ditto the fish spa.
Rachel: Fish Spa: giggling as fish nibbled at the dead skin on our feet
Worst’s
Worst City/Town
Nick: Penang, Malaysia (I don’t understand why people like this place)
Rachel: Chiang Mai, Thailand
Worst Meal
Nick: Chili chicken in Berastagi. It was basically chicken cooked in ketchup-at least they left the rocks out of my dinner
Rachel: inedible Gado Gado in Berastagi, Sumatra ---rocks in my food!!!!
Biggest Waste of Money
Nick: Flying to Chiang Mai (another city I just don’t get)
Rachel: I would say all of the jewelry I’ve bought lately, but I wouldn’t call it a waste ; )
Most Disappointing Moment
Nick: Arriving in Chiang Mai, and realizing it is just a homely medium-sized city. That said, we had a pretty good time while we were there
Rachel: Every time we tried to get a tuk tuk or taxi in Bangkok. On the upside I think these interactions have taught me how to better express my anger.
Worst Hotel/Hostel:
Nick: The place in Berastagi w/o running water, although the owner was super nice and I would probably stay there again
Rachel: The worst place was still pretty nice, until the water stopped working…
Saddest Moment
Nick: The begging children in Cambodia
Rachel: When our tuk tuk driver cussed us out and forced us out of his rickshaw in a new city with all of our baggage five minutes after arriving in Cambodia because we did not want him to take us to see the temples the next day!! This definitely made me cry.
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