Siem Reap, located in northwest Cambodia, is known as the gateway to the temples of Angkor. Charles joined me for a little vacation and to explore the amazing temples with me.
After a full, very hot day of temples, we were ready to hit the open road on ATVs to visit the Cambodian countryside, villages, and a crocodile farm(?).
Myanmar, also known as Burma, was under an oppressive military's rule from 1962 to 2011, but has recently been opened up to mainstream tourism. Myanmar continues to make international headlines for an army operation against alleged terrorists in Rakhine State, which has driven more than half a million Muslims to neighbouring Bangladesh, in what the UN called 'ethnic cleansing'. Most likely one of the poorest countries I have visited (considered 3rd world in several catgories), I wanted to experience its culture for myself.
I found such a rich culture with friendly people and delicious food and beer.
The temple town of Bagan was a highlight with its thousands of Buddhist temples, pagodas, and stupas.
I would recommend Myanmar for anyone traveling to SE Asia!
I traveled north to Seoul, the capital of South Korea, to get a much needed break from the heat of Southeast Asia. Seoul is a huge metropolis where skyscrapers meet temples, palaces, and street markets. And because of the beautiful, cool weather, I got to see leaves this fall!
Korea is also know for its street food culture, which did not disappoint!
I ended my trip to Seoul with a glimpse into North Korea through the demilitarized zone!
Don't book your train ticket to Pyongyang just yet!
Ho Chi Minh City (also know as Siagon) was the capital of South Vietnam and is know for its French colonial architecture, delicious street food, and scooters...lots and lots of scooters. In an effort to join the ranks, we joined a night food tour by scooter with all women drivers!
The heat was definitely on in Siagon!!!
Time to take Mom to my surrogate home country, Thailand!
From Hanoi we traveled south to Hoi An, a historic city littered with Japanese merchant houses, Chinese temples and tea houses.
After a delicious meal including local specialties like white rose dumplings, bbq pork noodles and fried wontons...
we tried our hand at cooking at Vy's Market Cooking School.
Next stop, Ho Chi Minh City!
I arrived in Vietnam's capital city a few days ahead of my mother to get the 'lay of the land'. There is no better way to do that than with a night street food tour of some of Vietnam's most famous dishes.
I'm glad I took the tour, so I was able to take her on a similar trek of my own filled with amazing pho, banh mi, and spring rolls.
After seeing the sights of Hanoi including the 'Hanoi Hilton', Ho Chi Min Mausoleum, and Military Museum, we had a delicious French tasting menu dinner at La Badiane and bid farewell to Hanoi for a few days.
Halong Bay's 3000 limestone islands rise out of the Gulf of Tonkin.
We boarded the Azalea Cruise for two days and nights of cruising, biking through villages, hiking caves, and kayaking.
After reluctantly leaving the fabulous cruise, we headed back to Hanoi for one more night to say goodbye to the city (and all the friends we made?).
Sri Lanka is an island nation east of the southern tip of India. Sri Lanka has a long history ranging back to it's importance on the Silk Road, colonialism, and the more recent civil war, which ended in 2009. I figured this would be a great detour from Southeast Asia for a week. Outside of the fast paced (and terrible traffic) of the capital, Colombo, Sri Lanka is home to beautiful landscapes and parks, rich colonial history, and buddhist traditions.
Known as a Spice Island, the curries and fruits of Sri Lanka did not disappoint.
Nor did the seafood...like the garlic chilli crab at Ministry of Crab!
Back to Southeast Asia to meet Mom in Vietnam!
Luang Prabang is Laos's Unecso superstar city situated at the meeting of the Nam Khan and the Mekong River. I fell in love with this city for its glimmering Buddhist temples, river views, top-notch Gallic cuisine, and French colonial-era buildings.
After spending a full day walking the sights, a hike to the highest point for the sunset was the perfect end to a sweltering day.
The following day I took it a little easier with a fantastic full-day cooking class with the Tamarind Restaraunt and Cooking School. The menu included Lao favorites such as beef laap, fish steamed in banana leaves, chicken stuffed lemongrass, and purple sticky rice.
Luang Prabang is definitely one of my favorite cities so far in Southeast Asia!
Time to leave Laos and SEA and headed to Sri Lanka for a week...
After a long and bumpy (but only 160 km) minibus ride from Vientiane, I was excited for the outdoor offerings of Vang Vieng, which is crouched low on the Nam Song River. Unfortunately, the outer bands of Typhoon Mangkhut were also in Vang Vieng. Instead of tubing and ziplining, I spent a few days catching up on some good western fare.
Since Vang Vieng gets so many backpackers, the selection of italian, mexican, and german food is pretty good!
Of course, the weather started to clear up by my last evening...just in time for another long, bumpy ride to Luang Prabang.
Ready for the sun to come out!
I wasn't sure what to expect from Laos. All I knew was that Laos was the only landlocked country in SEA and sits below the poverty line with the most unexploded ordnance leftover from the Vietnam War. I was pleasantly surprised after arriving in the capital of Vientiane, which sits across the Mekong River from Thailand.
While Laos is known as 'The Land of a Million Elephants', I would rename it the Land of a Million Temples for the number of beautiful temples in one small city.
The city comes alive on the newly revamped waterfront where you can enjoy traditional lao cuisine while watching the sun set over the Mekong.
Due to French colonialism, Vientiane is home to some great French fare as well!
Time to head north to Vang Vieng.
It was much drier on Thailand's second largest island, Koh Samui, located in the Gulf of Thailand. I finally had some time to enjoy the beach again!
There is a 55 km ring road around the island, which makes motorbiking to buddhas a blast.
On my last beach day, I took a great brunch and snorkeling cruise around the islands.
Back to Bangkok for a few days before I head north to Laos.
Back in Thailand! Unfortunately, it rained the entire time I was in Phuket. The only pics I took are of me soaked and stranded at the Tiger Night Club...
I'll have to come back during dry season.
The Langkawi archipelago sits 30km off the northwest coast of mainland Malaysia. Despite the size of the main island (slightly smaller than Singapore) and the resort build-up, this feels like a rural paradise.
Aftet a beach/pool day (and burn) topped off with delicious indian food at Colonial India...
...I got back on the water with a jetski trip of a few of the 99 karst islands that make up the archipelago.
I followed that up with a mangrove 'safari', spotting pit vipers, bats, eagles, and monkeys.
Langkawi was a great end to my time in Malaysia...back to Thailand!
Cameron Highlands is Malaysia's largest hill station area and was a welcome change with cool temperatures that rarely top 30 degrees C. Known for its lush green tea plantations, Cameron Highlands is also home other eco friendly tourist attractions such as hiking, strawberry farms, butterfly and insect gardens, and markets.
But for me the highlight was definitely the Boh Sungei Palas Tea Estate where you can enjoy tea and crumpets while looking out over the plantations. Pinkies up!
Time to get back to the islands!
Officially spent my 100 day travel-versary in one of my favorite cities, Kuala Lumpur, with big Tiger beers and oyster omelettes...now for some cool weather in Cameron Highlands!
Not worth the time or money...if you want to enjoy Borneo's jungles, do so in Malaysia where you can enjoy a beer after a long trek!
If you have to go to Brunei, book a jungle trek with BorneoGuide.
Located on the east side of Malaysian Borneo, Kota Kinabalu (KK) is typically a jumping off point for tourists looking to climb Mt. Kinabalu. Since I was not looking for anything that strenuous, I took in some sights of the city such as the floating mosque, the waterfront, and several street markets.
The following day was a snorkeling and zipline trip to the 5 islands making up the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park. While I did see some cool fish, it was nowhere near the experience seeing the turtles in Gili T!
Time to leave Malaysia for a few days as I fly to the tiny sultanate of Brunei.
Kuching (known as the 'Cat City'...meow) is the capital city of Sarawak in western side of Malaysian Borneo and is known for its colonial history and food culture as well as a gateway to pristine rainforests and natural wonders of Borneo.
No visit to Kuching is complete without a visit to Semenggoh Nature Reserve to see rehabbed and released orangutans in their natural habitat.
Not having my fill of primates, I took a bus and a boat to Bako National Park in search of proboscis monkeys. Not only did we see a proboscis, but a few longtail macaques, bearded pigs, and a green pit viper!
With several bowls of Laksa Sarawak in my belly, I headed to the other side of Malaysian Borneo.
I left Malaysia to head to the island city-state of Singapore for a week. Singapore is a financial hub of south east asia and has an impressive skyline.
Singapore is also home to the cheapest Micheline starred meal at Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle.
Chicken Rice and Ribs are to die for!!!
On my last full day, we celebrated Singapore's 53rd birthday with fireworks and Singapore Sings.
We are Singapore!
The island of Penang, Malaysia is located at the intersection of Asia's great kingdoms and Europe's great colonial empires. The main city of George Town is the urban center of the island and known as the food capital of Malaysia if not Southeast Asia. I started off my culinary adventure with char koay teow at Siam Road Char Koay Teow. This has become a very popular eatery for this famous chinese noodle dish cooked over charcoal...I waited an hour to order.
The next day I was off to Nazlina's Cooking Class to learn some traditional Malay cuisine. After a stroll through the various markets of Chinatown, we headed back to the kitchen to prepare Beef Rendang, Roti Canai, and Cucur Keria. I highly recommend Nazlina's class!
The rest of my time in George Town was split between hiking in the jungle, checking out the colonial architecture, and temple spotting...
...and searching for the perfect oyster omelette at all the street food vendors and hawker's stalls.
George Town is the perfect spot for any culinary adventurer!