It being my birthday, and elephants being awesome, it seemed we had no other choice but to pay a visit to Mondulkiri Project‘s Elephant Sanctuary! So Amanda and I braved the 6 hour minibus from Phnom Penh to the town of Sen Monorom in Mondulkiri province for a 2 night stay at the Tree Lodge. The Tree Lodge, run by the same people who run the Mondulkiri Project, is a guesthouse with a bunch of sweet bungalows lined up in…
After Siem Reap, we headed to Battambang. We didn’t really know what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised by this town! Our first day in, we walked around in the heat trying to get a feel for what this place was all about. We found a local hostel that had shared tuk tuk tours at affordable prices, so we booked one for the following day. That evening, we headed over to the circus. It isn’t what you’d expect. It’s…
After more than 3 weeks in Vietnam, Amanda and I are finally inching our way along the map deeper into Southeast Asia. We flew into Siem Reap, Cambodia to spend 3 days and 4 nights exploring the great temples of Angkor. We stayed at Onederz Hostel, a beautiful new hostel with tons of young backpackers and cheap temple tour packages. Lucky us, we got to stay in the private wing, which is like a hotel with the perks of a…
When we got to Saigon, we didn’t have any further plans. We had been thinking of going back to central Vietnam to Hue, Hoi An, Da Nang, and Nha Trang, but we were feeling a bit Vietnam-ed out. We had always planned to go to Phu Quoc though, so we said, “let’s go now!” and we did. For six nights. I booked a hotel called Cocopalm Beach Resort through our Hotels.com account. What we love about Hotels.com is that when…
I’ll be blunt: I’m homesick. Don’t get me wrong – I feel very fortunate to be able to take this time to travel the world with Shawn. We’ve been traveling just over two months now. We’re at the end of our fourth country, with quite a few more months and countries to go and I am very excited about the travel ahead. In our two months of travel, I’ve at times felt small waves of homesickness, but the past few…
During our second week in northern Vietnam, we thought we’d check out some… wait for it … cool rocks. We spent 3 days and 2 nights in and around Ninh Binh, called “the Halong Bay on land,” and Cuc Phuong National Park. We hired a tour company to do this because of all the transit logistics. Ethnic Travel is what they’re called, and though they’re a bit heavy on the branding and a bit light on the flavorful food, they got the…
Sorry for the lack of posts, friends. We’ve had a crazy few weeks being on the go after we left Taiwan. We’ve been in Vietnam two weeks now. We arrived in Hanoi late on a Sunday, and had three full days exploring the city and eating delicious food. Our hotel was in the old quarter, which is bustling with restaurants and cafes, and packed with tons of motorbikes and people. We spent our first day exploring the old quarter and…
I’ve been trying to think of things to say. This has been one of the hardest weeks of my life and I’m sure the majority of people who read this blog are feeling somewhat similar, so I don’t need to launch into a rant about my fears and the devastation we have both been feeling. To be brief, Shawn and I have been so depressed this week that it has been really hard to enjoy our trip. On Wednesday morning (Tuesday…
The moment we arrived, it was clear the city of Tainan is a place of rich history and amazing architecture. But ask a local, and they’ll probably tell you this town is all about the food. For day 1 of our visit, we were fortunate to have our Taiwanese friends with us, including Joanne who lives in Tainan. So we spent our first afternoon eating and exploring the city center. Between all the eating we did squeeze in some sightseeing,…
If you haven’t read part one of our Taipei adventure, head here to read it first. Can I just tell you how awesome it is to have a friend or know someone in a foreign country? If you haven’t traveled abroad, do it, and make sure you meet some people along the way. Your horizons will be broadened, your life will be more full, and you’ll learn new things and new culture. We are both so grateful that we could…