Angkor Thom was an impressive complex of temples. Literally meaning great city, this complex built in the late 12th century covers an area of 9 km². The pictures below are of the five different sites within Angkor Thom.
When we first thought of coming to the Angkor temples, I thought, now would be a great time before it gets too touristy. There were more tourists there than I would have ever imagined. Not too many Americans or Europeans, but the Koreans and Chinese came by the bus loads. Our tour guide was funny and said they call the Koreans locusts because they are so loud. The temples are still nice, bus it sure would have been nicer if we didn’t have to compete with throngs of other tourists!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Angkor Wat
The temples in Angkor (Siem Reap), Cambodia were absolutely amazing! They were so much larger and more complex than we could have ever imagined. We thought we would share pictures of the most iconic temple with you first, Angkor Wat. This stunning temple was built in the early 12th century as a state temple and capital city. Originally dedicated to Hindu god Vishnu, the temple is used today by Buddhists.
We got to tour all around inside the temple, admire the impressive engravings and carvings, and even got to go all the way to the top. We stayed to watch the sun set at the temple. As the sun lowered and hit the temple, it gave Angkor Wat a beautiful gold glow.
We talk more about Cambodia later, but for now, enjoy the pictures of Angkor Wat!
We got to tour all around inside the temple, admire the impressive engravings and carvings, and even got to go all the way to the top. We stayed to watch the sun set at the temple. As the sun lowered and hit the temple, it gave Angkor Wat a beautiful gold glow.
We talk more about Cambodia later, but for now, enjoy the pictures of Angkor Wat!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Kuala Lumpur
By the time we arrived in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, we were exhausted. Jet lag had finally set in and Tom's two weeks of 12 hour nights had finally caught up with him. Despite being exhausted and having limited time, we tried to see as much as we could. Burmese refugee friends had spent time in KL before coming to the US. I had been looking forward to Kuala Lumpur because most of my Our first stop was at the Kuala Lumpur tower which looks like the Seattle space needle. From here, we got great views of the city including Kuala Lumpur's iconic twin towers. Our ticket included admission to an "animal experience" which turned out to be animals kept in rather poor conditions so that was rather sad to see. However, I did get to hold 2 iguanas and the bigger one was just about the coolest and most beautiful lizard I have ever seen.
After that, we took a brief trip through China town. The tourist market had just about anything you could ever want. The sites, sounds, and colors were overwhelming in a fun way. I really wish we could have seen more, but we had to get up at 3:30am the next day so we went to bed early. Plus, the humidity was so intense so it was hard to have a long day. Enjoy the pictures!
After that, we took a brief trip through China town. The tourist market had just about anything you could ever want. The sites, sounds, and colors were overwhelming in a fun way. I really wish we could have seen more, but we had to get up at 3:30am the next day so we went to bed early. Plus, the humidity was so intense so it was hard to have a long day. Enjoy the pictures!
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Our Day in Singapore
Singapore reminds me of New York, only unimaginably humid, cleaner, safer, and friendlier. Singapore is such a safe city because the government imposes outrageous fines and penalties, so much so that people really don’t partake in crime. (Ex. About $800 for smoking in a no smoking zone or $400 for eating in the subway). At only 137 miles above the equator with a tropical rainforest climate, it was humid!
Singapore is a city, country and island all in one. About 6 million people live there, and are mainly of Chinese, Malay, or Indian decent. There are four official languages, of which English is one making it very easy to get around.
With Buddhism as the most common religion, I was surprised to see the city so decked out for Christmas. Beautiful blue and silver decorations lined the main streets while the different malls put out there own decorations. Speaking of malls, I’ve never seen so many in my life. Instead of streets lined with stores, they have streets lined with shopping malls!
In the evening, one of the men Tom had working with took us to the Singapore Flyer, which is like the London Eye. We had hoped to do the night safari, but on a rainy night, it was the perfect thing to do! Afterwards, he and his wife took us to a Mediterranean vegetarian restaurant, yummy! One day was definitely not enough here. If I’m lucky enough to come back, I hope to be able to go to their nature reserves.
Singapore is a city, country and island all in one. About 6 million people live there, and are mainly of Chinese, Malay, or Indian decent. There are four official languages, of which English is one making it very easy to get around.
With Buddhism as the most common religion, I was surprised to see the city so decked out for Christmas. Beautiful blue and silver decorations lined the main streets while the different malls put out there own decorations. Speaking of malls, I’ve never seen so many in my life. Instead of streets lined with stores, they have streets lined with shopping malls!
In the evening, one of the men Tom had working with took us to the Singapore Flyer, which is like the London Eye. We had hoped to do the night safari, but on a rainy night, it was the perfect thing to do! Afterwards, he and his wife took us to a Mediterranean vegetarian restaurant, yummy! One day was definitely not enough here. If I’m lucky enough to come back, I hope to be able to go to their nature reserves.
The Gardens of Singapore
I finally got to see Singapore, where Tom has spent over 6 weeks combined this year. Our first stop was the botanical gardens. The gardens were so much larger than I expected. It was an enormous public park with many trails and had a smaller orchid garden. We really enjoyed seeing so many different types of plants. The diversity, patterns, and color among the plants was truly amazing.
Our biggest surprise of the morning was when we rounded a corner and saw a big monitor lizard on the trail! I think the one we saw was a water monitor (Varanus salvator). They can grow up to 10.5 ft, but the one we saw was between 5-6 ft. Water monitors are great swimmers and will eat everything from fidh to crabs to snakes and rodents. After we got over the surprise of seeing him and noticed the size of his claws, we left him alone as he swam away. We also saw a swan, beautiful humming bird, and a few curious squirrels.
Our biggest surprise of the morning was when we rounded a corner and saw a big monitor lizard on the trail! I think the one we saw was a water monitor (Varanus salvator). They can grow up to 10.5 ft, but the one we saw was between 5-6 ft. Water monitors are great swimmers and will eat everything from fidh to crabs to snakes and rodents. After we got over the surprise of seeing him and noticed the size of his claws, we left him alone as he swam away. We also saw a swan, beautiful humming bird, and a few curious squirrels.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
The Beauty Below
It's been quite some time since my last post here and with a trip to South East Asia, I thought it would be the perfect time to start back up. I named my blog "On the Path Unwinding" after a verse of one of my favorite songs: Elton John's Circle of Life. One of the lines of the song says, "There is more to see than can ever be seen; more to do than can ever be done." I know I'll never get to see or do everything, but I can never pass up on opportunities like this trip to see so many new places.
While there is "more to see than can ever be seen," I I feel what you do see falls on what you choose to see. The views of flight from Dulles to Korea was quite amazing and unlike anything I had ever seen before. Once on the plane, almost everyone either pulled the window blind shut and tried to go to sleep or shut the window and started to watch movies. I did watch my share of movies, but I made sure to look out the window throughout the flight.
When flying from Dulles to Korea, the shortest path is over the frozen waters of the Arctic, northwestern Canada and the vast northeastern parts Russia. As the sun began to rise, you could see the ice breaking over the frozen arctic waters. Russia was the most amazing. Rivers that looked frozen in time meandered their way through the seemingly barren winter landscape. They created such amazing designs through the landscape; it really was quite stunning. I'll probably never get to those parts of the world, but at least I had the chance to see it from the air.
By the time the second flight from Korea to Singapore took off, it was already nighttime. I've never felt so close to the stars! I had a great view of Orion's Belt and the Gemini constellation for some time. I'm sure I had a great view of others, but I didn't know what I was looking at :)
There was one holy crap we are going to crash movement when the plane hit severe turbulence. Look at the last picture of the slide show and I think you will be able to tell when the pilots had to navigate through some challenging air.
While there is "more to see than can ever be seen," I I feel what you do see falls on what you choose to see. The views of flight from Dulles to Korea was quite amazing and unlike anything I had ever seen before. Once on the plane, almost everyone either pulled the window blind shut and tried to go to sleep or shut the window and started to watch movies. I did watch my share of movies, but I made sure to look out the window throughout the flight.
When flying from Dulles to Korea, the shortest path is over the frozen waters of the Arctic, northwestern Canada and the vast northeastern parts Russia. As the sun began to rise, you could see the ice breaking over the frozen arctic waters. Russia was the most amazing. Rivers that looked frozen in time meandered their way through the seemingly barren winter landscape. They created such amazing designs through the landscape; it really was quite stunning. I'll probably never get to those parts of the world, but at least I had the chance to see it from the air.
By the time the second flight from Korea to Singapore took off, it was already nighttime. I've never felt so close to the stars! I had a great view of Orion's Belt and the Gemini constellation for some time. I'm sure I had a great view of others, but I didn't know what I was looking at :)
There was one holy crap we are going to crash movement when the plane hit severe turbulence. Look at the last picture of the slide show and I think you will be able to tell when the pilots had to navigate through some challenging air.
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