Two girls, one cup of noodles

One Last Day

anealis314 — Tue, 6 Aug 2013 08:36:00 GMT

My flight back to Texas left from Singapore, so I flew from Bali to Singapore and spent one night there. However, I had the whole day in Singapore as my flight wasn't till midnight. At the recommendation of a fellow traveler I recently met in Bali, I spent the day at the Botanical Garden, which I had missed on my weekend visit to Singapore. The gardens were beautiful and so peaceful. I attached a few photos from my day wandering there. I also recently learned that my camera has settings to distort the photos I take, so I used my time in the garden to play with those settings. Some of those photos are included.

Thank you all for keeping up with my journey in Asia. I can't wait to share my next journey with you all!

Love Ashley

Photos: One Last Day

anealis314 — Tue, 6 Aug 2013 08:04:00 GMT

Photos: Eat. Pray. Love

anealis314 — Sun, 4 Aug 2013 22:43:00 GMT

eat pray love

anealis314 — Sat, 3 Aug 2013 11:45:00 GMT

The truth was becoming ugly....I was running out of money. I only had about two and a half weeks left before I would need to get a job or come home, so I needed to decide where to go during this time. The options were Laos and Vietnam or Bali. I chose Bali, and boy, am I glad I did!

Many people have asked if this trip is an "Eat Pray Love" journey. The answer is no, or at least, it didn't start out that way. Yes, I have eaten, both normal local dishes and bizarre delicacies (remember the cricket and scorpion and durian cream puff?). I haven't prayed, but I've been in lots of temples and tried to obtain some inner peace during my brief yoga retreat and time spent by myself. I did not go to Bali to find or fall in love, but I did fall in love. I fell in love with Bali.

My trip to Bali didn't start out so great though. I got food poisoning at the airport in Kuala Lumpur while waiting for my flight to Bali and was sick on the plane. Not a fun way to fly. (I would like to point out the irony here. I have eaten at so many questionable places in Asia, in which I have literally prayed not to get sick. Yet I eat at a restaurant at the airport and I do get sick!) After checking into my hotel, I found a cab driver to take me to a pharmacty. He even commented how terrible I looked! I basically spent the first 2 and a half days holed up in my room, not wanting to venture too far from the facilities, if you know what I mean.

I chose to spend my first few days in Ubud, which is in the central part of the island of Bali. There are a few beaches in Bali and in a few surrounding islands, but after a few days in Ubud, I didn't want to leave. There is so much to do in Ubud. And, Ubud is sort of an artist/yoga haven so if you've seen all the sights and are restless, you can take in an art or yoga class.

Bali truly is lovely and lively. It is one of the places I visited that I cannot wait to get back to and the perfect destination to end my trip in.

Photos: Nicola's Visit

anealis314 — Sat, 3 Aug 2013 11:18:00 GMT

One More Night in Bangkok

anealis314 — Sat, 3 Aug 2013 11:14:00 GMT

My last entry ended with me in Koh Phanga, at a yoga retreat. I was there for 9 days and learned quite a bit about this particular yoga practice (Agama). I won't bore you all with the details, but what I can say is that I have finally learned the sun salutation poses. I was always lost on these poses when I attempted a yoga class!

I left Koh Phanga for Bangkok to meet up with Nicola! Yay, another visitor. We had a great time, mostly! I'll let the pictures show the great time we had but I'll tell you about the bad time. Nicola also wanted to visit Phuket so I decided we would take backpacker transportation, i.e. the overnight bus or the train. I was sad to learn the train didn't go to Phuket as I had taken the overnight train from Koh Phanga to Bangkok and loved it! (Comfy bunkbed, although tiny. I got the top bunk and there were straps to make sure I didn't fall out during my sleep!) What a disaster the bus turned out to be! First, we were told the bus would leave Bangkok at 6 pm; we didn't get on the bus until about 7:30 pm. This is after trekking about a mile in the rain just to get to the bus from the place we purchased our tickets. Second, the bus was HORRIBLE. Nicola got a seat right under the emergency exit (you know the one, in case the bus tips over and you have to exit through the roof) and it was leaking. Every time the bus lurched forward, she got water on her. The first few hours of the trip she sat with a poncho draped over her. The bathroom on board was so horrible, I won't even describe it. Third, we were told we would arrive in Phuket at 9 am.........we didn't get to our hotel till 4 p.m. Lastly, a few hours after arriving at our hotel, I get an email from my mom asking if I had make a $2000 purchase at a jewelry store in Phuket. Um, no. Turns out, my credit cards were stolen from my bag on the bus. Great! Thankfully, I have an awesome bank and I had the foresight to have a power of attorney, so the bank had contacted my mom to question the charges. In just a few hours, they were able to reverse $3000 in fraudulent purchases. Needless to say, it was the worst bus ride I have ever been on and I felt so bad for Nicola. In an attempt to give her the travel experience I had been having, she got to join me on the worst one! Hopefully it wasn't so bad that she won't want to travel with me again!

Photos: Filling in the Gaps

anealis314 — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 15:32:00 GMT

Filling in the Gaps

anealis314 — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 15:30:00 GMT

A few weeks ago, right before Sadie and Robin came to visit, Jennifer and I spent a few days in Bangkok and Koh Chang decompressing. We had been moving around quite a bit, so the break was much needed. Plus, we were coming back to Bangkok with Robin and Sadie and didn't want to see anything we might want do with the girls. So, here are a few photos from our time in Bangkok and Koh Chang.

Georgetown

anealis314 — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 15:12:00 GMT

Several weeks ago, a lovely German girl that I met in Chiang Mai recommended Georgetown if we ever made it to Malaysia. So after a few days in Malacca, I took a 6 hour bus ride to Penang Island, where Georgetown is located. Georgetown was settled in 1786 by a capitan with the British East India Company. It is considered to have the most unique cultural and architectural history throughout all of Southeast Asia. It is considered to be the most liveable city in Malaysia, 8th in Asia, and number 62 in the world. It is a pretty cool little city and a great place to get lost for a few days. I definitely didn't want to leave, but I had to make my way back to Thailand. (I'm currently in Koh Pha Ngan at a yoga retreat. More on that later.) Enjoy the photos, and if you ever come to Malaysia or Southeast Asia, come to Georgetown! You won't regret it.

Photos: Georgetown

anealis314 — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 22:54:00 GMT

Photos: Malacca Melaka

anealis314 — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 18:32:00 GMT

Malacca Melaka

anealis314 — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 18:24:00 GMT

After Singapore, I ventured by bus to Malacca (also spelled Melaka), in the southern region of Malaysia. Malacca is a small, historical town that was settled by the Portugese until about 1640 when the Dutch defeated the Portugese and took over the city. All of the architecture represents the Dutch influence. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008 (Angkor Wat is also a UNESCO Heritage Site), so measures have been taken to ensure that the local architecture is preserved to display the history. I spent a few days taking it all in.

One thing I did while here but did not capture in photos was to try durian. Well, sort of. I had it in the form of a creme puff and it was horrible. horrible, horrible, horrible. I cannot imagine eating an actual piece of durian, but a Chinese woman attempted to talk me into giving it a second chance. She said I probably had a bitter piece but I need to ask for a sweet piece. I don't know I feel about this.

Photos: Singapore, Land of the Clean and Expensive

anealis314 — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 16:45:00 GMT

Singapore, Land of the Clean and Expensive

anealis314 — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 16:07:00 GMT

Jennifer decided to make the trek back to Rainbow Beach, a spot in Australia she visited 19 years ago. While she went to Australia, I decided to go further south, to Singapore, and make my way back to Thailand via bus. Unfortunately, Singapore is very expensive compared to the other Southeast Asian countries we've been in; but luckily, there's not enough to do in Singapore to stay more than 3 days anyway. So, I booked a bed at this amazing little hostel in Chinatown called Royal Hostel and found a pub crawl in Clarke Quay (pronounced Clarke Key) on Friday night. Sadly, I did not get any photos at the pub crawl, but I met people from all over the world. Some were travelers, some were living in Singapore, including several American college students completing an internship for the summer. Saturday and Sunday I just took in the sights of the city on a hop on/hop off bus tour, walked around Chinatown, and saw a light show at the waterfront.

As the title states, Singapore is incredibly clean. For those of you who don't know, gum isn't even sold in Singapore, to prevent people from discarding it on the sidewalks, streets, etc. There is a huge fine for littering, and I heard on the radio that there are people employed by the government of Singapore who hang out in parks to see who allows their dog to poop and they don't pick it up. They're dressed as civilians and once they see the offending action, they will chat with you about their dog and then find out their name and breed. Since all dogs have to be registered with the government, once they have the name and breed, they can mail you a find from their dog database. So, don't litter! (You shouldn't litter anyway!)

Some of my friends have asked me if we have been affected by the smog in Singapore and Malaysia, I think from the fires and smoke blowing in from Indonesia. I did not have any problems with this in either country. Plus, after breathing the polluted air of Bangkok and the seeing the dirtiness of the strees in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown, the smog might not have even affected me!

The View from the Top

anealis314 — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 20:53:00 GMT

Our last story ended in Koh Phi Phi with Sadie and Robin, but our adventure with them did not stop there. Jennifer and I needed to make another border run to renew our visa for Thailand (when you enter Thailand by land, like we did from Cambodia, you only get a 15 day visa. Our time was running out.) This time, we decided to go to Kuala Lumpur, KL. Sadly, Sadie and Robin would leave from KL, but we had a few days with them here. KL is a big city with a great free bus that goes to most parts of the city. However, there's not a lot of history or sightseeing to be done here. We caught a few movies--Sadie and I saw The Great Gatsby and then all four of us saw The Hangover III. Few observations about the movies: first, they have assigned seating. So, like a concert, you actually choose the seats you want to sit in. This seems very efficient for opening night of popular movies, but we had to wait in line much longer than anticipated for tickets while people were choosing their seats. And we had to choose our seats for the Great Gatsby even though we were two of about 20 people in the theater. Oh, one benefit of assigned seating: I actually lost our tickets between the ticket counter--food stand--check in line. But, because we knew our seat numbers, they just let us in. Whew. Second observation: humor is a bit different. There were parts of The Hangover III where the locals were laughing and I didn't understand why and parts where we were laughing hysterically and getting funny looks. Lastly, movies here are MUCH cheaper. I believe we paid about $7 for The Great Gatsby in 3D.

We also checked out the Aquarium which was incredible. They had a very large tunnel aquarium, so as we're walking through there are sharks and turtles and sting rays all around us. We walked through twice. After Sadie and Robin left, Jennifer and I checked out the Petronas Towers and I also visited the Botanical Gardens and a few historical sights. Check out my photos!

Photos: The View from the Top

anealis314 — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 20:18:00 GMT

Photos: Fun with Friends, Part 2

anealis314 — Sun, 2 Jun 2013 20:48:00 GMT

Photos: Fun with Friends, Part 1

anealis314 — Sun, 2 Jun 2013 19:09:00 GMT

Fun with Friends, Part 2

anealis314 — Sun, 2 Jun 2013 18:42:00 GMT

After 6 days in Cambodia, we made our way to Bangkok via bus. Sadie and Robin got to experience Thai time, i.e. a 6 hour bus ride took 8 hours. Bus is full, we're all ready to go, driver is in the driver seat, yet we're just sitting there, waiting to go, for about 40 minutes. Once we were on our way, we had to make two pit stops for the restrooms and gas which each took 30 minutes. For some reason, filling a tank of gas here takes at least 30 minutes. You cannot be in a hurry if you're on a bus in Thailand.

Our time in Bangkok had an interesting twist to it. On our way to Cambodia, Jennifer and I sat next to an American guy who is a sports agent here in Bangkok. He is currently representing a young Indian tennis player who is quickly moving up the ranks to go pro. A large tournament was being played in Bangkok while we were there and we were invited to join. Other than that, we did your usual tourist stuff.........visited a few temples, took a boat tour and a boat taxi, saw a python in the river, hung out on Khao San Road.

After a few days in Bangkok, we were on our way to Krabi, or, most importantly Koh Phi Phi. Koh Phi Phi gave us a run for our money but overall was pretty fun. There were several injuries involving humans and coral and rocks and the pterodactyls, otherwise known as mosquitos. In what may have been the best day, we took a boat tour of the islands with friends we made at our hostel, stopping to feed monkeys, swim in the bluest water I've ever seen (it was literally aquamarine), snorkle (my first time), and concluded the day hiking up to the viewpoint of the island to watch the sunset.

We concluded our Asian adventure with another small trip, this time to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Along the way, several other travelers have tried to discourage us to come here, saying it was boring and expensive. Do not listen to other people's opinions of places to visit! See for yourself. I love Kuala Lumpur, other than the fact that it holds the bittersweet memory of our friends leaving to return to America. More to come on KL.........

Fun with Friends, Part 1

anealis314 — Sun, 2 Jun 2013 18:14:00 GMT

Friends and family and strangers we have yet to meet! Welcome back to the blog. I will refrain from apologizing about our time away from the blog because I will have to apologize every time going forward. Never did I think we'd be having so much fun to be unable to frequently update our stories and pictures, but alas, it has happened. We are simply having too much fun to update the blog at intervals less than three weeks! Here's what we've been up to. (Spoiler alert: Prepare to be jealous. Like, really really jealous.)

The time had come for Jennifer and I to leave Thailand. Not because we wanted to, but because our visas into Thailand were expiring. We needed to go to another country for a few days then re-enter Thailand to get a new visa. (This is known as a border run and will be referenced again.) We were aware of this as we planned our adventure, so we planned to visit Cambodia first. Jennifer and I are fortunate enough to have some amazing friends, including ones who like to travel and wanted to visit us while we were on our Asian adventure. So Sadie and Robin met us in in Phnom Phen, Cambodia. Jennifer and I were incredibly excited to be reunited with two of our best friends after 60 days!

Cambodia was amazing. I never expected to like it as much as I did. I think we were all pleasantly surprised. The people were so friendly and spoke fluent English. This was a welcome shock after being able to communicate so little with locals in Thailand. We visited the Killing Fields (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Fields) in Phnom Phen and Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat) in Siem Reap. If you (yes, I'm talking to you!) ever have a chance to visit this part of the world, you must visit both. Incredible experiences.