Don't worry, I'll be back...

Reaping the benefits of SIEM REAP...

mdonnelly24 — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:36:00 GMT

Cambodia...I'm going to admit it, we were all a little nervous about this juncture of our trip having only heard relatively negative stories. DANGIT JESSICA, were we proven wrong. Siem Reap is an absolutely stunning city and the people that we encountered were all incredibly kind.

We showed up with little to no plans and made our way around the center of town. In our wandering we ran into Sunny & Alex (England) who we had kayaked from Vang Vieng to Vietienne with, the world becomes incredibly small when traveling...the boys gave us a quick overview of the hot spots of the area and we all agreed to meet up later. Long story short we all meet up and end up running into Mike (a friend from America we met in Chiang Mai) and Stevie Weisman (a guy Kate and I went to St. Ignatius with) and his two friends he attends U of C Law School with Josh and Neal, we all had a blast! Seriously small world.

If you ever make it to Siem Reap, I hands down recommend staying at the <<Siem Reap River Side>> Hotel. The elderly couple that run the hotel are absolutely amazing and treat you like family, to the point where they will share their own lunch with you. The hotel also comes equip with a swim up bar...really you can't go wrong there. We also made some new friends here...Scott & Scott (Australia) who ended up being a riot, purchasing an elephant bell...no explanation necessary. And Joke & Tinne (Belgium) who are stunning girls that we agreed to travel to the Thai islands with after Siem Reap...an absolute blast!

Running into all those friends threw a bit of a wrench in our plans to call it an early night and wake up to ride bicycles to Angkor Wat (the ancient temple area) to catch the sunrise. The only way to handle that...pull an all nighter! For those of you reading this that know me well...this is not an uncommon thing for me, but Kate and Charlie were not pleased to say the least.

The sunrise was incredible, the temples were serene. I have never seen anything so incredible with such deep history and spirituality.

We wrapped up our stay in Cambodia spending the evening at a local orphanage, ACODO. A woman from our hotel had been volunteering there on and off for the past few years, we chatted about the history of the orphanage...and discussed how sadly there are a lot of scams with tourists and youth sites in the area. Upon arrival at the site the youth were just delightful. They took a bit to warm up to us but in not time I was sitting reading a book with a young man, while Kate was play fighting with a pack of boys and Charlie was chatting with one of the teens. Every night the youth perform a traditional Cambodia dance show to help raise money for food, their education, and the site. Spending time there was a very interesting experience...it highlighted how no matter what, kids are kids...it was really similar to an afternoon at Valentine Boys & Girls Club. Before leaving I spoke with one of the head volunteers about creating a pen pal program with the youth from ACODO & and the Valentine Boys & Girls Club youth. Who knows if it will work out but I think it would be an amazing experience for all the youth involved.

All in all, Cambodia was wonderful.

Malaysia, the Skyline will Daze ya!

mdonnelly24 — Mon, 5 Sep 2011 13:43:00 GMT

Sadly, we departed from Vang Vieng leaving behind some really lovely people that I hope to cross paths with again sometime in the future.

Our mode of transportation outta there...KAYAKS! We packed up our backpacks, hopped in the back of a pick up and slid into some kayaks to paddle our way to Laos's capital, Vietiane. I was fortunate enough to be paired with the guide, a lovely Laos man who kayaks the river for a living, others were not so fortunate. The rapids we kayaked were class 3 and 4, let's just say this meant that everyone was swimming at one point or another...cough cough, except me! For lunch, we pulled over on some rocks, the guides made a fire, grabbed two sticks, and built a BBQ cooking us a beautiful chicken and vegetable meal. (Photos to follow once I get my memory card unlocked). Spent the day in Vietiane walking along the river, shopping in the markets, and ran into Alex & Sunny (Cambridge) who we kayaked down with, ended up enjoying the evening with them before we jet-setted to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Arriving in Malaysia really jolted us back into real life as we exited the backpacked circuit and jumped into city life. This was our <<TIME OUT>> and recoup period. We stayed at a lovely hostel, SUNSHINE BEDZ (which I highly recommend if you head that way) and toured the city. Kate and Charlie had to take care of some stuff so I did a walking tour of the Petronas Twin Towers, snapped a few pics, sat down to read my book, that's when things got interesting... I was then politely tapped by a stranger and asked to take a photo, I laughed it off (accepting of course)...and then it happened again...and again, I literally sat there and had my photo taken with 100s of people, I got my DIVA fix in for sure as I finally learned how it feels to be Kim Kardashian...such a hard life we lead us celebs!

Met back up with Kate & Charlie and dazzled them with the news that they were in the presence of a real star. They promptly laughed at me saying that this happened to them regularly while living in South Korea. Either way, I'm famous!

SPRING BREAK 2k11: Vang Vieng, LAOS

mdonnelly24 — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 16:00:00 GMT

Horrible bus rides, we've all experienced one...the ride here takes the cake. Kate, Charlie, Frank (our recruit to the tri-pod from Toronto) and myself boarded our overnight minibus bound for Vang Vieng on the evening of the 24th...absolutely clueless to the chaos that was in store for us. Our 15 passenger bus was full to the brim, the four of us, and eight travelers from Israel. It all started when the other travelers would not get in the minibus to leave because they weren't done with their cigarettes, moving on to blasting techno music full blast from their portable ipod player, (which we politely asked them to turn down), peeing in cups, smoking the the minibus, watching a movie on their laptop full blast with the light of the computer shining into our eyes, (which we politely asked them to cover up), eating tuna fish as their snack from the gas station, and the kicker, the one female traveler decided she wanted my seat moved forward so she did that herself, pushing me, pinching my, and hitting me in the arm. Nothing like a good physical assault to start an international incident...you all would be very proud, I switched seats (you know what I wanted to do, ha).

Arrived in Vang Vieng with a few more bruises then intended but once we got here we knew it was all worth it. This breathtaking village set amongst a gorgeous jungle/mountain backdrop, is bustling with tourists and all kinds of partying/natural beauty to partake in. We spent the first day roaming around, getting the lay of the land. It's very interesting how small the world can be while traveling. We have continued to run into wonderful and familiar faces all along the way and spending time here in Vang Vieng has really been lovely.

Second day, woke up, rented tubes, and the mayhem began. You can guess, but you really never know what to expect. Quick summary, SPRING BREAK! Haha. The whole town clears out, rents tubes, and floats to about 8 different bar locations zig zagged along the river. Everyone is pumped, there are rope swings, slides, beer pong, dancing, mud wrestling, volleyball, and soccer. It was a long day!

Yesterday was a treat though. I got to explore Laos with three young tour guides. I rented a bicycle. Rode up the bumpy, rocky, muddy road to one of Vang Vieng's most famous caves, the Blue Lagoon. It wasn't an easy trek but it was well worth in. The water was gorgeous, got to celebrate another rope swing (who doesn't love them...) and jump off a platform made of bamboo. Here I met, Ang, Moi, and Ng, which I think they were lying to me about because they keot switching names. I rented a flashlight from the three young men and they became my tour guides. It was amazing to watch them scurry up the mountain as I panted to keep up, they would stop and wait giggling at my struggling of course. Made it to the cave, very cool. Carefully maneuvered my way back down the mountain enduring the same giggles as the way up. The boys then asked if I was swimming again and we all decided to enjoy a dip. After splashing around I got out to head back and the smallest boy jumped on the back of my bicycle for a free ride back to his house...the other two got pretty jealous, we all laughed and said our goodbyes. What a lovely day!

Wat's up Chiang Mai?

mdonnelly24 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:16:00 GMT

Chiang Mai...simply put, a stunning city full of a plethora of Thailand's most exciting aspects. There are Wat's (temples) everywhere you turn covered in intricate mosaic's and adorned in gold finishings where monks young and old gather and practice their faith.

Day 1: Jungle Trekk, rode on elephants, fed them loads of bananas, met a man Tomer from Israel and paired up for the ride. Went on a lovely hike through the trees and learned about some local plants, swam in a water fall, and ended the day white water rafting down a river...the water was actually tan, still very fun!

Day 2: Rented motor bikes and drove up the mountain to check out Doi Suthep, a temple at the top of the mountain here. We were all weary to drive around the city with the crazy traffic and very few motor laws, but we did a great job and had a really cool experience. Made it back to Julie Guesthouse, relaxed, met some new friends at the hotel that ended up becoming a very fun crew to enjoy the day/evening with. Marco (Italy/Germany), a seasoned traveler became our unofficial tour guide of the Chiang Mai night life hitting up some great local spots with Frank (Canada), Hannah (Scotland), Sarah & Giovanni (France), Helen (England), Darragh (Luxemburg), Glen (Ireland) and Kate, Charlie & I. I especially liked THUNDER BAR, Chaing Mai's "biker bar" complete with Harley Davidson souvenirs everywhere! We made our way to Warm Up, a club here and ended up with the whole crew on stage dancing and partying and the crowd going wild. COncluded the night at Chiang Mai's famous tourist spot Reggae Bar.

Day 3: Ran around the center of town, got a Thai massage, went to a gorgeous dinner at a restaurant on the river, hit up THUNDER BAR for a last hurrah!

Day 4: Zip lining through the trees of the jungle with Helen (England) and Liz (St. Louis)...insane. Dove off some platforms in the trees, felt like I was flying! Ate at an elegant restaurant in the middle of the jungle and caught a water fall on the way back to the city.

Catching a bus to Laos tonight!

Photos: Tigers & temples oh my!

mdonnelly24 — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 10:57:00 GMT

And it begins...

mdonnelly24 — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 10:41:00 GMT

Arrived in Thailand safe and sound. Hopped on the train and negotiated my cabbie down a few baht to take me to Khao San Road, the tourist hub of Bangkok where I rendez-voused with Kate, Charlie, & Sam. Had a rocking first night experiencing the street that never sleeps to the fullest. Then, proceeded to wake up bright and early to head out for a day full of the sights, sounds, and smells, of Southeast Asia beginning with the floating markets. They refer to this area as the “Venice of the east”. Upon arrival we boarded a long skinny boat and floated along shopping and narrowly avoiding collisions. Our captain noticed we weren't your regular floating market shoppers and decided a better trip for us would be a tour of the city along the river. As lovely as this idea may have been it turned into a situation where it seemed as though we were stuck on a bicycle on a highway...we were the only manually operated boat and were constantly going against the flow of river traffic. From the high traffic boating experience we made our way to the "Bridge over the River Kwoi" snapped a few photos and fed a baby tiger, no big deal... Finally we were headed to our intended destination, the TIGER TEMPLE! Here we spent close and personal time with the tigers as they roamed like house pets on the leashes of their monk masters. It was a bit rickety on the nerves at first but after a short while it was very clear the tigers obeyed their master monks.

We bid farewell to the bustling streets of Bangkok by boarding a plane to Chiang Mai. Today we're doing a jungle trekk...might hang with some elephants, we'll see where the day leads!