phuket, thailand over chinese new year was a great idea! we were able to stay 5 nights and 6 days in thailand enjoying all the delicious thai food and cheap beer! the first three days were filled with nothing but scuba diving and enjoying the surrounding islands. we dove with a german dive company, sea bees diving (http://www.sea-bees.com/ ), which turned out to have a fabulous boat and excellent dive guides. apparently dirk and christina dunlap sound very german so we were paired with german speaking people each dive... scuba diving has its own language therefore this wasn't a problem at all... well, until they start speaking german to you and expect you to understand... much like my russian experiences (if i haven't mentioned this before... everyone in singapore thinks I am russian, they come up to me speaking russian in the malls). again like bali, indonesia with the russians, cambodia with the japanese, now thailand with the germans... it is funny to see the masses of people from all around the world in such remote holiday locations... being an american is very much a minority and I really like it that way. the kids seem cuter when they are screaming in your ear on the air plane in a different language... and yes, there were plenty of rug rats running around!
so our underwater adventure was AMAZING to say the least... it was our best diving yet! we did three days with a total of 8 dives including one night dive. we were able to see plenty of fish but some that really stood out were: gaint emperor angelfish, cuddlefish, frog fish, tons of lionfish, leopard sharks, stingrays, barracuda, and sea turtles. our dive guide was very thorough and after each dive got out a book and showed us all the different life we saw... i was upset that we didn't get to see a seahorse... that is on my list of things next or maybe the whale shark too.
one night for dinner we went to a cultural theme park, FantaSea ( http://www.phuket-fantasea.com/ ), and saw the show about thailand. they had all types of animals you could hold, pet, and take pictures with. the elephants were my favorite... they are everywhere too, i would say they replace the horse in texas.
ko phi phi island... the movie "the beach" was shot here
view from our hotel: patong beach
trumpet fish 
leopard shark 
king cruiser ship wreck
crocodile fish... hard to see
triggerfish that attacked dirk... he actually got a picture of it before it attacked him
big-eyed barracuda
squamous giant clam
black spotted pufferfish
excalibur our boat
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
one year ago today...
one year ago today... where did you think you would be?
i asked dirk this questions on our one year anniversary at dinner in cambodia... he said, "honestly, i thought we would have been in houston and i would be bringing flowers up to the hospital while you worked the night shift"... BUT look at us now... we were in a third world country eating what we thought was steak... and still do to this day... on one of the most adventurous, different, inspiring vacations ever (well at least i thought so... i think dirk liked it as well)
i think this picture is a great metaphor of our past, present, and future life together... it maybe a crazy sea but one thing always stands firm... love!
abstract painting we bought in bali
indiana jones style vacation
so when you think of going on vacation for your one year wedding anniversary, you usually think... sun, sand, and 5 star hotel. well... we got the 5 star hotel ($80 usd/night) but in a third world country full of red dirt and hard working people who are reeling from the past twenty years of genocide and famine.
siem, reap, cambodia cannot be described as beautiful but its people are truly the gem within the rock. the people, the culture, and rich history of the country drawls you in. if you don't know cambodia's past i urge you to look it up... it coincides with the vietnam war so many of us americans know nothing of it.
siem reap holds the 7th wonder of the world, ankgor wat... the world's largest religious building.
language: khmer, english, french (1953 the french gave cambodia independence)
money: $1 usd= 4029 riel
population: 15 million (1975-1980 khmer rouge killed over 2 million cambodians, foreigners, and monks)
politics: veneer of democracy but the cambodian's people party hold all control every election
religion: mostly buddhist, hindu, and some islam
costs: angkor beer (local beer) $0.50-$1 usd, driver with car $30/day, 3 day temple pass $40/person, floating village pass $20/person, nice meal at deadfish restaurant with drinks $22 total
first day: floating village on tonle' sap lake
one of my favorite tours... the people live in houses over boats. when the lake floods from the mekong river from June to October the houses rise with the water... when dry season comes the people move their houses to where the fish migrate. Also the mekong river flows backwards into the lake during rainy season then switches during dry season.
this is the village we were able to buy some english books for a small school which houses orphans and held classes for the village's children. they are taught english and french as well as their native khmer in school from the very start but only the children who do not have to work are allowed to go to school.
floating village behind us
a store we stopped at to buy books- they also have a floating grocery store that goes door to door by boat
my favorite picture of the whole trip- buddha at bayon temple
happy one year!
bayon in angkor thom (dirk's favorite temple) the faces were constructed of its leader at the time... so he could watch his followers at all times
bayon in angkor thom- there are 216 faces on this temple, built around 1200- we saw it at sun rise and it was the creepiest thing... all the shadowy faces
more of bayon
angkor wat at sunrise- yes we got up at 5AM two mornings so we could see angkor wat and bayon at sun rise... it was magnificent. this is a famous picture everyone tries to get because it is reflected on the water
angkor wat is huge... just one of the many many buildings
angkor wat
sun rise- it was freezing too... we were so happy to be out of humidity for 6 days
pre rup (my favorite temple) it was a hike... lots and lots of stairs
east mebon- known for the large elephant statues
ta som
ta som- tiny temple that is entangled in the forest... known for the large roots of trees that hold it together
preah neak pean- ornamental pond (i thought it was over rated)
preah khan- known for this building that looks out of place in cambodia... needs to be in greece.
preah khan (scared sword)- may have been a buddhist universityduring the khmer rouge they cut off all the heads to the statues because they wanted cambodians to worship pol pot their new leader not the temple gods
i know this is a long post and i have even more to add... on another note... the people there are so rich with generosity but so poor with the material needs. if i did not finish my meal... either a child would ask me for the rest of it or i would wrap it up and find one to give it to. the children are forced to hawk trinkets at the temples all day... the money they make does not go to them but their family. there are also many street children, every organization you can think of is in cambodia trying to help these people get on their feet... currently cambodia holds the most active landmines in the world... there are tragedies every year and the victims are stigmatized from society. that is why it is good to buy from of the blind, disabled, and dismembered... it helps them make a living and not rely on society. it is also good to eat at restaurants that help these causes... posted in many travel books... the blue pumpkin, dead fish restaurant, many more.
one night while walking back to our hotel a little boy, maybe ten years old, came up to me holding a baby... he was begging and he asked me if i would buy him some formula... he said i don't need your money just formula. i went to the nearest grocery store and we bought as much formula as he could carry plus a snack for himself. it nearly broke my heart... any other country i have been to... there are always people trying to hawk you stuff... but here in cambodia, all the books say, these people are the real deal! they are not trying to con you... they are poor and do not have food, shelter, medical supplies.
we passed a children's hospital every morning to go to the temples. people would be lined up for miles with their kids. i asked our driver what the deal was... he said that it is a free hospital for children... the only one in cambodia so people come from miles around and wait to be seen. i have decided that once i am licensed nurse in singapore i will go back to cambodia and offer my skills to these people. it is the very least i can do.
if you are interested in learning more about these people and their country here is a book & a movie you can get... i have them both.
movie: the killing fields (1984), by roland joffe'
book: first they killed my father by loung ung
more pictures:
floating village click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/loadunlap/SiemReapCambodiaFloatingVillage?authkey=eKMLWiSHBLw&feat=directlink
siem reap city & prince d' angkor hotel click here:http://picasaweb.google.com/loadunlap/SiemReapCambodiaCity?authkey=O_wVAKQgshA&feat=directlink
temples click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/loadunlap/SiemReapCambodiaTemples?authkey=UKviCoqQJX0&feat=directlink
Thursday, January 8, 2009
goodbye 2008... hello 2009
we were invited to misty & frankie's for christmas dinner and drinks. we had all the fixings, texas style, and everyone chipped in making it. it is so nice to have people from our home state so close. they definitely understand a good steak and light beer... now if we can just hook up our slingbox for a nascar party... here are some pictures from the day!
december 31st- new years evelili & madaline, our new found singaporean friends set up a wonderful new years eve party for us at a restaurant & bar called bellini grande in the clarke quay area. bellini grande is a frank sinatra feel bar with live french entertainers who sing & dance while entertaining. they had a 21 piece jazz band that played everything from oldies to swing to salsa. we had bottle service and all the fun nye party hats provided. it was a great time! too bad we had to leave early in order to make our 8am flight to siem reap, cambodia.
i liked the decorations- balloons in the dark
balloons, balloons, balloons!
the dance floor- and boy did we dance!madaline taught me to swing dance and salsa... need to take some dance classes!
