Thailand-Cambodia

Author: lisa boruff
Date of Trip: October 2012

Where do I begin…. I loved Bangkok!!! The smell of ginger, garlic,lemongrass, flowers, incense floating in air. Orchids of all colors, roses, and spices at the flower market. The plant market filled with exotic hoyas. Temple hopping, tuk-tuks, cold coconut water, fresh mandarin juice, Thai massage, getting lost in the 10k vendors at the Weekend market, iced coffee in Chinatown,Khao San Road, the pastel sunset over the Grand Palace, old men searching for the perfect amulet, ladies with washing machines in the alley, money exchange clerks that give you a piece of candy with each transaction, barefoot monks carrying bowls, charcoal cooked pork on a stick, pad thai, banana nutella’s, creamy coconut ice cream, chanting, ringing the bells at the top of the Wat, cold water from 7-11, backpacking young adults, young families with kids, and retired folks, fuzzy red fruit, fish pedicures, stingray wallets,sapphire earrings, Singha beer, unexpected bursts of tropical rain,

On the road to Siem Reap….. school kids riding bikes wearing crisp white shirts and navy blue skirts, rice paddies with kids playing the water alongside parents working, crazy drivers, no road rules, platters of fried tarantulas and snails enjoyed by the locals, fresh meat covered with flies, smiling-happy vendors, buddha statues inside Angkor Wat, monkeys, elephants, the little boy who put a red yarn bracelet on my wrist, villages, houses on stilts over the water, my new umbrella to shade me, taro chips, walking up the hill to the monastery at sunset and writing my name in the monk’s book, buying a bell at the night market, traditional slow motion Cambodian dance…

Pattaya City…. the best steamed red snapper in spicy Thai sauce,old men with young Thai girls, local music, sweet tamarind, walking street, the relaxing ferry ride to Koh Larn, the greenish-blue water at the beach, my blue chair with umbrella, warm water, gentle waves, soft sand, warm breeze, lots of Russians, ladies from India swimming with Sari’s, feeling like I am in paradise….