Haven't updated for a few days but SO much has happened!!! Need to try and keep it short as we have a 4:45am wake-up call to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat so this'll be a "bullet-ed" observation type entry.. more or less :)
First things first, WE'RE ENGAGED!!!! Jesse proposed on January 7th, our 5 year anniversary, after a fantastic dinner atop the Banyan, Bangkok's "Vertigo" restaurant. He had secretly booked a room for the evening as well, so once we were done with our meals/ taking in the sprawling panoramic views of BKK (which words cannot capture, sorry you'll have to wait for pics :p) we headed downstairs for champagne & a hot tub. I want to keep the proposal story "hush-hush" for now because I'd much rather tell it in person, so that's all the details you're getting for the time being! :P So yes, we're engaged (!!!) and I couldn't be happier! In the words of Owen Wilson in "Wedding Crashers": "Love is your soul's recognition of it's counterpart in someone else", which is something we both feel we have been fortunate enough to find <3
Okay, now starts the bullet-ed run through of what's been up the past 3 days:
- Wandered BKK, went to tourist haven Khao San Rd, bartered for dress (love it) and had excellent padthai from street vendor.
- Mastered city bus, got props from locals for being only "farangs" to ride it Lol
- Visited temples of Grand Palace. Thousands of gold Buddha's and Boddhisatva's everywhere, from small to massive! Saw the biggest reclining Buddha in the World, absolutely stunning. Feel very lucky to be allowed to visit Thai people's temples, architecture was so intricate and ornate, pics can''t do justice but will help a bit ;)
- Met up with tour group, 15 of us in total (some staying for full month, others only for certain parts). Everyone's our age or there abouts, mainly Aussies with a few Brits and Norwegians. Everyone's very nice and we've made some great new friends :) Grabbed food and beer last night for last night in BKK.
- Saw women siting out on the street with food and picnic baskets; thought they were having picnics... they weren't, found out it's a front for prostitution... mhmmm..
- Cats in BKK have no tails!
- Walked across Thai-Cambodian border.. INTENSE!
- Cambodia is strikingly different than Thailand... noticeable poverty, garbage strewn everywhere, yet the people seem very Happy and are always smiling and waving. Houses are either massive French colonial style, or shanties with tin roofs built ontop of stilts.
- The dirt in Cambodia is red (!) and everything is very dusty so almost all the people wear big sun hats with cloths attached that they wrap around their faces.
- Pickup trucks and trailers that have been converted into a car with an engine aded on carry anywhere from 1-20 people at a time.
- It feels like we've gone back in time a thousand years since arriving here, it is very, very different, but as you pass by various homes, you can see families inside all sitting together watching TV (the similarities of human-kind World wide are clear). Family dinners, children playing, working in the rice fields, relaxing in hammocks.
- Cattle.is.EVERYWHERE!! They range from "plump" bodies to the bony kinds you would expect to see in Africa with bones sticking out and little black birds sitting on their backs (yes, there are actually little black birds on them!)
- Had a delicious ("chieng" in Cambodian)traditional Cambodian meal at a family's home in a jungle village. SO many dishes, I can't recount, all sat on a raised bamboo floor hut, decked out with linens and dishes and ate family style. Also sampled home made Cambodian rice moon-shine.... much better than expected AND you can get a whole L for $1! (I don't think I'll go quite that far though)
- Children here are SOOOO freakin adorable!!! Always waving", smiling and saying "HELLOOOOO", they walk with the group and ask us questions in surprisingly good English. Some boys were setting off cherry bombs in a field and then later on around dinner time, they grabbed a (poisonous) frog out of a tree and tossed it about only to have it spray one of them literally JUST above his eye (talk about LUCKY!!!!).
- Roads are mainly dirt here with little electricity (made for a sketchy tuk-tuk ride back from dinner, but all was fine because our guide speaks Cambodian and she does this trip every month). :)
- Saw jungle gecko's, frogs and hoards of bugs while having dinner
Don't know what else to say, too much going on!!! Heading to Angkor Wat tomorrow morning at 4:45am to watch the sunrise over the stone temples. Continually feeling so blessed to be here and get to experience this part of the World and their way of life. Speaking of which, tried my first "squat toilet", that was a joy (!) but much easier than I had expected!
We miss you all and send well wishes!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Misty & Jesse
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