spunky little panda

Cambodia (Siem Reap, Angkor Wat, and arrival in Phnom Penh)

Once we finally made it to Siem Reap, Cambodia, we ended up staying at this place called Mandalay Inn which wasn’t too far from the main downtown area. Siem Reap is a pretty small little town and overwhelmingly people just come there to see the Angkor Wat temples, which was why we were there. Angkor served as the seat of the Khmer empire which flourished from the 9th to 15th centuries, and is made up of hundreds of unique temples. The downtown area of Siem Reap is suuuper touristy and reminds me of this area of Quito in Ecuador called “Gringolandia.” There is a street called Pub Street which just has a bunch of big bars and restaurants geared towards tourists. Apparently Siem Reap has changed a lot in the last ten years or so and has only gotten so touristy (and in turn lost some of its charm) in response to the public’s demand for and interest in the temples.

Bangkok and the journey to Siem Reap!

I just realized how behind I am on my updates!! Here’s a bit more about Bangkok and our trip to Siem Reap in Cambodia…

After our eventful first night in Bangkok, we spent the following two days doing mainly shopping and exploring the city during the days and the first night we went to a muay thai boxing match, and the second night we went to a drag show called Calypso Cabaret. We found Bangkok pretty difficult to navigate and overall very confusing (not to mention the fact that people were STILL having water fights everywhere), so we ended up taking a lot of taxis and tuk-tuks to get around as opposed to public transportation.

Singapore rules!

Wanted to take a moment to post a quick update about what’s been going on with me in Southeast Asia! [note: I wrote this a few days ago but didn’t have time to post it so it’s a couple days off]

Today is the last of four days spent in Singapore, which has been our first stopping point, our gateway to Asia. I freaking loved Singapore! I think it will be very different from most of the other places we’ll go, which is very exciting and cool. I love how well the city is planned out, how clean and organized it is, and how the city incorporates so much green space into its landscape.