Sunset Elephant Tour

One of the things that I really wanted to do was to take an Elephant ride up to Phnom Bakheng to watch the sunset. We both heard that once you are on top of the hill its usually to cloudy to see the sunset, but we wanted to check it out regardless. Mr. Neak took us to where we needed to be and we got on our elephants and rode on up the hill. It was great even though our little elephant was the runt of the group - we got passed up by another one! He was really cute and wiggled his ears when Mr. Neak gave him some branches (it also helped him speed up). Once we got on top of the hill we took some pics and actually witnessed a pretty sweet sunset! Oh one of my favorite things was the subtle tip pocket that the little elephant controller boy had - check it out.

Floating Village in Cambodia

The first place we ventured to was a floating village. Both Kevin and I were skeptical of this as we weren't sure if it was going to be a tourist trap. We drove with Mr. Neak as he explained the surroundings (we understood approximately 50% of what he was saying). Once we arrived to the area we hopped on a private boat and floated on down the river. All of the houses are mobile (imagine a trailer park on water) and rise with the change in water levels throughout the year. Its pretty crazy seeing a pool hall, basketball court, schools, hospitals and even pig pens floating on water. We really loved this and were so glad that Mr. Neak took us here.

Cambodia with Mr. Neak

We landed in Siem Reap around noon on Tuesday and Mr. Neak met us at the airport. Mr. Neak was our tour guide for Tuesday and Wedesday and he was a real sizzler. Never has one man loved pictures so much. He took us to a floating village, a sunset tour, and four temples - and we have about 500 pics (well not that many). His English was a little difficult to understand but he made up for it with his enthusiasm and his knack for finding perfect picture spots. Oh and taking pics without any other tourist in them - he was very serious about not having other people in the background. We really felt like we were taking engagement pics again. Good for me, but by the end of the second day we were templed out and pictured out.

JUMBO

I really love this little guy and wish I could bring him home to sizzle with Bob. I think they would be best buddies! So cute!

Pigs in a blanket

Nat took us to a little bakery and we decided that Nikki would appreciate these little guys. We didn't try them, but they look delicious!

Time machine

We left DFW at 7:40pm Saturday night and arrived in Bangkok at 10pm (central time) on Sunday. The flights were non-eventful, which in my book is a good thing. Our flight from SFO to BKK was 14 hours long! When we got on I had to plan my sleeping schedule perfectly and luckily I succeeded. Two movie, two meals, a long 8 hour nap and bam we were there...well kind of. We landed in Hong Kong and just had one more 3 hour flight. We finally arrived in Bangkok around 11am local time. Immigration and customs were a breeze --luckily our luggage came out pretty quickly. It was so nice to have familiar faces greeting us when we arrived! Now we were ready!

Nat and Katie met us inside and walked us out to the garage where James and Sean had the VW van waiting. Its huge, and drivers are crazy but Mr James is extremely talented when it comes to manuvering the big ol van. We headed back to Nat's parents house to take showers and plan the day. Nats house is beautiful - and spo peaceful compared to the bustling city of Bangkok. Plus there is an amazing little chihuahua that lives in it too! Little Jumbo is so cute that I want to steal him.

Ok - I guess I am rambling and everyone might know there was a major event that took place, so I will try and speed this up. After we freshened up we headed into the city. We ate lunch at a little Thai food place in mall called Lily pad (or something) which was really yummy. Then did some shopping and Kevin even got a suite made (well we started the process). At 6:30 we headed across town to catch a dinner boat cruise. We were pretty exhausted, but ready for another Thai meal. We had to go down a set of very steep steps when getting on the boat - and that is where it happened. Kevin, Nat and I were already seated at our table and wondering where Katie, Sean and James were. We sat at our table for about 5 min before a lady came over and told Nat in Thai that one of our friends had fallen. We ran outside to see Sean being taken away in a wheelchair. We finally caught up with them while they waited for an ambulance --his foot was completed twisted the wrong way. It also kind of felt like we were in a movie because we were on the corner of the street with a bunch of locals, everyone was screaming in thai and trying to look and see what was going on...it was pretty crazy. It was very hard to sit there watching him in so much pain. The ambulance came (James rode with Sean) and we grabbed a taxi to follow. At the hospital we waited to hear the news - was his ankle just out of socket or was it broken? The worst news prbably - it was not only out of socket and twisted sideways, but there was a fracture and he was going to need surgery. So it is Tusday morning now, 8:06am and Sean has probably just started his surgery. The surgery is an hour long and then he will be in recovery for 2 hours. Our thoughts are with him and we hope for a speedy recovery.

So that was our first day - pretty crazy. Kevin and I leave for Cambodia at 11:30 and will be in touch later!

Packing for Thailand

So it is 12:15 and I have been attempting to pack all morning long but I keep getting sidetracked by Lifetime. Yes, that’s right. I should just turn the TV off....

Kevin is productive so I guess I should get on the ball. We are leaving for the airport around 5pm. Here we come terminal D :) Maybe one last round of Mexican food and some margaritas before we take off!

Next post will be in Thailand!