El Nido

The last three weeks seemed to have come and gone in a blink of an eye. We have been thrilled to have Tony’s parents here to show them around the Philippines.  It is one thing for us to talk about our life over here, but totally different when you actually experience it. We were sad to wave goodbye to them this morning, but I think they will be happy to get back to American soil…and central air conditioning!

As a last “hurrah” before sending Pawpaw and Giggy back to the states, we scheduled a trip to El Nido. I had always heard that El Nido was beautiful, but the resorts were quite expensive. Tony and I did a little searching and found a resort that just opened in December and was a fraction of the price of the other resorts. Just as we were about to hit “book this trip”, I came across the fact that it is an alcohol-free resort. Time out. No wine with my dinner? No beer after my kayak ride? I mean, we are on vacation, right?!  No worries. You can bring your own. We decided this could help us save even more money in the end. There is always a hiccup, though. We booked the NON-REFUNDABLE resort before researching flights. You guessed it; no flights were available on Sunday. None. Zip. Zilch. So the result of me trying to save money backfired when we had to purchase an extra night at the resort. I have to say, though, not a bad place to be stranded. El Nido was stunning, the resort was beautiful and we had a relaxing weekend with Tony’s parents. If the resort could just fix their loading and unloading process, it would get 5 stars from me!

Just a few (okay MANY) photos from our weekend: (By the way, Hannah Grace was in Hong Kong for a softball tournament…in case any of you wonder why she didn’t make the photos)

Coming in for our landing and I thought we might land in the water!

Making their way to the "terminal".

The airports livestock?

It was a little rustic.

And our luggage arrived...fairly quickly, I will add.

To get to the resort, we had to ride an outrigger. First things first, though. Here is our guide, Elmer helping me purchase all the beer in El Nido town.

I am not kidding when I tell you we had to wade out to one of these outriggers to board. I told you the resort needs to work on their loading and unloading.

Helicopter island...I thought it could pass for a whale.

Check out the two toned colors on Tony's shirt. That is how wet we got boarding the outrigger.

And then we had boat trouble. yay. Once they got the boat cranked back up, we came across a sea turtle. The boat driver started to slow down, but we all yelled, "NO! Don't stop!" All of us.

After having the boat stall out and then travelling through quite rough waters, I was so glad to have the resort in sight!

At first I thought they were trying to make it so we would walk from our outrigger to the one in front of the loading dock. I was considering just swimming in.

That wasn't the case, but I really didn't feel this option was much better.

To say I was happy to arrive...without going overboard...would be an understatement!

Just get me a chair and one of those beers Elmer helped me purchase!

 

My boys!

 

The next day we took an island hopping tour. Here we are on our first stop at the secret lagoon. You had to climb through this tiny hole to get to a spectacular, hidden lagoon on the other side.

We had the lagoon all to ourselves!

 

Next we did a little snorkeling. Unfortunately I had the camera in the wrong mode, so I didn't capture any great pictures of the blue starfish or Nemo and Dory. Guess I will have to go back!

 

Giggy giving snorkeling a try.

 

Elmer took us to an island with a cave. He told us to climb in this tiny hole and drop to the other side...and we did what he said. That is a lot of trust we put into someone we have known for 24 hours.

Inside the cave

 

After cave exploring, Elmer took us to Snake Island where two of the resort staff had barbequed a delicious lunch for us.

 

Luckily the lone monkey on the island didn't try to steal any of our food!

We headed to the big lagoon next. Here our boat was able to ride in amongst other boats and kayakers.

 

After the big lagoon, we travelled to the little lagoon. We trekked across some rocky waters to get there. In this picture, I am trying to show how another outrigger looked like it was getting swallowed by the sea!

In the US, we have ice cream trucks. Here, they have ice cream outriggers...with music and all!

They also have beer stands.

 

We transferred from our boat to kayaks to tour the little lagoon. Zoom in and check out who is paddling that kayak!

Here I am with our guide, Elmer. Don't let the paddle fool you. I was taking pictures most of the time.

 

The next day we kayaked near our resort. Holy cow, it was tough getting to the next island!

 

It was beautiful, though!

The rest of our trip was spent lounging by the pool and beach.

 

Fun times! Just missing Hannah Grace!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Cambodia…I can honestly say this place was not on my bucket list. I am more of a beach girl when it comes to vacations. After many rave reviews, though, our family decided to take the three hour flight last weekend. We planned the trip with the Van Nispen family (Tony first worked with Emile in Brisbane).  We were lucky enough to also meet up with the Gelaudes (another family we met in Brisbane).  Throughout our time in Cambodia, I felt so lucky to be there. I was amazed at the history and was grateful it was just a hop, skip and jump away from the Philippines. Like I said, it wasn’t on my bucket list, so I don’t think (hmm…I KNOW) Tony wouldn’t have convinced me to make that long trek from the states. So, “grateful” is what I felt the entire time.

Day 1: Outdoor market, ATV ride through the countryside and a view of the sunset over the rice fields

We traveled around Siem Reap via tuk-tuk. Generally, we could go anywhere around town for $2. Which reminds me: At the airport we withdrew money and US dollars were given to us. They have their own currency, but the US dollar is what is mostly used.

It was very common to see children riding on the scooters...without a helmet.

The Van Nispens "tuk tuking" behind us.

At the market, they all decided to take a rest with a fish massage. I opted to just take pictures.

I was so tickled watching their reactions as the fish "massaged" their feet. If only you could hear Tony's laughter!

The fish seemed to like Tony's feet better than Ellis's feet. Bless those fish!

Tony got out so that Ellis could get a little more action.

I don't know why, but the fish LOVED Anje's feet!

A swim in the pool was a must later in the day!

Ready to be taken to our ATV's!

Some people walk their dog, others walk their cow. One of the many sights on our ATV tour. The children were so friendly!

We did wear helmets (and masks), but took them off for the photo. Jolande and I thought the masks were silly at first. We realized quickly they were needed unless we wanted to literally eat dust for dinner.

From left to right: Me, Hannah Grace, Ellis, Tony, Mikail, Emile, Anje, Jolande

I was able to grab a quick shot of Jolande and Mikail behind us.

When all was said and done, we were just a bit dirty.

We took our dirty selves on over to Pub Street to grab some dinner.

Day 2: Sunrise at Angkor Wat, tour of temples, dinner with friends and Phare Circus

We weren't the only crazies to have a 4:30 wake up call!

Here is my tip for future travelers: Don't have your husband stand in line while the rest of you nap in the car. You all have to be there to purchase your ticket. Tony was so happy that he had to stand in line...twice! Secondly, if your child is 11 or younger, take their passport. If they have proof of age, they will be free.

I am showing you this picture so you can get a feel of how dark it was. We didn't know where we were going and could hardly see in front of us. Remember this picture later on.

I kept singing (in my head, thankfully)..."We keep on waiting, waiting, waiting on the sun to rise. We keep on waiting, waiting, waiting for the sun to rise!"

The colors before the sun rose were quite nice.

My next tip for future travelers: Once those pretty colors are gone, don't leave. Wait for that big fireball to rise up above the tree line.

While it was fun to watch the big red ball rise above the tree line, I do believe I prefer a sunset!

Next stop: Angkor Thom (meaning Great City)

Established in the 12th century and the last capital city of the Khmer Empire 

This is about as happy as I looked when the 4:30 alarm went off!

The entrance to Angkor Thom is lined by Devas (representing good) on one side and Asuras (representing evil) on the other. They are both holding a naga (snake) like a rope in tug of war. This picture is of the Asura side.

Inside Angkor Thom, we visited the Bayon Temple.

It is hard to tell in this picture, but faces are carved into each of the towers.

The "steps" to the library.

I was holding my breath as Ellis climbed down!

Some of the faces: Carved 100's of years ago!

Our next temple visit was to Ta Prohm. This is the moat to the entrance to Ta Prohm. While Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat had water on either side, Ta Prohm was completely dried up.

What made this temple so interesting were the trees that were growing in it and literally on top of it. Having been abandoned for 100's of years, Ta Prohm and the jungle kind of merged together. The root of this tree looks like a python.

Look closely...the root of this tree frames the face of the Buddha.

Do you recognize this tree? Ta Prohm was made famous by the movie starring Angelina Jolie... Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

We didn't see Angelina Jolie, but we did spot Mandy Patinkin. I was the goober that tried to look like I was taking a picture in the temple only to swerve and take his picture.

The trees growing on the top of this temple were so cool.

Sometimes, though, the tree was just a bit much for the temple to take.

Here is an area of Ta Prohm that has been renovated. Below you will see the before and after pictures.

Our last temple tour took us back to where we began our morning: Angkor Wat

The construction for Angkor Wat began in 1113 and took around 30 years to build. Elephants were used to help carry the sandstone and lava rock. I was just in awe at Angkor Wat and all of the temples to think about how they constructed these places without the modern day conveniences. And the attention to detail was amazing! The carvings alone must have taken a good part of those 30 years!

Angkor Wat started out as a Hindu temple before converting to a Buddhist temple. This Buddha is an original from the 16th century.

This is one of four ponds in the temple. You can't see it, but on the left hand side of the pond floor, there is a drain that leads to the moat. I don't know why, but it just surprised me that they actually thought about drainage in the 12th century.

Here are Tony and Hannah Grace in the Echo room. Here, you stand with your back against the wall and pound your chest to send your "words" up to the Gods.

Bullet holes in the column from a shootout between Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese forces. They say most of the damage to the temples comes from "modern" day: war, stealing (most of the Buddha heads have been stolen) and the wear and tear from thousands of tourists each year.

So, do you remember that dark picture I showed earlier in the blog? This is the walkway we were on. Little did we know that we were on a walkway that had a moat on either side...with NO RAILING! I don't know how people don't fall in every morning!

Another view of that large moat. The dirt removed was used to build up the floor in the temple. Again, this just blew my mind. It isn't like they had a backhoe to help do the work!

That concluded our tour of the temples. Three was a good number for me. One tour guide sent an itinerary for 50 temples each day. Okay, I may be exaggerating, but seriously there are over 1,000 temples to visit in Siem Reap. Three was plenty for me.

After a bit of relaxation, we headed off to meet the Gelaudes at a restaurant that serves traditional Cambodian BBQ.

They serve the meat raw and you cook it at your table. We should have mentioned that to the children first. One of the girls licked her pork. The raw meat must have looked strange to her because she didn't actually eat it...THANK GOODNESS!

Ellis had crocodile and snake. I was just glad I had a big lunch!

I am thinking Hannah Grace and Janelle were wishing they had a big lunch, as well!

We were running late, but finally made it to the Phare Circus. I was a bit worried when the first act used brooms.

It got better, but Cirque du Soleil it was not.

Day 3: We spent our last day lounging by the pool before heading off to the markets again and another dinner with the Gelaudes.

Here is the "offering" placed out for Chinese New Year. What do you think they do with that food at the end of the day?

One of the greatest things about being assigned to an overseas project is meeting new friends that you one day meet up with in a completely different country. Great friends, Great memories!