ADVENTURE ON A BUDGET | TRAVEL BLOG
We never expected to spend eight weeks in Phnom Penh, or for that matter, ten weeks in Cambodia, but COVID-19 gave us an opportunity. If we had to be “stuck” in a SE Asian country, we think we landed in a good spot, especially based on the more Draconian measures set forth in neighboring Thailand and Vietnam. The Cambodian government,…
Before COVID shut down all the tourist sights in Phnom Penh, we went to the Tuolsleng Genocide Museum, followed by the Killing Fields, one of only 343 known sites where thousands of Cambodians were executed by their own people during the 1975-1979 Genocide. Three million of Cambodia’s eight million died during this tragic regime. This is when the Khmer Rouge…
One of the world’s oldest cities, 1500-year old Tbilisi is the pulsating heart of the Caucus Mountains. It breathes a history which intertwines the Silk Road, ancient Christianity, and sulphur baths and combines with a modern, thriving city sometimes even said to be “the New Berlin.” It was a great city to stroll in…and we soaked it in in more…
After a week in Siem Reap, we were ready to get off the grid and experience authentic village life in Cambodia. Our original plan had included heading to Kratie in central Cambodia to stay in the countryside for two weeks volunteering to teach English to village kids. Unfortunately, thanks to COVID, our plans got upended, so we opted instead to…
It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen it in movies or pictures, getting a glimpse of the UNESCO world heritage site of Angkor Wat in person rendered us both speechless. An awe took over our bodies with seeing something so truly magnificent, practically turning us to jelly. But Angkor Wat is so much more than just one temple complex,…
Thailand/Cambodia Poipet Border Crossing We bust through another border! After all the reading and blog watching we’d done about the Poipet border, we actually thought it was going to be a challenging one so we made sure to get an e-visa online and not do a visa on arrival. By doing this, you can just bypass the touts with their…
For our last two stops in Georgia, we longed to escape the cities and step into something a little more laid back and authentic. We chose Kazbegi, aka Stepantsminda, a deliciously Georgia-eous mountain townlet on the Russian border and Sighnaghi, a charming red-roofed village plopped in the middle of eastern Georgian wine country. The ride to Stepantsminda (Kazbegi) was about…
One week in Bangkok. Although you might have already started humming Murray Head lyrics and are picturing us dodging lady boys in Patpong Distict, gallivanting gorgeous wats and meandering along floating markets, this wasn’t the Bangkok we experienced. We actually did many of those things last time we came so this time, we plopped ourselves in one neighborhood, vowing to…