Booked and now planning

We went to Dave's holiday party last night. People realized he'd put in for vacation, but they hadn't realized we'd booked Thailand and Cambodia. Eyes widened, jaws dropped. "Incredulity" was the word of the day. Yeppers. We're headed back to Southeast Asia again, to finish the trip we weren't able to complete last time.

I admit, as much as I love to travel, yes, I did feel a bit worried about returning. We thought about it. Not going back to SEA felt like we would be avoiding horses because of the one that threw us. I don't like being afraid, so much so that while I'm afraid of heights, I leaned over and looked down over the edge of the Grand Canyon's precipice. Going back to finish the trip to Southeast Asia is about those experiences other than watching Dave's infection bloom. I'm just going to pack a smaller suitcase this time.

I need to see Angkor Wat. I need to experience Bangkok. I'm not sure that the experiences will be as intense as our first trip to SEA was, where the scents were cryptical, the sounds assailing, the color white was for death and red was for joy. But travel has to do with the search for newness, the means to stave off ennui. While even the spectacular can become expected, we've spent a year back home, going to our jobs, living our normal lives just enough so that we can hope there will be that "clap" of awakening when we arrive. It's one reason we didn't want to go back to Europe yet. We need difference.

We're going to fly from Seattle to Bangkok via Taipei. We're flying the EVA air (lousy website, so you might as well plan on making the phone calls), but this time, on the return trip we're going to spend some time in Taipei. We're working with Exotissimo again and they came up with an itinerary whereby we will have a driver and a guide take us from Bangkok into Cambodia, passing through what has been kindly called one of the "armpits" border towns of SEA, Poipet. From there we will go south of Tonle Sap Lake to Battambang.


View Southeast Asia in a larger map

From Battambang, we'll drive back north to Siem Reap, where the temples of Angkor Wat are. We'll then be driven to Phnom Penh.

Dave and I will be avoiding as many of the "The Killing Fields" tours as possible. We take cooking classes instead.

We'll only have two nights and one full day in Phnom Penh before we fly back to Taipei, Taiwan. From what I've read, Taipei has done a tremendous amount of infrastructure / city cleanup in the past decade. It's a city which is surrounded by parks and "mountains?", hot springs abound. Dave & I will be in the Ximending District.

The hotel itself is just across the street from one of Taipei's walking districts and one of the older areas of Taipei. The city also has a "foodie" reputation these days. Looking forward to it.