Leg 3: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

We flew from Hong Kong to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. Can't say I was super impressed with the area. It was somewhat run-down and trashy, though you could tell at some point it was nice. Arriving at night didn't help. Either did the police standing at every corner with rifles. We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel and before leaving he managed to bash another car and take out his side mirror. I wanted to get out and find a safer driver--haha! He dropped us off a block from our hotel and I was skeptical we were in the right area, but prayed we were. Guards stood blocking the street and wouldn't allow him to drive down the road. Ask me how excited and safe I felt. Made me very appreciative of living in the U.S.

The following day we saw the main palace and tried to stay awake all day. I loved all the people watching and seeing how they lived.

We took a bus the next day and traveled about 6 hours to Angkor Wat. It was so interesting to look out the window and all the areas we went through. I took some fabulous drive by photos to capture it! : ) Oh, and one thing that made me laugh was the bus offered wi-fi. It had better reception (traveling through the country and remote areas) than most places we stayed.

Conor was stoked to be riding on this plane. He asked to have his pic taken with it. haha!

Our room in Phnom Penh--notice the mosquito netting. Below is the courtyard of our hotel. 

Raw meat. Tasty. They offered us some. No thanks.

Bikes literally ride next to other vehicles, buses, etc. They're constantly honking at one another to move over. The bigger you are, you seem to have the right of way on the road. 

My favorite sign of the trip. : ) From the smell of it, people didn't read the sign.

Our bus stop was in the middle. Made me laugh and wonder if we really were going to arrive in Angkor Wat.

Everyone travels on motorbikes. After repairing the a/c unit, these guys loaded up their supplies in front of them and carried the ladder on the back. Unbelievable! All while wearing flip flops, nonetheless!

Unfortunately piles of trash are EVERYwhere. They burn all the plastics and the stench is awful!

Loved the little boys playing in the ditch water. haha!

Leg 2: Hong Kong

Welcome to the big city, loads of people, buildings stacked on every square inch, and jet lag! Amazing how such little space is occupied by so much. A bustling, relatively clean city, that is easy to navigate. Signs and directions are in English and most people can help you if you ask. The air was dirty, foggy, or both so visibility wasn't fantastic, but still decent.

We used points to stay at the Conrad and had an fantastic water view! There was a music and lights show one evening and we watched from our room. We took the ferry across and wandered around the shopping district, streets, parks, rode the world's longest escalator, took a trolley ride to the highest point to look out, and watched monkey's swing and play at the zoo. We packed in as much as we could in a couple days, while still taking time to rest and adjust to the time difference. It was a fun city and we enjoyed our time there. Didn't buy anything, despite guys on every corner talking up their custom suits, watches, you  name it. Totally annoying, but they were focusing on Conor, so it made me laugh. : )


Our favorite feature was the statue that reminded us of Hazel pointing with one finger. She would've been a real hit!!!!

He loves it when I take his picture in public. haha! Already sweating. I still had my jacket on. ; )

I thought these red trees and Christmas door were funky and wanted my pic.

World's largest Apple store, or at least was. Built over the street and several floors. Check out all the people in line in the morning! 

On the escalator. Below is the escalator from the side of the street. It was steep!

Really quite pretty and lots of green, trees, and park areas amongst the city.

Pretty church neatly tucked in the buildings. Surprisingly there were quite a few churches we spotted.

Luckily the air cleared the 2nd day in Hong Kong so we waited in line a couple hours to ride trolley up. Great 360 views!

Leg 1: Salt Lake to San Fran

From our trip last November to Southeast Asia. I'll post in segments to break it up.

We actually flew from Salt Lake to Denver, dropped off Hazel with Conor's parents (they drove back to Tulsa, OK with her), and then on to San Francisco. It was early in the morning when we arrived and of course it was raining. Being vain like I am, not wanting my straightened hair to get wet and curly/frizzy, I wanted to stay inside the airport and not venture out. After a couple hours we decided to just go for it since we had a long flight ahead of us.

BART, the train, runs from the airport and makes it convenient to get around. Conor had found a place he wanted to eat breakfast–Brenda's French Soul Food. Awesome and totally worth the trip! We made it just in time and there was a long line out the door after we were seated. It started to pour on our walk to the restaurant so we stopped and bought a cheap umbrella. It came in handy on the remainder of our trip, too. Of course I was already sporting a shower cap on my head and looked absolutely ridiculous. . .

Then we headed back and hung out in the first class lounge and stuffed our faces with the free food. I was all about the cheesecake and Conor was devouring the shrimp. : ) Within the first 3 days of our vacation I gained 8 lbs. Yikes!!! That's what happens when there is good free food around me. Don't worry, by the end of our vacation I had lost all of that and then some. Courtesy of food poisoning in Bangkok and food choices in Myanmar. haha!

We sat in the nose of the plane and had been looking forward to our seats. It was fun, but really not much to see. ; )