hiking at Lamma Island, Hong Kong
I have just returned from my three-week trip around parts of Southeast Asia, as well as Macau and Hong Kong. It was such an adventure, and I definitely enjoyed myself! I did my best to travel light, which meant trying to keep my backpack as carry-on luggage throughout the trip. I succeeded, for the most part, checking my bag only once on my flight back home, because it was heavy with souvenirs from my three weeks (as well as the handful of DVDs and CDs I got in Hong Kong… HMV is love, haha!).
my one backpack throughout the trip
For the record, I went to the following places: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Siem Reap (and the Angkor temples) in Cambodia; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Singapore; Macau; and, Hong Kong. That was three weeks that definitely zipped by. I traveled without a razor, so I just let my facial hair grow; let’s see if you can tell the difference in this before-and-after. Here’s the BEFORE:
at NAIA Terminal 3, March 30, 2009
And here’s the AFTER:
at Hong Kong International Airport, April 21, 2009
Anyway, I have over 2,000 pictures to wade through in the next couple of days, as well as many, many thoughts I need to put together in order to give an accurate and interesting account of my three weeks of absorbing different places and cultures, meeting new people, and generally enjoying the backpacker lifestyle. I can definitely see why it consumes an entire year for many younger people from other countries.
I started with a picture I took on my hiking trip on Lamma Island in Hong Kong. I leave you now with a picture of me at Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
at Angkor Wat, Cambodia shortly after sunrise
2 comments
uneditedmara says:
Jun 8, 2009
Oooh! Reading through every entry to better arm myself for MY trip. Hahaha!
Ren, your accounts are <3. So very helpful!
Did you have problems communicating and finding your way around?
admin says:
Jun 9, 2009
Hullo! Wow, I guess I need to update right away so you can read about my Cambodian experience, haha!
I’m the type who’d just walk around without thinking, so yeah, I had some problems finding my way around, hahaha. Some of the maps in HCMC weren’t very detailed, so some side streets were omitted, but I didn’t get super duper lost. As far as communicating is concerned… well, I didn’t really do much of that except in restaurants, and for the most part, that was a lot of pointing and smiling. Hehe. Not much as far as communication problems are concerned in Cambodia; I’m thankful my tuk-tuk drivers understood a bit of English. You’ll find some of the kids selling water around the temples in Siem Reap/Angkor (and outside the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh) speaking okay English. Prepare yourself for the “one dollah” deals, hahaha!