As the weather continues to get hotter and the days continue to get longer, I find myself daydreaming about my next adventure. Sadly, our next scheduled trip isn’t until November. What was I thinking when I decided to skip this year’s summer vaca so that we could spend the holidays in Europe? I must have been crazy thinking that I could last that long in between travels! Now, all I have is my memories of last year’s summer vacation spent in the perfect mild weather of the Mediterranean Sea to feed my wanderlust.
When Jason told me that his number one bucket list country was Turkey, I thought to myself, why? OK, maybe not to myself. Maybe, very openly and rather bluntly. “Turkey, how boring! What about Paris?! What about Rome?!” But he quickly made me feel pretty sheltered and naïve. And all it took was a few Google image searches of Istanbul and the Mediterranean Sea. It was time for this small town country girl to step outside her comfort zone and experience something completely different.
So, after convincing our family that visiting Turkey was perfectly safe, we packed up and headed on a non-stop flight to Istanbul. And one more short flight and bumpy bus ride later brought us to the coastal village of Fethiye staring into the pure blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
We had just enough time to explore Fethiye’s famous tombs before our sail boat left the docks. These 2,400 year old tombs were carved into the mountainside by the Lycians. These were the first of the many tombs we saw scattered throughout the Turkish coastline. As we gazed up at the massive rock structures, we couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe and amazement. Plus, the view of the city with the blue sea backdrop was breathtaking.
We could have stayed up here all day, but we had a boat to catch. So we walked the small curvy roads towards the coast until we found the docks. And excitingly, we boarded our boat ready to meet our new boat mates. We had 8 days at sea ahead of us. Which was a little nerve-racking as we had no idea if we would get along with the other 12 people on the boat. However, it didn’t take long for that worry to go away. We had an amazing group of people from Australia, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, and of course the US.
After introductions and learning the house rules, we began our sail. We spent the night anchored in a quiet cove where we swam in the Mediterranean water for the first time. Then, we had a delicious fish dinner on the boat and a night of drinking games to wrap up our first day at sea. That night, we were rocked to sleep in our cabins by the soft ocean waves while we dreamt of our adventures to come.
Those dreams were interrupted by the sound of the boat’s motor at first light that morning. I rolled onto my side to ignore the loud hum, and for a second, I thought I would go back to sleep. Then the boat started to move, and as it gained speed causing it to rock heavily, I quickly learned I was not going to sleep any longer. So, I stumbled my way to the deck and found a resting spot at the back of the boat. Soon everyone else joined, all looking quite green. The captain brought us loaves of bread, which seem to help with the sea sickness, and we all loaded up on Dramamine, which seemed to help a little more. And after a few heaves over the side of the deck, we all started to question how exciting our adventure at sea would actually be. However, despite the sea sickness, we still were in awe at the beauty that surrounded us. Eventually, we came to stop and had a wonderful Turkish breakfast which was perfect for refueling our now empty bellies. Then another short ride later, we arrived at Butterfly Valley, our first stop on the coastline tour.
Butterfly Valley is exactly what the name claims. A huge valley in which butterflies migrate to every year. Unfortunately, we were not visiting during butterfly season. However, that did not diminish the spine tingling views. As we neared the valley masked by a layer of morning fog I felt like we were about to step foot into Jurassic Park.
Once ashore, we took a short beautiful hike into the valley where we found a small waterfall. We climbed up the waterfall and were rewarded with an amazing view of the valley and sea. We didn’t have a lot of time to spend in this one location. So, we all reluctantly re-boarded the boat and started back at sea once more, this time better prepared for the oncoming sea sickness.
Our next stop was Gemiler Island, also known as St. Nicholas Island. Yes, Santa Clause himself. The island contains the ruins of five Byzantine churches. We spent our afternoon trekking through the ruins. Every corner we turned brought something new and exciting.
We spent the night anchored outside Gemiler Island. We had a pretty easy night as everyone was still feeling a little queasy from the first day of sailing. We settled in our cabins for a much needed good night’s rest. That was the idea anyhow. Mother Nature had other plans. I woke up that night with the boat heavily rocking back and forth. I could hear the hard rain hitting the deck above and the loud roars of thunder. I wondered if we were safe. Surely the captain and crew would let us know if we in danger, right? As the boat creaked from the heavy rocking, I feared it would rip apart. But there was nothing I could do, other than curl up and try to think of better things. Eventually the storm passed and the boat survived. And once again I was awoken by the loud hum of the motor at first light. I made my way to the deck and found my wet seat. A few minutes later, we were off to sea.
That day we were awarded with a walk through the village of Kas. It was nice to get our feet on solid ground for a bit. Then, we spent the clear night under that stars enjoying life.
The next morning, we started our day in a small village called Ucagiz. It seemed like nothing more than a fishing village, until we wandered across these tombs.
After a few hours of exploring, we boarded back up and rode by the Sunken City, which sounded a lot more interesting than it actually was. Then, we arrived at Kaleko, where we explored a crusaders castle dated back to the 4th century B.C.
For the night, we headed to a nice cozy cove area. We found a pirate cave to explore and then spent the rest of the evening swimming. That night the boys headed to shore for a crazy bonfire, and the girls stayed on the boat and slept under the stars, slumber party style.
The next morning, we stayed in the cove and spent the day swimming and kayaking around the cove. That night we got all dolled up and went to a small pirate bar hidden in the cove. We spent the night dancing with all the other travelers sailing in the area.
For the last couple days, we sailed back in the open sea stopping at a nice beach here and there. When we arrived back in Fethiye, we spent our last night together in a hookah bar knowing that we would most likely never see each other again. That is the bittersweet part of traveling. You meet amazing people and get to know them closely for a very fleeting moment. Then you part ways and go back to your own corner of the world. Sure, you exchange emails and become Facebook friends. But as the days pass you realize that the people you met on that trip are quite different then the people you see in your Facebook news feed. But then again, you never know when our paths may cross again.
After two weeks touring Thailand with our dear friends from Miami and Chicago, a little alone time was welcomed. And what better way to wind down our trip than with a quick stop in Cambodia to explore the temples of Angkor Wat? OK, so maybe the “wind-down” wasn’t as relaxing as one would have hoped. But after a few days on the beaches of Phuket, I was ready for a little more adventure before our return to reality. So, we said our tearful goodbyes and hopped a quick plane to Siem Reap where the adventure began, Tomb Raider style.
Thailand is a pretty touristy destination. Technically, Angkor Wat is too. So, I’m not quite sure what I expected when we got off our plane and stepped into the tiny one terminal airport. Perhaps we had become accustomed to the busier streets of Thailand. Cambodia, on the other hand, was a bit more laid back, made obvious by the children riding their bikes to school and the random cows grazing in the ditches. After a leisurely ride on many dirt backroads, we arrived in our small boutique hotel bubbling over with anticipation of seeing the temples. So, we wasted no time. The hotel set up a tuk tuk driver, Mr. Theon, to cater to us for our entire stay. So after buying our three day passes, we immediately headed to the best temple for watching the sunset.
This temple required a short hike up a hillside where it was situated high enough to get a good glimpse of the sunset over the forest trees. And right away, we got to experience the crowds of tourists that Angkor Wat temples are famous for. It’s quite amazing how many people flock to these temples every day. I suppose that proves just how amazing the views and atmosphere of these ruins are. However, it does dull the experience a tad when you need to share it with hundreds of strangers. Nevertheless, we took it all in, our first temple sighting and the vast jungle surrounding it.
We headed back in to town and found a small local restaurant nearby where I had the best duck of my life. We would have liked to explore the city’s nightlife, but it was a long day of carrying backpacks through the airport. Our backs ached. Thankfully, we were able to get massages in our room which put us right to sleep.
The next morning, Mr. Theon met us 5:00 AM. The hotel packed us a breakfast and we headed to the temples while it was still dark outside. We arrived at Angkor Wat with hundreds of other tourists all stumbling in the dark to find the best spot to watch the sun rise. Most people gathered around the pools setting up tripods and staking their claim on precious space. We tried this, but the crowd proved to be a little much for me. So, we set up the tri-pod directly in front of the entrance into the Angkor Wat complex and sat on the stone pathway to eat our breakfast while the sun slowly rose above the horizon. And as the sun did its thing, we starred in amazement at the vast temple before us.
You can read all about Angkor Wat and the other surrounding temples here. I am not a history buff, so I will spare you all the butchering of the details. Yes, knowing its history made the temples that more grand. But even without a tour guide giving us blow by blow details, I was in awe. Still, I had Jason with me who had read quite a bit about the temples prior to arriving in Cambodia. He was all the tour guide I needed.
As the sun came up, it started to get hot. Really hot. I mean seriously. I live in Houston. I should be used to this kind of heat. But I wasn’t. That didn’t stop us, we loaded up on water and continued to explore while soaking our cloths with sweat.
Our next stop was the ancient capital city, Angkor Thom, which contained many small temples (well, small compared to Angkor Wat but still rather large). We started by exploring the temple Bayon, most characterized by the dozens of faces carved into the temple towers. This may have been my favorite temple, although it is really hard to pick. The other temples in the area paled in comparison to Bayon, but that didn’t stop us from exploring each one of them. At one point we did get somewhat lost in the jungle. We wondered around on a beaten path hoping we didn’t stumble upon any landmines.
After making our way through the entire city in the high noon heat, we could have called it a day. However, we didn’t have time for that. So, we climbed into our tuk tuk, and Mr Theon drove us to the next temple, Ta Prohm. This temple is best known as the Tomb Raider Temple. It was a smaller temple then some of the others we had explored, but it had its own charm about it. It was overtaken by the forest. Huge tree roots had dug their way into the stone and started to bring the temple down. I really did feel like Angelina Jolie, well minus the hundreds of other people crowding the temple with me.
And after climbing through the ruined temple pretending we were in an Indiana Jones movie, we were exhausted. Mr. Theon dropped us off at a restaurant where we re-fueled and debated calling it a day. No time though. So, back in the tuk tuk we went. We hit up multiple more temples, all too small to remember their names, before we couldn’t take the site of another temple and finally called it a day.
Back in the hotel, we showered the red dirt and sweat off and relaxed our aching feet. Then, a bit refreshed, we ventured out to find food. We landed on Pub Street, which was bustling a bit more like what we encountered in Thailand. There was a pretty vast market in the area. So, we shopped and ate some street food snacks before settling in at a restaurant and filling up with beer.
The next morning, we met Mr. Theon at 6:30 AM and headed out to finish up the last of the temples. We stopped by Angkor Wat one last time to catch a few shots of the sunrise. And then took our time through the remaining last temples, soaking it all in. We bought some Cambodian treats, including tiny little clams in a spicy sauce. And then we were through. We were all templed out. It was an exciting three day trip. Perhaps, not the relaxing end to the long vacation one might of hoped for. But that just isn’t our style. We made our way back to Bangkok for one last night before returning to reality.
And now, I sit on a rough turbulent plane ride on yet another boring work trip, dreaming of the day I can return. Southeast Asia has won our hearts. And there is still so much more to see.
In about a week, Jason and I are hosting our wedding reception. “But wait? Aren’t you already married?”, you may be thinking. Yes, we were married last August. After we became engaged, there was a lot of debate on where the wedding should be and how much we should spend. As most of you married people know, the conversations started to cause a lot of stress. So ultimately, we decided to elope. And where better to elope than the number one spot on a photographer’s bucket list, Iceland…
When Iceland came to my mind, it wouldn’t leave. I couldn’t stop thinking about eloping to this magical place. It became my obsession. The idea took over, and it became our mission to make it came true. So, we packed our bags last August and flew to Iceland for a short 5 days in which we traveled the island and said our vows. These photos tell that story.
We began our weddingmoon by renting a car and touring the Golden Circle. In the span of one day (we were on a tight schedule here!), we saw Þingvellir National Park, the geyser, Strokkur, and Gullfoss, the “Gold Waterfall”.
On day two, we had to change our plans. Hurricane Cristobal was scheduled to make landfall in Southern Iceland on our wedding day. We had planned to get married by Skogafoss, “Forest Falls”, but our priest called that morning to tell us we needed to make changes. He had already lined up a small Icelandic church for us so the wedding could move on. However, I was concerned about the photos. So, we changed our itinerary completely and decided to head to Skogar early to take our wedding photos the day before the wedding. This turned out to be a wonderful decision as the day was absolutely beautiful. We took photos by Skogafoss and on the beaches of Vik.
The next morning, Hurricane Cristobal made landfall as promised. The wind and rain (and apparently an erupted volcano) couldn’t stop us though. Both of our nerves were on edge, but we woke up early and re-dressed regardless.
Then, we headed to the small quaint church down the road. Now, I cannot express to you how small this church actually was. You may have been able to fit 20 people in it, in a tight squeeze. We arrived at the church pretty wet from the rain. And thankfully, our photographer and our priest, also was able to make it regardless of the high winds. So, we walked down the very short aisle, and what happened in one amazing blur, Jason and I became one.
These photos were taken by the wonderful Auður. If you ever plan on traveling to Iceland, please check out her website for amazing Iceland travel advice!
I cannot describe how deep the emotions and personal the ceremony was for us. We definitely missed our friends and family there to witness the ceremony. However, there is something about eloping that made the experience so much more personal than I could have imagined.
On cloud nine, we decided to celebrate by driving out to Jökulsárlón. Jökulsárlón is a glacial lagoon where large broken hunks of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier can be seen. The ice has a rich blue tint that seems unbelievable until you see it for yourself.
And after making multiple roadside stops every time we saw something interesting, we made our way to our honeymoon suite at Hotel Ranga, where our room was filled with rose petals, champagne, snacks, and chocolate covered strawberries. We tucked ourselves in for a romantic wedding night thinking the day couldn’t get any more perfect. But we were wrong once again. A midnight phone call from the Hotel Ranga staff led to us rushing outside in our pjs to catch a glimpse at the aurora borealis, who decided to make its appearance despite the extreme hurricane cloud cover. The night was complete.
And if our trip would have ended here, it would have been perfect. But we still had one more full day in Iceland and we didn’t intend on wasting it. So we woke early that morning and drove to Kerið, a volcanic crater lake, and then back to Reykjavik for a stop at the Blue Lagoon, where we relaxed in volcanic mineral water.
And after eating fermented shark that night, our trip was officially complete.
Now, 8 months later, we are celebrating that glorious day in the small Skogar church with our friends and family. Time for the dancing, time for the cake, and time for the toast to us from those closest to us. Yes, eloping was the best decision we ever made. But celebrating that elopement with our people is the second best.
Here is a short video of this magical trip. Enjoy!
So, what is the first thing you think of when you think of Thailand? Well, if you are like most people, you probably think about “The Beach”. You know, that Leonardo DiCaprio movie that came out like 15 years ago and made everyone who saw it want to flock to Thailand immediately. Well, that is how we spent our last few days in Thailand, relaxing on the beautiful beaches in Phuket pretending we were young pre-Titantic Leos looking for good times.
Phuket wasn’t what I imagined it to be. Who knew that I would fly half around the world to go to another Cancun destination? Well, despite the 18 year old party atmosphere, we were able to find our own little nook of relaxation on Kamala Beach. This beach was a smaller less crowded beach just north of the oh-so-popular party beach, Patong. The water was crystal clear, turquoise blue, and bath water warm. The beach was lined with adorable restaurants, massage stations, and (our favorite) smoothie shacks. I would like to give you guys a blow by blow of our adventures here, but I fear I would bore you as our adventures consisted mainly of laying under umbrellas, getting massages, and drinking mojitos.
We did force ourselves away from the beach occasionally for a little action. We took a ferry to Koh Phi Phi island so we could actually see the beach that Leo was filmed on. We ended up on a tour called Bob’s Booze Cruise in which we were crammed with 20 other teenagers. The success of the trip varies depending on who you talk to. For instance, the extremely drunk kid that puked on me seemed to be having a YOLO kind of time. However, those of us who were puked on were not really in a YOLO kinda mood. Despite the crowd (and the puke), we still saw some amazing scenery.
After the booze cruise fail, I was ready for a more grown up adventure. Jason and I took a Thai cooking class which ended up being a lot of fun, although it highlighted the fact that we have entered a new phase in our lives where we would rather cook then drink ourselves silly.
And for our final venture away from the beach, we hired a traditional Thailand long tail boat to take us snorkeling which turned out to be the best tour we took in Phuket. We spent the afternoon with our faces under water until we turned into prunes. Then, we found a secluded beach only accessible by boat where we had fresh fish for lunch.
After our final sunset together, we bought paper lanterns, lit them up, and released them into the sky with teary eyes. The next time the 6 of get together, we may very well be in another phase of our lives, and it may not be just us 6 anymore. So, we drank a beer to Thailand and said our goodnights. Thailand had won us over. We all fell in love.
“IT’S ELEPHANT DAY!!” That’s how I woke up early that morning in my Chiang Mai hotel bed while the sun was just beginning to make its appearance. Within hours, I was going to come face to face with my favorite animal with no bars or fences to distance us. My adrenalin was running high, causing me to act way outside my character. I had become a morning person, something that happens only on very special occasions. Jason (who is always a morning person) and I met the others in the kitchen where we patiently ate our breakfast while we waited for our tour guide to arrive.
We weren’t really sure what to expect from the tour we booked. I did a little research and chose Dante’s Elephant Park, because the reviews sounded as if the elephants at the park were treated well. I was very apprehensive about the whole thing. I don’t support circuses that abuse elephants. So, I didn’t want to support any other tourism activity that would be comparable to the same thing. But the only way to know for sure was to visit the park and see for my own eyes. And I will say my curiosity tends to get the best of me in these situations.
When the tour guide arrived, there were four other guests already in the van. We introduced ourselves to Alex, Caroline, and Amanda all from the States. We had a pretty good representation of the USA in that van. Houston, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, and Philadelphia.
Before we made it to the camp, our tour guide, Mr. Big (who oddly was nothing like the Mr. Big from “Sex and the City”), stopped at a local market to pick up a few items for our lunch. This gave us a good opportunity to get some snacks for ourselves as well. I bought a hat for $3 and some other food items that I didn’t know. And we piled back into the van and made our way into the hills.
When we arrived at the camp, we immediately saw the elephants off in the distance. My first instinct was to run out to greet them, but I knew better. I needed to be patient and follow Mr. Big’s instructions. So, we settled up money and were given our outfits for the day. We all looked pretty sweet in our matching mahout outfits. And they even found one big enough to fit Jason.
While we were getting dressed, we were surprisingly greeted by a curious baby elephant who decided to wonder inside the hut to see what was going on. She sneaked up behind me and startled me with her little (but still quite large) trunk. And that was my first formal acquaintance with an elephant. I was in love. Once she realized we didn’t have any treats though, she wondered on to nosey around somewhere else.
After our not so formal training with Mr. Big where he unsuccessfully attempted to teach us a bunch of elephant commands in Thai, the boys cut up some sugar cane, showing off their muscles. And we all made our way out to meet the elephant family.
As the elephants saw us coming, they started getting extra excited. I’d like to say they were excited to see us, but truth is they knew we had sugar cane. And they wanted it bad. The boys were carrying the sugar cane, which made them nice targets for trampling elephants with bad sweet-tooths. And the girls got quite the laugh as the boys starting running in every which direction trying to keep the elephants from taking them each down and stealing all the sugar cane. Soon, we all realized the best thing to do was to just feed them.
We spent a lot of time feeding the elephants in order to get use to being so close to the massive animals. We learned quickly that we needed to watch our feet especially around the two babies. Jason suffered from a baby elephant stomp which probably felt similar to having a 4-wheeler role over your feet. Ok, maybe a lawn mower, but still, owwww! If truth be told, being around these big guys seemed way more dangerous than being around the tigers we experienced the day before. But the longer we hanged out, the more comfortable we became. Well, until Mr. Big summoned the first guest to climb up top one of them. This was a whole different game!
There were a couple different ways to get on top of the elephant. The best way though was to let the elephant lift you up with her trunk. Once up there, you had to shimmy yourself around to position yourself right behind the elephant’s ears. The skin behind the elephant’s ears is sensitive enough to feel the commands you give it. And then we walked, well sort of. Maybe I should have listened a little more closely when Mr. Big was teaching us the Thai commands. The elephant seemed rather un-phased that I was on her back, and she really didn’t care to listen to my commands. She pretty much just walked where-ever she wanted. Which for the most part meant she was in search of more sugar cane. And sitting on the elephant looked simple enough from the ground, but after getting up there, I have to say, it was quite terrifying. Being behind the ears meant I was looking straight down at the ground. I realized I could easily fall off and get stomped on by a massive elephant foot quite easily. But despite the small fear, I was on cloud nine. I was riding an elephant after all!
Once we all got our chance to try out our elephant riding skills, we took a break and had some lunch. After lunch, we had a couple beers. We were about to go on a long hike on the back of an elephant, we needed to hydrate. Then, we headed out to meet our elephant partners for the hike. Mr. Big had paired each of us up with the elephant he thought met our personalities. Not surprisingly, this meant that Jason got Big Joe, the only male in the family who was nearly twice the size as the females. I got Mee Noi, Big Joe’s pregnant wife. You could see this as a sign, but I chose to ignore it. Later, I made Mr. Big promise me that he would name the baby after me. He said he would name the baby Missie-Jay. I am assuming because she was pregnant, Mee Noi was tied up to Big Joe.
I wanted to take my camera with me, but because my previous training turned out to be a little bit more challenging than I thought, I decided against it, an action I later regretted. However, it was the right decision as for once, I actually got to enjoy the experience without focusing on the getting the perfect shot. I love photography, but sometimes being in the moment is important! This was one of those times. So, I let Mr. Big take photos for us.
We all climbed onto our elephants and started our hike. Derek was on the Baby Mama’s back, and he led the way. But she was a little too concerned with the curious baby and not at all concerned about Derek. She continuously wondered off the path chasing down the little one causing Derek to yell a lot and us to laugh. The other elephants were rather well behaved aside from the occasional butt scratch on a rock. They knew the trail pretty well. So, those commands we practiced were useless. I’m not completely convinced they were real commands. I suspect they might have been some sort of Thai profanity giving all the Thai elephant keepers a good inside giggle as we yelled them out.
The longer we hiked, the more comfortable we became on the elephants’ backs. We stopped for some water along the trail, and the elephant’s sprayed their bodies (and us) down with it. Another one of the elephants kept whispering cooing noises into my elephant’s ear. I wasn’t really sure what that was all about but it fascinated me. Soon, we came up to a small creek and the elephants plunged right in. Mr. Big brought us all beer to drink while we bathed the elephants. Then we played. The babies enjoyed trying to knock everyone over into the water. They were having the time of their lives! Which was kinda scary for those of us that didn’t want to get squished. The adults liked having their skin brushed. They splashed us with water, gave us kisses, and lifted us with their trunks.
Then we climbed back on their backs with beers in our hands and hiked back to the hut. I switched elephants with Jason so I could get my shot at riding Big Joe. He was like the Cadillac of elephants, very comfortable and easy going.
While sitting on top of an elephant with a beer in my hand, I wondered, is this a dream? It seems like the kind of weird dream I would have. Or maybe a commercial for Chang Beer. Either way, it was very real.
Yes, very real. And since that day, I have often experienced the “Elephants on Parade” dream from Dumbo as my mind is continuously wrapped up in elephants these days. I guess it’s time to head to the Houston Zoo to get my fix.
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