Asia: According to my Android

{Originally posted August 15, 2014 @ thethingaboutchange.wordpress.com}

I am home.  Alllll the way home in Brooklyn.  I was gone for 6 whole weeks!  Which, I’ve decided, is a long time.  Especially since, upon returning home, I observed that my apartment smelled like.. a memory.  Sigh.  So.  It is good to be back, although my life is about to be very different (because I have to get a job and can’t just bum around being a poor student anymore).

But, in the meantime I’ve been spending hours (literally, hours) editing pictures from my trip.  And well.  There are just tooo many to post.  So.  Here are the pictures I took on my phone.  The quantity is much shorter and more fragmented.  But, perchance, you will feel like you were there.  (Don’t worry, I’m only posting the best and most gripping ones.)

Enjoy!

The Flight

We are ready to fly.

Considering it was the longest flight of my life, I thought it was pretty nice.

They even gave us a little travel kit and sweet to eat before flying.

In Istanbul they trusted us to board plane-side.

Thailand

Need to make a call?

Riding in the public songthaew.

Some cute graffiti along the way.

Apparently – grenades are not permitted on the songthaew.

Neither is farting.

A songthaew. (Said, “songtell.”)

Vietnam

Notre Dame

Inside the post office.

There is nothing like the traffic in Vietnam. Especially from the back of a motorbike.

We went to the opera.

The opera house.

The Philippines

(Looks like I only have 1 picture from there on my phone?)

Layovers in Manila at 6 am are a great time to catch up on the internet.

Cambodia

One afternoon we visited the Royal Palace.  It’s druther large.  But has separate buildings rather than separate rooms (i.e. a building for the throne room, a building for the temple, etc.)

Part of a very long tapestry that told a story I didn’t take the time to read.

Ko Samet, Southern Thailand

At the ocean! (And only a little sunburned already.)

The sun still rises, even if there are clouds in the way.

The sign on our cabin door.

Bangkok airport is pretty cool!

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Sawadee ka! (That’s Thai for hello!)

The umbrella street that I found and no one seemed to know what I was talking about.

9 stray dogs at the 7/11. What is this world coming to?

Our last night… we spent shopping at the night bazaar (of course).

Turkey

During our 21 hour lay over.

Some ruins in Istanbul.

The Bosphorus Strait!

My Closing Thoughts on the Trip:

1.  My favorite country was Vietnam.  We got to have a lot of ‘true’ cultural experiences there (like chaperoning kids for a pool day and taking public transportation alone), which eventually won me over.  But, I also really liked the 21 hours I spent in Turkey.  Istanbul is VERY different than Southeast Asia (as part of it is in Europe) and the change of cultures was fun.

2.   Before we started the trip I told Erleen and Betty that our motto for the trip was: “Yes!”  Betty said, “Our motto is, ‘yes… but,” which ended up being mostly true (but, we only said no to things that would have cost a lot of money (like zip lining) or were totally disgusting (like eating a dog)).

3.  And, all in all, I felt like this trip, with all its winding bus rides, 17 flights, and moments of frustration and cluelessness, added up to be the most incredible blessing.  I feel so blessed to have been able to take this trip, and I know, it’s one of those ‘once in a lifetime’ trips that I’ll be savoring forever.

4. So, I give the glory to God.  For making this trip possible.  For making the world so diverse and crazy and connected.  I love it.

 

 

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