curioustravelertravelogues

52 Things I’ll Miss About Sea

Posted on April 11, 2016 by juliamenn

Street Food
Khao Soi
Drinking morning tea w/ elephants
Elephant Nature Park
Fatty Tuna!
Frangipani blossoms
Crooked trees that overtake man-made structures
Watermelon
Lychees
Mangosteen
Mangoes
Tamarind
Pineapple with salt and red pepper
Ok, ALL the fresh fruit. I’m really gunna miss it.
Snorkeling
Zipping along a mountain road on a motorbike
Rice terraces
Hidden waterfalls
Brightly coloured butterflies
Cheap prices! (pardon me while I go sob…)
Thai massages
Fresh fruit shakes
Foreign currency – it’s so much prettier than American money
Exotic birds
Wild monkeys
All the dogs and cats!
Lush greenery
Local beliefs and religions
Temples
Getting to immerse myself in new cultures
Pho Bo
Free shisha!
Perfect beaches
Swimming with jellyfish and manta rays
Learning new skills every day – from how to use the local toilets to navigating the bus system
Bum guns
Politeness
Street fairs and local markets
Friendly locals
Meeting so many new people every single day
Lack of structure and rigid rules
Presentation and attention to little details – always adding the extra little touches
Tea!
Jungle rivers
Swimming fully clothed
Geckos and little lizards
Fountains and ornamental water everywhere
Relaxed pace of life
Lack of materialism
Family connection and importance
Bayon in Angkor Wat
Not giving a f*ck – tapping into what I truly desire to do, and then going and doing it!

Posted in SEA, Travel | Tagged angkor wat, bayon, Bum Gun, butterflies, elephant nature park, Elephants, ENP, frangipani, fresh fruit, Jungles, massage, monkeys, pho, Street Food, swimming, tea, tuna, wildlife | 2 Comments

Dingle

Posted on February 10, 2016 by juliamenn

After spending 4 days at Garrett’s wonderful apartment in Cork, my journey continued with a road trip to Dingle. It was my first experience where the cars are on opposite sides of the road, but thankfully Garrett was at the wheel. I got to sit back, navigate, and soak up the breathtaking countryside views.

We stopped to explore beaches and coves and make new friends along the way 🙂

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We were only in Dingle for a day. It’s a small, quiet village with not a lot going on and only two pubs. Sitting on the dock, you’re surrounded by water and green hills dotted with sheep. It was so peaceful. One day, when I’m a highly popular writer with advances for my next series of children’s books, I’ll go to Dingle for three months to write and just be.

Posted in Ireland, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged Adventure, besties, Dingle, Friends, Ireland, pub, Roadtrip, Sheep | 1 Comment

Japanese Food Porn

Posted on December 4, 2015 by juliamenn

I got an unexpected addition to my SEA trip – three days in Tokyo! Turns out it was easier to fly to the west coast of America instead of across Europe to the east coast. Color me totally ok with that!

My time in Japan was a mixed lot, but I’ll tell you one thing – the food did not disappoint.

*Note, I am NOT a food photographer. I am a food EATER.

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Posted in Japan, Travel | Tagged bliss, chicken noodle soup, delicious, divine, fatty tuna, Food, grilling, kobe beef, matcha, meat, noms, ramen, raw, raw food, salmon, steak tartare, steam bun, sushi, tea, thanksgiving, vending machine | 1 Comment

Nusa Lembongan

Posted on November 20, 2015 by juliamenn

I thought through a technical glitch that I’d lost all my pictures from Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia, and half of my Tokyo pics. Turns out I found them!!

Nusa Lembongan is an island off the coast of Bali. It’s part of a cluster of three island that, unfortunately and unbeknownst to me, are major tourist sites. Everything I’d read made the islands sound like they’d barely been explored or exploited. Turns out that wasn’t true. But I still had a fantastic three days hanging out on my own on this beautiful piece of land.

Pulling into harbor – that’s a volcano straight ahead! 😀

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Posted in Bali, SEA | Tagged Bali, Blue, Indonesia, Island, manta rays, motorbike, Nusa Lembongan, snorkeling, star fish, sunset, suspension bridge, volcano, waves | 1 Comment

Waterfall Adventures

Posted on November 6, 2015 by juliamenn

A definite highlight of my trip was getting to see so many waterfalls. It wasn’t the rainy season so they often weren’t running in full glory, but they provided some of my most blissfully peaceful memories.

This is the waterfall in Pai:

My own natural foot spa

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Posted in Cambodia, Laos, Pai, SEA, Thailand | Tagged blue water, butterflies, Cambodia, kuang si, Laos, memories, Pai, Thailand, waterfalls | 3 Comments

Angkor Wat – Bayon

Posted on October 30, 2015 by juliamenn

This is the gate into Angkor Thom – the large complex with many various temples and palaces, the most famous of which is Bayon – the rising temple of the many faces.

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Posted in Cambodia, SEA | Tagged angkor thom, angkor wat, bayon, buddha faces, Cambodia, exodus, faces, Meditation, monkeys, Siem Reap, Temples, wild monkeys | 1 Comment

Angkor Wat – Prae Roup, Mebon, Ta Som, and Preah Khan

Posted on October 23, 2015 by juliamenn

The sun had risen and more tourists began to arrive at Ta Prohm, so we were off! Our next stops were Prae Roup and Mebon. They are near one another and very similar in architectural style. Unlike Ta Prohm, which is in a forested area with low buildings, these two are on cleared tracts of land and massive towers rising into the sky in magnificent splendor.

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Posted in Cambodia, SEA | Tagged angkor wat, blessings, Cambodia, eternal flame, Mebon, Moat, nature, Prae Roup, Preah Khan, shrine, Siem Reap, Sky, statues, Ta Som, Temples, towers, trees | 1 Comment

Angkor Wat – Ta Prohm

Posted on October 21, 2015 by juliamenn

The most rewarding “touristy” adventure I went on was seeing the Angkor Wat temples in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

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Posted in Cambodia, SEA | Tagged Adventure, angkor wat, Cambodia, endurance, forest, nature, Siem Reap, Temples, tomb raider, trees | 1 Comment

The Cambodian Genocide

Posted on October 16, 2015 by juliamenn

I didn’t visit many museums on my trip. In fact, I only went to three – and they were all sites where great acts of cruelty and torture were enacted and had been turned into historical monuments. Two were in Vietnam. The most horrific was in Cambodia. And the shocking thing is, I hadn’t even known Cambodia suffered a genocide.

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Posted in Cambodia, SEA | Tagged bones, Cambodia, choeung ek, genocide, history, holocaust, khmer rouge, killing fields, killing tree, mass graves, memorials, museums, pol pot, regime, s-21, Siem Reap, skulls, stupa, tragedy, tuol sleng | 1 Comment

Silly Signs of SEA

Posted on October 9, 2015 by juliamenn

If I could become the official spell-checker for all of South East Asia, I would be set for life. From Thailand to Indonesia, I came across signs with all sorts of silly miss-spellings, delightfully dirty double meanings, awesome graffiti, and the ever present etiquette signs. It was one of the most charming things about SEA.