Phnom Penh and Home

We've been home for about a day now.  We landed yesterday at 10am at Dulles.  I tried to stay up for a bit but by 2pm I was exhausted (we had been up for over 36 hours I'm estimating) and took a nap that turned into sleeping until 7pm!

Anyway, I'm pretty amazed that we traveled through Cambodia for so long without any serious complications.  We didn't get seriously ill or have anything stolen and so far neither of us have Dengue fever or malaria!  We did get a couple bad sunburns but that's okay.

So I should talk a little about Phnom Penh.  We got there around noon on Sunday and our hotel was nice enough to let us check in early.  We splurged and got a room with a small private pool.  The small pool turned out to be mostly shaded and by 6pm it was freezing.  We did swim in it every day though but probably won't indulge in that extravagance again.  That afternoon we went to the Tuol Sleng museum which is the prison that victims were taken to and tortured before going to the Killing Fields to be executed.

The museum is really powerful but not as moving as the actual Killing Fields.  We went to the Killing Fields the next day and I think it really helped splitting them into two days.  I think many people go to them in the same day which would have been too intense for us.  After the Killing Fields we went to the Russian Market in the afternoon.

By this time I think we were a little worn out/overwhelmed by how dirty Phnom Penh was and Cambodia in general.  I was frustrated that it was hard to walk places because of the huge trash piles and how terrible they smell!  We went to a bar (the Zeppelin Cafe where a man plays old rock records all night) about a 10 minute walk from our hotel and considered taking a Tuk Tuk back because of the dirty streets.  Phnom Penh also had a neighborhood that was full of bars that were either strip clubs or brothels (or both?) that was in a touristy area by the river.  That was pretty discouraging since most of the restaurants were in that area and after dinner we certainly didn't want to walk around a neighborhood like that.

Our flight back was at midnight so the day we left we didn't do too much.  We went to a hip antique store and while I got a pedicure Brandon went to the National Museum.  We got delicious Mexican food for lunch (Cambodia has really good chimichangas!) and then relaxed before our flight.

I had set a goal for myself that during the 24 hours of traveling I wanted to finish the 2 books I was reading, catch up on Serial and beat Brandon at Tetris.  I finished one of the books and listened to 4 Serial episodes but didn't beat Brandon at Tetris despite playing 10+ games.  A couple of games we were a little confused why I didn't win so I think the in-flight system is rigged.  Having a list of things I wanted to accomplish during the day of traveling I think helped the time pass but I'm sure it also helped we had our own row of seats in the flight from Seoul to Dulles.

Here are a few random thoughts I had while traveling.

Things I brought that I didn't need:
- gym shoes and socks.  I thought these would be good for long days of walking but I just wore my sandals (Chaco X2) the whole time and got impressive sandal tan lines on my feet.
- hair spray and dry shampoo.  No explanation needed.
- antibiotics and ambien.  Was very glad I had these but didn't use them.

Things I wish I had brought:
- nail clippers
- tweezers
- anti-itch cream for big bites
- antibiotic cream for small cuts

Things we brought and used a lot:
- bug spray (100% deet)
- sunscreen
- laundry bags. Laundry is CHEAP to do there at $1 per KG but often takes 1 day or more so plan ahead even at places that say they have 2-3 hour turnaround times.

Other things of note:
- wifi is really easy to find.  Almost every restaurant has it.
- Everything is pretty much cash based using the US dollar.  Even if your hotel tells you it takes credit cards it may not.  ATMs are readily available but they will give you most of your money in $100 bills which are hard to change.  Our hotels were usually able to change one or two $100 bills.  I would say this was the biggest annoyance of our trip since some stores and tuk tuk drivers can't even change a $10 and occasionally have problems with a $5. I'm not sure what the way to get around this is other than bring tons of cash in small bills with you (but obviously traveling with a large amount of cash is an issue) or perhaps find a bank that doesn't have foreign ATM fees?  Canadia Bank ATMs there did not charge a fee.

Goodbye Cambodia!

We leave in about an hour for the airport and we are sitting here musing about it favorite and least favorite parts of the trip.   I thought I would write a post while it's still on my mind.  

Favorite parts:

- 4 rivers lodge on the Tatai.  The staff were so nice and helpful and it was peaceful and relaxing (also beautiful!)

- We were at a bar in Siem Reap for an open mic night and no one was signing up so the house band kept playing and they were terrible.  Eventually a Cambodian woman signed up and sang a bunch of 90s hits (4 Non Blondes, The Cranberries) and she was amazing and I wished she would sing all night.  

- The Killing Fields here in Phnom Penh of course not a "good" moment but a really emotionally intense moment.  The area also now has a lot of birds, butterflies and other wildlife so it's heartening to see life in a place so filled with horrific deaths. 

- Rikitikitavi our hotel in Kampot.  Kampot itself wasn't my favorite but the staff was wonderful there was one specific woman who was hilarious and told us about her garden where she grows carrots that are too small.  We told her to keep waiting and that it takes many months to grow carrots.  

- The fish massage in Siem Reap was so funny because Brandon had a mild freak out when the fish started biting him and it was tickling him so people on the street were stopping to watch him.  You're supposed to get 30 minutes with the fish but then across the street an electrical pole started to catch fire so we got out of there!  Eventually someone climbed the hotel balcony and put it out with a fire extinguisher. So it wasn't a big deal but I guess there's no organized fire department in Siem Reap. 

- Overall the temples at Angkor were really amazing. There are so many. We spent 4 days and didn't even go to the outlying temples.  They all have different styles and vibes and it's just awe inspiring to be able to walk around and see these structures that were built over a thousand years ago.  

- cheap beer, cheap food and being able to use only US dollars! Also everyone speaking English was pretty helpful!

We need to finish packing and head to the airport so I think I'll make a post with least favorite parts later.  

Koh Kong and our first day in Kampot

Right now we are in a taxi on the way to Kampot.  This morning we checked out of 4 Rivers Resort on the Tatai River in Koh Kong. I really can't say enough good things about it.

The rooms are actually tents on a floating dock and I don't mean small camping tents these are huge African Safari type tents with a king size bed and enormous bathroom.

There are 12 tents and ours was the furthest west so the shower had a fantastic view of the sunset.  You can step out the front door of your tent and jump off the dock into the river. It was such a breath of fresh air (literally) from the dirt and noise of Sihanoukville. 

The food was also delicious.  Each dinner is a four course feast and they designed a special vegetarian menu for me!  During  the day on Tuesday we  went to the Tatai waterfall and swam, jumped off the rocks and laughed at a monkey.  Wednesday we just relaxed in the sun and swam. I got a traditional Khmer massage which was interesting. Mostly we just read and relaxed.   It was a great experience and I would recommend checking it out if you are in Cambodia. 

Wednesday evening we took a boat ride to see the fireflies.  I expected fireflies flying around lazily like they do in the US but here they hang out in the tree together and blink in unison. It's like Christmas lights!  It was such a fantastic thing to see!  On the way back the sky was so clear we saw a few shooting stars.  Once we got back we had dinner and my main course was stir fried vegetables with Kampot peppercorns which were so delicious.  I'm definitely going to have to get some in Kampot.  

P.S.  I started this yesterday and of course forgot to upload it so I'll keep going and talk about what we did today. 

We knew we wanted to go to Bokor Hill Station.  So we asked our hotel about a tour group and they said they could put us together with one that would be $25 each. We decided to walk around town and see if we could get a cheaper deal.  After looking around and seeing nothing we decided to go for it.   But, this time the bartender at our hotel told Brandon we could rent a scooter for $5 for 24 hours and go ourselves and do whatever we wanted on our own time.  

I was nervous about this idea.  We had rented a scooter in Cozumel and had fun but there was a lot less traffic there and going around the beach is different than going up and down a mountain.  Brandon felt confident about it so I decided to embrace adventure and try it. Later that evening we talked to a couple at a different guesthouse we stopped at for dinner and she said it was fun and they had no issues so that made me feel better.  

Well they dropped off our scooter this morning and off we went!  Brandon drove the whole time and it was pretty great.  The drive is up a mountain through Bokor National Park and was just beautiful.  

At the top is an abandoned hill station that was built by the French in the 20s then taken over by the Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge during the civil war.  Now it's just abandoned and super creepy looking.  The main building which is a palace and casino is the most interesting. Unfortunately the blog publishing app won't let me post pictures right now so I'll have to fill you in when I'm back. It's mostly concrete but there is still some original tile. You can still see bullet holes in the walls from the shootouts between the Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge.  Tomorrow we will keep the scooter I think and check out some salt fields and caves near Kep. 

Island trip and GOODBYE Sihanoukville

We leave around noon today for Koh Kong. It's a district in the southwestern part of Cambodia in the Cardamom mountains. I'm told that wifi and cell service is spotty at best there so you might not hear from us for a few days!  We are staying at a floating lodge on a river and I think it will redeem our Sihanoukville experience. 

Our boat trip yesterday was great.  We had booked tickets on "The Party Boat" so we were a little nervous that the crowd would not be our style but it turns out the party boat doesn't really have much partying on it which was fine with us.  

The boat left around 930 and went to a small island where you could jump out and snorkel.  The water was rough and there wasn't much to see so that was a bummer but jumping off the top of a three story boat was fun.  Brandon has pics so I'll post them later when we have better wifi.  It's so slow here that even emailing pictures to each other takes an hour.  

The boat went to the island of Koh Rong Samloem  next which was beautiful.  Pretty much a post card picture of paradise.  When I was researching Sihanoukville I had read you could rent beach bungalows there but I thought we would like the city life of Sihanoukville more.  Well I was wrong!  We met a nice couple on the boat that were staying in the bungalows for 3 nights and we were very jealous. 

We got to swim around and lay on the beach for a few hours then it was back to Sihanoukville.  

I'll end on a high note. Below is a picture of Koh Rong Samloem.  

Sihanoukville :-(

We've been in Sihanoukville for about 24 hours and I wish we were leaving earlier!  It started off badly when our shuttle driver from the airport refused to drive us all the way to our hotel.  At the airport we didn't realize you had to exit the airport parking lot to find Tuk Tuk drivers so we paid to ride a shuttle that dropped off 4 other couples. He kicked us out about 2 blocks from our hotel and started taking out our bags despite our protests and there wasn't really much we could do. 

So there was that then we checked into our hotel and tried to use the wifi and it wasn't working. Someone came to our room to try to fix it but that didn't get anywhere. Apparently we were the ONE ROOM in the whole hotel where the wifi was sketchy.  We asked for a different room and apparently they were fully booked. We tried to ask for a refund (we paid at check in) and that wasn't getting us anywhere.  We became a bit more firm in our desire for a refund and then mysteriously they found another room where the wifi worked. 

After that it was about 5-6pm and the sun was setting. We went down to the beach where there's a boardwalk and there are restaurants that have chairs on the beach. We ordered pizza and beer.  The beer came quickly then after about and hour the pizza finally arrived and it was basically inedible. 

I liked the atmosphere of the beach at night. There were people selling fireworks so every now and then someone would set off fireworks. With the loud music and ample beer it seemed like a chill party atmosphere. 

Next we went to an Indian place we read about in the guidebook. Again we waited at least an hour and 15 minutes for our food. When it came it tasted good but we were super tired by then so we ate and went back to the hotel. 

In the morning we walked around for a bit trying to find a place for breakfast and I guess it had rained overnight.  The beach and the streets were FILTHY and smelled like sewage. I'm trying to think of a way to say this without sounding snotty but it was just gross. Siem Reap was a bit dirty but this is next level.  

We eventually settled on a place by our hotel where it took about 20 minutes to get a cup of coffee. Of course we just have different cultural expectations but it's just hard to get used to going to a place and having to order an hour before you want to eat.  For lunch we went to a new vegan restaurant here and had the same experience though the food was significantly better.  

I don't know I guess we are just really surprised by how different things are here. In Siem Reap the service was quick and food was delicious. Here it's the complete opposite.  I was looking forward to a chill beach weekend but the weather has been bad and the food is bad and takes a long time. Maybe I'm just whining.  

Another spoiler has been that many places we've been there have been old white dudes with very young attractive Cambodian women who I can only assume are prostitutes.  Assuming what I think is going on in these relationships is actually going on it's just sad to be confronted with it everywhere.  

One fun thing has happened though. We took a scooter back from the vegan restaurant and got caught in a downpour. We waited it out under an awning and then our driver took us the rest of the way in a light rain. That was pretty exciting and fun. 

Tomorrow we booked a boat cruise to some islands in the bay and hopefully the weather will be good for snorkeling. We leave Monday morning for an eco lodge in Koh Kong which I'm really looking forward to. 

Long story short, I'm not sure I can recommend Sihanoukville to you! 

Goodbye Siem Reap! Hello Sihanoukville!

Today is our last day in Siem Reap. We will be flying down to the coast to a beach town called Sihanoukville.  Cambodia Angkor Air only recently started flying there from Siem Reap within the last few years so people predict it is about to become a go to destination.  The flight is only about an hour but CAA still has some customer service issues to work on. With lots of stories about cancelled flights and ticket changes without informing passengers we asked our hotel to try calling them to confirm our tickets and it took a few calls but finally someone answered and confirmed our tickets. 

Yesterday was our last day at the temples. We went to the Roluos group (Lolei, Preah Ko, Bakong) which were interesting because they are some of the earliest Angkor temples (late 9th century).

For the last temple we stopped at a temple with a pagoda on the grounds about 2km from town called Wat Athvea that was totally deserted. Given how many people are usually around it was very peaceful.  One unique thing we saw there was a string that ran from the pagoda around the some mausoleums (is that the correct word?) then through the temple and ended being tied to a Buddha statue in the center of the temple. Maybe it was some kind of spiritual transmission line?  You can see the string in the picture below. 

Anyway we've kind of run out of stuff to do in the evenings here so I'm ready to move on. There are some other outlying temples I would have liked to see so maybe I would come back in a few years. There is definitely lots of development so I predict lots of change by then!

I leave you with a picture of my Angkor pass. 

The first few days

We've been in Siem Reap for three nights. We arrived around 11pm Sunday after 26 hours of travel so of course didn't do anything the first night. 

Since then we've been visiting the temples from about 9-5 each day then taking a nap. We're still waking up around 6am each morning and being out in the humidity here all day is exhausting!

I was pretty worried about the flight since I think the longest flight I've been on was 6-8 hours.  We left Dulles around noon for a 14 hour flight to Seoul. I can never sleep on planes so I had no idea what I was going to do for that long!  We played Tetris, ate two meals, watched movies and played more games. I got a little reading done and tried to walk around a bit. I was mostly surprised by the amount of food they give out!  Who wants to eat that much while you're sitting around for 14 hours?

The most notable thing about the flight was our very nice seat mate named Sun who beat Brandon at Tetris when I couldn't after many games. He would like me to mention that it was at the tail end of our 14 hour flight so he was probably a bit tired. 

Anyway, it really wasn't that bad and after landing in Seoul I wasn't too tired. Brandon wanted to eat so at a fast food place I ordered what was described in English as "sesame noodles with black bean sauce" thinking it wouldn't have meat in it but upon picking it up it had octopus and muscles in it!  Apparently if I ever decide to go to Korea vegetarian food might be a problem. 

Our second flight was 6 hours from Seoul to Siem Reap and I was much less comfortable. Unfortunately I was in a middle seat and definitely couldn't sleep and my meal was some kind of unidentifiable loaf. I started to listen to Serial though (a new true crime podcast) and that helped time pass quickly. 

I had prearranged for our hotel to send a car to pick us up from the airport and that was wonderful. I highly recommend doing that after a long day of traveling. We checked in and fell asleep immediately. 

The next day after breakfast our hotel set us up with a Tuk Tuk driver to take us to Angkor. A Tuk Tuk is like a scooter towing a pedi cab type thing with a roof that can hold 4 people. They don't go fast at all but it's a great way to get around and also see the city at the same time. 

We thought we would just buy our passes and see one or two temples but it ended up being a full day affair which was great so now we have time to see smaller temples or out of the way places at the end of the week. Our driver pretty much decided the itinerary for us so that was really easy. He doesn't act as a guide though but just drives us around.  

On day one we saw:

South gate of Angkor Thom

Bayon 

Baphuon 

Phimeanakas 

Terrace of the Leper King

Terrace of the Elephants

Ta Prohm

Angkor Wat

Day Two

Preak Kahn

Neak Pean

Ta Som

East Mebon

Banteay Kdei

Prasat Kravan

Day Three

Banteay Srei

Land mine Museum

Banteay Samre

Pre Rup

All the pictures are on my camera so I'll update this or maybe make a new post when I'm home. Tomorrow we have one more day of temples then Friday we head down to the beach and Sihanoukville. 

Surprises so far:

- Vegetarian  food is really easy to find. Even restaurants in remote areas will have noodles or fried rice. The food is similar to (American) Chinese or Thai food. 

- A bathroom with both soap and toilet paper is a luxury

- Most people speak some English so getting around has been easy

- The roads and traffic are insane. Most people are on scooters or bikes and there are almost no stop lights so intersections basically work like everyone going at once and if you're about to run into someone you slow down. No one ever gets mad or yells. 

- The neighborhood our hotel is in (Pub Street/Old Market) is mostly a tourist party area. There are lots of tourist bars and it can get pretty wild. I haven't seen too many Americans. There mostly seems to be Asians and Europeans here. 

Since it's not really fair to post this and not show any pictures here is a huge spider I saw in the bathrooms at one of the temples.  

Cambodia - Planning Post

In December we will be heading to Cambodia for 17 nights.  I've been planning this trip and talking about it to friends for close to a year!   I read about the Angkor Wat temple complex a long time ago and added it to my bucket list.  So, once we got back from Ireland and Berlin (trips pre-this blog) in Fall 2013 I started planning.  Initially, I thought we would go in Summer 2014 but I soon learned it rains almost every day there during the rainy season so we decided to go during the dry, warm season which is Winter here in DC.

As of now we have a tentative itinerary and have all of our hotels booked.   Most of our reservations are flexible until November so that gives us some more freedom to change things once we get closer to leaving but I imagine they won't change too much- maybe a day here and there.

I think I will use this post to talk about what resources I used to plan this trip.  Since we've had so long to plan this trip it really hasn't been a huge undertaking.  Maybe 10-20 minutes here and there I would do some reading and find another fun thing to do or a nice hotel.  All of these resources can be consumed in small time increments (and all are applicable to any destination) so hopefully planning a trip is something fun rather than a burden.

IntrepidTravel.Com
Once we decided to go to Cambodia I initially planned on using a tour operator.  Intrepid had good reviews for a 12-day trip that went through Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.  It seemed like a great price and went to Angkor Wat.  I was intimidated about traveling through Southeast Asia (SEA) without a guide and this seemed like a great solution to that.

Once you have a destination in mind I think it's a great idea to explore major tour operators' itineraries for that area.  This will give you an overview of what the must-see things are for each city/country.  I also like that Intrepid lists activities for each city in the Trip Notes section for each trip.  I should mention I've never actually been on a trip with Intrepid but I think their site has tons of great trip itineraries and info about many destinations.

Lonely Planet Travel Forum
I went to LonelyPlanet.com to read about traveling through SEA and what we should expect.  I stumbled upon their Thorn Tree Forum for SEA and started reading through the posts.  It seemed easy to get around SEA on your own.  There are buses and private taxis and flights between all major cities.  Thailand and Vietnam have trains as well.  Unfortunately though, travel is much slower in Cambodia.


Lonely Planet Books
I ordered the Lonely Planet books on Cambodia and Southeast Asia on a Shoestring.  After browsing through them and learning how easy it is to get around SEA on your own I talked to Brandon and we decided to forgo a tour operator and plan the trip ourselves!  The Angkor Wat temple complex is still the primary reason I want to go to Cambodia and most tours only spend 1-2 days there.  Not using a tour allows us to go at our own pace and choose our own modes of transportation and hotels.

After reading about all the different things to do and see in Cambodia in the Lonely Planet book we decided to focus our trip only on Cambodia.  Covering 3 countries in 2-3 weeks seemed like it would just give us a glimpse of each country rather than an in-depth experience. Even spending 18 days in Cambodia we won't even be able to make it to the eastern part of the country!  This is the first major trip (major meaning over 10 days) I've planned so I'm interested to see if we think it will be too fast paced or too slow.

Trip Advisor Travel Forum
Trip Advisor has a great travel forum for Cambodia as well.  It's not as user friendly as Lonely Planet's but it is more active and you can filter posts by specific cities.

Flights
As I'm sure you know there are countless websites to find cheap flights.  I set up alerts for flights from DC to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap on a few and waited.  While reading travel forums someone suggested flying into Siem Reap and out of Phnom Penh so that you can avoid backtracking to Siem Reap just for your flight home.  Getting from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap (the two cities with international airports in Cambodia) is only 200 miles but can take 10+ hours due to the bad roads.  I decided we would fly into Siem Reap and spend the most time at the Angkor temple complex at the beginning of our trip and then end at Phnom Penh.  Here is another instance where reading travel forums helped a lot since I probably would have booked flights in/out of Siem Reap without realizing the long time it takes to get between the two cities.

Rome2Rio.com
Another website that helped to plan our route was Rome2Rio.com.  This website works for pretty much any country and will tell you how to get between two places.  Other than busses there really isn't any transportation infrastructure in Cambodia so we will mostly be using private taxis.  This website helped give us an idea of the driving distance between each place.

Final Itinerary
So, after making a list of cities/sights I wanted to see and the easiest way to get around here is our final itinerary.  We will be spending 3 nights at each place so hopefully it won't feel too rushed.  In Siem Reap we will be spending 5 nights to maximize the time at Angkor and possibly take some day trips.

1.  Siem Reap
2.  Sihanoukville (flight from Siem Reap)
3.  Koh Kong
4.  Kampot
5.  Phnom Penh

Great Sand Dunes National Park

On July 3rd I flew out obscenely early (6am!) to Denver Colorado.  Having TSA Precheck for that early flight was worth the application fee alone.

My friend Bri met me at the airport and after some minor errands around town we started the drive down to Great Sand Dunes National Park.  It's about four hours south of Denver off of I-25.  The drive was mostly uneventful until we were about 30 minutes away from the park entrance.  The sky became very dark and thunder and lightening started then it promptly started HAILING!  Does this sound familiar?  It should, because that's exactly what happened when we were driving to the Grand Canyon in April!

We paid at the park entrance and found our campsite.  We had to wait in the car for a little while for the rain to clear up but it didn't take too long.  Bri and I planned this trip a long time ago so we had reserved a spot in Loop 2 of the Pinon Flats campground online.  If I understand correctly, Loop 1 spots are first come first serve but have much better views overlooking the dunes.  Our campsite had a bear box (that I couldn't figure out how to open!), a picnic table and a fire pit.  Firewood is for sale at the store near the campsite from 1-7pm only.

 

We didn't get everything set up until 5-6pm so that evening we went for a short walk around the dunes.  I was already getting eaten alive by bugs (mental note: bring bug spray everywhere!).  The setting sun cast some really beautiful shadows on the dunes.

Dinner was veggie burgers on a fancy camp stove Bri borrowed.  The evenings are very lively with lots of families and dogs in neighboring campsites but the stars are plentiful and it quiets down around 10pm.

Our site was conveniently across from the bathrooms where there is no soap, no paper towels and no showers!  I was very surprised to hear that there weren't any showers at the camp site because somehow NPS manages to get showers at the bottom of the Grand Canyon but apparently not in many other national parks.

We were awoken around 6am by some other camper snoring impressively loudly.  Bri made some delicious eggs on the stove, we packed sunscreen and water and set out for the hike! 

To get to the dunes you have to cross Medano Creek (also pictured above at night).  You can see in the morning (around 830am) it has a lot more water in it- though I think calling it a creek is generous.  Apparently it is formed by snow melt that mostly dries up later on in the day.

I kept seeing these tracks in the sand.  I never figured out what made them?  They sort of look like snake tracks but we never saw any snakes.

Another thing I found interested was the way the sand creates a mini sand "waterfall" when you're walking along the ridge of a dune.  The sand slides down the other side and creates this beautiful texture.  I'm sure there's some physics explanation as to why they're all the same length!

We had decided to try to get to the top of the tallest dune- Star Dune which is 755 feet high and located west of where the Dunes Trail from the campground hits the dunes.  So we scrambled up some smaller dunes, rested a lot and eventually made it to the ridge where we could see Star Dune.  I was questioning the value of climbing up 755 feet of sand (it's very very very hard) but decided to just go for it.

Of course the view from the top is well worth it!

Here we are at the top!

Overall I was surprised that it wasn't too hot.  It's very windy there (of course that's how sand dunes are made!) but the sand wasn't being blown around too badly.  I was also surprised by how challenging it is the hike up sand.  I'd also recommend wearing hiking boots with ankle support.  I didn't get too much sand in my boots but Bri had to stop and empty her shoes a couple of times.

If you go, bring snacks and take lots of breaks!  Overall it took us about 2-2.5 hours to get to the top and back to the campsite.

After the hike we were exhausted.  It also got very hot in the middle of the day.  We brought sleds but never went back to the dunes to try them out.  It was hot in the shade of our campsite so I don't think either of us wanted to brave the sun bouncing off the dunes.  We relaxed and read for the rest of the day.  Another storm threatened to get vicious that evening but it was nothing more than bad clouds and thunder.

 

That evening we built an impressive fire thanks to the wild wind (see the picture below!) and then packed everything up and headed out early in the morning.

The trip up Bright Angel Trail

After spending two nights at Phantom Ranch we ate breakfast at the ungodly hour of 5am, packed and headed out. Similar to the hike down, I thought the area of the trail around the Colorado was the most beautiful. 

We crossed the Silver bridge and hiked along the river for awhile. The sun was coming up and it accentuated the blue-green of the river and the white sand of the beach and I thought about how so few people get to see that sight- it was really beautiful!

You hear so many horror stories about the hike up Bright Angel- some say it takes 2-3 times as long as the hike down- which would put us at a miserable 12 hours!  But I think we got really lucky with the weather- it was really cool and much of the trail is shaded- so we finished in 7 hours (which is great because we had planned for 10 hours).   We took a 30ish minute break at Indian Gardens but other than that we didn't stop for long breaks too often. 

Before Indian Gardens the trail is mostly flat. You go through a nice shaded plateau along the river and creek beds but then after Indian Gardens it's almost all uphill and it's mostly switchbacks so the scenery doesn't change.  The hike wasn't as physically challenging as I expected but I could have done with an occasional change of scenery- not that the scenery that was there wasn't breathtaking!  But what made Kaibab so interesting to me was that it was totally different with every turn.  After Indian Gardens, Bright Angel was pretty much the same vista just smaller and smaller with each mile up. 

I was worried about my sunburn on the way so I tried to wear my fleece as long as possible but that only lasted an hour or so.  I kept slathering on sunscreen and luckily it didn't get any worse but I have a pretty great farmers tan. 

A few advantages of Bright Angel over Kaibab are that it has water and more bathroom stops- two necessities during hiking!  Once you get closer to the top there are significantly more tourists just taking a quick hike. I'll never understand how someone can hike in jeans, a leather jacket and converse!

Pro tips for the hike up:

- wear a long sleeve shirt! You will burn much easily on the way up and/or down. Next time I'll bring a long sleeve wicking/breathable shirt. 

- EAT. Even if you're not hungry- I started crashing towards the end and I'm sure it's because I didn't eat enough. Bring nuts or raisins or something that's easy to eat with one hand while also carrying trekking poles. 

- listen to music. I think this helped me immensely. It's easy to get very discouraged after you've been going up endlessly for hours and you still can't see the top. Music is a great motivator. 

- don't bring the sack lunch from Phantom Ranch. It's really heavy and you probably won't eat most of it. In fact, one day's lunch was enough for two days for me. 

- stay two nights at Phantom Ranch if you can. There are some great day hikes around the area or if you want to relax and do nothing it's great for that too!  Most of the people we talked to were only there for a night which surprised me. 

The Trip Down (South Kaibab Trail)

We woke up around 530am for the 630 breakfast at the Bright Angel Lodge. I had huevos rancheros which was 2 corn tortillas smothered in scrambled eggs, refried beans, chilis and  hash browns.  It was delicious. 

We left our bags in the bag check closet, went back to our rim view cabins and grabbed our packs (by rim view they mean view of the trees and gift shop around the sidewalk near the rim).

I should also mention that it was about 30 degrees and SNOWING this morning. We walked to the bus stop to get the hikers bus to the trail head and it was FREEZING.  We were a good 20 minutes early for the bus and no one wanted to sit on the benches because they were covered in snow. Luckily I had been able to buy gloves at one of the many gift shops around the rim but it was still cold and I was really nervous that I would be cold during the entire hike down 

Well, luckily it warmed up quickly and as I'm writing this at the bottom of the Grand Canyon at Phantom Ranch it's probably 75ish degrees and I'm wearing a fleece because, despite my goal, I got a TERRIBLE sun burn on the way down. I have witnesses to attest to the fact that I applied sunscreen frequently but who knows what happened?

Anyways we got to the trail head around 830ish and there were some elk just hanging out which I will post great pictures of when I'm home. We used the bathroom and then got started.

Overall the walk down was easy. We got to Phantom Ranch around 230 so it took us 6 hours but we stopped frequently to take pictures and just enjoy the scenery. I really think the Grand Canyon is completely breathtaking. The panoramic vista shots from the top that you're accustomed to don't really do it justice. We learned from one of the Rangers that only 40,000 people hike down to Phantom Ranch a year (compared to the 4 million that visit the south rim) and I think the most beautiful part of the Canyon was near the bridge over the Colorado River about 40 minutes from the Ranch. 

Pro tips for the hike down:

- Do it if you can. Phantom Ranch opens up for reservations a year in advance. 

- Take your time! Bring lots of sunscreen, a camera and snacks.  There are 2 bathroom stops on the way down on the Kaibab trail. 

- There is no water on the Kaibab so a pack with a 3 litre bladder would be the wisest choice. You can't buy bottled water in the Grand Canyon. 

- Try to get to Phantom before 4pm. The canteen is closed from 4-8pm for dinner and a beer or wine after that hike feels awesome. 

Arrival

We are at the Grand Canyon. It's about 50 degrees colder here than in DC and drinks are about $4 cheaper. Going to buy hat and gloves for the hike- I really had no idea it would be this cold. 

A beautiful hike.... then snow.

As I write this we are driving to the Grand Canyon and it is snowing/sleeting. Let's not talk about that.  Below is a picture from the car before it started sleeting when there was a touch of blue sky. 

Yesterday we had a delicious breakfast of cinnamon rolls and quiche at our B+B then went for a 7 mile hike around the Red Rocks. It was warm and very sunny (but not too hot) and believe it or not I didn't get a sunburn! Overall a very enjoyable experience with the exception of THE SNAKE WE RAN INTO. Brandon named him Big Butt but I'm not even sure snakes have butts? I got a great pic of him/her which I will share with you once we get home. 

See below for a panorama shot of Red Rocks. 

For dinner we drove north of Sedona and went to Garland's Lodge. The food wasn't amazing but the scenery and company were delightful. 

This morning after breakfast we packed and set out north and promptly ran into a snowstorm which hopefully will be replaced with sun and 80 degree weather
by the time we reach the canyon. We made a pit stop at the delightful Flagstaff airport to use the bathroom. 

Just got passed by a motorcycle gang. I'm sure they had a much more idyllic picture in mind when they planned their Grand Canyon motorcycle ride than this sleet!

Also, also just saw some pronghorn antelope on the side of the road!  Guess that makes up for seeing the snake- about breaking even on my wildlife goals. 

Arrival, go north to (almost) Sedona

We are in (almost) Sedona in a small town called Oak Creek. Our flight was uneventful but long. It's crazy we got to Dublin last year in 6 hours but BWI to Phoenix is almost as long. 

We headed north on I-17 and stumbled upon a fairly good Indian restaurant (Tandori Nights 3- suggesting 2 prior successful locations perhaps?) then went to Montezuma's Castle and afterwards Montezuma Well. The real Montezuma never was at either location as far as I know!  

Would love to post pics but unfortunately I can't figure out how to sync my camera with my phone. My test run at home worked perfectly but now that we are in the field things aren't going so smoothly. I'll bet that you will like the Well more than the Castle!

Had a few wildlife sightings. Some unidentified small mammal was swimming in the well with a few ducks. There was a lizard winking at me at the Castle which I have photographic proof of!  Brandon thinks he saw an ostrich in the desert but I think it may have been a Sasquatch. 

We leave tomorrow!

We leave for the Grand Canyon tomorrow morning!  Here is our itinerary:

Fly into Phoenix
Spend 2 nights in Sedona
Spend 1 night at Bright Angel Lodge
Hike down to Phantom Ranch, spend 2 nights
Hike back up out of the canyon, spend 1 night at Bright Angel Lodge
Fly back out of Phoenix

Goals for this trip:
Minimal sunburn
See some sort of wildlife (ideally a coyote or bobcat but a fox or elk would be okay)
NO SCORPIONS OR RATTLESNAKES
Feel the ~vibes~ at the Red Rocks