Cambodia

I recently took a trip to Cambodia , a place that has been on my bucket list for over five years. It entirely exceeded my expectations due to the wonderful people there and I think it came at just the right point in my travel timeline. Cambodia is a special place with so much history, and tragedy in its not so distant past. Despite the heaviness, Cambodians have banned together and chosen a path of peace instead of vengeance, something that is so admirable and rare in the current climate of the world. I learned a lot on this trip, and gained a new perspective on life. I hope it sticks with me for quite some time.

I’ll break down my schedule for you below.


November 30-December 2 -

Travel Days. Kansas City, to Dallas, to Los Angeles, to Hong Kong, to Phnom Penh, to Siem Reap.

Thank goodness I bought a SIM card for my phone in Phnom Penh because my pre-arranged taxi didn’t pick me up at the Siem Reap airport, so I used the Cambodian equivalent of Uber - Grab - to get a taxi to my hotel. I also met some really lovely girls who invited me to a cocktail making class with them for one of their birthdays. We also roamed through the night markets and found a bite to eat.



December 3 -

Today was full of temples and delicious food.

  • Angkor Wat

  • Pre Rup

  • Ta Prom

  • Bayon




December 4 -

  • Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity

  • Hike through the jungle, and carvings into waterfalls

  • Banteay Srei

  • Phare Cambodian Circus

  • Night Markets





December 5 -

  • Tuk tuk to the Floating Villages of Tonle Sap

  • Fly to Sihanoukville






December 6 -

  • Ferry to Koh Rong

  • Beach for the afternoon

December 7 -

  • Boat tour of Koh Rong

  • Dinner with new friends at an amazing Italian Restaurant

December 8 -

  • Ferry to Sihanoukville, then fly to Phnom Penh

  • Meet Globekick Crew

December 9 -

  • Royal Palace

  • National Museum

  • Central Market

  • Dinner cruise on the Mekong

December 10 -

  • Killing Fields

  • S21 Prison

  • Drive to Sen Monorom in Mondulkiri

December 11 -

  • Elephant Valley Project - Seriously such an amazing organization. Not only do they help working elephants retire to live out the rest of their life as naturally as possible, but they provide jobs and healthcare for people in the village, and provide education for some in the village. This place is a little piece of heaven on earth. If you can - visit their camps, (there is one in Thailand too!) or just donate any little bit you can spare. It is put to such good use. I cannot advocate more for this place. #letthemroamfree

  • See elephants bathe in the morning and afternoon

December 12 -

  • Volunteer in the morning to build a bridge

  • Elephant baths

December 13 -

  • Volunteer in the AM - almost finished the bridge!

  • Final Elephant hang time - more baths!

December 14 -

  • Drive from Sen Monorom to Phnom Penh - 6 hours.

  • Visit the Russian Markets

  • Farewell dinner with Globekick

December 15 to 16-

  • Fly back to the states: Phnom Penh to Hong Kong, to Los Angeles, to Chicago to Kansas City.

  • Let the jet lag commence.

PANAMA

I recently traveled to Panama with a group called Globekick. It was a wonderful experience and I met some really awesome people and did some things I never even thought possible, like living on a private island for 3 days. It was an amazing experience I will never forget!

My friend LeighAnna, (who I met in Australia) and I flew into Panama City a few days early to just relax a bit. We stayed at an all inclusive resort, which I had never done before.  We stayed at Playa Bonita Dreams. I would recommend staying there for a few days, but I would have gone stir-crazy if we had been there for a week or more. After that we met up with our Globekick group, spent a few nights in Casco Viejo, and then headed to the San Blas Islands. Below is a breakdown of my day by day sights with some visuals.

I didn't take as many photos as I would have liked to due to the salt, sand and sea and being afraid it would damage my camera and phone. I did buy a fake go pro, and it wasn't the quality I was expecting.

August 17 and 18 - Playa Bonita

  • All inclusive resort
  • Pool time and lots of food

August 19 - Casco Viejo

  • Met up with our tour group at Magnolia Inn
  • Wandered around Casco Viejo
  • Tour of Casco Viejo
  • Group Dinner

August 20 -

  • Rainforest Hike
  • Panama Canal
  • Authentic Panamanian Dinner

Here is a very poor time lapse I took of a lock draining, and a boat going through the Panama Canal. I obviously don't have a steady hand and would have done better with a  little tripod, or mount.

August 21 - To the San Blas

  • 4x4s through the jungle for 2 hours to the Guna Port
  • 1 hour boat ride to Tortuga Island
  • 30 min boat ride to Cocoabandera - home for the next couple days
  • Lobster dinner

August 22 -

  • Visited the local Guna village where we learned a lot about their culture**
  • Pelican Island with a lot of starfish
  • Obstacle course on beach

**I bought a fake go pro and used it to take photos while we visited the local village. I'm not happy with the image quality or the fish eye lense on my faux pro, but it is what it is.

August 23 - Last Island day

  • Goodbye to Island
  • Visited more popular island Perro Chico where you can snorkel a ship wreck
  • Hostel in Marbella

August 24 -

  • Mola shopping
  • Mask shopping
  • Back to room early to get ready for dinner and drinks in Casco Viejo

August 25 -

  • Hang around hostel until airport shuttle

 

This whole experience was different that I expected but it was a wonderful experience none the less. I met a lot of great people, and can't wait for my next Globekick adventure!

Morocco

I recently got back from an 18 day tour of Morocco and all I can say is it was so much better than I thought it would be.  It's a beautifully diverse country with nothing but lovely people inside of its borders. 

If you're interested in purchasing prints, shoot me an email! (rachelfromiowa@gmail.com)

Thank you, and Enjoy!

Casablanca

  • Hassan Mosque II - Tallest minaret in the world. One of the only Mosques that non-Muslims can visit.
  • Cathedral with stained glass

Rabat

  • City Center
  • Kasbah - fortified city
  • Medina - Walled city with market
  • Hassan II Tower
  • Mausoleum of Mohammed V

Moulay Idriss and Voulibilis

  • Holy City only open to the public since 2005
  • Teal is a holy color, as well as the green tiled roofs
  • Voulibilis is an ancient Roman city right outside of Moulay Idriss that we visited on our way to Mekenes. It is supposedly the capital of the ancient kingdom of Mauritania, and a world heritage site.

Meknes

  • Grain storage
  • Medina tour
  • Mint Tea and Camel Burger

Fes

  • Palace gates
  • Guided tour of Fes including the medina, oldest university in the world, tannery, and Medersa Bou Inanina.

Chefchauen

  • Guided Tour of Chefchauen
  • Early morning walk through the city when no one is out and its quiet.
  • Hike into the mountains that the city is named after where we met this lovely woman who welcomed our hiking group into her home for tea, olives and bread. We talked to her through our tour guide.  She was so sweet and she warmed my heart so much.

Tangier

  • Saw Spain over the Straight of Gibraltar
  • Hercules Caves
  • Saw where Mediterranean sea and Atlantic Ocean meet
  • Walked by the beach

Marrakesh - Round 1

  • Roam the Medina
  • Saadian Tombs

Armoud

  • Hike to Gite
  • Hike into the Atlas Mountains to visit the shrine of Sidi Chamharouch

Ait Ben Haddou

  • Drove through the highest pass in the Atlas Mountains to get to Ait Ben Haddou a UNESCO world heritage site. Also many movies have been filmed there.
  • Walk through the Kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou where we saw a man painting with natural ingredients including green tea, and indigo. He put the painting over a flame and it made the tea color get darker. I bought a few small ones to take home with me - including the one he made in front of our group!

Zagora

  • Drove through largest date palm grove in all of Morocco.
  • Drove by the studios they have in the desert for filming different movies
  • Walked through town and went through a pottery production
  • Rode Camels

Sahara Desert

  • Drove into the desert to our camp
  • Watched the sunset
  • Campfire
  • Nomad Camp

Taroudant

  • Argan trees with goats climbing them
  • Gorgeous flowering trees at our lovely little hotel.
  • Tour of Taroudant medina

Essaouria via Agadir

  • Picnic lunch on the beach in Agadir
  • Argan oil cooperative with cute baby camel on the way to Essaouria
  • Tour of Essaouria
  • Esssaouria citadel

Marrakesh

  • Marjorelle Gardens
  • Jemma el-Fnna square
  • Koutoubia Mosque
  • Walk back to hotel and fly back home

Warm Thoughts

It has been (and currently still is) insanely cold in Iowa. Colder than Antarctica, believe it or not. Since I can't leave the country at a moments notice to go somewhere substantially warmer near an ocean, I decided to randomly pick a folder of photos to go through. 

The folder of photos from August 2, 2014 happened to be from my FAVORITE walk in Sydney, Australia: the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk.  I hope these photos warm you up, as they did me.

Palm Springs, California

Back in early November, I went to Palm Springs for a bachelorette party. I flew out a little early, and stayed later than everyone else so I could get some more sightseeing in done!

Thursday, November 2

  • Tahquitz Canyon
  • Village Fest

Friday, November 3

  • Joshua Tree National Park
    • Hidden Valley
    • Keys View
    • Skull Rock
    • Cholla Cactus Garden

Saturday, November 4

  • Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Sunday, November 5

  • The Salton Sea
  • Bombay Beach
  • Salvation Mountain
  • Slab City

Monday, November 6

  • Mirage house in the desert palisades
  • Moorten Botanical Garden
  • Flew home (YES I have three out of the plane window photos. I like them all for different reasons: 1 - you can see the shadow of the plane. 2 - you can see the windmills. 3 - THE SKY.