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Ryan & Heather

Siem Reap to Chiang Mai

April 2019

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On our last day in Cambodia we decided to get one last good look at Siem Reap…from above! Once again, we had a very early pick-up time in order to have a sunrise hot air balloon ride. While there are a few hot air balloon companies in the area, none are allowed to fly over Angkor Wat or the surrounding temples. Many of the companies only have tethered balloons, with a very limited max height and with short viewing times. We were lucky to find a company that doesn’t tether the balloons, and even flies over a couple of the smaller temples. As my first hot air balloon ride, I was very excited.📷Fire! 📷Balloon Trio 📷Sunrise 📷Bakong Temple One of the weirder, not as appealing aspects of our hot air balloon experience was tossing candy down to the children on the farms below. While this could be looked at as a weird version of Santa Claus, it may encourage children to beg instead of going to school. 📷ProofFollowing our fun jaunt through the air via balloon, it was soon time to say goodbye to Cambodia and hop on a plane. Next stop, Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. In order to get to our next destination we had a layover in Bangkok. This layover, while only one, was a bit chaotic. Due to the many magic tricks that Forrest played to purchase the tickets at a low price, our experiences differed greatly. In Thailand, when transferring from international to domestic, there is a separate immigration area available only to those who purchase a through ticket with paper copy in hand. So for the guys who purchased two tickets (REP-DMK, DMK-CNX) instead of my ticket (REP-DMK-CNX), they had to go through the regular (and much longer) immigration line. So while the boys had to stress in long lines and almost missed the check-in deadline time, I patiently waited at the gate.Safely in Chiang Mai, we learned the error of traveling on a whim. Due to the lack of planning and research, we all failed to realize that this is THE worst time of year to visit Northern Thailand. While Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand, the surrounding area is dominated by farm land and forests. In order to prepare the fields for the next crop season, the farmers burn pretty much everything. Combine that with controlled burns in the forests, and general city pollution, the air-quality is awful.📷Towel Elephant! Hoping that the air would improve by the next day, we briefly explored the night market, and then returned to the hotel in time for happy hour. We ordered a couple of amazing drinks at the hotel bar (buy 1 get 1 free) and sipped them while we watched the hotel staff prepare for earth hour.For context, earth hour was a 1 hour long event coordinated across multiple hotel chains that shuts off power to the lighting in the lobby. Instead, there were hundreds of lit tea candles illuminating the lobby and bar. After earth hour we returned to our room and promptly passed out, exhausted from the long day of traveling.📷📷Night Market

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