1 Year of Travel Selfies: July & August

I’ve looped!

I booked a flight home for the end of August, meaning that my travel duration has been finalized at fourteen months, or 428 days. That’s a lot of selfies!

The finish line nears, but some of the best has been saved for last.

*Note: For full stories about many of the regions, hikes, and activities featured in these selfies, you can click this link to view the complete list of Asia Travel Entries.

**Final note: I decided it was too much scrolling to post that many selfies on a single page, so you can access other months at the links below:

July 1

Nha Trang: headed to Nha Trang on the coast for some street food

July 2

Nha Trang: a day in Nha Trang to relax and plan

July 3

Nha Trang: a final day in Nha Trang to read and write – sometimes you just gotta get a private room and take a break!

July 4

Ho Chi Minh City: traveled by day time in a sleeper bus to Ho Chi Minh City

July 5

Ho Chi Minh City: walking the streets of Bangkok requires a smoothie, also checked out the War Remnants museum, markets, parks, and other attractions

July 6

Cu Chi Tunnels: heading into the Viet Cong war tunnels – I didn’t make it very far!

July 7

Vientiane: hoped on a plan and flew to the capital of Laos

July 8

Vientiane: exploring Vientiane’s very limited attractions, though I loved the food night market

July 9

Vang Vieng: arrived in the mountain town of Vang Vieng and enjoyed the spicy food and views walking around town

July 10

Vang Vieng: embarked upon a horrible day of touring, but at least I got to hike the to the famous viewpoint (SE Asia made me really unself-conscious about sweat)

July 11

Luang Prabang: took the China-Laos Railway to Luang Prabang to explore town and visit Mount Phousi

July 12

Luang Prabang: another country, another cooking class

July 13

Luang Prabang: visited Living Land farm to learn all the steps for growing and harvesting rice

July 14

Luang Prabang: learned how to weave the Laotian way at Ock Pop Tok and left with a five foot table runner

July 15

Luang Prabang: teamed up with some hostel friends to visit Kuang Si Waterfall for hiking and swimming

July 16

Pakse: I am an imperfect human being, and so I forgot to take a selfie my first day in Pakse while I walked miles around the city and sheltered in a coffee shop while the rain came down for an hour. Here’s one from a tuk-tuk the next day

July 17

Bolaven Plateau: teamed up with two American girls to visit three waterfalls outside of Pakse, including this amazing one, Tad Fane

July 18

Pakse: traveled via tuk-tuk to Vat Phou, pre-Angkor Khmer ruins, and experienced my first really drenching SE Asian rain

July 19

Pakse: final day in Pakse for planning and rest and a bundle of food from the market (including fried sesame balls with lotus paste–yum!)

July 20

Siem Reap: arrived in Siem Reap and visited the National Angkor Museum in preparation for the next day

July 21

Angkor Archeological Park: visited Angkor Wat and four other beautiful Khmer sites in the Park

July 22

Siem Reap: took a cooking class to learn Khmer dishes like Fish Amok and Beef Lok Lak; later I visited APOPO to learn about bomb-sniffing rats

July 23

Angkor Archeological Park: returned to the park for a solo visit where I found beautiful temples and nearly melted into a puddle from the humidity, then sheltered under a tree during a thunderstorm

July 24

Siem Reap: explored the city of Siem Reap and read by the pool

July 25

Battambang: traveled to Cambodia’s third largest city where most of the streets are still dirt–I loved this city

July 26

Battambang: toured the countryside with a girl I’d met in Laos and several new friends: we rode the bamboo train, learned about the killing caves, and saw more Khmer ruins

July 27

Battambang: after cafe hopping, I stayed up until 11:30pm to catch a sleeper bus to Phnom Penh–even though that wasn’t my final destination

July 28

Phnom Penh transit: a 5am selfie from the tiny bus station in Phnom Penh where I transferred to a crowded mini van where local passengers managed to fit in 2 motor bikes, an oscillating fan, a chicken, and one too many passengers to get to Sihanoukville where I caught a ferry to Koh Rong Sanloem

July 29

Koh Rong Sanloem: enjoyed island time after the chaos of the day before: swimming, paddle-boarding, reading, and after dinner movies with new friends

July 30

Koh Rong Sanloem: more island time plus snorkeling (not very impressive) and a night time visit to see, and swim with, bioluminescent plankton (amazingly impressive!)

July 31

Koh Rong Sanloem: departed the island to return to Sihanoukville and transfer (via the worst road in Cambodia) to Kampot

August 1

Kampot: teamed up with a Dutch girl to visit a pepper plantation and Kep, a town known for it’s crab–yum! I bought a bundle of tiny fried crabs at the market, then we found a restaurant for my vegetarian friend–instead of ordering the expensive crab fried rice, I ordered veggies fried rice and sneakily added my own mini crabs from the market! It was delicious and cheap!

August 2

Kampot: biked through the Cambodian countryside with an ex-pat tour guide who showed me temples, schools, muslim villages, and more

August 3

Phnom Penh: arrived in Cambodia’s capital with time to explore the streets (before it got dark) and eat yummy local food

August 4

Phnom Penh: spent a somber day at the killing fields and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

August 5

Kuching: departed Cambodia and flew to Kuching, Sarawak on the island of Borneo with enough time to explore the river area and eat a yummy dinner

August 6

Kuching: a day spent exploring Kuching, including finding massive murals, walking the river, eating amazing Indian and Chinese food, and learning about the White Rajahs–a British family that ruled Sarawak peacefully for over 100 years

August 7

Bako National Park: Took a bus and a boat to Bako National Park to trek around the jungle looking for wild pigs, carnivorous plants, and proboscis monkeys

August 8

Sandakan: traveled to Sandakan, Borneo on an early flight and explored the non-touristy town, ate delicious tandoor chicken, then spent the night wondering if I was getting sick only to realize that I had food poisoning!

August 9

Kinabatangan River: didn’t eat a bite all day, but still got in the van to head to my three day river safari on the K River. I won’t let food poisoning stop me from adventure!

August 10

Kinabatagan River: Took multiple boat trips and a jungle walk and saw wild orangutans, wild pygmy elephants, and more!

August 11

Sepilok: Left the K river for Sepilok where I explored the Rainforest Discovery Center–a monkey tried to pee on me, I saw a green viper, and watched four wild orangutans swing by me through the trees!

August 12

Sepilok: Visited the Orangutan Sanctuary and Sun Bear Conservation Center

August 13

Sepilok: read by the pool, then traveled back to Sandakan and flew to Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the Sabah region of Borneo

August 14

Kota Kinabalu: explored KK and convinced another hostel guest to walk 1.5 hours to the floating mosque for sunset

August 15

Kota Kinabalu: took a boat to Tonku Abdul Rahman Park to snorkel, but my friend and I were misinformed: the tide was too low to snorkel over the coral, THEN we saw a box jellyfish (the most dangerous marine animal in the world) and promptly decided to spend the rest of the day reading on the beach

August 16

Kota Kinabalu: got a haircut (and a head massage) and went to the night market, chatted with locals, and joined everyone else in getting amazing food and sitting on the ground to eat

August 17

Georgetown: flew to mainland Malaysia and explored Georgetown–a lovely city (UNESCO World Heritage Site) known for it’s street art

August 18

Georgetown: saw more street art, ate amazing Indian food on the side of the road, and took a sunset walk

August 19

Georgetown: met some amazing women and explored Kek Lok Si Temple and the Blue Mansion while eating Chay Kay Teow and numerous sweets from the night market

August 20

Georgetown to Cameron Highlands: embraced the not so glamorous parts of backpacking and walked half an hour to the bus stop with my little backpack wrapped in plastic and my raincoat draped over my big backpack to shelter from the rain, only to wait over an hour for the bus to come!

August 21

Cameron Highlands: met a woman from Finland and we found a “closed” trail behind a construction site and hiked through the tea fields

August 22

Cameron Highlands: went to Boh Tea Plantation and the Mossy Forest (a 200 million year old forest) with Annika where out guide told us

August 23

Malacca: traveled to Malacca, Malaysia with Annika and went to the night market only to get caught in torrential rain (think wading through puddles up my ankle bones) and my umbrella broke…

August 24

Malacca: explored Malacca’s street art and food scene, and took a batik class

August 25

Kuala Lumpur: traveled to KL, ate yummy food in Chinatown, and drank smoothies on the hostel roof with our feet in the hottub

August 26

Kuala Lumpur: explored KL, including sneaking into a hotel rooftop bar where the minimum spend was 500USD to get a great photo of the Patronas towers

August 27

KL to Bangkok: caught an early flight to Bangkok, stashed my bags, and wandered around Bangkok eating yummy food before returning to Bangkok airport to begin my journey home…

August 28

Headed home after 14 months: left Bangkok at 2am on August 28, passed through Seoul airport, then LAX, and finally landed in Denver at 6pm on August 28, 29 hours later