Tuol Sleng Museum. During the Cambodian Genocide (1975−79), this former school was turned into the main prison in the Phnom Penh area. Several thou­sand people were kept here, inter­rog­ated, tor­tured, and even­tu­ally shipped off to the nearby killing fields at places like Choeung Ek (which we also visited). I’ll post more on this eventually.

Running boy, Phnom Penh.

Scooter family, Phnom Penh.

Cell Block (former classrooms), Tuol Sleng Prison Museum.

Chains remain. Cell Block (former classrooms), Tuol Sleng Prison Museum.

Cell Block (former classrooms), Tuol Sleng Prison Museum. The cells are simple brick con­struc­tion. Since pris­on­ers were kept con­tinu­ally shackled at the ankles, they didn’t have to worry about having the cell walls go all the way to the ceiling.

Cell Block (former classrooms), Tuol Sleng Prison Museum.

Some of the kids of the Friends International organ­iz­a­tion. They operate several NGO pro­jects in the country, focused on giving street kids a way out. Some of the more inter­est­ing pro­jects include running two res­taur­ants in Phnom Penh as teach­ing insti­tu­tions where these kids can learn cooking and service to become part of Cambodias growing tourism busi­ness. We ate at both res­taur­ants and had a won­der­ful time at each. The food was amazing, and the service was very, very sincere and friendly. The menus are quite unique too...

Take this inter­est­ing dish for example: Deep-fried tarantula with black pepper and lime. (yes, it is real)

Laura and her new spider friend.

Crunch! That look of woe is sincere, by the way.

Mmmmm. Tastes like chicken.

Longtail boatman, Ko Phi Phi Lei.

The fishies. Laura shot this one. We rented an under­wa­ter camera (just a lowly point and shoot unfor­tu­nately) during our dive train­ing and took turns trying to get some shots. It’s very dif­fi­cult, espe­cially for novice divers.

Laura passes her fins up to one of the boat crew (who snapped this after we passed the camera up). The rest of the photos are all mine, I swear!

Jess and Julian, a couple we met in dive school.

Laura doing the tra­di­tional Thai greet­ing, or “wei.”

Fire dancer! (on Ko Tao)

The overnight ferry ride between Ko Tao and the main­land. It was pretty cramped, but the rocking of the boat and the sleep­ing mat were far better than any overnight bus we’ve taken to date. I slept like a baby.

Sunset, Ko Phi Phi Lei. This is “the Beach,” of book and movie fame.

We slept under the stars on Phi Phi Lei, at least until the rain kicked in. One of the single best exper­i­ences for me of our entire journey was the night swim­ming here, after every­one else had gone to bed. To float, alone, in the lagoon while staring up at the bril­liant night sky... words cannot explain it.

The Phi Phi Lei crew. These were the folks who did the overnight trip with us. Most people visit the island by day only, since it is a national park. But one company has per­mis­sion to bring small groups over for the night. (damn, I spoke too soon. This was shot by one of the guides)

One of our Thai guides.

Laura takes the plunge, jumping bravely from the upper boat deck into the sea. The snor­kelling around Ko Phi Phi was unreal. Better in fact than the diving we did on Ko Tao.

One of the build­ings of the Wat Chedi Luang complex in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Wat Chedi Luang, the 600 year old temple that is sur­roun­ded by a large complex of small temples and build­ings in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

I found the ele­phants on the 600 year old Wat Chedi Luang, very inter­est­ing. Thai love and worship ele­phants and it isn’t hard to under­stand why. They are mag­ni­fi­cent creatures.

Some detail on the Wat Chedi Luang.

This reclin­ing Buddha is found in its own small temple next to the majestic Wat Chedi Luang.

A small temple this is also part of the Wat Chedi Luang complex.

Chris in front a huge tree growing in the Wat Chedi Luang complex. Apparently the scarves have been blessed by monks and tied around the tree.

The prayer hall at Wat Chedi Luang in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I just caught a school group passing. All stu­dents wear uni­forms in Thailand. I saw one school uniform that went so far that they even stand­ard­ized the backpacks.

Wat Phra Singh is just a short walk from Wat Chedi Luang.

A Buddha statue on the wall outside of Wat Phra Singh.

A dragon guards the entrance of Wat Phra Singh in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The inside of Wat Phra Singh in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Not knowing if I was allowed to take the Buddha’s photo, I quickly snapped one anyways. Eeeeekkk. Beautiful hey?

The famous Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Rai which is around three hours north of Chiang Mai. We took a small van from Chiang Mai to the Laos border and were for­tu­nate enough to stop at this wat for lunch. We could only imagine it in all its glory without the scaffolding.

One of the guard­i­ans of Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Greedy hands claw at you as you walk over “hell” on your way to the bridge that takes you into the Wat Rong Khun temple.

Skull con­struc­tion cones line the road next to the Wat Rong Khun. The wat is sur­roun­ded by symbols of human vices.

Gruesome heads hang from the trees sur­round­ing Wat Rong Khun.

Chris grabbed my camera and shoot this awesome lizard who was hanging out on a tree by the build­ing where we returned out har­nesses to the guides. (550D Canon photo)

Palms are not the most wel­com­ing and fuzzy plants growing in the Laos forest. Fortunately I only tried to grab onto a palm once to save my balance while my feet slipped around in the mud. (point shoot photo)

I was amazed at the pattern of this bark. Apparently it is a Vaticadyeri tree. (Point shoot photo)

Chris coming in for a landing. (Point shoot photo)

Some berries I saw growing here and there as we walked the rugged trails. (Point shoot photo)

The bigger of these mush­rooms was prob­ably only 2 cen­ti­meters in dia­meter. Both clung onto a decay­ing trunk stick­ing four feet into the air. (Point shoot photo)

Ahead you can make out Ben, our hiking buddy, turning the corner. Now look at the size of the bamboo! Unbelievable. I had no idea it grew to such sizes. (Point shoot photo)

We stumbled upon this 5-inch praying mantis sitting in the middle of our trail. As we tried to take his photo and a video he every so slowly leaned away from us, as if in discuss. I wish he was all in focus, but the point shoot just couldn’t do it. We did however get an excel­lent little video of him. Once we’re back home Chris and I plan on blog­ging the things we never told you about and making videos for your enjoyment.

The gang from Tree House #3, Chris, Laura, Ben and Ron. This was at the end of our adventure.

The hills and moun­tains folding over one another. This was just one beau­ti­ful view we exper­i­enced from our tree house. (550D Canon photo)

Chris couldn’t resist snap­ping a photo of me with they way the sun lit up my face. I was enjoy­ing a cup of tea in our tree house. (550D Canon photo)

Chris zip lining. (550D Canon photo)

Chris pre­par­ing to take the plunge. Look at the view! (550D Canon photo)

It’s a long way down. (550D Canon photo)

Chris having a “time out” for a little med­it­a­tion in tree house #5.

Chris enjoy­ing a cup of coffee and our view of the Laos rain forest. (550D Canon photo)

Tree House #3, our home during our Gibbon Experience.

There are hun­dreds of but­ter­flies in Laos and Thailand. The only time I have ever seen so many dif­fer­ent vari­et­ies of but­ter­flies is in the Calgary Zoo. Therefore, if you’re a but­ter­fly lover, you must visit the islands and forests of Thailand and the forests of Laos. (550D Canon photo)

Another beau­ti­ful but­ter­fly. (550D Canon photo)