A New Beginning - Joshua Tree National Park

We reached the end of our round-the-world trip a few months ago and since the end of January, we have been settling back into "normal" life in Santa Monica, California. We are, however, loathe to retire our wandering shoes altogether. And, since everyone seemed to enjoy the blog so much, we thought we'd keep it going!  So we have decided to continue writing about our adventures. Our next challenge? Since we enjoyed visiting and writing about the National Parks last summer, we've decided to try and visit all of them!

A Few of My Favorite Photos

Jo and I decided that we were each going write a post about our favorite places and experiences from the trip. Though after reading Jo's post, it was pretty clear that if I wrote one as well, it would be nearly identical. So I thought I'd post my favorite photos from the trip instead.

Throughout the trip, we carried two cameras, a Cannon Rebel T1i with two lenses (18-55mm and a 55-250mm) and a Sony CyberShot W570 point-and-shoot. Carrying the SLR was certainly a bit bulky at times, but in the end, it was worth it. During our six-months traveling, we took over 10,000 photos between us and I think we have some pretty spectacular souvenirs to show for it. I'll let you be the judge. Here a few of my favorites:

A few of my favourite things

This last six months have been a roller-coaster ride of experiences and I have thoroughly enjoyed it, some things more than others. A few people have asked what my favourite things were, and I'm afraid it's hard to narrow it down to a top five or ten. Instead I have broken it into three categories - my favourite experiences, favourite scenery and things that I would definitely go back and do, either again or differently. They're simply in alphabetical order since I couldn't decide on a ranking. Here goes:

The Blue Mountains, Australia

The Blue Mountains are, as you would expect from the name, "mountains," though one's definition of "mountain" is relative. For Australia, these hills are big and are only short drive west of Sydney. They are close enough to be a weekend destination for people in the city and the area boasts lots of attractions. It has many quaint little towns and villages, great hiking, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Sydney, Australia

We arrived in Sydney early in the morning and were disappointed that our first glimpses of the city were through rain that persisted the entire day. Not exactly what you think of or expect from Down Under. We spent our first day adjusting to the new time zone and the "normalcy" of being back in a Western country.

The Bat Cave, near Battambang

Just before sunset Chin Chin brought us to a bat cave to see the evening entertainment. Every evening millions of bats wake up and leave this cave all at once to go hunting for food. It's an amazing sight to see. The bats stream out of a small hole in the rock and create a long black trail across the sky that undulates about the sky as if it were choreographed. And this goes on for over an hour.... It was quite dark out by this point, so the pictures don't really do it justice. Hopefully, you can still get a good idea of the spectacle:

The Bamboo Train, Battambang

On our Battambang day-trip, Chin Chin brought us to see the "Bamboo Train." The train tracks were laid by the French years ago to create a trainline between Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, and Poipet, on the Thai border. The train service was once a week and a little too expensive for the average Cambodian, so the locals developed their own makeshift train system to carry goods and people from town to town.

Battambang, Cambodia

We left the tourist lights of Siem Reap for Battambang, Cambodia's second largest city and the heart of the its rice producing region. It's also home to some of the best preserved French Colonial architecture in Cambodia. We arrived in the early afternoon on the weekend and were a little apprehensive - it seemed like nothing was going on in town and our decision to spend some time here might be a little misguided. We had faith in our friend Robina though. She had already set us up with a driver to tour the area, so we relaxed and enjoyed the laid back atmosphere on our first evening.

Around Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Around Angkor there are too many temples to count and although we didn't see all of them we certainly explored quite a few and climbed to the top of many steep staircases in the process. Our last collection of Angkor photos is from all the other temples we saw. Unfortunately, we can't remember all their names, but we're sure the pictures are interesting. In one you may even be able to make out a Buddha hidden lying down in the brickwork...

Ta Phrom, Cambodia

The other temples we had seen were reclaimed from the jungle upon discovery. Ta Phrom was a different case entirely. It was decided to leave this one pretty much in the condition it had been found in, albeit creating a few paths for tourists to walk through.

Angkor Thom, Cambodia

Angkor Thom is another well-known complex dating from the 12th Century but built in a slightly different style to Angkor Wat. The main temple is called Bayon and is covered in face carvings on all sides believed to be of the King who built the complex. Well, he didn't build it himself, his thousands of minions did. As you can see from all the faces, he obviously liked himself. Similar to Angkor Wat, there are also lots of stone carvings (bas reliefs) on the walls.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Angkor Wat is the largest and best preserved temple within the Angkor complex. It was built back in the 12th century as a temple and capital city for the king. It is now a UNESCO world heritage site and the outline of Angkor Wat is on the Cambodian flag and a national pilgrimage for all Cambodians to visit.