Dec 25, 2014 – Jan 24, 2015
The month began with us celebrating Christmas in a very different way than ever before. We started the morning bright and early by walking down the street from our Volunteer house and going to a café that had strong enough wifi to Skype our families. We really enjoy seeing everyone together and happy for the holidays. It made us miss home but we had an exciting last few days of teaching in Cambodia then headed off to Vietnam with our good friends Brian and Carla. It was nice being able to see them again and travel for a little while before beginning our next volunteering project. We enjoyed celebrating New Years in Hoi An with a few drinks and some Vietnamese street food. After the New Year we moved off to Bali, Indonesia. We arrived in Bali to begin our month long teaching, round 2. It had some similarities to the Cambodian experience but was also very different in many ways. For starters we were co-teaching together which was a great experience!
Month 5 Travel Stats
Countries Visited: Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia
Cities Visited:
- Cambodia – Phnom Penh
- Vietnam – Can Tho, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hoi An
- Indonesia – Ubud, Pemuteran, Bedugul, Candidasa
Transportation
# of Flights: 4 (all JetStar flights)
# of Bus trips: 4
# of Motorbike rides: 3 (Vietnam and Indonesia)
# of flat tires on the motorbike: 1 (Vietnam)
# of Yoga sessions Marissa did in Bali: 5
# of Yoga sessions Josh did in Bali: 0 (had good intentions though)
# of Gym workout days in Bali by Josh and Marissa: 12 days (we found a great gym at a classy resort that we became members of)
Budget
Month 5= Under Budget, for the 5th month in the row! The volunteer costs in Indonesia really helped us out which i
s a great thing because Month 6 will be expensive with scuba diving and Australia.
Our Most Expensive Country: Vietnam although none of them are really expensive. If you are on a budget go to Southeast Asia!
Our Cheapest Countries for beers: Cambodia or Vietnam ($1 beers even at fancy rooftop bars)
Our Cheapest City: Ubud
Favorites
Favorite Foods: So many good foods in Ubud – got to eat some western food again for the first time in months. Our favorites were Mie Gorang (Ubud), Nasi Campur (Ubud), Seafood Kebab (Pemuteran), Basil Pesto Pasta (Ubud), Ribs at Naughty Nuri’s (Ubud), Pizza at Umah (Ubud), Sushi at Toro (Ubud)
Favorite Lodging: Relax Beach Resort (Candidasa)
Favorite Activities: Teaching the kids English in Phnom Penh for the last few days after Christmas, teaching the kids in a small village outside of Ubud, going to a ceremony in Bali for a local teacher, Hanging out on the boat in the floating markets with Brian and Carla in Vietnam, eating WELL in Vietnam (thanks Carla!), ringing in New Years in Hoi An, exploring the beautiful Balinese countryside.
Fun Facts
Most rewarding moment: Knowing that we made a difference by teaching the kids English (last few days in Cambodia were pretty emotional and made you realize your impact)
Best deals of the month: Hoi An guesthouse was $20 US on New Years Eve and included a great free breakfast, free bikes and $4 motorbike rental. Our Christmas gifts to each other: got a few new clothes for $2 each in the Cambodian markets
Biggest Bummers:
- Not being home with family at Christmas
- 5 hour flight delay leaving the Hoi An area to get to Ho Chi Minh City (got to our hotel at 1 am and had to fly out to Bali at 8 am the next morning which meant very little sleep)
- Our guesthouse in Ubud had a baby who turned 1 year old and got an insanely loud toy for his birthday which he loved to use every morning at the crack of dawn = no sleeping in
Biggest Win: Seeing our friends in Vietnam, Hoi An guest house, very comfortable beach chairs and beers on beach near Hoi An for $1 beers, finding our favorite lunch spot in Ubud where our average meal was $3 USD, motorbike rental on the weekends in Bali for $4 a day
Craziest thing seen:
- On our bus ride from Cambodia to Vietnam, our bus driver smoked probably a dozen cigarettes while he was driving and very near all of the “No Smoking” signs
- So many crazy people on motorbikes blowing through the Cambodian/Vietnam border with their motorbikes loaded with goods
- The marine life at Pemuteran in the far northwest corner of Bali
- Riding our motorbike through the pouring rain the mountains of Bali
Current level of Candy Crush: 119 Splendid Days!
Books read (other than travel guides):
- Marissa: 1 (Drums of Autumn (Outlander 4)
- Josh: 2 (The Swiss Family Robinson, The Maze Runner)
Health: Both healthy except for a mean sunburn for both of us from snorkeling for over 4 hrs one day. Marissa actually made it through 1 country in Asia without getting food poisoning – splendid days!
Coming Up…
Month 6 starts with us finishing our teaching in Bali then we spend the next few weeks after that getting Scuba dive certified and practicing our skills. Lastly we end month 6 in Australian for a road trip up the east coast driving north from Brisbane!
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