Tales from Thailand: Photos from the first months of adventures to last a lifetime

So my mom has been telling me every time I talk to her to get pictures up. So finally, I am doing it.

This is the Cathedral of Learning. It is the central building on the Savarnabhumi Campus of Assumption University. It is stunning from the outside and the inside.

The reclining buddha is a very well-known site in Bangkok. It is part of Wat Pho. A reclining buddha is one that is at rest. The buddha is at peace and about to enter a state of nirvana. This one is so big it is hard to get a picture that encompasses the whole thing.

Our first night in Siem Reap all of us went on a pub crawl. The pub crawl was $8 and included a tank top(featured above) and 5 free shots at the 4 different bars we went to. We met tons of cool people. From Canadians, to Germans, to Aussies, to Irish, everyone was really cool, and thought we were crazy American students.

This is called a sala. It is directly across from the Cathedral of Learning and it is gorgeous. There is another sala on the Hua Mak campus that I can see every time I look out my big window in my room.

One of the first days here we took a day trip to Pattaya. Pattaya is a beach front town that is about 2 hours south of Bangkok. We went to a cultural show where we were able to see elephants(above) and get photos with them. The cultural show was interesting, and there were probably 300 school children there on field trips.

This is a garden that is part of Nongnooch Botanical Gardens in Pattaya. It was stunning and massive.

Siam Paragon is the Short Hills Mall on steroids of Thailand. It is a massive mall that has nothing I can afford in it. Right next door to Siam Paragon is Central World, another upscale massive mall. Diagonal to Siam and Central World is the Erawan Shrine where the bomb recently went off.

After looking around the mall, a group of us ventured to a hotel near Central World called Centara Grand. Red Sky is the sky bar that is at the very top of the hotel. It is gorgeous and has beautiful views of the city. Thats me being a tourist^^^. Bangkok is known for some pretty cool rooftop pools and bars so I will be going to more hopefully!!!

This is papaya salad or as they call it in Thailand, Som Tum. It is delicious and spicy. Technically the dish is Esan, not Thai. Esan food is known to be spicy, and comes from the area of Thailand that borders Laos in the northeast.

Getting into Cambodia was a struggle. We literally walked out of Thailand and into Cambodia. This is the sign that tells you you are officially in Cambodia.

This is Ao Phroa which is another beach on the "quiet" side of Koh Samet. It was stunning, and had some beautiful, upscale resorts all along the beach.

KOH SAMET IS GORGEOUS!!

Me while I was being burned by the sun. I am still peeling from it....

I climbed 5 flights of steep steps to see this view.

Me and Angkor Wat.

Pub Street is the center of tourism and fun in Siem Reap. The entire street is bars, clubs, and restaurants.

In Koh Samet, we went to Naga Bar (above) basically every night. It is a glow, paint bar. It was fun.

I could look at this forever.

Right down the street from school is the Sports Authority of Thailand. It is a huge complex with a soccer arena, track, and biking center. I go to the track and run. I think my heat tolerance is already higher seeing that I can get myself to run outside.

THE FIRST DAY OF JUNIOR YEAR AND MY FRIST YEAR WEARING A UNIFORM!!! Uniforms are a sign of wealth and prestige here in Thailand. You are more respected when you wear a uniform.

There is a local night market right next to the Sports Authority. This lady is the bomb.com She makes coconut ice cream with sticky rice that is out of this world, and I don't even like coconut.....it is all so fresh and not too sweet, and it is 30 baht aka less then $1.

The first and probably last real cheese I will ever find in Southeast Asia. We all splurged one night and went to a gorgeous dinner at the Millennium Hilton, one of the hotels that line the Chao Phraya River. We spent 500 baht on the dinner, but I probably ate 5,000 baht worth. It made me feel like I was back in the US. I had parmesan(see above), avocado, chocolate cake, and salmon. I didn't eat any rice or noodles.....