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Merry goes places

July 2016 - April 2017
  • Merry Goes Round
  • Merry Life
A 290-day adventure by Merry Goes Round & Merry Read more
  • Merry Goes Round
  • Merry Life
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  • Merry goes places

    Back on the trails

    October 10, 2016 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    I felt so blessed to be able to go back on a hiking trail today! A hiking Mareike is a happy Mareike :)

    We did a 4 hour trail to the very southern tip of Koh Rong Samloem. At the tip, after an hour through the jungle (we meet all sorts of freaky insects and frogs), there is a simple lighthouse which we climbed to get a view over the entire island. Such a good time!

    The weather was quite "moody" again, but we enjoyed both the rain and the dry. The rain made our trek into a fun apid riverbed, and while on top of the lighthouse, the weather was excellent and dry for the view. Later in the day, a highlight was a gigantic version of "pick up sticks" (we call it Mikado in German) we played out of a pile of long, thick sticks we found at the beach (about 2-3 meters each). We're quite sad we will be leaving the island tomorrow, but excited for our next adventure in Angkor Wat.    Read more

  • Merry goes places

    Water adventures

    October 11, 2016 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    Today we did what we could to enjoy the last day on the island (Koh Rohn Sanloem) and by the water: sea kayaking along the shore, snorkeling at a small beautiful reef, climbing a 3-level waterfall in the stream, and enjoying the big swing in front of our bungalow by the beach. We had such a good time here, we didn't want to leave. Even while waiting for the ferry to arrive at the pier, we decided to jump in a few more times :)

    The ferry ride back quickly turned into a rainy, windy ride. But as old sea bears (=German saying), we had no problems. Back on the mainland, were finished the night with Indian food, a walk through "Karaoke alley" (a road with 45+ karaoke bars filled with locals singing kitsch love songs), and a beer and authentic Khmer food with a young local restaurant owner. The dish: Cow tongue with vegetables, ants (yes, ants) and bugs. What an experience ;-)

    Ps: picture 4 shows us finishing the giant Mikado (pick a stick) game from yesterday    Read more

  • Merry goes places

    Exploring Siem Reap

    October 12, 2016 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Today, we made our way to Siem Reap in the north of the country. The city is fairly influenced by tourism, as the many temples in and around Angkor Wat are close by.

    We had a really fun day, feeling free and just exploring the city. We had a shopping challenge going: 3 out of every 4 purchases had to be bargains. I finally got new flip flops. And bargained them down in price, too :) We also explored the local markets and spoke to a bunch of locals, learning more and more about the culture and how people live.

    It felt like a nice, refreshing day! Now we're ready for temples and adventures in the jungle    Read more

  • Merry goes places
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    Angkor Hot

    October 13, 2016 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    The day had finally come - for over 2 years now, Merten and I had been dreaming of seeing the temples around Angkor Wat. The world's most likable Tuktuk driver So took us around the major sites. Even in the early morning, it was already 40 degrees and just kept getting hotter with no rain in sight. So we renamed the temples Angkor Hot!

    We first explored the big temple, which is impressive and fun, but we felt like something was missing, like it wasn't quite what we had looked for. Still, it was amazing to see. Second, we went to Angkor Thom and really enjoyed it. The many towers with faces in the stone and it's more ruined and raw character made it feel like a giant adult playground, which of course we loved :) Third, we went to Ta Prohm, our absolute favorite of all the temples. Such a unique place, with giant trees growing out of ancient buildings, taking over and claiming back a once highly developed place. The best part was that we were all by ourselves here. I've never seen anything like it and the tree in picture 4 just caught my attention right away. I stood there for a few minutes, just in awe of the ruins, the tree with roots as big as regular trees and little green parrots in its top, singing with all the other jungle noises.
    This picture I took gives you a good idea of the temple: https://goo.gl/photos/MgPSpxALnNAaAmAu8

    When the sun set and we headed back into town, we couldn't believe the day wet just had. Unforgettable!    Read more

  • Merry goes places
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    My friend the tree

    October 14, 2016 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Still overwhelmed by the beauty of Ta Prohm, we woke up at 4am to see sunrise over Angkor. Even though it was terribly early, and over 27 degrees C even before 5am, we were not the only ones here. We felt like pilgrims, moving towards the temple in huge crowds of people.

    After sunrise, we had some time to kill before an appointment at a zip line park at 9. We watched a kid monk on his way to work (pic 2) and explored more adventurous temples in the middle of the jungle. And everywhere we went, we tried to meet locals and learn about their life. For example, we meet two 2 year old kids, playing outside: holding two machetes, longer than their arms, and cutting off willow brakes for fun. Safety first is not a thing in Cambodia, it seems ;-)

    The zip line park was great fun! Up to 30 meters in the air, we slid from one tree to the next. On the way back, we were taught which ants can be eaten, but I was too scared to try one ;) We then spent the rest of the day exploring smaller temples, visiting the ones grown over by trees and surrounded by thick jungle, and falling in love with the place more minute by minute.

    In the afternoon, we started a new game (and of course made it into a challenge ;) ): who can photo bomb more selfies in a certain amount of time! We ended up playing it for over an hour and put smiles on many faces, once they realized we had walked into their selfies, smiling and with a thumbs up right beside them! Especially Asians laughed and often wanted more pictures with us :)    Read more

  • Merry goes places

    Working girl

    October 15, 2016 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Today, I took a break to get a bunch of work done. I had been working in the evenings frequently, but needed a full day, so I stayed behind and the 4 others went on more adventures. It was very good to have a quiet day and to feel productive!

    In the evening, we went into the city to grab dinner and walked through town afterwards. We found a place that offered foot skin therapy - if you could bare the tickle!!! Terrible and really fun at the same time ;)    Read more

  • Merry goes places

    Yangon by night

    October 16, 2016 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Today was transit day, as our 10 days in Cambodia came to an end and we headed to Myanmar.

    We were lucky enough to arrive the evening of the annual full moon festival in Yangon, Myanmar's capital. It was basically a huge street fest with food stands, live bands and rides like this fascinating, unmotorized ferris wheel https://goo.gl/photos/wYrScTfvA9fmUrRr6. So we took advantage and met super welcoming locals, danced with Myanmar's rock music fans at a concert, and ended the night with a long walk through town to the huge Buddhist temple Shwedagon Pagoda.

    The country has given a great, authentic and un-touristy impression. It's friendly, chaotic, dirty, and absolutely beautiful. I can't wait to explore it further.    Read more

  • Merry goes places

    Express Sightseeing

    October 18, 2016 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We had a short day to see Yangon today, so we chose to see Shwedagon Pagoda and a park nearby. The Pagoda is a giant, 2600 year old golden temple (but you cannot walk into it), surrounded by many other temples and shrines for the locals and Buddhist monks to come and offer fruit, flowers, etc. and to pray.

    The boys were all wearing shorts, which is not allowed in the temples, so the bought Logis, traditional skirts that the men wear.

    In the park, Merten once again turned into an attraction for the locals and we took selfies with them.

    I left in the afternoon to catch a 10 hour night bus to Kalaw, where I will be hiking for 3 days. The rest of the group is taking their own adventurers and we'll meet again in a few days :)    Read more

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    21

    Trekking Kalaw to Inle Lake I

    October 18, 2016 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    After 10 hours in an amazingly comfortable night bus and at least 5 hours of sleep, I found my trekking group at Sam's Trekking Services with our guide Momo. Momo was born in the area and knows the places, plants, history and best trails by heart. He showed us all the plants being grown here, visits the local tribes and farmers on the way and interprets with the locals. We saw and trief green tea, papayas, tumeric, ginger, herbs and rice that the tribes grow here.

    The group is an interesting mix of French, Spanish and Israeli fellow hikers and we get along perfectly!

    After a short night and 24km of hiking, I'm in bed (=a blanket on the wooden floor of a family house) already before 9pm today ;)    Read more

  • Merry goes places

    Trekking Kalaw to Inle Lake II

    October 19, 2016 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Waterbuffalos have been a big theme of this trip! Back in California, I sing the waterbuffalo song with my friends Logan and Aria (5 and 7 years old :) ) all the time. In Cambodia, we saw many and here in Myanmar, there are even more waterbuffalos. Yesterday I saw so many, I asked our guide Momo if I could ride one. He said yes, but only a friendly one with its owner. So obviously, that was my prayer when I went to bed ;)

    I woke up at 6am and in front of our guest house was an extra friendly huge water buffalo, and the owner laughed at me - but let me ride it anyways. Yippee, what a moment!!!

    The hike today was absolutely beautiful! I picked pees, chilies, egg plant, ginger, citronella, tomatoes and elderflower on the side of the road. I'm also adopting to the culture and bought a bamboo rice picker's hat and tried their famous chewing tabacco, chili and a sauce rolled up in a betel leaf (which I spit out after 3 seconds, but at least I tried).    Read more

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