an Inconceivable Trip of Plausible Incredibility

Trip Summary

2008-06-16T14:19:00.000-07:00

A smattering of pictures from the trip compiled from our Picasaweb albums for a 1 hour photo presentation.

Trip Stats

163 Days
53 Cities (actually spent the night in)
23 Countries
~ 31,000 Miles
1 Marriage proposal (and 1 acceptance)!

News

2008-04-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

Big news (well, at least it's big for us): For those who don't know, Mike asked me to marry him while we were in Thailand. It was perfect, on the beach at sunset (picture below taken about 15 minutes before he asked) and of course, I said yes.

We don't know when or where the wedding will be, but we're sure it will be fun!

End of Malaysia, Singapore, and The End of The Trip

2008-04-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

We traveled from Kuala Lumpur to Melaka, Malaysia on the 9th. Melaka is a port town that was taken over by the Portuguese in the 1500's, the Dutch in the 1600's, the British in the 1800's and the Japanese during WWII. Luckily, it's been a part of Malaysia (and unoccupied) since 1948.

We walked around in the blazing heat, looking at some of the remnants of the Portuguese and Dutch occupations, like the gate of a Portuguese fort that was built from the ruins of demolished mosques and sultans' palaces. The old town center featured dark red buildings, a church and a nice fountain, all very Dutch-esque in Malaysia. There were also many cyclos (bicycle taxis), all of them covered with flowers and streamers, and most sporting stereos with speakers under the seats. They cruise around town, blaring all sorts of tunes, blending together into a sort of cyclo-racket. After a brief walk through Chinatown (brief because every shop was closed), we retired for the night.

Back to Chinatown the next day, this time by a different route. We walked by a shop that had chili pepper drying under a fan on the floor. I stopped to take a picture, and we talked a bit with the shop owner who told me to go ahead and take the picture and gave us each a handful of his peppers to smell. This gentleman is one of the many nice Malaysians we'd met, many of them saying "Welcome to Malaysia" and waving as they saw us walking. At a shop down the road a bit, we purchased a few pieces of Chinese art. The artist happened to be biking by the shop as we looked at his work, so he stopped in and introduced himself, telling us a bit about his art. He invited us to his workshop after, where we happily went and looked but didn't purchase any paintings. They were very bright and some quite nice, but we did not want to deal with shipping/carrying a framed piece of art for another week. We finished the day with a bit more shopping, trying to get gifts for some people and a couple of souvenirs for ourselves.

The next day, we took care of some internetting in the morning and then made our way to the Museum of Enduring Beauty. This museum featured exhibits on the lengths and pains (word play of "enduring") that people of different cultures go to to be "beautiful". Some examples were lip plates, brass neck rings, corsets, ear stretching-earrings, tattoos, scarification, and skeleton-shaping. It was an interesting reminder about how absurd and powerful "beauty" can be, even though it means sometimes entirely different things to different people. Dinner that evening was Baba Nyonya, from the early Chinese who inhabited the area and assimilated with the Malaysians long ago. Our chicken, mushrooms, and potatoes in a spicy brown sauce was simple and tasty. I bought what I thought was a cool dessert at the front counter, which turned out to be large chunks of compressed brown sugar. Not so tasty.

The Maritime Museum was up for the next day. Inside of a giant re-creation of a Dutch sail ship, the museums featured a lot of history about the region, the trading that occurred there, many model ships, and even exhibits on famous sailors. We shopped for some more gifts after, finding some interesting coconut cookies that tasted good but had the consistency of Tums.

Photos from Melaka

The next day we boarded a bus for Singapore. As some of you may know, Singapore is known for it's draconian laws forbidding everything from chewing gum to not flushing a public toilet. Immigration was very formal, with guys with machine guns walking around and the immigration officer being the first of our trip to ask us for proof of how and when we'd leave Singapore (our flight confirmation page was at the bottom of my backpack and took a long time to get to). We settled down in the first hotel we came to, which was very expensive and run by a fascist old lady (signs on the door saying "No showing of rooms before renting" and "We are not responsible if we lose your passport"). After dropping our bags, we scouted out 4 other hotels/hostels in hopes of finding something better, and booked a room for the next night.

We took the subway into the city center and walked into the heart of the skyscrapers in the financial district. Singapore is a very clean, very modern city. It looked as though we were downtown in any big US city, with fancy suits and Porsches passing us and we walked along in our backpacker garb. At the waterfront, we saw the Merlion statue. The Merlion was designed by the Singapore Tourism board in the 60's, and features the head of a lion and the body of a mermaid. For some reason, it is still an attraction. On our walk back towards the subway, we passed the Espalada performance center, two giant buildings that look a lot like gold balls from afar. At the Long Bar, birthplace of the Singapore Sling, we sat down amongst a bunch of other tourists. The waiter came up and asked "Two Singapore Slings?" and we said yes, a little wierded out by how touristy this place was. We drank our drinks, turned down another round, and then got the bill. $22 (US) EACH for a drink, the most I've paid in my entire life! Later that night, we walked to the bus station where we were supposed to meet a bus driver who was bringing Emily's phone with him (we'd left it in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia, and the guesthouse had helped set up this delivery). After an hour of waiting, we checked around and found out the the bus wasn't coming that night, and called the guesthouse to find out that they'd meant TOMORROW evening.

We went to the Singapore Art Museum the next morning. It was a nice museum with a large exhibit by a Chinese artist Feng Zhengjie. These paintings were huge (some 10 feet tall) and kind of disconcerting with the few bright colors and diverging eyes. At lunch in some locals cafe, I tried "homemade barley drink" which turned out to be something like sweetened soy milk, not what I thought it might be. We went to the Botanic Gardens, a huge park filled with trails, lakes, tens of thousands of plants and flowers. It was a nice place to sit and relax a bit. We learned that due to a landslide, the bus with Em's phone wouldn't be coming that evening either.

To combat jet lag upon return to the states, we decided to get up one hour earlier every day for the last 6 days, ending with us up at 4am for our 7am international flight from Singapore airport. We were up at 5:45, accidentally sleeping-in past our 5am alarm for our second to last day. We went to Chinatown, which wasn't a lot of fun. We were both tired, I was starting to feel sick, and every stall featured the same junk with the same shop-owner hassling you to buy something while following you around their store as if you were going to steal all their over-priced shit. We did walk by a couple of Chinese pharmacies with 100's of glass jars behind the counter featuring everything from horns to herb to flowers. Back in Little India, we had a spicy lunch with Ethiopian-like bread at a sidewalk restaurant, and then walked around a few shops. That evening, the bus carrying Em's phone showed up 2 hours late, and we dragged our tired bodies back to the hotel.

Photos from Singapore

Up at 4am on the 17th. We flew to Tokyo at 7am, had a 3 hour layover there, and then flew to San Francisco. Our anti-jet lag idea seemed to help, as we were out cold around 8pm on the flight and got a decent night's rest. In San Fran, we cleared customs with a little hassling (the customs officer didn't believe me that we'd been gone for 6 months and I only had $50 worth of stuff to declare) and then flew to Salt Lake City. The trip had finally come full circle, we'd made it around the world!

Country Road, Take Me Home...

2008-04-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

We are headed to Singapore today, our last and final destination. We fly from Singapore to Tokyo, Japan then to San Francisco and finally land in Salt Lake City. Our travels home, with flights and layovers, should take us around 23 hours-yuck. Check back in a couple weeks to see our posts on the rest of Malaysia, Singapore, and some sort of trip summary.

Malaysia thus far

2008-04-12T04:01:00.000-07:00

We took the boat from Koh Lipe, Thailand a couple of hours south to Lang Kawi, Malaysia. After clearing immigration, we found a taxi driver who took us to a cheap hotel a little way from the pier. We walked into town after dinner, looking for something to do, but didn't find much else than Duty Free shops. If we had needed to stock up on booze or cigarettes, we would have been in the right place.

The next morning, we walked back to the pier and bought a boat ticket to Kuala Kedah, which we couldn't find on a map but were told was on the mainland and was also the quickest way for us to move south into the Cameron Highlands. A 1.5 hour boat ride, a taxi ride, and a 4 hour bus ride later and we were in Ipoh, Malaysia, a travel crossroads town. We booked a room over the phone and then took a late bus the remaining 2.5 hours into Tanah Rata in the center of the Cameron Highlands. The Highlands are in the center of the Malaysian peninsula and located (not too surprisingly) in the mountains. The bus ride from Ipoh to Tanah Rata was beautiful, creeping our way up a windy road cut in the mist-covered peaks of one of the greenest areas I've ever seen. Surrounding the towns in the Highlands, there were large greenhouses illuminated from within by their grow lights in the black night. The climate is much more temperate than the coast's heat and humidity, something that I was happy about.

Our first morning in the Highlands, we left on our "Countryside Tour" booked the evening before. First stop was a large, Chinese Buddhist temple. Nice, but been there done that. Next, a rose garden that featured more types of flowers than I've ever seen, including much more than just roses (Em shocked me by knowing many of the names of the flowers, I had no idea she was such a plant nerd). A strawberry farm was our third stop, where we were allowed to walk amongst some plants (and NO PICKING signs) before being led to a site to buy jam, fresh berries, drinks, etc. We settled on some fresh strawberry-covered ice-cream. The next stop (the one I was most excited to see) was the Sungei Palas Tea plantation, one of the plantations of the BOH tea company, the largest in Malaysia. The company is owned by a Scottish family that planted the first tea plants there in 1929, and is still harvesting them. Tea plants live for about 120 years, producing leaves to harvest only 2 years after sprouting, and the leaves are harvested every 3 weeks! Growing up on a wheat farm, I thought that this sounded like a money in the bank crop. I'm just not sure if North Dakota's climate is suitable. We took a short tour of the tea factory, and then stepped out onto a viewing platform/tea cafe where one could look out over the lush green tea plant-covered hills, and take a photo or 5. A butterfly farm was next on the tour. Having many different insects/snakes/lizards/birds/beetles in addition to butterflies, it was interesting. We saw insects that look exactly like thin tree branches and others that look exactly like dead tree leaves. The last stop was a bee farm, which was kind of lame but a chance of extra revenue (in honey bought) for the local economy. With the tour now ended, we went into town and looked around for a bit. I decided (okay, Emily recommended and then I decided) that I should get a hair cut. The older gentleman sat me down, put the towel and cape around me, picked up his clippers and, without asking me a thing, started clipping the sides! I was a little disconcerted, as I like to talk to my barber for a bit beforehand (get the game-plan established, if you will) and this guy didn't work that way. But I just let him go with it. He grabbed his scissors for cutting the top and started clipping them constantly and aggressively (like Edward Scissorhands), slowing down the clipping as he brought them to my head to actually remove hair. Five minutes after he'd started, he set down the scissors and started taking off the cape. I asked him to cut the top a bit shorter, which he did, then straight-razored my neck, and we were done. It looked pretty good and only cost about $2.50, so I was pleased.

The next day we decided to go for a jungle/mountain hike. We suited up (okay, just grabbed a jacket and some water) and walked to the edge of town. Another 0.5 km down a paved trail, and we were standing at Robinson Falls, a nice jungle waterfall. Then we reached the trailhead for our real hike. About 2 km of (sometimes) near vertical, scrambling with all fours over vine, tree, and root hiking followed with the end result being the top of Gunung Beremban (at 1812, 1840, or 1850 meters above sea level, depending on which source you are reading). That afternoon, we booked a bus to Kuala Lumpur for the following morning and occupied ourselves around town.

Photos from Tanah Rata

After a 4 hour bus ride, we arrived in Kuala Lumpur (KL, as the locals call it). We quickly found a cheap and okay guesthouse (with the help of a tout who also works there) and got settled in. Since we were in the old section of town, we walked to Merdeka square, a park-like site of diplomatic importance to the British (from when they colonized Malaysia) and to the Malaysians, when they lowered the Union Jack from the flag pole in 1957 and replaced it with their own flag to symbolize their independence. Around the square are many old buildings, reflecting the architecture of the various groups controlling Malaysia throughout the years. We walked south to the National Mosque, a large grounds with interesting Muslim architecture, fountains and a nice courtyard. Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, but "limited" religious freedom for the people is called out in the constitution. Continuing on, we found the historic train station (also nice and Muslim-influenced) and made our way to Chinatown. We passed the oldest Hindu temple in KL and then went into Petaling Street, a crowded mess of booths and salespeople trying to hawk fake handbags, watches and t-shirts. A bit of walking around and an iced-coffee later (have I mentioned how hot and humid it is here?), and the day was over.

Our morning the next day was spent trying to cancel my checkcard over the internet. I'd found out that someone had found the emergency $100 cash and card I'd hidden in a "secret" pocket of my backpack. The checkcard was still there, but the cash had been swiped, so I figured they had the cc number as well. It took some time, but luckily the bank cancelled it. For those who haven't tried to do any banking purely online (no phone), I'll tell you that it can be a real pain in the ass. You can't usually do ANYTHING without "calling a representative during normal business hours", an option that is both incredibly difficult and incredibly expensive for us. Anyway, we then found a used bookstore and spent some time finding literature to keep us occupied for the next 2 weeks. After, we jumped on the subway and went to the Petronas Towers, the tallest twin towers in the world. Pretty fancy, and with a nice sittin' pond/park behind them. The next thing to see was Little India, which I'd personally compare to KL's Chinatown but with less people, less junk (fake Louis Vuitton bags, etc.), less pushy salespeople and lot more bright-colored cloth. We took the Light Rail to the north end of town for something to do, snapped a few pictures, and then took it back to the guesthouse. Dinner that evening was at a Muslim Indian restaurant that was listed in the guidebook as a good bet. Surprisingly, they didn't have an English menu (surprisingly because most restaurants listed in the book are filled with English-speaking tourists, and our book is at least a year if not 2 or 3 old) so we picked a couple of slightly-familiar sounding dishes (written in Malaysian) and ate. It turned out to be pretty tasty.

The next day we jumped on a bus to Melaka, Malaysia.

Photos from Kuala Lumpur

Lipe Island, Thailand

2008-04-10T06:06:00.000-07:00

It took a longtail boat ride, two mini bus rides, a tuk tuk, a 2 hour speed boat, and then another long tail and more than 24 hours later, we were finally on the island of Lipe. Lipe is a tiny island of about 500 people in the Andaman Sea recommended to us by a friend we met in Laos named Kathrin. She found Lipe and ended up unintentionally spending the rest of her trip here. We found a little bungalow about 5 minutes from the beach and immediatly went for a swim in the shallow, blue waters. We found some really good BBQ that night where we sat on mats in the sand with little tables and lanterns above our heads and the waves crashing as background music. After this, we enjoyed a couple beers at another beachside place. On this little island, almost everything is beachside (and a bit more expensive than some of the rest of Thailand).

The next morning, we were back on the beach, playing in the water and enjoying the sun. After a couple hours of this, Mike was completly bored and sought out some snorkeling gear. Tossing masks and snorkels on, we went exploring. It was amazing! There was so much to see just a few feet from the beach. There were many kinds of fish, sea anemones, sea urchins, all of varying sizes and colors. The only downside was our defective snorkeling equipment. Our masks and snorkels leaked. For a while, we thought we were just slow to learn how to snorkel, because we could not keep the snorkels clear for more than a couple minutes at a time. After an hour and a half of this, we decided to call it quits. It was really more work than it was worth. We ate delicious seafood for dinner, fried fish and squid soup and then stopped at another beachside bar for a drink.

After breakfast the next morning, we hiked through a bit of the jungle to get to another beach where we rented snorkeling equipment from a dive shop. It was a huge difference! The equipment worked and it worked well! We swam out to an island (we also rented fins this time) and snorkelled round. Again, the views were spectacular. It was cheaper than diving and no risk of ear infections! The only downside was the "stings" or "bites" that we felt every few minutes. Something off this island caused a biting sensation but left no marks. It was very strange. We swam back in and had lunch and then it was a long walk down the beach in order to get to another island. The scenery here was also really great with no biting animals in the water. On the water side of the little island, where we couldn't see Lipe island, the ocean floor really veered downward so you could not see the bottom. It was a black abyss and for some unreasonable reason, very creepy. Complete nothingness... Other than this, snorkeling was a great experience. We swam back, grabbed our stuff, and found an easier path back to the beach we were staying on. Along the way, we passed a local girl selling homemade ice cream out of a little cart. There were other locals in line and they all suggested we get some ice cream. We did and it was really good. She shapes it in rectangles and covers the rectangle with paper. When it is ready to be served, she cuts a slice off, puts a stick in it, and unwraps the paper. Pretty nifty and only 35 cents a piece. Mike had banana flavor (even though this ice cream was green) and mine was mango (purple ice cream). Back at the room, we showered and took a bit of a nap. I woke up first and decided that I was going to try and name all 50 states just for fun. 15 minutes into my game, Mike woke up, wondering what I was doing. It took another 5 or 10 minutes before he was curious enough to give it a whirl. And so we spent the next 20 or so minutes trying to write out the state names. By some miracle, I was able to come up with 50 names and Mike gave up with 6 left to go. You know, just a fun way to kill some time :) Everyone should try. We had dinner and drinks on the beach and managed to catch a couple guys twirling fire sticks. Mike got some really great pictures of this.

After breakfast, we rented a kayak to do some more exploring of this little island. We got the kayak in the water and took off. It was a little skittish and uncooperative, as far as kayaks go, but we thought we would get it figured out. We found a little secluded beach that was cool but sad because it was filled with garbage. We did see some lizards and hermit crabs doing their thing here. We kayaked on and found another beach with a small bar on it and enjoyed a coke before kayaking back. On our way back, the kayak was worse than ever. It refused to go in a straight line, it seemed to only want to go in circles. So we spent the entire time "fixing" it from wanting to spin in one direction and then another. On more than one occasion, we were so frustrated with it, we just let the damn thing spin. And it nearly spun in a complete circle. There were also several times where one or the other of us beat the kayak with a paddle and swore at it a bit, just to encourage it along. I seriously considered getting out and swimming and then towing the kayak behind me. That is how big a piece of crap this thing was. It would have been better to fill it with water and let it sink. I wouldn't have rented that kayak again if the company paid me! There was some more beach time after this and then the dinner and banana crepes for dessert. We also bought a boat ticke to LangKawi, Malaysia, where we headed the afternoon of the next day.

Photos from Ko Lipe, Thailand HERE.

More Thailand Photos and News

2008-04-05T07:14:00.000-07:00

Photos

We finally uploaded some photos from Emily's camera taken in Phuket and Hat Ton Sai, Thailand. Take a look HERE.

News

I realized that I haven't posted anything about my father and his recovery from heart surgery. From the news I get through email, Dad is doing well. He is a bit sick of sitting around the house, so he started going to work for a half-day to keep his sanity. Once again, thanks for your well wishes to him during his surgery and keep him in mind as he recuperates from it. Dad, if I've got anything wrong or you want to say anything, comment on this.

We are in Malaysia for the next 1.5 weeks, then in Singapore for a few days. Then, the U.S.

Southern Thailand

2008-03-29T05:10:00.000-07:00

After some airport running, we flew from Hanoi to Phuket, Thailand. We stayed in Phuket town the first night and took a bus to spend a few hours on the beach where we relaxed and did absolutely nothing. The water was warm and clear with few waves, perfect for swimming. One day was all it took and we moved to a new guesthouse ten minutes from the water after purchasing more sunscreen, hats and sarongs. We spent the next day at the beach people-watching from our umbrella, and oh what a lot there was to see! Women going topless and men in speedos all over the place and more than a few of them showing off goods that weren't exactly attractive. Everything was a bit more expensive at the beach, but I guess that is the way it goes. The next day we started looking into scuba diving. There were many options but we finally went with a Scandinavian company that seemed legit. Again, we spent the rest of the day at the beach watching the sun set and the parasailers take off and land on the beach. One of the locals would run with the person parasailing and "hop on" into the ropes above their heads, and they were then able to steer the parasail to a safe landing back on the beach. Pretty impressive. The next morning started off with a drive to meet the dive boat. I took a refresher course and Mike was able to do a "discovery dive" (he's never been diving before). I had to go through and set up all my own gear and remember everything from my certification from a few years back. It was quite a lot to remember on top of being sea sick. After two hours of rolling waves, we made it to the first dive site. We geared up and jumped in the water with our instructor, Patrick. The waves were still high and we had a ways to swim to get to shallow water where we could work on skills. We both felt like we were drowning with all the gear on and swallowing way too much sea water - yuck. It took a good 20 minutes to get rid of the fear, trust our breathing equipment, and go under. I was really wondering what the hell we had been thinking. After about 20 minutes at 9 feet, we were ready to do a little exploring in deeper water (max of 12 meters for Mike) and it was fantastic. The water was so clear and the fish so colorful. Really amazing to be that close to all the underwater life. Mike actually got to see a 3 foot long sea turtle go lazily swimming past him. We ate lunch back on the boat and travelled to another island for the second dive. Also equally amazing and so much fun to explore. Mike had a little bit of trouble clearing his ears but I was just excited and enjoying it all. It really was a great day of diving with beautiful islands to see on the boatride back and smoother waters.

Photos from Phuket

We were off to the island of Ko Phi Phi the next day, a gorgeous island that was hit by the tsunami in 2004. We finally found accomodation and checked out the beach. Plenty of chairs and shade umbrellas complete with little stands serving mango and banana shakes. The water was also clear and warm, although in the afternoons the tide went out and only left little pools. It seemed that one could walk two miles into the bay and the water was only up to your knees. Some cheaper food (as the one side of the island is more backpacker friendly than the other resort side) and a couple beers at the beach bar. Mike woke me up the next morning saying that he had excruciating ear pain and diminished hearing and that we either had to find a Dr. or take the three hour boat ride back to Phuket, a bigger town with a hospital. We did find a small hospital and otitis media (basically, a middle or inner ear injury due to diving) was the diagnosis. We were given some drugs and sent on our way. I settled Mike into the guesthouse with drugs to try and sleep it off but to no avail. He came to the beach saying the pain was worse and back to the hospital we went. They gave him pain meds, antibiotics, and anti inflammatories. He felt a little better and was able to sleep more comfortably. I treated myself to a pedicure and some BBQ kebabs (don't worry, I went back often to check on Mike and bring him food, although the whole side of your face hurts with an ear infection and you don't want to eat because of the pain). He was able to eat a little for breakfast the next morning and I was back at the beach and that afternoon, he was able to join me. We decided to climb one of the hills for a view of the twin bays of the island and we were just in time for sunset. It was so beautiful. We were also able to compare a picture of the aftermath of the tsunami with the view we were seeing before us. We tried to imagine the force of the waves to have caused such damage. We had dinner and a beer on the patio of our guesthouse and called it a night, deciding that we would get up and catch the sunrise which can also be seen from the viewpoint. Next morning, we were up at 6 am and I realized that my ear was hurting. We climbed up and caught the sunrise, although it was not as spectacular as the sunset had been, but there were far fewer people.

Photos from Ko Phi Phi

We stopped by a pharmacy where I bought some of the same drugs they put Mike on, just in case, and we took a boat to Krabi and then a bus and then a long tail boat to get to a little beach spot called Ton Sai. We found a bungalow and rented a kayak to check out the islands and limestone formations, which this part of Thailand is famous for. By the time we brought the kayak back, the tide had gone out and we had to haul the kayak through deep, sucking mud-not much fun. But Ton Sai was definitly a spot we thought we could spend some time in. That night, however, my ear had different plans and it was a very painful, tear-filled, sleepless night for me. Poor Mike got little sleep with all my sobbing. As soon as we thought we could catch a longtail boat back to town, we got up and got on one (Ton Sai is only accessible by boat and only has electricity from 6 pm to 7 am). After a boat ride and a couple of tuk-tuk rides, we finally found ourselves in Krabi Hospital, where we waited for another 2 hours to see the Dr. Antibiotics for me and we decided to stay in Krabi for the night just in case. Poor Mike had to travel all the way back to Ton Sai and gather all of our stuff, 2 big backpacks and 2 small backpacks and bring them all the way back (4 hours roundtrip of buses and boats). He is my hero (Mike's note: I prefer "wind beneath her wings"). Shortly after he got back, my pain came back and we walked back to the ER where I begged them to give me something for the pain. Morphine was given and somewhat effective, it took the edge off and then made me sick. All in all, we spent another 2 nights in Krabi, me sick and Mike bored and we both had fun stuff draining from our ears and had lost all hearing in our right ears. Never get an ear infection! The pain is terrible!

We finally felt healthy enough to leave Krabi and headed back to Ton Sai, which is well known for its amazing rock climbing. We spent the afternoon looking at climbing courses and finally settled on taking a three day lead climbing course. Our instructor, Nueng, was a pretty laid back Thai guy who smoked like a chimney and never wore anything more in the 4 days we saw him than 2 particular pairs of basketball shorts and some flip flops. The course was gruelling but fun and turned out to be more of a three and a half day course. We got in a lot of climbing and we learned more than we can probably remember. We've both decided that we'll have to get serious about climbing back in Seattle so we don't lose it all.

Photos from Hat Ton Sai

Today, we took a longtail boat and a couple of mini-buses to end up in Pak Bara, further south. Tomorrow, we will head to the little island of Ko Lipe.

Vietnam

2008-03-09T00:46:00.000-08:00

Up early to catch the bus taking us from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam (aka Saigon). The bus ride was pretty standard for SE Asia. The driver would turn the A/C on to full blast until you start shivering (75+ degrees F outside) and then turn it off until you were sweating. Meanwhile, he would honk at every change occurring (cars coming, cars turning, animals, clouds, etc.) and sometimes just to test the horn. Some of the honks were followed by a sharp swerving of this Greyhound-ish size bus to rapidly pass some poor vehicle who was slower, and ended up dangerously close to being in the ditch. Usually, mid-pass, he received a cell phone call which he had to take, and, fortunately for the passengers, this forced him to slow down his honking hand a little bit. At some point, he invariably popped in a DVD of popular Thai music karaoke, and turned the sound up till it hurt. Shortly after, the bus broke down, so the driver pulled over, removed his white button down, and (judging by the smell as he walked past later) bathed in diesel oil to somehow repair the engine. We got back to Phnom Penh, waited for 1.5 hours for the next bus taking us to HCMC. At the Cambodia-Vietnam border, the driver motioned for us to get out, dropped all of the bags on the ground and took off somewhere with our passports. Apparently, this is standard procedure but he never said a word to us. We grabbed our bags, wandered around lost for a while and then went back outside in search of our driver. We finally found him after 30 minutes and got across the border. Some more bussing, and changing to another mini-bus in HCMC at the bus company office, and we were finally dropped into the heart of backpackerland (cheap guesthouses, hotels) at 10 pm. After checking at about 15 guesthouses that were all full (with the help of a local who spoke not a word of English, just motioned for us to keep following her to the next place where she'd ask for us), a scooter (moto) driver told us he knew of one, and would charge us $2 to drive us there. We got on, he drove 50 feet, and dropped us at an overpriced hotel. Pretty sweet deal.

The next day, we took a cyclo (a 3-wheeled bicycle with a chair on the front, pictures in album) to see a Hindu temple, probably the only type of religious building we haven't seen yet. We walked to the Reunification Palace (the site of South Vietnam's Royal Palace) and the gardens surrounding it. After lunch was the War Remnants Museum. Some of the articles and exhibits were understandably a bit one-sided, but overall, the museum was well done and incredibly interesting/saddening. There were several captured U.S. tanks, howitzers, planes, and flame-throwers on the grounds outside, photos from journalists who were killed in the war, a MAG exhibit detailing the UXO (Unexploded Ordinances) problems in Vietnam, examples of the prison cells (Tiger Cages) used during the war, and an exhibit documenting the atrocities during and stemming from the war. The last was very powerful, with some of the photos of the inhumanity demonstrated during the war (burned victims of phosphorous bombs, DDT-induced birth defects, decapitated enemy soldiers) being hard to look at and comprehend. Dinner that evening was at a place that employs disadvantaged kids as cooks and wait-staff. A bit expensive (relatively speaking), but delicious and for a good cause.

Photos from HCMC (beware, some of the photos of the war museum are a bit graphic)

After having breakfast at the same sidewalk-vendor cart we'd gotten it from the day before, we were off on an 11-hour bus ride north to the beach town of Nha Trang. We saw the South China Sea for some of it, and rolled into a nice hotel for $8 that evening.

With the sun shining, Em was itching to go hit the beach the next morning. As we walking along the beach we noticed a Vietnamese guy running around, tossing his long hair back or laying in the surf posing for a camera, which another guy was taking pictures of the first guy with. It was very strange, like watching an 80's music video. It got even weirder when the guy being photographed came over and grabbed both of us and tossed his arms around our shoulders and the camera man continued shooting. We laughed because it was so weird but every time we tried to walk away, the guy would grab us and force us into a new pose, speaking only Vietnamese. We finally broke free after he threw himself on his stomach and started patting either side of him. We shook our heads no and damn near broke into a run to get away. So, if anyone finds naked pictures of us on the internet or in some travel pamphlet somewhere, know that it is not really us and we did not agree to whatever situation we may have been photoshopped into. We then grabbed a chunk of sand and sat soaking in the warmth. The bad news is that since Emily and I have never been outside in sunny weather before, we were a bit slow at getting the sunscreen on. After playing in the ocean, and losing Emily's sunglasses in said ocean (poor, poor sunglasses. I will miss you!), we noticed that we were a little pink. Back at the hotel, we saw that we were more of a reddish-purple, rather than pink! Stupid white people. We bought lotion and water, and have been dutifully using both ever since, trying to chase the skin cancer away with moisture. Dinner that evening was at a Mexican restaurant that, although not quite like the US, was far better than our Mexican food attempt in Rome

The next day was a touristy island-hopping tour by boat, a staple of visiting Nha Trang. At the first island, you could jump in the water and snorkel or swim. But our sunburns and the chilly wind had Em and I sitting in the covered boat drinking a beer and watching others. Lunch was served on the boat near the next island, a communal affair that was delicious with 11 different Vietnamese dishes. After lunch (and a game created by Joe, the tour guide, which entailed singing, dancing, and joke telling), it was back into the water for a free drink at Joe's "floating bar" (a 1-person inner tube with a board laid across it). We couldn't pass it up, so after slathering on the sunscreen, we swam out for 4 oz. of something that tasted like cheap Mexican vodka and a little kool-aid. The third island had a white sandy beach that Em and I sat on (underneath the shade of palm tree) and napped. The final island had an aquarium, with some interesting sharks, coral reef, sea anemones, and the like. That evening, we got on our first "sleeper bus" (think Greyhound with 3 wide, 2 high bunk beds instead of seats). Besides the pain of lying on the sunburn, the noise from the road, the bumps and lurches from the turns, and the annoying Australian girl yelling the whole length of the bus at the driver about how she was going to wet herself unless we stopped at a bathroom with real toilets instead of just the ditch at the roadside (prissy thing isn't going to enjoy the rest of SE Asia very much), it was a good night on the bus.

Photos from Nha Trang

At 7 am, we pulled into Hoi An. We tried to nap at the hotel, but since we couldn't sleep, we got breakfast. It was raining, so under an umbrella we walked the UNESCO certified old town. It was nice with a lot of little yellow shops selling all kinds of souvenirs and such. After some cafe time, watching the rain come down outside, we attended a Vietnamese cooking class at a local restaurant. It was a lot of fun, and the food we made was quite delicious (we plan on cooking it up at home in Seattle, so maybe you can join us... ). They didn't give us any kind of recipe book and they kind of hurried us through the steps, so we scribbled down recipes when we could and then revised them after the class at a bar over a beer. After a few more beers to help with our pool-playing, we got on the internet, where I discovered that my father had had a small heart attack and was, right then, already in surgery for a quadruple bypass. We searched all over town (much to the dismay of the huge, jumping rats searching through garbage) for an internet cafe or call center that would be open late enough for me to get alerted when he came out of surgery, but couldn't find a thing.

After a long night, I checked the internet as early as I could in the AM and discovered that everything had gone well, obviously a huge relief. We spent the rainy day talking to family on the phone, emailing back and forth about what had happened and such, and looking around the town a bit more.

Photos from Hoi An

In the morning, we took a bus for about 4 hours further north, past Danang, to Hue. We signed up for a bus that stopped at the Marble Mountains for some pictures but apparently the bus drivers didn't feel the need to stop. Once we got to Hue, we found a hotel run by an adorable older couple who didn't speak a word of English. It was still raining but we decided to brave it and checked out the Citadel, where the emperor lived and government was headquartered for hundreds of years (up until the 1940's).

Next day, we went on a moto bike tour of the city and country side. Of course, it was still raining out so we had on our most water proof clothes and wore plastic rain slickers from the tour company. Our tour guides were a married couple and were very nice and informative. They took us to see another old Japanese covered bridge, passing a few weddings parties along the way. We then went to a Pagoda where we got to watch the monks chant and pray for more than 30 minutes. We stopped at a roadside place and watched how the locals made incense. Em was forced to give it a whirl and had ridiculously short-looking arms in her rain slicker. After this, we drove up to an old bunker built by the U.S. and then onto one of the many tombs of emperors in the area. Last, they took us to another Pagoda in a beautiful spot near the river. The car which carried Quang Duc, the monk who, in 1963, burned himself to death to protest the persecution of Buddhists by South Vietnam's Ngo Dinh Diem's administration, is located here. That night, we tried to book a bus out of Hue for the next morning and found that the bus companies only run night buses. So, stuck we were for another day in rainy Hue. The next morning, we tried to take showers in the hotel room and found that we had no hot water. We went to the owners and explained to them with hand gestures that the water was cold. After several trips to our room in attempt to fix it, the owner changed out the entire outlet and we got two minutes hot water each. The owner's wife must have thought I (Em writing now) was cold because every time she came in and out of the room, she would rub my shoulders and my back in a motherly sort of way. The day was spent hanging out in coffee shops and reading. We were back to the hotel by 5:30 pm to be picked up by the night bus. The owners were there and were so nice and helpful, calling the bus company because it was late and the lady helping me zip up my pack and still practically hugging me the whole time. They also had a friend sitting with them and we saw the lady explain to her friend our dilemma of the morning, using the same hand gestures that I had used earlier and laughing at our crude sign language. As we were setting off for the bus, the lady tossed my small backpack onto her front (like all the backpackers wear them when carrying two packs) and took off towards the bus. It was so funny and a great way to remember these wonderful people. These two were some of the nicest people we met in Vietnam, even though we spoke not one word of each other's language. As we were getting on the bus, the driver asked us where we were from and we said the U.S. His friend then made an X sign toward us and said he didn't like Americans. One of the worst people we've met in Vietnam. We continued on, keeping our eyes peeled for the American hater and ended up getting no sleep on the night bus.

Photos from Hue

At 7 am, the bus stopped and we were told that the bus was broke down and all tourists were to get off here and they would provide taxis to our hotels. Lying, cheating shits, may all the scammers burn in hell. We retrieved our bags from under the bus only to find that mine was soaking wet with stinky water. We found a taxi, which was not free, and it was then I realized that my camera and cell phone were soaked too. After some time, we found a hotel and grabbed some breakfast. Back at the hotel an hour later, I emptied my bag and scrubbed it in the bathtub to get rid of the stench. Mike hung up the clothes line and we turned on both the fan and AC in hopes that my bag would be dry before I had to pack it up again. My shoes were wet from the moto ride in the rain a few days prior and I had had them on the outside of my pack under the bus, so they were also soaked. I pulled out the insole of the first shoe and went to pull out the second when I saw something was in my shoe. I jumped back, screaming and scared Mike. He immediately thought it was a spider and went towards my shoe to take care of it; aww...how sweet. I yelled at him to stop because whatever was in my shoe was large and had a shell or something on its back. This thought freaked both of us out for a minute and we stood back wondering what to do. We finally bucked up and took the shoe into the bathroom where Mike tried to dump whatever "it" was into the toilet. However, "it" held on for an extra few seconds and landed outside of the toilet. After much shrieking by both of us, we realized it was a crab. What to do with a crab, when the toilets and plumbing can't even handle toilet paper? Mike finally decided to toss it of the balcony; sorry crab, but it was already missing 3-4 legs. This crab travelled in my shoe swinging outside my pack from the bus, on a taxi, a 25 minutes walk through town and then into the hotel room! Thus ends the mysterious shoe monster story. We deducted that the stupid bus people must have stored freshly caught sea creatures along with all of the tourist's backpacks, hence how I ended up with a crab in my shoe and the stench of my bag.

(Mike typing again). After the crab fiasco and an attempt at a nap after the long, no sleep night bus, we went out. We walked to a nearby lake, upon which there was an island with a museum. The lake is named after a turtle that supposedly took a powerful sword from a victorious Vietnamese warrior and took it to the bottom of the lake, where it supposedly still lies. Not that exciting, surprisingly. Next up, a walk through the Old Quarter (near where we were staying and in the backpacker district). Street after street, block after block of shops, bustling scooters and people everywhere and always the incessant honking! The shops were interesting in that you had one block dedicated to shoes, then the next would be jewelry, then belts, etc. We ate that evening at a sidewalk beer/food cafe with a bunch of locals sitting on 1 foot high plastic stools at short plastic tables. Back at the hotel, we took advantage of a TV and cable and watched "Flatliners" on Cinemax. Not a good show, but nice to watch a movie.

On our walk to the Temple of Literature, we stopped at a locals pho (noodle) shop. It was good, but since we never saw a menu and never asked the price, we were a little disheartened when the 12 year old boy there ripped us off and charged us at least 50% more than he should have for it. What do you do, beat him up? The Temple of Literature was a Confucius university in Vietnam for hundreds of years. Behind the walls lie some beautiful old Vietnamese architecture, landscaping, fountains, statues, and stone stella engraved with the names of all PhD recipients since the 1400's. On the walk back, we grabbed orange juice (I was starting to feel a cold come on) and then walked to the water puppetry theater we planned to attend that night, just to find that it was sold out for the next 2 days. We were bummed, as this "unique-to-Vietnam" theater was something we'd both been looking forward to, but hadn't thought to book tickets ahead for. After a bite of food, we went back to the hotel. Feeling miserable by this point (4pm), I crawled into bed with all of my clothes on and a case of the chills, and slept intermittently until the next morning. I think that Em puttered around the room, watching TV and such, but you'd have to ask her. The next morning, we got up early to catch our taxi to the Hanoi International Airport to fly to Phuket, in southern Thailand.

Photos from Hanoi

Cambodia

2008-03-06T07:41:00.001-08:00

We flew into the capital city of Phnom Penh via Vietnam airlines. Again the flight was great, short but with a meal, and the service was fantastic. We went through the slow process of customs and visas and finally made it out of the airport. We took two motos into the city center. The "moto" is basically a scooter, the driver put one of our backpacks between his legs and we carried the other on our backs. Scooters are the way to go here in SE Asia. They were prevalent in the large cities in Europe but here they are full family mini vans. We have seen up to 5 people on one scooter, 2 kids and 3 adults, or four adults on one scooter. It is also crazy the amount of stuff we have seen some of them hauling, like 2 queen size mattresses, for example. Back to our moto experience. The drivers were nice and spoke English well. They tried to talk us into being our guides for the rest of the afternoon and told us that the major sites were closed the next day and then tried to talk us into going to expensive hotels, saying that they were a great value and less of a threat of having our stuff stolen. Well, we have been through this, they all tout for their own profit and that of others but we weren't having any of it. My driver kept telling me he was going to take us to this certain hotel and then he would tell Mike's driver which hotel in Cambodian. Finally, I told the guy to pull over and show me where we were on the map, where he was taking us, and that even if he took us to his "great-deal $15 hotel" we were going to turn around and walk out. He did seem slightly fazed by this outburst and pretty much shut up after this and showed me what I asked for on the map. They did take us to a specific, expensive hotel but we paid them and walked away. They followed us, with their scooters up onto the sidewalk telling us they would take us somewhere else. We said no and kept walking. We had to walk another 25 minutes but we did find a great hotel for $5 a night. Welcome to the life of a backpacker in SE Asia. Great times, but most things can be this difficult with touts to buy everything and anything and constant questions of, "tuk-tuk, moto"? We took a bit of a siesta and then we were off to see the Royal palace with its silver pagoda floor, life-size solid gold 90kg Buddha, and smaller emerald Buddha. Afterwards, we crossed the street to a bunch of street vendors selling everything from fried silk worms to fried tarantulas to grasshoppers and the fermented birds. Mike grew adventurous and decided he wanted to try some of these fried delicacies. We pondered over which disgusting fried pestulance to buy and finally settled on grasshoppers and a tarantula. I agreed only to photograph and I did a fabulous job but Mike deserves all the credit because he ate these things and didn't even vomit. After this, we tried and enjoyed some traditional Khmer food for dinner. On the walk back to the hotel, we received about a thousand offers for a moto ride; aren't these people so nice? They don't even think that tourists should have to walk more than 2 feet!

The next morning, we rented bikes (much to the dismay of the moto drivers who still persisted even as they watched us rent them) and rode to Tuol Sleng. This used to be a high school until 1975 when Pol Pot turned it into a security prison that turned out to be a place of torture and extermination for his genocide. There are horrific images of prisoners chained to the walls or beds, dead and lying in their own blood. There are pictures of everyone who was sent here, photos taken as they entered, some of the women with children and babies. All but about a dozen of the 17,000 people sent here were executed. After this, we rode out to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek, which is where they would bring the prisoners for execution after blindfolding and handcuffing them and then loading them into trucks. They would be unloaded and led into the fields where they were forced to kneel and then had shovels smashed into the back of their heads and were then shoved into a mass grave. There is a tree where they killed the babies and small children, presumbly by grabbing them by the legs and smashing their heads into the tree. The murderers then sprinkled chemicals into the graves to reduce the smell, speed up decay of the bodies, and kill the ones who would be buried alive. Now there is a monument set up to honor these people. It is a tall building with windows on all four sides and shelves every three feet up to the ceiling. These shelves are piled 3-4 high with the skulls of these victems killed by their own people. It is shocking to think that something like this could have happened so recently in history, shocking that it is currently going on in Africa, and piercing that there are there are so many bones of these people. Undeniable, living, in-your-face proof. For me, the thousands of skulls, some with notable bullet holes or blunt force trauma, are what set this apart from Auschwitz.

We then rode back to the city. The traffic is amazing, people constantly riding down the wrong side of the street, on the sidewalks, and the incessant honking. Ironically, as we are riding through this, I remind myself that I didn't want to rent bicycles in Amsterdam because of the traffic but that traffic is nothing compared to that of SE Asia. To top it off, Mike's front brake gave out as well and flopped around uselessly the last 15 minutes of the ride. By the time we got back to the hotel, we were exhausted from the sheer effort it took to ride through this mess and the overwhelming heat and humidity. Tonight, hooray for cold showers in cheap hotels.
For dinner, we found a great BBQ place. This was not your traditional BBQ, however. First off, they brought us our own personal BBQ with a rounded, domed top with holes in it and a groove all the way round the bottom with hot oil in it. There were coals in the bottom keeping it hot. They then brought us a plate of fresh veggies and a plate of raw beef and raw seafood. With no instructions, we jumped in attempting to cook up a feast. We put some butter all over the cooking surface of the grill, which then slid down through one of the holes into the fire. We tried to cook the food without the butter and everything stuck so that it had to be scraped off. Our last resort was to dip things in the oil and then slide them up onto the flatter surface of the grill to cook. We did this all with chopsticks and everything kept sliding off the domed surface to try and deep fry itself in the grease at the bottom. Grease then splashed everywhere, getting all over both of us as we scrambled to get the food out and back onto the grill part. It was still very hot and humid and we were sweating to death trying to deal with this damn grill. And last but not least, they gave us a raw egg which we supposed we were to cook on the grill as well. How? We had no idea but we gave a go anyway and got some small bits of scrambled egg that didn't fall through. All in all, it was a good experience but even more work than cracking and peeling crab legs.

Photos from Phnom Penh

The next morning we took a 6 hour bus ride up to Siem Reap to see the ruins of Ankgor. Angkor was the seat of the Khmer emire from around the 12th century, an empire extending from present-day Myanmar to Vietnam. It was a city of 1 million people at a time when London was about 40,000. When we stepped off the bus, we were literally attacked by all the touts trying to get us to go to their hotel. They kept grabbing our arms and shouting at both of us. I finally started screaming at them and we grabbed each other just to push through to get our bags. And, of course, they all followed us still grabbing and yelling. We just kept pushing them out of the way with our bags and finally went with the guy with the sign who just stood back and didn't hassle us at all. He took us to a hotel but we decided to stay because it was $4 a night. We then had him take us out to Ankgor Wat for our first glimpse. It really is amazing and quite large. We walked around it a bit and then went to another temple on a hill to watch the sun set. There were so many people, it was equally entertaining to stand back and watch them all clamor up this temple to get a good view. Our guide was very disappointed when he found out that we planned to rent bikes and ride the 15km back out to Ankgor Wat the next day. He actually tried to dissuade us by telling us that we would be too tired and we should just go with him.

The next morning we did rent bikes but they were the oldest, crappiest bikes ever! The tuk-tuk driver must have put a curse on us. Of course, as we are riding out, it starts to rain. Not rain like you see in the U.S. but rain like you see in movies. Heavy, drenched-in-2-minutes type of rain. Thank goodness we decided to bring the kayaking dry bag (one of our wiser purchases). Some people got off their bikes to wait out the rain but we just kept on going and just like that the basket on the front of my bike fell off and we had to go back to pick it up off the side of the road. Oh, the adventures of Mike and Em... We did finally make it back out to Angkor Wat and the sun shined for a while, our wet clothes keeping us cool. And of course, as luck would have it, the rain poured down and soaked us yet again as we rode to Ankgor Thom. It was worth it to see the many faces of Baphon and the Temple of the Leper King. Such grandeur, these temples are truly amazing! We rode back to town, seeing elephants and monkeys along the way. There were monkeys everywhere! And little Cambodian ladies ready to sell bananas to all the tourists to feed them. They were pretty cute and very bold, taking food right from people's hands. And there were quite a few babies from ones that were too little to leave their moms to the ones who were just venturing out. They were right off the sides of the road and sometimes they would cross the road if there was food on the other side. This was interesting to watch because it really did seem like they looked both ways on this busy road before they crossed. Back in town, we celebrated with buy one get one free happy hour and then had some delicious Khmer food for dinner. Back at our super cheap hotel room, we found that there were two Cambodian kids who slept outside of our room. This wasn't a problem until the one had a broken alarm that rang for 5 minutes at a time periodically throughout the night. Grrrr........!!!!!!!!

We rented bikes again the next day and rode out to see some of the smaller and less touristy temples. These temples were neat because the jungle had taken over parts of them with tree roots lifting and moving the stones and walls that were knocked over or appeared to be ready to fall at any moment. Of course, outside and sometimes inside, too, there were touts to buy water, mangoes, pineapple! The women would literally be yelling and running at us while we were still 40 feet away from them. And then there were the kids who would try and sell us post cards, bracelets, or just ask for money. Sometimes, they would gather and sing as a group but most of the time, they would come up to us and just start walking or jump on the backs of the bikes. Their English was very good from having grown up with tourists all around. Always the same questions, do you want to buy something and where are you from? Once they knew where we were from, they would recite facts about the country such as the capital and number of people, etc. Oftentimes, we said we were from Canada and they told us more about Canada than we knew put together. Annoying, but the kids are cute and we are eating lots of fresh fruit.
We decided that the next day, we were going to relax and read and hang around with no specific plans. We unofficially named the day "dick-off day". We slept in, had a fantastic breakfast, and then went to another cafe for a couple of beers in the sun. I then decided I would take in a 2 hour massage and Mike decided to hang out. The massage was great and only $10.00. We napped the rest of the afternoon away and then had Amok for dinner, the national Cambodian dish. It was so good. One of the best dishes we've had in SE Asia, a curry with coconut milk and lemongrass in the sauce. Next morning, we were up at 5:30 for an 11 hour bus ride into Vietnam.

Photos from Siem Reap

2008-03-06T06:47:00.000-08:00

My father underwent heart bypass surgery yesterday in Bismarck, North Dakota. We did not know a thing about it until we got on the internet yesterday for the first time in a few days, and saw all the emails from my family trying to get a hold of us. It has been a long 24 hours here, trying to keep in touch with my family from internet cafes and call centers that do not stay open 24 hours a day.

The surgery went well, but he has a long and arduous recovery ahead of him. If you could keep him and my family in your thoughts and prayers, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.

Vientiane, Laos

2008-03-06T06:40:00.000-08:00

We were writing the last post while still in Vientiane, so here is the rest of the city. We arrived and spent a while walking around the city with our full backpacker garb (big backpack on back, small backpack on front, guide book in hand) because all of the hotels and guesthouses were full or super expensive. We finally found a hole in the wall place that looked like it might fall down at any moment but we took what we could get. We then wandered around the city checking things out, the usual get to a new city routine. Mike desperately needed a haircut and we found a place that would do it for pretty cheap. I got a pedicure while he got his hair cut and it was a great deal until we got out of the shop, which is when we realized that his hair was shorter in places and longer in others; in some places there was a difference of over an inch right next to one another! It could be that the person cutting his hair was a boy dressed like a girl with a long side ponytail and short cutoff jeans on or it could be that "she" spent about 35 minutes cutting with the clippers before ever touching the scissors or it could even be that later we saw her standing on a corner for over an hour wearing even less than before and a lot more makeup... I am not sure what happened but it may well be one of the worst hair cuts I have ever seen. Not that I'm saying that skimpy-clad, cross-dressing, clipper-obsessed prostitutes can't cut hair. She even cut Mike some bangs across his forehead that were angled, about 1/4 inch long on one side and as long as an inch on the other. We should have taken a picture of his new bangs but didn't think about it. We promptly went back to the hotel room and used the only "scissors" we had available which are about 3 inches long, very dull after 4 months of use, and probably only supposed to be used for eyebrows and nose hairs. I spent the next 15-20 minutes laughing and trying to get his hair to not look quite so much like a 4 year old had cut it. Poor Mike. My pedicure, however, was great for $5 and took just as long as Mike's haircut from hell.

The next day we saw the Laos version of the Arc d'Triomph and then took a long, dusty bus ride to Buddha park. The park was beautiful with a conglomeration of Buddhist and Hindu statues surrounded by green vegetation and lovely flowers. That night we had burgers and fries for dinner! It was so good after so much noodle soup!

Next morning, we rented bicycles and rode out to the national monument of Laos which is a stupa (Buddhist spire) covered in gold paint and surround by wats (temples). We ate noodle soup for lunch and then rode to another wat with over 2300 statues of the Buddha in it and after, to the Laos National History Museum. After the museum we went to the Food Festival, which happened to be going on while we were in town. It was quite small but we decided to get dinner here after seeing some live crawdads being grilled. They pulled them out of the tank and threw them directly in a cooler of ice for a few minutes. This must stun them just enough so they don't fight or jump off the grill. They are then tossed onto the grill and then onto a plate. Neither of us has much experience with eating crawdads but we have peeled and eaten shrimp and thought it can't be that different. So, off we went with our plate piled high with fresh seafood. We dug right in and they were pretty good, a little bland but not bad, even though they were a lot of work to peel. I tried to peel another one and somehow squeezed out all of its intestines onto my hands. That was it, I was done, my stomach was still a bit queasy from a few weeks back and this was all it took. Mike kept at it, though, like the champ that he is, even after coming across female crawdads that had all of their red-orange eggs attached to their legs. Ewwwww!!!!! After this, we had ice cream cones and then a couple of beer Laos to top off our time in Laos.

Click HERE for Vientiane photos.

A bit of Laos

2008-02-21T04:21:00.000-08:00

We started our time in Laos on 2/9, after a 7 hour bus ride through northern Thailand and a boat ride across the mighty Mekong River into the border town of Huay Xi, Laos. After dinner by the river, some BeerLaos (the national beer) and Laap (minced meat with a fried noodle/rice) for me and a Laos noodle soup for Em, we went back to the guesthouse. Later that evening, Em decided that the noodle soup didn't agree with her stomach, and decided to remove it.

The next morning, we caught a minibus to Luang Nam Tha, whipping through some of the curviest mountain roads I've been on. Once there, we put Em in bed at the guesthouse and I went exploring by bicycle. While looking for the Laos Airlines ticket office at the world's smallest airport, a local guy about my age came up and asked if I spoke English and if I needed any help. I said, "Yes, I'm looking for the Laos Airlines ticket office" and waved my arm at the construction-filled dirt strip and single room terminal in front of us. Beaming a big smile, he replied in his best English, "Yes, it's beautiful, isn't it!" Needless to say, I kept searching without his assistance for a while. Back in town, after checking on Em again (still a bit sickly), I signed myself up for a 1-day trek out into the jungle to see some local hill tribe villages.

The next day, up early to go hiking. Besides our 2 guides, both natives to the area and English-speaking, there were 3 other "trekkers": a couple from Hawaii and a lone guy from Paris. We walked a few kilometers through rice paddies until we got to a village of 80 people. They were building a new house for someone, carving the joints of the wooden structure by hand. We learned that almost everyone there made a living planting and harvesting rubber trees for China. This explained the large patches of slash-and-burn (jungle clear-cut and then burned down to allow new plants to be planted) we'd been seeing in the jungle around. After another jaunt through the wild, we stumbled upon a wedding reception in the next village. Apparently, a Laos wedding reception is a 3 day party that anyone and everyone is invited to partake in. We were led to chairs along tables covered in food and drink, and given shots of Lao-lao, the locally distilled rice whiskey, which tasted disturbingly like cheap tequila. After 5 little shots with the locals, I said "no more" and refused their invitations for me to get on the dance floor. That night, Em was feeling healthier, so we booked a 2-day trek with the same company leaving the next day.

Our trek was a party of (once again) 2 locals for guides, and an Israeli couple, 2 Germans, 1 Austrian, and 1 Brit. After hiking through the jungle for some time (luckily not all slash-and-burned), we stopped for lunch. This consisted of dumping bags of bamboo-shoot salad, some chicken concoction, and tomato sauce onto freshly plucked banana tree leaves as a table. Arriving in the village in the mid-afternoon, we kept ourselves busy playing Bocci Ball for awhile and then strolling through the village, spying into the villagers' lives. It was a bit awkward, and had us hoping that the income generated by these well-regulated treks was a positive thing for the people. The locals either don't seem to care that you are there (adults) or want to smile bashfully and wave to you while getting their picture taken (children). The village chief ate dinner with us, and told us a bit about the village (most income from selling rice and animals) and his duties as chief (election every 3 years, been chief for the past 21 years, meetings, etc.) He also poured us some lao-lao to wash down the sticky rice with. Since our guides and the villagers were in bed by about 8pm, the trekkers sat around a fire chatting until a more appropriate bedtime.

The next day, after a breakfast of sticky rice and food that looked a whole lot like lunch and dinner the day before had, we kept moving. At the next village, Em got some great pictures of children fighting over a puppy, a woman pounding the shells off of the rice for the day, and a blacksmith forging a knife blade with a hot fire, a hammer, and a home-made anvil. At the next village a few kilometers further, I bought a small journal of bamboo paper they made there in the village. The rest of the day (and trek) was spent getting back out of the jungle, made quite a bit more difficult by the rain that pummeled us and the Laos' adversion to switchbacks in uber-steep dirt single track trails. Back in town, we were lucky enough to catch Die Hard 3 playing on the TV in our $6/night room before meeting up with the others from the trek for dinner and drinks.

Photos from Huay Xi and Luang Nam Tha.

After an 8 hour bus ride, we arrived the next day in Luang Prabang. This town is French colonial (the French controlled Laos from 1893 to 1949, and are responsible for adding the silent "s" to the country's name), very different in architecture than the more rural areas we'd been to thus far. It also is a bit more touristy, with a lot of restaurants, art shops, and souveneir-type stores. The next day was spent buying a plane ticket from Laos to Cambodia, setting up our Vietnam visas, and getting a bus ticket for the day after. We did get to walk the Hmong night market, where Em bought some hand-sewn story books for her little nieces (don't tell them if you see them!). The little girl helping her mom in the booth had sewn them, and showed how she'd sewn the English, Laos, and Hmong words for the pictures in the books. We ended the night with foot massages, my first. I spent the whole time wondering what the poor girl massaging my callous-covered, dirty, and not-so-fresh smelling feet had done in a previous life to be forced into this, but she seemed plenty happy about doing it.

The following day, we were off to Phonsavan, a city famous for it's Plain of Jars. After another 8 hour bus ride (this one made much less fun by the older guy sitting next to me in the aisle of the bus on a plastic stool throwing up every 10-15 minutes for the entire duration of the trip), we found a place to sleep and got ready for the tour the next day. The short story of the Plain of Jars is that there are thousands of stone jars used 1500-2000 years ago by a group of people that we know nothing about. Theories include food, wine, water, or whiskey storage, and funeral urns. We saw 3 of the 60-some sites (the only 3 currently accessible), a village where they were making lao-lao in the coolest barrel still I've seen, and the shell of a deserted Russian tank. All part of the tour package that we had to join to see the Jars.

Besides being interesting to look at, the jars spread all over the countryside was a chance for me to learn a bit about the US-led secret war in Laos during the 60's and 70's. The short story is that the US thought that if the Communists in the north of Laos spread, all of SE Asia would fall to the Reds and the HoChiMinh trail ran through parts of southern Laos. To prevent this, the US dropped 2 million metric tons of bombs on the country of Laos, more than we did over Germany and Japan in WWII, combined. This was done with over 500,000 missions, 50% more missions than were conducted over North Vietnam. Roughly 30% of the dropped munitions never detonated, meaning that a huge share of Laos is littered with cluster bombs, and the removal effort is slow, tedious, and completely under-funded. To complicate matters, farmers who can't farm their own uncleared land due to the threat have taken to finding, unearthing, and dismantling weapons for the valuable scrap metal they might be able to feed their families with. The story is utterly heart-wrenching and a sad glimpse into one of the short-sighted mistakes made by the US and still impacting lives daily. Worst of all, I had never (that I can remember) heard of the Secret War or it's effects until this trip. If you have a few extra dollars laying around and want to help, you can go to MAG's (Mines Advisory Group) website and donate online.

Photos from Luang Prabang and Phonsavan.

That afternoon, we hopped another bus over a winding, bumpy, puke-inducing road (luckily not Em or I) to Vang Vieng. (Everyone of the Laos people gets sick on the bus, it seems to be the "in" thing to do the ENTIRE trip. The driver's assistant hands little baggies to everyone and they do their business and then chuck the filled bag out the window. It's disgusting. Added by Em) The next morning, after looking at the gorgeous mountains towering over the town, we rented bikes and rode 13km out of town to a site with several caves. The caves were neat to see. One of them had a natural rock that looked strikingly like an elephant, another went down over 1/2 a mile, and the third had big, cavernous rooms throughout. The downside was the guides; although decent guides, one of them had said he couldn't speak enough English when I asked him how much his guide service cost as he walked with us. There was no signs at the beginning saying that you had to have a guide or how much one would cost, so it was a little sketchy. After we'd toured the caves, he and his guide partner demanded (in pretty good English) $10 per person after 1 hour's worth of work. Remember, this is a place where you can 24 oz. beer for about $1. We argued for a bit, and explained that you can't not tell people how much you are going to charge them when they ask and then be pissed when you ask for a huge sum later. We gave them what we thought was fair, and walked off. Luckily, this is one of only a handful of times that we've caught someone trying to blatantly rip us off, so we got over it shortly. That night, a bit tired of sticky rice and such, we found a place with big pizzas and gorged on Western food to resettle our stomaches.

Our second and last day in Vang Vieng, we went tubing down the Nam Song river. Just like back home, we rented tubes, were driven upriver (except this was in a tuk-tuk), and then floated lazily back down. The difference was that along the banks of the river, spaced every 50 yards or so, was another makeshift bar! These bars were complete with ice-cold cocktails and beers, people at the river's edge to throw you a line and reel you in, and (some) had tall platforms from which you could zip-line or swing into the river for kicks. It was incredibly touristy, but such a fantastic way to spend a warm, sunny day (on the river mildly intoxicated) that we debated staying another day!

Photos from Vang Vieng.

Thailand - Part One

2008-02-21T03:42:00.000-08:00

We've finally had a chance to sit down and do some blogging. Sorry if it's a little long, but a lot has gone on since we talked to you last!

We got to Thailand in the afternoon and it was so warm and sunny! We went from 30 degrees and snow in Turkey to 90 degrees and sunny in Bangkok. We finally caught a bus to our hostel and thankfully Mike's insulin that he had shipped from home had made it to the hostel before us. After showering, we headed out into Bangkok to get some cooler clothes and shoes after our wintry attire from Europe. We had very little luck with this the first night. We did find some seriously spicy Thai food that had me wondering if I was going to be able to eat for the next three months. After a lot of panting and huge Thai iced coffees, we were able to eat most of our dinners. The next morning, we attempted to go to the Grand Palace. We decided to eat some yummy and cheap street vendor food on the way there. During lunch, some seemingly random guy came up and started chatting with us and welcoming us to Thailand. He also mentioned that the palace was closed due to a Buddhist holiday, but showed us a few sites on our map that were open and that we might like to check out. The guy even flagged down a tuk-tuk for us. It turned out to be a scam, we think. We did see some nice, not very touristy temples, but the tuk-tuk driver also took us to a jewelry shop and a suit shop, where we walked in and promptly walked out. He was obviously getting paid some commission to take us to these grossly over-priced shops. The next stop took us to a location that we could find on the map and we got out and paid the driver, leaving him open handed, waiting for a tip. Mike caught on to the scam right after we got into the tuk-tuk but we weren't positive and the driver was really nice and helpful. And we only lost a little bit of time and the equivalent of just over a dollar so we weren't out much, but may karma come after that first lying thief!

We saw another Wat, or Buddhist temple, and then decided to check out Th Khao San road, which is where most of the backpackers stay. During the day, it is filled with street vendors selling food, drinks, clothes, hair braiding, henna tattoos, and dreads. By night, it turns into a bar/party/other things scene. You name it and they sold it to the tourists and most of it was pretty cheap (we're talking daytime, not shady nighttime). Mike and I both found some clothes for a few dollars and then we sat and had a couple beers and enjoyed the chaos. To top it off, we ate dinner and a dessert of banana and chocolate crepes for around $2-3. We then found a bus stop and waited for the bus back to the hostel. After about 45 min. of waiting there was still no bus. Just as we had decided to walk, a man and his daughter came up and asked excitedly where we were from and where we were trying to go. He welcomed us to Thailand and told us of a different bus we could take. Their bus came and off they went laughing and waving and two minutes later, the bus he told us about came. At least there are some friendly and helpful people left in the world.

The next day, we were able to see the Grand Palace and it was beautiful. Very well kept with guards all around the outside wall. And, curiously enough, there were much stronger dress codes at the palace than at the temples. No shorts, no short pants, no capries, no tank tops or sleeveless shirts. However, if you did not remember to dress appropriately, they would lend you long sleeved shirts, long skirts, and long pants for free. Oh, and on the way in, another guy tried telling us that the palace was closed but we persevered past him. While at the Grand Palace, we also saw the Emerald Buddha, a beautiful and much revered Buddha of Thailand, which is actually made of Jasper. We also saw the Wat Pho where lives Thailand's largest reclining Buddha. He was impressive, a statue that measures 46 meters in length. That night, we ate Thai food from a street vendor. The ladies running the show made good food and they were very nice. On the walk back to the hostel, we passed the tiniest little shop on a little side street where two older ladies begged us to come in as we passed. We turned around, walked through their store, and bought ice creams from them; they were so happy and grateful. Back at the hostel, we sat on the back porch, listening to the fountain and drinking huge bottles of Thai beer. Ahhh.. quite nice. That is until I realized that my ankles were huge and swollen. It was really attractive, I almost had cankles. I couldn't even see the bones on my inner ankles, it was just flat. Don't worry though, because I seem to have gotten used to the weather and the climate and now have real ankles again.

Our endeavors the following day led us in search of a good tailor so Mike could get a suit or two. Rumor has it that hand tailored suits are really inexpensive in Thailand but there are so many tailors to choose from, it's no simple task. We turned to the internet for help and got very little so after a couple hours of searching and talking prices with different shops we just picked one. Then things got really difficult. We had to pick out the materials, the colors, how many suits, how many buttons, pleats or no pleats, shirts, matching ties??? After helping make the crucial decisions, I went across the street for a $5 Thai massage. The massage was very different from any I have gotten before. She started at my feet and worked her way up to my head, stretching and popping and pounding away at me. It was interesting and kind of fun to have someone else stretch you out. Upon leaving the massage place, Mike told me that it only took another 15 minutes to wrap things up at the tailors and he decided he would have a beer while he waited for me. He found a place, sat down, and was enjoying a tasty beverage when he felt a hand upon his shoulder asking him if he was there alone. Apparently, he had walked himself into a brothel and had this girl as a companion for the next few minutes while he sucked down the beer. Poor Mike! We took metro across town and walked through Lumphini park enjoying the night air. After the park, we walked to the other side of the street and found a night bazaar where we decided to eat. This turned out to be a complicated adventure as we had to buy coupons to pay for the food because the vendors wouldn't accept cash. We finally figured this out and ordered. We headed to a table and before we had sat down, we had three or four drink menus in our faces from different girls in short skirts. Interesting, but I am not sure that I would do it again.

Next day was spent buying more diabetes supplies and getting refitted for the suits. Mike has already promised to model them for everyone when we get home. The suits, not the diabetes supplies...

Photos from Bangkok.

The day after this we took a bus to Phitsanulok. The bus ride was really nice, air conditioned with lunch and a drink and lasted about 6 hours. We were then dumped on the side of the road with no map of the city and no inkling where we were. After an hour and a half of walking, we finally came across a guesthouse. It was really cheap, two nights for two people for $9.40 and really simple. Squat toilets, cold showers, and plastic pillows. And yes, we chose to stay here! There was another night market here too, so we ate really cheap Thai food and got purple sticky rice for dessert. We then found a little country bar with Thai guys singing Bob Dylan. I ordered a beer and Mike ordered a wine cooler ("Not knowing what it was and wanting to try something new!" - Mike's note), and I decided to mix the two, which turned out much better than it sounds. We played a couple games of chess and enjoyed the live music and then called it a night. The next morning, we found a great little breakfast spot with as close to a Western breakfast as we had come at that point, which just means that we didn't eat rice or noodles. We then hopped on a couple of buses to get out to the ancient ruins of Sukhothai, which used to be the capital city of Thailand. We rented bikes for less than $1 each and rode around the ruins for the day. That evening, we caught the bus back to town and again ate at the night market. This time, however, I looked up and saw a rat near our table outside. I told Mike not to look but he had already seen it. Then there came another and the first one shot under the table and both of us were on our feet super fast. We shooed them away and sat down again but the one just kept coming back. By this time, Mike was done sitting down so he stood and drank his soup while I sat and finished my meal. The locals started to notice and told us sit down. The rats came out again and Mike was able to point out why he wasn't sitting down. I am pretty sure the locals were seriously making fun of us, we must have looked pretty funny-stand up, sit down, stand up... We headed back to the same bar and the same people were there and greeted us like old friends. Good times.

Photos from Sukothai.

The next morning we were up early and on a bus headed to Chiang Mai. This bus was not at all like the other one. Everything squeaked and after 4 hours, we still had not taken a bathroom break. The bus then broke down and after 30 minutes, they loaded us onto another bus. 30 minutes later and we pulled into a bus station where we were told to change buses again. We finally got Chiang Mai around 5 pm and ended up talking to a couple from good old Boise, Idaho. The only Idahoans we've met; no one from NoDak thus far:( We found a room and walked the city streets, somehow finding ourselves in a red light type area.

We tried to take a Thai cooking class the next day but we were a little late so we rented a scooter instead. The little Thai lady asked Mike if he had ever ridden and he said yes but just as we were getting ready to take off she found out that we hadn't driven in Thailand yet, where they drive on the wrong side of the road. She kept yelling "stay left, stay left" as she shook her head and off we went. No faith. It turned out to be really fun. We rode up into the hills for views of the city, ate at some road side stands, and rode out to a Wat for a Monk chat. The monk chat was really, really neat. Just a chance for people to talk with some monks. We walked in and we were led to a table by a monk who was around our age. His English was pretty good and we talked for about 20 minutes before a couple more young monks joined in. We asked them why they had become monks. We learned that it is a choice, and there are monks of all ages. Most of the ones we spoke with became monks when they were 11 or 12. They were so nice and really seemed to enjoy talking, asking us questions and answering the questions we had for them. They eat two meals a day, are fed and clothed by the people and in return they relay the teachings of the Buddha. They don't participate in sports, dancing, drugs, sex, or alcohol and they aren't allowed to adorn their bodies with tattoos, piercings and such. They do watch TV and keep up with current events. One of them really enjoyed the show TV show "Lost", which we started to get into just before we left. He informed us that season 2 was good and that we will enjoy it. It was such a great and enlightening experience to sit and talk with them. After this, we decided to return the scooter as it was getting dark and we didn't need to add yet another element of danger.

The next morning we were off to Chiang Kong to cross the border into Laos.

More Pictures

2008-02-21T03:40:00.000-08:00

As promised, I finally uploaded the pictures from skiing in Nice, France (blog post here) on Picasa.
Gorgeous mountain scenery pics HERE.

And, I found a sequence of four shots of Emily in a Hookah cafe in Istanbul that I thought was pretty cool.
This is the first, click forward through the next three to see Em perfecting the hookah.

Photos (finally!)

2008-02-14T06:16:00.000-08:00

Greece photos HERE.

Istanbul photos HERE.

Lost in Laos

2008-02-11T06:15:00.000-08:00

Just to let everyone know, we are in Laos and the internet connections are not great and are few and far between so you may not hear from us all that often. Still having a good time and we'll write when we can,
Em and Mike

Just say NO to rugs! (Istanbul, Turkey)

2008-02-02T06:58:00.001-08:00

Istanbul was a stitch. Pardon the pun after the rug joke in the title.

The flight from Athens to Istanbul on 1/26 was uneventful, except for the fact that Olympic Airlines served us a full meal on a 1 and half hour flight! Anybody flown United lately and had them try and sell you their $5 SNACK PACK? Assholes... Anyway, we made our way into the center of a city of 16 million at about 10pm and found our hostel, with the help of 3 different maps, 2 differeent street addresses provided to us, and some luck (a lot of luck).

The next morning, we bought fresh-squeezed orange juice from a street vendor across from the hostel, and than went into a 5 seat (maybe 6 if you squeezed) cafe a little further away. A really nice, English-speaking Turk guy around our age was behind the counter. He talked to us a bit, gave us some advice, and most important, seemed really happy to chat with us and share his mother's pastries! This became our new breakfast spot in Istanbul. We went to the Blue Mosque, famous because of it's huge size and it's blue tiles lining the inside of the building. Next up was Aya Sofya, a church that for a long time was the largest Christian church in the world. At some point, the Ottoman empire converted it into a mosque and plastered over all the 15th century frescos painted on the walls and ceilings. In the late 1800's (I think), someone knocked the plaster off and realized that all these beautiful frescoes had been preserved. Walking away from the church in the very touristy district of Sultanahmet, we were confronted by about 100 people selling, amongst a few other things, rugs. We talked to a kid who wanted to practice his English, and then brought us into his store to give us his card (I know, hindsight is 20/20). Upon entering the store, we both had hot apple tea in our hands and had been "dropped" to speak to an older relation of his. He was very personable and asked us lots of questions about where we were from and what we do, but he managed to interject carpet buying back into everything! (Colleen, he even suggested I ship you one as it's a gift that lasts a long time!) After 10 minutes or so, he asked "So, if you are given the chance to buy a high quality rug for a very reasonable price, you won't even consider it," and us answering "No,", he said "then I'm going to sell you a leather coat!" and ran off to the coat racks. We set the tea down and got out before our backpacks became heavier and our wallets lighter. We stumbled upon a small soccer match after we found out that the nearby Topkapi Palace wasn't open much longer. At the match, we found it odd that there were almost as many policeman as there were fans, and that we were the only tourists, and that Emily was certainly the only woman. When the cops broke out the riot shields and helmets, and started patting down everyone coming to watch, we got out.

The next morning, our new-found cafe counter friend told us that Turkish soccer is serious business, with soccer hooligans galour. Back to the Topkapi Palace, we saw a lot of interesting history from the 4 centuries that this palace was the seat of the Turkish Sultan's government. There was an 86 carat diamond, surrounded by littler diamonds, and enough gold and jewels to make a pirate nauseas. The real treat was the Holy Relics of Islam exhibit. They did a fantastic job of explaining the beginnings of all 3 of the monotheistic religions, and the splitting of Islam from Christianity. There, they had the staff that Moses used to part the Red Sea, the gold-encased arm and skull of St. John the Baptist, the turban of the Prophet Joseph, and a tooth and multiple chunks of beard hair, and the cloak, of the Prophet Mohammed. Next we went to the Grand Bazaar, an indoor shopping market with 22 entrances and 4,500 stores! Needless to say, they sold everything, and we got lost plenty. After that, the most harrowing experience in Istanbul: the Turkish Bath. This link is the closest example I can think of to what I experienced. For those who don't know, it is from a British TV show called "Long Way Round", featuring Ewan and Charley Boorman travelling on motorcylces from London to New York City the long way, through Russia and Alaska. Great series if you can find it somewhere and are interested in wild travels.

At the bath, we payed about $30 each and went our separate ways (boys and girls are segragated). I was told to change into nothing but a towel, then went into the bath room. It featured a large, circular marble heated stone in the center and small basins with hot and cold spigots around the stone. After bathing myself with a small metal pan (like a dog bowl), I was told to lay on the rock by my male masseuse. For the record, he was hairier than the guys in the video and also wore a towel instead of a speedo. He scrubbed me with a loofah until I felt like it was a metal file, rubbed his fingers into my scalp until I nearly cried, and surprised me (because my eyes were full of soap and I wasn't supposed to move my hands to wipe it out) with intermittent splashes from a 1-gallon pail of nearly boiling water or nearly frozen water! I might be exaggerating a bit, but it was seriously scary. After the massage, I lay on the hot rock in my towel trying to figure out if I had just experienced something I would ever pay for again, while thinking that it was one of the wildest experiences of the trip! Emily said that her's was a bit gentler and sounded almost like fun. That night, we found a hookah cafe. The hookah, for those who don't know, is a water-pipe frequently used in the middle east and elsewhere to smoke flavored tobacco. We sat and drank our Turkish tea (these people drink a whole lot of tea) and smoked our apple-flavored hookah for over an hour, and then retired.

The next day we took a ferry up the Bosphorus River (the river that divides Europe from Asia and divides Istanbul as well). It was pretty, but there was a bit of snow falling outside and a biting wind, so we stayed inside the covered area except for a few quick picture-takings from the top. That evening, we found a local cafe where the waiter messed up about 3 items of our dinner and we drank Raki (a Turkish spirit, it's like Ouzo but with a punch in the face). Back to a different hookah cafe (I think that Em's hooked) where we played some chess and tried a chocolate flavor.

The next day, we went to the airport to fly to Bangkok, Thailand. We had a 6 hour layover in Doha, Qatar, but we just sat and people-watched, waiting for a 1 am flight. For the record, Qatar airlines is probably the nicest airline I've ever flown on. Full meal with a 1/4 bottle of Chilean red wine, in the headrest TV screens with on-demand movies, TV shows, music and video games, all in Coach Class!

Pictures to come later.

City of the Gods

2008-02-02T06:58:00.000-08:00

After flying from Rome to Athens (a 2 hour flight with a meal!), we arrived in Greece in the late afternoon to warm weather and a decent hotel. The Acropolis was already closed for the day but we hiked up the hill anyway for some city viewing. The city itself is not that beautiful but the Acropolis is really pretty all lit up at night, it reminded me of Edinburough with it's castle on the hill. Another thing we noted is that there are non-ferrel dogs all over the city and they seemed to be drugged with NyQuil because all they do is sleep on the city sidewalks and in doorways. Even when eating outside, they just lay there and sleep; strange. We ate lamb, eggplant, and pita bread for dinner along with some Greek wine. While wandering around the city, we discovered a guy selling a Pakistany dessert similar to what we've eaten in Indian restaurants, only better. We tried to remember the name but we've forgotten. The chocolate version tastes similar to sweet walnuts.

We were able to enter the Acopolis the next day, still warm and sunny. There was a temple to Athena built in the mid 6th century B.C. and the Parthenon, another of the more famous buildings. Interesting to compare this architecture to that of the Romans. We also saw the Temple to Zeus, of which there are just a few of the columns that remain standing. And the ancient Agora, which was the center for politics and the marketplace for Athenians. There was also a Roman section from 89 B.C., after the Romans had come in and had their way with the Greeks. We then enjoyed sitting on the terrace of a cafe, drinking coffee and people watching. Mike had a double shot of Greek Ouzo, which he said reminded him of nights at the HaufBrau with Tex Tucker back in Bozeman. Later that night, we were wandering around looking for a place to eat on the map when a local came up and asked, "What do you want," meaning what are you looking for? He then directed us to a realy great Greek restaurant nearby.

The next day we were up and on a bus to the small city of Dephi, 2 hours away. First, we had to take a local bus to the bus terminal. We had no idea where to get off for the terminal but when the stop came up about 5 older Greek men just started looking at us and pointing out of the bus, indicating that that was where the stop was located. Delphi is a small town completely supported by its own ancient ruins and tourism. However, this city used to be the center of the known world and the place of worship for the god, Apollo. This is also where the oracle resided. The ruins contained another theater and a really interesting stadium shaped like a horse shoe. The museum had pictures from the 1800's with the French men who excavated the site and amazing gold trinkets and other sacrificial things made to Apollo. Also, while we were in Delphi, we had more wonderful Greek food including stuffed grape leaves, stewed rabbit, baklava, homemade Greek wine, and a homemade pomegranate liquor. That night we picked up another bottle of Greek wine (it is a really small town!) and headed back to the hotel room. After a few minutes, the power went off (during a really good Van Damm movie!) and the hotel owner's wife came hollering up the hallways holding candles for each of the guests. The power was on again in 15 minutes and the hotel owner then called to remind everyone to extinguish the candles, which was an interesting conversation, because he spoke no English. We then caught a bus back to Athens where we treated ourselves to seeing a movie at a theater, something we've done only once in the past 3 months.

The next day, we went to The National Archeological Museum where we spent most of our time in the Pre Historic section. Most of the items were from digs in Greece from the 1800's and some were dated to as far back as 6500 B.C. Unfathomable! After this, we checked out the Bronze Age section. One of the neatest things here was the display to tell us how they cast bronze statues thousands of years ago (wax investment casting, for all the engineers who might care). We headed out for dinner and got sucked into a touristy restaurant with the promise of a free drink and live music. The wine was good and the music was good but the food left a little to be desired.

The next day, we wandered around the city, hung out in a coffee shop and checked out the markets in Athens. Definitely one of the best places to buy trinkets and jewelry, if anyone is looking. We found an out-of-the way cafe and had an awesome lunch. Mike had octupus in a vinegar sauce and we shared a sampler plate of Greek food. Very tasty and we didn't even know what most of it was! Then it was off to the airport to catch the plane to Istanbul.

Photos sometime later...

1/2 Way Through!

2008-01-26T05:12:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the 1/2 way point of trip down to the day, as we bought tickets the other day back home to the US. April 17th we'll fly from Singapore to SLC, 2 tickets for $268 total (thanks for the miles, Tom and Boeing)!

We are in Athens, Greece this moment, catching a plane to Istanbul, Turkey for a couple of days before flying into Bangkok, Thailand on the 30th. From there, we plan on making our way north into Laos, then south into Cambodia. From there, we'll go up through Vietnam and end up in Hanoi. From there, probably fly back down to the peninsula of Thailand and travel down into Malaysia, then some of Indonesia (not exactly sure where yet!) and then end up back in Singapore to catch a plane home. As always, if anyone has any "must-sees" along the way, please comment or email them to us, as we have very little lined-up thus far and would love more suggestions.

While Europe has been a blast thus far, I think that both Emily and I are ready for a change of pace. We've been going fast and furious, seeing sites and museums and learning and enjoying an unwritable amount of things along the way. It will be nice to slow down a bit, and spend a bit more time sitting around and soaking up some culture (with sunglasses on and beers in hand)!

Problems posting comments on the blog?

2008-01-24T00:25:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! This is Emily but I am not signed in under my google account as I wanted to make sure that I was able to leave a comment. Just so everyone knows, you do not need to have a google account to leave a comment. Just type in the blog address, go to the comment link below the post that you want to comment on, type your comment, click on the nickname button and put in your name. This way you don't need to sign in at all. Then just hit publish! I tested this myself and it worked! Good luck! Hopefully this helps, if it does, please leave us a comment.

Roma

2008-01-21T21:33:00.000-08:00

There is so much to see and do in Rome! And, for some reason, we only allotted ourselves four days here so we have been busy from 8 am to 11 pm every day trying to get it all in and it was oh-so-worth it! We arrived in the afternoon from Cinque Terre, checked into our hostel, and then took metro to the Colosseum. It's huge and spectacular just due to it's sheer size. Really extraordinary. We didn't check out the inside as we wanted to be able to take our time. We did see the Pantheon, which is another amazing Roman structure that has been very well preserved. It was originally built in 27 BC by Marcus Agrippa whose name is still above the door and it's now a Catholic Church. It is also the home of Rapheal's body. Accidentally, we found the Piazza Novana, where sits the Fontana dei Quatro Fiumi or the Fountain of the Four Rivers. Unfortunately, it was partially covered for restoration.

Next day, we went to the Vatican Museum which has an ancient Egyptian section where we saw a mummy from 1200 B.C. and preserved bread from 1300 B.C. Holy shit! The mummy was an older lady with henna died hair (yes, she still had hair and skin! and she had a covering over her left eye socket because that is where they pulled out her brain before mummification!) and her face, hands, and feet were exposed. Mike wanted to take a picture but he felt kind of weird about photographing the dead. In fact, I am not sure that this lady would have been all that pleased about being on display but apparently the Catholic Church was not worried about that! Ha ha! We saw many other really old, amazing things as we wandered through the museum, including many frescoes by Raphael, Pintoricchio, and Michelangelo. There were also many maps that were painted on the walls in the 1500's and huge tapestries from around the same period. After wandering through this magnificent museum for a couple hours, we were finally able to see the Sistine Chapel. We both were open-mouthed at the beauty of Michelangelo's frescoes, Creation and Last Judgement. They were breathtaking! Everyone should go and see this place! After a light lunch and much discussion about the chapel, we made our way to St. Peter's Basilica. The Piazza di San Pietro (in front of the Basilica) is huge, with columns, fountains, an obelisk, and steps for admiring the square. This is also one of the places that the Pope gives his weekly address. The Basilica itself is also amazing with a huge dome designed by, guess who, Michelangelo, and it houses his famous Pieta statue (the guy was a bad ass!). It was completed in 1590. And, of course, St. Peter is buried here...astonishing. We were able to to climb the gagillion steep, tiny, little steps with the roof curving in to the cupola of the building and catch 360 degree views of Rome. After all of this beauty and more church related funness than you shake a stick at, we decided to get some gelato and call it a day on the sightseeing end of things.

Don't worry, though, because the next day was also filled with excitement because we checked out the inside of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. The pictures of the Colosseum speak for themselves. It was spectacular. The Forum is next to the Colosseum and used to be the center of Rome's government and social scene. As another tourist put it, it is a graveyard of Roman buildings and monuments, some of which date back to the 9th century B.C. This is also the place where Ceaser's body was burned and people are still leaving flowers on the rock pile marking it. We also wandered around the Palatine, the hill above the forum and the Colosseum where wealthy Romans and emperors used to have their houses. We also managed to squeeze in seeing Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains church), where they have the chains that bound St. Peter on display and where we saw another of Michelangelo's famous statues, Moses. Both impressive. Interesting bit, if you want to have any light shed on the statue of Moses to get a better look or a better picture, there is a machine in which tourists put money and the light shines for 2 to 3 minutes before turning off again. Brilliant way to make money! Next up we saw the Fontana di Trevi, a fountain that literally seems to burst forth from the front of the building. We did follow custom and threw in two coins each, backwards over our shoulders, one for our guaranteed return to Rome and another for a wish to be granted. A beautiful site to see at night all lit up! We then stopped at a store for a couple of beers (my idea!) and, after much searching, we finally found the Spanish steps built in 1725. We sat on the steps, enjoying our beer and drinking in public!

Our last full day in Rome we went out to Via Appia Antica, a road that was constructed in 312 B.C. We were able to tour one of the catacombs, The Catacombs of San Callisto, which were used from 170-400 A.D. At one point there were as many as 300,000 bodies in these catacombs alone and there are a total of 65 separate catacombs around Rome. None of the catacombs are used anymore and only a few of them have even been partially restored. In the San Callisto Catacombs there were four levels with nearly 3000 rooms. We only got to see a small portion of the first level but it was really interesting. There were little holes in the walls, almost like multi-level bunk beds where the bodies were sealed in with lime and other chemicals to reduce the smell and speed up decomposition. There were two sarcophagi, one which held the body of a mummified 12 year old boy and the other the body of a woman. However, all that was left of the boy was the outer cloth used to cover the body and there was only one recognizable bone left of the woman, the rest had already turned to ash. After our dark, cold adventure, we were blessed by our tour guide, also a priest. We then wandered back down the road and decided to rent bikes for the afternoon (Mike had to feed the monkey on his back). It was warm and sunny and really fun to cruise down the ancient road. Some of the road was made of large cobblestones, which made for a bumpy ride on our cruiser bikes and we were both pining for our mountain bikes. All the while, we were passing Roman ruins just lying about. A fantastic way to spend the afternoon. After returning the bikes, we had a coffee and then took metro to the other side of town to find the Piazza del Popolo. In the piazza, we found an amazing artist who "painted" with spray paint. But instead of mere graffiti, these looked like paintings done with a brush. We are very used to street performers and beggars of every kind at this point but this guy was awesome! He kept our attention for a full 20 minutes and we did give him some money since we couldn't buy one of his masterpieces-worth it. At the other end of the piazza, we climbed the steps to Pincio Hill, where Keats, Mussolini, and Ghandi liked to stroll. We were just in time to catch the sun setting behind St. Peter's Basilica. We then ate dinner at a fantastic Italian restaurant where we had wine and strawberry tirimisu to die for. A wonderful way to end our time in Italy. The next morning, we flew to Athens, Greece.

Photos, HERE.

Venice, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terre (a.k.a. a lot of Italy)

2008-01-21T10:22:00.000-08:00

A game of catch-up for all that we haven't yet shared about Italy.

Venice was a fantastic place to walk all day, getting lost in little alleys and dead-ends and marveling at the canals. The weather was a bit chilly, and not surprisingly, damp, so we had to keep moving to stay warm. Venice seems (to me) to be a very picturesque city, but a complete pain in the ass to live in. Everything is wet and waterlogged, not a lot of (if any?) grass, and so many tourists that it is an epidemic. We ate some exquisite food (lasagne), drank some great wine, and also tried some not-so-great food. For some reason, I thought that Venetian liver might be a lot better than the liver I've tried before. It was not. We only were able to spend a bit less than 2 days before we had to move on.

Venice photos HERE.

Florence was a mess of museums and sunshine, not a bad combination. We saw the statue David, by Michelangelo, at the Academia Museum. Gorgeous, much bigger than I'd imagined, and easy to stare at and absorb for a long time. It seemed to me that it was a perfect copy of the perfect human physique. Comparisons to my physique were quickly quieted by Emily, the museum workers, and complete strangers in the gallery. Next was the Uffizi Museum for (supposedly) the world's largest collection of Renaissance art....I do not doubt if for one minute. Very many beautiful paintings, but the important thing was that it allowed me to fulfill a lifelong dream of seeing artworks by all four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in one day. The next day, we hit up an English language used bookstore and traded in 5 books that we'd been toting around for just such an occasion for 6 new (well, new to us) books. Then we checked out the Duomo, one of the largest Cathredals in the world. The outside was, truthfully, slightly ugly, but the inside was immense and filled with beautiful tile-worked floors, stained glass windows by Donatello, and a gia-normous frescoed dome. We looked at more old stuff, then settled down for some Italian espresso and gelato. Not a bad way to finish up Florence.

On the way to Cinque Terre from Florence, we stopped in at Pisa and walked 1 mile from the train station in the pouring rain to see what everyone comes to Pisa to see. Although I've seen many photos of the leaning tower, it is quite striking in person. They said 5.5 degrees off of vertical, but it looks like a whole lot more.

Cinque Terre (literally Five Villages in Italian) are a World Unesco protected area that are connected by a hiking path along the Mediterranean. We found a guesthouse after walking down the main drag of Rio Maggiore, the southernmost of the 5 that was superb. A little Italian guy who spoke some English, and his wife (?) who didn't speak a word of English showed us around their almost brand new room for at least 20 minutes (It was freakin awesome! -Em). It was a nice change of pace from the dorm rooms, and not much more than average price after we talked him down a bit (much less than some dorms, actually!). That night, we bought some wine and sat on the moonlit balcony of this sleepy, beautiful little town marvelling at it all. The next day, we were up early to catch the train to the northernmost town and then hike the ~20 km back. The only problem was that it was raining, and raining very hard. After walking about 4 km in 3 hours in all our waterproof gear, we were drenched to the point that long underwear were saturated, gloves had water running off the fingertips, and our shoes squished with each step. We ate lunch, managed to get back into our soaked and freezing cold clothes, and took the train back. We gave it hell, got some great photos and had fun, but in the end, the weather was a bit tougher. The rest of the day was spent drying one set of our 2 sets of clothing, and reading books in the room while the rain poured on.

Later on, while emptying the wet backpacks, Em discovered that she'd accidentally left her camera and her journal in the back(Whoa, this is because I am used to taking all of my valuables with me and never leaving them in a hostel where they might get stolen, they are always in there!). Both were saturated, but the journal is drying out, and the LCD on the camera is almost dry, at which point we will conduct the "power-on" test to see what's left! And, hopefully then we can share the Alps skiing pictures that are on it with everyone. The next morning, we made our way to Rome.

PS, thanks to Jora Deziel for suggesting Cinque Terre a long time back. She was the first of many to recommend it!

Florence, Pisa, and Cinque Terre photos HERE.

Skiing in the Alps

2008-01-18T10:29:00.000-08:00

We rode the train from Barcelona and arrived in Nice, France late that night with plans to go skiing the next day. After much discombobulation, a tram ride, a 2 hour bus ride, and ski rentals (all the while trying to do weight conversions to Kg, height to centimeters, and shoe size conversions to European, all with people who spoke French), we were ready to go. The skiing, a place called Auron (piste map above) was pretty good. The snow was icey and my performance left a lot to be desired, but it was still a great time and we got some gorgeous shots of the Alps (pictures to come later, when we can post them). Back at the hostel, (which had really good, cheap food, cheap bottles of wine, and even cheaper 1 euro tall boys of beer in a vending machine!) we sat and chatted with some other travelers while eating dinner. The next day in Nice, we tried to explore the city a bit and see some of the French Riviera, but it was pouring rain! Instead, we found a used book store with a dingy used English section and bought both The Dubliners by Joyce and Wuthering Heights by Bronte for 4 euro! We then attempted to find a jewelry store or a tattoo shop looking for a replacement for my nose ring, which had fallen out the night before. (Oh, yeah, for those of you that don't know, I pierced my nose just before the trip. Apparently, I did not think that traveling round the world for six months was adventurous enough!) I had to put one of my earrings in my nose to keep the hole open and it looked like a huge green blob on my nose, so it was a relief to find a jewelry store. Amazing how, even on vacation, silly little things still need to be dealt with, from paying bills to where to eat and sleep for the night!

Pictures of skiing to come later.

Barcelona, Spain

2008-01-18T09:45:00.000-08:00

We left Portugal by night train headed back to Madrid. This time we spent a little extra and got to sleep in beds, although we had to split up (boys against girls, just like the old days!). It was kind of fun to be sleeping in this little bunk bed on a train. When I arrived in my cabin, this nice lady who was already in bed kept trying to help me figure things out. She only spoke Spanish and kept her sheet over the lower half of her face (I think she must have worn dentures and had already pulled them out), so it took me about 10 minutes to figure out that I had a bottle of water and earplugs waiting for me in a little cupboard. A funny story to tell Mike the next morning as the lady slipped off the train with teeth intact. Overall, the night train was a good experience even though I got little sleep. Of course, Mike slept like a stone, as usual.

After a couple more times of switching trains, we walked from the train station out into sunshine and warm weather in Barcelona. We wandered down the main road and saw over a dozen different street performers, from a woman dressed as a tree to one guy as Michael Jackson and another as Edward Scissor Hands. We found a little pub and caught some more rugby, one of the teams being from Biarritz, where we had been recently.

The next day was a little chillier but nice enough that we spent time strolling through the city park. Wandering down a side street we met a basset hound whose owner must have owned the shop outside of which he was tied. He was very sweet and playful. He started play fighting with me and somehow ended up grabbing my bag (which was on its last leg anyway) and we began playing a game of tug of war. After a few minutes, Mike reminded me that I didn't currently have another bag to hold my things, so I ought to stop before it was a goner. The basset hound had other ideas and even after some serious tugging on my part (and uncontrollable laughter), it took some prying open of the jaws of a dog I didn't even know to get my bag back. He just looked sad that we weren't going to play anymore. That night, we made dinner at the hostel, drank cheap Spanish wine, and watched a movie on the hostel couch. Small things that aren't always an option for us, but are so enjoyable sometimes!

The next morning, we went to a museum of Roman ruins. It was underground in the city center and showed rooms where they made wine, washed clothes, and made a specialty fish sauce from fish guts and rotting fish pieces. When this area was unearthed, scientists found traces of grapes and plants used to dye cloth, which is how they knew what the different rooms were used for. They also found traces of human urine that was used to wash clothes, because of the ammonia. The Romans had tanks outside of the laundry where passersby could urinate to facilitate the clothes washing. Makes me thankful for detergent, but Mike thinks that we should open a laundry using this practice, and place our tanks in the Barmuda triangle, Bozeman, for a near-limitless supply of ammonia! After this, we took the funicular (description, basically a subway that climbs up inclines) up the hill to the palace, which afforded us some great views of the city and the Mediterranean Sea. On the walk back down, we found large "musical instrument" type things in the park. They consisted of giant whistles and things that one could jump on and off of like a see-saw and they produced musical notes (probably for children, in retrospect). We also found a zip-line swing that kept us occupied for a few minutes (okay, an hour or so!). It was very fun, running up the hill and then turning round and swinging onto the seat and swinging down. It was equally fun for the other to attempt to get some crazy pics of the one riding. Awww...we are so easily entertained.

Another sunny day in Barcelona and we checked out Antoni Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia, which was truly amazing. It is a beautiful cathredal with huge spires and awesome architecture. Tourists are all over the place and all the while, work is still being done on the building and will be continued for the next 12 years, even though construction begain in 1882! We also checked out some more of Gaudi's buildings scattered around the city. Very interesting curves and swoopy lines.

Photos, HERE.