Day 75 Saturday 11/10
We started the day at the Women's Museum and learned about Vietnam's history and women over time. We found a cinema and watched Skyfall (the James Bond movie), the one English film at the theatre and enjoyed some theatre caramel popcorn and fountain drink cokes. The night was spent on the train to Sapa, Vietnam, the only cold weathered destination on our map. We had a four person room and got put with a local couple and their baby.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Vietnam- day 74
Day 74 Fri 11/9
We enjoyed our last breakfast on the island before hopping on the boat and heading back. We were served lunch on the boat and had a nice relaxing back through HaLong bay. The bus ride back was another 4 hours or so and everyone was exhausted. When we got back, I found us a great room with a much needed hot shower. Maggie went to church and we enjoyed an early night in our own room. It had been days since we had a room to ourselves, and the price difference from the backpackers hostel was just a dollar.
We enjoyed our last breakfast on the island before hopping on the boat and heading back. We were served lunch on the boat and had a nice relaxing back through HaLong bay. The bus ride back was another 4 hours or so and everyone was exhausted. When we got back, I found us a great room with a much needed hot shower. Maggie went to church and we enjoyed an early night in our own room. It had been days since we had a room to ourselves, and the price difference from the backpackers hostel was just a dollar.
Vietnam- day 73
Day 73 Thurs 11/8
The time day on Castaway island was relaxing. At 8 am the group that greeted us started their journey back to Hanoi, while we enjoyed the day kayaking around the islands, laying on the dock and beach, rock climbing, and just hanging out. We were also supposed to go wake boarding, but the boat broke before our turn, and we were compensated instead, which we were totally happy about. We welcomed the other group in the afternoon with welcoming them to the island and putting a slip of paper in their right hand that said "Buffalo" and making them shotgun their beer with their right hand before reading the paper in their left. We shared another fun night on the island.
The time day on Castaway island was relaxing. At 8 am the group that greeted us started their journey back to Hanoi, while we enjoyed the day kayaking around the islands, laying on the dock and beach, rock climbing, and just hanging out. We were also supposed to go wake boarding, but the boat broke before our turn, and we were compensated instead, which we were totally happy about. We welcomed the other group in the afternoon with welcoming them to the island and putting a slip of paper in their right hand that said "Buffalo" and making them shotgun their beer with their right hand before reading the paper in their left. We shared another fun night on the island.
Vietnam- day 72
Day 72 Wed 11/7
We woke up early and met the forty other backpackers who joined us as we journeyed three days/two nights through HaLong bay. The trip started from Hanoi with a four hour bus ride to the port where we loaded onto a boat to Castaway Island. The tour we chose was the most popular among young backpackers, but is also known as the "party tour". In the bus we met a lot of the others from around the world, many from Canada, Australia, England, and Germany. There was one other American with us from California, which turned into a nice bus conversation, because about an hour into the ride, Obama got elected. Justin (the Californian) was very knowledgable on politics and what exactly has been happening in the world and the rest of the bus was very interested in American politics as well. We got to the boat around noon and cruised through the gorgeous HaLong bay for about four hours, viewing over 1500 islands with huge rocks, gorgeous greenery, and scattered beaches. We also enjoyed drinking games on the party boat and learned the rules of the island: if you drank anything with your right hand, you got buffaloed and were forced to chug your drink on spot and go replace it at the bar, and if you said the words "mine" or "ten", you had to do ten push-ups. We stopped for a swim break for about an hour and arrived at the island around 5:30, where we were welcomed by the group that arrived the day before us. We knew a few of them, because we had roomed with them for a night in Hanoi before they left for HaLong bay. Our welcoming was the group painting themselves and acting dead on the island and as we arrived the popped up, made a tunnel and slapped us as we ran through onto the beach. The little beach has about six bungalows that each sleep around ten people each(a mat, blanket, and mosquito net around each one), five bathrooms, four showers, and a covered pavilion area for food and company. The night was fun. We celebrated Diego the Argentinians birthday and the Californian got into a fight with a Canadian who was 6 ft 4 in. Unfortunately, Justin's nose broke and he accompanied the welcoming group home the next morning.
We woke up early and met the forty other backpackers who joined us as we journeyed three days/two nights through HaLong bay. The trip started from Hanoi with a four hour bus ride to the port where we loaded onto a boat to Castaway Island. The tour we chose was the most popular among young backpackers, but is also known as the "party tour". In the bus we met a lot of the others from around the world, many from Canada, Australia, England, and Germany. There was one other American with us from California, which turned into a nice bus conversation, because about an hour into the ride, Obama got elected. Justin (the Californian) was very knowledgable on politics and what exactly has been happening in the world and the rest of the bus was very interested in American politics as well. We got to the boat around noon and cruised through the gorgeous HaLong bay for about four hours, viewing over 1500 islands with huge rocks, gorgeous greenery, and scattered beaches. We also enjoyed drinking games on the party boat and learned the rules of the island: if you drank anything with your right hand, you got buffaloed and were forced to chug your drink on spot and go replace it at the bar, and if you said the words "mine" or "ten", you had to do ten push-ups. We stopped for a swim break for about an hour and arrived at the island around 5:30, where we were welcomed by the group that arrived the day before us. We knew a few of them, because we had roomed with them for a night in Hanoi before they left for HaLong bay. Our welcoming was the group painting themselves and acting dead on the island and as we arrived the popped up, made a tunnel and slapped us as we ran through onto the beach. The little beach has about six bungalows that each sleep around ten people each(a mat, blanket, and mosquito net around each one), five bathrooms, four showers, and a covered pavilion area for food and company. The night was fun. We celebrated Diego the Argentinians birthday and the Californian got into a fight with a Canadian who was 6 ft 4 in. Unfortunately, Justin's nose broke and he accompanied the welcoming group home the next morning.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Vietnam- day 71
Day 71 Tues 11/6
We woke up and ran around the big lake, located in the middle of the city. The city is one big car accident waiting to happen. The number of traffic lights in the huge city can be counted on one hand and the attitude of drivers is do what you can to make it to the road you need. There is no such thing as a one way street nor a rude honk, the honk is used so commonly, it's regarded as normal. Look both ways before crossing the street is a joke in Hanoi. To cross the street you simple step in front of a bus and leave it to them to avoid hitting you. Pedestrians don't really get honked at as much as honking at other cars. Maggie and I crossed a street at a busy five way intersection, totally mauling right through the middle, no assessment of street conditions needed. On Wednesday, we are leaving on a three day cruise of Halong Bay.
We woke up and ran around the big lake, located in the middle of the city. The city is one big car accident waiting to happen. The number of traffic lights in the huge city can be counted on one hand and the attitude of drivers is do what you can to make it to the road you need. There is no such thing as a one way street nor a rude honk, the honk is used so commonly, it's regarded as normal. Look both ways before crossing the street is a joke in Hanoi. To cross the street you simple step in front of a bus and leave it to them to avoid hitting you. Pedestrians don't really get honked at as much as honking at other cars. Maggie and I crossed a street at a busy five way intersection, totally mauling right through the middle, no assessment of street conditions needed. On Wednesday, we are leaving on a three day cruise of Halong Bay.
Vietnam- day 70
Day 70 Mon 11/5
Crossing the border into Vietnam was a lot harder than any we had passed thus far. We had to preorder Visas and they're only suitable for a month. It took over an hour to get past the border, and about an hour past the border, the bus was stopped by soldiers and the compartments under the bus were searched, including one bag randomly getting thoroughly checked. The entire day we only stopped for food once,which really killed me, and around 6:40 pm we made a stop to drop off lodging wood at one of the workers houses (illegally of course). The wood was stored in a bus compartment that could only be opened by making the backseats of passengers exit the bus. We finally arrived in Hanoi at 10:00 pm and four others and I found the Backpackers hostel downtown. Luckily, Maggie was there at the front door when we walked up and we grabbed some dinner, my second meal of the day...
Crossing the border into Vietnam was a lot harder than any we had passed thus far. We had to preorder Visas and they're only suitable for a month. It took over an hour to get past the border, and about an hour past the border, the bus was stopped by soldiers and the compartments under the bus were searched, including one bag randomly getting thoroughly checked. The entire day we only stopped for food once,which really killed me, and around 6:40 pm we made a stop to drop off lodging wood at one of the workers houses (illegally of course). The wood was stored in a bus compartment that could only be opened by making the backseats of passengers exit the bus. We finally arrived in Hanoi at 10:00 pm and four others and I found the Backpackers hostel downtown. Luckily, Maggie was there at the front door when we walked up and we grabbed some dinner, my second meal of the day...
Laos- day 69
Day 69 Sun 11/4
We enjoyed breakfast together looking over the Mekong River, before Maggie and I went separate ways to our next destination: Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Maggie caught a flight at 3, which got delayed to 5, and arrived in Vietnam an hour later. I got a nice long run in along the Mekong, before boarding a 27 hour bus ride to Hanoi at 6 pm. The staff on the bus was terrible, yelled all the time (of course we didn't understand it because it wasn't English), and played ridiculously obnoxious music while showing videos of girls club dancing. Luckily there was a good group of people on the bus and we were all on the same page thinking turn this s*** off. I got stuck sleeping next to a man from Laos, but the most communication exchanged between us was a few seconds of eye contact.
Here's Maggie's account of what she did...
After a nice wait at the airport, the sunset plane was well worth the flight. I arrived and a nice Dutch guy named, Zander or Zoloft??. Had an IPhone and helped me find the hostel. Backpackers Vietnam is a famous hostel and we had heard rave reviews about it. When I arrived, a party was in full swing with loads of people and loud music. I was starving and went to a cute vegetarian restaurant. I loved trying new things and had tofu topped with mixed vegetables that was amazing and I will try to make at home. The next morning I woke up early, unaware of the time, and set off to explore the city. I walked A LOT, saw the cathedral, ate some Pho (dish of Vietnam) on the street, read in the park, saw the Water Puppet Theater show (recommended in guidebooks), and figured out the city. I sat at a cute rooftop restaurant overlooking the river and then headed back to the hostel to wait for Emily...
We enjoyed breakfast together looking over the Mekong River, before Maggie and I went separate ways to our next destination: Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Maggie caught a flight at 3, which got delayed to 5, and arrived in Vietnam an hour later. I got a nice long run in along the Mekong, before boarding a 27 hour bus ride to Hanoi at 6 pm. The staff on the bus was terrible, yelled all the time (of course we didn't understand it because it wasn't English), and played ridiculously obnoxious music while showing videos of girls club dancing. Luckily there was a good group of people on the bus and we were all on the same page thinking turn this s*** off. I got stuck sleeping next to a man from Laos, but the most communication exchanged between us was a few seconds of eye contact.
Here's Maggie's account of what she did...
After a nice wait at the airport, the sunset plane was well worth the flight. I arrived and a nice Dutch guy named, Zander or Zoloft??. Had an IPhone and helped me find the hostel. Backpackers Vietnam is a famous hostel and we had heard rave reviews about it. When I arrived, a party was in full swing with loads of people and loud music. I was starving and went to a cute vegetarian restaurant. I loved trying new things and had tofu topped with mixed vegetables that was amazing and I will try to make at home. The next morning I woke up early, unaware of the time, and set off to explore the city. I walked A LOT, saw the cathedral, ate some Pho (dish of Vietnam) on the street, read in the park, saw the Water Puppet Theater show (recommended in guidebooks), and figured out the city. I sat at a cute rooftop restaurant overlooking the river and then headed back to the hostel to wait for Emily...
Laos- day 68
Day 68 Sat 11/3
5:45 am came too early. Every morning, the locals and the tourists in town wake up extremely early to feed the monks as they walk through the main streets of the city. We stood on a corner by our guesthouse and watched the line of monks walk through and receive food. Some of the tourists may have missed the "worship" part of the procession and whipped out their tripods with their cameras right in the monks faces. It was interesting. I tried to get some good shots from the corner diagonal to the action. For dinner, we went back to the night market and spent the night with two friends, Phoebe and Cynthia, from Holland and Canada. We introduced them to the great wine place we found the other night and had a lot of fun.
5:45 am came too early. Every morning, the locals and the tourists in town wake up extremely early to feed the monks as they walk through the main streets of the city. We stood on a corner by our guesthouse and watched the line of monks walk through and receive food. Some of the tourists may have missed the "worship" part of the procession and whipped out their tripods with their cameras right in the monks faces. It was interesting. I tried to get some good shots from the corner diagonal to the action. For dinner, we went back to the night market and spent the night with two friends, Phoebe and Cynthia, from Holland and Canada. We introduced them to the great wine place we found the other night and had a lot of fun.
Laos- day 66
Day 66 Thurs 11/1
Never having spent a constant few consecutive months with one person 24/7, we decided that we needed the day to ourselves. I spent my time at the spa and got a little culture in talking to Pai, who spoke a little bit of broken English. Maggie might have been a tad more productive than me and volunteered at the library for the day and explored the city. She talked to a monk and learned about his life and said that he was from a small town, so committing his life to seven years as a monk was a beneficial choice. Some of the monks are just little kids, seven and eight years old, and its sad to see them commit to such strict rules as they grow up: Bare feet, two hour walk to and from the city every day, no sports, lots of worship, no food after 11am, and no physical contact. Maggie touched his arm when they were chatting and learned that rule quick. Alot of the locals are Buddhists as well and really support the monks. We met back at the room and went to a cute bar/yoga place/restaurant called Utopia, that had been written up in lonely planet. It had a great environment and I hung out while Maggie did sunset yoga on the river. As we walked around the city, we must have seen twenty people we knew and it's really cool to run into people in different cities. We've even been running into people we met two months ago in Bali, and even though it takes five minutes for us to figure out who they are, we eventually always do. Lots of wine here, best wine Maggie's had in a year and a half.
Never having spent a constant few consecutive months with one person 24/7, we decided that we needed the day to ourselves. I spent my time at the spa and got a little culture in talking to Pai, who spoke a little bit of broken English. Maggie might have been a tad more productive than me and volunteered at the library for the day and explored the city. She talked to a monk and learned about his life and said that he was from a small town, so committing his life to seven years as a monk was a beneficial choice. Some of the monks are just little kids, seven and eight years old, and its sad to see them commit to such strict rules as they grow up: Bare feet, two hour walk to and from the city every day, no sports, lots of worship, no food after 11am, and no physical contact. Maggie touched his arm when they were chatting and learned that rule quick. Alot of the locals are Buddhists as well and really support the monks. We met back at the room and went to a cute bar/yoga place/restaurant called Utopia, that had been written up in lonely planet. It had a great environment and I hung out while Maggie did sunset yoga on the river. As we walked around the city, we must have seen twenty people we knew and it's really cool to run into people in different cities. We've even been running into people we met two months ago in Bali, and even though it takes five minutes for us to figure out who they are, we eventually always do. Lots of wine here, best wine Maggie's had in a year and a half.
Laos- day 67
Day 67 Fri 11/2
I got a good run in along the river in the morning, before meeting up with the girls from Sweden that we went tubing with in Vang Vieng. The five of us took a tuktuk about 30 kilometers to the waterfall. The water was gorgeous and crystal blue, but too cold for me for swimming. There was a rope swing and Rebecca was the only of the five of us brave enough to get totally wet. I talked to a couple from Argentina for a while, while the others were wading on the water. We thought we had seen the whole waterfall at the swimming area, but we walked up a little further and were shocked that we actually hadn't gotten to the main waterfall. It was humongous and as we walked up, we could feel the most from the water pouring down over the rocks. We explored the night market for dinner, and for $1.25 we ate the buffet, where you got one plate and could take as much food as you could fit on it in one walk through. Maggie did a bit of souvenir shopping through the night market after dinner. We decided Luang Prabang is definitely our favorite city we've been to thus far and love the environment.
I got a good run in along the river in the morning, before meeting up with the girls from Sweden that we went tubing with in Vang Vieng. The five of us took a tuktuk about 30 kilometers to the waterfall. The water was gorgeous and crystal blue, but too cold for me for swimming. There was a rope swing and Rebecca was the only of the five of us brave enough to get totally wet. I talked to a couple from Argentina for a while, while the others were wading on the water. We thought we had seen the whole waterfall at the swimming area, but we walked up a little further and were shocked that we actually hadn't gotten to the main waterfall. It was humongous and as we walked up, we could feel the most from the water pouring down over the rocks. We explored the night market for dinner, and for $1.25 we ate the buffet, where you got one plate and could take as much food as you could fit on it in one walk through. Maggie did a bit of souvenir shopping through the night market after dinner. We decided Luang Prabang is definitely our favorite city we've been to thus far and love the environment.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Laos- day 65
Day 65 Wed 10/31
We spent Halloween on a bus to Luang Prabong, Laos. We were all packed up by 10:30 to try and catch the 11:00 bus, but on the way down the four flights of stairs, the zipper on my backpack officially broke. Luckily, there was one shop in town that sold backpacks, so I bought a bigger one with hope that the I won't have to cram everything in anymore. The bus ride was windy, but no fear, Maggie got the front seat as usual. A lot of the trip was winding up a mountain. We stopped twice, and one time when we stopped everyone was dressed in humongous ski jackets and the weather had only dropped to about 60 degrees F. It was a little chilly, but I think a light sweater would have sufficed. We arrived and found a guest house called Heritage that is perpendicular to the river. When we finally ate, we had dinner at a cute place overlooking the water.
We spent Halloween on a bus to Luang Prabong, Laos. We were all packed up by 10:30 to try and catch the 11:00 bus, but on the way down the four flights of stairs, the zipper on my backpack officially broke. Luckily, there was one shop in town that sold backpacks, so I bought a bigger one with hope that the I won't have to cram everything in anymore. The bus ride was windy, but no fear, Maggie got the front seat as usual. A lot of the trip was winding up a mountain. We stopped twice, and one time when we stopped everyone was dressed in humongous ski jackets and the weather had only dropped to about 60 degrees F. It was a little chilly, but I think a light sweater would have sufficed. We arrived and found a guest house called Heritage that is perpendicular to the river. When we finally ate, we had dinner at a cute place overlooking the water.
Laos- day 64
Day 64 Tues 10/30
We did an excursion that included a little trek, tubing through a cave, lunch, and kayaking. We had a good group of people, a couple from Bangkok, a gay guy from Australia, a blonde from Israel, and two crazy boys from China. The tubing through the cave was really cool and required headlights because it was so dark. We sat in the tubes and pulled on a rope to get as deep in as we could. One of the highlights of my day was one of the guys from China who enjoyed the tube caving in a tight pair of jockeys and also enjoyed splashing around a lot of of his tubing, running through the cave every chance he got. Another highlight of the day was running into a Korean tour group going into the cave and forming a line to get pictures with Maggie and I before they entered the cave. Those Koreans love their Meegooks (Americans). The kayaking was a lot of fun as well. Maggie took the front of the kayak and I got the back. We did have one incident where the rock got in our way and the kayak flipped. Before we knew it, our bag, waters, kayak, and paddles were all floating down the river. We survived. The Lao boat races were held I the afternoon and we caught a glimpse of the rowers and the festivities going on in town. It was a terrific last day in Vang Viene.
We did an excursion that included a little trek, tubing through a cave, lunch, and kayaking. We had a good group of people, a couple from Bangkok, a gay guy from Australia, a blonde from Israel, and two crazy boys from China. The tubing through the cave was really cool and required headlights because it was so dark. We sat in the tubes and pulled on a rope to get as deep in as we could. One of the highlights of my day was one of the guys from China who enjoyed the tube caving in a tight pair of jockeys and also enjoyed splashing around a lot of of his tubing, running through the cave every chance he got. Another highlight of the day was running into a Korean tour group going into the cave and forming a line to get pictures with Maggie and I before they entered the cave. Those Koreans love their Meegooks (Americans). The kayaking was a lot of fun as well. Maggie took the front of the kayak and I got the back. We did have one incident where the rock got in our way and the kayak flipped. Before we knew it, our bag, waters, kayak, and paddles were all floating down the river. We survived. The Lao boat races were held I the afternoon and we caught a glimpse of the rowers and the festivities going on in town. It was a terrific last day in Vang Viene.
Laos- day 62
Day 62 Sun 10/28
We tubed the Mekong River! Pretty cool to say. Tubing the river is a huge tourist attraction, but has been labeled "dangerous" due to a couple of deaths from tubing with too much alcohol. The river had been shut down to tubers on and off throughout the past few months, so we were lucky for it to be open. We tubed with three Swedish girls from our guest house and there were three bars open. There were a bunch of other people tubing as well and it was a great experience.
We tubed the Mekong River! Pretty cool to say. Tubing the river is a huge tourist attraction, but has been labeled "dangerous" due to a couple of deaths from tubing with too much alcohol. The river had been shut down to tubers on and off throughout the past few months, so we were lucky for it to be open. We tubed with three Swedish girls from our guest house and there were three bars open. There were a bunch of other people tubing as well and it was a great experience.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Laos- day 61
Day 61 10/27
After having a great breakfast at True Coffee, we boarded our bus to Vang Vieng. It was four hours north. We found a cute hostel and decided to look around. All of the cafe's here have tables where you can sit on raised seating and watch Friends or Family Guy. They are playing in literally every cafe and restaurant. We enjoyed an afternoon of friends and then met some people at the local bar.
After having a great breakfast at True Coffee, we boarded our bus to Vang Vieng. It was four hours north. We found a cute hostel and decided to look around. All of the cafe's here have tables where you can sit on raised seating and watch Friends or Family Guy. They are playing in literally every cafe and restaurant. We enjoyed an afternoon of friends and then met some people at the local bar.
Laos- day 60
Day 60 10/26
We woke up, got some breakfast, read and decided to go back to the club. We exercised and got some sun in. We decided to get sushi for the third night in a row. We really got our "western food" fix in this week.
We woke up, got some breakfast, read and decided to go back to the club. We exercised and got some sun in. We decided to get sushi for the third night in a row. We really got our "western food" fix in this week.
Laos- day 59
Day 59 10/25
There was a fair going on in Vientiane due to the boat races so I introduced Emily to Ice Bubble Tea. We walked around and cafe hopped the whole day. We ended up splitting a barbecue sandwich and sushi for dinner then went to a bar with someone we had met at the pool the day before. We talked politics for a while and it is interesting hearing about people from outside the United States political view on our country.
There was a fair going on in Vientiane due to the boat races so I introduced Emily to Ice Bubble Tea. We walked around and cafe hopped the whole day. We ended up splitting a barbecue sandwich and sushi for dinner then went to a bar with someone we had met at the pool the day before. We talked politics for a while and it is interesting hearing about people from outside the United States political view on our country.
Laos- day 58
Day 58 10/24
We arrived in Vientiane,the capital, at 6 in the morning, found a place to stay, and got some food. I took a short nap and Maggie walked around for a while. We decided to go in search of the local fitness club. After walking more than 2 hours, we found it and got day passes. I worked out for a while while Maggie was at the pool. We walked home and really got to see the city and the fair happening.
We arrived in Vientiane,the capital, at 6 in the morning, found a place to stay, and got some food. I took a short nap and Maggie walked around for a while. We decided to go in search of the local fitness club. After walking more than 2 hours, we found it and got day passes. I worked out for a while while Maggie was at the pool. We walked home and really got to see the city and the fair happening.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Laos- day 57
Day 57 10/23
Today was another travel day. We took the long tail boat to the mainland, a three hour bus ride to Pakse and got there around 3. Our sleeper bus was leaving at 8 so we had a few hours to kill. We got some lunch, looked all around the town and found ourselves sitting in a coffee shop. They had the best blueberry cheesecake. The sleeper bus was funny. There are two people to every bed and the beds were not very big. Maggie was on the window and I am surprised I didn't fall off the bed throughout the night.
Today was another travel day. We took the long tail boat to the mainland, a three hour bus ride to Pakse and got there around 3. Our sleeper bus was leaving at 8 so we had a few hours to kill. We got some lunch, looked all around the town and found ourselves sitting in a coffee shop. They had the best blueberry cheesecake. The sleeper bus was funny. There are two people to every bed and the beds were not very big. Maggie was on the window and I am surprised I didn't fall off the bed throughout the night.
Laos- day 56
Day 56 10/22
Happy Birthday Caroline! The sun sets early, so that means it rises early as well. Our bungalow is on the sunrise side, so we woke pretty early and had a great breakfast on the river. We decided to rent bikes and explored the island a little. It was pretty much the same as the other Mekong River Island, just a little bigger. Maggie got a delicious chocolate peanut shake. We spent the afternoon reading books and relaxing in our hammocks at our bungalow. We talked to our new neighbor for a while and heard all about his motorcycling through Asia trip.
Happy Birthday Caroline! The sun sets early, so that means it rises early as well. Our bungalow is on the sunrise side, so we woke pretty early and had a great breakfast on the river. We decided to rent bikes and explored the island a little. It was pretty much the same as the other Mekong River Island, just a little bigger. Maggie got a delicious chocolate peanut shake. We spent the afternoon reading books and relaxing in our hammocks at our bungalow. We talked to our new neighbor for a while and heard all about his motorcycling through Asia trip.
Laos- day 55
Day 55 Sun 10/21
Travel day. When we woke up, we tried some local Kratian food that consisted of bamboo sticks filled with sticky rice. We thought the last travel day was crowded, but who knew you could squeeze twenty four people in a nine seat mini van. We transferred onto a bus to the border and just walked into Laos, no big deal. We got another taxi and small bus and made it to Don Det, Laos and found a cute red bungalow along the river. The attitude of the island is relax all day, every day. We had dinner and watched the sunset. The sun sets early here (530ish) so it gets dark quick. We sat on the porch and talked to our neighbors for a while and called it an early night.
Travel day. When we woke up, we tried some local Kratian food that consisted of bamboo sticks filled with sticky rice. We thought the last travel day was crowded, but who knew you could squeeze twenty four people in a nine seat mini van. We transferred onto a bus to the border and just walked into Laos, no big deal. We got another taxi and small bus and made it to Don Det, Laos and found a cute red bungalow along the river. The attitude of the island is relax all day, every day. We had dinner and watched the sunset. The sun sets early here (530ish) so it gets dark quick. We sat on the porch and talked to our neighbors for a while and called it an early night.
Cambodia- day 54
Day 54 Sat 10/20
Slept in. Grabbed some food and read for a while. In the afternoon we took a long-tail ferry to the island across the Mekong river and rented bikes for the day. We set off on the 9km loop around the island and quickly realized it was going to be a bumpy ride. The island was beautiful and we passed children flying homemade kites, family's listening to the radio, and farmers ploughing fields with oxen, stuff you only see in history books. We upgraded to an air conditioned room and were very thankful for the nice showers and Tv. We had a great dinner and tried some local Kratie Ice cream and caught up on a little bit of Jimmy Kimmel and the 90s theme songs we've missed.
Slept in. Grabbed some food and read for a while. In the afternoon we took a long-tail ferry to the island across the Mekong river and rented bikes for the day. We set off on the 9km loop around the island and quickly realized it was going to be a bumpy ride. The island was beautiful and we passed children flying homemade kites, family's listening to the radio, and farmers ploughing fields with oxen, stuff you only see in history books. We upgraded to an air conditioned room and were very thankful for the nice showers and Tv. We had a great dinner and tried some local Kratie Ice cream and caught up on a little bit of Jimmy Kimmel and the 90s theme songs we've missed.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Cambodia- day 53
Day 53 Thurs 10/18
Lazy day. Our last day with Stephanie and the last day in Siem Reap. We went to a cute coffee/ice cream shop and hung out and read on the white couches. Stephanie left at 4:30. Maggie and I went through the market for the last time, but ended up with Mexican margs and tacos for dinner. A guy from Tennessee joined us and told us his life story. He is 27, was homeschooled, went to Lipscomb, has been backpacking for a year, and is going home on Thanksgiving to surprise his family. Sometimes its cool to hear about life from a different angle . After dinner, Maggie and I got fish massages, where you put your feet in a fishbowl and all the fish come nibble off your dead skin. Funny. when we walked home, we heard an English school in progress so we went in and they were thrilled to have two American guest appearances. We introduced ourselves and Maggie taught a little bit about the states while I sat and talked to three girls in the front of the classroom, mainly a girl named Ceena who was 13 and had dreams to be a doctor and a lawyer. It was a lot of fun and the class was welcoming.
Lazy day. Our last day with Stephanie and the last day in Siem Reap. We went to a cute coffee/ice cream shop and hung out and read on the white couches. Stephanie left at 4:30. Maggie and I went through the market for the last time, but ended up with Mexican margs and tacos for dinner. A guy from Tennessee joined us and told us his life story. He is 27, was homeschooled, went to Lipscomb, has been backpacking for a year, and is going home on Thanksgiving to surprise his family. Sometimes its cool to hear about life from a different angle . After dinner, Maggie and I got fish massages, where you put your feet in a fishbowl and all the fish come nibble off your dead skin. Funny. when we walked home, we heard an English school in progress so we went in and they were thrilled to have two American guest appearances. We introduced ourselves and Maggie taught a little bit about the states while I sat and talked to three girls in the front of the classroom, mainly a girl named Ceena who was 13 and had dreams to be a doctor and a lawyer. It was a lot of fun and the class was welcoming.
Cambodia- day 52
Day 52 Wed 10/17
We caught up on our lost sleep from the night before and met Stephanie around noon. For a dollar, we rented push bikes and were able to ride around the town and the outskirts and get a better feel of living in Siem Reap. The flow of traffic is "go when you feel good" and there is no problem with two motorcycles, tuktuks, and bikes cramming into a street as long as you squeeze a little to let everyone fit. Our butts hurt after biking, so we enjoyed a $4 massage and as we were walking there through the street, a Korean girl comes up yelling Maggie. Of course, leave it to Maggie to run into someone she knows while in Cambodia. We got dinner with her, Soo Hyun and another Korean girl and two Dutch guys. We taught them the card game Bullshit. We went to another bar to get more drinks and found it weird that there was no music playing on all of Pub St. We later learned that there will be seven days without festivities, due to the former kings death. In the last bar we met some guys from Argentina and played the states/capitals/countries games where I shocked Maggie with how many countries and capitals I knew of central and South America.
We caught up on our lost sleep from the night before and met Stephanie around noon. For a dollar, we rented push bikes and were able to ride around the town and the outskirts and get a better feel of living in Siem Reap. The flow of traffic is "go when you feel good" and there is no problem with two motorcycles, tuktuks, and bikes cramming into a street as long as you squeeze a little to let everyone fit. Our butts hurt after biking, so we enjoyed a $4 massage and as we were walking there through the street, a Korean girl comes up yelling Maggie. Of course, leave it to Maggie to run into someone she knows while in Cambodia. We got dinner with her, Soo Hyun and another Korean girl and two Dutch guys. We taught them the card game Bullshit. We went to another bar to get more drinks and found it weird that there was no music playing on all of Pub St. We later learned that there will be seven days without festivities, due to the former kings death. In the last bar we met some guys from Argentina and played the states/capitals/countries games where I shocked Maggie with how many countries and capitals I knew of central and South America.
Cambodia- day 51
Day 51 Tues 10/16
To catch the sunset at Angkor Wat (one of the eighth wonders of the world), we woke up at 4:30 and took a tuktuk a short ten minutes away to the entrance to buy our passes for Angkor Wat for the day (which were printed with our pictures on them). One of Maggie's friends from Korea, Stephanie, joined us for the day. There were many temples made of rock that made up the famous temples. The rocks were all different sizes and were shipped in down a river from 50 km away. Many of them had carvings and faces in the stone. Throughout Angkor Wat there were a lot of locals selling postcards, scarves, etc. We met a school of Khmer students from Phnom Phen (the capital of Cambodia) at one of the sites and talked to them for a while. Cambodia used to be a French country. By noon, we were templed out and headed back to Siem Reap. There are many beggars in Siem Reap and In the afternoon, Stephanie and I got talked into buying formula for the locals and got our good deed in for the day. At night we went to Pub Street to hang out for a bit.
To catch the sunset at Angkor Wat (one of the eighth wonders of the world), we woke up at 4:30 and took a tuktuk a short ten minutes away to the entrance to buy our passes for Angkor Wat for the day (which were printed with our pictures on them). One of Maggie's friends from Korea, Stephanie, joined us for the day. There were many temples made of rock that made up the famous temples. The rocks were all different sizes and were shipped in down a river from 50 km away. Many of them had carvings and faces in the stone. Throughout Angkor Wat there were a lot of locals selling postcards, scarves, etc. We met a school of Khmer students from Phnom Phen (the capital of Cambodia) at one of the sites and talked to them for a while. Cambodia used to be a French country. By noon, we were templed out and headed back to Siem Reap. There are many beggars in Siem Reap and In the afternoon, Stephanie and I got talked into buying formula for the locals and got our good deed in for the day. At night we went to Pub Street to hang out for a bit.
Cambodia- day 50
Day 50 Mon 10/15
We arrived at Bangkok around 7:30, got some breakfast, and caught the 8:30 taxi bus to the border of Cambodia. We got visas and crossed the border into Poipet. From there we got a two hour taxi to Siem Reap. Cambodia is super flat and has lots of swamp areas surrounding the two major rivers of Tonle Sap and the Mekong.
We arrived at Bangkok around 7:30, got some breakfast, and caught the 8:30 taxi bus to the border of Cambodia. We got visas and crossed the border into Poipet. From there we got a two hour taxi to Siem Reap. Cambodia is super flat and has lots of swamp areas surrounding the two major rivers of Tonle Sap and the Mekong.
Thailand- day 49
Day 49 Sun 10/14
Travel day. We journeyed from Railay island to Bangkok through boat, taxi, bus, and train. My favorite part of the travel was the train station in Bangkok, playing with two little Thai boys. I taught them how to play temple run on my iPad and they absolutely loved it.
Travel day. We journeyed from Railay island to Bangkok through boat, taxi, bus, and train. My favorite part of the travel was the train station in Bangkok, playing with two little Thai boys. I taught them how to play temple run on my iPad and they absolutely loved it.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Thailand- day 48
Day 48 Sat 10/13
Maggie got the virus, and our departure got pushed back again. Still on Railay, I spent the morning laying out and took it easy for the day. Maggie and I made it to west beach to watch the sunset one last time. We loved our time at Railay!
Maggie got the virus, and our departure got pushed back again. Still on Railay, I spent the morning laying out and took it easy for the day. Maggie and I made it to west beach to watch the sunset one last time. We loved our time at Railay!
Thailand- day 47
Day 47 Fri 10/12
There is a virus going around the island, and I got it. Stayed in all day. Lucky to have AC, but our departure for Cambodia got pushed back. Maggie spent the morning at the beach and climbed the mountain again in the afternoon. She made it closer to the lagoon and actually "saw" it.
There is a virus going around the island, and I got it. Stayed in all day. Lucky to have AC, but our departure for Cambodia got pushed back. Maggie spent the morning at the beach and climbed the mountain again in the afternoon. She made it closer to the lagoon and actually "saw" it.
Thailand- day 46
Day 46 Thurs 10/11
In the morning, we went rock climbing, a lot of travelers main reason for their trip to Railay. It was cool rock climbing straight off the beach and I'd never been outdoor climbing before. There was a gorgeous view from the top of the rocks. The beach was crowded when with climbers when we arrived, and Maggie belayed our instructor up first to set up our climb. In the afternoon, we went to the beach and I went on a run as the sun set. At night, we went to the batman bar and listened to live music and played cards with some guys from England and one from America.
In the morning, we went rock climbing, a lot of travelers main reason for their trip to Railay. It was cool rock climbing straight off the beach and I'd never been outdoor climbing before. There was a gorgeous view from the top of the rocks. The beach was crowded when with climbers when we arrived, and Maggie belayed our instructor up first to set up our climb. In the afternoon, we went to the beach and I went on a run as the sun set. At night, we went to the batman bar and listened to live music and played cards with some guys from England and one from America.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Thailand- day 45
Day 45 Wed 10/10
We slept in, woke up, and got some breakfast. Around noon, climbed to the view point at the top of the mountain and the lagoon. It was really great scenery and a good workout climbing. There were ropes laid over the steep rocks to use to pull up and the land was a mix of mostly rock and mud. We met a lot of people on the climb up and down. In the afternoon we relaxed and I took advantage of out A/C in the room, while Maggie enjoyed watching the locals play volleyball for the resorts they work at in the Railay Games 2012. We watched the sunset from the West Railay beach which we a gorgeous mix of blues and oranges. For dinner we ate at a restaurant that served Thai food and you sat on mats. Some French guys and a Canadian girl joined us.
We slept in, woke up, and got some breakfast. Around noon, climbed to the view point at the top of the mountain and the lagoon. It was really great scenery and a good workout climbing. There were ropes laid over the steep rocks to use to pull up and the land was a mix of mostly rock and mud. We met a lot of people on the climb up and down. In the afternoon we relaxed and I took advantage of out A/C in the room, while Maggie enjoyed watching the locals play volleyball for the resorts they work at in the Railay Games 2012. We watched the sunset from the West Railay beach which we a gorgeous mix of blues and oranges. For dinner we ate at a restaurant that served Thai food and you sat on mats. Some French guys and a Canadian girl joined us.
Thailand- day 44
Day 44 Tues 10/9
In the morning, we made the decision to head to Railay island, a little island just a short boat ride from AoNang beach. It is gorgeous and we think its the prettiest island thus far. The island has three beaches on it, East, West, and Phranang. The East is where most of the bungalows are located, the west has most of the food on the beach and the popular area to lay out, and Phranang is a peaceful beach surrounded by a cave, without restaurants and has white sands. The island is home to a plentiful amount of rocks and is a very popular island among rock climbers. We laid out for the day, relaxed, and took in the island's car free environment. At night we went on a run, and I made it all around the island during a gorgeous sunset.
In the morning, we made the decision to head to Railay island, a little island just a short boat ride from AoNang beach. It is gorgeous and we think its the prettiest island thus far. The island has three beaches on it, East, West, and Phranang. The East is where most of the bungalows are located, the west has most of the food on the beach and the popular area to lay out, and Phranang is a peaceful beach surrounded by a cave, without restaurants and has white sands. The island is home to a plentiful amount of rocks and is a very popular island among rock climbers. We laid out for the day, relaxed, and took in the island's car free environment. At night we went on a run, and I made it all around the island during a gorgeous sunset.
Thailand- day 43
Day 43 Mon 10/8
We decided to move on to the next beach in the city of Krabi, AoNaung Beach. It was really pretty and reminded me a little bit of Cozumel. It is not high season, but we could imagine how crazy it would get with a crowd. We stayed in a fan room in a back alley parallel to the beach. For dinner, we ate street food off the main road and had drinks at a crowded bar with live music.
We decided to move on to the next beach in the city of Krabi, AoNaung Beach. It was really pretty and reminded me a little bit of Cozumel. It is not high season, but we could imagine how crazy it would get with a crowd. We stayed in a fan room in a back alley parallel to the beach. For dinner, we ate street food off the main road and had drinks at a crowded bar with live music.
Thailand- day 42
Day 42 Sun 10/7
We went down the island of Koh Lanta to another one of its gorgeous beaches, Kaitang beach. For lunch we went to a cute coffee shop/ restaurant called Drunken Sailors that we had read a lot about in books and the food was absolutely delicious. We hung on Kaitang beach and the weather was a little less hot than the day before. We stayed on the beach all the way through dinner time, grabbed a bite to eat, and headed back to Klong Rin beach to sleep.
We went down the island of Koh Lanta to another one of its gorgeous beaches, Kaitang beach. For lunch we went to a cute coffee shop/ restaurant called Drunken Sailors that we had read a lot about in books and the food was absolutely delicious. We hung on Kaitang beach and the weather was a little less hot than the day before. We stayed on the beach all the way through dinner time, grabbed a bite to eat, and headed back to Klong Rin beach to sleep.
Thailand- day 41
Day 41 Sat 10/6
I went back to the doctor in the morning and got more antibiotics for my ear, before leaving Koh Phi Phi. We got on the ferry around 11:30 and took a boat about an hour to Koh Lanta, one of the surrounding islands. Koh Lanta is totally empty, like a ghost town. A lot of the restaurants are shut down because this is one of their slowest months, but we do have a few other travelers staying at our resort: a group of six from Argentina and two guys from England and Germany. The beach is pretty and there is a nice beach, but I think two nights here will be plenty. Laying out on the beach here comes with wind, which I really enjoy. At night, we tried to find more people down the island at another beach, but found little.
I went back to the doctor in the morning and got more antibiotics for my ear, before leaving Koh Phi Phi. We got on the ferry around 11:30 and took a boat about an hour to Koh Lanta, one of the surrounding islands. Koh Lanta is totally empty, like a ghost town. A lot of the restaurants are shut down because this is one of their slowest months, but we do have a few other travelers staying at our resort: a group of six from Argentina and two guys from England and Germany. The beach is pretty and there is a nice beach, but I think two nights here will be plenty. Laying out on the beach here comes with wind, which I really enjoy. At night, we tried to find more people down the island at another beach, but found little.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Thailand- day 40
Day 40 Fri 10/5
In the morning, we trekked through the fifteen minute stair climb to the viewpoint on the top of the island, that gave a gorgeous view of the two bodies of water and the land formed around with the small strip. The day wasn't quite as hot and was great for laying out. It's weird laying out on a beach on the island, because there is no wind on the beach causing it to get extremely hot quickly. Another great day at the beach.
In the morning, we trekked through the fifteen minute stair climb to the viewpoint on the top of the island, that gave a gorgeous view of the two bodies of water and the land formed around with the small strip. The day wasn't quite as hot and was great for laying out. It's weird laying out on a beach on the island, because there is no wind on the beach causing it to get extremely hot quickly. Another great day at the beach.
Thailand- day 39
Day 39 Thurs 10/4
I finally gave in that my ear infection would not heal itself, and went to the doctor. We moved into a room with a tv and an air conditioning and I spent the day recovering. Maggie read all day, faster than you would imagine, and we spent some of the day at the beach. At night, we went to the Irish pub and beach party, taking in the environment of the island. The island is two big mountainous pieces of land connected by a small strip of land, where all the resorts and restaurants are, with two bodies of water on either side of the strip of land.
I finally gave in that my ear infection would not heal itself, and went to the doctor. We moved into a room with a tv and an air conditioning and I spent the day recovering. Maggie read all day, faster than you would imagine, and we spent some of the day at the beach. At night, we went to the Irish pub and beach party, taking in the environment of the island. The island is two big mountainous pieces of land connected by a small strip of land, where all the resorts and restaurants are, with two bodies of water on either side of the strip of land.
Thailand- day 38
Day 38 Wed 10/3
The first full day in Koh Phi Phi was spent relaxing, laying out, and taking in the new island. Maggie says it is way less crowded compared to when she came in January, but I still think there are a pretty good amount of people here. It is not high season. We spent the day hanging on the beach.
The first full day in Koh Phi Phi was spent relaxing, laying out, and taking in the new island. Maggie says it is way less crowded compared to when she came in January, but I still think there are a pretty good amount of people here. It is not high season. We spent the day hanging on the beach.
Thailand- day 37
Day 37 Tues 10/2
Travel day. We got on the 6:30 ferry at Koh Phangan to the mainland. On the mainland, it took a few hours on a bus to get across Thailand, including the bus transfers, so every small company in Thailand could make a little money. We got back on a ferry and got to Koh Phi Phi island around 4:30. There were cute restaurants on the beach, so we grabbed a bite to eat, and called home while we still had "wifi" hours. At night, the restaurants on the beach all perform fire baton acts and have chairs set up around the stages. It was cool to see. We also got to jump a rope that was on fire that was fun (video on facebook)! Koh Phi Phi has one main difference from the other islands, that is that it has a lot of foreigners working on the island full time. Interesting, but I don't think I could ever do it.
Travel day. We got on the 6:30 ferry at Koh Phangan to the mainland. On the mainland, it took a few hours on a bus to get across Thailand, including the bus transfers, so every small company in Thailand could make a little money. We got back on a ferry and got to Koh Phi Phi island around 4:30. There were cute restaurants on the beach, so we grabbed a bite to eat, and called home while we still had "wifi" hours. At night, the restaurants on the beach all perform fire baton acts and have chairs set up around the stages. It was cool to see. We also got to jump a rope that was on fire that was fun (video on facebook)! Koh Phi Phi has one main difference from the other islands, that is that it has a lot of foreigners working on the island full time. Interesting, but I don't think I could ever do it.
Thailand- day 36
Day 36 Mon 10/1
We woke up and took a walk on the empty beach, because the full moon party had done everyone in the night before. We spent the day relaxing on the beach. At night, we played cards with Tom, Adam, and Gus, ate a late dinner, and packed our bags for our next destination.
We woke up and took a walk on the empty beach, because the full moon party had done everyone in the night before. We spent the day relaxing on the beach. At night, we played cards with Tom, Adam, and Gus, ate a late dinner, and packed our bags for our next destination.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Thailand-day 35
Day 35 Sun 9/30
We woke up ready for the Full Moon Party, which is one of the biggest backpacker attractions in Asia. It takes place at the end of each month, when there is a full moon, in a little beach in the south of Koh Phangan Island (Thailand). We wore clothes to throw away and bought Full Moon shirts when we got to Haad Rin. The partying didn't start quite as early as we thought, so we watched The Change Up in a restaurant for the early afternoon. Afterwards, the Australians invited us to come to the Best Western bar, where their favorite bar tender, Ducky, made us buckets of strawberry daiquiris and piña coladas, which were delicious. Ducky was hilarious. We finished our buckets and walked on the beach back down to Haad Rin, where there were more people starting to show up. We walked along the beach taking in the ridiculous amounts of people crowded into the small beach and all the carnival like activities being set up, like the people baton twirling fire. As we were walking, Maggie's friends from Korea, Danica and Nick, ran up. They were here with some of their other friends from school/ work from Canada, and we ended up hanging out wight them for the rest of the night. By the end of the night, there were supposedly around 20,000 people at the party, but the locals were well prepared for it. They do it every month. There were lasers reflecting off the rocks on the opposite side of the beach, bucket stands set up all over the place, water slides (Maggie went down it), painting people everywhere, loud music, and lots of food stands. It was surprising how many kids were there late with blaring music. It was great to experience the Full Moon Party.
We woke up ready for the Full Moon Party, which is one of the biggest backpacker attractions in Asia. It takes place at the end of each month, when there is a full moon, in a little beach in the south of Koh Phangan Island (Thailand). We wore clothes to throw away and bought Full Moon shirts when we got to Haad Rin. The partying didn't start quite as early as we thought, so we watched The Change Up in a restaurant for the early afternoon. Afterwards, the Australians invited us to come to the Best Western bar, where their favorite bar tender, Ducky, made us buckets of strawberry daiquiris and piña coladas, which were delicious. Ducky was hilarious. We finished our buckets and walked on the beach back down to Haad Rin, where there were more people starting to show up. We walked along the beach taking in the ridiculous amounts of people crowded into the small beach and all the carnival like activities being set up, like the people baton twirling fire. As we were walking, Maggie's friends from Korea, Danica and Nick, ran up. They were here with some of their other friends from school/ work from Canada, and we ended up hanging out wight them for the rest of the night. By the end of the night, there were supposedly around 20,000 people at the party, but the locals were well prepared for it. They do it every month. There were lasers reflecting off the rocks on the opposite side of the beach, bucket stands set up all over the place, water slides (Maggie went down it), painting people everywhere, loud music, and lots of food stands. It was surprising how many kids were there late with blaring music. It was great to experience the Full Moon Party.
Thailand-day 34
Day 34 Sat 9/29
Our first full day in Koh phanang. We relaxed all day on the beach and by the pool reading and listening to our iPods. The place we are staying has a pool, lounge chairs, and a restaurant, so we are set with all we need. Hannah and Russ came to the beach by our resort for dinner and Gus ate with us and we all sat around the table for a while swapping stories about how the different countries do things differently. Around 10:30, Maggie went to the jungle party with Gus and his friends and I called it a night.
Our first full day in Koh phanang. We relaxed all day on the beach and by the pool reading and listening to our iPods. The place we are staying has a pool, lounge chairs, and a restaurant, so we are set with all we need. Hannah and Russ came to the beach by our resort for dinner and Gus ate with us and we all sat around the table for a while swapping stories about how the different countries do things differently. Around 10:30, Maggie went to the jungle party with Gus and his friends and I called it a night.
Thailand- day 33
Day 33 Fri 9/28
We traveled for the entire day. Hannah and Russ were on our train and we went together for the many hours on the bus and boat. When we finally made it to the overly crowded island of Koh Phangan, without reservation, we were greeted by a lady named Penn, who found us an accommodation at the Phangan Great Bay Resort. We get into our room and within two minutes, an Australian named Angus is rushing us out to get a taxi to Haad Rin to go to Mushroom Mountain. There are tons of Australians and Israelites traveling and we spent the rest of the night hanging out with the crowd of people on Haad Rin beach.
We traveled for the entire day. Hannah and Russ were on our train and we went together for the many hours on the bus and boat. When we finally made it to the overly crowded island of Koh Phangan, without reservation, we were greeted by a lady named Penn, who found us an accommodation at the Phangan Great Bay Resort. We get into our room and within two minutes, an Australian named Angus is rushing us out to get a taxi to Haad Rin to go to Mushroom Mountain. There are tons of Australians and Israelites traveling and we spent the rest of the night hanging out with the crowd of people on Haad Rin beach.
Thailand-day 32
Day 32 Thurs 9/27
We arrived late to Bangkok, as usual, because the trains have no sense of time. We hung around Bangkok for the day and went back through Chinatown. In Chinatown we were able to go into a school a get a glimpse of school life in Thailand, which was neat to see, but would have never been legal in the states. There was a cute hostel next to the train station that offered wifi and served delicious food. When we got back to the train station, we ran into Hannah and Russ from our three day trek, and were on the same train as them down to Surat Thani. The sleeper train was set up a little differently and Maggie and I were surprised when we got on. The beds were not in individual rooms, but instead they had fold out chairs. I think we might just enjoy the other sleeper trains better.
We arrived late to Bangkok, as usual, because the trains have no sense of time. We hung around Bangkok for the day and went back through Chinatown. In Chinatown we were able to go into a school a get a glimpse of school life in Thailand, which was neat to see, but would have never been legal in the states. There was a cute hostel next to the train station that offered wifi and served delicious food. When we got back to the train station, we ran into Hannah and Russ from our three day trek, and were on the same train as them down to Surat Thani. The sleeper train was set up a little differently and Maggie and I were surprised when we got on. The beds were not in individual rooms, but instead they had fold out chairs. I think we might just enjoy the other sleeper trains better.
Thailand-day 31
Day 31 Wed 9/26
Travel day. We hung out around Chang Mai during the day, before grabbing a tuktuk to the train station. We got on the train to Bangkok at 4pm and slept on the train through till the next morning.
Travel day. We hung out around Chang Mai during the day, before grabbing a tuktuk to the train station. We got on the train to Bangkok at 4pm and slept on the train through till the next morning.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Thailand- day 30
Day 30 Tues 9/25
Day three was the most adventurous of the three. We woke up in the morning to elephants at the camp and almost immediately found ourselves hopping on their backs. Elephant skin was a little different than I expected, dry with rougher skin. We rode them down by the river and were able to get out of our seats and ride on the neck of the elephant for a while,which I thought was just terrifying. You could feel the muscles of the neck move side to side. We finished the elephants, got pictures of all of them, and ate breakfast. The helmets and life jackets came out for the white water rafting and we got some good group shots before bringing our rafts to the water. Maggie and I ended up on different rafts. Luckily, a few people in our group had waterproof cameras, which were really nice for shots rafting. We went through rapids and were able to swim in the muddy water in the stiller areas of the river. There was a spot in the river where the bamboo rafts were parked and we paddled over and jumped on them. The bamboo rafts were much longer than I expected, and we're long pieces of bamboo tied together. The rafting was exciting. The three day trek ended with lunch and an hour drive back. When we got back I immediately went to drop off my laundry and we took a dip in the pool, because we got a free night stay at the hostel we booked the excursion through. We said goodbye to Bente and her and William quickly got on a bus to their next destination. We spent the afternoon playing Unsako with Ronen and Shahar. We took a break to go to the night market, that was humongous with shopping, food, ladyboys, etc. everywhere. When we got back we continued our cards and Ido and Shir joined in as well. We had a fun late night down in the lobby of the hostel. The four of them started their twenty five hour fast for Yom Kippur at 5:30 and it was cool hearing about the reasoning behind fasting and experiencing them celebrating the holiday.
Day three was the most adventurous of the three. We woke up in the morning to elephants at the camp and almost immediately found ourselves hopping on their backs. Elephant skin was a little different than I expected, dry with rougher skin. We rode them down by the river and were able to get out of our seats and ride on the neck of the elephant for a while,which I thought was just terrifying. You could feel the muscles of the neck move side to side. We finished the elephants, got pictures of all of them, and ate breakfast. The helmets and life jackets came out for the white water rafting and we got some good group shots before bringing our rafts to the water. Maggie and I ended up on different rafts. Luckily, a few people in our group had waterproof cameras, which were really nice for shots rafting. We went through rapids and were able to swim in the muddy water in the stiller areas of the river. There was a spot in the river where the bamboo rafts were parked and we paddled over and jumped on them. The bamboo rafts were much longer than I expected, and we're long pieces of bamboo tied together. The rafting was exciting. The three day trek ended with lunch and an hour drive back. When we got back I immediately went to drop off my laundry and we took a dip in the pool, because we got a free night stay at the hostel we booked the excursion through. We said goodbye to Bente and her and William quickly got on a bus to their next destination. We spent the afternoon playing Unsako with Ronen and Shahar. We took a break to go to the night market, that was humongous with shopping, food, ladyboys, etc. everywhere. When we got back we continued our cards and Ido and Shir joined in as well. We had a fun late night down in the lobby of the hostel. The four of them started their twenty five hour fast for Yom Kippur at 5:30 and it was cool hearing about the reasoning behind fasting and experiencing them celebrating the holiday.
Thailand- day 29
Day 29 Mon 9/24
We woke up early and had breakfast, and hung out for a little while before we started our trek. We hiked to three waterfalls, small, big, and bigger, and we're able to swim in all of them. We were lucky to get such a great group of people to trek with and really had fun getting to know them. It's interesting to hear about the different English words there are in use, like lady bugs and lady birds, flashlights and torches, sleep in and lay in, and so many more. It's also cool to hear about how countries differ, like how people feel about having a king and queen, like here in Thailand, and learning about how in Israel, everyone must go to the military when they graduate high school, boys for three years, and girls for two years. As we hiked, our guide, Good, cut down pieces of bamboo and, with his knife,made the whole group bamboo bowls and chopsticks (we were going pretty quick too). It was cool and I finally got down how to use chopsticks. We finished our hiking and waterfalls around 4:30 and finished at the elephant camp, where we were sleeping for the night. At night, Ronen and Shahar taught us a new card game called Unsako, that we loved and will definitely bring home to the US.
We woke up early and had breakfast, and hung out for a little while before we started our trek. We hiked to three waterfalls, small, big, and bigger, and we're able to swim in all of them. We were lucky to get such a great group of people to trek with and really had fun getting to know them. It's interesting to hear about the different English words there are in use, like lady bugs and lady birds, flashlights and torches, sleep in and lay in, and so many more. It's also cool to hear about how countries differ, like how people feel about having a king and queen, like here in Thailand, and learning about how in Israel, everyone must go to the military when they graduate high school, boys for three years, and girls for two years. As we hiked, our guide, Good, cut down pieces of bamboo and, with his knife,made the whole group bamboo bowls and chopsticks (we were going pretty quick too). It was cool and I finally got down how to use chopsticks. We finished our hiking and waterfalls around 4:30 and finished at the elephant camp, where we were sleeping for the night. At night, Ronen and Shahar taught us a new card game called Unsako, that we loved and will definitely bring home to the US.
Thailand- day 28
Day 28 Sun 9/23
As we watched Bente pack her bag, Maggie and I realized how ill prepared we were for our three day trek. She packed band aids, flashlights, a multi purpose scarf, medicine, hiking shoes, a head lamp, and a whole travel bag. I didn't even have a pair of long sleeves or pants for the jungle. The truck picked us up at 9 am and we drove around picking up the rest of our group. Our group was made up of a good variety of people: 2 couples from Israel (Ido, Chir, Ronen, and Shahar), William from Scotland, Eugenia from Chicago, Russ and Hannah from England, Takka from Japan, Elmar from Italy, Bente, Maggie, and me. We started the day with the orchids and snake farm, which were just alright. Then we went to Karen Long Neck camp, which was something I thought was really only seen on TV. You walk in to a street lined with shops, like a normal tourist area, and then the booths are run by the "long neck" women, who have gold chains around there necks. It used to be said that the longer the neck, the more beautiful the woman, but now it is based on tourism. The older women usually have more gold rings, but even the little children had rings around them. Our guide, Good, said that the chains were religious because there was a belief that a tiger bit the women's necks, so they wore it for protection. The bangle wraps around and is burned together at the end. The girls necks never actually get longer, but the heavy gold bangle pushes down their rib cages and allows for more room for another loop of the bangle. We hiked straight up, two and a half hours, to the little village in the mountains where we were sleeping, Lahu village. The mountain view was gorgeous, and it was really cool to experience the life of the people in the village, especially the children. I got a Lahu massage and had two people working on me, one of the girls was ten, named Da. The guys in our group played soccer with the local boys and Maggie and I even joined in for a point, and then got our hair braided by two of the village girls, who must've been about four. We gave them the bracelets we were wearing and they loved them. I went to bed kind of early that night because I felt light headed, while Maggie stayed up and got good use out of the cards she brought. The toilet at the village was a squat toilet and I feel like I've been getting a lot of practice with them.
As we watched Bente pack her bag, Maggie and I realized how ill prepared we were for our three day trek. She packed band aids, flashlights, a multi purpose scarf, medicine, hiking shoes, a head lamp, and a whole travel bag. I didn't even have a pair of long sleeves or pants for the jungle. The truck picked us up at 9 am and we drove around picking up the rest of our group. Our group was made up of a good variety of people: 2 couples from Israel (Ido, Chir, Ronen, and Shahar), William from Scotland, Eugenia from Chicago, Russ and Hannah from England, Takka from Japan, Elmar from Italy, Bente, Maggie, and me. We started the day with the orchids and snake farm, which were just alright. Then we went to Karen Long Neck camp, which was something I thought was really only seen on TV. You walk in to a street lined with shops, like a normal tourist area, and then the booths are run by the "long neck" women, who have gold chains around there necks. It used to be said that the longer the neck, the more beautiful the woman, but now it is based on tourism. The older women usually have more gold rings, but even the little children had rings around them. Our guide, Good, said that the chains were religious because there was a belief that a tiger bit the women's necks, so they wore it for protection. The bangle wraps around and is burned together at the end. The girls necks never actually get longer, but the heavy gold bangle pushes down their rib cages and allows for more room for another loop of the bangle. We hiked straight up, two and a half hours, to the little village in the mountains where we were sleeping, Lahu village. The mountain view was gorgeous, and it was really cool to experience the life of the people in the village, especially the children. I got a Lahu massage and had two people working on me, one of the girls was ten, named Da. The guys in our group played soccer with the local boys and Maggie and I even joined in for a point, and then got our hair braided by two of the village girls, who must've been about four. We gave them the bracelets we were wearing and they loved them. I went to bed kind of early that night because I felt light headed, while Maggie stayed up and got good use out of the cards she brought. The toilet at the village was a squat toilet and I feel like I've been getting a lot of practice with them.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Thailand- day 27
Day 27 Sat 9/22
Maggie, Bente, and I woke up fairly early, got some breakfast, and went to Tiger Kingdom. Bente and I did smallest, small, and big cats and Maggie did the big cats only. The smallest and the big cats were pretty lazy and perfect for good pictures, but the small ones we restless. It was a little nerve racking going into the cages, but was totally fine once you got inside. We walked around the town a little in the afternoon, got a Starbucks, and went for a jog around the river that surrounds the main part of Chiang Mai. Ended the night with kabobs at an Indian restaurant and packing for our trek we start tomorrow.
Maggie, Bente, and I woke up fairly early, got some breakfast, and went to Tiger Kingdom. Bente and I did smallest, small, and big cats and Maggie did the big cats only. The smallest and the big cats were pretty lazy and perfect for good pictures, but the small ones we restless. It was a little nerve racking going into the cages, but was totally fine once you got inside. We walked around the town a little in the afternoon, got a Starbucks, and went for a jog around the river that surrounds the main part of Chiang Mai. Ended the night with kabobs at an Indian restaurant and packing for our trek we start tomorrow.
Thailand- day 26
Day 26 Fri 9/21
When we woke up on the sleeper train we find out the engine has been stalling, hit a couple obstacles, and finally arrive around 4:00, about six hours late. When we get off the train, we meet a girl backpacking from Holland, named Bente, who knows a hostel from lonely planet, and we join her to the tourist part of town. We start our time in Chiang Mai with food and a nice oil massage, and walk around a little to get a good feel of the streets. Ended the day with dinner.
When we woke up on the sleeper train we find out the engine has been stalling, hit a couple obstacles, and finally arrive around 4:00, about six hours late. When we get off the train, we meet a girl backpacking from Holland, named Bente, who knows a hostel from lonely planet, and we join her to the tourist part of town. We start our time in Chiang Mai with food and a nice oil massage, and walk around a little to get a good feel of the streets. Ended the day with dinner.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Thailand- day 25
Day 25 Thurs 9/21
Thursday morning pretty clearly depicts tourism in Bangkok. We got a tuktuk to do some sightseeing, and ended up getting taken around to jewelry and textile factories, sent inside to look so the driver could fill up with free gasoline. We checked out of the room around 1, got our bags, and went to Starbucks to read and kill time to wait for the train. The train station is right by China town, so we got a glimpse of the streets full of hello kitty and rainbow stores packed in as many as there could be on a narrow street. It was down pouring, so we upgraded out train to an AC room to catch the earlier train to Chiang Mai at 7:30. Our train mates are two girls from China. The one on the upper bunk with me speaks hardly any English, but does give me some of her food, which is a small fruit a bit larger than a grape, that you have to peel down to a slimy thing with a nut in the middle. I try to ask if it's a fruit or veggie, but the language barrier is too prevalent. She says "I know no English name". I am reading the book "the Help" right now, and get through a large portion of it on the long ride.
Thursday morning pretty clearly depicts tourism in Bangkok. We got a tuktuk to do some sightseeing, and ended up getting taken around to jewelry and textile factories, sent inside to look so the driver could fill up with free gasoline. We checked out of the room around 1, got our bags, and went to Starbucks to read and kill time to wait for the train. The train station is right by China town, so we got a glimpse of the streets full of hello kitty and rainbow stores packed in as many as there could be on a narrow street. It was down pouring, so we upgraded out train to an AC room to catch the earlier train to Chiang Mai at 7:30. Our train mates are two girls from China. The one on the upper bunk with me speaks hardly any English, but does give me some of her food, which is a small fruit a bit larger than a grape, that you have to peel down to a slimy thing with a nut in the middle. I try to ask if it's a fruit or veggie, but the language barrier is too prevalent. She says "I know no English name". I am reading the book "the Help" right now, and get through a large portion of it on the long ride.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Thailand- day 24
Day 24 Wed 9/20
For the first time, Maggie woke up earlier than me. When I got up, we walked out to get breakfast and ran into a girl named Katie, who Maggie had talked to the day before about sharing a can from the airport. We ate with her and then got a tuktuk (the motorized carriage talked about earlier), named Maxwell. Our driver took us around Bangkok to temples, a mountain temple, a jewelry and textile factory (where he got free gas), and finally to the palace. Maggie and I hung out at AuBonPain while Katie toured the palace, then we all took a boat ride back. Maggie and I bought some tanks in the afternoon and went to a cafe for a bit. At night we met up with Katie and some guys from Scotland we met at a cafe earlier, Cambell, Andrew, and Neil, and had a few drinks and ate some street food. I had beef and pork satays and Maggie ate some pad thai. We added to more English girls to our group, Emma and Emily, and went to see one of Thailands famous ping pong shows. Of course you have to do some hard bargaining to get a good deal, and when you get in the tuktuk you're unsure exactly of the final decision, but uncertainty makes for a fun cab ride with a bit of screaming. Thailand ping pong shows don't consist of any typical game of ping pong. We witnessed girls do things with their yayas that I had never fathomed seeing in my entire lifetime. Filling up coke bottles, bouncing ping pong balls into cups, pulling out magic tricks, writing welcome, and blowing out birthday candles were just a few of the many marvels. By the time we made it home, the music from the bar below us had already ended, but we did get to see some street dancing from Thai boys, which made for a good video.
For the first time, Maggie woke up earlier than me. When I got up, we walked out to get breakfast and ran into a girl named Katie, who Maggie had talked to the day before about sharing a can from the airport. We ate with her and then got a tuktuk (the motorized carriage talked about earlier), named Maxwell. Our driver took us around Bangkok to temples, a mountain temple, a jewelry and textile factory (where he got free gas), and finally to the palace. Maggie and I hung out at AuBonPain while Katie toured the palace, then we all took a boat ride back. Maggie and I bought some tanks in the afternoon and went to a cafe for a bit. At night we met up with Katie and some guys from Scotland we met at a cafe earlier, Cambell, Andrew, and Neil, and had a few drinks and ate some street food. I had beef and pork satays and Maggie ate some pad thai. We added to more English girls to our group, Emma and Emily, and went to see one of Thailands famous ping pong shows. Of course you have to do some hard bargaining to get a good deal, and when you get in the tuktuk you're unsure exactly of the final decision, but uncertainty makes for a fun cab ride with a bit of screaming. Thailand ping pong shows don't consist of any typical game of ping pong. We witnessed girls do things with their yayas that I had never fathomed seeing in my entire lifetime. Filling up coke bottles, bouncing ping pong balls into cups, pulling out magic tricks, writing welcome, and blowing out birthday candles were just a few of the many marvels. By the time we made it home, the music from the bar below us had already ended, but we did get to see some street dancing from Thai boys, which made for a good video.
Thailand- day 23
Day 23 Tues 9/19
Finished with our travels in Indonesia, we moved on to Thailand. Our travels consisted of a ton of traffic in Bali, a five hour flight, arrival, and hours of traffic in Bangkok. In Bangkok, we were stuck in a bridge for a while why the king passed by. The queen died August 12th so there are big pictures of her everywhere. Bangkok is a huge city and much different than Bali. The streets are constantly crowded with people selling things. A lot of the cabs here are the colors of the rainbow, and there are tuktuks for tourism that are like motorized carriage cabs. We got to Kao San Rd. and found a room for 500 baht. It's really tricky switching up currency and figuring out conversions to the amount of US dollars your using, from won in Korea to rupiah in Indonesia and now baht in Thailand. After walking through the streets, we got dinner at a place where there was a guy singing the music we love. We got Thai massages, which taught me to stick with regular massages for the rest of the trip. The man stretched my body in ways that I can't imagine would be delightful for anyone. At the end of the night, we found out our room was right above a night bar and fell asleep to the blaring music.
Finished with our travels in Indonesia, we moved on to Thailand. Our travels consisted of a ton of traffic in Bali, a five hour flight, arrival, and hours of traffic in Bangkok. In Bangkok, we were stuck in a bridge for a while why the king passed by. The queen died August 12th so there are big pictures of her everywhere. Bangkok is a huge city and much different than Bali. The streets are constantly crowded with people selling things. A lot of the cabs here are the colors of the rainbow, and there are tuktuks for tourism that are like motorized carriage cabs. We got to Kao San Rd. and found a room for 500 baht. It's really tricky switching up currency and figuring out conversions to the amount of US dollars your using, from won in Korea to rupiah in Indonesia and now baht in Thailand. After walking through the streets, we got dinner at a place where there was a guy singing the music we love. We got Thai massages, which taught me to stick with regular massages for the rest of the trip. The man stretched my body in ways that I can't imagine would be delightful for anyone. At the end of the night, we found out our room was right above a night bar and fell asleep to the blaring music.
Indonesia- day 22
Day 22 Mon 9/18
It was our last day of surfing. We went out around 7:30 and the waves were much much smaller than last week. It was harder to find a wave, but still got a few pictures out of it. Laid out a little. We traded in our last session in the afternoon for a relaxing full body massage.
It was our last day of surfing. We went out around 7:30 and the waves were much much smaller than last week. It was harder to find a wave, but still got a few pictures out of it. Laid out a little. We traded in our last session in the afternoon for a relaxing full body massage.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Indonesia- day 21
Day 21 Sun 9/17
No surfing on Sunday. We got to sleep in, which I'm really bad at, but Maggie can sleep right through the day. We got breakfast/ lunch around 11:30 and hung out around the table for a while meeting some of the new guests who were just arriving for the week. We talked to Ula, from Poland, and her boyfriend, from Austria, for a while and I also had dinner with them. Mqggie ate at a differnt table because they were later getting home from watching the sunset. During the day, Maggie layed out, and I went to the Canggu club and got to run on the treadmill, which was nice, even in kilometers, because it's been super hard finding runnable roads in Indonesia. I decided the best means of transportation would be the push bikes again, that took twenty minutes each way and my brakes didn't work today, so I found myself walking my bike downhill a few times. The car and moto riders thought it was hilarious. Right at the end of the bike ride home, I passed Maggie on a moped with Martin and Sarah, who were going to Echo beach with a few others to watch the sunset, so I turned around and push biked down there. It was gorgeous and much more crowded than we had seen it before. We hung out at dinner for a while and headed to bed for an early surf day Monday.
No surfing on Sunday. We got to sleep in, which I'm really bad at, but Maggie can sleep right through the day. We got breakfast/ lunch around 11:30 and hung out around the table for a while meeting some of the new guests who were just arriving for the week. We talked to Ula, from Poland, and her boyfriend, from Austria, for a while and I also had dinner with them. Mqggie ate at a differnt table because they were later getting home from watching the sunset. During the day, Maggie layed out, and I went to the Canggu club and got to run on the treadmill, which was nice, even in kilometers, because it's been super hard finding runnable roads in Indonesia. I decided the best means of transportation would be the push bikes again, that took twenty minutes each way and my brakes didn't work today, so I found myself walking my bike downhill a few times. The car and moto riders thought it was hilarious. Right at the end of the bike ride home, I passed Maggie on a moped with Martin and Sarah, who were going to Echo beach with a few others to watch the sunset, so I turned around and push biked down there. It was gorgeous and much more crowded than we had seen it before. We hung out at dinner for a while and headed to bed for an early surf day Monday.
Indonesia- day 20
Day 20 Sat 9/16
Day three of surfing went well. We graduated from the soft boards to the real boards and waxed them before we got in the water. We had to go out really early, at 6:30, because that's when the tide was right. We both did well, but a little over an hour in, Maggie got washed ashore and couldn't make it back out. She met a French friend named Diana. We got back early and had our lunch twice before the kitchen closed at 1:00. We rode our bikes to the beach and had to really search to find an ATM, which rejected my card, but it led us to the Canggu club, that we have membership with through the surf place. It was nice laying out and watching the cute children play, just like a club at home. As we biked back, I thought about some things to remember about Bali, like the dogs, the people who work in the fields, the hats made of straw that look a lot like lamp shades, and the friendly people. For dinner, they served the best ribs I've ever had in my entire life. Taking advantage of no surf instruction on Sunday, we headed to Kuta, Bali for the Saturday night life. Kuta was pretty much the Panama city of Bali, but even larger. There were bars, clubs, food, and shops lining the streets. A group of us went including Maggie and I, herman, erg, Martin, alex, and Sarah. We started at Espresso bar, that was fun and had good music playing. I've never seen a crowd go so crazy to th song "jump around". Around 1:00 we headed over to Sky Garden, the club that is the most well known in Kuta and is HUGE, even bigger than any I saw in Spain last year. When you walk in, there are about five direction choices, up, to the side, down, etc., and when you walk in each choice has five more room choices, stages left and right, and it goes for multiple floors, every room just as packed as the one before it. Afterwards, we got some food and found a cab back to Canggu.
Day three of surfing went well. We graduated from the soft boards to the real boards and waxed them before we got in the water. We had to go out really early, at 6:30, because that's when the tide was right. We both did well, but a little over an hour in, Maggie got washed ashore and couldn't make it back out. She met a French friend named Diana. We got back early and had our lunch twice before the kitchen closed at 1:00. We rode our bikes to the beach and had to really search to find an ATM, which rejected my card, but it led us to the Canggu club, that we have membership with through the surf place. It was nice laying out and watching the cute children play, just like a club at home. As we biked back, I thought about some things to remember about Bali, like the dogs, the people who work in the fields, the hats made of straw that look a lot like lamp shades, and the friendly people. For dinner, they served the best ribs I've ever had in my entire life. Taking advantage of no surf instruction on Sunday, we headed to Kuta, Bali for the Saturday night life. Kuta was pretty much the Panama city of Bali, but even larger. There were bars, clubs, food, and shops lining the streets. A group of us went including Maggie and I, herman, erg, Martin, alex, and Sarah. We started at Espresso bar, that was fun and had good music playing. I've never seen a crowd go so crazy to th song "jump around". Around 1:00 we headed over to Sky Garden, the club that is the most well known in Kuta and is HUGE, even bigger than any I saw in Spain last year. When you walk in, there are about five direction choices, up, to the side, down, etc., and when you walk in each choice has five more room choices, stages left and right, and it goes for multiple floors, every room just as packed as the one before it. Afterwards, we got some food and found a cab back to Canggu.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Indonesia- day 19
Day 19 Fri 9/15
Day two of surfing was a little more difficult than the first day, because the waves and tide were much stronger. I caught some good waves when we first got out there, but as the day went on I started to get tired. Maggie did better towards the end of the day. One of my strengths with surfing is the paddling that is like swimming the Tarzan drill. We got a video and photos taken, which turned out pretty good, but we are going to wait till the end of the week to choose which ones we want. Through the video coaching, I saw that I was leaning over forward too much and need to work on bending my knees and staying upright. The rest of the day we hung out with the others staying here, at the Chillhouse, around the pools. There was BBQ for dinner that was delicious and then everyone hung out after. For a lot of people it was their last night because they did Saturday to Saturday, so a whole new crowd of people should be coming tomorrow.
Day two of surfing was a little more difficult than the first day, because the waves and tide were much stronger. I caught some good waves when we first got out there, but as the day went on I started to get tired. Maggie did better towards the end of the day. One of my strengths with surfing is the paddling that is like swimming the Tarzan drill. We got a video and photos taken, which turned out pretty good, but we are going to wait till the end of the week to choose which ones we want. Through the video coaching, I saw that I was leaning over forward too much and need to work on bending my knees and staying upright. The rest of the day we hung out with the others staying here, at the Chillhouse, around the pools. There was BBQ for dinner that was delicious and then everyone hung out after. For a lot of people it was their last night because they did Saturday to Saturday, so a whole new crowd of people should be coming tomorrow.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Indonesia- day 18
Day 18 Thurs 9/13
Woke up, grabbed breakfast, and took the shuttle down to Canggu beach for the first day of surfing. We shared the shuttle with our group, who all spoke German, two girls and a couple. When we got to the beach, we each got our own coach, who taught us the basics on the sand before we got into the water. We used the soft boards because they are stickier in the water and better for first timers. He showed us how to paddle towards the back of the board, but stay in the center to keep it stable, to turn around, to sit on the board, and eventually we were practicing standing. We were able to stand a little bit and catch a few small waves. My biggest struggle is not moving my feet forward enough when I go from laying down to standing and keeping low. Afterwards we took the shuttle back, already hungry for lunch. We spent the afternoon by the pool, then push biked down to Echo beach to get a juice. Dee, from Ireland joined us there. Dinner was at 7 and we were plenty hungry by then. We had some bintangs and went to a bar after dinner with Dee, three guys from Austria, and Neil from England. It was fun. We took the mopeds there and I think Maggie was a little more scared then me on that one. They were a little more scary than I was expecting, especially with no helmets
Woke up, grabbed breakfast, and took the shuttle down to Canggu beach for the first day of surfing. We shared the shuttle with our group, who all spoke German, two girls and a couple. When we got to the beach, we each got our own coach, who taught us the basics on the sand before we got into the water. We used the soft boards because they are stickier in the water and better for first timers. He showed us how to paddle towards the back of the board, but stay in the center to keep it stable, to turn around, to sit on the board, and eventually we were practicing standing. We were able to stand a little bit and catch a few small waves. My biggest struggle is not moving my feet forward enough when I go from laying down to standing and keeping low. Afterwards we took the shuttle back, already hungry for lunch. We spent the afternoon by the pool, then push biked down to Echo beach to get a juice. Dee, from Ireland joined us there. Dinner was at 7 and we were plenty hungry by then. We had some bintangs and went to a bar after dinner with Dee, three guys from Austria, and Neil from England. It was fun. We took the mopeds there and I think Maggie was a little more scared then me on that one. They were a little more scary than I was expecting, especially with no helmets
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Indonesia- day 17
Day 17 Wed 9/12
We woke up so sore we could hardly walk. We took a shuttle to the boat to pick us up and take us back to Bali for a week of surf camp at the Chillhouse in Canggu, Indonesia. We had some miscommunications with the man who sold us our boat ticket (him promising us things he was not capable of giving us) about how much and the exact destination and the boat time, so we ended up getting there late and paying more for a cab once we got back to Bali. The boat ride was really rough, sometimes feeling more like the mine bender than a boat. By the time we got to the Chillhouse, Maggie was dying of hunger and we were both still aching with soreness. We got our room, a bite to eat by the pool, and met some of the other guests. The place is a great place to travel alone because it has a community feel to it, like all meals are eaten together. We talked with a girl from Ireland for a while, and had dinner with an Australian and some people from England. The camp offers push bikes to use for the guests to get to the beach, so before dinner, Maggie and I biked down there. It's a great idea, but to get to the beach you have to ride on a main road with motorcycles and cars flying by while going with the flow of traffic and driving down the left side of the road. And of course, the idea of a helmet for a push bike is unheard of in Indonesia. We made it and walked on the beach that had large rocks scattered throughout. Our main purpose was to find surf clothes, but ended up with nothing but the plans to go in a two piece. Through the 10/15 minute push bike ride back, I got caught in the sand one time and almost saw my life flash before my eyes. We can't wait for the first day of surf tomorrow and are praying that our muscles heal a little before we wake up.
We woke up so sore we could hardly walk. We took a shuttle to the boat to pick us up and take us back to Bali for a week of surf camp at the Chillhouse in Canggu, Indonesia. We had some miscommunications with the man who sold us our boat ticket (him promising us things he was not capable of giving us) about how much and the exact destination and the boat time, so we ended up getting there late and paying more for a cab once we got back to Bali. The boat ride was really rough, sometimes feeling more like the mine bender than a boat. By the time we got to the Chillhouse, Maggie was dying of hunger and we were both still aching with soreness. We got our room, a bite to eat by the pool, and met some of the other guests. The place is a great place to travel alone because it has a community feel to it, like all meals are eaten together. We talked with a girl from Ireland for a while, and had dinner with an Australian and some people from England. The camp offers push bikes to use for the guests to get to the beach, so before dinner, Maggie and I biked down there. It's a great idea, but to get to the beach you have to ride on a main road with motorcycles and cars flying by while going with the flow of traffic and driving down the left side of the road. And of course, the idea of a helmet for a push bike is unheard of in Indonesia. We made it and walked on the beach that had large rocks scattered throughout. Our main purpose was to find surf clothes, but ended up with nothing but the plans to go in a two piece. Through the 10/15 minute push bike ride back, I got caught in the sand one time and almost saw my life flash before my eyes. We can't wait for the first day of surf tomorrow and are praying that our muscles heal a little before we wake up.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Indonesia- day 16
Day 16 Tues 9/11
In the tent, by the morning, we were frozen. Maggie dragged me out of my sleeping bag for breakfast and to watch the sunrise that brought a bit of heat with it. By the time we were finished watching the sunrise, the rest of our group had already started their hike for the Day 2. One of our porters guided us down the mountain, the same way we went up, which was ten times easier than we thought it would be, and a hundred times easier than the climb up. On the way down, we met three people from Portugal and learned about their midnight climb they had done the night before. I was so thankful we did the two days, because my legs were quivering both days and I don't think I would have survived straight up for eight hours than an immediate turnaround. We also ran into Weibke, one of the people we had dinner with the night before, who was on her journey up. The climb was totally worth everything we put into it and we don't regret one bit of it. It was the most legitimate hiking I'll be doing in my entire life. We were more than thrilled to finish the trek down, but had to get in a terrible cab ride for two hours back to Senggigi. When we returned, we were both car sick and immediately got in the shower to wash off the built up layers of dirt. We got lunch and cafe hopped for the rest of the day.We had dinner with, Steven, a guy we had pulled tables together with the other night, from Tennessee. We ate at his favorite place in town, Young Cafe.
In the tent, by the morning, we were frozen. Maggie dragged me out of my sleeping bag for breakfast and to watch the sunrise that brought a bit of heat with it. By the time we were finished watching the sunrise, the rest of our group had already started their hike for the Day 2. One of our porters guided us down the mountain, the same way we went up, which was ten times easier than we thought it would be, and a hundred times easier than the climb up. On the way down, we met three people from Portugal and learned about their midnight climb they had done the night before. I was so thankful we did the two days, because my legs were quivering both days and I don't think I would have survived straight up for eight hours than an immediate turnaround. We also ran into Weibke, one of the people we had dinner with the night before, who was on her journey up. The climb was totally worth everything we put into it and we don't regret one bit of it. It was the most legitimate hiking I'll be doing in my entire life. We were more than thrilled to finish the trek down, but had to get in a terrible cab ride for two hours back to Senggigi. When we returned, we were both car sick and immediately got in the shower to wash off the built up layers of dirt. We got lunch and cafe hopped for the rest of the day.We had dinner with, Steven, a guy we had pulled tables together with the other night, from Tennessee. We ate at his favorite place in town, Young Cafe.
Indonesia- day 15
Day 15 Mon 9/10
Our alarm luckily went off at 4:30 to wake us up for the 5:00 bus. In the bus, we met the first two members of our hiking group, Charlotte and Peter from Belgium. After our rough two hour drive, we were dropped off for breakfast, and yes, Maggie was sick. Interestingly, Charlotte and Peter taught us that in Belgium, they roll up their pancakes like burritos to eat them. Also at breakfast, I used a squat toilet for the first time, where there is a hole and some feet area, you squat, and its pretty much like you're peeing on the ground, but there is a hole there. We continued to the start of Mount Rinjani where we met the last four members of our groups, from Germany, two brothers and their wives, Erica, Nikko, Kati, and Josh. We really lucked out to get such a great group. On the hike, everyone brought backpacks, but Maggie and I, being unprepared, brought our Kavus stuffed to the brim. Everyone else in the group was doing three days/two nights. Every group had a guide and maybe 4 or 5 porters to carry all the camping gear across their back in a carrier that consisted of a large stick to balance across their back and two big baskets full of supplies. I know that the porter's were getting paid, but in some ways it almost felt like slavery to me. The hike was 8 hours straight up hill climbing. It was hard to say the least, but at the top, the view was well worth it. We got up there in time to see the sunset and the gorgeous view of the top of the volcano and a large peaceful lake with mountains surrounding it on all sides. During the hike, we stopped for lunch and at the top we had dinner, delicious soup and fried rice, served to us from our guide and porters. One of Maggie's favorite parts was the night spent in the tent.
Our alarm luckily went off at 4:30 to wake us up for the 5:00 bus. In the bus, we met the first two members of our hiking group, Charlotte and Peter from Belgium. After our rough two hour drive, we were dropped off for breakfast, and yes, Maggie was sick. Interestingly, Charlotte and Peter taught us that in Belgium, they roll up their pancakes like burritos to eat them. Also at breakfast, I used a squat toilet for the first time, where there is a hole and some feet area, you squat, and its pretty much like you're peeing on the ground, but there is a hole there. We continued to the start of Mount Rinjani where we met the last four members of our groups, from Germany, two brothers and their wives, Erica, Nikko, Kati, and Josh. We really lucked out to get such a great group. On the hike, everyone brought backpacks, but Maggie and I, being unprepared, brought our Kavus stuffed to the brim. Everyone else in the group was doing three days/two nights. Every group had a guide and maybe 4 or 5 porters to carry all the camping gear across their back in a carrier that consisted of a large stick to balance across their back and two big baskets full of supplies. I know that the porter's were getting paid, but in some ways it almost felt like slavery to me. The hike was 8 hours straight up hill climbing. It was hard to say the least, but at the top, the view was well worth it. We got up there in time to see the sunset and the gorgeous view of the top of the volcano and a large peaceful lake with mountains surrounding it on all sides. During the hike, we stopped for lunch and at the top we had dinner, delicious soup and fried rice, served to us from our guide and porters. One of Maggie's favorite parts was the night spent in the tent.
Indonesia- day 14
Day 14 Sun 9/9
Our last banana pancake breakfast was delicious. We got a boat to Lombok Island and went the town of Senggigi, where we found a room for $10 a night. The toilet was not built to flush, but there is a pale of water and they say to pour about half a bucket into the toilet to wash it down. I try to hold it. The bathroom has a lingering stench that's not going anywhere, no matter how much water is poured down. Senggigi looks like it was built for tourists and their are still locals selling stuff on the street and tourist restaurants, but hardly any tourists in the town at all. We went to the local's beach and watched all the kids play in the ocean fully clothed. Most of the beach is gorgeous like Gili, but some of it looks a dumpster, with a thick trash lining. I hate littering. We spent the afternoon in the spa and got a whole five hour spa package for about $17 that included a massage, body scrub, facial, manicure, and pedicure. It was delightful. For dinner we went to Young Cafe and pulled our table together with some other backpackers from Germany, Tennessee, Canada, Oregon, Switzerland, and France. It was a lot of fun and interesting hearing everyone else's travel stories. Everyone was raving about climbing Mount Rinjani, apparently the thing to do in Lombok. At 9:00 pm, and after a Bintang or two, we decide we are doing it and Maggie runs out of the restaurant to book it. We were pushed for time before we had to leave to go back to Bali, so our only option is leaving Monday morning at 5 am for the two day/one night trek. Clearly it was about as last minute as it gets, so bargaining the price of the excursion was not much of an option. We were doing it.
Our last banana pancake breakfast was delicious. We got a boat to Lombok Island and went the town of Senggigi, where we found a room for $10 a night. The toilet was not built to flush, but there is a pale of water and they say to pour about half a bucket into the toilet to wash it down. I try to hold it. The bathroom has a lingering stench that's not going anywhere, no matter how much water is poured down. Senggigi looks like it was built for tourists and their are still locals selling stuff on the street and tourist restaurants, but hardly any tourists in the town at all. We went to the local's beach and watched all the kids play in the ocean fully clothed. Most of the beach is gorgeous like Gili, but some of it looks a dumpster, with a thick trash lining. I hate littering. We spent the afternoon in the spa and got a whole five hour spa package for about $17 that included a massage, body scrub, facial, manicure, and pedicure. It was delightful. For dinner we went to Young Cafe and pulled our table together with some other backpackers from Germany, Tennessee, Canada, Oregon, Switzerland, and France. It was a lot of fun and interesting hearing everyone else's travel stories. Everyone was raving about climbing Mount Rinjani, apparently the thing to do in Lombok. At 9:00 pm, and after a Bintang or two, we decide we are doing it and Maggie runs out of the restaurant to book it. We were pushed for time before we had to leave to go back to Bali, so our only option is leaving Monday morning at 5 am for the two day/one night trek. Clearly it was about as last minute as it gets, so bargaining the price of the excursion was not much of an option. We were doing it.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Indonesia- day 13
Day 13 Sat 8/8
Another relaxing beach day. We woke up, went straight to the beach, and lounged all day long. Throughout the day, the electricity went out a few times, but the locals acted like it was the norm and all pulled out their candles. For dinner we went to the market again, but tried out a different stand. We got satays, like kabobs, and I tried one of each meat, chicken, steak, and shrimp. With the meat, we also got three sides and rice, all for only about $2.50! We went back out to the reggae bar, but the bar was having a party, so the music wasn't as much of our style as the night before. Things I'll remember about Gili Trawangan are the gorgeous breaches, the cats all over the island, no cars in sight, the horse carriages, and the local night market.
Another relaxing beach day. We woke up, went straight to the beach, and lounged all day long. Throughout the day, the electricity went out a few times, but the locals acted like it was the norm and all pulled out their candles. For dinner we went to the market again, but tried out a different stand. We got satays, like kabobs, and I tried one of each meat, chicken, steak, and shrimp. With the meat, we also got three sides and rice, all for only about $2.50! We went back out to the reggae bar, but the bar was having a party, so the music wasn't as much of our style as the night before. Things I'll remember about Gili Trawangan are the gorgeous breaches, the cats all over the island, no cars in sight, the horse carriages, and the local night market.
Indonesia- day 12
Day 12 Fri 8/7
Beach day. The room we are staying in served us breakfast in the morning and I had some delicious banana pancakes. Since Gili Trawangan island has a bunch of scuba places, I thought it would be a good idea to try it out while we were here. I signed up for discover scuba, which included instruction, pool scuba practice, and one dive. I liked the six people in my group: Rajj, a girl from Canada who we had lunch with, two guys from England, and a blonde couple. I went through the instruction and got in the pool. I really didn't like it at all. The whole time we were doing practice skills in the pool, I felt like I was gasping for air through my air tank, my googles kept filling with water, and my ears were suffering in the two meter deep pool. I decided today wasn't a good day to scuba dive and didn't force myself any further. I was only charged half price, and if I feel like I should've gone through with it later on, there will be plenty of more places I can try again. Maggie and I spent the rest of the day lounging on the beach, finding the comfiest open chairs we could on the sand until comfier ones opened up and we'd grab them. We did happy hour with three guys from Holland and Whales. They gave us the tip to avoid malaria, drink gin and tonics. Funny. When we returned to our room we met two Americans from New York, Sarah and Andrew. It was really weird that there were more Americans here. We went to dinner with them to Blue Marlins, a restaurant they recommended on the beach, and afterwards headed to a Reggae bar. The bar played really good songs, some nonreggae songs that they just added a guitar to and called it reggae. We danced and one local who was there was dancing with a full cup on her head, while drunk and smoking. Afterwards, Maggie and I went to Rudy's, the party place on the island, and found out it was just like a club, packed all the way from the bar to the beach. They only have one kind of beer on the island, Bintang, in two sizes, small and large. Maggie is trying to get me into it, but it hasn't worked thus far. Good day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!
Beach day. The room we are staying in served us breakfast in the morning and I had some delicious banana pancakes. Since Gili Trawangan island has a bunch of scuba places, I thought it would be a good idea to try it out while we were here. I signed up for discover scuba, which included instruction, pool scuba practice, and one dive. I liked the six people in my group: Rajj, a girl from Canada who we had lunch with, two guys from England, and a blonde couple. I went through the instruction and got in the pool. I really didn't like it at all. The whole time we were doing practice skills in the pool, I felt like I was gasping for air through my air tank, my googles kept filling with water, and my ears were suffering in the two meter deep pool. I decided today wasn't a good day to scuba dive and didn't force myself any further. I was only charged half price, and if I feel like I should've gone through with it later on, there will be plenty of more places I can try again. Maggie and I spent the rest of the day lounging on the beach, finding the comfiest open chairs we could on the sand until comfier ones opened up and we'd grab them. We did happy hour with three guys from Holland and Whales. They gave us the tip to avoid malaria, drink gin and tonics. Funny. When we returned to our room we met two Americans from New York, Sarah and Andrew. It was really weird that there were more Americans here. We went to dinner with them to Blue Marlins, a restaurant they recommended on the beach, and afterwards headed to a Reggae bar. The bar played really good songs, some nonreggae songs that they just added a guitar to and called it reggae. We danced and one local who was there was dancing with a full cup on her head, while drunk and smoking. Afterwards, Maggie and I went to Rudy's, the party place on the island, and found out it was just like a club, packed all the way from the bar to the beach. They only have one kind of beer on the island, Bintang, in two sizes, small and large. Maggie is trying to get me into it, but it hasn't worked thus far. Good day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Indonesia- day 11
Day 11 Thurs 8/6
Our second stop in Bali began. We made it to Gili Trawangan Island on the fast boat. It was a tough decision between slow or fast boat, but we chose the fast because it took only four hours, opposed to a whole day, and cost $15 more dollars than the slow boat. We walked around and found a room for $15 a night with two beds, so we took it. It's not the fanciest, lots of ants, no fresh water, and a bit of wood rot on the door knobs, but it will do. The island is gorgeous. I don't think I've ever seen a beach where you can see mountains on the next island over. We got there around 3 and got lunch and laid out for the rest of the day. Trawangan is supposed to be the party island, and it is pretty crowded, but I wouldn't say there were partiers everywhere. For dinner we walked down the beach trip to the local's set of a couple booths and ate there. We have zero idea what we ate, but it was good. It was some sort of noodles, veggies, chicken, and spices. Asian food is spicy! Afterwards we enjoyed some piña coladas on the beach and called it a night. The beach is lined with a street and all through the street there are shops, restaurants, dive places, and more. We've liked the restaurants on the beach that have the comfy chairs on the sand. The island feels like vacation.
Our second stop in Bali began. We made it to Gili Trawangan Island on the fast boat. It was a tough decision between slow or fast boat, but we chose the fast because it took only four hours, opposed to a whole day, and cost $15 more dollars than the slow boat. We walked around and found a room for $15 a night with two beds, so we took it. It's not the fanciest, lots of ants, no fresh water, and a bit of wood rot on the door knobs, but it will do. The island is gorgeous. I don't think I've ever seen a beach where you can see mountains on the next island over. We got there around 3 and got lunch and laid out for the rest of the day. Trawangan is supposed to be the party island, and it is pretty crowded, but I wouldn't say there were partiers everywhere. For dinner we walked down the beach trip to the local's set of a couple booths and ate there. We have zero idea what we ate, but it was good. It was some sort of noodles, veggies, chicken, and spices. Asian food is spicy! Afterwards we enjoyed some piña coladas on the beach and called it a night. The beach is lined with a street and all through the street there are shops, restaurants, dive places, and more. We've liked the restaurants on the beach that have the comfy chairs on the sand. The island feels like vacation.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Indonesia- day 10
Day 10 Wed 8/5
On Tuesday, we talked to our yoga instructor, Carlos, about a private lesson Wednesday morning for flying yoga, because it was only offered on the weekends and we were leaving Thursday. He emailed back late Tuesday night and in the end, the meeting place was unclear. We got up and tried to meet him at the monkey forest, then at the birth center, but in the end our meeting Carlos turned into an hour power walk around Ubud and eventually, giving up on yoga for the day. Maggie wants to try to buy a piece of jewelry from every place we journey. Her first piece was a brown one, and I got one that was brown and green. We found our way to a cafe, where Maggie read and I blogged a little. I'm really shocked at how many of the cafe's here have wifi. The day was a lazy day and most of it was spent cafe hopping. We were worn out from Monday and Tuesday. We also took advantage of the ridiculously low prices here, and made a trip to the spa, where I got a facial and Maggie had some waxing done. I feel like in the three days we were in Ubud, we really got a good feel of Ubud living. The only thing I would probably do different would have been to take advantage of the yoga here, because many of the travelers solely come here for it.
On Tuesday, we talked to our yoga instructor, Carlos, about a private lesson Wednesday morning for flying yoga, because it was only offered on the weekends and we were leaving Thursday. He emailed back late Tuesday night and in the end, the meeting place was unclear. We got up and tried to meet him at the monkey forest, then at the birth center, but in the end our meeting Carlos turned into an hour power walk around Ubud and eventually, giving up on yoga for the day. Maggie wants to try to buy a piece of jewelry from every place we journey. Her first piece was a brown one, and I got one that was brown and green. We found our way to a cafe, where Maggie read and I blogged a little. I'm really shocked at how many of the cafe's here have wifi. The day was a lazy day and most of it was spent cafe hopping. We were worn out from Monday and Tuesday. We also took advantage of the ridiculously low prices here, and made a trip to the spa, where I got a facial and Maggie had some waxing done. I feel like in the three days we were in Ubud, we really got a good feel of Ubud living. The only thing I would probably do different would have been to take advantage of the yoga here, because many of the travelers solely come here for it.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Indonesia- day 9
Day 9 Tues 8/4
A lot of the travelers in Ubud come here to further their yoga knowledge. I tried out yoga a couple times in high school and never loved it, but since Ubud is known for their yoga and they have a ton of yoga places, we had to do it before leaving. We went to an intro to yoga class at the Yoga Barn that overlooked a scenic pond and greenery. For the first twenty minutes, Carlos, our teacher, talked to the class and taught us a soothing meditation song that went along with his guitar. The class lasted for an hour and forty five minutes and when it was over my muscles felt stretched and relaxed. For lunch we went to Kafe and I had a fruit plate with a smoothie. My travel doctor would not have been too happy. In Bali, I have really enjoyed trying out all the different fruit juices and smoothies they have. I like papaya juice a lot and had a great omega 3 smoothie at lunch. We took a long walk to find the rice paddies today, that are also really popular in Ubud. Ill admit, I'm glad Maggie dragged me out there. The rice fields stretched for miles and miles and walking paths weaved through the fields. Before walking through, I experienced my first coconut drinking experience. The man that sold us the coconut chopped it off the limb, cut the top and bottom, and handed us a coconut with a straw in it to drink the coconut water. Typically, about two steps into our walk through the rice paddies, I fell into some mud and ended up with a muddy sock and shoe the rest of the day. Some parts of the rice fields had building construction in process, and the materials were brought to the construction site from the women carrying them on their heads. Its crazy to think that people still have daily routines that involve transporting things over their heads. Some of the really talented women could do it with no hands. Afterwards, I went running around the soccer field in the middle of the village. In one corner of the field, all the local kids were playing and another traveler that was standing on the street looking in, was taking pictures of me as I ran through the kids. I felt like I was one of the local people that we've been taking pictures of all week. At the field, there was a European boy, about 10, on his bike, that I raced around the field and a local old man who talked to me every time he passed going the opposite direction. The people of Bali are really kind.
A lot of the travelers in Ubud come here to further their yoga knowledge. I tried out yoga a couple times in high school and never loved it, but since Ubud is known for their yoga and they have a ton of yoga places, we had to do it before leaving. We went to an intro to yoga class at the Yoga Barn that overlooked a scenic pond and greenery. For the first twenty minutes, Carlos, our teacher, talked to the class and taught us a soothing meditation song that went along with his guitar. The class lasted for an hour and forty five minutes and when it was over my muscles felt stretched and relaxed. For lunch we went to Kafe and I had a fruit plate with a smoothie. My travel doctor would not have been too happy. In Bali, I have really enjoyed trying out all the different fruit juices and smoothies they have. I like papaya juice a lot and had a great omega 3 smoothie at lunch. We took a long walk to find the rice paddies today, that are also really popular in Ubud. Ill admit, I'm glad Maggie dragged me out there. The rice fields stretched for miles and miles and walking paths weaved through the fields. Before walking through, I experienced my first coconut drinking experience. The man that sold us the coconut chopped it off the limb, cut the top and bottom, and handed us a coconut with a straw in it to drink the coconut water. Typically, about two steps into our walk through the rice paddies, I fell into some mud and ended up with a muddy sock and shoe the rest of the day. Some parts of the rice fields had building construction in process, and the materials were brought to the construction site from the women carrying them on their heads. Its crazy to think that people still have daily routines that involve transporting things over their heads. Some of the really talented women could do it with no hands. Afterwards, I went running around the soccer field in the middle of the village. In one corner of the field, all the local kids were playing and another traveler that was standing on the street looking in, was taking pictures of me as I ran through the kids. I felt like I was one of the local people that we've been taking pictures of all week. At the field, there was a European boy, about 10, on his bike, that I raced around the field and a local old man who talked to me every time he passed going the opposite direction. The people of Bali are really kind.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Indonesia- day 8
Day 8 Mon 8/3
First full day in Bali. We explored the village. I woke up to the roosters crowing. .. There are a million roosters that continually crow all day long. Nyoman served us a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast, and fruit, that was perfectly mixed with seasonings. Every morning, the women of the families in Ubud make palms into little square-like boxes with plants in them and scatter the palm boxes around as a spiritual tradition. They burn them outside the doors of the rooms and lay a lot around the grounds elsewhere. We ate with three other travelers, from France. Two of them left for their next destination at noon, but Dominique showed us around the village. Dominique is 32 and has been living around the world for several years. He moved out of France in 2005 and has lived in places including China, India, and Australia. In other countries, it's more of a norm to travel before settling down. The streets were full of tourists, most from France and a lot from Australia as well. The streets of Ubud are packed with stores selling stuff, it reminds me a lot of the Bahamas. On the roads, there are just as many motor bikes as there are cars and no real road lines, which leads to many crazy drivers. For lunch and dinner, we ate on rooftops of restaurants and the food was delicious. I really like gado-gado, that is served In a delicious peanut oil, that tastes a lot like a Reese's peanut butter cup. Maggie and I went on a walk through the less touristy part of town in the afternoon, and were able to get a feel of the more local life, everyone rides their motor bikes to work, and there are stray roosters, chickens, and dogs everywhere. The animals could tell that we were foreigners and many of the dogs barked at us, once getting chased down the street. Maggie was determined to find the rice fields. My Balinese name is Cadec, second child. The village gets dark around 6:00, which leads to very short days.
First full day in Bali. We explored the village. I woke up to the roosters crowing. .. There are a million roosters that continually crow all day long. Nyoman served us a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast, and fruit, that was perfectly mixed with seasonings. Every morning, the women of the families in Ubud make palms into little square-like boxes with plants in them and scatter the palm boxes around as a spiritual tradition. They burn them outside the doors of the rooms and lay a lot around the grounds elsewhere. We ate with three other travelers, from France. Two of them left for their next destination at noon, but Dominique showed us around the village. Dominique is 32 and has been living around the world for several years. He moved out of France in 2005 and has lived in places including China, India, and Australia. In other countries, it's more of a norm to travel before settling down. The streets were full of tourists, most from France and a lot from Australia as well. The streets of Ubud are packed with stores selling stuff, it reminds me a lot of the Bahamas. On the roads, there are just as many motor bikes as there are cars and no real road lines, which leads to many crazy drivers. For lunch and dinner, we ate on rooftops of restaurants and the food was delicious. I really like gado-gado, that is served In a delicious peanut oil, that tastes a lot like a Reese's peanut butter cup. Maggie and I went on a walk through the less touristy part of town in the afternoon, and were able to get a feel of the more local life, everyone rides their motor bikes to work, and there are stray roosters, chickens, and dogs everywhere. The animals could tell that we were foreigners and many of the dogs barked at us, once getting chased down the street. Maggie was determined to find the rice fields. My Balinese name is Cadec, second child. The village gets dark around 6:00, which leads to very short days.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
South korea- day 6
Day 6 Sat 8/1
We had a good last day in South Korea. I got up and ran in the morning. I got a lot of stares. Koreans don't run. They have a lot of hills here and I ran the streets, so got a lot of stoplights too, but I love to run in new places. When I got home, we packed all of our stuff into our backpacks and have officially started the life of a backpacker: carrying everything you have with you, with no real destination, and no where to "go back" to until the journey is complete. We had lunch with one of Maggie's friends, Courtney, from Canada. She was really fun and we went to an American restaurant and de stressed over lunch from a stressful packing morning. We took a cab to lunch with all of our stuff, and when we got to our restaurant, located on a overly busy, six lane street, and as we unloaded, my backpack and I face-planted into the curb. The trip had begun. In the afternoon, we headed down to Incheon, by the airport, to visit Maggie's nice friends, Emily and Brian, who were from California and have lived here for a few years. Maggie had to give her key back today, and Emily and Brian live closer to the airport and in a much nicer part of town. In the afternoon, we had wine and snacks on their roof with a beautiful view and strolled around beer fest. Beer fest was a big outside fair type event with a great band. After the fair, we made our way to the bar, liquor burger, for dinner and to hang out. The bar was full of foreigners and Maggie, Emily, and Brian knew every single person there. Around 11, a group of about ten of us rushed back to Maggie's so some of her friends could complete their fantasy football drafts.
We had a good last day in South Korea. I got up and ran in the morning. I got a lot of stares. Koreans don't run. They have a lot of hills here and I ran the streets, so got a lot of stoplights too, but I love to run in new places. When I got home, we packed all of our stuff into our backpacks and have officially started the life of a backpacker: carrying everything you have with you, with no real destination, and no where to "go back" to until the journey is complete. We had lunch with one of Maggie's friends, Courtney, from Canada. She was really fun and we went to an American restaurant and de stressed over lunch from a stressful packing morning. We took a cab to lunch with all of our stuff, and when we got to our restaurant, located on a overly busy, six lane street, and as we unloaded, my backpack and I face-planted into the curb. The trip had begun. In the afternoon, we headed down to Incheon, by the airport, to visit Maggie's nice friends, Emily and Brian, who were from California and have lived here for a few years. Maggie had to give her key back today, and Emily and Brian live closer to the airport and in a much nicer part of town. In the afternoon, we had wine and snacks on their roof with a beautiful view and strolled around beer fest. Beer fest was a big outside fair type event with a great band. After the fair, we made our way to the bar, liquor burger, for dinner and to hang out. The bar was full of foreigners and Maggie, Emily, and Brian knew every single person there. Around 11, a group of about ten of us rushed back to Maggie's so some of her friends could complete their fantasy football drafts.
Friday, August 31, 2012
South Korea- day 5
Day 5 Fri 7/31
Part 1: The DMZ- demilitarized zone
Today Maggie and I went to the DMZ, demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. Because North Korea is a communist country, no travel is allowed and no one is allowed out of the country. There are four different bridges for the DMZ, but we only went to the third one because it was the closest to Seoul, where we got on our tour bus. Our tour guide was Clara, a cute girl from Seoul with braces who was about 20, accompanied by a man in front of us who acted as a second tour guide because he had just been to the war museum and clearly wanted to talk about it. In 1953, the demilitarized zone was established, but South Korea actually never signed off on it, so it's really an agreement between North Korea and the United Nations. We started at the JSA, joint security area, where we saw a PowerPoint about the history and random facts, shown by two US soldiers. There is a freedom village in the DMZ, that doesn't belong to North or South Korea and is constantly protected (home to a few lucky wealthy people who don't have to pay taxes to either country). We went to the line and saw the ROK (South Korean) soldiers standing guard against North Korea. There was one North Korean man on the opposite side of the line holding the fort down checking out the tour group with binoculars. We were able to go into a conference room and cross over into North Korea, where we got good pictures officially standing in North Korea. We also went to site seeing areas to get a view of North Korea from a distance and take pictures, but at a strictly enforced distance. On the tour, we also got to go down to one of the tunnels South Korea found that North Korea was trying to dig through the South for attack. We put on helmets and got to walk 2 kilometers at an 11 degree decline (ouch to the knees) to see through to the North's side of the cave. Luckily, we wore helmets, because I banged my head on the top of the tunnel at least twenty times. People over here are just shorter than the average American. The DMZ was something I will probably never get to do again.
On the ride back from the DMZ, we stopped at a train station that was worldly important. If South Korea and North Korea reunite, people would have access all around Europe and Asia through the connecting railroads. While we were sitting in chairs in the station talking to each other, a Korean visitor from another tour bus came up and stood as close as he could to Maggie without touching her. While I'm sitting there staring thinking what the h are you doing, Maggie and I turn to see people taking a picture of him (us). Yes, this forty something Koan man was trying to snap himself into a picture with us, people with blonde hair. Weird. We got up and posed for a picture with him. He was ecstatic. Afterwards, Maggie got another photo request, funny Koreans.
Part 2: The Day in Seoul
We got done with the DMZ tour around 3:30, then Maggie showed me some of the popular parts of Seoul. First, we went to Myeong-dong that was a lot like the heart of Madrid. The city had streets packed with people and popular stores, all three stories high. There was a ZARA and Forever 21, but we weren't able to buy much, because there is just no room to jam more stuff in a tiny backpack. After the light shopping, we went to see the palace, which happened to be closed, but I saw it and got a picture outside to document it. The last part of town Maggie showed me was Insa-Dong, that was an outdoor street filled with souvenirs and old restaurants. We walked around a lot of the little stores and checked out the cute Korean souvenirs for sale, like chop sticks and graphic socks. We finished the day with a trip to the PC bang, which was the computer room where you pay a little bit of money for a computer, with Internet access. The Koreans love their video games, so you can imagine it was a packed house, Friday night at the PC bang.
Part 1: The DMZ- demilitarized zone
Today Maggie and I went to the DMZ, demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. Because North Korea is a communist country, no travel is allowed and no one is allowed out of the country. There are four different bridges for the DMZ, but we only went to the third one because it was the closest to Seoul, where we got on our tour bus. Our tour guide was Clara, a cute girl from Seoul with braces who was about 20, accompanied by a man in front of us who acted as a second tour guide because he had just been to the war museum and clearly wanted to talk about it. In 1953, the demilitarized zone was established, but South Korea actually never signed off on it, so it's really an agreement between North Korea and the United Nations. We started at the JSA, joint security area, where we saw a PowerPoint about the history and random facts, shown by two US soldiers. There is a freedom village in the DMZ, that doesn't belong to North or South Korea and is constantly protected (home to a few lucky wealthy people who don't have to pay taxes to either country). We went to the line and saw the ROK (South Korean) soldiers standing guard against North Korea. There was one North Korean man on the opposite side of the line holding the fort down checking out the tour group with binoculars. We were able to go into a conference room and cross over into North Korea, where we got good pictures officially standing in North Korea. We also went to site seeing areas to get a view of North Korea from a distance and take pictures, but at a strictly enforced distance. On the tour, we also got to go down to one of the tunnels South Korea found that North Korea was trying to dig through the South for attack. We put on helmets and got to walk 2 kilometers at an 11 degree decline (ouch to the knees) to see through to the North's side of the cave. Luckily, we wore helmets, because I banged my head on the top of the tunnel at least twenty times. People over here are just shorter than the average American. The DMZ was something I will probably never get to do again.
On the ride back from the DMZ, we stopped at a train station that was worldly important. If South Korea and North Korea reunite, people would have access all around Europe and Asia through the connecting railroads. While we were sitting in chairs in the station talking to each other, a Korean visitor from another tour bus came up and stood as close as he could to Maggie without touching her. While I'm sitting there staring thinking what the h are you doing, Maggie and I turn to see people taking a picture of him (us). Yes, this forty something Koan man was trying to snap himself into a picture with us, people with blonde hair. Weird. We got up and posed for a picture with him. He was ecstatic. Afterwards, Maggie got another photo request, funny Koreans.
Part 2: The Day in Seoul
We got done with the DMZ tour around 3:30, then Maggie showed me some of the popular parts of Seoul. First, we went to Myeong-dong that was a lot like the heart of Madrid. The city had streets packed with people and popular stores, all three stories high. There was a ZARA and Forever 21, but we weren't able to buy much, because there is just no room to jam more stuff in a tiny backpack. After the light shopping, we went to see the palace, which happened to be closed, but I saw it and got a picture outside to document it. The last part of town Maggie showed me was Insa-Dong, that was an outdoor street filled with souvenirs and old restaurants. We walked around a lot of the little stores and checked out the cute Korean souvenirs for sale, like chop sticks and graphic socks. We finished the day with a trip to the PC bang, which was the computer room where you pay a little bit of money for a computer, with Internet access. The Koreans love their video games, so you can imagine it was a packed house, Friday night at the PC bang.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
South Korea - day 4
Day 4 Thurs 7/30
The jet lag really hit me today. I feel like I could sleep all day. Maggie dragged me out of bed at noon to go to lunch with her bosses. We went to a Korean restaurant and took off our shoes when we entered the restaurant. We sat on not so comfy sitting place mats and wore eating aprons. We ate duck that we cooked in front of us and wrapped it in lettuce. I learned that in Korea they calculate age differently then us. When you are born, you are born at year 1 and at the Chinese new year everybody ages a year. In Korea I am actually 23 instead of 21. For desert we had coffee with a creamer in it that was extremely hot. We took the rest of Maggie's stuff to be mailed home to the post office and went by her friends English academy to pick up the a phone to use for the trip. In the afternoon Maggie talked me into going to the jimjilbang, which was an experience to say the least. A jimjilbang is a place where Koreans hang out and it has about everything you could possibly need. When you go in, you pay eight dollars and are given a towel, a locker key, and some pajamas. As you enter the locker room, you find naked Korean women. Everywhere. The locker room was similar to one you'd find at la fitness and from there, you can go two directions. The first choice you have is to enter a room to the left that has lots of pools, showers, areas to sit and wash yourself, and benches for body scrub services. The second option is to go the hallway on the right, and go to the communal area where the guys and girls are together. First, we joined the naked Koreans and went in the pool room. Being totally nude in front of dozens of people is really something that does not come naturally. I was very hesitant to the thought of it, but once you get there and everyone is naked, you'd be the odd man out to keep clothes on. So we showered, went in all the different pools, bathed ourselves in public, and just hung out nude. Interesting right. We bought shampoo, conditioner, and body scrub to use to wash. Before we left the room, we decided to cap off the experience with a body scrub. It felt really good, but it was a little interesting having someone move you around and scrub you down butt naked. Afterwards, we put on our pajamas and went into the guys and girls section. There was a restaurant, many different sauna rooms, a workout center, a kids area, and a sleep room. We tried out all the equipment in the workout room. The saunas were pretty cool. They were all at different temperatures, from hot to cold, with different aromas to take in as you sat in them. The last sauna was hot and made of flooring of hard metal balls, which were relaxing as you laid/rolled on them. We got pictures in it. For dinner, we enjoyed a good American pasta from Outback steakhouse. Maggie wanted to go back to her school to say goodbye to her Tuesday/Thursday students so we did that and she told all five classes about her banker that told her this morning, "I hope to meet you again before we both die" haha, they loved it. We went to a cafe to find wifi after the visit and are getting up early in the morning to go to the DMZ.
The jet lag really hit me today. I feel like I could sleep all day. Maggie dragged me out of bed at noon to go to lunch with her bosses. We went to a Korean restaurant and took off our shoes when we entered the restaurant. We sat on not so comfy sitting place mats and wore eating aprons. We ate duck that we cooked in front of us and wrapped it in lettuce. I learned that in Korea they calculate age differently then us. When you are born, you are born at year 1 and at the Chinese new year everybody ages a year. In Korea I am actually 23 instead of 21. For desert we had coffee with a creamer in it that was extremely hot. We took the rest of Maggie's stuff to be mailed home to the post office and went by her friends English academy to pick up the a phone to use for the trip. In the afternoon Maggie talked me into going to the jimjilbang, which was an experience to say the least. A jimjilbang is a place where Koreans hang out and it has about everything you could possibly need. When you go in, you pay eight dollars and are given a towel, a locker key, and some pajamas. As you enter the locker room, you find naked Korean women. Everywhere. The locker room was similar to one you'd find at la fitness and from there, you can go two directions. The first choice you have is to enter a room to the left that has lots of pools, showers, areas to sit and wash yourself, and benches for body scrub services. The second option is to go the hallway on the right, and go to the communal area where the guys and girls are together. First, we joined the naked Koreans and went in the pool room. Being totally nude in front of dozens of people is really something that does not come naturally. I was very hesitant to the thought of it, but once you get there and everyone is naked, you'd be the odd man out to keep clothes on. So we showered, went in all the different pools, bathed ourselves in public, and just hung out nude. Interesting right. We bought shampoo, conditioner, and body scrub to use to wash. Before we left the room, we decided to cap off the experience with a body scrub. It felt really good, but it was a little interesting having someone move you around and scrub you down butt naked. Afterwards, we put on our pajamas and went into the guys and girls section. There was a restaurant, many different sauna rooms, a workout center, a kids area, and a sleep room. We tried out all the equipment in the workout room. The saunas were pretty cool. They were all at different temperatures, from hot to cold, with different aromas to take in as you sat in them. The last sauna was hot and made of flooring of hard metal balls, which were relaxing as you laid/rolled on them. We got pictures in it. For dinner, we enjoyed a good American pasta from Outback steakhouse. Maggie wanted to go back to her school to say goodbye to her Tuesday/Thursday students so we did that and she told all five classes about her banker that told her this morning, "I hope to meet you again before we both die" haha, they loved it. We went to a cafe to find wifi after the visit and are getting up early in the morning to go to the DMZ.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
South Korea - days 2&3
Day 2 Tues. 7/28
I have arrived, luckily. Through the typhoon that is supposed to be hitting any time this week, it was a miracle that the plane landed. It was a super rough landing. I got to the airport around 7, exchanged currency, got through customs and luggage, and got on the train to Gimpo. Unfortunately, when I finally got in touch with Maggie, she was at Incheon, so I waited at the train station for about an hour for her to come back and meet me. Asia reminds me a lot of Madrid, in the way the streets are set up and the way the streets look. After car, plane, train, and bus, I finally made it to my sister's apartment. It was pretty exciting, because I hadn't seen Maggie in a year. Around 11 Maggie took me to my first Korean meal, her favorite, Korean BBQ. It was pretty cool because we had a grill in the middle of our table and cooked our own pork. I tried kimchi for the first time, which was a little spicy, but tasty. Maggie's coworker Sam came and ate with us for the end of the meal. It was fun to meet her first friend. Sometimes I forget to think about her friends since she's in Korea. We went home and got to sleep around 12:30.
Day 3 Wed. 7/29
Woke up around 10. Went to another good Korean meal and ate bulgogi, a soup with beef and rice and egg noodles in it. After, we walked through the outdoor market, which was cool, but smelled pretty fishy. Around 12:40 we went to 7/11 and gave some of her students parents some "giveaways", then she showed me the school, and I went on another so successful jog up a mountain at the end of her road. I went back to her place, showered, then went to visit her at school. The kids were very cute. She taught seven classes, all at different levels. Six of the classes were more intermediate and the last class was advanced, called Chung dahm. The kids all looked shocked when I walked into the room, which was fun, but in a lot of the classes, I felt like I was repeating a lot. For one of her classes, she left to go to a meeting, and I got to teach the class for twenty minutes, which I loved. She finished up at her English academy at 10 and we went to eat with a lot of Maggie's friends afterwards. One of her best friends, Kayti, also finished up her teaching in Korea this semester and it was a pretty sad goodbye. Sam was also there tonight, along with some of her other good friends, Carla, Brynn, Joseph, Alex, and Sam. There were about twenty of us, and we ate another Korean dish. It was a lot of rice and seaweed, mixed with some Korean noodles. There was also some delicious pork served with it and we got beer with it as well. Afterwards, we went and sat on some non flowing fountain stairs overlooking the highways with her friends. It was really pretty and a good time for Maggie's last night with all friends and my introduction to her friends. It started raining a little bit and we moved under the wooden shelter nearby. It was really fun and everyone said their final goodbyes. I really like her friends, they were from all over, a lot from different states. All of them were really funny and outgoing, what else to expect from people willing to teach English in Korea. We took a ten minute cab ride home with Sam, back to Maggie's apartment around 4:00 am. Overall, would say it was a great first night out in Korea.
I have arrived, luckily. Through the typhoon that is supposed to be hitting any time this week, it was a miracle that the plane landed. It was a super rough landing. I got to the airport around 7, exchanged currency, got through customs and luggage, and got on the train to Gimpo. Unfortunately, when I finally got in touch with Maggie, she was at Incheon, so I waited at the train station for about an hour for her to come back and meet me. Asia reminds me a lot of Madrid, in the way the streets are set up and the way the streets look. After car, plane, train, and bus, I finally made it to my sister's apartment. It was pretty exciting, because I hadn't seen Maggie in a year. Around 11 Maggie took me to my first Korean meal, her favorite, Korean BBQ. It was pretty cool because we had a grill in the middle of our table and cooked our own pork. I tried kimchi for the first time, which was a little spicy, but tasty. Maggie's coworker Sam came and ate with us for the end of the meal. It was fun to meet her first friend. Sometimes I forget to think about her friends since she's in Korea. We went home and got to sleep around 12:30.
Day 3 Wed. 7/29
Woke up around 10. Went to another good Korean meal and ate bulgogi, a soup with beef and rice and egg noodles in it. After, we walked through the outdoor market, which was cool, but smelled pretty fishy. Around 12:40 we went to 7/11 and gave some of her students parents some "giveaways", then she showed me the school, and I went on another so successful jog up a mountain at the end of her road. I went back to her place, showered, then went to visit her at school. The kids were very cute. She taught seven classes, all at different levels. Six of the classes were more intermediate and the last class was advanced, called Chung dahm. The kids all looked shocked when I walked into the room, which was fun, but in a lot of the classes, I felt like I was repeating a lot. For one of her classes, she left to go to a meeting, and I got to teach the class for twenty minutes, which I loved. She finished up at her English academy at 10 and we went to eat with a lot of Maggie's friends afterwards. One of her best friends, Kayti, also finished up her teaching in Korea this semester and it was a pretty sad goodbye. Sam was also there tonight, along with some of her other good friends, Carla, Brynn, Joseph, Alex, and Sam. There were about twenty of us, and we ate another Korean dish. It was a lot of rice and seaweed, mixed with some Korean noodles. There was also some delicious pork served with it and we got beer with it as well. Afterwards, we went and sat on some non flowing fountain stairs overlooking the highways with her friends. It was really pretty and a good time for Maggie's last night with all friends and my introduction to her friends. It started raining a little bit and we moved under the wooden shelter nearby. It was really fun and everyone said their final goodbyes. I really like her friends, they were from all over, a lot from different states. All of them were really funny and outgoing, what else to expect from people willing to teach English in Korea. We took a ten minute cab ride home with Sam, back to Maggie's apartment around 4:00 am. Overall, would say it was a great first night out in Korea.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Asia - 2012 begins
Day 1 8/27/12 - I'm beginning my next world travels around Asia for 3 months with my sister. We'll be living in backpacks and sleeping in hostels for the most of the trip. The trip has just begun. I'm sitting in the Atl airport waiting to catch my flight to San Francisco where I have a connecting flight to Korea to meet up with Maggie, since she has been teaching over there for a year. SO EXCITED!!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
The End of Spain (July 2011)
Day 24: Monday- classes
Day 25: Tuesday- visit to Segovia. Got to see the inspiration for Disney world’s castle. Segovia has a really cool aquaduct that runs through the city! While we were there they gave us two hours free time, but it was during siesta time so everything was closed. Dani and I had some wine while we were in Avila, before the tour of the castle haha. That night a few of us (me, Lena, Lauren, Scott, Cody, Dani) went to a Mexican restaurant that was alright, definitely not as good as the states Mexican food though. It was in the gay part of town.
Day 26: Wednesday- classes. Sick
Day 27: Thursday- Visit to Avila the city surrounded by towers. Home to St Theresa of Avila and we got to see her preserved stored finger. We (Me, Megan, Dani, and Wes) ate at a wonderful Kebob place in Avila, but did not climb the tower in Avila, which was a regret. Cristobol said we needed to do it a million times, but everyone was over tourism by then, it just didn’t happen. A lot of my friends didn’t have to go to Avila because a ton of them only had one class.
Day 28: Friday-
Day 29: Saturday-We went to Aquapolis water park. It was really cool to go to a water park in Spain. Really fun, really dangerous! All the slides were concrete.
Day 30: Sunday- Rastro flea market. I walked around with Brittani for a lot of the day. Megan and I made our last trip to our favorite restaurant, The American Burger House, for dinner.
Day 31: Monday- classes
Day 32: Tuesday- classes. Went to the clothes museum and for dinner a small group of 7 of us went to the oldest restaurant in the world (me, Lena, Lauren, Mary Michael, Cody, Stanton, Dani). Dani and I split the suckling pig and the filet with mushrooms. Both were delicious!!
Day 33: Wednesday- finals. CLASSES OVER! Went to cerverceritos with dani and Lauren for one-dollar drinks and sandwiches after our last final and a lot of people met us there. A lot of fun. That night everyone went hard for the last night here. We started at the palace club, which has a Wednesday night special of free for girls and $5 for guys and you get unlimited beer and sangria. Afterwards we headed over to Joy Eslava, which is a really good club in Madrid as well. A lot of the teachers came as well. For a late night snack, Megan and I finally made it to the chocolateria, which served churros and a big bowl of melted chocolate. DELICIOUS!
Day 34: Thursday- Last day in Madrid. Slept till 2. Dani and I ate lunch at a Turkish place at Gran Via, which was great, then we did some souvenir shopping. The protest has gotten out of control at Sol, the Sol metro station has been closed for a few days now and there are loads of police around Sol. The police in Spain are not as reserved as in America. The police are free to harass the people if they feel that they are not being treated nicely. It was really scary, what we saw some of the policemen do to civilians. The Spanish government is down with the protest! That night Brittani, Elizabeth, and I went for a run through Retiro Park. The park was gorgeous. We had to take the metro forever out to get there, but it was definitely worth it. Gorgeous park. Ate at the colegio for the last time for dinner and they served pizza and eggrolls, a personal favorite.
Day 25: Tuesday- visit to Segovia. Got to see the inspiration for Disney world’s castle. Segovia has a really cool aquaduct that runs through the city! While we were there they gave us two hours free time, but it was during siesta time so everything was closed. Dani and I had some wine while we were in Avila, before the tour of the castle haha. That night a few of us (me, Lena, Lauren, Scott, Cody, Dani) went to a Mexican restaurant that was alright, definitely not as good as the states Mexican food though. It was in the gay part of town.
Day 26: Wednesday- classes. Sick
Day 27: Thursday- Visit to Avila the city surrounded by towers. Home to St Theresa of Avila and we got to see her preserved stored finger. We (Me, Megan, Dani, and Wes) ate at a wonderful Kebob place in Avila, but did not climb the tower in Avila, which was a regret. Cristobol said we needed to do it a million times, but everyone was over tourism by then, it just didn’t happen. A lot of my friends didn’t have to go to Avila because a ton of them only had one class.
Day 28: Friday-
Day 29: Saturday-We went to Aquapolis water park. It was really cool to go to a water park in Spain. Really fun, really dangerous! All the slides were concrete.
Day 30: Sunday- Rastro flea market. I walked around with Brittani for a lot of the day. Megan and I made our last trip to our favorite restaurant, The American Burger House, for dinner.
Day 31: Monday- classes
Day 32: Tuesday- classes. Went to the clothes museum and for dinner a small group of 7 of us went to the oldest restaurant in the world (me, Lena, Lauren, Mary Michael, Cody, Stanton, Dani). Dani and I split the suckling pig and the filet with mushrooms. Both were delicious!!
Day 33: Wednesday- finals. CLASSES OVER! Went to cerverceritos with dani and Lauren for one-dollar drinks and sandwiches after our last final and a lot of people met us there. A lot of fun. That night everyone went hard for the last night here. We started at the palace club, which has a Wednesday night special of free for girls and $5 for guys and you get unlimited beer and sangria. Afterwards we headed over to Joy Eslava, which is a really good club in Madrid as well. A lot of the teachers came as well. For a late night snack, Megan and I finally made it to the chocolateria, which served churros and a big bowl of melted chocolate. DELICIOUS!
Day 34: Thursday- Last day in Madrid. Slept till 2. Dani and I ate lunch at a Turkish place at Gran Via, which was great, then we did some souvenir shopping. The protest has gotten out of control at Sol, the Sol metro station has been closed for a few days now and there are loads of police around Sol. The police in Spain are not as reserved as in America. The police are free to harass the people if they feel that they are not being treated nicely. It was really scary, what we saw some of the policemen do to civilians. The Spanish government is down with the protest! That night Brittani, Elizabeth, and I went for a run through Retiro Park. The park was gorgeous. We had to take the metro forever out to get there, but it was definitely worth it. Gorgeous park. Ate at the colegio for the last time for dinner and they served pizza and eggrolls, a personal favorite.
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