Lounging Around in Bali

What can I say?? Keith and I have been SUPER lazy over the past couple of days. Bali is beautiful, and the weatheris pristine this time of year. Unlike other countries we've visited on our trip, this is the most popular time to visit Bali because it is NOT during the rainy season. We are in a town on the island of Bali called Sanur, and it's a good in between for those who dont want to lay out on a beach completely full of lounge chairs and umbrellas, but who also want a little bit of conveniences and nightlife. There are other towns in Bali where it's nightclub after bar, etc; but in Sanur, the main form of nightlife is live music, specifically Reggae - Michelle, you'd LOVE it!! What's odd is that even though it's high season here, the restaurants arent packed, nor is the beach and pool crowded with tourists. We asked someone if things were slow because of the receint bombings in Jakarta, but they said this was normal.

So, we've just been soaking in the sun and lounging. Food, entertainment, and accomadation isn't as inexpensive as in other countries in Southeast Asia, but that is to be expected. Still, Keith ate a decent Surf 'n Turf this evening for dinner on the beach for only $7, so it's still pretty cheap. There are still locals asking you to hire them for a taxi ride, or massage, or just to go to their store, but there's absolutely no begging. The people are nice and friendly, and they speak pretty good English.

Tomorrow, we are travelling to the town called Padong Bai to take a ferry either to the Gili Islands or to Lombok, whichever has room available to take us. Hopefully, it's not too busy over there, and we find some place to stay. I might've wished we had taken hammocks - I'll let you know! -- Kate

Back in Bangkok

So, like I said earlier, we had to return to Bangkok to take care of a couple things. We arrived on Monday, midday. We were upset because our cute hotel that we had stayed at previously was all booked up. When we were fishing in southern Thailand, earlier in our trip, we had met a british man and his son; the father being a resident of Thailand. He gave us a recommendation for a hotel in Bangkok, just in case we didn't like the first one. So Keith, having such a great memory, rememered the name and they (thank goodness) had availability.

City Chic Hotel was located in a newer part of Bangkok, and for the same price as the other one, stayed in a pretty swanky, modern hotel. It was like the Ritz Carlton, compared to where we had receintly been!! We were happy with our location too, as the US Embassy was within walking distance.

The next day, we headed for the embassy, and remarkably, got 10 new sheets in my passport for free, and it only took 30 minutes! Afterwards, Keith had wished he had done the same thing. Then, we took a taxi out to a shopping mall, called River City Mall, that sells only antiques. We were in the market for an old map of Siam, and got a great one that we both agreed on ws the nicest out of what they had. For the rest of the afternoon, we just lounged around the hotel and relaxed.

So, prostitution is legal in Thailand, and sex trafficking is a major problem here. There are lots of western older men (mainly for some reason frm Germany) who travel over to Thailand to hook up with young Thai girls. I'm talking like 70 year old men walking around, holding hands, smooching with 20 year olds!! It's pretty obvious what the story is, and it's gross, too, if you ask me. We didnt see too much of it last time we were in Bangkok...only in the airports and a little around town. This time was another story. I turns out we were staying in a hotel that promotes prostitution!!! I was making a phone call at the front desk, when an older french man was booking a room with a young Thai girl next to him, UNTIL 10 pm!! I could barely finish my phone call! Then, later on the internet (near the front reception desk) I heard a man "order" a girl, asking for this ad that and the other!! When Keith and I checked out of the hotel at 5 am yesterday, 5 transvestites came stumbling in!! I was like, "where are we??"

Anyways, after travelling for a long time yesterday (we left Bangkok at 7:45 am and arrived in Bali at 4:15 pm via Singapore), we have arrived in paradise!! We are thrilled to be able to relax for two whole weeks here! Currently, we're in a resort in Sanur Beach, and are booked to stay here at least 2 more nights. It's big and there are lots of people, but it's nice to be able to chill on the beach or at one of their many pools! Bring on the Mai Tais!!! We'll probably go over to the Gili Islands and over to an island next door called Lombok some time during our stay here.

Love to all! I'm off to the beach!

Kayaking Down the Mekong

Yesterday, Keith and I rented kayaks down the Mekong River. To be honest, it was a bit disappointing. The Mekong is a really ugly river, brown with thick muddy sediment on its bottom. The surrounding area was lovely - limestone cliffs, thick brush, and mountains in the distance. Thank goodness it was overcast because we could've been fried by the harsh sun here. There's an intereting route to get to Laos from Thailand and that's to float down the Mekong on a slow boat. After seeing the river, though, I'm glad that we chose to not do that.

Or, it could've been that we were badly hungover. We found a wine bar (the only one we've seen in SE Asia), and quickly went through two bottles of champagne, while chatting up another couple travelling from England. We finished the at the Luang Prabang bowling alley, the only place that's open after curfew (11:30 pm). So totally random to have a bowling alley here! So, all the young backpackers go there to drink late into the night, and so we joined in. Man, did we ever feel old. We were the only ones there married, and I think the old age closest to Keith and I was 28!! So, we've learned now to stay away from there. Bt, it was fun, I have to say.

Today, we are off to Bangkok again, because I've run out of pages in my passport. As I said on Facebook, "don't you hate it when that happens?" Bangkok's the nearest city that has a US Embassy, so we'll arrive there this afternoon, and stay until Wednesday morning. Then, we're off to the beach in Bali! Hopefully, we wont be sleeping on the beach - it's high season there and the hotels get booked up quickly, we've read.

Luang Prabang, Laos, was one of my favorite places on this trip. Not only was the elephant village a total joy, but the town itself here is really quaint, clean, and has good western food and a great choice of wine. The Lao people are warm, friendly, trustworthly, and eager to practice their english. The shopping was fantastic, and I've vowed not to buy another thing on this trip. I've already had to buy an enormous carry-on bag to fit all our goodies! But, when else would we ever be back here? Four days was definately enough, but we enjoyed all of it (except the hangover yesterday).

Will post another blog soon when we're in Bangkok. Miss everyone!

Riding Elephants in Laos

We arrived in Luang Prabang, Laos on Thursday, July 23rd around 11 am. We were absolutely dying for American food after eating only rice with veggies and fatty pork for 4 days. After finding a quaint guest house (for only $20 a night mind you), eating a steak and some french fries was second on the priority list. We did so, and then strolled the streets of Luang Prabang.

We had only heard of this small town from reading about it in Wunderlust magazine. It was ranked highly on best cities to visit in the world. Compared to other places in Southeast Asia that we've been to, Luang Prabang is small, quaint, and tasteful. It has a lot of french influence stemming from colonial times. There are cafes, the arcitecture is French colonial with asian overtones, and the shopping is FANTASTIC and really inexpensive. There have been outdoor markets everywhere we've gone, but the quality of the goods here is really impressive. I dont know how much money we've already spent here, but it could be bad if we stay much longer!

Yesterday, we went to an elephant farm and learned how to be a "mahout." A Mahout is basically an elephant trainer. I had reservations about doing this because I hate seeing elephants put to labor. But, this place's goal was actually to preserve elephants who had previously been abused in the logging industry. Apparently, Laos and Thailand had tried just setting them free to the lands after being in captivity, but they eventually end up dying from starvation. So, this is a rescue operation.

It was one of the most exhilerating things we've done in this trip. I absolutely LOVED it!! We learned how to reach up and grab the elephant's ear, step up on it's front leg, and hike ourselves up onto it's head. Then, we rode them for about an hour, telling them to "go, turn left, turn right, stop" (the most important command), all in Lao. I was terrified at first because the only elephants I had ever been around, were those in Africa who were ready to charge at us!! But, soon, I started to gain some amount of trust. After lunch, we rode them to the river nearby, sat on their heads, while they submerged themselves in the water while we scrubbed their tough skin with a brush. I cant explain it....it was totally so exciting. I would do it again in a heartbeat!!

After this, we took a tiny speadboat over to a waterfall and swam for a couple of hours. It was so pretty, and not so touristy, which is what we liked the most. Laos is the most underdeveloped out of all the places we've been. Luang Prabang, although not the country's capital, is the biggest "city" and there's really only 2 main streets to walk down.

So, needless to say, yesterday was definately my most favorite experience of the trip. I cant wait to post pictures...you should see the look on my face after first getting on the elephant!! Today, we're just relaxing and taking it easy. Tomorrow, we'll take kyacks to see some caves nearby that has budha carvings in them. Love to everyone!! - Kate

Trekking Through Sa Pa

So, we made it safely to Sa Pa, after riding on the sleeper train throughout the night. Hanoi train station was a total mess, with lots of confused tourists trying to figure out where to go and what to do. Thank goodness we had booked this through our hotel because there was someone to guide us through the process. We ended up bunking with a really friendly couple from Spain; Keith and I on the top and them on the bottom. The beds were clean and comfortable, and after a sleeping pill, we found ourselves actually getting quite a bit of sleep.

We woke to Keith's alarm going off at 5:45 am, and then people banging on the doors to get us up and moving at 6 am, when the train arrived in a town called Lao Cai. Stinky breath, bed head, and all, we stumble off the train, and found another tour operator to guide us into a big bus. We took this bus up into the mountains for about an hour to Sa Pa, where our trek began. Even the scenery over there was just stunning - lush mountains covered with rice paddies that were soaking with water from the night before. The day was clear, which we were thrilled about since trekking through the rain here can not be a fun time.

We chose to do a privately guided tour, and stayed in homestays for three nights. Homestays are peoples' homes that they've made larger to accomadate guests. Some have private rooms and some have just open areas in their attics with mats laid out, and of course, with the mosquito nets above. The people living in homestays are poor and live with only the basic necessities. The homes have concrete floors, no doors (just curtains separating the rooms), and only a small table with really tiny chairs in the dining/living room. Keith complained endlessly about how uncomfortable he was in those darn chairs. With all this poverty, the people seem very happy and content. Funny, they all had TVs with a satellite dish, and they only got power in these villages four years ago. Thank goodness, to my happiness, there was running water, so at least we weren't stuck bathing in a river this time. The main disadvantage, which was expected, was that our only option to do our "business" in was a squat toilet, which became an ordeal! More on that later. We ate with the families for dinner; if you couldn't use chopsticks, you were out of luck!

Our guide's name was Sa, and she was a Black H'mong, one of the minority communities located in this area of Vietnam. All the different groups of minorities - Black H'mong, Red Zao, and Tay, they all differentiate themselves by their outfits, jewelry, headresses, and hair. When we left for our trek, two other H'mongs followed us down the mountain, and into Sa's home. Her place was WAY off the beaten path. To get to it, we had to balance on these sharp rocks that were covered in buffalo you-know-what. I was thinking, 'what in the world are we doing this for?' I knew i was going in. And, of course, as we're about to make it to her house, i go in calf-deep in buffalo dung!! I turned around, and Keith had just done the same, and he was wearing sandals! YUK!! I was so upset because it was our first day of trekking and we were already such a mess.

The first night at Ta Van village homestay it rained heavily. We were already done trekking for the day, but it left the trails the next day thick with slippery mud. It made things so difficult and dangerous! There were three H'mongs with us this day, and we surely would've had broken bones without their help. Keith slipped on his tush four times, and I hiked at a pace of only like 0.5 miles per hour. But, we pushed onward, and the views were stunning. It was overcast, and it really appeared as though the clouds were just above our heads, sneaking all the way into the valley. The rice paddies were so green, and there were no tourists (besides us) in sight.

The afternoon trek into the town of Ban Ho was disappointing. There was much unexpected construction going on here, and all that was below us in this valley were pipelines, bulldozers, and lots of thick muddy roads. They are building new paved roads, as well as a dam. This was the site of our last homestay, as we decided to stay here nights two and three. This was the party homestay!! Dinner began quiet and calm, and then suddenly the father of the hoursehold starts pouring rice wine ... and more rice wine! Soon after, he puts on this music video of a band called Daddy Cool, this 70's band that was basically a black version of ABBA. He starts dancing around and singing "Yeah, Daddy Cool," in only the strongest Vietnamese accent!! Keith and I were hysterical. It was totally unexpected! Any wonder why we stayed another night?? We were totally hungover the next day, by the way; fighting away the urge to get sick while we ate rice with fatty pork with the family for breakfast. Not a good hangover meal at all.

All the familes were so kind, attentive, welcoming. They were always offerring food, drinks, a chair, the fan. Even though we couldnt communicate with them (only a bit via our guide, Sa), they befriended us and treated us so well. What I loved, in particular, were the kiddos here! They are so beautiful, and never throw temper tantrums, and just seem happy with what little they have. They dont play with toys or fight over things. They are an intricate part of the family household, and are expected to help cook, clean, and pick up after guests. They always say, "HELLO!!" to all of the tourists walking by. One day, there were these two beautiful 2-3 year olds running after us in the street, yelling, "hello, hello!!" There was no parent in sight and the young boy would pull the little girl over to the side of the road when a car went by. They had dirty clothes and mud on their faces, but they were absolutely adorable! Pictures to come when we get home!

The only thing that I really did not like about the minority (tribes) people walking through the towns, especially Sa Pa, was that all you heard was "buy from me, buy from me." And, you say "no, thanks," but that's not good enough. It becomes incessant, and totally drives me crazy. Keith has more patience. One day, they even came into the homestay! You think I'd be used to this behavior after travelling to so many third world countries, but it never gets easier.

Another cause of great anxiety to us was having to go "number two" on the squat toilet. We waited and postponed it until we had no choice. Keith was literally pacing back and forth our room upstairs! Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, right? Another yuk.

We left Sa Pa via train on Wednesday, July 22nd. We were stuffed like sardines into a tiny bus, which took us from the town of Sa Pa to Lao Chi train station. Again, we got incredibly lucky with nice, normal bunk mates in the overnight train. Arriving sleepy and disheveled at 5 am in Hanoi, we rushed to pick up our luggage, shower, and make out 9 am flight to Luang Prabang, Laos. Already in a rush, we discovered that Keith had left our broken camera and all of our important travel documents back at the Hanoi hotel. This is the 2nd time he left camera - the first time was in a taxi, which the guy was nice enought to return. Luckily, we made our flight, and arrived safely in Laos.

Hope everyone enjoyed some laughs! - Kate

And the rain came....even harder this time!!

Thursday, we just strolled the streets of Hanoi. I think it was more of a headache than anything. This city is just really dirty, overpopulated, and so humid. Additionally, there's really not much to see, except for Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, which we didnt get to see because it closes at 11 am. We strolled into a Vietnam War Museum, and then ran next door to a cafe to beat the rain. We ended up there for two hours, saying "I'm sure it'll let up. We'll go when it lets up." Well, it didnt, and it rained all afternoon, night, and then next morning!!

Friday morning, we were picked up from our hotel by a minibus full of other tourists, en route for Ha Long Bay. It's about a three hour long bus ride to the bay, and it rained heavily the entire way there. We get to the dock and unpack the bus, all in the heavy rain, looking sadly at the heavy rain clouds above us. Well, we did plan this trip during the monsoon season, so we can only blame ourselves. We had to take a smaller motorized boat out to where our overnight boat was anchored at. The boats that you take out into the bay are called junks, and they're normally 3 stories, made of solid wood, and have really unique sails (when they're casted). Well, I could not believe it, like out of some story, the second we got on the ship, the sun emerged and the clouds all went away. Really weird, and extremely lucky.

Ha Long Bay is definately one of the most beautiful sights I've seen, and it's a big reason that tourists travel all the way to Vietnam. It's basically a group of more than 3,000 islands, that are made of limestone and shaped like huge mushrooms. The tops are covered with trees and the sides are just sheets of limestone rock. Unfortunately, because of its' popularity, we travelled out there with about 20-30 other boats, just lined up to get to where we all anchored for the night. But, it was so peaceful. The guides took us up to where a cave is located on one of the islands. We went swimming in the water, jumping off the third deck of the junk. There were two other American couples on the boat, so we clicked with them quickly. Of course the one girl who didnt want to get into the water was the one to get stung by a jellyfish!! We ate and drank, and watched a beautiful sunset. I wished we had one more night out there!!

This morning, we left the bay at about 9 am, passing fishing villages that resembled the water bungaloos that we stayed at in Thailand. Like the evening prior, the day was beautiful and clear. We couldn't believe our luck!! We befriended a guy from Ireland, who we chatted with during the ride back to the dock. And now, Keith and I are back at the hotel we stayed at in Hanoi. We leave for Sa Pa tonight on an overnight train at about 9 pm. I'm a bit nervous because we have to sleep in a cabin with two other people. This brings back bad memories of travelling from Barcelona to Madrid overnight with Denisse and Britney a couple years ago. They got stuck with a guy's feet in their faces, whilst he tells them that he'd spent the past 2 weeks on a beach without showering!! AAhhh. Hopefully we'll have better luck with our roommates. Will let everyone know in 5 days when we return!! - Kate

Hello Hanoi!

The only flight leaving out of Siem Reap was late in the afternoon, unfortunately. As I said yesterday, there's not much to do in the town, other than browse around the markets, eat and drink, and....get a massage!! Why not?, we said. These services are extremely inexpensive in this area of the world. Keith opted for the Four Hand massage, and me, a pedicure. OK, so the pedicure was nothing to brag about - she didnt even scrub my feet and get the calluses off (believe me, the soles of my feet are not pretty after walking only in flip flops for 3 weeks). But, Keith's traditional Khumer massage by 2 people for a whole hour was only $10!! He said they had him in all kinds of contorted positions. I didnt ask too many questions.

Overall, I felt Cambodia was quite a sad place. The people there seem to be very desperate - for work, money, to buy their goods...anything. There was lots of begging in the streets and even when you're eating near the front of restaurants. Although the people werent too persistant. They do back off after you say 'no thanks' a couple of times, unlike other poor countries I've been to. And it's always little kids doing the begging - to tug at your heart even more. Because of the large amount of land mines that were placed in the ground during the wars on Cambodian territory, many people are left without legs or arms. You see lots of them in the streets begging. How else can they make a penny? It was really sad. Quite eye-opening.

Last night, we landed in Hanoi, Vietnam at about 8 pm. Before entering Vietnam, one has to either obtain a visa before arriving, or obtain a typed letter of permission from the Vietnam government. Since this trip was planned only a month before leaving, we could only get the letter of permission, and then you get the actual visa upon arrival. It costs $25 per person for the visa, and we had spent most of our dollars in Cambodia. We suddenly got really nervous since there were no ATMs in sight. Well, can you believe it, we had EXACTLY $50 in one dollar bills on us. No more, no less.

We left the airport via taxi with two Canadian friends that we met in the Siem Reap airport, Mike and Elana. They had been travelling for about 6 weeks already, and have learned the tricks of the trade as far as not getting screwed by people. Let me tell you, we haggled on the price of a cab for about 15 minutes before we left the airport. The travel book said it should cost only $10, by God, that's all we're paying. We settled on $12, and we were off to our hotel. Trying to be sneaky, the cab driver tries dropping us off at another hotel, that he obviously gets a commision through. This hotel didnt even have a name above the door, and a guy working there was in our face the second we pulled up. I'm telling you, you have to be really careful - really, really careful because these people (especially here in Vietnam apparently)will try to get you for all you're worth. Thank goodness our guide book warned us of these occurrances, but still!!

We finally get to our hotel, and dropped our stuff off upstairs. We tried to find an open restaurant with Mike and Elana, but ended up having to eat at a food stall - something I vowed never to do because this is how you get sick. I picked a little at the food, but opted for hunger instead. Then, of course, trying to settle the bill was another issue. They had tried adding things that we didnt order, and increasing the price of items, that we knew were less. Supposedly, there's even a "tourist menu" that some restaurants give you, whereby the prices are MUCH higher that what the locals eat - and you're getting the same thing!! Funny how things "work" over here... :) - Kate

Here comes the rain...AGAIN!

After the first day at Angkor Wat seeing the temples with a guide and taxi, we decided to go a more rugged route. Yesterday, we rented bicycles and had a great time riding around the temples at our own speed. Our cab driver the first day laughed and discouraged us (I wonder why) from riding bikes because of the heat, but we were prepared to sweat through it for the experience. It was such fun. Then, our butts started the throb, and by noon we decided to to head back to our hotel; about 10 kilometers away. About a third of the way back, the rain came, and it poured and poured and poured. The rain here gives no warning and it just comes down hard and in sheets. The roads flood instantly, leaving everything muddy and dirty.

Being on bikes, we took shelter at first in little huts where locals were selling paintings and curios. We would ride for maybe 3 minutes, and then it would come down hard again. It just didnt seem like the rain was letting up any time soon. So, we wrapped our new camera, our passports, and cash in plastic bags that the people there gave us, and just rode back through the thick downpour. Glad we did, because we might've been stuck out there. The roads were like lakes!

Funny, because if this had happened back at home, I would've been so uncomfortable and complaining. You kind of become numb to these discomforts after a while. Same with the heat and just feeling sweaty and gross all the time. I normally hate the heat and humidity, but again, you just get used to it here. I guess you have no choice, right?

We're flying out tonight (July 15th) at about 7 pm for Hanoi, Vietnam. We wish there had been an earlier flight from Siem Reap, because aside from Angkor Wat, there's not too much to do here. Oh well, not doing anything might be kinda nice.

Kate

Forgot to Blog about the Eyeball....

So, I just rememebered that I needed to get something off my chest. So, today at lunch, Keith and I ate with our cab driver, Tey and our guide, San. We ate at a traditional Khumer restaurant on the grounds of Angkor Wat. I asked the guide to go ahead and order ... this is after we ordered something that sounded appetizing to our tastebuds. Our food arrived - one that was a pork stirfry and the other that was a ramen noodle pork dish. They were good. Well, the main entree that the guide ordered was some kind of steaming soup. I am a risky eater, and said ok after he offered me some. He pours me a bowl, and once I go to eat a spoonfull, I see a big, glassy eye looking back at me. I turned over to Keith and said, "'ïs that an eyeball?' Keith was like, '"úmm, yup, that sure does look like one."' !!!!! I think it was fish eye, since fish head soup is popular here, but oh my gosh, forget it!!

How in the world I havent gotten sick thus far, I have no idea. Just thought I'd share.....

Goodbye Thailand, onward to Cambodia

Sunday, we left Bangkok at around 11:30 am, and arrived in Siem Reep, Cambodia around 12:15. Stepping off the plane and onto the tarmack, I can tell this place is even hotter than Thailand. Oh my gosh, the heat!!! We get our visa for $20 per person, and go through customs smoothly.

At this point, we had looked on the net for hotels in Cambodia, but had nothing booked. We saw a brand new hotel with pool, AC, TV, etc for only $42 a night. Our cab driver, Tey (who've seen a lot of lately), convinced us to try another hotel in town. After not letting up about it, we decided to check it out. It was clean enough (not as quaint as the hotel in BAngkok but good enough), and only $25 per night. You can stay pretty comfortably here for as low as $15 per night. It's so cheap!! So, as we agree on this place, Tey's already onto us about hiring him as a driver for 3 days, and he can take us out of Siem Reap for so much more. What I know about Cambodians thus far is that they are desperate. The people here are poor, and tourism is their main source of income. But, they also dont know when to stop. We finally allow him to give us his number, so that we can phone him.

Well, after walking around the dusty town of Siem Reep for about 25 minutes in the scorching heat, we decided that hiring good ole' Tey might not be such a bad idea. Any tuk-tuk driver that we passed on the street was yelling at us for him to take us around. We walk on and sit down at the first place that has AC for a couple of beers. I'm telling you, Siem Reep is really Third World. The main road in town isn't paved, leaving your toes full of dust. There's very few restaurants with AC - i think we found the only one. There's no side walks or traffic lights. One thing that is scary, and we saw this in Bangkok as well, are the motorcyclists (really vespas) that stuff as many people as possible onto them. We've seen babies right behind the bike's steering wheel with 3 more people on the bike...no one wears helmits. And I think back to Britney Spear's getting so much negative press for having her baby in the front seat of the car! That's nothing.

So, we decided today to head out to the famous Ankor Wat temples, accompanied by Tey driving us around in lovely AC and San, our guide. We felt it would be a good idea to have a guide so that we knew a little bit about what we were looking at. The temples were built during the 8th century, and spands over at least 30 kilometers. The most famous temple is that of Ankor Wat and Ankor Thom, both of which we toured today. The temples have held up reasonably well, considering the harsh climate here, and that they were covered by jungle for most of their existance. These temples were also a source of shelter for the Vietnamese army, when they invaded Cambodia, and one can see bullet holes in the walls. It is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and standing in the temples today, you can see why. The etchings on the temple walls illustrate stories of how the ancient people lived, and it's done so, in amazing detail. I hope our little camera got some deceint pictures.

We only made it until 12, when the heat really starts to get bad. We had a traditional Khumer lunch with out guide and driver. Of course during the whole meal, they were both trying to convince us to go see this temple far away, and go eat at this restaurant, and do this and that on your last day, and please call me to take you to the airport. It's so sad, but it really gets annoying after a while. I hate to say it, but I think It's preparing us for the begging in Vietnam. It's supposed to be really bad there. Makes you appreciate our own lives, that's for sure!

Anyways, we're off to have dinner. Hope everyone's doing well. Love to all! - Kate

Never eating catfish again......

Hi all! So, we decided against the Thai kick boxing because I was feeling a little under the weather. So far, neither Keith or I have gotten sick, but I just wasn't up to spending the evening in a crowded, steaming hot auditorium, where people are screaming and betting all around you. Instead, we headed out to Bangkok's "Red Light District." If I can give you any idea what that was like, all I can say is that as our taxi drove up here, the first thing I hear was, "oh.....vanilla!!!" Young Thai men were on Keith like white on rice...."Wanna see the ping pong show, man???" I had to jump in and say, "no.....I'm his wife...what do you think?" They did not care one bit. So, we walked down this street for a bit and it was one strip club after another, small ones, with the doors wide open for all to see and gawk at. We had heard that some really crazy stuff goes on inside these places, as only one can imagine. We went down to this area just to say that we did. Then, we went by the famous Mandarin Oriental hotel, which was nothing to write home about.

Onward to today....we woke up early around 7:30 am to make it for the opening of the Chatuchak weekend market in the northern part of Bangkok. We actually decided to stay in Bangkok one more night to go to this thing, since it's open only on weekends. For the shopaholic, this is heaven. You can buy ANYTHING at this place. It's an open-air market (so, it was scorching hot and I nearly passed out..seriously) and contains over 15,000 stalls!!! Clothes, jewelry, curios, food, animals (dogs, cats, birds, fish, chickens), art, antiques....anything. After walking around for 3 hours, we decided on two framed sculptures and a painting, which we had shipped back. And you can haggle, which is part of the fun. It was so hot...I cannot describe the heat here....it's unlike anything else.

I had my first experience today with Thailand's famous swating toilets. We imagined this to be our only option, as far as using the restroom, but most places have proper standing toilets. Not here. I had to take a picture of this thing for all to see. I didnt even know which way to face in the stall - towards the door or the back wall?? You just squat on this thing that's lower to the ground than out toilets, with your feet on the rim, and just pray your business goes in the right place. Afterwards, you have to flush everything down with a pail of water. Hygenic, huh? No paper goes in the toilet either. Also, most Thais dont even use toilet paper. They just have a hose that they spray on themselves. Some public restrooms dont even offer toilet paper, so I now carry my own in my purse. So funny.

Later on this afternoon we travelled about 30-40 minutes outside Bangkok to a Mekong Catfish fish farm. Basically, people go out to this place with their families, have drinks, have lunch, and pay money to catch ENORMOUS Mekong Catfish, that can be as big as 100 kg (220 lbs). We sat in this hut while a guide casted huge fishing rods with a rice powder ball on the end with a hook, kind of like bait. Within seconds, these huge catfish bite, and the guide handed over the rod for Keith to reel in. Basically, you're guarenteed big fish to catch. It's pretty gross and sad to me. After getting the fish, you can see where it had been hooked many times before. After seeing this, I've vowed never to eat catfish again - what gross fish.

We left soon after, pretty upset, because Jonas had hooked us up with this guide, and we realised that he (Jonas) had charged us double what the true cost was. I phoned Jonas up and said we werent paying this amount and that we knew he had tried to scam us...thinking we're stupid tourists. Well, the actual prices are there for all to see. It's funny, being a tourist, you realise you're getting ripped off quite often because you just dont know any better. Well, not this time. And after we had spent 4 days with him fishing in southern Thailand. We were really upset. Anyways, we're getting smarter...slowly.

Strolling around Bangkok

Today, Keith and I set off to wander around the city. Our goal was to leave early since it gets so impossibly hot here during the middle of the day, but that didn't happen. Too many cocktails last night. Just as in all major cities, there's a street here called Thanon Khao San that caters to young, western tourists, and it's located where the nightlife of Bangkok thrives. Last night, we felt we had to see it. We knew we were there when we heard Willie Nelson songs playing loudly from the "Cadallac Bar." After one quick drink here, we took off to a quieter area.

Today, as advised by our guide in the jungle, we did a river "cruise" along the Mae Nam Chao Phraya, which is the man river here in Bangkok. They used to call Bangkok the "Venice of the East," since this waterway is a means of transportation (water taxis), housing (water bungalows), and economy (both tourism and locals selling goods via water markets). We felt we got totally duped. It was expensive (as far as Thailand standards), costing about $45 for the both of us for only one hour. There was no tour guide, so we had no idea what we were looking at. Not that there was much to see - shabby-looking homes along a really muddy river. Yuk. Since it was so steaming hot, we then sought out some AC in the National Museum and the art gallery. Lastly, I was on a mission to buy some authentic Thai silk scarves.

And what a mission it was. We have vowed to never take tuk-tuks again. These drivers of these little dangerous vehicles try to scam tourists for all you've got. They're not metered, so you basically haggle with them on the price of the ride. Additionally, once you've settled on a price, they want to take you to shops to buy their buddy's products, whether it be custom-made suits, curios, or whatever. We ended up all over the place today, just trying to get to one store, until I nearly started screaming at him. All this, when you can just pay for an air-conditioned, comfortable, metered taxi - no haggling, a direct drive, and it's still super cheap. Oh, but we are learning as we go. I ended up getting 2 great silk scarves for much less than I would've in the states. We had pizza and beer for lunch; the first non-oriental meal we've had in a week.

Now, we're back at our B&B, waiting until 6:30 when we're going to see a Thai boxing match. It's supposed to be pretty wild, so we're excited about that. Talk to you soon!! - Kate

In the Thai Jungle - Khao Suk Park

Hi everyone! I am thrilled to say that Keith and I survived staying in southern Thailand's jungle-filled region for 4 days. For those who know me well, you will not believe what I had to endure out there in the middle of no where.

We arrived in Phuket on Friday, July 3rd after a 2 hour delay in the Singapore airport - not a bad place to be stuck. We came here not to sit and relax on the beach, but to go on a guided fishing trip to Khao Sok Park. This is located about 4 hours away from beautiful Phuket - 2 hours by car and 2 hours by boat. Obviously, this was Keith's planning, but I was happy to go through with it because he loves fishing so. A note to be made - when he showed me pictures of the water bungaloos we'd be staying in, there were lots of people around (mainly tourists), doing kayaking, and boating through rivers, etc. And I also noticed that when I asked how long we'd be out there, Keith's reply got longer and longer, starting with 3-4 days, and then 4-5 days. Hum??

So anyways, our guide Jonas, a Swedish 40 something year old who has lived in Thailand for 20 years, picks us up and we drive for about 2 hours. I can barely open my eyes because they drive crazy here. They'll pass cars when oncoming traffic is approaching ...closely. We finally get to the water, where a local Thai named "Hot" picks us up in his wooden speed boat. It's dark by now and the only light we have is the moon. It was beautiful! I never knew the moon could provide such light! In the distance, you could see the luminous tree-covered mountains right on the water, and larger ones even in the distance. He directed the boat through smaller openings with these huge limestone mountains on either side of us. I think that's what makes the landscape of Thailand unique (even on the beaches), are these big, steep mountains right on the water. Keith and I had totally felt like we had entered the twilight zone; it's just hard to explain. We go by one water bungalow, where locals live and Hot starts yelling in Thai, only to receive a response from someone in the dark bunglaow, whom we couldn't see. I'm telling you, it was really strange. So, just as our butts are getting numb from the wooden plank that we're sitting on, we arrive at our set of bungalows. There's no lights and no one is up since it's about 10:30 pm. Immediately, I ask for the bathroom. Jonas points me in the direction, up hill and in a hut. So, I go. OK...when I say water bungalow, I mean water bungalow. The whole system was made of logs, some tin for the roofs, and bamboo. As I'm trying to balance on wooden beams, I make it to land, where the toilet is. Basically, you do your business here, and then have to "flush" the business down with pails of water (I had to ask Keith how it works). Then, we're directed to our bungalow, made of the same materials. A 2 inch mat is on the floor, below a mosquito net. The pillows are hard as rock, but we managed to sleep.

The next morning, we wake (as we did most mornings) to the sound of fishing boats setting off at about 6 am. The Thai men who work there spend most of their days finding food in the jungle - fishing, picking edible plants, that the women there cook for guests who stay there. This day, Keith, Jonas, and I treaded upstream to fly fish. I had to bring a pair of tennis shoes that I could throw away afterwards because they'd be soaking after walking through water for 6 hours. UUhhh. My first cast-I catch a tiny Barb. Good for me. Keith caught about 4 Thai Mashier this day. We had a good time...until...the rain came. Ok, when I say rain, I mean torrential downpour. As we began walking back towards the boat, which was about 2 miles downstream, we panicked about our camera we left there in the boat. Our worries were well-deserved. Our expensive, great quality DSL Cannon is ruined. To say the least, it was totally devastating. OK, so I know we're not the smartest to leave a camera in a boat in the middle of rainy season in SE Asia, but you'd think the guide would've mentioned something of it not being a good idea. The day was beautiful to start off. Now we know that it rains EVERY DAY here for at least 30 minutes in the afternoon. I cant even talk about it anymore. We then returned to camp, pissed and drenched.

Moving onward, as you can expect from the toilet situation, there's no running water here. This means to "shower" you have to jump into the water in your clothes and just wash yourself in front of all the other Thai families that were staying there, which was about 3-4. It seemed all the Thais were fine with this. For me...I dont think so!! So, the camera situation on top of there being zero facilities to clean myself and "take care of business," I was ready to get out of there. I mean, I had a total nervous breakdown. Keith, somehow, managed to get me back under control, and by the grace of God I found a way to deal with the situation I was put in.

By the second day, I was jumping into the river (with God knows what swimming around me) in the bare minimum in front of Jonas and Hot. I was going "number 1" off the side of our water bungalow. Best of all, I caught the biggest fish....a 7 kg Thai Mashier. It had been raining for the past two hours and we had no bites. All of a sudden around 5:30 pm, the fish got hungry. I hooked this fish, and my wet hands kept slipping off the rod! I could barely hold on, let alone reel this thing in. Keith started to help, and then the reel came off! Jonas then quickly screwed it back on, and the fish was mine - with everyone's help!! I have no idea how it didn't get away. Jonas says it's definitely the record for a woman catching a Thai Mashir! You can see two pictures of us on his website at http://www.bluewater-anglers.com/fishing_cheow_lan.html. Keith is in the first picture fly-fishing from a distance, and the picture of my big catch is on the 7th picture if you scroll down.

So, what started off to be a disaster, ended up being a really cool, authentic experience. We stayed with Thais and no tourists. We ate only real Thai cuisine, and Jonas was the only person who we could speak with. Nothing was put on, and for that I am thankful for. Also, I lived with the bare minimum without any facilities for 4 days, which I never knew I could do. What I have seen so far, Thais are wonderfully kind and gentle people. Full of smiles and generosity - quick to help you and make you feel welcome. We left our passports and all our cash in these water bungalows (which I can promise had no lock on the doors-they wouldn't even shut for that matter), and were assured by the fishing guide that nothing would be taken. He has been here for 20 + years and has never encountered any crime.

Also, the scenery there was amazing! As I mentioned before, these huge limestone mountains covered with trees surrounding the water. Also, while we were fishing through rivers, monkeys were jumping in trees all around us, provoked by Hot with his own animalistic calls. We saw an elephant one day, which was very curious of us people. The guide said that he was orphaned early on, and that Jonas suspects that
his only contact has been with humans, since he's so tame. We saw many exotic birds; no snakes, thank goodness. The weird thing was that although the humidity in this area is like 100%, there were very few mosqitos! Only a couple of small ghecko lizards, but nothing like what we had experienced in southern Africa two years ago.

Hot (the boat captain) and his wife showed us around Phuket before our flight left yesterday. Surprisingly, I cant say I was too impressed with Phuket. It is VERY touristy, with people laying out on a tiny beach crammed up againist one another. There are people selling stuff left and right. It's much more expensive than other areas, like in Bangkok. I'd rather go somewhere quieter. Granted, this was Patong Beach, a public beach, and that is just one of many, so I'm sure there are more secluded places.

We stayed there for 4 days and 4 nights. Now, afterward, I am glad to be in air conditioning and staying in a city, but at the same time, am thankful for the experience. Yesterday, we left Khao Sok for Bangkok.

Now, I sit in our quaint little air conditioned, clean B&B in Bangkok. We arrived in here last night around 9 pm, after another 2 hour delay in an airport. Never flying Air Asia again. Keith and I are both surprised at how big and spread out the city is. We are staying in "Old Bangkok," where there are no high rise buildings. Kudos to Keith for finding this quiet little clean and cheap haven. It's called Phranakorn-Nornlen, and it's like all organic and zen. Really nice, especially after being in the jungle.

Bangkok is full of street vendors, selling all kinds of crazy stuff...some of which really smells horrible. You find yourself not taking a breath sometimes for 10 seconds or so. Some people say it's just a big, smelly, hot, dirty city. We cant really say for sure yet, but so far so good.

Today, we went to get our camera looked at by Canon specialists, only to tell us our chances for salvaging it are slim. We're going to send it back to the States for further eval, where language is not a barrier. We bought a Canon point and shoot in the mean time. Not as good, but it'll do the trick. Then, we visited Jim Thompson's house, who popularized Thai silks to the rest of the world. Afterward, as the day's getting scorching hot, we went to Bangkok's most famous Buddist temple, Wat Pho. This houses an enormous reclining Buddha, and a million other kinds of Buddhas. Beautiful, gold-lined buildings - much different from the places of worship you see in Europe. Will post pictures soon. The heat is something else here. Not as humid as Phuket, but scorching hot in the middle of the day.

Anyways, we're here in Bangkok until Sunday. There's much more to see here, as we've just touched the surface. I'll post more as the days go on, and the strange stories continue. Hope everyone is doing great! Miss you all!--- Kate

Welcome to Singapore

Hi all! Arrived in Singapore yesterday around 5 pm. The flight was long (13 hours), but I managed to sleep most of the way; can't say the same for husband. As the taxi cab drove up to our "hotel," my fear turned into reality. Keith had warned me that we were staying atop an Aussie pub, but that has turned out to be the least of my worries! It is a total dump. I nearly burst into tears when we tip toed (not walked) into the room. It actually happened when I saw the communal bathroom. And, it's considered a luxery here that we have our own room! We (thank goodness) brought our silk sheets that you put inside sleeping bags to insulate them in cold climates - just for these situations!! However, we actually slept well, despite the drunk Aussie 20 somethings screaming at 4 am.

Anyways, we are staying in an area called "Little India," and because of the culture in the area, Keith thought it would be a nice idea to stay here. To get rich in culture - I think we'll get just that alone being in SE Asia, despite staying in a dump. Nevertheless, it's booming with excitment. Smells of food, merchants selling spices and clothing, traditional music. Just northeast to this area is Chinatown, where we ventured today. So many things to see!!! Our goal was to eat at one of the "hawkers," or food courts. We walked into one in Chinatown Complex and were hit by smells of spices, all kinds of meats (some intriguing and some not, as you can imagine), and heat! Wow, it's so humid here and no AC! Put that with fishy smells, and it can turn one off eating all together. But we had to do it. After finding the only traveller to ask where he ate, among about 200 others, we found ourselves sitting down to a big and cheap meal. Loads of noodles, of course, and dumplings...all for $7! The beer here is another story - much more expensive. The cheapest we've found is $5.50/beer, and not a good one. It's supposed to be cheaper in the other countries we're venturing to.

One nasty, nasty thing that happened. We went to the first floor of this Chinatown Complex that we ate at. This was an area where merchants were selling food and other goods. We walked down one isle - there were huge frogs all crated up. This one lady behind them was killing them with a hammer to the head, and then chopping their heads off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Next to them were the turtles in crates - I didnt stay there long enough to find out what happened to them. From isle to isle were fish, eels, meats. Seriously, really gross and disturbing. A PETA nightmare.

Otherwise, Singapore's a pretty big city with skyscrapers and even a "riverwalk" area. IT's big, but very clean. Gum-chewing is illegal and it's very very safe...even the area we're staying in. The people are friendly...2 people today asked us if we needed help getting around. As I said earlier, it's really hot and muggy, but we knew that coming here. Shoot-it's nearly on the equator.

Anyways, we're off to Phuket, Thailand tomorrow and will be in the jungle for at least 5 days/nights. Hopefully, the snakes and other creatures will be more pleasant than where we are staying here. Love to everyone!! - Kate