annelise

Heading Home

2007-10-01T22:29:00.001-07:00

I had to take a photo of the beautiful ceiling at the Bangkok airport...

We went home today. It was a surprise and I’ll tell you why; my Dad turned 70 years old today. Last year on his birthday he told the family that the only thing he wanted for his 70th birthday was for all his kids to be together (previous marriage and current). So about a month ago, I emailed all 7 of my siblings and asked them if they were planning on being there (the half-siblings all live in CA). I was really surprised when everyone said yes. Then I found out that my Dad was having a huge catered party where his band was going to play and everything. So I knew I couldn’t be the only child not there. I let my Mom in on the secret so she could meet us at the airport. She told my Dad they were picking up her sister and met us at the security gate. We were waiving at my Dad and yelling, and he didn’t even realize it was us! We started yelling Happy Birthday and the recognition crossed his face. It was a happy reunion. It felt good to be home, kind of.

To be honest, we aren’t that stoked about being home. We already miss traveling and I am constantly thinking about going back. But, I have to admit, it’s great to be in a soft bed with clean sheets and a clean bathroom that has toilet paper and hot water! Wow, we are spoiled here!

Of course, our trip home wouldn't be complete until this; we found a hairball in our airplane blanket. Did we still use the blanket? You betcha, we've grown a lot over the last 10 months!

Bangkok

2007-09-28T22:28:00.001-07:00

We spent a couple days back in Bangkok enjoying ourselves and relaxing. I got my hair permanently straightened, which only cost $35, compared to $400 at home. I can’t even explain the joy of letting my hair dry naturally and not having to do anything to it. It doesn’t even get frizzy. No more scrunching for straggly/waivy hair and no more straightening for non-frizzy hair. A dream come true.

Back to Bangkok

2007-09-27T22:27:00.001-07:00

Today we headed back to Bangkok. Our ride to the border was bumpy and a little scary. We were able to find a guy to take us in his car and we shared the cost with 2 other travelers. According to The Lonely Planet guide, the government is paid by a certain airline to not fix this road. This is also the only airline that services Siem Reap – Bangkok. This road is terrible.

We made a pit stop on the way so he could put a spare tire in the trunk. That didn’t do much to calm our nerves. We passed several cars stuck on the side of the road, and I guess one of them was a friend of his, because he stopped and tied his car behind ours and proceeded to tow him for an hour! By towing him, we were driving at less than half the speed than normal. We were about to lose our minds because we had a bus to catch at the border! We finally (over 3 hours later) made it safely.

A really lucky thing happened. I realized after we were well on our way that I never got my change from the guesthouse we stayed at. When we got to the border, our driver let me use his cell phone to call and I explained the situation to the new person working there. They told me to get the change from our driver and they would pay him back. So they talked to the driver, who gave me the change!

Almost tricked.

2007-09-27T08:00:00.001-07:00

I am a sucker. We were forewarned in multiple ways of the terrible begging that goes on in Cambodia. Children are sent out at very young ages to beg. An average adult makes 3x as much money begging than working, so tourists are strongly encouraged not to give any money. But there is a particularly sneaky scam out there that pull on many tourists heartstrings (including mine, and I even knew about it beforehand!).

Dave and I were walking along when the sweetest looking little boy came jogging up beside us. When he caught up to us he started saying a single word. I thought he was saying “meal” but I couldn’t tell. I tried to figure out what he was saying, when he grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards a convenience store. I looked at Dave, and he just kind of rolled his eyes at me and followed us in. The boy immediately grabbed a can of powdered formula for babies. Breaks your heart, doesn’t it? Well, it’s also really expensive, about $6 a can! I told him no and bought him a little single serving container of actual milk for him to drink. He was pouting like crazy as he left the store, jamming his straw in his boxed drink.

Here’s the trick: the unsuspecting tourist buys the milk, which the child takes home to mom who turns around and sells it. There is no “baby brother or sister” as the children will often say.

Cooking Class

2007-09-27T06:00:00.001-07:00

Today we decided to take a cooking class. We have really fallen in love with Cambodian dishes. A lot of it is very similar to Thai food, but richer and sweeter. We had the sweetest instructor. We made spring rolls and two main dishes. Delicious! We wrote all the steps and ingredients down so we can be sure to attempt it at home.

Angkor Wat

2007-09-26T23:45:00.001-07:00

Here is an aerial shot that I found online. Huge moat, right?

Today our driver drove us out to the famous Cambodian temples. Angkor Wat is the most famous, and most revered of all. It is even on their flag. It is of extraordinary architecture and remained in use as a religious center for many years by being used first as Hindu and then Buddhist. It was built in the 12th century.

Angkor Wat - Cambodia

2007-09-26T18:00:00.001-07:00

Today we went on a daytrip to Angkor Wat. It is an old, beautiful temple. But there are actually a lot of temples in the vicinity, this just happens to be the largest and most famous. It’s even on the Cambodian flag. For $9, we had a driver and our own tuk-tuk for the entire day. But the entrance fee to the temples is a little steep, $20 each.

We had a wonderful, but exhausting day.

Siem Reap

2007-09-25T23:41:00.001-07:00

The view from our hotel room.

We took a bus up to Siem Reap. It was a pretty uneventful ride. When we got to our destination, the place was packed with guys wanting to "sell us" on their hotel. Dave and I couldn't even hear ourselves think, we were constantly being shouted out, tugged and pulled, it was a nightmare for me but Dave found it amusing. We finally chose a guy to take us to our hotel because that particular hotel had a great review in our LP book. But, of course, wouldn't you know that hotel is actually sold out and our driver wants to take us to a different one. He spoke pretty good English and I got him to admit that he lied to from the beginning and was holding up the sold-out hotel's picture because he knew it was a popular one. Oh well, the hotel he took us to was good too. And he was a pretty charming fellow, so we hired him to take us to Angkor Wat tomorrow.

Our sick bathroom, see the hose on the floor? It's the shower head.

After getting settled we hung out on the town. It's a small, quaint town and completely different than Phnom Penh. We immediately fell in love. We had a delicious meal, looked in some shops, Dave got a massage and then we called it a night.

Why does an elephant cross the road?

2007-09-25T05:00:00.001-07:00

To get to the other side, of course!

This HUGE elephant literally stopped traffic when it decided to cross the street. Me and one other foreigner stood gawking, but none of the locals seemed to notice. Except for the motorists!

Guess who we ran into?

2007-09-24T23:35:00.001-07:00

As hard as it might be to believe, when we were hanging at our hotel, Dave went next door to use the internet and saw the brother of his friend, Jake. Dave asked about Jake and what do you know? He LIVES in Cambodia too. So he called Jake up and Jake and Dave got to hang out for the night.

The next day, after visiting the museums and doing some more sightseeing, we hung out with Jake and his wife. We went to their beautiful house and visited the nearby market. The market was overflowing with brand name clothes at dirt cheap prices. But these were the actual brand name clothes which either got stolen from, or discarded by the sweatshops.

Jake's family made us a delicious lunch and then we made a mad dash for the bus to Siem Reap.

It was so good to see you and your family Jake!! Thanks for taking the time to show us another side of Cambodia.

The Killing Fields - Choeung Ek

2007-09-24T02:00:00.001-07:00

After spending hours at the museum, we were taken to the Killing Fields. Where many people were taken and killed and then thrown in mass graves. The Killing Fields were found by it's stench.

The Khmer Rouge is remembered mainly for the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million people (estimates range from 850,000 to 3 million) under its regime, through execution, starvation and forced labor. Following their leader Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge imposed an extreme form of social engineering on Cambodian society—a radical form of agrarian communism where the whole population had to work in collective farms or forced labor projects. In terms of the number of people killed as a proportion of the population (est. 7.5 million people, as of 1975), it was one of the most lethal regimes of the 20th century. One of their mottos, in reference to the New People, was: "To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss." (Wikipedia)

In Choeng Ek, there are believed to be about 8,895 people that were buried there. As we walked around the area, we could see the pits where the mass graves were dug up. There was also a memorial where you could see piles and piles of skulls and bones. Looking closely at the skulls, we could see where their head was bashed in. The Khmer Rouge wanted to save ammunition, so instead of shooting their prisoners, they usually bashed their skulls in with machetes, sharpened bamboo sticks, or any assortment of homemade weapon.

After four years of rule, the Khmer Rouge regime was removed from power in 1979 as a result of an invasion by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It survived into the 1990s as a resistance movement operating in western Cambodia from bases in Thailand. In 1996, following a peace agreement, their leader Pol Pot formally dissolved the organization. Pol Pot died April 15, 1998, never having been put on trial. (Wikipedia)

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

2007-09-23T23:12:00.001-07:00

Today we had a sobering visit to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. But before that...

We were riding through the streets of downtown Phnom Penh in a tuk-tuk and a passing motorist spat on us! And let me tell you, it was a lot, and it was green. Too much information? Now imagine me realizing what happened and dry-heaving like crazy while my too-good-to-be-true husband cleaned me up. LUCKILY it did not get on my skin. Eck!

After that disgusting incident, we arrived at the museum. Have you heard of the Khmer Rouge? Pol Pot? That's what this museum was all about.

The museum is housed in a former high schoool turned Security Prison 21 (S-21) by the Khmer Rouge. The classrooms were converted into tiny prison cells and some rooms were left bare so that inmates could be chained body to body without any room to turn over. 17,00-20,000 prisoners were held here from 1975-1979. Although the Khmer Rouge took meticulous records as to the identity, photograph, and history of each prisoner as well as what their crime was and their sentence, it is unknown the exact number that stayed here.

One of the tiny cells. Dave is in there to show the perspective of the size.

The average length of stay was 2-3 months, if they could last that long. The prisoners here were badly tortured. There are even detailed photographs showing this torture, and the result.

There are only 12 known survivors of this prison.

When a person entered the prison, they were presented with the following 10 rules.

1. You must answer accordingly to my question. Don’t turn them away.
2. Don’t try to hide the facts by making pretexts this and that, you are strictly prohibited to contest me.
3. Don’t be a fool for you are a chap who dare to thwart the revolution.
4. You must immediately answer my questions without wasting time to reflect.
5. Don’t tell me either about your immoralities or the essence of the revolution.
6. While getting lashes or electrification you must not cry at all.
7. Do nothing, sit still and wait for my orders. If there is no order, keep quiet. When I ask you to do something, you must do it right away without protesting.
8. Don’t make pretext about Kampuchea Krom in order to hide your secret or traitor.
9. If you don’t follow all the above rules, you shall get many many lashes of electric wire.
10. If you disobey any point of my regulations you shall get either ten lashes or five shocks of electric discharge.

One of the classrooms turned torture room.

A photo of a man tortured to death.

"In 1979 Ho Van Tay, a Vietnamese combat photographer, was the first media person to document Tuol Sleng to the world. Van Tay and his colleagues followed the stench of rotting corpses to the gates of Tuol Sleng. The photos of Van Tay documenting what he saw when he entered the site are exhibited in Tuol Sleng today.
The Khmer Rouge required the prison's staff to make a detailed dossier of all the prisoners. Included in the documentation was a photograph. Since the original negatives and photographs were separated from the dossiers in the 1979-1980 period, most of the photographs remain anonymous today."(Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum)

Exhibit of the prisoners.

Cambodia!

2007-09-23T09:46:00.001-07:00

After spending our last day in Saigon checking out Ho Chi Minh, we got up early the next day to catch a bus to Phnom Penh. It was a long day, and going through the border was stressful, but it survived. At the border there were women exchanging money. We ignored them at first, but after they insisted on telling us their rates, we thought it sounded pretty good. We were very careful watching them count it out, then we re-counted, and exchanged the old or worn bills for newer ones. When we got to Phnom Penh we realized we got a really good deal on our exchange. Yes!

On our bus ride to Cambodia, we had to board a ferry. This was the car in front of us!

In the 2 days we spent in Phnom Penh, we saw a guy pull a huge knife on another guy, a security guard club another guy down, got spat on (more later), and witnessed 2 motorbike accidents (more later). This city is fast-paced, dangerous, and fun! Although we were a little overwhelmed by everything that was constantly going on around us, we felt an air of happy-go-lucky that wasn't present in Vietnam. It was a relief.

Look at our bathroom!! Fancy!

We spent our first night eating dinner at a restaurant that specializes in traditional Cambodian fare. What did we eat? Some kind of meat thing. Dave didn't like his, but I thought mine was pretty good. After we went for a stroll through the park outside the Palace. Since it was Sunday, the place was swarming with families, couples, and singles all mingling together and relaxing. It was some great people-watching!

A vendor selling food.

Later that night we roamed the streets and saw some interesting street food.

We are really happy to be in Cambodia and out of Vietnam!

Ho Chi Minh

2007-09-21T21:48:00.001-07:00

For some reason I can't find any of my photos on my laptop, which is really weird... pics from the internet will have to do...

We saw Ho Chi Minh. Seriously. He is embalmed in a huge mausoleum (see above). We thought we couldn't see him because usually he is sent to Russia during this month for touch ups, but luckily we made it just in time. There was a video shown first, but it was only in Vietnamese and no translation was available. Then we stood in a line and filed around his glass "coffin". The details were amazing. His fingernails were perfect! He still had every hair on his head, he really looked like he was just sleeping. I've also seen Lenin in Russia, and that was pretty amazing as well. Apparently, only the Russian scientists have the embalming recipe and they keep it a pretty tight secret which is why Ho Chi Minh has to be sent over there yearly. Ho Chi Minh didn't even want to be embalmed. He wanted to be cremated and have his ashes spread in Northern, Central, and Southern Vietnam. And he really didn't want a mausoleum because he felt it was a waste of precious farmland. But the government kept that part of his will a secret, and proceeded with the embalment. The government also pretended he died a day after he actually died because he died on Independence Day.

We also walked around the palatial grounds dedicated to Ho Chi Minh and we got to see his house that he stayed in instead of the palace. Although it's a beautiful place, it's really small and very humble. I need to learn more about him, the little I know truly fascinates me.

Here are some quotes of his found on Wikipedia:

"Nothing is more valuable than independence and freedom."
"I follow only one party: the Vietnamese party."
"You can kill ten of our men for every one we kill of yours. But even at those odds, you will lose and we will win." - referring to France and America in their wars in Vietnam.
"It is better to sacrifice everything than to live in slavery!"
"The Vietnamese people deeply love independence, freedom and peace. But in the face of United States aggression they have risen up, united as one man."
"We have to win independence at any cost, even if the Truong Son mountains burn."
"In (Lenin's Theses on the National and Colonial Questions) there were political terms that were difficult to understand. But by reading them again and again finally I was able to grasp the essential part. What emotion, enthusiasm, enlightenment and confidence they communicated to me! I wept for joy. Sitting by myself in my room, I would shout as if I were addressing large crowds: "Dear martyr compatriots! This is what we need, this is our path to liberation!" Since then (the 1920s) I had entire confidence in Lenin, in the Third International!"
"When the prison doors are opened, the real dragon will fly out."
"It was patriotism, not communism, that inspired me."
"Remember, the storm is a good opportunity for the pine and the cypress to show their strength and their stability."
"My only desire is that all of our Party and people, closely united in struggle, construct a peaceful, unified, independent, democratic and prosperous, and make a valiant contribution to the world Revolution." (Hanoi, May 10, 1969.)
“Better to eat the French dung for 100 years than the Chinese dung for 1,000.”

Mui Ne Day Tour

2007-09-20T19:08:00.001-07:00

Today we took a day tour of the surrounding areas. We had a long busy day. We found two motorcyclists willing to take us out instead of doing a group tour with a jeep or bus.

This way we could spend whatever time we wanted and customize it to our own liking. And our drivers were really cool.

These are our drivers

We actually cancelled the tour twice due to bad weather, and so we were really excited when the day was clear. First we went to a fishing village.

We watched as they brought the fish in from the ocean and then laid it all out to dry. And yes, it stunk.

Next we went to the sand dunes. This was really beautiful and fun. I have never been to the dunes in Arizona, so this was a first experience for both of us. When we got there, little kids were renting out the sleds. One boy gave each of us a sled and then proceeded to take us out to the dunes as our guide. He was one of the best guides we have had! He was really nice and funny and took pictures for us and had a good time. When we were done sledding, we came back and he even helped Dave hose down and get all the sand off.

Dave is the speck at the bottom of the hill.

After the sand dunes we went to the Red Canyon. It was really beautiful. A big group of boys wanted to be our guides, but they were punks, and we were only there for about 5 minutes or so and so we told them no. We hiked in quickly, took some pictures, admired the beauty, and hiked out again.

Next we saw the red sand dunes. We just wanted to see it because it wasn’t as steep as the white sand dunes and so we didn’t want to sled. But these little kids were persistent and followed us around anyway. We had some candy in our pockets we ended up giving them.

And last we went to the fairy stream. It was really incredible and the weather was nice. We hung out in there for quite a while just enjoying it. We were the only ones there, which made it especially nice. It's a long stream that is ankle deep. The only way to see the stream is by walking through it.

It was a long, but incredible day.

Mui Ne

2007-09-19T19:09:00.001-07:00

We decided to take a day trip to a little town on the coast called Mui Ne. This daytrip ended up being 3 days long because of inclement weather, but Mui Ne is now our 2nd favorite town in Vietnam. We had such a good time. It’s a fishing/beach town. Our first day we had a little bit of trouble because the bus we took dumped us at a hotel that we chose not to stay at because they wanted to keep our passports until we left. We have learned never ever let them keep our passports because they then use it as collateral for payments, and they can make up any payments they want. When we refused to hand them over, the woman refused to rent us a room. So we grabbed our bags (which we had already put in the room) to go. That resulted in a glass ashtray breaking. Then two things happened. The man came in the room and said we didn’t have to give them our passports, and we could still stay there (great!), and we had to pay for the ashtray (what?!). The cost of the ashtray was about $1 so I gave it to him, but we weren’t very keen on staying there anymore so we decided to leave. We found a guy who gave us a ride on his motorbike to a different place, which wasn’t much less but was really dirty. We refused and started trudging back the way we came (they only give one-way rides!) when another motorcyclist offered to take us to a different hotel. It was on the way anyway so we stopped in and it was a really quiet clean place. We were so excited. It was so cheap too!
The next day we went to the beach because we knew it was going to storm. We were not disappointed! We were swimming in the waves for a while and Dave was playing soccer and throwing these 2 little kids in the waves when the rain began. The kids immediately took off, but we stayed and played. The storm got worse and the rain was cold and painful. We finally got out of the water and hid under a grass umbrella and then went back to our room to take a hot! shower. Hooray for hot water!

Saigon Cu Chi Tunnel

2007-09-18T19:03:00.001-07:00

Today we took a tour of the Cu Chi Tunnel system. This was built and occupied by the Vietnamese during the war. It has 3 levels and there were times where they lived in them for weeks at a time. They had many different hidden entrances, including one that could be accessed by the river! On the way there, we stopped at a factory that employed Agent Orange victims, and their posterity.

Before the tour began we watched a video to give us a general background. It was the most explicit propaganda we have been faced with to date. It explained how the American Imperialists were trying to overtake Vietnam to claim it as their own and how evil America and Americans are. It then went on to describe how ingenious the Vietnamese soldiers were and the medals and accolades received when killing all the Americans. It was very unsettling, in fact, Dave walked out halfway through, and he wasn’t the only one. There were a few Europeans that also walked out, disgusted by it. And they made this movie to seem as though it was made back during the time of the war, it was in black and white with poor quality. But with a little probing, our guide finally admitted that the movie was made in the late 80’s and was completely reenacted!

We started the tour by checking out one of the hidden openings to get into the tunnels. It was a tiny square in the ground, covered with a camouflage lid. Our guide showed us, and then let the group try it out for themselves. It was so small.
After that we saw all these different traps that were laid for the Americans. They had huge metal spikes, or nails, and the main intent was to maim, not necessarily kill. It was cruel and barbaric, and they were extremely proud of it. I have heard that at one point, the American soldiers had to wear steel-bottomed shoes to protect their feet from some of these traps.

They also explained how the women fought right alongside the men. But not only did they fight, they were also the cooks. So they were responsible for fighting, cooking, AND carrying all the rice!

Next we got to actually crawl through a part of the tunnel that still exists.

It was tiny and extremely claustrophobic. It was 60 meters long, but had emergency exits at every 15 feet. The group that started out was about 15 people and only 3 or 4 of us ended up at the end. It was really hard to get through, so it was hard to imagine people hiding out in there for weeks at a time.

Saigon

2007-09-17T18:46:00.001-07:00

Traffic rushing by David... on the sidewalk.

Rush hour
I thought this sign was so funny... no flying a kite?!?
A woman taking advantage of the traffic to sell snacks.

Another shot of the traffic using the sidewalk during rush hour
This cyclist puts up his hammock wherever he ends up to spend the night
more traffic...A cop trying to regulate the intersection

We arrived in Saigon today and decided to have a look around. Saigon is crowded. The streets are teeming with motorbikes. During rush hour, they even hop the sidewalks! We found a hotel that is on a “backpacker’s” street, so there are lots of cyclists wanting work so much that they sleep in their cart! There are also a lot of sellers, like this woman and her books. Except they aren’t genuine books, they are copied rather poorly.

While dodging motorbikes, I walked by this woman selling cooked baby chickens and chicken’s feet. It looked pretty sick.

Hoi An – buying clothes! Part 2

2007-09-17T09:59:00.001-07:00

So I ended up buying the coat. And he knocked $5 off, which was nice. He told me that the next day, an Englishman walked in when he saw the coat in the window and ordered two! I can do without the thick stitches, it fits perfectly (even my long arms!) and is dang cute. Price: $40

My party dress finally worked out. After a lot of stress, sweat (not mine), and tears (maybe mine) it is a beautiful piece. I chose white buttons for the front, and shortening the length did wonders. Price: $50

don't mind the wrinkles!

My suit is nice. It’s very typical and conservative, but hey it fits and it’s cheap. Price: $40 for suit jacket, skirt, and slacks.

I am wearing the satin blouse underneath.

My two dresses turned out fantastic. I love them. They are comfortable and cute. Price: $13 each

The blouse turned out nice as well. I like the sleeves. Price: $10 for blouse and matching scarf.

This is how the blouse will look with the scarf tied. This is also the coat I imitated.

Dave’s suit turned out great even though he had a lot of problems with the sleeves. Price: $60 for 3-piece. White dress shirts were $10 each.

Dave also got 2 dress shirts at $10 each.

When they redid the shorts, Dave was able to pick out a different, lighter material and when he tried them on, he fell in love so he ordered a couple more pairs. And then had them embroider his initials in them. Price: $10 each.

Dave’s dress shirts from the other tailor turned out great and the woman hand-embroidered them for free on her porch. Price $8 each.

So, we had a good time. I only wish I could’ve had more time to prepare… and more room!

Hoi An – buying clothes! Part 1

2007-09-17T09:56:00.001-07:00

We spent a few days doing fittings, picking out more clothes, and eating lots of great food and yogurt.

David went into his first fitting with Mr. Xe, who comes highly recommended. This guy is nuts. He’s small and spry with darting eyes and makes no sense. Oh, and he’s a little feminine. It’s hilarious, intimidating, and frustrating all at the same time.

David got a nice brown suit here, 3-piece and also had a couple dress shirts made because he can never find nice white dress shirts in the states that aren’t baggy. I assume that the manufacturers assume that men in their 30’s that need white dress shirts all have bellies. Well, I am a fortunate wife that has an athlete for a husband, because he does not have any fat on his belly at all. So he was able to have some nice dress shirts made that are slightly more fitted.

Dave’s first fitting went well. Everything looked good and the stitching seemed pretty quality. I was excited for him.

The shorts they did for him were really awful. It was like they weren’t even listening to his specifications. They were so wrong, they couldn’t even be fixed, so Mr. Xe told him he could have him and they would start over. Dave didn’t want them, but Mr. Xe forced them on him.

My gray suit had some problems. The jacket was just fine, but the skirt was not at all how I wanted it. I showed them the picture again and was informed by Mr. Xe that the picture is no good, he can’t see it. Hmmmm, okay why wasn’t I told that before? So finally after several fittings and me trying to explain what was in my head (that didn’t work), I went with a simple A-line. It turned out fine. I wanted a satin blouse to go with it, because I saw a cute one in a magazine, but he said he didn’t have time to do it.

Then I tried on my coat. What a disappointment. Everything was right and good except for the stitching. The one detail I specifically pointed out. I asked about it and he responded, “It is impossible, no machine in Asia can do this.” Hmmmm, okay then why didn’t you tell me when I specifically pointed it out? So I was hesitant and he basically told me to not get it and promptly stuck it on a mannequin in his window. I thought about it for a long time, tried it on a few times, and decided not to get it. Sad.

The sewing room at Yaly's Tailor.

My next fitting was for my silk party dress. This turned out to be a disaster! It was all wrong. The silk taffeta was way too stiff for the look I was trying to achieve with this dress. Since taffeta doesn’t really gather on its’ own, they put pleats in it that looked awful. And the length was wrong too. The top half of it was gorgeous, but the bottom half was disgusting. I was trying to explain to them what was bad about it and the woman was nice and patient, but I didn’t think we were connecting. Finally she said she would fix the pleats and the length and hopefully it will work (fingers crossed!).

When we were walking down a street to get a meal, we walked by a tailor that had a really cute dress in the window. I was feeling really down about my clothes, but Dave wanted to check the dress out so I followed him in. This tailor was owned by a really sweet married couple and it was a small shop, unlike the other two we were using. To make a long story short, we ordered 2 dresses from them, a satin blouse for me, and a few shirts for Dave.

Cross your fingers!

2007-09-17T07:36:00.001-07:00

Today we are in Hoi An, Vietnam. This town is known for their excellent tailors. We were thinking about skipping it since we ARE backpackers, on a strict daily budget, but then Dave's sister Shannon and Mom, and my parents, sent us some birthday money!!! So we decided to go for it. We will never get this opportunity again.

It basically works like this; you pick out what you want from the hundreds of photos and magazine clippings they have, your you can bring in your own picture/sketch. Then, you choose what material you want from the endless choices on all walls from floor to ceiling. At that point, they measure you and tell you when to come back for your next fitting. It's overwhelmingly delightful. I think I could have sat in the shop all day long and simply watched people choosing their material, trying on their clothes, seeing their selections, etc.

Getting fitted by Mr. Xe.

Dave went right to work, quickly picking out material for a full suit (dress shirt, vest, slacks, jacket). He chose a very nice brown material that I would have never guessed would work. But David makes everything work. Then he picked out material for a pair of shorts. I was busy poring over magazines..."Do you want 2 buttons or 3?" "How high do you want your vest?" "Do you want pockets on your vest?" Dave knew exactly how he wanted it. I was impressed by his decisiveness.

I was the opposite. I poured over magazines in the first tailor. Notice I said first. David didn't need to compare anything. At first, I was planning on purchasing a sophisticated, but modest, black dress (Impossible to find!). Then I found a really great coat and thought that would be nice. But either way, I just couldn't make a decision at the moment. Once David was done, I wanted to go to a 2nd tailor that was referred to us. David stuck by me for awhile, but I knew I would be much longer, so he went his separate way. I went through no less than 20 books trying to get a sense of what I wanted. I then asked the prices to make each item. And then I walked back to our hotel, to ponder over my decision (and email my Mom for some encouragement, which I promptly received!). Clothes have been the last thing on my mind for quite a few months (gasp!) and we haven't spent any money on extras even close to this. So I knew I couldn't get everything I wanted, but I wasn't sure what I wanted most.

So I ended up getting everything I wanted. I went back the next day to David's first fitting and everything looked so sharp and well made. I was really impressed. So I talked to them about different options and ended up ordering:

1. A coat (cut right above my knees) medium grey, made out of a cashmere/wool blend with a satin orange-gold-yellow lining. Big front buttons and and a nice wide collar.

2. A suit. A blazer with matching skirt and slacks. Made out of a grey cotton material with a light blue satin lining. Conservative in cut but classy.

My first fitting.

3. A dress. Not at all what I had in mind, but when I saw it in a Japanese magazine, I fell in love with it. It's cut at the knee, with a lot of details. They quoted me a price for cotton, but I just didn't feel right about it. I knew it wasn't cotton in the photo and the material was going to make a big difference as to how it fit and looked. So I went with a silk taffeta. It's 100% silk from Thailand (famous for their silk, by the way, we saw loads of it while we were there.... beautiful!) and in a dark navyish blue. I am the most nervous about this one as it will be the easiest to mess up. The photo I saw was small and the details hard to see.

This is the pic in the magazine for the party dress.

The great thing is, we only put down a small deposit at the first tailor and the second tailor didn't ask for any deposit, so if anything is wrong, we don't have to pay for it. And this was proven to us today at David's first fitting. When he tried on his shorts, they were baggier than he wanted and the pockets were wrong. Dave brought this to their attention and they had to completely redo them. So they told David he could just keep those shorts, no charge. And when Dave tried them on, he decided the material he chose was too heavy, so he was able to pick out a new material.

David goes to his 2nd (and hopefully final) fitting tomorrow and I go to my first.

This is a weird contraption that is used for measurements at Yaly's, the other tailor.

Cross your fingers all goes well!

THANK YOU SHANNON, TERRI AND PAUL, JOE AND DONNA!!!

Hoi An

2007-09-15T20:39:00.001-07:00

Hoi An is my favorite city in Vietnam.

I haven’t really enjoyed Vietnam very much so far, but Hoi An is a place I would love to return to in the future. It’s a great town, with a lot going on and even better… the people are nice. It’s hard to believe. The main reason foreigners come to Hoi An is to get some tailor-made clothes and shoes. I thought it would be really cool for David to get a suit made for him, but we were undecided until birthday money came for us from my parents and his parents and sister, Shannon.

So we decided to do it. And I am so glad we did, not only for the clothes, but also because otherwise we would’ve skipped this town altogether.

We rented a motorbike through our hotel and went to Cua Dai Beach one day, which is beautiful and practically deserted. We also rode through the town for a little while.

This was a huge painting hanging in one of the shops.

I love the food here. It’s so delicious. They have a native dish called Cau Lau. The real thing can only be had in Hoi An, as the water for the noodles must come from Ba Le well.

Cau Lau are doughy flat noodles mixed with croutons, bean sprouts, and greens, topped with pork slices and served in a savory broth (LP).

The White Rose dish is in the foreground.

Another favorite of mine is White Rose, a petite steamed dumpling stuffed with shrimp (LP). And you can have a dish of Cau Lau for .50 and White Rose a little over $1. Amazing deal. We’re going to eat this every day.

We found our favorite restaurant that serves these dishes.

I was in the mood for something else, so I decided to try their yogurt. The girl hesitated, but then wrote it down with everything else. She went back inside for a second, and then went running down the street. We realized that she was running down the street to buy me some yogurt!

So after eating, and LOVING the yogurt, we followed her tracks and found the shop that sells it for only 3,000 dong ($0.19 each).
Oh and the architecture here is great. A lot of beautiful, old, crumbling buildings that are a variety of muted colors.

My Son Ruins

2007-09-14T20:29:00.001-07:00

We traveled to Hoi An next in Vietnam. We decided to take a day trip to the My Son ruins.

The Cham ruins date back to the 7th century. My Son became a religious center under King Bhadravarman in the late 4th century and was occupied until the 13th century – the longest period of development of any monument in SE Asia. My Son is one of the most stunning sights in the area, and another Unesco World Heritage site.

None of the buildings have mortar, they are all built out of perfectly structured bricks.

The biggest downfall with visiting the ruins was that it was blisteringly hot today. There were a few times where I had to find some shade to stand in or I thought I might die. Unfortunately, everyone else had that same idea, so finding shade was like driving through a restaurant parking lot in the AZ summer looking for that one spot barely shaded by a sparse tree during the lunch time rush. After driving forever to get here, they informed us we had 1.5 hours to check it out. We were frustrated by this because we knew we would want to be there for way longer, but with the heat, we ended up being ready to go pretty quickly.

The interior was so much cooler than outside!

The ruins are beautiful though. And like everything else, there was a large part that had been bombed out during the war.

Dave threatening a missile...

Song Huong (Perfume River) Cruise, Hue

2007-09-12T22:57:00.001-07:00

Here is our boat!

Today we paid $6 each for a tour of the Royal Tombs and the Thien Mu Pagoda. The price included a tour guide, lunch, and the boat.

About 20 of us were on the flat boat, sitting in plastic chairs. The entrance fees to the tombs were not included, so out of the 5 tombs, we chose one to visit.

But first we visited the Pagoda, which was free. The Thien Mu Pagoda is one of the most famous structures in Vietnam. It was built in 1601 and is known to be the home of Thich Quang Duc, who publicly burned himself to death in 1963 to protest the policies of President Ngo Dinh Diem.

At one tomb, we got to see the locals make incense. It was really neat, and very colorful.

As we reached the Tomb we chose to see, Dave decided he didn’t want to and instructed me to go in and take a lot of photos. It is the Tomb of Minh Mang who ruled from 1820-1840. This tomb is renowned for it’s architecture.

While I was exploring the tomb (which spanned a large area, had a lake, forest, and multiple buildings but the tomb was hidden behind a wall so no one could see it…),

I guess the tomb is behind this chained and locked door?

Dave was exploring outside the area. He began walking and realized that he needed to get back to the boat since our time was up. A guy on a motorbike was nice enough to give him a ride and he jumped on. Then he realized his driver was taking him all the way back to Hue!

A monk studying

Dave quickly told him to stop and let him off. Now he was even further from the boat. A woman passed by on a motorbike with her baby and Dave asked her if she would take him to the boat. Even though it was in the opposite direction from where she was traveling, she was very kind and let him hop on, and brought him back right on time. I think this is one of the only times a Vietnamese was kind and helpful without expecting anything in return.

I thought these little learning monks had an interesting hairstyle.

After our cruise, we ate at a restaurant that was recommended in our guidebook. It is called the Mandarin Café and had incredible photographs spanning the walls. Come to find out, the owner is the photographer! He had beautiful prints for sale, and I was very tempted, but I knew it would probably get trashed during our travels. So if you are ever in Hue, be sure to eat at the Mandarin Café (24 Tran Cao Van st.) and compliment Mr. Cu on his talent.

The Citadel, Hue

2007-09-11T22:47:00.001-07:00

That's me next to our motorbike.

Our next stop was Hue, Vietnam. On our way we stopped at a resort nestled on a beautiful beach. We figured out it was part of China Beach, where the American soldiers would go for R&R during the war. It was neat to be on the beach and imagine what it was like during the war. We had just enough time here for David to jump in the water and swim around (I was not traveling in my suit). Then we drove through the Marble Mountains which are beautiful islands jutting out of the ocean. Eventually we arrived in Hue and went through the normal process of tracking down a place to stay. Next we rented a motorbike and decided to see the citadel, which is what this town is known for.

Excerpt from my Lonely Plant guide:

“Traditionally, Hue has been one of Vietnam’s cultural, religious and educational centers. Hue served as the political capital from 1802-1945 under 13 emperors of the Nguyen dynasty. Today, Hue’s decaying, opulent tombs of the Nguyen emperors and grand, crumbling Citadel comprise a Unesco World Heritage site.”

The reason we rented a motorbike is because we only planned on being at the citadel for 1-2 hours. The citadel was pretty much walking distance from our hotel.

We ended up spending the entire day there. It was absolutely incredible. Very little of it has been restored since the bombings of the war.

The citadel is one of Vietnam’s disintegrating treasures. In June, 1802 Nguyễn Phúc Ánh took control of Vietnam and proclaimed himself Emperor Gia Long. His rule was recognized by China in 1804.
Gia Long asked geomancers what was the best place for a new palace and citadel. The geomancers chose a site in Huế. Gia Long wanted his palace and fortress to be a smaller copy of the Chinese Forbidden City. In 1804, tens of thousands of workers were forced to produce a wall and moat, 10 kilometer long. Initially the walls were earthen, but later these earthen walls were replaced by stone walls, 2 meters thick.
The citadel was oriented to face the Huong River to the east. This was different than the Forbidden City in Beijing, which faces south. The Emperor's palace is on the east side of the citadel, nearest the river. A second set of walls and a second moat was constructed around the Emperor's palace. Many more palaces and gates and courtyards and gardens were subsequently added.
The rule of the last Vietnamese Emperor lasted until the mid-1900s. At that time, the Purple Forbidden City had many buildings and hundreds of rooms. It suffered from termite and cyclone damage, but was still very impressive.
American bombing in 1968 in response to a communist takeover of Huế flattened most of the city. Only a few buildings survived, such as the Thai Hoa Temple, Can Thanh Temple, The Mieu, and Hieu Lam Cac.
The city was made a UNESCO site in 1993. The buildings that still remain are being restored and preserved. Unfortunately, most of the site was destroyed by the Vietnam war and so is now covered with rice paddies. (Thanks Wikipedia!!)

Dave and I started out together, but eventually separated as we both kept finding hidden areas that we didn’t know about. There was a beautiful moat that surrounded it, a concert hall with gorgeous acoustics (that had been restored), and lots of incredible crumbling buildings amidst lush grass.

Isn't this the most beautiful moat you've ever seen?
I think we ended up spending 6 hours there. And we still didn’t see everything.

Tam Coc

2007-09-10T22:07:00.001-07:00

On our way to Hue we stopped in a city called Ninh Binh. We got to our guesthouse and rented a motorbike to go to Tam Coc. We had seen a lot of photos of this place and it looked beautiful. Of course, our luck with weather and motorbikes held because soon after we started riding, it started to rain. We got to Tam Coc and hired a man to take us on a tour of the limestone cliffs. We got in his canoe and a little woman climbed in as well. Luckily, there were people selling umbrellas and so we bought one for a dollar.

All the photos that I had seen shown people riding on canoes through luscious green rice fields surrounded by limestone cliffs and peaks jutting out. Well, we had the limestone and we had the canoe and water… but no rice patties.

So although it was still beautiful, it wasn’t nearly as awesome as I expected. It was a really peaceful ride. We got to the end and a woman tried to sell us some drinks. We bought two for our drivers, even though they didn’t even open them or drink them (we remembered later that it’s a scam.

fisherman.

The woman selling the drinks convinces the foreigner to buy one for their driver and then the driver sells it back to the woman). As I was waiting in the canoe for Dave, who was taking some photos, the lady who came with us and was half-rowing every once in a while pulled out some embroidered items and tried to sell them to me. She had this HUGE metal trunk full of embroidery. It made me wonder if she had to pay the actual rower any money to ride with us since she added so much weight to the boat! On our way back we saw a really cool sight. We watched as this man in his rowboat herded little yellow ducks down the waterway.

There were waaaaayyyy more ducks than this, but they were swimming further ahead.

It was so cute but unfortunately I couldn’t get a good enough picture to do it justice. When we were nearing the end, the lady (who was sitting next to Dave) starting poking him really hard. He turned to her and she held out her hand and said, “Tip.” He didn’t know how to react at first, but when she kept poking him and repeating herself, he finally pointed to her unopened drink and told her that was her tip. He was so annoyed. She wasn’t even the one doing the rowing!

We came back from our little boating excursion and were starving so we found a little restaurant that had decent prices.

One of the options was goat meat and so we decided to try it. It was delicious! It was our first time eating goat and we really liked it. I just had to block the cute little mountain goat standing on a ledge that we passed while in our boat!

We were walking by this place and I loved the lighting...

Cobra for lunch

2007-09-09T14:29:00.001-07:00

Today we decided to visit the Le Mat Snake Village. It’s a small town outside of Hanoi that specializes in Cobra. They actually raise the snakes in this village, and then sell them to the expensive restaurants in Hanoi. We took a taxi out there and went into the first restaurant. We found out that a cobra lunch for two would cost $40! That is our entire budget for the day, so we left.

We walked around the town for a little bit admiring the beautiful, but decaying buildings. Then we got online and Dave was reading a lot of great reviews about eating Cobra, so we decided to go for it.

We went back and ordered. Soon they brought out this big and very alive Cobra. This guy held it for as long as we were taking pictures. We noticed his arms and hands had a lot of scars that looked like they were snakebites. We took a million pictures, and then they grabbed the snake by the head and slit his throat. Right there in front of us!

They drained some of his blood in a glass and mixed it with soda water (They usually mix it with rice wine, but we were finally able to communicate with them that we don’t drink). Next, they drained the snake’s bile in another glass.

Then we were able to watch as they took out this snake’s heart, which was still beating and put it on a plate. It was a lot larger than I expected. They poured the bile and the blood into shot glasses for us to drink. I was extremely nervous, but not too hesitant. But that wasn’t all. They took the beating heart and dropped it in one of the shot glasses of blood and handed it over to Dave.

They told him he needed to drink it while the heart was still beating. So he did. Next he swallowed the bile.

You can actually see the heart in his glass!

We had an extra glass of blood, so we decided to have some fun with it.

Then it was my turn. I swallowed the blood and was a little surprised because it tasted like I had bit my cheek or something. It tasted like my own blood, only carbonated. I think it would have been less gross if the blood tasted really different. But for some reason, knowing the snake has blood that tastes just like mine grossed me out. The bile was next. Dave kind of liked the bile, but I thought it tasted really acidic, like stomach acid, and that grossed me out as well. But I loved that we were having the experience.

When we were done, they took the cobra back to the kitchen and prepared the meat 6 or 7 different ways and then we got to feast.

I had never had any kind of snake meat before and it was delicious! They prepared the meat in spring rolls, grilled, in a soup, and ground. It was well worth blowing our budget over and definitely an experience like no other!

Bak ha Market

2007-09-09T03:10:00.001-07:00

We drove to the Sunday market in Bak Ha.

Interesting saddle!

This market was so colorful with all the minority people in their traditional dress. We walked by stalls of the traditional and typical crafts for sale and then got into the deep part of the market where we saw horses for sale, buffalo, puppies (I knew that soup from a few days ago was dog!), fowl, firewater, etc.

It was fascinating and disturbing to see how these animals were being traded and carried around.

Next to this man, you can see the pile of tobacco being used. You pay the lady some money, then pick up a pipe, fill it, light it, puff on it for awhile, and then continue your shopping.

Hmmm.... something is missing!

As we were walking around, Dave felt himself getting pick-pocketed. Luckily he grabbed at his pocket right in time. Although it was crowded, we both knew who it was. The woman immediately began acting interested in something at the next stall and then began walking off. But she wasn’t going to get off that easy! Dave followed her, trying to get her picture. She had on a conical hat and was deftly avoiding the camera, and Dave. But Dave lowered the camera and got a perfect shot of her! After he took it he said to her, "I got you pick pocket!!" It was so funny.

Guilty!

After the market, we visited a house that belonged to a Flower Hmong minority. The man was a very good host, passing out a lot of his homemade firewater (and wasn't offended when Dave and I didn't partake), and dancing for us. He was really nice.

Our host dancing while playing a traditional instrument.

After, we went to see the Vietnam/China border. It was cool to look across the river and see China! Dave came up to me stating that he saw the Laos border and was calling out to it because he missed it. I informed him that this wasn’t a tri-border. We weren’t even bordering Laos right now! Dave told me I was wrong, and took me to the sign that proved it. The sign said “Lao” which was the name of the town we were currently in. I laughed forever. At this time Dave was yelling, “Hello China!” across the river, hoping to get a response from the other side. He didn’t. But he did manage to amuse others in our tour group. Soon we got on a night train and made our way back to crazy Hanoi.

Sapa, Vietnam

2007-09-08T06:30:00.001-07:00

These guys were at the train station and tossed Dave some fruit as we walked by.

We bought a package tour to Sapa but when we got to the train station, no one was there to meet us! We had to wait for 2 hours for someone to finally get us. The only place to wait was a restaurant with no AC. It was dang hot. Our stomachs were still trying to settle, so we just tried to relax while waiting for our ride.

Since no one was there to pick us up on time, we couldn’t do the 1 day trek we were supposed to. Instead we did a ½ day trek, which was actually just a couple hours of walking around. It was probably a good thing because of our stomachs (which were finally feeling better). Our walk was great.
Walking past a couple minority villagers.

Sapa is so green and beautiful. It’s also a lot cooler. We tried asking our guide about the Vietnam/American War, but his only response was, “We learned about the war in school but we do not talk about it with foreigners.”

After our walk we rested and then went to the Love Market. It got it’s name because of the minority people that live in Sapa will go there to find a mate when they are of age. They find someone that they like and usually get married a couple weeks later! So it’s basically a serious pick-up joint. We didn’t see too much flirting going on, but we did get befriended by a trio of young girls whose English was disturbingly good. I assumed they were probably pickpockets. Although I was careless with my camera bag and things at first, we luckily were not pick-pocketed! They were minority girls that hung out at the market to talk with foreigners and practice their English. We chatted with them for a little bit and then walked around the little town and eventually made our way back to the market. At the market, I was talking to an old woman who started out trying to sell me something. I asked if she had been to the Bac Ha market and she said she had. I asked her if she liked it and she responded, “No, not really. There were too many tourists!” I had to choke back my laughter. I mean, this woman was telling me this at her market, when she was trying to sell to tourists! We ran into one of the girls who walked with us back to our hotel. She gave us each a bracelet and when we offered to buy her a drink she refused. She was actually a sweet little girl. When we were at our hotel, we said our goodbyes and went to bed.

Vietnamese scarecrow.

Hanoi

2007-09-07T06:21:00.001-07:00

Vietnam is described as the country of "joyful lawlessness". We noticed several people in Hanoi selling balloons, but apparently it's illegal because as soon as a policeman would show up, they would all go running!

We checked out of our hotel at 1:00 pm after sleeping in long and hard. We went to some travel agencies and booked a tour leaving on the night train tonight for Sapa, a town up North. Since our bus didn’t leave for some hours, we walked around Hanoi. I thought I was used to the craziness of these East Asian cities, but boy was I wrong! Hanoi is a madhouse of scooters riding in all directions and everyone honking at everyone. Dave was smart and put tissue in his ears to muffle the sound. The streets were insanely crowded, motorbikes were missing each other by a hair, and everyone was trying to sell something. It was overwhelming. We ate dinner, and went to the Puppet Theatre, which Vietnam is famous for. It was really cool. It was in a small auditorium, and the stage was actually water.

The puppets were all on the water and were controlled by sticks in the water that were held by people behind a big curtain in the back.

At the end of the performance, the puppeteers came out.

The music and dialogue was live and traditional. There was one woman who did most of the singing and her voice was like nothing I had ever heard before. It was incredible. And she was so beautiful. I couldn’t stop staring at her throughout the performance. I was awe-struck.

We got on the night train and were pleasantly surprised by how much nicer it was than the Thai night train. Unfortunately, Dave and I ate something bad and were awake most of the night with a horrible stomach ache!

Cyclos are rampant in this city. It's a clean way to get around the city since it's just a big tricycle.

Crossing the border Laos-Vietnam

2007-09-06T06:11:00.001-07:00

Walking from the Laos border, about to cross the Vietnam border

We woke up to catch the bus to the Vietnam border today and it didn’t come! We weren’t sure what to do. We were in a really tiny town and not very many people spoke English. We finally found a guy who would drive us to the border in his truck. We piled our stuff in and off we went. As we were both driving down the road, Dave and I were thinking that his price was too good to be true. And it was. As we drove to the end of the long road, he stopped and wrote down his price, his new price (or to clarify our miscommunication about the price, which I think is entirely possible). He wanted $30! We said no thanks, and hopped out, already knowing there was no chance of him taking us back to the bus station. We figured we had already missed our bus anyway so there was no point going back since there is only one bus a day. We stood there trying to decide what to do when an older woman came to us and wrote something down. We weren’t sure what she meant, as she spoke no English, but figured it was a note to show a driver where we were headed. We thanked her and she made the motion for us to wait. Not more than 5 minutes later, the “bus” came for the border! She smiled at us and motioned us on, getting in behind us. We were so glad that the previous guy dropped us off there.

As we drove, more and more people hopped on. I couldn’t believe how crowded it was getting. And I couldn’t believe, even still, how happy and kind the Laos people are. As we were all crowded in, sugarcane was passed around to everyone, including us, to nibble on.

We got to the border and ate lunch before crossing. There was only one thing to order from looking around at the other tables, so we ordered a “chicken” soup. As I brought up a piece of the chicken on my spoon, I noticed large pores in the skin and black stiff hairs coming out! I didn’t know that chickens had hair. I finished my soup (I was hungry!) but didn’t eat any of the chicken. We crossed out of the Laos border without any problems, but we were sad to leave so soon. We love Laos. It might tie with Bali for being our favorite country. We were able to cross the Vietnam border without any problems either. At the town past the border was a bus waiting with a sign, Hanoi, in the dash. Perfect timing! We were told that the bus was leaving in about 1 hour. 2 girls from Germany crossed the border at the same time as us, so we all waited together. When it was time to go, we got on and settled our bags.
This was by far the worst bus we had been on yet. Dave put his foot in mud, but when I looked down it wasn’t mud but barf. And there was snot smeared on the back of the seat in front of me. It was disgusting.
A man came around to collect our bus fare. When we asked how much, he told us $35 each! What?! That’s practically a plane ride. Luckily, the girls with us were just as indignant and we proceeded to argue the fare. Finally they told us $25 each. No way. It should cost $10 max. The man was rude and wouldn’t budge. He told us to get off the bus. When we did, I could tell he was surprised. He knew, and we soon found out, that this is the only bus that services this town. He was blatantly ripping us off and didn’t care at all.
As we were trying to figure out what to do, I watched as a man taunted another man by chucking rocks at his bare feet. They almost came to blows. And then I saw a woman whack another woman with a rolled up tarp. I could feel the hostility in the air, not just towards us, but towards each other as well.
We ended up arguing for 2-3 hours. They even loaded up the bus and pretended to drive away thinking we would jump up and agree to their price. We didn’t. The two girls were just as stubborn as Dave and me and weren’t about to give up this fight. The most we got them down to was $20 – and that was if we took the bus that left in 2 days. We knew this didn’t make sense, as it was the same bus and same driver, and figured they would just continue to charge us more.
Finally, we grabbed our bags and started walking. They still didn’t care. This was after a little over 3 hours of talking, arguing, and being abused by their children (they were throwing big sticks at me, until I knocked one of the kids down by yanking on the stick in his hand; they also smacked one of the girls on her back as they ran by).

We were all shocked. In our travels we have never come across such immediate insolent children. And we had never met any locals this callous and shrewd. They had no concern for the fact that we were offering them as much money as we had and that their bus was sick. They were simply not going to take us for less than $20 each.

So we started walking. Not knowing what else to do, we decided to try the next town. We put on all our bags and started out with the girls. Every time we stopped to talk with someone, a guy on a motorbike from the town would watch and talk to the person we were conversing with. Irritated and annoyed, we saw a minivan parked in front of a house. We stopped and tried bargaining with the owner for a ride to Hanoi. He wanted $120, we said $60. We finally went up to $80 and he wanted $90. We were still so frustrated. Here we were, walking, and he also was intent on completely ripping us off. We told him no and kept walking. We had walked about 2 miles and there was no more town or houses and we had no idea when we would come to another one. We stopped for a rest right when the minivan was driving to us. The guy and his friend jumped out and again said $90. We said no and so they finally agreed on taking us for $80.

It was a miserable drive. I can’t imagine how much more miserable it would have been in that old crappy bus. Even though it took a while to actually get going (we ran out of gas and then they insisted on driving back to town to check their tire pressure…) we were glad to be in the van. The two guys taking us were not nice people, they just wanted to make a buck, but we tried hard to just ignore them. It was pouring rain and the majority of the road we traveled was filled with potholes and our driver was terrible. He would pick up speed simply to emergency-brake in front of a pot hole, try to avert it but fail.

When we finally got to Hanoi, our driver stopped right inside the border of town and demanded his money. Dazed and tired, we handed it over and got out. We had no idea where we were but everything around us was closed. A taxi pulled up and we climbed in and had him take us to a guest house from our guide book.

We left for Hanoi at 5:45 PM and arrived at 1:45 AM. We crossed the Vietnam border that morning at noon. It was a LONG day.

Luckily, we ended up finding a hotel for $10 that was big and nice with TV, fridge, AC and hot water! What luxury!!

"BusLaos"

2007-09-05T15:20:00.001-07:00

A smaller bus we took on our 2nd busride, which drove more comfortably around the mountainside than the larger bus. When it pulled up we were laughing and making fun of it, until they told us to load in.

Our first bus experience in Laos was as much alarming as it was intriging. We avoided many of the pitfalls of Laos transport as we flew into Luang Prabang directly from Chaing Mae, Thailand. The flight was was about an hour long and $100/each w/ a drink and meal, whereas the alternative would have taken us on a train, then a bus to the border, then a bus from the boarder to the river, then a boat to the LP area, then a taxi or tuk-tuk, for about 36 hours and 50+ dollars. We soon learned we made the right decision in light of comfort and time, but the wrong one in terms of receiving a wild exprience and education.

We reached the bus station in Luang Prabang (LP) from a tuk-tuk driver who couldn't have been more than 15 years old. He reluctantly took our offer of $1 to the station. On the way he picked up his girlfriend, and they had a somewhat animated conversation. Annelise and I suspected part of it was about how he was stupid to only take a buck from rich Americans.

Bus "station" of Van Vieng pictured above.

When we arrived at the bus station we started unloading our bags from the tuk-tuk. Due to the fact that Annelise and I really liked the kid, we tipped him another dollar. As soon as we did, he laughed, gave his version of a Laos "alright!" and jumped out of his seat to help us with our bags. (Knowing that we was breaking code by not helping us.) Annelise and I wanted him to be able to say, "See girl, I know how to run my business, don't doubt me, baby." (I must note: the locals don't pay more than a dollar to the bus station. They just overcharge foreigners...especially Americans because they believe we're all rich. While bargaining, we usually tell people we're from Australia or something. Helps our bargaining and people don't expect tips from Australians. You bargain for everything here. Everything. So, I hope this part of the story doesn't sound pretentious or arrogant.)

So, anyway, we went to purchase a ticket for an express bus to Vang Vieng to take in some good tubing, scenery, and eerie restaurants that all play Friends episodes on multiple televisions. (or Simpsons or Family Guy if you're lucky.) After waiting for a couple hours, our express bus was cancelled for not having enough passengers. A Christian group from Korea (who were really cool to talk to, but really annoying to listen to sing their Jesus carols) didn't even get a bus after their long wait. There party of 12 wisely declined taking the local bus after the express bus was cancelled for not reaching passenger capacity. (You'll know what the definition of a capacity bus in Laos as this story continues.) I was able to get our $1 refund, as we handed our bags to a guy on top of the bus as he packed them under a tarp.

We then went to look for a seat, which was difficult to do. People and belongings were everywhere. There were bags of rice stacked up as high as the seats all the way down the isle and up to the ceiling behind the back seats. People were leaning out the windows to get some air, as it was still quite warm that night, and no a/c in the bus. Those people with window seats sat that way for another hour or so as they waited for the bus driver. (we waited outside the bus, which became a problem later.)

The bus driver is king on these buses. He shows up when he feels like it. He doesn't show up until the bus is packed like a box for shipping. When he does show, he's usually chewing what ever food was left in his mouth from the restaurant he was at. Then while everyone waits, he has a couple cigarettes before he gets on the bus. At that point, you only hope he starts it and gets moving so you can get a breeze, but sometimes this is only a signal to his "crew" that they need to round up a couple other people to stuff in the isles of the bus, as the seats are already full. The bus does not leave until every breathing hole is plugged with a body.

3 hours after we were supposed to leave on an express bus, our local chariot leaves the "terminal." --but not before some arguments over seating. Annelise was drawn into a huff with some lady who demanded the front seat. She made it seem as though she gets sick and had to have the select spot. The lady had left a couple things on one of the two seats, which didn't seem to matter, as the things I set on 2 seats for Annelise and I were disregarded. After some arguing, we decided to move rather than being seen as rude foreign intruders, though I still feel that seat should have been ours. Not to mention, it was the best seat on the bus. I guess the major problem that Annelise had was that the lady was unwilling to move her belongings from the only remaining seats she had also claimed so Annelise could move anywhere. I guess she expected Annelise to hover until she got herself situated.

The people on the bus have many interesting ways about them. Many of the older men would let out loud yawns, waking anyone next to them by the strength of their bellows. It was really annoying (but a bit entertaining). I'd finally dose off in my uncomfortable chair and then have the guy behind me turn into a human blowhorn. It was like a late night grizzly bear mating call mixed with a Fred Flinstone "Honey, I'm home!!!" I read into it as a bit of an escape for them being couped up in a rolling sardine can for hours.

Here I am preparing to tip this little bus with my huge bag. The guy is laughing when he see's how big it is. Hey, we didn't know we'd be backpacking when we packed for Korea, ok?

Often times people would stand for hours. I wasn't sure why they did this, but I think they believe it helps them with their motion sickness to see the road. I'd say they're truth to that. Laos are infamous for their vomiting all over the bus. Many get sick, as I did, but only a little. (trying to read for too long...yes, I can read.) The way the bus tosses and turns us around those windy roads will have anyone looking for a barf bag (as they frequently hand out during the trip...at least on the better local buses).

The bus makes stops whenever the driver feels like it. He will stop anywhere at anytime he desires. Sometimes it's at a little minority people/Hmong village, sometimes it's in the middle of nowhere, sometimes a "convenience" store or outside restaurant area, or sometimes at a mini-city that seems to exist only because it's a good stopping point on the bus route . The bus driver doesn't need to take smoke breaks because he and the passengers often ignore the no smoking stickers--that were clearly placed when the bus was driven in Korea before it found a new life in Laos(many of the buses in Laos have Korean written all over them). It's hard enough getting breathable air on those busses, so the bus fume/stagnant body/cigarette fragerance probably won't be found in the Calvin Klein line anytime soon.
Ironically, you cannot relieve yourself in public at the Van Vieng bus station. Though I believe this sign is just an effort to get you to use their pay toilets.

Our first urine break was quite interesting. We just stopped on the side of the road. About half the bus emptied out (about 30-40 people) and just picked their favorite spot. Few went further than a step or two away from the bus. The girls usually went behind the bus, or just on the road in an area a little more shaded from the moonlight. It was quite romantic. (note: it's not always wise to stray too far from paths/roads due to UXO's from the war.) After a couple minutes, we were on our way again.

One time we took a pit stop at a little village. The bus emptied out into a small section of wooden huts and just relieved themselves all over the yard, and even on the huts. It seemed to be no big deal to the people living there. No complaints. I chose a nice bush between two of the huts. I saw some girls headed for cover under one of the homes that was on stilts. Some foreign girls I've talked to are "pee-shy" and say they just don't drink water before or during the bus trip. That sounds like much worse torture to me. These rides can be 12 hrs or more. After stumbling back from one of our late night stops, I noticed a 12-14 year old boy in the isle with a machine gun slung over his shoulder. I guess he was our security in case of ambush. (Laos and Vietnam still have relatively common bus-raids, but we haven't heard of any piracy during our travels.) I would have taken a picture of the kid, but I didn't want to set him off. The way he was holding that thing, it looked like he was just looking for a reason to discharge his weapon.

The way was slow and arguous uphill as the bus driver downshifted to negative 5th gear to try to gain enough horsepower to get his people and cargo up the mountainous terrain. I couldn't help but silently...and sometimes outwardly recite, "I think I can, I think I can..." (If they can yawn, I can chant!) Downhill was a whole different story. The driver would just throw the bus in neutral and skid around the cliffs as though he was trying to set some landspeed record. Actually, it was more like the movie Speed, where a bomb would explode in the bus if we let the speedometer go below 65mph. We would practically go up on 2 tires around some of those bends. (much like buses in Thailand) I prayed for thanks everytime I saw a guardrail on the cliffsides, and asked for forgiveness on each cliff that didn't. I figured, well at least I'm dying in Laos, that's cooler than Mesa. Maybe people will start buying my records. Anyway, I also prayed that we wouldn't meet some big bull in the street. Those guys think they have their own lane. They don't budge for nothin! Horns are like whispers to them...they're totally unimpressed. The times they even raise their heads, they look at the bus driver, like "go ahead and kill me, I hear I don't have to wear a bell in heaven."

Not to say those windy roads didn't provide incredible views.

So, a bus' "defensive driving" methods don't work for bulls. Drivers never wanted to give up momentum that they had either built uphill, or the landspeeed record they were toying with downhill, so they'd just lay on their horn around blind corners. I guess assuming that the guy ahead can hear over his roaring engine and bus full of yawners. The craziest thing is that the roads were always wet from rain. It wasn't like they had a road free from gravel/rock/water/cows/potholes, and any other obstacle. These bus drivers are vikings, man.
Just a photo to mix things up a bit. I call it pros and cons.

I think bad bus drivers are downgraded to pulling cargo. I don't know how many lumber/farm equipment/tow truck I've seen tipped over or upside down in a embankment/canal on our trip. At least 4 or 5. I think I'd seen 1 or 2 in my first 30 years of life. Not only are the bus drivers vikings, but their crew are like Jackie Chan. When a new passenger is picked up from the side of the road (at random, sporatic places through the countryside), the crew climbs out a side window and pulls himself on top of the bus. The passenger hands their bangs to Jackie Chan as he packs them snuggly under the tarp. As bus-Jackie is at work, the bus just pulls away. It was not uncommon for it to be raining while the bus is flying around corners leaving Jackie with his bangs and rope to keep himself from being thrown. Moments, sometimes minutes later, I'd see the guy swing himself down through an open window as if he were Bo or Luke Duke. It reminded me of how my friends in high school would probably fight to be the "roof packer" guy.

Inside the bus it was always eventful. At one point of our 2nd bus trip, I thought I was going to loss my mind over a baby that screaming and wailing for at least 45 minutes. My earplugs were not match for that siren call, but I had instant compassion when I saw the kid puking all over the place. The kid was so sick and it had it's weight in vomit all over the floor beneath himself. Prior to that incident, a girl got hit in the head by a bag that fell from the shelf above. It was bound to happen due to stringy rope that was sorta holding it up there. It was more like twine, and the unaware passenger was sure to have a headache for the duration of our journey.

That reminds me, during our first bus ride I became tired enough to sleep. A couple times during my slumber I was awoken by something tickling/brushing up against my leg. The first time I assumed I was dreaming. The 2nd time I thought I was probablby someones bag. The 3rd time I had to investigate. I went down there searching for this "varment." But each time I budged, the thing would disappear. Annelise mentioned that she felt it a couple of times too. We never discovered what it was, but we know that it was friendly. Our legs were very vulnerable in the dark confinds under our seat, but all this furry thing wanted to do is play w/ my feet and leghairs. I looked as the passengers left and no one had a pet with them. (Annelise says it was some kind of lint ball or bag or something...but I know it was an intelligent creature. It remains a creepy, but adorable mystery.

--More about the town of Van Vieng where we eventually arrived, later...probably my favorite stop of our trip. (and probably a better version of this post coming is well. I just realized how much I wrote and the lack of photos.)

Vieng Xai

2007-09-05T09:29:00.001-07:00

The dining room.

Next stop, Vieng Xai. Why? Because in this town lies the caves that the Laos communist leaders were hiding in when the U.S.A. was bombing out the country. And we wanted to see these cave-homes.

We got ourselves a fantastic tour guide. His English was good and he was funny. He is a self-proclaimed “small boy” (the proof is in the photo)

and his favorite movie is Rambo. In fact, he stopped dead in his tracks to describe play-by-play his favorite scenes of the movie. It was so funny. Especially since in the movie, he’s blowing up a bunch of East Asians!! But, according to our guide, Rambo is quite a hit in these parts. He also plays a sport that is popular in Laos. I can’t recall the name, but it’s like volleyball with your feet. You kick a ball over a short net. It’s really intense:Dave got a number of photos of the game being played after his "seeing hands" massage on his birthday.

We asked our guide to show us some of his jumps with a round fruit that was lying around and he agreed. It was great.
First demonstration where you can see me starting to bend over in laughter in the background. Unfortunately, this attempt was unsuccessful, and he missed the ball of fruit...let's also not neglect the fact that this game is often played on cement. You gotta get comfortable throwing your legs over your head or it's lights out!2nd demo finds him wisely seeking softer ground, as you can see by it flying to his right, he struck the fruit right on. Check out how he's totally parallel with the ground like it's no biggie. In both attempts he landed perfectly, like a cat.

[David: the chair i was sitting at was the same chair the president sat all those years during their meetings in the cave. if you look closely, you can see i'm supporting my own weight because i wasn't supposed to be sitting there so our guide agreed to let me do it if i didn't actually put my a** on the seat. haha. he was awesome, and his rambo play by play was the coolest thing ever! i walked down the street laughing my head off as he just kept going and going. he was also really proud of his cell phone and motorbike. he said he's always wanted one, but he was a poor boy. his new job allows him to afford it. we totally complimented his bike and he was driving away, "whoa, cool moto, man!" He was like "No, it's just Chinese." (Every country, no matter how poor always makes fun of the China and it's dirty, rude people, and its cheap, crappy craftsmanship.) Anyway, our guide was soo awesome, and easily in my top 5 favorite experiences on our trip so far. He also kept climbing a bunch of fruit trees for me because I mentioned I loved fruit. He kept shaking down fruit for me to try and was not satisfied until I got one that was perfectly ripe. Great guy. (don't think i ever got one that was perfectly ripe, but i think i convinced him that i did.) I'll try to upload a couple more shots of our guide.]
Back to the caves.

The conference table where the leaders met.

These caves are so elaborate and spacious. There were already big caves here in the first place, but to make more room, they blew out some more of the mountain so they could be bigger. Each of the leaders had their own cave and once the fighting was over, they built their homes outside of their cave.

Master bedroom, even with the original quilt.

The children's bedrooms.

They lived in these caves for 9 years! Apparently, the U.S.A. was consistently bombing the area, but the caves were never penetrated. Limestone is pretty tough. Dave: Interestingly, after it was "safe to go outside" the leaders ended up building homes just outside their caves. It only occurred to me later that this might have been as strategic as it was a statement...if they were to hear a plane flying overhead, they've got a high capacity cave in their backyard!)

As poetic as it is interesting, one of the leaders turned misfortune into something more. He designed and had a pool built in the place of a bomb crater in front of his compound. The pool was made in the shape of a heart. The same man had a number of red flowers planted around his home and a shrine to his son in the middle where he honored him after his death by an undercover operative from Laos who was paid off by the CIA to assassinate him. It was common for the US to bribe people in the poorer parts of the country (Hmong tribesmen or minority people--what they're called, not a stereotype--to help them track or kill their brothren to help the US cause.)

They even had tunnels connecting the different leader's caves!

ASU boo hoo

2007-09-03T09:44:00.001-07:00

I am so mad at ASU right now.

I registered for an online course in Korea on Jan. 13 and changed my mind and dropped it on Jan. 15. It was a Winter Session course, 5 weeks long, and I dropped it before it started.

I find out later they sent me a bill for $98! Apparently, either they have it in their system wrong, or I registered for the wrong semester (which is hard to do....) that it was for Spring semester and that I had passed the deadline to drop without penalty. So I informed them that it was the winter session and the only fee should be $35 like the webpage states (sent them a link to the webpage).

Of course they don't care and don't want to hear what I have to say. They are completely unwilling to work with me, even though I stated that I was going to be registering again for their college when I got home and was planning to graduate from there.

On top of them not willing to work with me, this fee has been accumulating interest so I currently owe $168! Are they kidding? And, of course, they aren't even willing to work with me on the interest. Interesting that I register for an ONLINE course and they can't even send me a notice or bill ONLINE.

So for the first time in my life, I am being sent to collections. Why? Because I think this bill is unfair and ridiculous. And they aren't willing to do anything about it. And there is no way I am paying them anything.

I guess I need to find a new University to graduate from (which is what I told them in my last email to them). What kind of business is willing to lose thousands of dollars in tuition because of a small bill?

Grrrrrrr.

The Plain of Jars

2007-09-02T09:24:00.001-07:00

We traveled to Phonsavan, Laos for one reason only… The Plain of Jars.

The Plain of Jars is a large group of historic cultural sites in Laos containing thousands of stone jars, which lie scattered throughout the Xieng Khouang plain in the Laotian Highlands.

Archaeologists believe that the jars were used 1,500–2,000 years ago, by an ancient Mon-Khmer race whose culture is now totally unknown. Most of the excavated material has been dated to around 500 BC–800 AD. Anthropologists and archeologists have theorized that the jars may have been used as funeral urns or perhaps storage for food. ...food for storage.

Lao stories and legends claim that there was a race of giants who once inhabited the area. Local legend tells of an ancient king called Khun Cheung, who fought a long, victorious battle against his enemy. He supposedly created the jars to brew and store huge amounts of lao lao rice wine to celebrate his victory.

Dave standing in the middle of a huge bomb crater courtesy of USA/allies. This and the surrounding areas were attacked relentlessly to cut off supplies to the vietcong and other enemy forces.

An American bomb damaged the area during the Vietnam War, when the Pathet Lao used it as a stronghold — the surrounding area still has trench systems and bomb craters. The land is littered with metal shrapnel. The town of Xieng Khouang was utterly destroyed during the fighting between the Pathet Lao and American backed anti-communist troops. A new town was built in the mid 1970s, known to foreigners as Phonsavan.

(I love you Wikipedia!! For more info on this mysterious place, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_of_Jars)

I was very curious to see these mysterious huge stone jars. We hooked up with some people that were on the same bus as us to get a tour organized. Then we met some nice people from Switzerland and France. But since they were not sure when they were going to do their tour, we went ahead and booked with those from the bus, even though there was a girl (from CA) that was driving us insane.

"Serenity now!" Serenity was needed to drown out the jabber jaw of our friend from the bus that we called "Berkley." Dave started analysing her after the annoyance factor reached comical levels. He narrowed it down to Northern California and even said she must be from the Berkley area based on her ramblings/rumblings. We were even more amused when we saw the shirt she was wearing later. Navy blue with large gold print, reading: BERKLEY...fitting the stereotype exactly. haha It was confirmed she grew up in No.Cal and went to Berkley before trekking across East Asia and providing some laughter during our extended bus ride. Anyway, Dave's judgmental karma stacked up against him as he took about 50 great shots of this sunset with the townspeople at their activities (this was a really cool street), only to have them accidently deleted later, by the spirit of Karma. (also note: this town closed down early! We got a chocolate craving that we had to fix at around 9:30...we walked for a mile or two around the town...nothing open! We were entertained on our way back to the guest house by seeing a rock fight between two teenage thugs in town. No injuries to report.) -dave wrote this in third person...Annelise is innocent of the irony of his ramblings/rumblings.

The morning of the tour we went downstairs (most of us were staying at the same hotel) and no one was around. We eventually figured out we had been left! Why?!? We were so frustrated because this was our only day to do this. Then we bumped into the couple from Switzerland. They were on their way to do a tour and so we tagged along. Luckily there was room for the two of us and so we got to go with them. We were so glad. We did the exact tour we wanted, for the same price, with way cooler people.

The Plain of Jars was really interesting. It’s hard to explain, so here are some photos. We went to the first and third site and then to the old capitol (photo of the old capitol is our current header). It was a really nice day.

When we got back to our hotel we ran into people from our original group. They told us that they asked about us but the tour guide said we had changed our minds. What? We saw the tour guide late the night before and talked about the tour the next morning. So something obviously went wrong. They were frustrated by their tour and got scammed, so we were relieved that we got left!

Here are recovered UXO (unexploded ordnance) used to decorate our guesthouse. Nice touch. On our balcony, they had bomb shells as flower pots.

Already?!?

2007-09-01T05:02:00.000-07:00

This is what happens in the Jensen household when brownies go wrong... of course after the middle is eaten out! As I'm sure you can all imagine, we took about a million photos with my burnt brownie in our cute orange kitchen.

My 10 year high school reunion is next month. It sure came quickly! My class is having a photo contest, so even though I won't be attending, I figured I would submit some photos anyway. I went through my external hard drives, and found a couple favorites:

This is in Hawaii with my good friend Rhonda. It was on a girls' trip with my favorite girls - Rhonda, Marcy, and Megan. We had good times. I love this photo because it's the time of day when the sky is nearly the same color as the ocean. Beautiful!

Vang Vieng

2007-08-31T09:21:00.001-07:00

After spending a couple of great days in Luang Prabang, we headed south to Vang Vieng. The most we know about this place is that you can tube down a river. That was enough for us. Even though I have tubed down the Salt River in AZ many times, Dave has never experienced it, and we thought it would be fun to do in a foreign country.

We got to the bus station in Laos to find out that the express bus was full and we would have to wait an hour for another one. I read while Dave wandered and soon a Korean Christian group showed up for the same bus as us and Dave was able to practice his Korean some. Since the last express bus was only going to be half full, they cancelled it. The regular bus was also leaving at the same time and had two seats left, so Dave and I hopped on. The Koreans were going to leave in the morning instead. I was a little hesitant when I saw the bus driver loading everyone’s luggage and bags on top of the bus. It was piled high up there, but looked fairly secured and a tarp was pulled over everything in case of rain. When I climbed in the bus I realized the necessity of putting everything on top. Instead of walking down a normal aisle in the bus, I was climbing over huge sacks of food piled high on top of each other. They covered the entire length of the aisle. The seats were pretty hard and there was not much leg room. And the bus was packed. I was a little nervous as I had read that the Laos people had no toleration for motion and getting carsick was common for them. I really really really did not want someone puking next to me.

Luckily the bus ride was a lot better than I had expected. It probably helped that I was expecting the absolute worst! I did hear puking every so often, but nothing I couldn’t block out of my mind. That’s nothing compared to the constant hacking I have been subjected to ever since landing in Asia. Seriously, what is it with all these men and women (!) hacking all over the place all the time?

We arrived in Vang Vieng a little past midnight. It was pitch black. The bus station was merely a shack. I figured we would at least see lights of a town if we weren’t dropped off in the town. Nothing. Dave took a little walk and found a lonely guesthouse on the side of the road that we stayed at for the night.

The next day we realized (after getting directions) that the main drag is across a field behind the bus station. It mostly consists of one street. We ate and hung out a bit and then began our tubing adventure! We were given a big tractor tube and a lifejacket and were whisked to the starting point in a tuk-tuk. We climbed in our tubes and were both thankful the water was warmer than we expected. It was so beautiful. The river had a nice steady current and we had lush green hills on both sides. Not long after floating, we saw a sign and a big rope. We paddled to the side and found out that we can swing from rope into the water! So we spent some time swinging. And then David climbed up to the top of this really high perch to jump in the water. He was so high! Of course, once he jumped, he had to do it again… and again. David: it was a decaying ladder that I wasn't sure would support my weight. The guy next to it told me it was 30-40 meters high (66+ feet). It was scarier climbing the thing than jumping from it, though. It was high enough that our room key and a "waterproof" bag that was in my pocket shot out and drifted down the river...but the quick actions of a local there saved them for me.

We got back into our tubes and proceeded down the river a ways. And then we found more rope swings so we got out again… you get the picture…
Dave: Annelise swung for the ropes/rip cords a couple times...but for me, this was heaven. I was bummed we didn't spend alllllll day or week there. It's a place I have to go back to with dudes for sure. It's a dude thing. Anyway, for some reason I felt that because the height of the swings in this area were shorter, the contents in my pocket would remain w/o being taken down stream. Long story short...our spending money for the day, and our room key will never be found...unless a lucky fisherman pulls it from his nets. What is it with me and water? Red necks on the Salt River have more sense than me!]

By the time we got to the end of the “ride” it was nearing dark. I wish I had photos for y’all but I was in an inner tube in the middle of a river…. one of these days I will own a waterproof camera. This is true to form for us. Many of our best and "active" events are not pictured on this blog, unfortunately...our large camera doesn't travel well...and clearly I can't be trusted with chewing gum and taking pictures at the same time. -dave

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!

2007-08-30T09:08:00.001-07:00

I presented Dave with candle #1 at midnight. The only thing I could find to put it in was a piece of toffee candy! It must be noted that the toffee was delicious! The sarong around my neck was purchased in Bali in an attempt to employ the saleswoman to direct Annelise my way when she came to the T in the road by the woman's stand. We had lost each other almost an hour earlier and it was getting dark and cold. I overpaid ($5), but it was worth it as the lady flagged Annelise down as she came to the intersection. -dave

Dave blew out candle #2 on top of the waterfall. I'm trying to look tough here, but in actuality I was just trying to hide my fear by holding myself with one arm from falling to the rocks about 100 meters below. Annelise was tough, she passed the "do not enter" sign and climbed on this log like it was nothing. Rebel! Annelise's candle requirements for birthdays is pretty awesome. -dave

Today we celebrated David’s 31st birthday party. We started the day by eating breakfast at the same café as yesterday. David ordered his “American pancakes” and I ordered a “Paris waffle”. When our food came we looked at our plates and they were identical! I guess here the American pancake IS the Paris waffle! Pretty dang tasty, all the same...and a great birthday breakfast (especially since it's been my bday breakfast of choice since I've had teeth.-dave)

Dave getting a massage by a blind man. This organization employs blind and disabled people to give massages so they don't have to beg for money. The main reason I posted this picture is because of the AWESOME baby poster on the wall! (creepy, right?) It must be noted that Annelise thought this was a crock. She didn't notice that the guy was blind! I guess he was getting around too comfortably or something. I was like "what about this talking cellphone clock, his sunglasses in a dark room..etc. I guess Annelise was too fixed on the creepy baby poster. This was also my first guy-on-guy massage...surprisingly not weird...and this was probably my most painful massage. It was a pressure point massage that left me almost crying with agony, though I tried to hold it all in. Later I never felt better. -dave

View from below the falls.

After breakfast we got a tuk-tuk to go 30 km to a waterfall. Annelise battling the chill and flow of one of the smaller falls.
I hear for every rotation in the air on your birthday, it makes you feel a year younger. Unfortunately I only found out a few rotations later, it's back flips that make you younger...and If you know anything about me...backflips freak me out.

We expected to be there for an hour or so but ended up spending 3 hours there. It was so beautiful and fun. We also found out that we got the wrong transportation, depending on how you look at it. It took an hour to get there and all the other cars kept passing us.

But the scenery was beautiful so we didn’t mind. The waterfall was multi-tiered with several swimming holes. Where'd these dudes come from? Look out below! Later in the day, more folks turned up, and the swimming hole w/ the rope attached to the tree became a popular attraction. I didn't want to wait for people to get out of the way. haha

We walked up one side of the waterfall to the top, crossed over the top of the waterfall, and down the other side.

After the waterfall, we were starving so we grabbed a baguette (Laos was a French colony before…) and changed. Then we went to a nice restaurant. David ordered boneless Quail in cranberry sauce with some tasty sweet potatoes, and I ordered Buffalo medallions. Both were very delicious. A $40-50 meal for almost value-meal prices. So delicious.

After dinner we walked around the night market and I bought Dave some birthday presents. I also bought myself a neat little journal. I got 3 tshirts for less than $5. They were really thin and stretchy. Can't find this kind of tshirt anywhere in the States. It's so thin and soft it feels like a great 20 year old thrift store tee. I liked the thought of having the Laos alphabet on my chest as well as keyboard positioning w/ drawings underneath, depicting an animal or something that corresponds with the letter. This was also added to a couple things Annelise bought me in Thailand as "early" presents. Some sunglasses that I still haven't lost or broken yet. (well, almost lost them a number of times and they're being held together with masking tape, but that counts.) And a pair of the most comfortable shorts I've ever owned. -dave

After we got back to our room Annelise and I watched a film of my choosing. (Annelise usually rather read or sleep than watch a DVD, but on my birthday, I get my way!) After some viewing pleasure, Annelise went to sleep and I took a walk around the town. It was like a ghost town, and it was right after a nice rain, so it was a nice walk...except for the motorbike guys who kept bugging me. 5 guys stopped. 3 wanted me to employ their moto/taxi services, then offered to sell me opium (as is a common 2nd question in Laos. "Motorbike?...Opium?" Everywhere else it's usually "Motorbike?!" [spoken loudly]..."Marijuana? " [whispered]...or in Vietnam or Cambodia it's followed with question 3..."massage?"--which doesn't really mean just a massage. A guy could get himself into a lot of trouble in these parts if he wasn't brought up properly by a very persistent mother or kept up properly by a very gracious wife. Anyway, the other 2 guys were actually just being really nice and offering me a ride. A somewhat rare offer on this side of the world. During my walk I also went to a couple wats (temples), which were cool to visit at night, and ran into a number of people using their confines as hotel service...another common sight. On my way back from my walk I it started raining. I got in before I got too wet and enjoyed the "cool down."

Next, it’s time to blow out the candles! I bought 31 candles with the intention of having Dave blow out a couple at a time throughout the day, but that didn’t quite work out. So, he blew one candle out at midnight and one candle at the waterfall, so we stuck the remaining 29 in a piece of chocolate cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!

Some of my favorite things about David (not in a particular order, except for #1):

1. He’s hot. Enough said.
2. I love how active he is. He is very athletic, which is a real attractive trait to me. He can play any sport, it’s amazing! And he is quite a runner. Out of the blue he will decide to go running and end up running for 6 or 7 miles straight!
3. He takes his commitments seriously. Whether it’s church, family, ME, his bands, etc. If he is committed to it, he will give everything he has and sacrifice whatever it takes. He has so much passion.
4. His love and respect for his family. As much as he moans and complains about having so many sisters and no brothers to back him up, he loves each of them and shows it. He has so much respect for his parents, and treats them well.
5. He is very thoughtful. There are so many little things; opening my door for me, arranging my flip flops for when we leave a house (in Asia we are constantly taking off our shoes before entering most buildings. Dave will beat me to the door and turn my shoes around so they are easy to slide into when I leave), watching out for me, encouraging my singing (!risky business!), helping strangers out all the time (we saw a motorbike accident and a ton of people were standing around staring. Not David. He went immediately to the woman lying and moaning in the road and helped her to the side of the road. Another accident we happened upon after the fact the guy had a huge bump protruding out of his leg. Dave turned our bike around, drove to a convenience store and bought a bag of ice, and made sure the guy kept it on his leg before we left. And the time in Mesa when a car had accidentally spilled some dresser drawers and clothes in the middle of the intersection… Dave wasn’t able to see who left it, but he did pull his car over and clean up the intersection!), he has also been so sweet to the kids we have come across during our travels. One time at a bus station he bought ice-cream cones for all the little kids. So sweet.

You can see how well taken care of I am! Annelise is awesome. I am lucky...and never more lucky than on my birthday. Annelise really knows how to work August 30th! -dave

Dave had to light the last couple candles so I could get the camera ready. The wax was dripping too fast! Unfortunately, we got wax all over the restaurant's tablecloth and placemat. A truly great birthday. -dave

The waterfall near Luang Prabang

2007-08-30T05:52:00.001-07:00

At the top of the waterfall.

We had heard about this beautiful waterfall about 30 kilometers outside the city and decided to check it out.

We haggled around until we got a driver to take us there, wait a few hours for us, and drive us back ($10).

Little did we know that we asked the wrong guy. Instead of getting into a truck, we got into his motorized tricycle (also known as a tuk tuk) which was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy slower. It took a little over an hour just to get there! Luckily the scenery and people were incredible to watch as we crawled by.

Once at the waterfall, we passed a fenced in area of black bears that were rescued along with a tiger. The waterfall really was incredible.

Laos - Luang Prabang Part II

2007-08-28T08:56:00.001-07:00

A family selling at the market. This family is actually a minority people, not really "Laos". You can tell by their facial features.

I just realized that I had already written something about Luang Prabang on my laptop and put it on my jump drive, so I decided to post it here even though I already wrote a little bit about it.

I'm not even going to bother to read through it again, so sorry if a lot of it is just repeating the previous post....

LAOS

We decided to spoil ourselves and take a flight to Laos. It was either fly for one hour to get there, or take 3 different buses and 2 different boats and take about 3 days. We used Laos Airlines, which does not publish their safety record. We figured we probably would have heard if there were a lot of problems, and the city we were flying is known to be one of the safest. Laos is gorgeous! The landscape is incredible. It’s so green and lush.

Laos is tragically famous for being one of the most bombed nations on Earth. A large part of the country is still covered with UXO. In fact, 30% of the bombs the U.S.A. dropped on Laos never exploded. And the USA was spending 2.2 million dollars a day dropping these bombs. Laos is still trying to recover. There is a British organization that has been excavating these UXO, but is only able to clear a tiny percentage of land each year. Every year, the U.S.A. donates money to this work. In the past, they have donated 1.7 million dollars a year, but the past two years they have donated 2.5 million.

We found a guesthouse only 10 meters from the Mekong River and we have spent the day and a half we have been here exploring the town. We walked through some markets, piled our plates high with vegetarian fare (only $.50 a plate!), and have some good $.30 fresh fruit shakes.

Delicious! And only .50 cents!

We also spent some time walking up to a wat at the top of a hill. The view is superb but man were we sweaty! This humidity is going to be the death of me. As I sat in the shade looking at the view, I contemplated the chances of drowning in my own sweat. I figured, at this rate, my chances were high.

That night, we went to a ballet. It was in an auditorium that reminded me of a historic old high school in some small town. There was no AC, only fans, which again made me think about my imminent death. Although bored almost to tears (which I wasn’t hydrated enough to shed), we made it out alive. I am not a fan of slow-motion dancing. And it wasn’t ballet in the sense that I’m used to. It’s hard to explain, but it’s like a play with no scenery and dancers on stage moving very slooooooowwwwllly and to their credit, very gracefully. I know the pics are blurry, but at least you can get a sense of their costumes.

Luang Prabang, Laos

2007-08-28T05:42:00.001-07:00

We flew from Chiang Mai, Thailand directly into Luang Prabang, Laos. It was 3 days of bus and boat rides versus one hour of flying, for close to the same amount of money.

Even monks need their internet fix!

As soon as I saw the country I fell in love. I looked out the plane window and saw beautiful green countryside with the wide brown Mekong river running through it and it made me excited to explore this new country. We got our visas on arrival at immigration and headed out. We, and another guy that was on our flight, bargained with a taxi driver for a ride into town and spent the next couple hours searching for a guesthouse.

See the balloon-looking things these women are holding? They are actually plastic bags on the end of sticks, hobo-style, that they wave constantly to keep the flies off their food.

This is the result of not using the plastic bags....

Once settled, we spent the next couple days exploring the town. We walked along the Mekong River, we walked up a hill to a wat and admired the view, we hung out at the night market which was lit so beautifully, we ate fresh baguettes every day, we rented bicycles on a way-too-hot day, and we fell in love with the town and the people.

Beautiful view of the Mekong River.

Maybe we were sensitive from Thailand's "brusqueness" (Seriously....the land of smiles?!?!?! I don't get it), but the Lao people are truly the sweetest I have encountered except maybe the Indonesians in Bali (aka Balinese people). The way of greeting in Laos is "Sabaidee!" and we were hit with it every day regularly by smiling people... who didn't want anything from us!!!! (gasp!). They were simply being nice. I was greeted by all ages from little children to the bent over old woman on her way to the bathhouse early one morning. Dave and I soaked it up.

Our favorite smoothie guy! So nice and always smiling. They put their drinks in a plastic bag with a straw, instead of a cup. Only .30 cents!

Grandma Jensen

2007-08-27T05:52:00.001-07:00

Thoughts of my Grandmother have weighed heavy on my mind. She passed away 2 weeks ago. These words came to me as I thought of her zeal, and the standards she upheld. I also thought of the family history she has done, and the family history she has made.

My mind wandered around a time when she was brought into a role that must have felt like large shoes to fill (Margaret was my Grandfather's second wife who he married after his first wife, Dorothy--who he had 6 children with--passed away from cancer when my father, the oldest, was on his mission in France.); and a time when the family was extended as her three daughters were born (Margaret and my grandpa Milo had 3 children together). The values and morals her children and their families reflect are in no doubt a tribute to her strength and perseverance; qualities in her that must have been revered by Grandpa Milo, a man who defines those words and any like unto them.

I don’t claim to be any kind of poet, but I hope that what I have written honors my grandmother Margaret Jensen, her great husband, her children, and all loved ones.

The poem is called “The Giver”

I think I heard this story before
Of a life come before
Maybe fiction or folklore
But seems too pure to ignore

I think I’ve heard this story before
Of a time that wasn’t sure
It wasn’t known what was in store
Maybe more than bargained for

Did she rise to the task?
Far above, if you ask
To be a comfort and to help adapt
Who could ask for more than that?

A quiet strength, or loud at times
A source of light for searching eyes
And helping hands, that cradled too
Or held the man to help him through

She showed her love by act not speech
So parting words are few to need
I think she left the way she came
An inspired time, a gracious way

I think I heard this story before
Not a story anymore
But a woman I adore
Who’s paved the way forevermore.

Grandkids, circa 1980-ish (many more were to come...can you pick me out? i was pretty chill back then...or at least at this particular moment.)

Annelise and I wish we could have been present at the services for my grandmother in Utah and Idaho, but we did take part in some degree, as my dad read this poem at the burial. I miss my Grandma and love her very much.

David

Chiang Mai, Thailand

2007-08-24T05:28:00.001-07:00

We enjoyed a few days in Northern Thailand. Chiang Mai is a really cool town. The old city is still surrounded by a moat and crumbling fortress walls from yesteryear. At night there is a hopping market selling everything from gorgeous Thai silk to fake Louis Vuitton.

Passing by a rice field on our trek.

Shortly after arriving, we decided to sign up for a tour that included trekking, elephant riding, and bamboo rafting. It was a really good time and everyone in our group was a lot of fun.

We got the biggest elephant of the bunch. He's huge!

Dave feeding the elephant some sugarcane with his mouth.

Dave also went to a Thai Boxing match. I didn't join him for this one, it's not my thing. He got there when it started and watched all 3 hours worth of fights. Apparently while there he ordered some food and was holding it while watching the fight when a drunk guy next to him took his spoon and was getting ready to dig in to his food! A policeman saw what was happening and grabbed the spoon from the drunk guy and returned it to Dave.

We stopped at a village while on our trek and watched them weave.

We rented a motorbike and visited a village that specialized in the making of paper parasols. We were able to go around back and watch them at work. It was really fascinating.

Assembly line.

Apparently the skull and crossbones look is still in style....

Next, we rode our motorbike to visit a temple at the top of a hill. Legend has it that Buddhists had an important relic and were not sure where to house it. They secured it on top of an elephant and let the elephant go. Where the elephant died of exhaustion is where they built a beautiful "wat" (temple) to place it in. This wat looks the same as all the others (lots of gold).

On the steps up to the wat.

These pants were the most interesting sight at the wat.

And then, of course, it started pouring rain. Why we are cursed I am not sure. Anytime we rent a motorbike it pours on us and we also get stuck riding after dark. Luckily for Dave, we found a gaming room and he spent about 2 hours playing soccer with the guys there.

After a couple days in Chiang Mai we said goodbye and got on a plane to Laos.

View of Chiang Mai

Overnight train to Chiang Mai

2007-08-23T18:25:00.001-07:00

We decided to take an overnight train to Chiang Mai as it is a long journey. The train was not quite what was anticipated, and got fairly hot (no AC and the fan seemed to just miss us), but the window on the bottom bunk opened completely so we had a good time waving our arms out the window at the people we passed.

Although not all people share this view, I find it incredibly rude when strangers jump in front of your camera to "join" you in the photograph. This woman thought it was funny and cute, but Dave purposefully cut off part of her face which she was not pleased to see when looking at the screen.

And then Dave took another picture of me pouting about it.

The Tiger Temple!

2007-08-23T09:31:00.001-07:00

There is a lot of controversy regarding this temple and monastery. According to the monks, they were given tiger cubs by those who were saving them by intercepting poachers. Apparently, adult tigers are worth over $5,000 each and many people risk breaking the law and killing these wild cats. They are sold to China, but if there are cubs involved, they are usually just shot and left. These monks began raising these Tiger cubs and were thrilled to find them surviving. The controversy lies in the fact that these tigers are kept in small concrete enclosures except for a few hours a day when they are led to a “canyon” to bake in the sun and have their photos taken over and over. The monks claim they are not drugged or tranquilized or mistreated, but many people have their doubts.

One side claims that regularly drugged animals do not reproduce, yet these tigers are reproducing regularly. Also, the amount of drugs to tranquilize a tiger every single day is unreasonable based on costs only. And the lifespan of tigers doped up is very low, but these tigers seem to live long lives.

"Doesn't that hurt?"

The other side claims that these tigers are so tame because humans have handled them regularly since they were babies so they are used to it. Also, humans do not handle them until they have been fed, so they have no reason to kill since they don’t need food. Another reason is that tigers are nocturnal animals. In the heat of the afternoon, after eating a full meal, it is normal for them to be drowsy.

I asked to take a pic with this guy, and they advised me not to touch him because, "he is a bad boy."

We weren’t sure what we believed, but we did want to check it out for ourselves, and of course we wanted to pet real tigers.

This is our "ride" to the bus station.

We got on a local bus that dropped us off at a dirt road. We had to walk the 1.5 kilometers to the temple. This wouldn’t be a problem, except we had luggage with us because we forgot to check it in at the bus station. Luckily, we didn’t walk very far before a nice couple let us hitch a ride in the back of their pickup. We got lucky on the way back too. Fellow tourists let us jump in the back of their pickup and gave us a ride back to the bus station.

We each paid the $9 entrance fee and were able to walk with a tiger to the canyon area. The staff there was kind enough to grab cameras and take photos for the tourists. On our way, a tiger cub (teenager?) was running around loose, playing with people and getting rowdy. It ran for me as I was taking pictures of it and practically ran through my legs!

Dave getting his hand bit off. Notice the smile of pure enoyment on Dave's face.

At the canyon, there are about 6 tigers leashed with a chain to the ground. They were regularly rubbed with ice water and even given cold water out of water bottles to keep them hydrated. They were definitely drowsy. One worker took me by the hand and led me to each Tiger to sit by and pet while another worker snapped away with my camera. When I was done, David went through. It was so exhilarating. I loved it. And the nice part? We could go through as many times as we wanted! David and I went through twice. On our way to back, we spotted a deer that was not shy. We got some pictures with her as well. Next we walked up to where our teen cub was now leashed and sleeping. We got in line to take pics with it and after we were done, the tiger woke up and was very feisty. One girl had a tie around her pants and the cub kept batting at it, like a household cat, and biting it! It was so funny and cute. We got in line again since the tiger was so awake now and got more pics. We fed it sweet milk tablets and it chomped down on Dave’s hand and wouldn’t let go. He loved it. It bit down on my fingers as well (I was feeding it like one would a horse – flat palm – instead of putting it between my fingers and holding it.) trying to get at the tablet but knew better than to start chewing away at me. It was a great experience.

The Floating Market

2007-08-22T09:31:00.001-07:00

We kept seeing these incredible posters of a market that conducts business out of small boats on the water. This was a sight I wanted to see. But I wanted to get there before all the tourists ruined my photos.

We got on a bus and arrived in the city the night before, staying at a hotel that only cost $6.50. The next morning I was frustrated because I meant to wake up at 6:45 but my alarm didn’t go off and so I didn’t wake up until 7:15. We left around 7:40 and searched for this market.

We arranged to be taken around the market in a longboat for $12 for an hour. We got in and the scenery was lovely.

These women are very experienced in avoiding each other.

We weren’t interested in buying anything, which I think baffled our driver. Anytime he would paddle up next to someone selling something, we usually just waived him on.

I loved these hats!

We got a nice tour, which ended when it started getting crowded with tourists. We had our driver drop us off in the busiest section instead of taking us back to his dock. We took a lot more photos, had lunch, and then walked back to our hotel, packed, and grabbed a bus to our next destination.

A woman washing.

I figured out that we saved less than a $1 doing it on our own instead of with a tour group, but it was so nice having a boat to ourselves and doing everything on our own time. It’s so much better!

Conducting business in the morning hours.

The Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha

2007-08-21T09:32:00.001-07:00

A mini changing of the guard in front of the Palace.

I think this is Bangkok’s biggest tourist attraction, besides the working girls.

A magnificent “Wat” (temple) and a beautiful Palace.

It was Buddha Day when we were at the temple, so there were a few monks there to pay tribute.

We each paid $7 to get in and walked around like real troopers in the heat of midday. We got some great photos and after coming near to heat exhaustion and just plain ol’ exhaustion, we called it a day and walked back to our hotel.

We also got to meet Superman while there

Here is our tuk-tuk driver that brought us here on our first attempt. He didn't bother mentioning that it was closed!

Fruitians Unite! (this post still under construction-will finish soon.)

2007-08-19T23:00:00.001-07:00

I love fruit, but I don’t eat it often because it’s so expensive. I’m loving it out here because it’s so cheap. Green mango (Mango over rice is a popular dessert) and green papaya are aplenty, as well as pineapple, coconut, bananas and apples. The other fruits mentioned here are just as commonly available, and always cheap. And note, if you ever find yourself in Malaysia, you must partake of the fresh strawberry ice cream in Cameron Highlands. You’ll enjoy the cool breeze while you’re there. OK, now on to the fruit we've enjoyed.
Dragonfruit displayed in all it’s glory next to an aloe plant and the familiar watermelon.

(Annelise as hand-model) Tamarind. Pulled from a tree of a farmer in Ubud, Bali. You can see him in the faded background. This was the guy who organized our hike of the volcano in Bali. He invited us back to his farm for fresh ginger tea (from his trees…I didn’t know this but the ginger is just sliced branches of the tree), Tamarind, Tangelos, and another fruit I can’t remember. Tamarind when ripe is equally as sweet as it is sour. It’s like a plum/raspberry with the texture/shape of a kiwi. Really good. Maybe my favorite foreign fruit until I met Mr. Mangosteen. Tamarind, peeled by dull knife…The same knife requested by an old man we met on the Perhentian Island, Longbeach. He said he needed something sharp with a small edge to poke or stab at something. We allowed him to borrow the knife, but the way he was rubbing his belly when he requested it, we refused to take it when he offered to return it the next day. We told him it was a gift.

Right to Left, Tangelos, Dragonfruit, "Snakefruit", Longan... (note: 40 baht as the sign says is about $1.15 per kilo (2.2 lbs)
Tangelos. Tangerines, but not as sweet or juicy. There a little more bitter too. Thus, unless you think Tangerines are too sweet, not as good.

Mini-machete, and no doubt, many years of practice had this coconut wetting our whistles in only seconds. Coconut juice ingredients: coconut, straw. Only Tom Hanks (Castaway) and those folks on the 3 hour tour have had it more pure. (Machete wielding man not pictured...gotta track that pic down.)I'm taking a crack at eating the fruit edges as the locals do. Frustration followed.

Durian, known as the “king of fruits” has a sweet, buttery taste. It has a firm, yellow flesh with large seeds (like a peach). If you can stand the raw/fresh taste associated with the sewage smell, then it can be eaten as chips or in a cooked sticky form called Durian Kuan. Durian, inside and out. Maybe the most loved fruit by the locals is often banded from certain quarters do to it’s overwhelming sewage-like smell. We’ve seen signs at dorms that state clearly the fruit is not allowed. We tried it in Malaysia, and to our delight it doesn’t taste anything like sewage. It’s sweet and creamy. Annelise hated it. I liked it a little bit, but we haven’t wished to have it since. I could see how folks could love it, but it’s quite different from anything an American palate is used to.

Longan. Similar to the taste of the Lychee, but a bit more bitter and a large seed in the middle (actually only large relative to the size of the fruit…it’s still pretty small as you can see) I like Lychee better. They both taste a lot like a mild grapefruit. They remind me a lot of Pocari Sweat, a Japanese soda/juice that you can find around Asia that I happen to have a strong affinity for.
Longan dude. Real nice guy who was kind enough to pose w/ the fruit. I was surprised by this willingness to play along, for I’ve found most Thai people to not be humored by foreigners at all. Most seemed quite annoyed and put out by those they profit from. (aka: us) I like Koreans…we enjoy each other much more. Longan seed (although my favorite kind of Longan doesn't have seeds like this...seen below)
Lychee. A couple pounds of this delicious fruit is less than a dollar. You just gotta be patient enough to peel it. Bonus: it peels quite easily. Score. The juice/smoothies/shakes are quite good. Here it is ready to be mixed. A life saving drink after a couple hours under the hot sun at the weekend market.

No fruit is better than the MANGOSTEEN. Like the Lychee, it looks a little like cloves of garlic in shape when the skin is peeled. The Mangosteen tastes nothing like grapefruit though. It’s sweeter. With texture similar to a peach on the inside, it tastes like a peach would if it was a pomegranite-pear. Huh? I don’t know. Just gotta try it. Only one picture here because I was way too busy eating this stuff to take a photo.

Not a fruit, though dressed like one. (This aint our bird, we don't dress creatures...and we passed on our animal back in Korea to a cute girl who looked, acted and bounced just like our lil' rabbit.)

Jackfruit. Looks like Durian on the outside, but is less spiky. It is described as a cross between bananas and pineapples with a rubbery texture. Makes a great juice and can be found in curry sauces. No pic, sorry. We had this, Starfruit, and Soursop smoothies at our favorite Indian food restaurant in KL before Annelise had some bad chicken and was down and out for a day or two.

While we’re talking about fruit…let’s talk about this lady. I tried to add some of my own flavoring to the Pad Thai she was cooking up for me (for 15 Baht, or about 45 cents) as I’d seen others do. This picture was taken right after she shew’d me rudely. Then, after she was done cooking (takes less than a minute per serving), she tried to charge me extra. I looked for her prices and they weren’t posted. I informed her that she was more expensive than anyone else on the street (one of these stands exists every 50 feet on the main drag by our guest house). She got pissed at me for calling her on it and took the food back. Instead of being mad, I was stoked. I could have another try at seasoning my own food, and for less money.
Here I am getting my way…Now I’m a happy kid. 15 Baht for some Pad Thai w/ my own touch. Heh.

I don’t know what’s floating in this juice, but I’m pretty sure Annelise is having alien babies 9 months from now. (note to my mother dearest if you're reading this...the above comment is in no way a hint of any kind. please don't ask me about babies; alien or human.)

Sipping juice from a bag. Refreshing concept. Annelise unphased by the floaties.

Kaffir Limes. Looks like a lime. The leaves are found in great curry dishes, especially green curry, and my favorite curry with coconut milk. Pretty sure the leaves are not to be eaten in the soup, but I still do sometimes out of respect. Thank you Kaffir Limes for making my soups extra tasty, and thank you to dear Lemon Grass too. Kaffir limes have almost no juice, but the rind is very aromatic and is grated to use in many dishes. (curries, fish, stir fries, salads, soups, etc.)

Rose Apples trapped in ice. We first tried this in Chinatown, Kuala Lumper, Malaysia. We missed it dearly when we didn’t see it for a while.
Rose Apples trapped in bags. We found it again in Bangkok. It’s a Apple-Pear with a very small hint of watermelon, maybe? Again, hard to describe. Soooo refrshingly delicious.

I love Pomelos. They don't make the mess that grapefruit do. Check out a poorly peeled one below:

Pomelo-hawk! Oih! Pomelo from the abyss. I took tons of photos of this fruit. It’s less juicy, but sweeter than a grapefruit. No sugar needed, and for your morning dieters, no bitter faces.

Snake fruit. Can’t find my picture of it, but they’re brown and look like a cross between leather and snake skin on the outside. On the inside they look like a large clove of garlic. Taste similar to a Lychee or Longan, but leans toward a vegetable taste somehow. Annelise thought it was ok, although she doesn’t remember eating it. I liked it. We met a guy from Australia who took some home after he forgot he had them in one of his bags (or so he says). He has since planted them in his back yard and says he got one of the plants to take to the soil and it’s starting to grow slowly. He is hopeful his plant sprouts fruit in a year or two. Anyway, this guy was pretty cool. Musician and civil war/world war re-inactivist…if that’s a word.

Starfruit. It’s a shame I didn’t get a picture of the fruit after it’s been cut open, for that is how it gets its name. As obvious as the name depicts, the fruit looks like a star. I’ve only had it in juice and soup to date, so I’ve yet to see if it stands on its own when torn apart by my incisors and bicuspids.

Lychee. Delicious. Ate about 2 kilos on a bus ride. Like a Pomelo-pear. I love em. You get them open by pretending they’re you’re younger brother/sister and you’re giving them an Indian burn. Any other attempt will go fruitless. Sorry. Anyway, the spikes are all bark and no bite. They cause no discomfort. Although the durian spikes are for real. Not as comfy. Food for thought. (one apology per caption)

Here is the lychee torn open by a kind fruit cartsman. The only downfall of this fruit is the large, almond-like seed. It’s soft to eat, but it’s bitter. Easier to spit it out, but it’s not effortless to eat around it…and some of the skin of the seed/nut remains on the fruit. It’s no biggie, it just gives the overall taste a bitter portion.

Note fruit techincally, but one of Annelise's faves. (I dig it too) Banana, Egg, Chocolate Fried Pancake. May go straight to your hips, but has to pass your tastebuds first. Costs under a dollar.

Bananas. (No picture needed, right?...well i guess you can sorta see them fried above if you have xray eyes). Just wanted to say it.Oh, and say that they have mini-bananas that have a much stronger taste. They are almost flourescent yellow when peeled as compared to the more soft yellow color I'm used to seeing. The aren’t as good to eat, in our opinions, but much better as friend bananas. Any friend banana in the States shall be known as the lesser.

Passion fruit (bottom middle) and friends waiting to be blended into a refreshing drink.

The tangelo teamed w/ tamarind. Spoon for "real sugar" spooned into our fresh ginger tea, right off the tree! Crazy...I saw him tear the twig from the tree and make my tea with it. Take that, Starbucks, or whoever!

Note: A fruit expert is needed for this post, or at least a translator for the next time I ask someone…for I may be confusing the Lychee with something else...outside of that confusion, I believe this fruit-log is relatively accurate.

Fruit; eat it or beat it.
(Also Note: I once knew a boy who never ate a strawberry until he was 25+ years old, and has never eaten a banana w/o spitting it out. Needless to say, he will remain a boy all his days and never a man. Stunted. If you knew him, you’d know what I mean…and clearly it’s because he doesn’t eat fruit.) Fruitians, Unite!

By David. Bye.

Bangkok

2007-08-16T09:30:00.001-07:00

A policeman helping a monk across the street.

We arrived in Bangkok at 2:00 AM totally unaware as to our location in the city. A couple taxi drivers tried to convince us they knew of a good hotel, but we didn’t take the bait. We finally decided to follow the other backpackers, who seemed to know where they were going. We ended up on Khao San, the most popular street for backpackers. There are a plethora of guesthouses and bars and sidewalk shopping. We found a nice place to sleep for only $9 a night.

creepy right?! We don't usually venture into McDonalds, but sometimes we gotta have a chocolate milkshake!

We slept in the next day and never ventured much farther than the street we were on. We ate some cheap Pad Thai from a food stall and looked at all the stuff for sale. Then we got on the Internet for a while. While on the Internet, we met a guy named Brian from L.A. We got to talk and he told us about the huge weekend market.

Two policemen at the market.

We decided to meet up the next morning and go to it together. Later that night Dave and I decided to go see The Simpsons movie at the cinema. I fell asleep through part of it. But it was nice and cold in there.

Yum! Fresh fruit shakes.

traveling popsicles. They put the juice in their with a wooden skewer and then grip each side and move it back and forth. There is rock salt in there which quickly turns the juice into popsicles!

At the market, this boy was getting into his playing

We left for the market at about 9:15 am the next day. This market is HUGE! And it has everything. We saw lots of clothes, some new some vintage, house wares, Thai silk, animals (including squirrels for sale!), and lots of miscellaneous items.

I am not kidding you, they were selling squirrels at this market! Another stand had each squirrel wearing a little hat, but unfortunately their were 50 "No Photos" signs.

We spent about 6 hours wandering around. Whenever we got unbearably hot (because we were sweating in the heat the whole time) we bought some cold fruit or cold fresh juice. Dave and I were good and didn’t buy anything, although Dave had his eye on a couple old and worn t-shirts.

This guy was trying to sell stuff by using a megaphone. His kid must be used to it, since he's fast asleep!

gotta love the shark head on his shoulder

We had lunch there and some delicious iced cocoa. We were so hot we decided to go to a movie next. So the three of us jumped in a cab and headed to the cinema. We saw The Bourne Ultimatum. I liked it. Before and after the movie I stuffed myself with donuts and big chewy pretzels. Yum!

Ko Tao

2007-08-15T09:29:00.001-07:00

Next Island on the list, Ko Tao. This time we were on the east side of Thailand, which is high season. Ko Tao is known worldwide for their diving and we wanted to check it out for ourselves, which was our main reason for going. We took a bus to Chumphon and spent the night and then took a 3-hour boat ride to the island early the next morning. We talked to a man on the ferry who showed us pics of a resort that looked pretty nice and if we dived with them we would only pay $9 a night to sleep there. We agreed to look at it. We got off the ferry and were herded to the back of a pickup that had a bench on each side. We were stuffed in with a bunch of other tourists. We were already practically sitting on each other’s laps when two more girls and their bags were brought forward to get in. The girls knew it was impossible and insisted on riding in front. We were driven to this resort and led to a restaurant to sit down and wait. We weren’t sure what we were waiting for… all we wanted to do was look at a room to see if we wanted to stay there or not. When we made our request known, they just laughed at Dave and told him that wasn’t possible because their cleaning lady was not around or something like that. So we left. We began our routine of finding a place to stay. Dave ended up finding a place called Dive Point that offered the same price for a room with a fan ($9) and it was a nice room. More important, the man who worked there was really nice. We signed up for diving the next morning, got settled, and walked around the island a bit. We walked along the beach area and found a reasonable priced restaurant on the beach for dinner in time to watch the sunset.

This little guy found us while we were playing UNO on the beach.

We walked back to our hotel room and it was stifling hot!!! It was cooler outside than in our room and nothing could cool it down. I immediately lied down and made myself fall asleep but apparently it was too hot for Dave. I found out the next morning that he roamed the streets for awhile to cool off and finally bought a bag of ice, put it in a mesh trash can, and set the trash can on the bed in front of the fan to get a cool breeze. Only then could he finally fall asleep.

We were woken up at 6:30 and met downstairs to do dive. We climbed on their big boat and went to the Southern Pinnacles. We got suited up and jumped in. The waves were crazy! They were really big and it was pretty hard to swim to the front of this huge boat, which was where we needed to be to descend. It was a very different experience from our training. The dive was really neat. We saw beautiful soft coral and a stingray. We were lucky that no fish bit us, although one little fish thought Dave was a shark and insisted on swimming along with Dave right on his legs and arms. We both stopped swimming and hovered in the water watching this fish as he nestled in Dave’s hairy legs. It was pretty funny and the fish only swam off when Dave got his hand around it. Later we watched a fish make repetitive beelines for our Dive Master. The fish obviously felt threatened although he never bit her. But it was still pretty amazing to watch this fish lock onto this girl and swim his fastest straight for her over and over. He started doing it to the other guy in our group who panicked and began swimming for the surface.

This is the dive boat. All the gear was on it, and they even made us breakfast on there.

We left Ko Tao after diving. The main reason why is as Dave jumped in the water, his mask was thrown off his face by a huge wave and was lost. When we got back to the shop, they told us we had to pay $50 to replace it!!! We told them that seemed very expensive for a very used mask. They became immediately belligerent and incredibly rude. The lady working there went so far as to try to lecture me on managing my finances and budget better! Finally after trying to get a word in edgewise and make them understand that charging us full price for a used mask was not right, we finally paid and left. As the lady took our money she even said, “I really hope you never come back.” What a professional. We laughed at her. It was insane. We decided we were done with that island and took a boat/bus to Bangkok. The entire trip was about 10 hours and cost $19 each.

Heave Ho! It took the whole neighborhood to move this boat upshore a couple meters.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

2007-08-13T09:28:00.002-07:00

How lucky am I to be able to spend my 28^th birthday in Phuket, Thailand?? Very lucky. We spent the day at Patong Beach and then went to Kamala Beach, which is a little more secluded. We rented a motorbike for the day and had to pull over a couple times when it rained (it is monsoon season, after all.). On our way to Kamala Beach we drove by an elephant on the side of the road! We pulled over and the owner let us pet and feed it. It was pretty exciting. Kamala Beach was beautiful and we made it just in time for the sunset.

That night we ate at a really nice restaurant overlooking the beach. After dinner I was surprised by a chocolate cake and ice cream. There was even a candle in the cake! I was so surprised and happy especially when the people at the tables around us joined in singing Happy Birthday to me. And let me tell you, this chocolate cake was so rich and delicious.

Apparently my thoughtful husband excused himself from the table earlier in the night to “use the bathroom” and talked the headwaiter into this surprise. The waiter even had to call his boss and get permission. Aren’t I lucky? It was a great day.

I am an avid UNO player. Dave will usually play with me on "special occasions" my birthday being one of them. I'm not sure why he doesn't play me more, he always wins. But not this time! I beat him!

Phuket

2007-08-12T09:26:00.001-07:00

The next island we went to is the island of Phuket. Probably the most famous island in Thailand. We chose not to stay on Patong Beach because it’s so ritzy (expensive) and instead stayed in the quaint town. We stayed at the On-on hotel for only $5 a night and it was a really cool hotel.

Bathroom area of our hotel.

It was also used for scenes in The Beach but that wasn’t advertised anywhere on the premises. It had this open-air, rundown look and feel about it that was really great. We took a million photos. We spent some time walking around the town itself, which had some neat and old architecture.

Dave went para sailing on Patong Beach and it was a wild ride. As he was going up from the beach, an employee hopped up with him to steer. The guy wasn't strapped in or anything! This was the craziest para sailing I have ever seen. They went really fast and dipped and turned. It was Extreme Para Sailing!

We rented a motorbike and decided to drive to Kamala Beach which is a little more exclusive than Patong Beach.

Nothing like eating an ice cream with a helmet on.

On our way we found some gorgeous apartments/villas overlooking the ocean. We decided to pop in as "prospective buyers".

This is our new place. This is the kitchen/living area.

This is opposite the kitchen area = onto the deck with the great ocean view and great ocean breeze. And it's only $800,000. Only?!? I thought Thailand was cheap.....

Luckily, we made it to the beach in time for the sunset, because it was incredible. There aren't a lot of sunsets that beat Arizona's, but I've seen a few in my years that are gorgeous, and setting over an ocean doesn't hurt either! (Another incredible sunset was in Mazatlan, Mexico over the ocean)

Here is our family photo in front of a gorgeous sunset.

Now that we have the "nice" photo out of the way, it's time to get dumb.

And now for the action shots....

Some more action shots.... it's hard to coordinate our jumps with the camera's self timer!

I was so impressed with Dave's jumps that I had to use the flash on him. This is David's imitation of his sister Shannon from her cheer days.

Ko Phi Phi Don, Thailand

2007-08-09T09:37:00.001-07:00

We spent 3 nights on Ko Phi Phi island, located off the western coast of Southern Thailand. This island was hit extremely hard by the Tsunami in 2004 but has recovered well, it's as busy as ever! Right now it's "low season" due to the monsoons, but this place is crawling with tourists. We were taken aback at first because all the other islands we have been to have been much smaller and much less developed, but it's fun around here.

We made the mistake of hiking up to the Viewpoint of Ko Phi Phi, where we saw a beautiful view of the bays. Why was it a mistake? Because we did it in the middle of the day with no water. And it's REALLY HOT here. But the view is so beautiful, it's worth it. We took a ton of photos at the top and then hiked down to Rantee Bay. The bay was pretty and much more secluded than the main part of the city, where our hotel is (Ai Ton Sai Bay). We had a basic lunch of fried rice and wanted to take the longboat back until they told us it would cost $9! I decided to suck it up and we hiked back the way we came.

I really think I suffered from mild heat exhaustion or something, because I was lethargic and irritable for the rest of the day. We spent the rest of the day aimlessly walking around the town and finally settling on the beach at sunset to play some UNO.

The next day we got up early and took a tour ($13 each) of the beaches and islands around ours. It was so worth it. We went to Bamboo island, which was nice, but nothing compared to Ko Phi Phi Ley - the sister island to the one we are on. There are no accommodations allowed on Phi Phi Ley due to more profitable ................ that goes on there. For those of you who have seen it, this is where they filmed The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio. And yes, they play that movie every night in the restaurants around here! Well, I must say, this is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. And not to brag, but I've seen some beautiful places in my day. But this is jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring beauty. Sadly, we had to swim to the bay on the opposite side of the island and walk through. Because of that swim, I couldn't bring my camera!!! I will have to buy some postcards for the memories. The tour was from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM and we got to see many beautiful beaches. It was great.

Tomorrow we leave for Phuket, another famous beach in Southern Thailand. Unfortunately, I jacked my ankles using crappy fins while scuba diving and now I have extremely infected, disgusting gashes on each outside ankle. This means I am trying to stay out of the water and keep them clean. Seriously, they are deep and painful. Hopefully the alcohol/Iodine/MelaGel heals them quickly (even though it's already been a week!).

Oh, I should also mention we got a good room with a nice room for 300 baht a night ($9). We are pretty excited about that since accommodations on this island seem to be a bit pricey.

The Famous Ko Phi Phi

2007-08-09T08:57:00.001-07:00

Although it is monsoon season on the west side of Thailand, we figured we had to visit the most famous islands anyway. The west side is famous for diving, but we weren’t going for that since we found out the off-season is a pretty poor time to go. We took a ferry to Ko Phi Phi Don. I was shocked by how crowded it was. I figured since it was off-season, we would have our pick of accommodations. Not so. The place was crawling with frat-boy tourists.

Dave is in heaven here. He had a permanent grin on his face the whole time he was playing (a little over an hour). Interesting that these 5 playstations were never in want of players even though they are on a beautiful exotic island......

After a few failed attempts on our own, we finally walked into a tourist agency to find a hotel. Everyone was claiming they could only get us a room for $24 a night that had A/C but that was way too expensive for us. So we finally got a guy to book us a room for $18 a night that had A/C. We haven’t had AC in awhile and this island was HOT HOT HOT. We waited around until a boy came with a metal cart and we loaded up our luggage and off he went with us trailing behind. It felt like forever before we finally got to our place and we weren’t stoked to find out we had to climb a bunch of stairs to get there. We’ve had it with our luggage! It’s so not practical.

We found a crab and tormented it for a awhile. He was a curious guy, never staying in his shell for too long.

Our room was nice and the AC worked well. Too well. We both were freezing all night and I was being awoken regularly by the little remote control beeping as Dave continued to fiddle with the temperature throughout the night. Luckily the next day we were able to move 2 doors down to a less nice room for only $9 a night that had a fan.

Dave trying to do a Superman-fly-dive-anythingbutafaceplant. I think he looks quite graceful.

See the scrape down his arm? That's from his Superman dive. The coral is just for looks although it's very possible that's what scraped up his arm.

Our room was up a hill on the way to the Viewpoint. We decided to check it out in the middle of the day, which was not smart. I really think I got a mild case of heat exhaustion. Or maybe it was dehydration. We climbed a million steps until we finally came to the top. The view was amazing. We were glad we did it, although I was lethargic and nothing could energize me (even the delicious Popsicle I treated myself to!).

Dave is reading about the disastrous effect of the 2004 Tsunami on Ko Phi Phi. The entire bay behind him was demolished.

Dave and I at the Viewpoint.

We hiked down a different way and came to a bay on the other side of the island. We had lunch there and decided to take a longboat back. They wanted to charge us $9! We decided to save our money and began hiking back.

Trying to decide what book to get in this book exchange.

For the rest of the day all I wanted to do was sleep. I was so tired and I couldn’t get cooled. As the sun was going down, we got comfortable on the beach and played some UNO. Dave is the UNO master in the states, but I have become the master on the other side of the world. It’s a good thing, since it’s almost my birthday! That’s pretty much the only time I can get Dave to play me UNO – the month of August.

Our last day on the island, we decided to go on a snorkeling trip. I wasn’t planning on doing any snorkeling since my ankles were still messed up from my fins when diving, but I wanted to see all the different beaches and the island Ko Phi Phi Ley. It cost $13 but it was well worth it. We met at 9:00 AM and piled into a covered longboat. We stopped at Rantee Bay, the place Dave and I hiked to. Everyone jumped in and snorkeled and I was so jealous.

One of the places we went snorkeling.

Dave said the snorkeling was great and the coral was beautiful.

Dave is feeding the fish where we went snorkeling. The water was so clear, we could see the coral on the bottom.

Next we went to Bamboo Island and hung out on the beautiful beach for a while.

Paradise in the form of Bamboo Beach.

After that was monkey bay where there were a couple monkeys hanging about and then we went to Ko Phi Phi Ley. I was really disappointed because Maya Beach was at low tide and so our boat couldn’t go all the way to the beach. Instead he took us around to the other side at a different area and we had to swim to the rocks and walk across the island to Maya Bay. The walk was incredibly beautiful and was only about a 5-minute walk but the problem was I couldn’t bring my camera because of the swim we had to make to shore.

I'm not sure if these were in place before the Tsunami, but they are on every beach and basically point the way to the highest point on the island.

The reason this was so disappointing is because Maya Beach is the most beautiful place I have ever been. It is jaw dropping, inspiringly beautiful. Imagine (since I couldn’t take any pics grrrr) huge limestone cliffs jutting out of a perfect sandy beach with warm water that is so clear and bright. It was incredible. I was so happy to be there. I wish we could’ve spent more time there though. For those of you who have seen The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio, this island is where a lot of it was filmed. And we were reminded of that every night since every restaurant played the movie at 7:00 and 10:00 pm! In fact, the movie was so hyped around the island that I almost boycotted going to Maya Beach because I felt that if they had to rely on the movie so much, it must not be that great. But it is.

On our way to Ko Phi Phi Ley (Maya Beach)

Kayak

2007-08-07T08:28:00.001-07:00

Dave turned cat!

Dave and I decided to do a Kayak tour in Krabi. We kayaked through a Mangrove Forest and through a limestone cave.

It was amazing. We also got to stop at a river house and see their homemade contraptions for catching clams.

We hiked through a huge cave and saw prehistoric paintings on the wall that are over 3,000 years old. That was my favorite part.

After kayaking we had a great lunch waiting for us.

Welcome to Thailand

2007-08-06T10:23:00.001-07:00

A longtail boat.
I couldn't decide if I liked the color or BW better...

A Thai policeman hanging out.

Beautiful Railay Beach in Krabi

Is this what people mean when they refer to Thailand as the Land of Smiles??

Dave rappelling down after his climb.

Tough guys in a shoe store. Or maybe shoe shack is more like it....these are old and somewhat used, but very hip, shoes for sale for way too much ($12 a pair is cheap in here!). We have the feeling that these shoes might have been donated for Tsunami victims and instead are turning a profit. But the shoes are dang cool.

Dave's first authentic Thai dish - Pad Thai

My first authentic Thai dish - chicken curry in coconut milk.

A bay next to Railay Beach in Krabi. This is where Dave was rock climbing. He had quite the view when he got to the top!

This odd assortment of folks are the bathroom guards. If you don't pay, you suffer.

Dave and his rock climbing buddy. He was the nicest guy.

This is one of the homemade "clam catchers" we were shown on our kayak adventure.

Dave cut his hair for his mom's birthday. I think it may be the best present she's had in a long time. :)

We traveled from the Cameron Highlands to Krabi, Thailand by bus and “shuttle” (aka minivan with erratic AC). We traveled for 22.5 hours. We slept through most of it luckily.
We ended up in front of a random tourist office in the middle of nowhere in Krabi. The travel agent was more interested in picking at a huge mole on her face while looking in her compact mirror than helping us. Truly refusing to even acknowledge any questions we asked. It was unreal. David ended up getting fed up with her and told her so. We finally decided the easiest option was to get a guesthouse in Krabi and figure it out from there. We chose a place called K Guesthouse that is 200 baht a night ($6). It is a lot nicer than any of the places we’ve slept recently. The sheets look clean!! And there are no mosquitoes in the room.

Krabi is actually a pretty cool little town. We found a great restaurant and had Thai food… in Thailand! This is so exciting as we both LOVE Thai food. I had chicken curry in coconut milk ($2) and David had Pad Thai ($2). Mine was really good.

Krabi has huge beautiful limestone cliffs that jut out of the water. It’s quite picturesque and very different from all the other islands/beaches we’ve been to. David took the opportunity to climb them. We found a great guide to take us out to the beach and David climbed for about 4 hours. It was a beautiful area. I split my time watching him climb and hanging out at the beach.

Oops! We were at a market browsing from stall to stall. A lot of the stalls were selling different foodstuffs and had free samples. One of the stalls had bowls of miniature fried eggs so I helped myself to one. It was really good so Dave tried one as well. I was getting an uneasy feeling and felt like I was being stared at. I looked up at the workers and they all were looking at me with a strange expression. I looked back down at the bowls of eggs and realized they were selling them by the bowl!! Embarrassed, I asked David to quickly pay and took my bowl of fried eggs. At that point we all kind of laughed about it, but boy was that awkward at first!

Watch It, Little Boy!

2007-08-05T10:22:00.001-07:00

Our last day before leaving for Thailand, we decided we needed some fresh strawberry ice cream. As it so happened, the bus we took up to the strawberry fields was packed with school kids on their way home. 4 boys and a girl who were taking up two seats, graciously offered one of them to me. I hopped in the seat and then patted my lap to see if one of them wanted to sit on it. Two boys wrestled their way, but one of them beat the other and got comfortable. I thought all was fine until it was their stop. As they began shuffling off the bus, they reached back and squeezed my thigh!! A little young, aren’t they? J

Coming soon.

2007-08-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

We are not ignoring you. We have spent the past 5 days on the Perhentian Islands, off the east coast of Malaysia. Everything is run on generators there, so Internet is very slow.

We are now in the Cameron Highlands and Internet is marginally better.

Check back tomorrow and we will have posts and pics for you!

How did he know?!?

2007-08-04T10:23:00.001-07:00

We went to an Indian restaurant to eat and all three of us (me, Dave, Nadine) were talking to some of the employees there. One of them asked where we were from and before Dave could answer he said, “You are from Arizona, right?” What?!?!?! We were so surprised and laughing so hard while asking him how he knew. He told us that there was a couple eating there last night that told him they were from Arizona and the guy had the same hair as Dave! That’s when we really started laughing. He told Dave if he wasn’t from Arizona, then he was from Canada because Arizonans and Canadians have hair like Dave. We told him he guessed right. The other guy said I looked like I was from Germany (I get that often) and they said Nadine looked German as well (bingo!). We were pretty shocked by the whole Arizona thing, but laughed about it for a while.

Today should have been my birthday!

2007-08-04T10:22:00.001-07:00

(Note: I put the pics for this post under the "Cameron Highlands" post.)

Today felt like my birthday (which is coming up folks!). I did so many wonderfully pleasant things today that usually I just imagine in my mind.
First, I got a warm shower. That in itself is cause for celebration.
Second, I had a great breakfast. Fried eggs on toast with tomatoes and a cup of plain yogurt with honey. All for $2. Yum.
Third, I visited a tea plantation. I love tea. I don’t claim to be a tea connoisseur or anything like that, I just really love drinking and smelling it. We took the local bus for about 30 minutes and then walked for about 45 minutes through hills of tealeaves. It was so beautiful and green. And a lot of the hills were these cool pyramid shapes. Then we got to the tea plantation and took a bunch of photos. We were able to take a quick tour of the plantation and it was really neat to see how they processed their tea. Then, (this is the best part) we ordered our own pots of tea and pastries and enjoyed them while gazing at the beautiful pyramid-like tea hills. The best word I can think of to describe it is delightful.
After visiting the tea plantation, we visited a strawberry farm. We ate ice cream with strawberries and a fresh strawberry milkshake. It was so delicious that we plan on going there tomorrow for some more!
Then we had a delicious dinner. It was a Chinese dinner called “The Steamboat”. Our friend Nadine has spent the last year in China and introduced this dinner to us. You order a bunch of meats and seafood and different broths. They bring the pot of broths to us (in one pot but separated) and it boils at our table while we pile in the raw seafood and meats and veggies to cook and eat like soup. It was really good and very filling.

What a great, fun day!

Cameron Highlands

2007-08-03T10:22:00.001-07:00

Walking through the tea fields at Cameron Highlands.

Making tea - we got to tour the tea plantation here. Very interesting.

Enjoying a fresh pot of tea with our new friends from Germany and Amsterdam. We also got chocolate cake, sugar cookies, and lemon cake...yum

A view of our walk to the tea plantation.

On our way to the tour of the tea plantation. We liked the architecture.

In Malaysia, you pay for your ticket after you sit down, and you don't need exact change!

The tea fields, I loved the pyramid formations of them.

We left the island and took a shuttle to the Cameron Highlands. The reason we took the shuttle is so we wouldn’t have to change buses 3 times and probably spend the night somewhere else because there is no way all 3-connection times would coordinate. So we spent $26 to get there. We were cramped in a minivan with other people and had two drivers that were polar opposites. Our first driver almost killed us a few times (I was facing backward luckily and didn’t even notice until Dave told me about it later) and our second driver was even worse. He went so slow! He probably averaged approximately 30 kph and that was when he was actually driving instead of braking for no reason and coming to a complete stop before driving around a curve. That is about 18 mph. It was killing all of us slowly. We were packed like sardines and could have walked faster than he was driving. We finally got to the Cameron Highlands at about 10:30 PM even though we left at 3:00 PM that afternoon. The weather was so different. It was really interesting to be sweating it out sunbathing at the beach that morning to needing two blankets that night to keep warm! We are now at about 1400 meters above sea level. It’s a beautiful area that’s part tea plantation-green and part jungle.

Happy Birthday to us!

2007-07-29T10:21:00.001-07:00

A dream I have always had was to get certified in scuba diving. But I always felt guilty spending that kind of money on it.

Notice I said “had” in the first sentence. As a birthday present to each other, Dave and I decided to get certified at the Perhentian Islands. It’s a lot cheaper here than at home and we got to do all of our exercises in the ocean, as opposed to a swimming pool. The Perhentian Islands is also one of the top dive sites in the world.
We spent 3.5 days studying the physics of diving and practicing in the water. We did 4 open water dives to complete the certification.

On one of our dives we saw a black-tip reef shark! It was so exciting. Especially because Dave is scared of sharks (sorry Dave). And the coral was absolutely gorgeous. On our last dive we saw a HUGE stingray. Even though things are magnified by 33% underwater (see, I studied), it was still huge. It was lying underneath a coral/rock but there was a good-sized, conveniently located hole in the rock. We slowly crept up to the hole and peeked in. Staring at us were these huge stingray eyes. Oh it was so scary and fun. And I really knew it was big when I saw how excited my instructor was after the dive. It was one of the biggest she had seen. A fish also bit me. A small fish. It bit me so hard and multiple times so that I had a welt on my leg for a couple days after. I was so shocked that this small fish was so willing to attack something so foreign and so much bigger just to protect its territory! That takes guts. The same type of fish also bit Dave about 5 times and actually drew blood! Luckily, that didn’t happen when the shark swam by haha.

So, we are now scuba divers and getting very excited for Thailand beaches.

Our dive instructor, Tonja.

7-29-07 Perhentian Islands

2007-07-28T10:20:00.001-07:00

The view outside our room.

The next day we got our bags after having an extremely stressful argument with the guy who agreed to take us the night before. He was scheduled to show up at 8:00 AM. I waited for him for about 45 minutes and then started walking around looking for other options, as he didn’t show up. I was really frustrated because I missed the public bus and shuttles that could have taken me there. At 9:00 AM he showed up like nothing was wrong. After quite a bit of arguing and complaining on my part (he really stressed me out! We were running out of time as we had a train to catch) he agreed to take me there and back for 15 RM instead of 20 RM. ($1.50 difference). We got our bags and came back and then had a quick lunch before getting on the Jungle train. The Jungle train is a train built right through the middle of Malaysia and right in the middle of the jungle. It’s quite an engineering feat. And it was a really beautiful ride. It cost $9 for the both of us for the cheap car and we were pleasantly surprised by the quality. The seats were cushioned AND they reclined. Nice! It was a nice little journey. Dave got especially comfortable when he found an outlet he could use and watched movies on the laptop.

We got to Wakaf Bharu at about 11:00 PM. It was a 7-hour ride. We took a taxi to Kota Bharu and found a hostel right by the bus station. We got a room for $6 and it was disgusting. The 1st floor was moldy and the 2nd floor smelled like old urine. But it was late and we weren’t in the mood to keep looking. We quickly fell asleep. The next morning we asked the hostel to hold our large bags and got on the local bus to ride to Kuala Besut. At Kuala Besut, we got on a speedboat to the Perhentian Islands. It took about 30 minutes by boat to get there and I was so excited to be on a beach. We met a German girl, Nadine, while waiting for the speedboat and ended up spending a lot of time with her. She’s really nice and laid back.
We settled on a room at the Moonlight Chalet on the far end of the beach. The first night we realized that our room was actually a lizard house.

These are just a few of the lizards. There were many, many more.

Literally. A lot of lizards lived there and I don’t think they liked us intruding. We had a really dirty mosquito net that hung over our bed and realized (before going to bed luckily) that this net was actually catching lizard droppings! Oh gross! Surprisingly, Reception was receptive to our concerns, and allowed us to sleep in a much better room for the same price.

Believe it or not, this is the much nicer room. It looks like it belongs in a ghost town in the wild west!

I say surprisingly because Asian customer service doesn’t exactly mirror U.S.A. customer service. If you don’t like something, that’s usually your problem and you can go somewhere else…after paying, of course.

We spent most of our time on the island scuba diving! It was a lot of fun. We also did some good eating. 3 nights we had fresh fish that was just caught that day. I had barracuda once and Blue Marlin twice. It was really delicious and cost only between $4.50 and $6.00 a meal. I felt really spoiled.

We also went on a snorkeling trip. There are two areas – Turtle Bay and Shark Point, which is supposed to have a lot of turtles and sharks (duh.). We had heard from a few people that it was really great. Lots of huge turtles and quite a few sharks. Well, when we went there was nothing. Seriously. I was so disappointed. We went later in the day and our boat driver did not care. It sucked. Actually we did see one little turtle…. at shark point. So that was a huge waste of $18!!
On our last morning we finally got to do some sunbathing. It felt really good and was so relaxing. The sand on the beach is so soft and clean. I was in heaven!

Low Tide.

Why so long?

2007-07-25T10:54:00.001-07:00

This is the question we are getting asked regularly when we tell people how long we have been in Kuala Lumpur. We have been here for about 1 week, which in backpacker-days, is forever. Especially since we are in a big city and not sitting around a campfire with some native tribe. Okay, so that's the feeling I get when talking to the backpackers in our hostel.

Anyway, the city is great but we didn't actually plan on being here so long. We extended initially when we found out that Korea was playing Iran in the Asia Cup here. We bought some red shirts, and headed out to the stadium with our new roommate, MinJi (who is Korean), and cheered like crazy! And yep, Korea beat Iran woo-hoo!!! And to top it all off, we got free tickets into the game.

The next delay came when I got food poisoning! Ugh. I knew immediately it was the chicken I ate the night before in the Indian restaurant. And having shared bathrooms made it much worse. I figured it would be about a 24 hour bug so I started counting down the hours from when I first felt like dying. I was at around 12 hours to go when I fell asleep and woke up feeling much, much better. But my back was killing me from being in bed for so long. And it's not a real bed, it's like a cot. So I rubbed some Tiger Balm on my back and it was healed! I have known about Tiger Balm for a long time but have never used it. I bought it in Singapore, since that's where it's made and it's cheaper there, and I am now a die-hard fan.

Next delay...Korea against Iraq. They win this and they go to the Championship! It was nice seeing Iran getting kicked down, and I wanted to see it happen to Iraq too. So we stayed a bit longer so we could go to the game. The tickets weren't free this time, they cost $1.50. And sadly, Korea lost in penalty kicks. It was not fun riding the subway home with a bunch of Iraqi fans chanting and singing and basically rubbing it in (it felt like). Apparently they haven't made it this far in 30 years or something. Big deal. Dave said a couple of Iraqi's asked him where he was from and when he told them USA, it got a little awkward. Since I was surrounded by Iraqi's in the subway, I wanted to ask them their feelings in regard to the USA, but soon realized it was not possible with all the singing going on. Korea would never carry on like they did. In fact, the Koreans we were with called them "childish"! It was an interesting night.

Welcome to the Jungle – Taman Negara

2007-07-25T10:17:00.001-07:00

An Orang-Asli family

Taman Negara is the world’s oldest jungle. It is over 130 million years old and was one of the only jungl
es unaffected by the Ice Age. It is 4343 sq km.

The boat ride was well worth it to me. We got in these rickety long skinny boats and sat on a cushion basically on the floor of the boat. The river had a fairly strong current and was a muddy brown color. The jungle was on either side. It was a really relaxing ride, in fact Dave slept for most of it!

We fell asleep at around 4:00 AM the night before and had to wake up at 7:40AM for our bus. We were exhausted and I had an incredibly painful stomachache.
We took the more expensive, but faster private bus directly to Kuala Tembeling – the point in which we hop in a boat to begin our 3-hour ride to the park. The bus cost $10 each and was approximately 4 hours. Luckily, we were able to leave our big bags at the tourist office in Kuala Tembeling and bring only our small packs into the jungle. The boat to the jungle entrance cost $7 each.

We are on the side of the river where the national park is. Our guesthouse was on the other side.

The cheaper option would’ve been to take a public bus to Jerantut, a city a little over an hour away at around $3.50 each and then a local bus to the jungle at $1.75 each. But we would’ve had to stay the night in Jerantut, due to the buses departure times not coordinating with each other, and I wanted to take the boat for the experience.

When we arrived at our destination, we were given a quick orientation and then Dave and I began our search for accommodations. We found a hostel that cost $3 each that had A/C! And no one else was in there, so it was like our own room. We unloaded our stuff and went down to one of the floating restaurants for a bite to eat. Our food was so disgusting! I ordered sweet and sour chicken and Dave ordered a hamburger. I guess I can’t speak for Dave, but mine was so gross and did not help my aching stomach whatsoever. Hamburger + Chicken + plain rice + large bottle of water = $3.50. After eating, we crossed the river to the park entrance. There is no bridge connecting each side, so boats are constantly taking passengers back and forth, at 30 cents a ride. They will probably never build a bridge either with the money they make ferrying people back and forth. We asked some questions at park headquarters, and then went back to our room. That night it rained so hard! It POURED. It was really cool.

Making a fire. He actually ended up breaking the rubbing part and couldn't start the fire! A much younger tribesman came up and got it his first time.

The next day we got a little bit later start than planned (typical!) but packed up and went down to a different floating restaurant for breakfast. I wanted the breakfast buffet at the resort’s restaurant across the river, but it cost $6 a person! Dave and I each got toast and fried eggs. Our total was $2.50. We then crossed the river (another 60 cents!) to go on their canopy walkway and found out it closed at noon on Fridays. We were so frustrated. We put our things in a locker since we weren’t sure where we were staying that night (our hostel was pre-booked for tonight) and spent a couple hours being frustrated, figuring out what we wanted to do, and just being frustrated. My stomach was still killing me and I finally made myself realize that I was still overcoming the food poisoning that I had previously convinced myself was totally gone. Everything we wanted to do either ended up costing more money than we anticipated, or the timing was all wrong. I was beginning to feel like Taman Negara was cursing us. After some time, we decided to take a tour of a village of Aborigines.

Orang-Asli children playing in the jungle and giving us a loud goodbye.

Although we figured it was a tourist trap and how “aborigine” can this village be if they are hosting tourists every day, we decided to go for it. It cost $12 each so it was a serious risk. We took a boat down the river a short way and the village was right by the river. Our tour guide was excellent. He explained the history of the people and their traditions. We then got to see a tribesman make a fire for us and also demonstrate their weapon for catching game – a blowpipe.

Dave using the blowpipe to hit a target. This is how they hunt.

After showing us how they poison the darts with the sap of a particular tree, we got to try shooting a target on a tree. I was surprised at how easily the dart flew. Apparently they can shoot game from 50 meters away with this. It was really fascinating. We walked around the little village, taking some pictures, and then it was time to go. We both thought it was well worth it.

A member of the Orang-Asli sat next to Dave and listened in on the lecture, although he doesn't understand English.

The name of the tribe is Orang-Asli, which translates literally to “aborigine”. They are nomadic. They usually move when someone in the tribe has died. There are several types of Orang-Asli in the jungle, all with their own dialects and customs but they intermarry regularly. They aren’t a religious tribe, but they do believe in spirits and taboos. Whenever the weather in the jungle is incredibly fierce, they believe it’s because someone has made fun of nature, or insulted nature. In order to make peace with nature, they slice a member’s knee, fill a cup with the blood, and throw the blood in the air. The government recognizes the tribes and allows them full use of the protected jungle. They can kill anything in it, and use anything in it. They also provide the children with free schooling, free uniforms, and free transportation to the school, but the children attend very sporadically. The government also gives medicine to the tribes, but the tribes don’t usually use it as they have their own medicine man. It was really cool learning about them.

After the tour we bought some groceries and “supplies” for $7, crossed over to the jungle, and reserved a hide for the night at $3 total. They have hides scattered throughout the jungle to sleep in. It’s a house on stilts, without any electricity, and big windows so you can try to spot some wildlife. We chose one that was a 2-hour hike away. We also rented a sleeping bag and a flashlight for $3 total. We weren’t ready to start trekking until 6:30 PM and knew we were going to be hiking at night. The man at the park HQ advised us to hurry and to watch for snakes. Great. He said if we went quickly, we could get there in 1.5 hours. We hustled into the jungle depths.

These are the hard wooden pallets we attempted to sleep on.

The hide was approximately 3.2 km away. Hiking in the jungle was so fun even though the approaching darkness was a stress. It was pretty muddy from the rain the night before but there were usually some big roots to step on to keep from getting sucked in. A couple parts were pretty steep and slippery, but overall it was an easy hike. With Dave setting the pace, and carrying the pack, we made it in 1 hour and 5 minutes. And we didn’t need the flashlight. The hide was actually nicer than I imagined, with a toilet and a shower that used rainwater that accumulated in a big drum at the top of the hide. But the bunks were wooden and didn’t have any mats. That was bad news. Our one sleeping bag was incredibly thin.

This is from ONE leech!

After picking leeches off of us, we went back outside to try to start a fire and eat our dinner. Everything was super wet and our lighter ended up melting so no fire. And our dinner was so gross! Canned tuna fish and crackers. That sounds fine, but unbeknownst to us our tuna fish was pre-mixed with mayonnaise, varied vegetables, and water chestnuts. Homemade = delicious. Canned = super gross. We ate up and then went back upstairs to make up our bed. I had brought pajama bottoms and was thankful to have something dry to put on. Both of our clothing was soaked through with sweat and humidity. It was pretty gross. I sprayed myself with insect repellent that we found on the ground downstairs and tried to sleep. I was hoping not to get eaten alive. We had brought mosquito coils, but they were useless without the lighter. I covered my bare arms (I only had a short-sleeved shirt) with my sarong hoping that would help to keep the biting insects away.

The outside of the hide we slept in.

We couldn’t sleep. We couldn’t get comfortable. The bunks were so hard and it was killing my bony hips. But the jungle night sounds were incredible! It was so loud and beautiful. Then it began to rain. It rained hard for most of the night, which drowned out the noises I wanted to hear. We didn’t really sleep all night. At around 7:00 AM I thought I heard noises so I got up and looked out the windows for awhile. It felt good to be off the hard boards. I was ready to go back but Dave wanted to try to get in some more sleep so we attempted it. Dave actually fell asleep pretty hard, and I kept drifting in and out. At about 10:30 AM we packed up and prepared to head back. We spotted a few creatures on our adventure:

*A HUGE spider we didn’t notice until morning (thank goodness!) in the bathroom. I was pretty convinced it was dead; Dave was not so he tapped him with something and the spider quickly scurried down the wall, which scared me.
*A squirrel thing
*Huge jungle ants
*Big insects

We have heard of a lot of people who are pretty upset when they don’t see an animal when spending the night in a hide. Luckily our expectations were very low, and we were too A.D.D. to sit and stare in the jungle for hours.

The next morning we began our trek back. It was pretty muddy from all the rain the night before, but not as much as we expected. The sound of our shoes squishing in the mud was great. On our way, we decided to explore Gua Telinga, a cave that is supposed to have bats.

It was a wet, muddy, slimy, slippery experience. And totally fun. And there were bats everywhere!!! Some were flying around us…a little too close, and there were many just hanging from the ceiling. The ceiling was very low, so we were able to shine our flashlight on the hanging bats and actually see the details of their face. I thought they were kind of cute. After getting all muddy in the cave, we headed back to the park entrance and put our packs in the locker.

Immediately after, we hiked 1.8 km to the canopy walkway. The longest and highest rope walkway in the world. It cost $1.50 each to walk across it and it was worth it. It was really rickety which made it fun, and swayed a lot.

We hiked back and caught a free (and MUCH needed) cold shower in the camping area. Then we finally ate for the first time that day. We decided to treat ourselves to a quality meal at the resort’s restaurant after “roughing” it so much, but I almost passed out when I realized the little bottles of water we ordered were $2 each!!! Usually a bottle of water 3 times as big cost 75 cents, and we just wasted $4 on water. Ugh, how frustrating. Our meal, including the water, ended up setting us back $13. A splurge for us. The food was good.

We hiked up to the bus stop and waited for about 45 minutes for it to arrive, with a handful of other backpackers. We figured since we already took the boat in, we would go out the cheap way. The bust to Jerantut, where we would catch our train, was only $1.75 each. Unfortunately, our bags are still at Kuala Tembeling, so tomorrow one of us is going to have to take a taxi for $6 to K. Tembeling, get the luggage, and come back. It’s about 30 minutes away. We found a hostel that had a private room for $7 and has AC and a sink in the room. It also has a TV with 3 channels. After settling in, we found a market with a variety of food stalls and had dinner. We ordered 10 satay (seasoned chicken or beef on a stick), and each had rice, soup/broth, and more chicken. I also had tea. Dinner came to $3.50 and it was delicious. Oh, and Korea vs. Japan was on TV. Korea won!

Kuala Lumpur

2007-07-20T10:05:00.003-07:00

While walking around the Golden Triangle, we saw this man getting his portrait sketched. Dave took a lot of pictures, and he and the woman (his wife?) next to him were not happy about it.

I'm not sure what it is about this city, but I love it. Maybe it's because we are staying in a hostel for $7 a night compared to $33 a night in Singapore. Or maybe it's because this city is cool. Really cool.

Inside the main Batu Cave, Temple Cave.

We visited the Petronas Towers, which were the world's tallest towers from 1998-2004. But in reading about it I figured out that these measurements are a bit controversial. They are the world's tallest if measured from the main entrance to the structural top. In terms of height to roof, it is a bit shorter than the Sears Tower in Chicago.
These towers are beautiful! They have a bridge that connect them on the 41st floor and the architecture is just elegant looking in a concrete/glass/metal kind of way. We took about a million pictures of them and then I laid on my back looking up at them. I couldn't help but recall the last time I was laying on my back looking up at the twin towers in NYC. They fell two days later. I have to admit, I cried a little looking up at the Petronas Towers.

We also took a bus out to the Batu Caves. These caves house Hindu shrines and every year in Jan/Feb a million people come on a pilgrimage for the Thaipusam festival to these caves. David and I saw a special on this awhile ago on T.V. It's fascinating, in a masochistic kind of way, because those that make this pilgrimage whip themselves continuously and also hang hooks in their flesh, and pierce rods through themselves, etc. There is a documentary on the grounds showing this festival but it was closed when we were there. Outside the main cave, Temple Cave, is a large golden statue of Lord Murugan which was unveiled recently - Jan. 2006. There are 272 steps (which were built in 1920) to climb in order to get inside the cave. The other caves were closed for reconstruction.

It seriously took three different people to take our photo before we got a good one! Some people either just don't care, or really don't know how to look through a viewfinder and push a button.

There is also a lot of delicious food to be eaten here, and for pretty inexpensive. We usually have Na an, or Indian bread, for brunch, for only $3 including a fruit smoothie (we are usually out of bed too late to call it breakfast!), and then we find a good restaurant as we are walking around the city at night.

This is a traditional Malaysian dessert. It's like an elaborate sno-cone. It has shaved ice with syrup and condensed milk poured on top. Underneath is different types of jelly (more like a weird jell-o), cashews, corn, and dried some-kind-of-fruit. I didn't like it.

Pulau Tioman, Malaysia

2007-07-20T09:55:00.001-07:00

The island is mostly covered in Jungle, with all the restaurants and hotels on the beach.

One of the restaurants where we ate dinner.

One the ferry, heading to the island. I was so glad it had A/C!

Dave and I spent a couple days on a little island on the southeast coast of Malaysia called Pulau Tioman. We had our own little chalet for $12/night right on the beach.

The view outside our room.

Our Chalet.

One day we rented a kayak and snorkeling gear and headed out into the ocean.
The water here is amazing! It's a perfect aqua and so clear. We paddled around a big rocky ledge away from the main beach and banked. The snorkeling was pretty incredible. We didn't see a huge variety of colorful fish, like Hawaii, but the coral was breathtaking. Fluorescent pink, orange, green, blue, yellow... I was awed by it and didn't even care that I wasn't chasing a huge turtle (Hawaii!). After kicking around in the water for awhile we kayaked to a tiny island comprised of huge boulders piled on top of each other. We scratched up the bottom of our kayak on the rocks, making sure it wouldn't float away in the current, and did some more snorkeling. At one point my mask stopped suctioning to my face, so we got out and climbed the rock island. The sun was starting to go down and it was beautiful. I wish I had a waterproof camera so that I could have captured it!

We were able to capture this sunset.

On the beach we noticed a reptile swimming in the little ocean lagoon just off the beach. I was so excited, assuming it was an alligator or a crocodile, but it didn't have a long snout. I thought it could be a Komodo Dragon because they were popular in Indonesia and it was big enough. We asked some locals and these long creatures are iguanas!!! I couldn't believe it. I have never seen such big lizards. They are seriously longer than me! Dave threw a couple little rocks towards one to see what reaction it would give and it completely ignored us. I was glad!

For those of you who may not know this, David is addicted to ice-cream. Luckily, ice-cream is abundant here!

Burger stand. It was pretty good. I got a chicken and egg burger.

After spending a couple nights here we just didn't get any kind of vibe from this place. It was disappointing and actually a little confusing. We have had such strong impressions from Bali. Perhaps it's unfair to compare, but there was nothing going on here, so we decided to move on.

Getting off the ferry coming back from Pulau Tioman Island.

Fishing off the pier.

Sleeping Suzie

2007-07-19T09:24:00.002-07:00

We were staying in a hostel that had a crazy lady that worked the night shift. Dave and another guy were watching TV one night and she turned it off in the middle of their show. There was no curfew and they didn't know why she did it. She ended up screaming at Dave and this other guy and losing her mind. Another time, Dave told her he didn't have a pillow. Instead of giving Dave a pillow, she insisted someone else in the dorm must have 2 pillows, so she ran upstairs to our dorm (everyone else was asleep), threw open the door, turned on the light, and began inspecting beds to see who the culprit was. Dave had to tell her to leave the room, he turned off the light, and told her, "forget it" and slept without a pillow that night.

Dave wrote up a complaint and when he gave it to the day shift they rejoiced. Literally. Apparently everyone hates her because she's rude.

So Dave was in the common room one night and he got a picture of this:

And printed a couple copies and gave one to the day shift worker, tacked one up in our room, and gave one to HER. Fun times.

Singapore

2007-07-15T03:57:00.001-07:00

We left Bali at 10:30 PM on July 12. We arrived in Singapore at 12:30 AM on July 13. I didn't realize until after booking the flight that the public transportation in Singapore closes at midnight. We weren't about to spend $25 on a taxi so we slept at the airport. We bought our flight tickets for $212 (total, for both of us) although at the travel agencies we were quoted about $300 each. It's amazing how much people love to rip other people off.

Singapore feels like home. Everyone speaks English, and it's very modernized here. We are ready to move on. :)

We have done a few interesting things. We went to Sentosa Island via cable car and walked around this touristy paradise. We also rode a Luge. It was fun, but way too short.

We have visited a couple war museums. They are fascinating. I think my favorite was the Battle Box, in the middle of Singapore. It's a bunker 9 meters underground that was used for communication mostly. When Japan took Singapore, they used it for a short time. When Japan surrendered, the bunker was sealed until 50 years ago. They opened it up, spent $3 million, and turned it into a fantastic museum. They even have figures of the major generals during WW2 that were in the bunker, and they are so realistic looking!

We have seen some neat temples and mosques. When I backpacked Europe, I grew tired of the endless cathedrals. In Southeast Asia, I am getting tired of the endless temples and mosques! But I see as many as I can anyway!

We also visited Clarke Quay. There are many upscale shops and restaurants on the riverfront. You can take a little wooden boat ferry to the other Quays. It was really pretty. Unfortunately, we went there when we were starving but we didn't want to spend a bunch of money on dinner. We ended up finding a McDonalds, and had dinner there.

We have been in Little India a lot as well. We have eaten some of the best food so far on our trip (in my opinion). I never crave Indian food, but every time I eat it, I remember why it's probably my most favorite food.

Oh, by the way, it's HOT here! It's extremely hot and suffocatingly humid.

More to come, and pics as well. We are heading to Malaysia tomorrow morning!

Likes and Dislikes

2007-07-11T23:07:00.001-07:00

Dave and I went on a night hike to the top of a volcano that last erupted in 2000. Behind us, you can see the steam rising from the crater. This is shortly after seeing the sun rise.

We are leaving tonight for Singapore. Below I have comprised a short list of the good and the bad of our stay in Bali.

What I’ll miss about Bali:

Saying “Thank you” in Indonesian, TERIMA KASIH. It rolls off the tongue nicely.

Indonesian tea. I know it’s really hot out, but their tea is so good!

Indonesian food, especially Gado-gado. So good, so cheap.

Monkeys.

Delicious fresh fruit juice blended with ice or yogurt for only 45 cents!

Really cheap massages.

Really cheap rooms.

Plumeria flowers everywhere.

We went to a Safari Park, where none of the animals are caged and you can actually feed a lot of them from your car! It was so much fun! Especially when we went through the Lions and Tigers (no, you can't feed them.)

This guy actually started bumping the back of our car with his huge horns. We quickly moved forward. Amazingly, it didn't do any damage.

Watching little kids fly homemade kites.

Seeing used books for sale all around and being able to trade in books I’ve already read.

Watching the sun rise while on top of a volcanic crater.

What I won’t miss about Bali:

Stray, diseased dogs hanging around everywhere.

Mean monkeys.

Rats scurrying around above me while I sleep.

We only spent one night here......I'm sure you can see why. See, we're "roughing" it! It's not all paradise.

Roosters!

Being asked every 5 seconds, “Transport?”

Being pressured to buy something, “For good luck.” Whatever that means.

Gorgeous! Good job Dave!