oh jeez. I don't have time so this will be very quick.
there was no opera that night...our hotel was apparently oblivious...so we got a nice dinner by the lake instead.
the next day we left for a two day boat trip on a traditional Vietnamese Junk Boat. think Asian pirate ship. it was awesome. we had a great group, kayaked between the beautiful jutting limestone cliffs, ate traditional food, saw floating villages, explored caves in the islands, had a great dinner, did some swimming and got to jump off the top of the boat, played hours of drinking games which led to climbing the mast of the ship (I have NO CLUE who started that one...hehe. =P) and eventually some more...uh...swimming. haha. it was a very memorable night. =D
the next day we visited some more islands and then got lunch and headed back to Hanoi. Marissa and I explored for a bit, got dinner, and then I commandeered a dvd player that was left out in the hallway and we watched a few more episodes of Sex And The City while packing to fly out the next morning. I carefully returned the DVD player before going to bed and got off clean. =D
we flew back to Bangkok, Thailand the next morning and spent the day doing traditional Thai things like getting massages, facials, masks, PadThai, bananna pancakes and wandering the markets. Marissa said her goodbyes around 10pm and left for the airport. so now...for the first time...I'm international. alone. what a neat feeling.
I spent the rest of the night trying to kill the last of my cell phone/international minutes and got to bed pretty late.
The next day was mellow. not much to report. I had booked a tour but cancelled it because I can't shell out $40 for a day on the beach. I'm getting pretty poor pretty fast. eeek.
The next afternoon I flew out of BKK and into Hong Kong. it was quite hectic getting in...but eventually I found a bus, found the main area of the city, found an affordable guesthouse with dorms, figured out the currency, got some shopping in, met my dorm-mates (three cool guys studying in China...two from Australia, one from England) who were on a weekend holiday away. we wandered a bit around downtown Hong Kong and eventually ended up in a pretty cool bar...and we stayed out pretty late. maybe 5:30am? yeah. it was a good night.
fyi: I've sworn off fast food forever. watching them eat McDonalds at 5am reminded me of how gross the fast food culture is. two months and going strong! =D
the next day I explored a bit, saw the sights, got some odd food...no clue what it was, but it was pretty good....met up with my group, we all went out for dinner and then I headed off on my own to see the view of the city at night from 'the peak'. it was amazing and I have lots of great pictures. I got back around midnight and went to bed.
my new roommate and I wandered around looking for breakfast in the morning...it's really odd to have to find a store for food. I'm so used to it being on the sidewalk! I tried some break, but it made me feel a bit sick so I found a bananna and a pineapple shake and ate that. yum. we people watched for a while....or really watched people stare openly at us...and then met back up with the group and took a seried of trains across the border and into China. we caught an overnight train into somewhere and then grabbed a bus to our hotel in Yangshuo. which...lucky me...is an international rock climbing hotspot. thank god for natural limestone cliffs. =D
so...it's 9am and I'm going to take a shower and go climbing. later!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
and in an instant all my time has dissappeared.
oh jeez. I feel like time is spinning faster and faster every day and there's just no way to slow it down!!!!
so the next day our boat tour people never came and picked us up, so we called and rescheduiled for the next day...which was fine because it was pouring! we decided to go for a spa day and took a taxi to the local spa famous for it's mud baths. we enjoyed our mud, relaxed in some mineral water and then headed back to town for some food and to book our train up the coast to Hoi An. somewhere along the way I lost my amazing (and expensive) Marmot raincoat. ugh. we ended up wandering all day and then getting dressedup and heading to a local bar/hotspot that was hosting a Reggae(sp?) night. we had some drinks, danced a bit, played pool and met some nice guys who took us out for a late dinner. Marissas guy was from Wisconsin and my date for the night was from Barcelona. after our dinner we went out for a few more drinks and eventually called it a late night.
The boat tour actually picked us up the next day, and we were off for a fun day in the sun. good thing we missed it the day before! we stopped at a few different islands, had a nice buffet lunch on the boat, sang, danced, laid on the beach and got to snorkel in the most beautiful coral reef I've ever seen. it was an amazing day! we got back in the evening and mellowed out for a bit before our train that night. we caught our overnight train to De Nang and then (when we got in at 4am) took a half hour taxi ride to Hoi An. sadly, with the holiday, everything was full so we had to take a hard sleeper to the next town up and then backtrack. we got in and discovered that there were no hotels available yet. we found one that seemed nice and waited in the lobby till almost 7:30 for a room. finally we were given a room and we took a nap. eventually we wandered out into the town of a thousand tailors and met with the shopping city that I'm sure people only dream about.
think it, design it, copy it...who cares! just buy it! you can have anything your heart desires made for you in this quaint riverside town. oh, and for CHEAP. I spent my day designing two pairs of sandals, buying the most beautiful silk dress I've ever laid eyes on, designing a coat, buying and then altering another silk dress that I had found into a dressy shirt and eventually designing from scratch my very own pair of high heels to match my new dream dress...and everything is made to fit me perfectly. I chose the fabric, styles, buttons, clasps, trim...everything. I spent less than $60 on it all and am so excited to get home and wear it!!! (especially the dress and heels...now all I need is an excuse to go on a nice date. any takers?)
that night, feeling quite satisfied from our shopping, Marissa and I wandered down to the riverside and found a quaint resteraunt with fantastic food to share a romantic dinner at. afterwards we walked down the cobblestone streets and followed the river for a while...just enjoying the warm peaceful night. what a beautiful town, what amazing people, what an experience!
we walked around the next day collecting our custom made purchases and sampeling local foods. I took a nice walk by the river in the morning and ate my breakfast sitting on the banks and talking with the wonderful locals. Marissa went off on her own for the morning. we finished herding our purchases by 1...just enough time to head back to the hotel and catch our series of busses to Hanoi. it wasa long day of driving in a cramped local bus before we hit Hue and hopped on our sleeper bus for the night. we had bought tickets for a nice comfy bus but they just put us on the crap bus instead...so we were forced into tiny spaces, couldn't lay or sit and huddled like that for hours. it wasn't the best experience. Marissa was feeling quite claustrophobis...so she went to bed early. I entertained two sweedish boys who were laying next to me (literally they lay you shoulder to shoulder with people on these tiny mats on the floor...like 40 other people) with my laptop and the original Indiana Jones series. We all fell asleep somewhere through the seccond movie and I slept restlessly, unintentionally spooning with two very attractive Sweedish boys. thank god for small favors. haha. we finally made it into town around 7am, got a hotel, took a much needed nap, grabbed some really good vietnamese food and explored the city by foot and in a Cyclo (pedal-powered cart taxi).
all I can say is that this place is a beautiful madhouse and even while I'm typing this I can look out the windows of the hotel and see merchants sitting on the sidewalk selling everything from live fish to pigs feet, herbs, vegetables, clothes and even sex. ick. I just watched a woman take a live fish, throw it on the sidewalk, cut it's head off, throw it in a plastic bag and sell it to a man for dinner. yay. I'm getting used to seeing dead animals everywhere...although seeing the brains, organs, feet, eyes and faces for sale still creeps me out a bit. what I think will always bug me is the smell that these markets always have. and it's unavoidable because the merkets are the sidewalks...everywhere. oh well, I'm getting used to it. =D
time to go clean up,get dinner and go to a Vietnamese Opera with my wonderful date Marissa!
so the next day our boat tour people never came and picked us up, so we called and rescheduiled for the next day...which was fine because it was pouring! we decided to go for a spa day and took a taxi to the local spa famous for it's mud baths. we enjoyed our mud, relaxed in some mineral water and then headed back to town for some food and to book our train up the coast to Hoi An. somewhere along the way I lost my amazing (and expensive) Marmot raincoat. ugh. we ended up wandering all day and then getting dressedup and heading to a local bar/hotspot that was hosting a Reggae(sp?) night. we had some drinks, danced a bit, played pool and met some nice guys who took us out for a late dinner. Marissas guy was from Wisconsin and my date for the night was from Barcelona. after our dinner we went out for a few more drinks and eventually called it a late night.
The boat tour actually picked us up the next day, and we were off for a fun day in the sun. good thing we missed it the day before! we stopped at a few different islands, had a nice buffet lunch on the boat, sang, danced, laid on the beach and got to snorkel in the most beautiful coral reef I've ever seen. it was an amazing day! we got back in the evening and mellowed out for a bit before our train that night. we caught our overnight train to De Nang and then (when we got in at 4am) took a half hour taxi ride to Hoi An. sadly, with the holiday, everything was full so we had to take a hard sleeper to the next town up and then backtrack. we got in and discovered that there were no hotels available yet. we found one that seemed nice and waited in the lobby till almost 7:30 for a room. finally we were given a room and we took a nap. eventually we wandered out into the town of a thousand tailors and met with the shopping city that I'm sure people only dream about.
think it, design it, copy it...who cares! just buy it! you can have anything your heart desires made for you in this quaint riverside town. oh, and for CHEAP. I spent my day designing two pairs of sandals, buying the most beautiful silk dress I've ever laid eyes on, designing a coat, buying and then altering another silk dress that I had found into a dressy shirt and eventually designing from scratch my very own pair of high heels to match my new dream dress...and everything is made to fit me perfectly. I chose the fabric, styles, buttons, clasps, trim...everything. I spent less than $60 on it all and am so excited to get home and wear it!!! (especially the dress and heels...now all I need is an excuse to go on a nice date. any takers?)
that night, feeling quite satisfied from our shopping, Marissa and I wandered down to the riverside and found a quaint resteraunt with fantastic food to share a romantic dinner at. afterwards we walked down the cobblestone streets and followed the river for a while...just enjoying the warm peaceful night. what a beautiful town, what amazing people, what an experience!
we walked around the next day collecting our custom made purchases and sampeling local foods. I took a nice walk by the river in the morning and ate my breakfast sitting on the banks and talking with the wonderful locals. Marissa went off on her own for the morning. we finished herding our purchases by 1...just enough time to head back to the hotel and catch our series of busses to Hanoi. it wasa long day of driving in a cramped local bus before we hit Hue and hopped on our sleeper bus for the night. we had bought tickets for a nice comfy bus but they just put us on the crap bus instead...so we were forced into tiny spaces, couldn't lay or sit and huddled like that for hours. it wasn't the best experience. Marissa was feeling quite claustrophobis...so she went to bed early. I entertained two sweedish boys who were laying next to me (literally they lay you shoulder to shoulder with people on these tiny mats on the floor...like 40 other people) with my laptop and the original Indiana Jones series. We all fell asleep somewhere through the seccond movie and I slept restlessly, unintentionally spooning with two very attractive Sweedish boys. thank god for small favors. haha. we finally made it into town around 7am, got a hotel, took a much needed nap, grabbed some really good vietnamese food and explored the city by foot and in a Cyclo (pedal-powered cart taxi).
all I can say is that this place is a beautiful madhouse and even while I'm typing this I can look out the windows of the hotel and see merchants sitting on the sidewalk selling everything from live fish to pigs feet, herbs, vegetables, clothes and even sex. ick. I just watched a woman take a live fish, throw it on the sidewalk, cut it's head off, throw it in a plastic bag and sell it to a man for dinner. yay. I'm getting used to seeing dead animals everywhere...although seeing the brains, organs, feet, eyes and faces for sale still creeps me out a bit. what I think will always bug me is the smell that these markets always have. and it's unavoidable because the merkets are the sidewalks...everywhere. oh well, I'm getting used to it. =D
time to go clean up,get dinner and go to a Vietnamese Opera with my wonderful date Marissa!
Friday, May 1, 2009
April showers and May flowers.
happy May! this is the last month of my amazing journey and I'm already loving it.
I can't believe I've been gone for two full months already. how time flies. and yet...every day seems like a week. my life has been so jampacked with fun activities, cool people, amazing sights and awesome adventures that I've hardly had time to breathe...let alone sleep! I got 8 hours of sleep for the first time in almost a month last night and it felt amazing!
I'm currently sitting in some odd hotel on the oceanside city of Nha Trang, Vietnam. yes...I'm in Vietnam! I love it here already and can tell that the next 9 days are going to be amazing.
so...I don't know where I left off, but I'm going to say what I can remember in my limited internet time.
our last day in Cambodia was really busy. we took a bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh in the early am, checked out the Killing fields and S-21 prison, got some lunch, talked and read up on some Cambodian history...particularly pertaining to the genocide, and then wandered a bit at night. I feel like I've already written this. hmmm. yeah...so we had a nice dinner and then I scooted off to an internet cafe/international call cafe via motorbike (it took forever to find one open at midnight!) and made an impromptu phone call to Brian at work. he seemed pleasently surprised. =D we talked for about 20 minutes and then I called it a night. my driver took me back to my hotel and I passed out in our tiny little room beside the Phnom Penh river.
we left pretty early the next day to hit up Vietnam. 8 hours later we were in Hoh Chi Minh City and scouting out hotels. we finally found one that seemed quite nice (thanks Lonely Planet!!!) and rented a room for a whopping $18 a night. it's a bit pricy in Saigon. seriously. at least breakfast and dinners were free and tea/coffee was available free at any point of the day. we always missed breakfast, but we got two decent ramen noodle dinners in and a few cold tea breaks.
while in the city for two days we managed to hit up some sweet markets, visit the War Remnants Meuseam (oh boy was that intense...both Marissa and I were brought to tears. I was a bit ashamed to admit I was an American upon leaving the Meuseam.), get some yummy Vietnamese food, eat loads of fresh fruit, ride a million different motorbikes, chat eachother up for HOURS (I feel like we're finally in the swing of things and getting along better now than ever before. it's a bit of a relief because I feel like we were butting heads for a little while there. I'm still excited to get some alone-traveling in, but I'll be enjoying her company for her last few days with me.), watch a million episodes of Sex And The City (I bought all 7 seasos for us$6...oh yeah! haha. we rented a DVD player and had a mellow girls night of all American R&R. Ritz crackers, Oreos, Coke and NYC style entertainment. if we could have added pizza we might have ignored the time difference and thought we were home!) and fall in love with Vietnamese hospitality.
Saigon is a beautiful bustling city that is always full of excitement and energy. with motorbikes zipping around everywhere, everyone honking a cautious 'hey, just letting you know I'm right here' and pedestriand truly having the right of way it seems more chaotic than anything else. but, step into trafic and watch the sea of vehicles part like the red sea and reach the other side as safely as if there hadn't been 1.6 thousand people flying past either side of you. it truly is an experience that everyone needs to have for themselves at some point. I've never seen such organized chaos in my entire life. there aren't street lights, only a portion of the intersections are roundabouts, and everyone has the right of way...simultaneously. you can drive on either side of the road (although technically the right side is the corrent side) and if the road gets busy...don't fret! there's always the sidewalk available.
I only really thought about it today, while taking the notorious motorbike to the train station, that accidents can easily happen. I was on the back of the bike trying to maintain balance with my pack perched atop my back. it's getting a bit heavy as it's now laiden with two months worth of souvineers...ugh, and it's absolute dead weight at all times...especially on a motorbike. at one point a zippy little bike cut us off and in doing so he grazed my left leg a bit. it wasn't until that monent that I really thought about how bad it could potentially be to get into a motorbike accident in such heavy traffic. especially with the bag on...I would never be able to bail off the bike with that huge pack on...which seems odd to me because I'm so used to being able to hop off to prevent myself from getting stuck between the bikes. I felt a bit exposed and it got me thinking...how safe is safe really?
we take for granted that we have cars back home, but this is obviously a lifestyle that is maintainable, and there don't seem to be an obsene amount of accidents daily. I'll continue to use the bikes as they are the fastest, cheapest and most efficient method of getting around in these busy cities even though they are a bit dangerous. and fun. =D
it has been quite rainy here lately...it rains at least once a day here, but everything is starting to get greener and soon I'll be in China for the most beautiful time of the year...to see the flowers blooming everywhere! I'm very excited.
okay...to finish this off and walk back across town to my hotel and go to bed. I'm sure Marissa is already dreaming by now. haha. I'm always out way past her bedtime. she marvels at how I'm usually awake before her as well. I guess everyone needs different levels of sleep, and currently my requirement is next to nothing. hers runs at around 6-8 hours for maximum happiness the next day.
today we left Saigon around noon and boarded our train to the infamous Vietnamese coast. we patiently waited our 7 long hours until finally we had arrived. we hired a few eager motos (leaving an ever greater hord of dissappointed drivers behind) and headed into the hotel area of our new home away from home...Nha Trang...beach city extrodinare. we sterted hotel hunting and realized that everywhere seemed to be booked because it's a national Vietnamese holiday. gee...great. haha. I decided that we needed to lose the packs and look a bit less desperate. we headed into a travel agency and asked very politely if they could watch our bags while we found a hotel and that we're looking to do a tour the next day. they seemed happy to help (and maybe make some money off us) and we kept shpooing for our glass slipper hotel (...or to be honest any slipper!). we found a hotel that kindly offered us a mat and pillow in the hallway for free with a hot shower in the morning if we couldn't find anywhere to stay. we thanked them and continued on. (I really would have stayed but I think Marissa was keen on a bed. ahh...to have a free place to stay!) oh well...eventually we found a run down overpriced hotel that I haggled down the room rates to an unworthy $15 a night. we took the room out of desperation and groaned a bit at the current holiday that was taking all the overnight train tickets (we hadn't wanted to waste a day traveling), jacking up the hotel prices, taking all the stupid hotel rooms and as we would later find out...really really jacking up the tour prices. oh well. we can't have it all. we settled in a bit, headed out to book our tour, Marissa gave in and bought a personal pizza, we sat on the beach and talked for a while and now here I am. Marissa opted for the shower/sleep sort of night and I decided to take a different path and wander the city looking for internet. after much wandering I found another hotel boasting internet. I happily sat down and started typing this incredibly long blog. and now you're completely up to date.
okay...I need to head out and get some sleep. we have a full day island hopping tour tomorrow that leaves at like 8am or something silly. I hope everyone has a wonderful day (as it's hardly noon there) and I really hope to hear from everyone soon. it makes my day to get all your emails and comments. keep up the good work. <3
I'm going away now
but I'm not giving up
I'm miles and miles away
but I'm not giving up
I can't believe I've been gone for two full months already. how time flies. and yet...every day seems like a week. my life has been so jampacked with fun activities, cool people, amazing sights and awesome adventures that I've hardly had time to breathe...let alone sleep! I got 8 hours of sleep for the first time in almost a month last night and it felt amazing!
I'm currently sitting in some odd hotel on the oceanside city of Nha Trang, Vietnam. yes...I'm in Vietnam! I love it here already and can tell that the next 9 days are going to be amazing.
so...I don't know where I left off, but I'm going to say what I can remember in my limited internet time.
our last day in Cambodia was really busy. we took a bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh in the early am, checked out the Killing fields and S-21 prison, got some lunch, talked and read up on some Cambodian history...particularly pertaining to the genocide, and then wandered a bit at night. I feel like I've already written this. hmmm. yeah...so we had a nice dinner and then I scooted off to an internet cafe/international call cafe via motorbike (it took forever to find one open at midnight!) and made an impromptu phone call to Brian at work. he seemed pleasently surprised. =D we talked for about 20 minutes and then I called it a night. my driver took me back to my hotel and I passed out in our tiny little room beside the Phnom Penh river.
we left pretty early the next day to hit up Vietnam. 8 hours later we were in Hoh Chi Minh City and scouting out hotels. we finally found one that seemed quite nice (thanks Lonely Planet!!!) and rented a room for a whopping $18 a night. it's a bit pricy in Saigon. seriously. at least breakfast and dinners were free and tea/coffee was available free at any point of the day. we always missed breakfast, but we got two decent ramen noodle dinners in and a few cold tea breaks.
while in the city for two days we managed to hit up some sweet markets, visit the War Remnants Meuseam (oh boy was that intense...both Marissa and I were brought to tears. I was a bit ashamed to admit I was an American upon leaving the Meuseam.), get some yummy Vietnamese food, eat loads of fresh fruit, ride a million different motorbikes, chat eachother up for HOURS (I feel like we're finally in the swing of things and getting along better now than ever before. it's a bit of a relief because I feel like we were butting heads for a little while there. I'm still excited to get some alone-traveling in, but I'll be enjoying her company for her last few days with me.), watch a million episodes of Sex And The City (I bought all 7 seasos for us$6...oh yeah! haha. we rented a DVD player and had a mellow girls night of all American R&R. Ritz crackers, Oreos, Coke and NYC style entertainment. if we could have added pizza we might have ignored the time difference and thought we were home!) and fall in love with Vietnamese hospitality.
Saigon is a beautiful bustling city that is always full of excitement and energy. with motorbikes zipping around everywhere, everyone honking a cautious 'hey, just letting you know I'm right here' and pedestriand truly having the right of way it seems more chaotic than anything else. but, step into trafic and watch the sea of vehicles part like the red sea and reach the other side as safely as if there hadn't been 1.6 thousand people flying past either side of you. it truly is an experience that everyone needs to have for themselves at some point. I've never seen such organized chaos in my entire life. there aren't street lights, only a portion of the intersections are roundabouts, and everyone has the right of way...simultaneously. you can drive on either side of the road (although technically the right side is the corrent side) and if the road gets busy...don't fret! there's always the sidewalk available.
I only really thought about it today, while taking the notorious motorbike to the train station, that accidents can easily happen. I was on the back of the bike trying to maintain balance with my pack perched atop my back. it's getting a bit heavy as it's now laiden with two months worth of souvineers...ugh, and it's absolute dead weight at all times...especially on a motorbike. at one point a zippy little bike cut us off and in doing so he grazed my left leg a bit. it wasn't until that monent that I really thought about how bad it could potentially be to get into a motorbike accident in such heavy traffic. especially with the bag on...I would never be able to bail off the bike with that huge pack on...which seems odd to me because I'm so used to being able to hop off to prevent myself from getting stuck between the bikes. I felt a bit exposed and it got me thinking...how safe is safe really?
we take for granted that we have cars back home, but this is obviously a lifestyle that is maintainable, and there don't seem to be an obsene amount of accidents daily. I'll continue to use the bikes as they are the fastest, cheapest and most efficient method of getting around in these busy cities even though they are a bit dangerous. and fun. =D
it has been quite rainy here lately...it rains at least once a day here, but everything is starting to get greener and soon I'll be in China for the most beautiful time of the year...to see the flowers blooming everywhere! I'm very excited.
okay...to finish this off and walk back across town to my hotel and go to bed. I'm sure Marissa is already dreaming by now. haha. I'm always out way past her bedtime. she marvels at how I'm usually awake before her as well. I guess everyone needs different levels of sleep, and currently my requirement is next to nothing. hers runs at around 6-8 hours for maximum happiness the next day.
today we left Saigon around noon and boarded our train to the infamous Vietnamese coast. we patiently waited our 7 long hours until finally we had arrived. we hired a few eager motos (leaving an ever greater hord of dissappointed drivers behind) and headed into the hotel area of our new home away from home...Nha Trang...beach city extrodinare. we sterted hotel hunting and realized that everywhere seemed to be booked because it's a national Vietnamese holiday. gee...great. haha. I decided that we needed to lose the packs and look a bit less desperate. we headed into a travel agency and asked very politely if they could watch our bags while we found a hotel and that we're looking to do a tour the next day. they seemed happy to help (and maybe make some money off us) and we kept shpooing for our glass slipper hotel (...or to be honest any slipper!). we found a hotel that kindly offered us a mat and pillow in the hallway for free with a hot shower in the morning if we couldn't find anywhere to stay. we thanked them and continued on. (I really would have stayed but I think Marissa was keen on a bed. ahh...to have a free place to stay!) oh well...eventually we found a run down overpriced hotel that I haggled down the room rates to an unworthy $15 a night. we took the room out of desperation and groaned a bit at the current holiday that was taking all the overnight train tickets (we hadn't wanted to waste a day traveling), jacking up the hotel prices, taking all the stupid hotel rooms and as we would later find out...really really jacking up the tour prices. oh well. we can't have it all. we settled in a bit, headed out to book our tour, Marissa gave in and bought a personal pizza, we sat on the beach and talked for a while and now here I am. Marissa opted for the shower/sleep sort of night and I decided to take a different path and wander the city looking for internet. after much wandering I found another hotel boasting internet. I happily sat down and started typing this incredibly long blog. and now you're completely up to date.
okay...I need to head out and get some sleep. we have a full day island hopping tour tomorrow that leaves at like 8am or something silly. I hope everyone has a wonderful day (as it's hardly noon there) and I really hope to hear from everyone soon. it makes my day to get all your emails and comments. keep up the good work. <3
I'm going away now
but I'm not giving up
I'm miles and miles away
but I'm not giving up
Saturday, April 25, 2009
just breathe it all in...
hey!
I'm back in Bangkok just in time for the state of emergency to be lifted...which is a relief.
yesterday was the last day of our tour and even though it's a bit sad to say goodbye I'm looking forward to exploring Cambodia and Vietnam and then venturing off on my own for Hong Kong and China.
so...yeah. we took the overnight train from ChaingMai to Bangkok and arrived pretty early in the morning. We took cabs to our hotel and were lucky enough to be let into the rooms early to take a bit of a nap. I got a few hours of rest while Marissa read a bit and then we cleaned up and went out to explore the city a bit. we took a cab to the weekend market (or the JJ Market to locals), did some amazing shopping, got some food and then headed back to the hotel to get dressed up a bit for our last group dinner. we all headed out to a very nice restaurant on the river and our tour guide ordered maybe a dozen different dishes for us all to try and share. it was quite nice.
afterward we wasted a bit of time and then a few of us headed into the red light district of Bangkok for a bit of adventure. besides the fact that everyone in the whole frickin city tries to con, scam and trick you it was a good experience. you just need to be wary here and very firm about what you want and don't take no for an answer.
we saw some interesting stuff that I really don't feel like writing down and eventually the British ladies and I decided that we'd had enough so we took a cab to Kosan rd and hit up a nightclub.
we drank, we danced and then they disappeared. I hung out with a group of lovely Irish folks and made it back to my hotel by about 5:30 am.
[[ran out of time while updating a few days ago so finishing now.]]
the next day we slept in a bit and then moved to our original hostel for a night before departing for Cambodia. we spent the day enjoying Thai food, did a bit of shopping, spent some much needed time on the internet, booked a bus to Siem Reap, Cambodia and a flight back to Bangkok from Hanoi, Vietnam. it was, overall, a very busy day. we also managed to walk right by this cute Indian restaurant somewhere in the city. we decided to stop and eat dinner there and it was such a great experience. we sat on the upstairs deck, but the tables were low to the ground with large square pillows to sit on. the food was fantastic, everyone had hookahs, the music and setting were incredibly mellow and the place had a great atmosphere. our table had jenga and we just played, talked, ate and enjoyed our beautiful view of Thai temples from our Indian porch oasis. I would go back in a heartbeat.
that night while we were trying to sleep in sticky 90 degree heat all we could hear was rioting. we would hear megaphoned "ka koe kahsdfgy smhefwr" or something ridiculous in Thai and then a huge "YEAH!!!" or the Thai version of it at least. it was ridiculously loud even though it was practically across the city and it kept us up until the wee hours of the hot morning.
so the next day we stumbled out of bed early to catch our bus to Siem Reap...home to Angkor Wat and lots of other amazing temple ruins. we crossed the border safely and made it into town at a reasonable hour. we went to a temple on a small mountain to watch the sunset and instead enjoyed watching lightning roll in from the distance. it really was beautiful...seeing the lightning flash behind these amazing ruins. it felt a bit surreal and really intense. I loved it. what a great first Angkor Wat experience! afterwards Marissa went out to dinner and I stayed in the hotel room reading my deformed Cambodian Lonely Planet book because I wasn't feeling very well. I bought it from a street boy thinking $2 was a great deal and later realized that every other page wasn't cut apart...so here I am reading this stupid book and cutting the pages apart as I'm reading it. yay. haha. lesson learned. it was in plastic wrap for a reason! Marissa surprised me and brought me back some really good soup and rice that helped settle my stomach a bit. I'm really tired of being so sick. this needs to go away but I feel like it's just getting worse! I finally got to bed at around 1am.
I then woke up at 4am to shower and catch my very own tuk tuk to watch the sun rise over the temples of Angkor Wat. it was beautiful. words can't explain it so I won't even try. I then explored the most amazing ruins I've ever seen in my life...weather in person or pictures. I realize that this is only the 8th wonder of the world but it should be in the top 7. I was literally laughing out loud for the first hour or so because I was so happy. I was exploring the most beautiful temple ruins that look like they were built only a couple hundred years ago as opposed to thousands. everything was perfect, I was alone in the temples for most of the morning and I was so happy I could pop. Marissa had opted for biking the temples...which made it more athletic but cut down the number of temples she could see to less than four in a day. I was VERY happy I had hired a tuk tuk for the day. he took me everywhere...including the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed. I ended up running into Marissa at the actual Angkor Wat temple and we hung out for an hour and had lunch together...and then it was off again to see more temples. I stayed long enough to see the sun set over a large and deserted temple and then caught a long and sleepy ride back to the hotel where i met up with Marissa, showered and we went out for a great dinner in town. after that it was sleep and nothing could have been better after 14 hours of temple exploring in the hot hot heat. this was easily one of the best days of my trip so far if not the best. it could even be in the running for one of the best days of my life. I think everyone should go and spend at least three days. one is just not even close to enough.
this morning we got up early and caught our 6:30 bus to Phnom Penh. we arrived around 1:30 and quickly checked into a hotel, got some yummy lunch ( I had a calzone, OJ and chocolate ice cream...very western and very missed foods!) and grabbed a tuk tuk to see the killing fields and s-21...both historical genocide sited from the struggles just two decades prior. it was pretty depressing and not very informative. I feel like they're really trying to cover up the worst parts of the whole situation by just leaving out the information. luckily I bought the book, and it's very informative...even though it's looking a bit worse for wear now that it's all cut up.
we then came back to the hotel, got cleaned up and went out to a REALLY nice dinner in a fancy restaurant. we had the whole place to ourselves and it felt more like a boutique restaurant in Vegas or NYC than a high class restaurant in Cambodia. it was amazing! we ordered sushi (mine was veggie...naturally.), smoothies and I got a well deserved salad. it's been a while since I've had lettuce that hasn't been stir fried! we just chatted and enjoyed the atmosphere.
so now I'm here, hanging out on the internet...we catch a bus to Vietnam tomorrow morning so I'm pretty excited! I wish we had more time here, but I'm really glad that I got to see Angkor Wat and that I get to have this experience in the first place! it's so amazing being here!!!!!!!
I'll update again soon. internet is WIDELY available so far.
<3
I've been remembering this poem from when I was a child. I thought I would share it because it always makes me happy. enjoy.
listen to mustn'ts, child, listen to the don'ts.
listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts.
listen to the never haves, then listen close to me.
anything can happen, child, Anything can be.
I just want everyone to rember that anything really is possible. just dream it and let it come true. <3
we must never forget it.
I'm back in Bangkok just in time for the state of emergency to be lifted...which is a relief.
yesterday was the last day of our tour and even though it's a bit sad to say goodbye I'm looking forward to exploring Cambodia and Vietnam and then venturing off on my own for Hong Kong and China.
so...yeah. we took the overnight train from ChaingMai to Bangkok and arrived pretty early in the morning. We took cabs to our hotel and were lucky enough to be let into the rooms early to take a bit of a nap. I got a few hours of rest while Marissa read a bit and then we cleaned up and went out to explore the city a bit. we took a cab to the weekend market (or the JJ Market to locals), did some amazing shopping, got some food and then headed back to the hotel to get dressed up a bit for our last group dinner. we all headed out to a very nice restaurant on the river and our tour guide ordered maybe a dozen different dishes for us all to try and share. it was quite nice.
afterward we wasted a bit of time and then a few of us headed into the red light district of Bangkok for a bit of adventure. besides the fact that everyone in the whole frickin city tries to con, scam and trick you it was a good experience. you just need to be wary here and very firm about what you want and don't take no for an answer.
we saw some interesting stuff that I really don't feel like writing down and eventually the British ladies and I decided that we'd had enough so we took a cab to Kosan rd and hit up a nightclub.
we drank, we danced and then they disappeared. I hung out with a group of lovely Irish folks and made it back to my hotel by about 5:30 am.
[[ran out of time while updating a few days ago so finishing now.]]
the next day we slept in a bit and then moved to our original hostel for a night before departing for Cambodia. we spent the day enjoying Thai food, did a bit of shopping, spent some much needed time on the internet, booked a bus to Siem Reap, Cambodia and a flight back to Bangkok from Hanoi, Vietnam. it was, overall, a very busy day. we also managed to walk right by this cute Indian restaurant somewhere in the city. we decided to stop and eat dinner there and it was such a great experience. we sat on the upstairs deck, but the tables were low to the ground with large square pillows to sit on. the food was fantastic, everyone had hookahs, the music and setting were incredibly mellow and the place had a great atmosphere. our table had jenga and we just played, talked, ate and enjoyed our beautiful view of Thai temples from our Indian porch oasis. I would go back in a heartbeat.
that night while we were trying to sleep in sticky 90 degree heat all we could hear was rioting. we would hear megaphoned "ka koe kahsdfgy smhefwr" or something ridiculous in Thai and then a huge "YEAH!!!" or the Thai version of it at least. it was ridiculously loud even though it was practically across the city and it kept us up until the wee hours of the hot morning.
so the next day we stumbled out of bed early to catch our bus to Siem Reap...home to Angkor Wat and lots of other amazing temple ruins. we crossed the border safely and made it into town at a reasonable hour. we went to a temple on a small mountain to watch the sunset and instead enjoyed watching lightning roll in from the distance. it really was beautiful...seeing the lightning flash behind these amazing ruins. it felt a bit surreal and really intense. I loved it. what a great first Angkor Wat experience! afterwards Marissa went out to dinner and I stayed in the hotel room reading my deformed Cambodian Lonely Planet book because I wasn't feeling very well. I bought it from a street boy thinking $2 was a great deal and later realized that every other page wasn't cut apart...so here I am reading this stupid book and cutting the pages apart as I'm reading it. yay. haha. lesson learned. it was in plastic wrap for a reason! Marissa surprised me and brought me back some really good soup and rice that helped settle my stomach a bit. I'm really tired of being so sick. this needs to go away but I feel like it's just getting worse! I finally got to bed at around 1am.
I then woke up at 4am to shower and catch my very own tuk tuk to watch the sun rise over the temples of Angkor Wat. it was beautiful. words can't explain it so I won't even try. I then explored the most amazing ruins I've ever seen in my life...weather in person or pictures. I realize that this is only the 8th wonder of the world but it should be in the top 7. I was literally laughing out loud for the first hour or so because I was so happy. I was exploring the most beautiful temple ruins that look like they were built only a couple hundred years ago as opposed to thousands. everything was perfect, I was alone in the temples for most of the morning and I was so happy I could pop. Marissa had opted for biking the temples...which made it more athletic but cut down the number of temples she could see to less than four in a day. I was VERY happy I had hired a tuk tuk for the day. he took me everywhere...including the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed. I ended up running into Marissa at the actual Angkor Wat temple and we hung out for an hour and had lunch together...and then it was off again to see more temples. I stayed long enough to see the sun set over a large and deserted temple and then caught a long and sleepy ride back to the hotel where i met up with Marissa, showered and we went out for a great dinner in town. after that it was sleep and nothing could have been better after 14 hours of temple exploring in the hot hot heat. this was easily one of the best days of my trip so far if not the best. it could even be in the running for one of the best days of my life. I think everyone should go and spend at least three days. one is just not even close to enough.
this morning we got up early and caught our 6:30 bus to Phnom Penh. we arrived around 1:30 and quickly checked into a hotel, got some yummy lunch ( I had a calzone, OJ and chocolate ice cream...very western and very missed foods!) and grabbed a tuk tuk to see the killing fields and s-21...both historical genocide sited from the struggles just two decades prior. it was pretty depressing and not very informative. I feel like they're really trying to cover up the worst parts of the whole situation by just leaving out the information. luckily I bought the book, and it's very informative...even though it's looking a bit worse for wear now that it's all cut up.
we then came back to the hotel, got cleaned up and went out to a REALLY nice dinner in a fancy restaurant. we had the whole place to ourselves and it felt more like a boutique restaurant in Vegas or NYC than a high class restaurant in Cambodia. it was amazing! we ordered sushi (mine was veggie...naturally.), smoothies and I got a well deserved salad. it's been a while since I've had lettuce that hasn't been stir fried! we just chatted and enjoyed the atmosphere.
so now I'm here, hanging out on the internet...we catch a bus to Vietnam tomorrow morning so I'm pretty excited! I wish we had more time here, but I'm really glad that I got to see Angkor Wat and that I get to have this experience in the first place! it's so amazing being here!!!!!!!
I'll update again soon. internet is WIDELY available so far.
<3
I've been remembering this poem from when I was a child. I thought I would share it because it always makes me happy. enjoy.
listen to mustn'ts, child, listen to the don'ts.
listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts.
listen to the never haves, then listen close to me.
anything can happen, child, Anything can be.
I just want everyone to rember that anything really is possible. just dream it and let it come true. <3
we must never forget it.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
I don't have a destination, just a neverending journey...
hello world. I'm back in the 'available internet' section of Thailand and even on my own laptop! it's pretty nice...actually my computer is overheating so I think I'm going to save this and swap out for 'available expensive internet' as opposed to ruining my laptop. sigh.
okay, so it's quite warm here. I'm guessing somewhere near a hundred. woohoo. I'm getting used to it, but it doesn't make me feel any less gross and sticky. especially with the humidity consistently around 90%.
update time.
so we left for our 'hilltribe trek' a few minutes after my last post. we hopped onto a truck, stopped in a small market along the way for water and snacks, took a quick dip in a beautiful 50m tall waterfall and eventually made it to our 'begin hiking here' destination. we had a nice 3 hour trek up and down some pretty good hills before we reached our first village. it was starting to get dark, but Marissa and I still decided to take a short walk and explore the primitive village/tribe. it was really nice and peaceful. we sat and watched some children playing and having fun [which is universal...you can go anywhere and watch children play and laugh. it makes me feel so connected to these people who I guess aren't really all that different from me.] we then had to fin our way back in the pitch black, finally managed to do so, and I was feeling very deep and decided that I needed to write a journal entry. all I could find was a crumpled yellow piece of paperish wrapper, so I just used that. I won't put the whole thing in here, but there are a few parts that I think might be nice to share:
"I know it sounds a bit silly, but I feel so in tune with the world right now. it's funny how sitting under the stars and breathing warm mountain air can clear someone's head. I feel like a completely new person. or maybe I just feel more like myself without all the pressure from the outside world leaning on me. whatever it is I feel more free than I've ever felt in my life. I love this beautiful world.
I'm so tempted to just go somewhere and move into a small village in the hills. I want to finally feel a real sense of community and unity. I want to hide away from modern life and take time to love the things that we overlook as a first world society. god...just thinking about it makes my heart flutter. I'm growing incresingly tired of 'social responsibilities' and trying to please other people. I just want to live by my heart and always do what makes me happy. just do what feels right. it seems a bit sad that someone might hear me say this and think that I'm just a silly young adult figuring out my bounderies. what if there are no boundaries? what if 'when I grow up' what I really want to do is something out of the ordinary? is that really so bad? I wish that at this moment I could share all the peace, love, understanding and hope that fills my heart with the rest of the world. I wish I could make people understand what it feels like to be where I am right now. and not physically...but mentally and emotionally. I feel so incredibly alive. I feel completely okay with who I am and where I am in life right now...and it's not just because I'm traveling or have this opportunity. it's because I'm opening my mind and my heart to all these beautiful things. I can guarantee that I could be just as happy and connected anywhere in New York as I am here and now. it just makes it so much more special to actually be here and to understand that this is now and it won't last forever. and thats what makes it so beautiful.
I feel so old and still...I feel so young.
I'm the oldest I've ever been before, and yet I'm as young as I'm ever going to be again.
I'm ever evolving, ever aging and ever learning...what a beautiful thing."
after I wrote that I wandered out and joined the group for dinner. I didn't finish my soup because the chicken was still bloody but I finished the rest of my food because I was starving. afterwards we all lit paper lanterns and let them flost up into the sky. it was really pretty. we all sat around for a bit and looked at the stars, made up new constalations, and eventually made our way into our primitive room and fell asleep under our bug nets and on our cotton mats on the floor.
I woke up early the next morning to a feeling that wasn't so great. I spent most of my time in the bathroom throwing up, managed to rinse off in the 'shower' which was a bucket full of water that you dumped on yourself with a scoop to rinse off. the room was more of a cubby and everyone could look in and see you showering...which a few of the locals were doing. yay. I tried to lay down for a little while longer (we were leaving to do more trekking at 9) but couldn't fall back asleep. I tried to choke down breakfast, but it kept coming back up. I had the most incredible pain in my stomach...it felt like I was all torn up inside. I didn't know what to do. the pain got unbearable every 10-30 minutes and I couldn't even breathe then. it was the worst case of food poisoning I've ever had. I had three options...pay to go to the hospital MILES and MILES away, have a motorbike bring me to our next village or tough it out and hike the 5 hours to our next destination. I hiked. I can honestly say I think it was one of the worst experiences of my life. I shouldn't have been hiking, but by the last hour I started to feel a bit better. I ate a few crackers and enjoyed the scenery for our last few minutes. we got to a tiny village where we were to eat lunch, and I ate an entire bowl of the thai equivelent of ramen noodles. after that I started to feel better...which was fortuanate, because the next 22km of our trip was by elephant. I took the neck of the elephant and Marissa got the seat on the elephants back...she didn't seem too psyched to be on the neck...and we slowly bumped along through the jungles of Thailand. it was a really cool experience and it was beautiful, I'm sure that if I had been feeling better I would have enjoyed it much more...but that's life. we did a bit more hiking afterwards and eventually ended up at our next overnight hilltribe village. I took a bit of a nap, rinsed myself off in the river running through the village, went for a stroll through the village with the group and ate a little bit of dinner. after dinner we all sat in a circle and played word games, painted eachother with charcoal, everyone but me had a few drinks and we went to bed on cotton mats and wood floors again.
I felt quite a bit better the next morning, ate some breakfast and packed my bag for our all day bamboo river rafting trip. we all wandered down to the water, tested out the boats...had to add some more bamboo to one that was sinking...and eventually headed downriver with bamboo poles in hand to push. we all took turns rowing and enjoying the scenery, we went through some pretty fast rapids, our boat broke and needed to be repaired at one point and quite a few hours later we made it to our meetup spot. we had some late lunch and hopped in the vans for our 2 hour drive back to ChaingMai. the night was mellow and everyone did their own thing and went to bed (yes, real beds!) pretty early.
the next day a bunch of us woke up early and went to take a Thai cooking class. we made curries, soup, sticky rice with mango and padthai. it was all amazing and I have the recipies...so I'll make some for people when I get home! Marissa and I wandered off and got a pretty painful traditional Thai massage, wandered around the markets a bit and met back up with the group. our guide brought us to a seafood buffet, but since I'm allergic I was out of luck. another couple and an english guy (Rob) didn't feel like having seafood so we all wandered down the road a ways and found a thai resteraunt. we ate, got dessert in a market and took a tuktuk back to the hotel. Rob and I talked till pretty late into the night and then I went to bed.
we left early the next day by local bus for Tha Ton. we went to a local Long Neck Keren village (women have metal around their necks to make them longer...I have pictures) and to a few temples and got to see some very large buddahs. we had just enough time to eat dinner before the power went out, so we all sat around by candlelight talking and then went to bed at a reasonable hour.
left early again the next morning by long tail boat for our 96km journey into ChaingRai. we had two boats for 14 people, and the water was so shallow that we kept getting stuck in the sand and had to get out and push the boat to freedom. it was fun, but tiring. four and a half hours later we arrived in ChaingRai, got some lunch and took a bus to the Golden Triangle. we took a smaller boat across the river into Laos for the day, came back and went to the Opium museam in Thailand and took the bus back to ChaingRai for the Night Baazar and diner. we stayed at the market pretty late, got back and had some wine and eventually went to bed.
this morning we woke up very early to catch a bus back to ChaingMai. first we decided to have breakfast at the hotel restaurant. bad move. the staff had no clue what they were doing and another girl from the group and I ended up helping out in the kitchen to get things done in time to catch the bus. everyone said I was the best waitress that they've had all trip...sadly I didn't get any tips. haha. we barely made it to the bus in time but made it to ChaingMai nevertheless.
so...here I am. hot, tired and to be honest my stomach is still a bit messed up. we have one more full day of the tour and then Marissa and I head off on our own again to explore a bit. this time we head south and east towards Cambodia and eventually into Vietnam. I'm very excited. then it's goodbye to Marissa and hello to Hong Kong and China! I still have half my trip left! haha.
so...I'm going to get some food and take a shower. we're just killing time right now before we catch our overnight train to Bangkok later on tonight.
I miss everyone and I'll try to stay in touch!
<3
I'm updating some pictures on my facebook right now. check 'em out and leave comments! =D
okay, so it's quite warm here. I'm guessing somewhere near a hundred. woohoo. I'm getting used to it, but it doesn't make me feel any less gross and sticky. especially with the humidity consistently around 90%.
update time.
so we left for our 'hilltribe trek' a few minutes after my last post. we hopped onto a truck, stopped in a small market along the way for water and snacks, took a quick dip in a beautiful 50m tall waterfall and eventually made it to our 'begin hiking here' destination. we had a nice 3 hour trek up and down some pretty good hills before we reached our first village. it was starting to get dark, but Marissa and I still decided to take a short walk and explore the primitive village/tribe. it was really nice and peaceful. we sat and watched some children playing and having fun [which is universal...you can go anywhere and watch children play and laugh. it makes me feel so connected to these people who I guess aren't really all that different from me.] we then had to fin our way back in the pitch black, finally managed to do so, and I was feeling very deep and decided that I needed to write a journal entry. all I could find was a crumpled yellow piece of paperish wrapper, so I just used that. I won't put the whole thing in here, but there are a few parts that I think might be nice to share:
"I know it sounds a bit silly, but I feel so in tune with the world right now. it's funny how sitting under the stars and breathing warm mountain air can clear someone's head. I feel like a completely new person. or maybe I just feel more like myself without all the pressure from the outside world leaning on me. whatever it is I feel more free than I've ever felt in my life. I love this beautiful world.
I'm so tempted to just go somewhere and move into a small village in the hills. I want to finally feel a real sense of community and unity. I want to hide away from modern life and take time to love the things that we overlook as a first world society. god...just thinking about it makes my heart flutter. I'm growing incresingly tired of 'social responsibilities' and trying to please other people. I just want to live by my heart and always do what makes me happy. just do what feels right. it seems a bit sad that someone might hear me say this and think that I'm just a silly young adult figuring out my bounderies. what if there are no boundaries? what if 'when I grow up' what I really want to do is something out of the ordinary? is that really so bad? I wish that at this moment I could share all the peace, love, understanding and hope that fills my heart with the rest of the world. I wish I could make people understand what it feels like to be where I am right now. and not physically...but mentally and emotionally. I feel so incredibly alive. I feel completely okay with who I am and where I am in life right now...and it's not just because I'm traveling or have this opportunity. it's because I'm opening my mind and my heart to all these beautiful things. I can guarantee that I could be just as happy and connected anywhere in New York as I am here and now. it just makes it so much more special to actually be here and to understand that this is now and it won't last forever. and thats what makes it so beautiful.
I feel so old and still...I feel so young.
I'm the oldest I've ever been before, and yet I'm as young as I'm ever going to be again.
I'm ever evolving, ever aging and ever learning...what a beautiful thing."
after I wrote that I wandered out and joined the group for dinner. I didn't finish my soup because the chicken was still bloody but I finished the rest of my food because I was starving. afterwards we all lit paper lanterns and let them flost up into the sky. it was really pretty. we all sat around for a bit and looked at the stars, made up new constalations, and eventually made our way into our primitive room and fell asleep under our bug nets and on our cotton mats on the floor.
I woke up early the next morning to a feeling that wasn't so great. I spent most of my time in the bathroom throwing up, managed to rinse off in the 'shower' which was a bucket full of water that you dumped on yourself with a scoop to rinse off. the room was more of a cubby and everyone could look in and see you showering...which a few of the locals were doing. yay. I tried to lay down for a little while longer (we were leaving to do more trekking at 9) but couldn't fall back asleep. I tried to choke down breakfast, but it kept coming back up. I had the most incredible pain in my stomach...it felt like I was all torn up inside. I didn't know what to do. the pain got unbearable every 10-30 minutes and I couldn't even breathe then. it was the worst case of food poisoning I've ever had. I had three options...pay to go to the hospital MILES and MILES away, have a motorbike bring me to our next village or tough it out and hike the 5 hours to our next destination. I hiked. I can honestly say I think it was one of the worst experiences of my life. I shouldn't have been hiking, but by the last hour I started to feel a bit better. I ate a few crackers and enjoyed the scenery for our last few minutes. we got to a tiny village where we were to eat lunch, and I ate an entire bowl of the thai equivelent of ramen noodles. after that I started to feel better...which was fortuanate, because the next 22km of our trip was by elephant. I took the neck of the elephant and Marissa got the seat on the elephants back...she didn't seem too psyched to be on the neck...and we slowly bumped along through the jungles of Thailand. it was a really cool experience and it was beautiful, I'm sure that if I had been feeling better I would have enjoyed it much more...but that's life. we did a bit more hiking afterwards and eventually ended up at our next overnight hilltribe village. I took a bit of a nap, rinsed myself off in the river running through the village, went for a stroll through the village with the group and ate a little bit of dinner. after dinner we all sat in a circle and played word games, painted eachother with charcoal, everyone but me had a few drinks and we went to bed on cotton mats and wood floors again.
I felt quite a bit better the next morning, ate some breakfast and packed my bag for our all day bamboo river rafting trip. we all wandered down to the water, tested out the boats...had to add some more bamboo to one that was sinking...and eventually headed downriver with bamboo poles in hand to push. we all took turns rowing and enjoying the scenery, we went through some pretty fast rapids, our boat broke and needed to be repaired at one point and quite a few hours later we made it to our meetup spot. we had some late lunch and hopped in the vans for our 2 hour drive back to ChaingMai. the night was mellow and everyone did their own thing and went to bed (yes, real beds!) pretty early.
the next day a bunch of us woke up early and went to take a Thai cooking class. we made curries, soup, sticky rice with mango and padthai. it was all amazing and I have the recipies...so I'll make some for people when I get home! Marissa and I wandered off and got a pretty painful traditional Thai massage, wandered around the markets a bit and met back up with the group. our guide brought us to a seafood buffet, but since I'm allergic I was out of luck. another couple and an english guy (Rob) didn't feel like having seafood so we all wandered down the road a ways and found a thai resteraunt. we ate, got dessert in a market and took a tuktuk back to the hotel. Rob and I talked till pretty late into the night and then I went to bed.
we left early the next day by local bus for Tha Ton. we went to a local Long Neck Keren village (women have metal around their necks to make them longer...I have pictures) and to a few temples and got to see some very large buddahs. we had just enough time to eat dinner before the power went out, so we all sat around by candlelight talking and then went to bed at a reasonable hour.
left early again the next morning by long tail boat for our 96km journey into ChaingRai. we had two boats for 14 people, and the water was so shallow that we kept getting stuck in the sand and had to get out and push the boat to freedom. it was fun, but tiring. four and a half hours later we arrived in ChaingRai, got some lunch and took a bus to the Golden Triangle. we took a smaller boat across the river into Laos for the day, came back and went to the Opium museam in Thailand and took the bus back to ChaingRai for the Night Baazar and diner. we stayed at the market pretty late, got back and had some wine and eventually went to bed.
this morning we woke up very early to catch a bus back to ChaingMai. first we decided to have breakfast at the hotel restaurant. bad move. the staff had no clue what they were doing and another girl from the group and I ended up helping out in the kitchen to get things done in time to catch the bus. everyone said I was the best waitress that they've had all trip...sadly I didn't get any tips. haha. we barely made it to the bus in time but made it to ChaingMai nevertheless.
so...here I am. hot, tired and to be honest my stomach is still a bit messed up. we have one more full day of the tour and then Marissa and I head off on our own again to explore a bit. this time we head south and east towards Cambodia and eventually into Vietnam. I'm very excited. then it's goodbye to Marissa and hello to Hong Kong and China! I still have half my trip left! haha.
so...I'm going to get some food and take a shower. we're just killing time right now before we catch our overnight train to Bangkok later on tonight.
I miss everyone and I'll try to stay in touch!
<3
I'm updating some pictures on my facebook right now. check 'em out and leave comments! =D
Thursday, April 16, 2009
ชอบ ความมีชีวิตชีวา
"love life"
okay...super quick update. I have to leave for my 3 day hilltribe trek in like 15 minutes.
I'm all packed and ready to go early so I figured I'd hop on here and tell whats been happening.
so the last time I updated I was about to go to the night market. well, we went and got some really good food, walked around a bit, shopped a bit and then walked back. mellow night overall.
the next day we got up early and headed to a really famous 7 tier waterfall nearby. you have to hike to each tier, so Marissa and I hiked all the way up to the top before hiking back down to tier 5 and swimming for a bit. I did some super slippery mossy bouldering problems and almost broke myself...but I pulled it off clean and was really happy with it. we hiked back down and got some lunch after a bit.
then we took a truck taxi to the Tiger Temple where we got to play with the tiger cubs, take pictures with all kinds of tigers, I got to walk a tiger for a second and we got to watch them wrestle and play. it was great even though our guide is an idiot (really...he's terrible) and forgot to mention that we can't wear shorts, tank tops, bright clothing or have thinks hanging off us...like big earrings or jewelry. we all had to buy new clothes and were pretty peeved.
after that we went back to the hotel for a bit and then I went to dinner with two lovely english girls and a cool english boy. a simple trip to a restaurant turned into a binge eating expedition after the food was so absolutely mind blowing. we each got two entrees, shared a bunch of snacks and had two desserts each as well. there were drinks mixed up in-between and I've never been so full in my life! it was great though.
afterwards I went with one of the english girld for my first Thai massage. we both got foot massages and they were to die for. I can't even explain what an hour massage can do for you. I can't wait to get a full bosy massage!!!!!! and to think it's only $3 or $4 for an hour. oh man. soooooo good. when it was dome we were so relaxed that we just went to bed. and for good reason. it was after 11 and we had a super long day.
the next day we got up early and took a series of local busses into another city...can't think of the name at the moment...where we wandered around and explored old temple ruins for the day. we got to see baby elephants playing in the water and big elephants being used as taxi's. it was neat. we stopped by a HUGE buddah temple and then went to our day use hotel to clean up and then head to our overnight sleeper train. the train was almost an hour late...naturally...but we all made it on and got our cool folding beds. haha. it was sure an experiance. everyone but my three englush friends and I had a LOT to drink and found themselves falling all over the bumpy train. we...being the youngest of the group...thought it was a bit ironic that a whole group of adults could act so silly when we were actimg so mature. haha. we all just talked and laughed the night away, and at the end I gave Tristan a surprise call and fell peacefully asleep.
for about half an hour. haha. it was a REALLY bumpy train.
oh, by the way...I can receive texts but can't send them for some reason. don't be sad when I don't reply! haha.
so...we made it ChaingMai safely and three hours late, checked into the hotel and relaxed for a little while. I stayed back with my two female english friends while the rest of the group learned how umbrellas and silver were made. we took a tuk tuk into town and wandered the old city instead...taking in the buildings, food, markets and temples. it was amazing. we caught a ride to a local shopping area and ended up finding the neatest and cheapest boutique where we all got a few things. I'm a few items of clothing heavier and a bit more broke...but it's all in the name of travel so I'll survive. =D
we went back, went for a swim at the hotel and met with the group and our trekking guide that night. afterwards we all walked down to the night market/ChaingMai Baazar and hung out there for the night. I opted to try eating some bugs...so I've now tried crickets, grasshoppers and silkworms. the hoppers were okay but the worms were disgusting! I got some cool presents at the market and then we all wandered into a gas station for water (for the trek) and then went back to the hotel and packed.
so...I leave in less than 5 minutes. I need to run. I'll be hiking, staying in villages, riding elephants, bamboo river rafting and eating local food for the next three days. I'm super excited!
I miss everyone and can't wait to come back here and tell you all about my upcoming adventure!
<3
okay...super quick update. I have to leave for my 3 day hilltribe trek in like 15 minutes.
I'm all packed and ready to go early so I figured I'd hop on here and tell whats been happening.
so the last time I updated I was about to go to the night market. well, we went and got some really good food, walked around a bit, shopped a bit and then walked back. mellow night overall.
the next day we got up early and headed to a really famous 7 tier waterfall nearby. you have to hike to each tier, so Marissa and I hiked all the way up to the top before hiking back down to tier 5 and swimming for a bit. I did some super slippery mossy bouldering problems and almost broke myself...but I pulled it off clean and was really happy with it. we hiked back down and got some lunch after a bit.
then we took a truck taxi to the Tiger Temple where we got to play with the tiger cubs, take pictures with all kinds of tigers, I got to walk a tiger for a second and we got to watch them wrestle and play. it was great even though our guide is an idiot (really...he's terrible) and forgot to mention that we can't wear shorts, tank tops, bright clothing or have thinks hanging off us...like big earrings or jewelry. we all had to buy new clothes and were pretty peeved.
after that we went back to the hotel for a bit and then I went to dinner with two lovely english girls and a cool english boy. a simple trip to a restaurant turned into a binge eating expedition after the food was so absolutely mind blowing. we each got two entrees, shared a bunch of snacks and had two desserts each as well. there were drinks mixed up in-between and I've never been so full in my life! it was great though.
afterwards I went with one of the english girld for my first Thai massage. we both got foot massages and they were to die for. I can't even explain what an hour massage can do for you. I can't wait to get a full bosy massage!!!!!! and to think it's only $3 or $4 for an hour. oh man. soooooo good. when it was dome we were so relaxed that we just went to bed. and for good reason. it was after 11 and we had a super long day.
the next day we got up early and took a series of local busses into another city...can't think of the name at the moment...where we wandered around and explored old temple ruins for the day. we got to see baby elephants playing in the water and big elephants being used as taxi's. it was neat. we stopped by a HUGE buddah temple and then went to our day use hotel to clean up and then head to our overnight sleeper train. the train was almost an hour late...naturally...but we all made it on and got our cool folding beds. haha. it was sure an experiance. everyone but my three englush friends and I had a LOT to drink and found themselves falling all over the bumpy train. we...being the youngest of the group...thought it was a bit ironic that a whole group of adults could act so silly when we were actimg so mature. haha. we all just talked and laughed the night away, and at the end I gave Tristan a surprise call and fell peacefully asleep.
for about half an hour. haha. it was a REALLY bumpy train.
oh, by the way...I can receive texts but can't send them for some reason. don't be sad when I don't reply! haha.
so...we made it ChaingMai safely and three hours late, checked into the hotel and relaxed for a little while. I stayed back with my two female english friends while the rest of the group learned how umbrellas and silver were made. we took a tuk tuk into town and wandered the old city instead...taking in the buildings, food, markets and temples. it was amazing. we caught a ride to a local shopping area and ended up finding the neatest and cheapest boutique where we all got a few things. I'm a few items of clothing heavier and a bit more broke...but it's all in the name of travel so I'll survive. =D
we went back, went for a swim at the hotel and met with the group and our trekking guide that night. afterwards we all walked down to the night market/ChaingMai Baazar and hung out there for the night. I opted to try eating some bugs...so I've now tried crickets, grasshoppers and silkworms. the hoppers were okay but the worms were disgusting! I got some cool presents at the market and then we all wandered into a gas station for water (for the trek) and then went back to the hotel and packed.
so...I leave in less than 5 minutes. I need to run. I'll be hiking, staying in villages, riding elephants, bamboo river rafting and eating local food for the next three days. I'm super excited!
I miss everyone and can't wait to come back here and tell you all about my upcoming adventure!
<3
Monday, April 13, 2009
from water guns to machine guns.
well...the last few days have been pretty interesting.
Saturday night marked the beginning of the celebration of the Thai New Year. Marissa and I met up with a friend of a friend who moved to Thailand from Amsterdam, NY maybe a year ago and we all went out to a Thai bar. We were the only white people in the bar and no one spoke English...it was a really cool experience! we danced all night and finally got back to our hostel around 2 or 3am. I had some water dumped down my back, but had no clue what I was in for the next day. On our cab ride to and from the club we got caught up in a few protests...buses were blocking the roads, fires were burning, people were rioting and everyone was wearing red. We managed to get out without any problems...it was just a bit exciting.
so we woke up late Sunday morning and got a slow start. eventually Marissa headed out to get some fruit for breakfast and came running back a minute later drenched and fruitless. upon reflection we realized that the words "water festival" were thrown around a bit and that it must have been that day. we threw on some clothes that could get wet and headed out into the great wet unknown. as soon as we stepped outside we got hit by squirt guns, hoses, buckets of water and smeared with some type of clay. quickly accepting our fate we headed to get some food, an ample amount of water and some serious fun. we played for what seemed like hours...dumping water down peoples backs, getting smeared with all different colored clays, dancing, getting sprayed, squirted and kissed on the forehead occasionally. it was amazing! streets were literally just packed with people having the biggest water fight I've ever seen. thousands of people were laughing, playing and getting very very very wet.
After maybe two hours Marissa was at her water limit so I walked her back to the hostel and then headed back into the mess on my own. I bought a few more bottles of ICE COLD water (the best ammo on a hot humid day) and continued the fun. I have some great pictures to back up this amazing story. what a great time to be in Bangkok!!!
We ended up washing up a bit...I was covered head to toe in colored clay...and taking a cab to our hotel to start our Thailand GAP tour. On the way over we got caught up in another protest, but the cab driver diverted us down a few back streets and got us out of the way. when we were almost at the hotel we got turned away again...this time by HUGE tanks and machine gun laden Thai military. once again everything was fine and we made it to the hotel safely. at 6 we met our group, went over the itinerary, got briefed on the state of the country and city, and eventually had dinner. that night Bangkok was declared as being in a state of emergency.
based on the things people have told me and what I've learned by doing some research I think Thailand has been in need of some emergency action for a while, and I sincerely hope that some change can happen for these amazing people. I really can't believe the issues that this corrupt government has been masking and forcing these people to deal with for so many years. I'm glad that they're standing up for what they believe in.
so...to continue on with the story...
that night Marissa and I had dinner at the hotel and then caught a cab back to the heart of the water fight for some nighttime fun. we bought some water guns, a few bottles of water and joined the festivities. it really felt like being in first grade again...guys were shooting girls and girls were shooting guys. Marissa and I made a pact to only shoot cute guys...which worked out well. haha. I ended up getting in a few one on one water fights with some guys and I really felt like I was in elementary school. pick on the boy or girl you have a crush on and hope for the best. haha. it was a ton of fun though. I drank a few beers, met a bunch of cool people and ended up having the time of my life. things started winding down and I ended up sitting with a few Irish guys and having a beer. Marissa had met a special friend..teehee...so I let her be. eventually the guys wanted to go to a club down the street and I agreed to go...even though I was sopping wet. as it turns out almost everyone inside was pretty wet so I was in style. I left Marissa with her new friend but she said they would come later on. I danced a bit but got a bit peeved when a waitress pushed me out of her way, causing me to knock over a beer bottle, that in turn fell, broke and went into my legs and feet. I spend almost an hour in the back room of the club with an improv Thai nurse picking out glass splinters from my legs and the tops and bottoms of my feet. we couldn't get it all and I still feel sharp pieces every now and then when I'm walking. yay. we literally soaked my feet in iodine because it was all they had and I hobbled back out onto the dance floor to find Marissa and mystery European guy having a good time. I told Marissa what had happened and that I'd be waiting outside. after a while she broke away and met me outside. I hailed a Tuk Tuk, set a price and relaxed for our ride back to the hotel. we got back around 4am and just crashed. what a night.
the next morning was this morning...
I slept through my alarm and woke up to Marissa rolling out of bed. apparently she missed her alarm as well. crap. we were set to leave at 8am and it was half seven. ahh! Marissa took a shower and then I hopped in...I ended up picking more glass out of my feet which took till 7:54. I scrambled out of the shower, threw everything back in my bag, grabbed the room key and high-tailed it downstairs. I was 3 minutes late but it was all good. we all piled into a hired van and headed off to the bus station. we took a bus from Bangkok to somewhere outside where we are staying...Kanchanaburi...and then we all hopped into the back of a few trucks and got a ride to our hotel. we checked into our cool new hotel and then walked to a few local historical sites, including the River Kwai Bridge. it was really cool, because the train still runes over the bridge and actually came while we were on it. there a a few platforms to the side of the single track to stand while the train passes by. it was a really cool experience! afterwards we all checked out the market, grabbed a soda (which they dump into little plastic shopping bags with ice and a straw because soda comes in a glass bottle and glass isn't allowed on the streets.) and hopped into the back of another truck for a ride back to the hotel. I ran some small errands and that's pretty much it for now.
we're about to go check out the night market, grab some food and maybe watch a movie on my laptop a bit later.
check this out:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7996653.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7996312.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7996288.stm
what a crazy past few days.
<3
Saturday night marked the beginning of the celebration of the Thai New Year. Marissa and I met up with a friend of a friend who moved to Thailand from Amsterdam, NY maybe a year ago and we all went out to a Thai bar. We were the only white people in the bar and no one spoke English...it was a really cool experience! we danced all night and finally got back to our hostel around 2 or 3am. I had some water dumped down my back, but had no clue what I was in for the next day. On our cab ride to and from the club we got caught up in a few protests...buses were blocking the roads, fires were burning, people were rioting and everyone was wearing red. We managed to get out without any problems...it was just a bit exciting.
so we woke up late Sunday morning and got a slow start. eventually Marissa headed out to get some fruit for breakfast and came running back a minute later drenched and fruitless. upon reflection we realized that the words "water festival" were thrown around a bit and that it must have been that day. we threw on some clothes that could get wet and headed out into the great wet unknown. as soon as we stepped outside we got hit by squirt guns, hoses, buckets of water and smeared with some type of clay. quickly accepting our fate we headed to get some food, an ample amount of water and some serious fun. we played for what seemed like hours...dumping water down peoples backs, getting smeared with all different colored clays, dancing, getting sprayed, squirted and kissed on the forehead occasionally. it was amazing! streets were literally just packed with people having the biggest water fight I've ever seen. thousands of people were laughing, playing and getting very very very wet.
After maybe two hours Marissa was at her water limit so I walked her back to the hostel and then headed back into the mess on my own. I bought a few more bottles of ICE COLD water (the best ammo on a hot humid day) and continued the fun. I have some great pictures to back up this amazing story. what a great time to be in Bangkok!!!
We ended up washing up a bit...I was covered head to toe in colored clay...and taking a cab to our hotel to start our Thailand GAP tour. On the way over we got caught up in another protest, but the cab driver diverted us down a few back streets and got us out of the way. when we were almost at the hotel we got turned away again...this time by HUGE tanks and machine gun laden Thai military. once again everything was fine and we made it to the hotel safely. at 6 we met our group, went over the itinerary, got briefed on the state of the country and city, and eventually had dinner. that night Bangkok was declared as being in a state of emergency.
based on the things people have told me and what I've learned by doing some research I think Thailand has been in need of some emergency action for a while, and I sincerely hope that some change can happen for these amazing people. I really can't believe the issues that this corrupt government has been masking and forcing these people to deal with for so many years. I'm glad that they're standing up for what they believe in.
so...to continue on with the story...
that night Marissa and I had dinner at the hotel and then caught a cab back to the heart of the water fight for some nighttime fun. we bought some water guns, a few bottles of water and joined the festivities. it really felt like being in first grade again...guys were shooting girls and girls were shooting guys. Marissa and I made a pact to only shoot cute guys...which worked out well. haha. I ended up getting in a few one on one water fights with some guys and I really felt like I was in elementary school. pick on the boy or girl you have a crush on and hope for the best. haha. it was a ton of fun though. I drank a few beers, met a bunch of cool people and ended up having the time of my life. things started winding down and I ended up sitting with a few Irish guys and having a beer. Marissa had met a special friend..teehee...so I let her be. eventually the guys wanted to go to a club down the street and I agreed to go...even though I was sopping wet. as it turns out almost everyone inside was pretty wet so I was in style. I left Marissa with her new friend but she said they would come later on. I danced a bit but got a bit peeved when a waitress pushed me out of her way, causing me to knock over a beer bottle, that in turn fell, broke and went into my legs and feet. I spend almost an hour in the back room of the club with an improv Thai nurse picking out glass splinters from my legs and the tops and bottoms of my feet. we couldn't get it all and I still feel sharp pieces every now and then when I'm walking. yay. we literally soaked my feet in iodine because it was all they had and I hobbled back out onto the dance floor to find Marissa and mystery European guy having a good time. I told Marissa what had happened and that I'd be waiting outside. after a while she broke away and met me outside. I hailed a Tuk Tuk, set a price and relaxed for our ride back to the hotel. we got back around 4am and just crashed. what a night.
the next morning was this morning...
I slept through my alarm and woke up to Marissa rolling out of bed. apparently she missed her alarm as well. crap. we were set to leave at 8am and it was half seven. ahh! Marissa took a shower and then I hopped in...I ended up picking more glass out of my feet which took till 7:54. I scrambled out of the shower, threw everything back in my bag, grabbed the room key and high-tailed it downstairs. I was 3 minutes late but it was all good. we all piled into a hired van and headed off to the bus station. we took a bus from Bangkok to somewhere outside where we are staying...Kanchanaburi...and then we all hopped into the back of a few trucks and got a ride to our hotel. we checked into our cool new hotel and then walked to a few local historical sites, including the River Kwai Bridge. it was really cool, because the train still runes over the bridge and actually came while we were on it. there a a few platforms to the side of the single track to stand while the train passes by. it was a really cool experience! afterwards we all checked out the market, grabbed a soda (which they dump into little plastic shopping bags with ice and a straw because soda comes in a glass bottle and glass isn't allowed on the streets.) and hopped into the back of another truck for a ride back to the hotel. I ran some small errands and that's pretty much it for now.
we're about to go check out the night market, grab some food and maybe watch a movie on my laptop a bit later.
check this out:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7996653.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7996312.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7996288.stm
what a crazy past few days.
<3
Sunday, April 12, 2009
สุขสันต์วันอีสเตอร์
Happy Easter!!!!
I'm actually celebrating a diffreent holiday here in Thailand...it's the Thai new year tomorrow and the water festival today, so everyone is cover in white paint and pouring water all over eachother.
I love Thailand!!!
<3
I'm actually celebrating a diffreent holiday here in Thailand...it's the Thai new year tomorrow and the water festival today, so everyone is cover in white paint and pouring water all over eachother.
I love Thailand!!!
<3
Friday, April 10, 2009
and in a flurry of excitement...
so...wow.
helloooooooo Bangkok.
and you think NY never sleeps? get over it. haha.
so this needs to be quick because the timer is ticking, I only brought down enough Baht for 30 minutes, it's 2 am and I have plans at 9 this morning...and I need to sleep in this city eventually.
we arrived and quickly met up with Marissa's friend Katherine who is staying at the same hostel as us (it was planned...but it would be a cool coincidence). we all cleaned up and headed out for some Thai food. We literally just walked the streets trying everything we could find from street vendors until we thought we would pop...then we waited a bit and had snacks the same way. the food is AMAZING. there are the occasional "oh god...what the hell IS this?!" foods, but usually everything is pretty darn yummy.
We called it a bit of an early night (around 2 am?) and I decided to internet it up instead of sleeping. I then took a bit of a walk and got maybe 3 hours of sleep before we woke up at 9 and headed out for the day.
We repeated the food tour again...just this time breakfast style. again, amazing food. Very full and very satisfied customers. oh, and the food is so CHEAP! god, this place is amazing.
We wandered over to the Emerald Buddha Wat (temple) and explored in the humid heat for a few hours. eventually I couldn't take wearing a long skirt and shirt any longer (need to cover up to go inside the palace) so I ventured out into the streets to explore the markets a bit. I staked out some good food spots and went and met the girls at the temple a bit later. needless to say we needed to get food. it was...amazing. obviously.
we wandered around the city a bit and eventually ended up at a Wat that offered free meditation lessons. we agreed to return at 6 and headed back to the hostel to rest up for an hour or so and get out of the boiling heat and humidity and under a fan.
we eventually headed back and learned all about meditation, cleansing the mind and even got to practice meditating a bit. it was really great! the Monk gave us each some homemade Tiger Balm type stuff for aches and pains later on and invited us to a big monk party tomorrow...er, technically today now. hence the 9am thing.
we wandered back to the area around our hostel, got food...I'm sure you understand the trend by now, did some shopping, I got my Thailand star tattoo (figured I'd just let them both heal at the same time, right?) we grabbed a few beers and then headed back to the hostel to chat a bit. and...here I am.
I've had so much good food here...I just figured that since I got the update done so fast I can list some.
-all kinds of cut fresh fruit
-fresh grilled meat on sticks
-pad Thai
-Thai curries
-banana pancakes
-fresh pastries
-funny mini pancake thingys...SO good!
-some strange fried corn rolls that were really good
and a million other odd things that I can't explain.
I DO have a Thai cell phone number. I think the country code is 660??? but you might have to look it up or I can update later. my number is 084-529-6526. texting and calling is a bit spendy, but receiving a text or a call every now and then should be fine.
I'm totally digging it here and absolutely psyched to be heading north on Monday...which also happened to be the Thai new year! it should be a ton of fun and celebration on the way up.
okay...times up and I need to hit the bed. we don't have sheets here, or hot water or anything fun like that. but to be honest I'd pay to have a cold shower here any day. I have the 'Thailand Glow' which is just really being gross and sticky all the time. I've never ever been anywhere near as humid as it is here, and the heat is just as bad. it's a bit rough, but it's the price you pay, right?
okay...time's up.
ciao!
<3
helloooooooo Bangkok.
and you think NY never sleeps? get over it. haha.
so this needs to be quick because the timer is ticking, I only brought down enough Baht for 30 minutes, it's 2 am and I have plans at 9 this morning...and I need to sleep in this city eventually.
we arrived and quickly met up with Marissa's friend Katherine who is staying at the same hostel as us (it was planned...but it would be a cool coincidence). we all cleaned up and headed out for some Thai food. We literally just walked the streets trying everything we could find from street vendors until we thought we would pop...then we waited a bit and had snacks the same way. the food is AMAZING. there are the occasional "oh god...what the hell IS this?!" foods, but usually everything is pretty darn yummy.
We called it a bit of an early night (around 2 am?) and I decided to internet it up instead of sleeping. I then took a bit of a walk and got maybe 3 hours of sleep before we woke up at 9 and headed out for the day.
We repeated the food tour again...just this time breakfast style. again, amazing food. Very full and very satisfied customers. oh, and the food is so CHEAP! god, this place is amazing.
We wandered over to the Emerald Buddha Wat (temple) and explored in the humid heat for a few hours. eventually I couldn't take wearing a long skirt and shirt any longer (need to cover up to go inside the palace) so I ventured out into the streets to explore the markets a bit. I staked out some good food spots and went and met the girls at the temple a bit later. needless to say we needed to get food. it was...amazing. obviously.
we wandered around the city a bit and eventually ended up at a Wat that offered free meditation lessons. we agreed to return at 6 and headed back to the hostel to rest up for an hour or so and get out of the boiling heat and humidity and under a fan.
we eventually headed back and learned all about meditation, cleansing the mind and even got to practice meditating a bit. it was really great! the Monk gave us each some homemade Tiger Balm type stuff for aches and pains later on and invited us to a big monk party tomorrow...er, technically today now. hence the 9am thing.
we wandered back to the area around our hostel, got food...I'm sure you understand the trend by now, did some shopping, I got my Thailand star tattoo (figured I'd just let them both heal at the same time, right?) we grabbed a few beers and then headed back to the hostel to chat a bit. and...here I am.
I've had so much good food here...I just figured that since I got the update done so fast I can list some.
-all kinds of cut fresh fruit
-fresh grilled meat on sticks
-pad Thai
-Thai curries
-banana pancakes
-fresh pastries
-funny mini pancake thingys...SO good!
-some strange fried corn rolls that were really good
and a million other odd things that I can't explain.
I DO have a Thai cell phone number. I think the country code is 660??? but you might have to look it up or I can update later. my number is 084-529-6526. texting and calling is a bit spendy, but receiving a text or a call every now and then should be fine.
I'm totally digging it here and absolutely psyched to be heading north on Monday...which also happened to be the Thai new year! it should be a ton of fun and celebration on the way up.
okay...times up and I need to hit the bed. we don't have sheets here, or hot water or anything fun like that. but to be honest I'd pay to have a cold shower here any day. I have the 'Thailand Glow' which is just really being gross and sticky all the time. I've never ever been anywhere near as humid as it is here, and the heat is just as bad. it's a bit rough, but it's the price you pay, right?
okay...time's up.
ciao!
<3
Thursday, April 9, 2009
chun ruk meu-ung tai!!!
obviously meaning "I love Thailand!" well...at least that's the way it sounds. it looks a lot more like squiggles and wiggles than actual words to me.
so...we arrived safely and after a bit of an added adventure. our bags weren't lost and we are in Thailand...so there's nothing to complain about.
I just thought I'd throw in a clip from my journal tonight. I'll elaborate a bit more later on my first few hours in Bangkok.
9/4/09 Flying into Bangkok, Thailand
the ocean goes on forever, but then it ends...as all endless oceans do. the stunning blue crashes into a sudden wall of green as far as the eye can see. this world is a collection of patchwork farms craftily cut and sewn into the quilted earth below. serpentine rivers wind from the edges of the ocean hunting for the gem of a city buried within the land ahead. the rivers weave themselves through fields divided, fields aflame, and fields of the greenest green while dodging the sprinkle of houses. but this sight is just an appetiser. the green is overwhelming...
and then, without warning, it was there.
"welcome" it said.
highways and railways follow tributaries to the hustle and bustle of a city full of life and activity. it sits proudly on the edge of the country clutching golden capped temples that call quick attention to the eye from even a mile above.
Bangkok.
following the excitement we are led into a quick, wet landing that suddenly puts ground under my feet that I can hardly wait to explore.
the sun comes out only for an instant as if to say "go...do it".
and I will.
oh, I will.
*************************************************************
all I have to say for now is that it's incredibly humid, hot, busy, easy to get lost, mesmerizing and the food is AMAZING!
but now it's after midnight and time for bed.
I could really use some sleep after the past few days.
<3
"the traveler sees what he sees...
the tourist sees what he came to see."
"you only live once,
but if you do it right then once is enough."
"everything is always okay in the end.
and if it's not okay then it's not the end."
so...we arrived safely and after a bit of an added adventure. our bags weren't lost and we are in Thailand...so there's nothing to complain about.
I just thought I'd throw in a clip from my journal tonight. I'll elaborate a bit more later on my first few hours in Bangkok.
9/4/09 Flying into Bangkok, Thailand
the ocean goes on forever, but then it ends...as all endless oceans do. the stunning blue crashes into a sudden wall of green as far as the eye can see. this world is a collection of patchwork farms craftily cut and sewn into the quilted earth below. serpentine rivers wind from the edges of the ocean hunting for the gem of a city buried within the land ahead. the rivers weave themselves through fields divided, fields aflame, and fields of the greenest green while dodging the sprinkle of houses. but this sight is just an appetiser. the green is overwhelming...
and then, without warning, it was there.
"welcome" it said.
highways and railways follow tributaries to the hustle and bustle of a city full of life and activity. it sits proudly on the edge of the country clutching golden capped temples that call quick attention to the eye from even a mile above.
Bangkok.
following the excitement we are led into a quick, wet landing that suddenly puts ground under my feet that I can hardly wait to explore.
the sun comes out only for an instant as if to say "go...do it".
and I will.
oh, I will.
*************************************************************
all I have to say for now is that it's incredibly humid, hot, busy, easy to get lost, mesmerizing and the food is AMAZING!
but now it's after midnight and time for bed.
I could really use some sleep after the past few days.
<3
"the traveler sees what he sees...
the tourist sees what he came to see."
"you only live once,
but if you do it right then once is enough."
"everything is always okay in the end.
and if it's not okay then it's not the end."
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
these are a few of my favorite things
so...traveling is always an adventure.
even when you don't need it to be.
I'm currently stuck in Doha for the night. yay. not only will I not be in Thailand in the morning...I won't be there at all tomorrow! ugh.
everything in Africa is on Africa time, so naturally we were not only leaving late...but the plane was broken as well. so...we waited for them to fix it.
eventually we took off.
in the meantime our flight to Thailand leaves Doha.
we land in Doha.
uhh...yeah.
so...we're stuck here overnight in the airport.
and then we fly to Kuala Lampur in the morning.
and then we fly to Thailand in the evening.
so...we'll be in Thailand in two days time.
I have 5% battery power left. so...this is it. I hope everyone is clean, comfortable and entertained for the next two days. I would kill for a shower already. oh man. haha.
I can't believe I'm not in Africa anymore. I looked up at the 'plane map' on our flight and realized we had left the continent and felt very disconnected. I hadn't realized how much I felt at home there. I'll definitely be back to see more. I'm hooked.
have a great night everyone...and even though I sound a bit grumpy I'm fine. just venting a bit.
=D
I'll be much better with some Thai food and a shower in a couple dozen hours.
miss everyone...keep writing.
<3
even when you don't need it to be.
I'm currently stuck in Doha for the night. yay. not only will I not be in Thailand in the morning...I won't be there at all tomorrow! ugh.
everything in Africa is on Africa time, so naturally we were not only leaving late...but the plane was broken as well. so...we waited for them to fix it.
eventually we took off.
in the meantime our flight to Thailand leaves Doha.
we land in Doha.
uhh...yeah.
so...we're stuck here overnight in the airport.
and then we fly to Kuala Lampur in the morning.
and then we fly to Thailand in the evening.
so...we'll be in Thailand in two days time.
I have 5% battery power left. so...this is it. I hope everyone is clean, comfortable and entertained for the next two days. I would kill for a shower already. oh man. haha.
I can't believe I'm not in Africa anymore. I looked up at the 'plane map' on our flight and realized we had left the continent and felt very disconnected. I hadn't realized how much I felt at home there. I'll definitely be back to see more. I'm hooked.
have a great night everyone...and even though I sound a bit grumpy I'm fine. just venting a bit.
=D
I'll be much better with some Thai food and a shower in a couple dozen hours.
miss everyone...keep writing.
<3
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Oh, have you ever seen the lights?
"I've got this energy beneath my feet
like something underground's gonna come up and carry me,
I've got this sentimental heart that beats
but I don't really mind and it's starting to get to me"
How time flies.
I feel like I just left the states and yet I feel as if I've been here for a year.
I absolutely love this place. it's going to be hard to fly out tomorrow...but it's going to be amazing to get to see Thailand. everything will be shiny and new again, and this time there will be much more to adjust to. I'm so incredibly ready. I'm so absolutely excited. I'm so lucky.
my last few days in Africa not only lived up to my hopes but surpassed them. I've really had such an incredible time here...it's been eye opening.
My last night in Cape Town was a hit...I ended up staying out until 9:30 in the morning with newly made Afrikaans friends and made it back to the hostel just in time to take a quick shower and check out by 10am.
I got to explore the city a bit more with Marissa that day before flying to Durban and meeting up with Doug and Kath for the night.
The next day I wandered down to the beach and eventually met up with Tristan for a nice dinner and a fun night at the bar and club with the group, topped off by a wonderful walk on the beach. of nights that could only be real in movies and novels, I would say this was an absolute exception. it couldn't have been more perfect if it had been scripted and set. thank you to everyone who made it incredible from dusk to dawn... <3
"do you know what you started..."
Saturday was spent all over the city. Tristan and I met up with his friend Matt and Kath for breakfast and then we split off again and visited a beautiful local park filled with monkeys and a surprise avery that we didn't know was hiding there. we chatted the time away and eventually met back up with Matt and went go-karting and to get my Africa star tattoo. the tattoo place was booked up, but the go-karts were a lot of fun. we said goodbye to Matt again and spent our last few hours together talking and relaxing. eventually it was time for him to go, so we headed to Matt's flat, where I would spend the night, and said our goodbyes.
I hope our paths will cross again.
Matt and I killed the night by listening to music, chatting, getting a Rotti at Johnny's (classic Durban food...a mix of Indian and death in a 2 kilo wrap waiting to twist your stomach into knots...not that bad, but really...) and watching a movie on his laptop.
Matt and I started Sunday morning with a light breakfast and a trip to another tattoo shop in hopes of acquiring my SA star. again, no such luck. we headed out to Kloof to Matt's parent's house to partake in a 'Matt's crazy family' lunch. In reality they were amazing, funny and very nice. I had a great time and lunch was fantastic! we all chatted about politics in both the USA and SA, traveling, life experience and at one point Matt and I wandered off and laid in the sunlit grass and just talked about everything. it was a really nice time, I'm so happy I went.
afterwards we met up with Doug and Kath for some climbing at Gateway Wall, I said my final goodbyes to them and we wandered back to Matt's flat to pack my bag and kill time before my flight to JoBurg. Matt and I shared a dinner and a really good chocolate milkshake at the airport and again...more goodbyes.
my flight went smoothly and Wille (pronounced Villeh) picked me up from the airport and brought me to the hostel. we watched a movie and called it a night.
the next day, technically yesterday, was pretty mellow. made it to a tattoo shop and finally got my star and picked up Marissa from the airport. we chatted on all the things that had happed while we were apart and had some dinner at the hostel. we played pool after dinner and eventually called it a night.
so...here we are. today is intentionally mellow...we're trying to rest up for our long travels tomorrow. we hung around the hostel and walked down to the cafe (here...) for some Thailand hostel research and quick updates. apparently the people at the hostel are throwing us a bit of a bonvoyage bash tonight...so maybe it's better to rest now.
I'll try and stay in touch with everyone as best as I can on the next leg of my trip. =D
I want to thank everyone who has been staying in touch with me, leaving me comments and hanging out with me while I'm abroad. as much as I love it here I am feeling a bit detached from everyone and everything back home. it's really nice to stay connected.
"I can't do the talk like the talk on the TV
I can't do everything.........."
"Now hold on
I'm not looking for sweet talk
I'm looking for time
Time for tower and sleep walk
Brother, cause it hurts sometimes
You know it's gonna bleed sometimes
Hold on"
I'm leaving so much of myself here in Africa and I'm taking just as much with me when I go.
this may be my last day in Africa but it won't be my last time here.
this is a promise. <3
"Ooop...sounds like a dance off to me!"
like something underground's gonna come up and carry me,
I've got this sentimental heart that beats
but I don't really mind and it's starting to get to me"
How time flies.
I feel like I just left the states and yet I feel as if I've been here for a year.
I absolutely love this place. it's going to be hard to fly out tomorrow...but it's going to be amazing to get to see Thailand. everything will be shiny and new again, and this time there will be much more to adjust to. I'm so incredibly ready. I'm so absolutely excited. I'm so lucky.
my last few days in Africa not only lived up to my hopes but surpassed them. I've really had such an incredible time here...it's been eye opening.
My last night in Cape Town was a hit...I ended up staying out until 9:30 in the morning with newly made Afrikaans friends and made it back to the hostel just in time to take a quick shower and check out by 10am.
I got to explore the city a bit more with Marissa that day before flying to Durban and meeting up with Doug and Kath for the night.
The next day I wandered down to the beach and eventually met up with Tristan for a nice dinner and a fun night at the bar and club with the group, topped off by a wonderful walk on the beach. of nights that could only be real in movies and novels, I would say this was an absolute exception. it couldn't have been more perfect if it had been scripted and set. thank you to everyone who made it incredible from dusk to dawn... <3
"do you know what you started..."
Saturday was spent all over the city. Tristan and I met up with his friend Matt and Kath for breakfast and then we split off again and visited a beautiful local park filled with monkeys and a surprise avery that we didn't know was hiding there. we chatted the time away and eventually met back up with Matt and went go-karting and to get my Africa star tattoo. the tattoo place was booked up, but the go-karts were a lot of fun. we said goodbye to Matt again and spent our last few hours together talking and relaxing. eventually it was time for him to go, so we headed to Matt's flat, where I would spend the night, and said our goodbyes.
I hope our paths will cross again.
Matt and I killed the night by listening to music, chatting, getting a Rotti at Johnny's (classic Durban food...a mix of Indian and death in a 2 kilo wrap waiting to twist your stomach into knots...not that bad, but really...) and watching a movie on his laptop.
Matt and I started Sunday morning with a light breakfast and a trip to another tattoo shop in hopes of acquiring my SA star. again, no such luck. we headed out to Kloof to Matt's parent's house to partake in a 'Matt's crazy family' lunch. In reality they were amazing, funny and very nice. I had a great time and lunch was fantastic! we all chatted about politics in both the USA and SA, traveling, life experience and at one point Matt and I wandered off and laid in the sunlit grass and just talked about everything. it was a really nice time, I'm so happy I went.
afterwards we met up with Doug and Kath for some climbing at Gateway Wall, I said my final goodbyes to them and we wandered back to Matt's flat to pack my bag and kill time before my flight to JoBurg. Matt and I shared a dinner and a really good chocolate milkshake at the airport and again...more goodbyes.
my flight went smoothly and Wille (pronounced Villeh) picked me up from the airport and brought me to the hostel. we watched a movie and called it a night.
the next day, technically yesterday, was pretty mellow. made it to a tattoo shop and finally got my star and picked up Marissa from the airport. we chatted on all the things that had happed while we were apart and had some dinner at the hostel. we played pool after dinner and eventually called it a night.
so...here we are. today is intentionally mellow...we're trying to rest up for our long travels tomorrow. we hung around the hostel and walked down to the cafe (here...) for some Thailand hostel research and quick updates. apparently the people at the hostel are throwing us a bit of a bonvoyage bash tonight...so maybe it's better to rest now.
I'll try and stay in touch with everyone as best as I can on the next leg of my trip. =D
I want to thank everyone who has been staying in touch with me, leaving me comments and hanging out with me while I'm abroad. as much as I love it here I am feeling a bit detached from everyone and everything back home. it's really nice to stay connected.
"I can't do the talk like the talk on the TV
I can't do everything.........."
"Now hold on
I'm not looking for sweet talk
I'm looking for time
Time for tower and sleep walk
Brother, cause it hurts sometimes
You know it's gonna bleed sometimes
Hold on"
I'm leaving so much of myself here in Africa and I'm taking just as much with me when I go.
this may be my last day in Africa but it won't be my last time here.
this is a promise. <3
"Ooop...sounds like a dance off to me!"
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
you take away my oxygen...
...but I don't need to breathe.
oh, what an amazing day. I must say that Cape Town is one of the most beautiful and amazing cities I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. the day consisted of a tour, the beach, an amazing breakfast with live local music, some great ice cream, a free jazz festival, some boutique shopping (and a cute new dress!), a few beers with fellow travelers, getting to meet up with a few people from our GAP tour and a fantastic dinner. we're now getting ready to spend a night on Long Street...the local hot spot for bars, clubs and evening excitement. it should be a fun night, and sadly it's a bit unexpectedly my last night here in wonderful Cape Town.
I'm spontaneously flying across the country to Durban tomorrow afternoon to spend two extra days there. I feel like I didn't get enough time to do all the things I wanted to do and to be honest I was a bit disappointed when Tristan couldn't fly down to CT...so, yeah. I'll just fly to Durban instead. oh, and I get to spend one more day with Andrew/Doug. it's a win/win.
so, I have a bit less than 48 hours in wonderful Durban and then I fly to Johannesburg for my last day and a half in Africa...for now.
who knows...I might be back sooner than expected. but really...when it comes to me, can you really expect anything?
okay. time to get this night moving. it's after 11, the clubs are filling up and we need to dance.
=D
oh, and I'm going to be super fashionable with my one ear plug. the swelling in my ear is pretty under control (thanks to lots of medicine) and I feel quite a bit better than I did two days ago. I'll play it safe tonight since I'm not really sure if I should even be flying tomorrow.
I have a feeling that these are going to be an amazing last few days in Africa. lets hope they live up to my biased expectations.
<3
oh, what an amazing day. I must say that Cape Town is one of the most beautiful and amazing cities I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. the day consisted of a tour, the beach, an amazing breakfast with live local music, some great ice cream, a free jazz festival, some boutique shopping (and a cute new dress!), a few beers with fellow travelers, getting to meet up with a few people from our GAP tour and a fantastic dinner. we're now getting ready to spend a night on Long Street...the local hot spot for bars, clubs and evening excitement. it should be a fun night, and sadly it's a bit unexpectedly my last night here in wonderful Cape Town.
I'm spontaneously flying across the country to Durban tomorrow afternoon to spend two extra days there. I feel like I didn't get enough time to do all the things I wanted to do and to be honest I was a bit disappointed when Tristan couldn't fly down to CT...so, yeah. I'll just fly to Durban instead. oh, and I get to spend one more day with Andrew/Doug. it's a win/win.
so, I have a bit less than 48 hours in wonderful Durban and then I fly to Johannesburg for my last day and a half in Africa...for now.
who knows...I might be back sooner than expected. but really...when it comes to me, can you really expect anything?
okay. time to get this night moving. it's after 11, the clubs are filling up and we need to dance.
=D
oh, and I'm going to be super fashionable with my one ear plug. the swelling in my ear is pretty under control (thanks to lots of medicine) and I feel quite a bit better than I did two days ago. I'll play it safe tonight since I'm not really sure if I should even be flying tomorrow.
I have a feeling that these are going to be an amazing last few days in Africa. lets hope they live up to my biased expectations.
<3
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
hindsight is just hindsight.
Good evening. I'm currently perched on the top bunk of my very pink dorm room located on the 6th floor of a building in...Cape Town. yep. we made it.
quite a lot has happened the last few days so I'll go in order of time and not importance. I'm pretty drugged up right now, so I'm hoping that all this will be as coherent as possible.
the day after my cliff jumping expedition I woke up early and opted to try my 10km hike to the 'hole in the wall' which is a beautiful rock island with a hole in it just hanging out off the coast a bit. unfortunately I was incredibly sick and could hardly breathe, so less than a km in I turned back. a few guys at the hostel had a car and were going anyways that afternoon so they offered me a ride and I gratefully accepted. as it turns out they're travel journalists for different magazines and I got the 411 on writing, researching and having fun while traveling and capturing the adventures on virtual film and paper. we explored little villages, I chased baby pigs around a field while they clicked pictures, we stopped all along the cliffs and eventually made it to hole in the wall where we made sandwiches and hiked down the hill to the water and met up with my previously abandoned hiking group. I was feeling a bit better so I decided to swim out to the hole in the wall with a few people from the group, climb it and naturally...jump off it into the water below. yay. it was a lot of fun and I'm glad I saved my energy for that instead of huffing and puffing my way just to get there and not having the energy to swim out and enjoy a good jump.
I caught a ride back after a few more photoshoots and got changed. the guys bought me a drink and we suddenly noticed that the sun was about to set. they quickly swooped me up and we all hopped back in the 4x4 and sped to some nearby cliffs to get some sunset pictures. after clouds had obscured the view we started to drive back and noticed some village boys playing soccer...pardon me. football. haha. we asked to join and got quickly accepted into the ranks when we provided a brand new ball to play with. almost forgetting that I was sick I ran around and played my heart our for almost two hours until it really was too dark to see and we were all starving. I couldn't have enjoyed it more.
we got back, got changed and all went out for local pizza and live entertainment. a few people from the hostel joined us and made our small party into a large fun group. the pizza was delicious, I got to watch and learn about cricket (and scream every time SA scored against Australia) and eventually some live bands came on...starting with local drums and music and eventually turning into a really bad form of karaoke where no one knew how to play the music and NO ONE knew how to sing. it was hilarious but eventually became too much. we bailed and went to the hostel bar. soon the bar closed so we trooped it across the dirt street and into the backpackers there in search of a bar. a few springboks, beers and mixed drinks later we all decided to go for a swim. bad idea. haha.
the ocean had come in so far that we were just stumbling across rocks for what seemed like forever before we realized we would never make it to the beach. the water had just come in too far and it was too dark. we turned around and hit the sheets. all in all a good night...especially since it ended at half past 4. =D
so we left beautiful Coffee Bay the next day and made our way down the coast to Port Elizabeth. sadly the Baz Bus didn't get in until almost midnight and we needed to catch the next bus down to Wilderness at 6am. I found some free wifi, uploaded those pics (more on my facebook for people who didn't see them) and went to bed around 1am.
we got into Wilderness in the early evening and met the people there. I made a few phone calls and eventually a group of 5 of us went out to a realy nice dinner. I had ostrich for the first time...it was pretty good. we all just shared a few bottles of wine, enjoyed some very good food and chatted the night away. we got back, sat around the fire at the backpackers and eventually went to bed. mellow day but very nice.
the next day (yesterday) was more of an adventure...and even more so than I had planned. a girl from the night before, Dianna, and I had decided to go kloofing (SA canyoning) so we woke up early and got ready for the adventure. for people who don't know it's prettymuch hiking in (you have wetsuits and lifevests on) wading/swimming downstream, jumping off waterfalls, rock scrambling, absailing (repelling), rock climbing and anything else that keeps you moving downriver to the end destination. now, the cool thing about this is that once you make the first jump or absail there's no going back. the bad thing is that if you get hurt...you can't go back. you must continue or get a helecopter out. now don't get freaked. I'm okay. I'll be okay. I didn't need a helecopter. here's the story.
we hiked in for maybe half an hour and eventually made it to the river. the scenery was beautiful. it was a bit breezy, but all in all a beautiful day. it was just the two of us and the guide so it was a very personal experience compared to the usual group size of 12 or more. we zipped into our wetuits and started swimming down the river. we made it to our first jump (about 10meters) and jumped down. perfect. I hated how the lifevest pulled up around my neck when I jumped so I tightened it as much as I could to try and keep it down. very quickly there was a second jump. this one was lower, but when I jumped it still pulled up over my head. it was just too big. we had the opportunity to climb back up the side of the falls and jump again so I went for it. this time I held the lifevest down by crossing my arms and pulling down as I jumped. it helped but it made me fall sideways a bit because I didn't have my arms out to stabelize. it was fine, but I didn't realize that it might potentially be bad. we kept swimming and the canyon sterted getting narrower, taller and more beautiful. we were surrounded by red rocks, green hanging gardens and dark water. if I had a waterproof camera I would have used up an entire memory card by this point. it was just breathtaking. the water was so clean that the guide didn't pack us any water and just insisted that we drink the water as we swim. it was amazing.
we got to the next jump...a pretty big one. about 14 meters. I hesitated a bit but still decided to go right after the guide since Dianna was super scared of the jump. this would be our tallest jump of the day so I might as well get it under my belt. right? well...I crossed my arms like last time, counted to three and jumped. again, I went sideways. this time, however, when my head hit it was tilted to one side and it created either incredible suction or incredible pressure on my eardrum and immedietly I knew something was wrong. I opeded my eyes underwater (which I never do) and tried to find up. I felt incredibly disoriented and was in so much pain I thought I might throw up. I couldn't hear anything out of my right ear. I was pretty sure I had ruptured my eardrum. I swam and scrambled to the side of the rocks and layed there for a minute in so much pain I could hardly breathe. when you have that much pain in your head it's hard to function. eventually the pain became manageable and I realized Dianna knew I was hurt and didn't want to jump. there was no going back for any of us and so she eventually jumped and was absolutely fine. we needed to keep moving, so I played it down a bit and told them I was okay and just hurt my eardrum and would probably be fine in a few minutes. the guide thought I just had water in my ear so he had me try and clear it out but it just hurt like hell and nothing happened. we kept moving. swimming, hiking, scrambling...then a jump. I knew if I jumped I would just hurt my ear more so I was forced to downclimb. the guide didn't think it was practical but I managed to pull it off. and again...and again. luckily they were all pretty short and I could jump the last 2-3 meters and still keep my head afloat because of the wetsuit and lifevest. I must say...the only thing that kept me going was the beautiful canyon. it was worth it to just get to swim through km's of beautiful canyon. there's nothing like it. we stopped for a snack and the pain was getting worse. it had been about 2 hours by this point and I had decided that if it didn't get better by the next day then I was going to the doctors.
we kept moving...more swimming now than anything...and after another 2 1/2 hours we made it to the end. by the last half hour I was forcing myself to stay calm. it felt as if the whole right side of my face was swollen and a bit tingly, my nose was running and my ear hurt worse than ever. I was going to the doctors immedietly. I told the guide and he agreed. he said he noticed my balance going but knew that I needed to make it out and didn't want to worry me. he looked pretty concerned. I think thats what made me the most worried...realizing that he was freaked. we hiked out and eventually met up with our ride at the checkpoint. we stripped out of the wetsuits, got dried off, got dressed and went straight to the local doctor/surgeon. they offered me painkillers but I wasn't sure if I would need any work done on my ear so I declined. it was a tough 45 minute drive.
she took me in right away and started asking questions. she checked my ear and got a bit worried. I hadn't ruptured my eardrum, but it was so inflamed that there was the chance I still might. also I guess because all of the pressure in my head my sinuses were swelling as well. great. she immedietly told me she was going to give me a shot to make the swelling go down and also one for the pain. I sterted to pull off my sweater and she just shook her head. yep. I got my first shot EVER in my butt. haha. what a day, huh? the pain started to go away within a few minutes and she gave me a rundown of what I was to do. she wrote me a few perscriptions...an anti-inflamatory, an antibiotic, painkillers and a nasal spray. the point was to get the swelling down as much and as fast as possible. she told me that if the swelling didn't go down substantially overnight then I needed to go to an ear, nose and throught specialist a few towns over. she also told me that I should get my hearing back within a week, and that I can't fly until the swelling goes down enough to the point where I can clear my ears again. she mentioned that if it didn't go down overnight then I would probably need to get it drained the next day, but that she thought that was a bit far fetched and only a last resort.
I thanked her, paid my bill and walked barefoot (yeah...I had gone kloofing barefoot and hadnt planned to be trooping it around town) and a bit loopy to the local pharmacy for even more drugs. the funny this was that they didn't ask me for ID and the scripts were just handwritten on a plain piece of paper. it's so mellow here. haha. oh, Africa. I gathered my newly purchased pharmacy, walked across town to get my laundry that I had dropped off earlier and then caught a ride to the backpackers.
Annie, the owner of the backpackers, totally mothered me...she made me toast and juice and WATCHED me eat it...as if I wouldn't have, haha. and then she made sure I took all my pills and practically tucked me into bed. I had wanted to go to the beach but she said I couldn't because she was afraid I'd get lost or something. it was endeering but a bit much. hahaha. after she left and thought I was secure in my bed I got up and went outside and laid in a hammoc. if I had to lay down it was going to be outside! the meds started to hit me and I drifted off to sleep for a bit. I woke up to pizza night at the backpackers. I wobbily got up, ordered my choice of pizza, made a few phone calls and sat in a hammoc chair to wait for my dinner. well...I fell asleep again and the barman (really cool guy) gently woke me up and brought my pizza and a drink to me. haha. I really felt like a tool. I was so drugged up I couldn't even stay awake. I actually fell back asleep after he brought me the pizza and eventually woke up and ate half of it (small pizza) and saved the other half for lunch the next day. I hung out outside for a bit and eventually just went to bed.
today I felt a bit better in the morning. I slept in, took a long shower and just mellowed out. I talked to the doctor and told her how I was feeling and she said I didn't have to come in if I felt like the worst part of the pressure was gone. I still cant hear very well and it still hurts, but I should be able to fly soon and I should be okay. I feel incredibly lucky that it wasn't worse.
so...Marissa and I hopped on our last run of the Baz Bus and eventually made it to Cape Town safely. haha. what an adventure.
so...here I am. sitting in a pink room with pink blankets, pink pillows, pink decorations and pink art and wondering why I'm sleeping in a 7 year olds room for the night. haha =D but seriously...it's a bit pink for my taste.
so...yeah. thats my story. I'm so sorry I didn't call everyone (like my family) and tell them what happened. I figured writing it here should be good enough. I really don't feel like talking on the phone right now and all I've really been doing is sleeping anyways. this medicine makes me so dopey and groggy. so I'll keep taking my medicine, get better and remember this important lesson learned.
-> wear earplugs next time I jump from something that high.
goodnight.
I think I'm going to watch a movie in bed and then just pass out.
quite a lot has happened the last few days so I'll go in order of time and not importance. I'm pretty drugged up right now, so I'm hoping that all this will be as coherent as possible.
the day after my cliff jumping expedition I woke up early and opted to try my 10km hike to the 'hole in the wall' which is a beautiful rock island with a hole in it just hanging out off the coast a bit. unfortunately I was incredibly sick and could hardly breathe, so less than a km in I turned back. a few guys at the hostel had a car and were going anyways that afternoon so they offered me a ride and I gratefully accepted. as it turns out they're travel journalists for different magazines and I got the 411 on writing, researching and having fun while traveling and capturing the adventures on virtual film and paper. we explored little villages, I chased baby pigs around a field while they clicked pictures, we stopped all along the cliffs and eventually made it to hole in the wall where we made sandwiches and hiked down the hill to the water and met up with my previously abandoned hiking group. I was feeling a bit better so I decided to swim out to the hole in the wall with a few people from the group, climb it and naturally...jump off it into the water below. yay. it was a lot of fun and I'm glad I saved my energy for that instead of huffing and puffing my way just to get there and not having the energy to swim out and enjoy a good jump.
I caught a ride back after a few more photoshoots and got changed. the guys bought me a drink and we suddenly noticed that the sun was about to set. they quickly swooped me up and we all hopped back in the 4x4 and sped to some nearby cliffs to get some sunset pictures. after clouds had obscured the view we started to drive back and noticed some village boys playing soccer...pardon me. football. haha. we asked to join and got quickly accepted into the ranks when we provided a brand new ball to play with. almost forgetting that I was sick I ran around and played my heart our for almost two hours until it really was too dark to see and we were all starving. I couldn't have enjoyed it more.
we got back, got changed and all went out for local pizza and live entertainment. a few people from the hostel joined us and made our small party into a large fun group. the pizza was delicious, I got to watch and learn about cricket (and scream every time SA scored against Australia) and eventually some live bands came on...starting with local drums and music and eventually turning into a really bad form of karaoke where no one knew how to play the music and NO ONE knew how to sing. it was hilarious but eventually became too much. we bailed and went to the hostel bar. soon the bar closed so we trooped it across the dirt street and into the backpackers there in search of a bar. a few springboks, beers and mixed drinks later we all decided to go for a swim. bad idea. haha.
the ocean had come in so far that we were just stumbling across rocks for what seemed like forever before we realized we would never make it to the beach. the water had just come in too far and it was too dark. we turned around and hit the sheets. all in all a good night...especially since it ended at half past 4. =D
so we left beautiful Coffee Bay the next day and made our way down the coast to Port Elizabeth. sadly the Baz Bus didn't get in until almost midnight and we needed to catch the next bus down to Wilderness at 6am. I found some free wifi, uploaded those pics (more on my facebook for people who didn't see them) and went to bed around 1am.
we got into Wilderness in the early evening and met the people there. I made a few phone calls and eventually a group of 5 of us went out to a realy nice dinner. I had ostrich for the first time...it was pretty good. we all just shared a few bottles of wine, enjoyed some very good food and chatted the night away. we got back, sat around the fire at the backpackers and eventually went to bed. mellow day but very nice.
the next day (yesterday) was more of an adventure...and even more so than I had planned. a girl from the night before, Dianna, and I had decided to go kloofing (SA canyoning) so we woke up early and got ready for the adventure. for people who don't know it's prettymuch hiking in (you have wetsuits and lifevests on) wading/swimming downstream, jumping off waterfalls, rock scrambling, absailing (repelling), rock climbing and anything else that keeps you moving downriver to the end destination. now, the cool thing about this is that once you make the first jump or absail there's no going back. the bad thing is that if you get hurt...you can't go back. you must continue or get a helecopter out. now don't get freaked. I'm okay. I'll be okay. I didn't need a helecopter. here's the story.
we hiked in for maybe half an hour and eventually made it to the river. the scenery was beautiful. it was a bit breezy, but all in all a beautiful day. it was just the two of us and the guide so it was a very personal experience compared to the usual group size of 12 or more. we zipped into our wetuits and started swimming down the river. we made it to our first jump (about 10meters) and jumped down. perfect. I hated how the lifevest pulled up around my neck when I jumped so I tightened it as much as I could to try and keep it down. very quickly there was a second jump. this one was lower, but when I jumped it still pulled up over my head. it was just too big. we had the opportunity to climb back up the side of the falls and jump again so I went for it. this time I held the lifevest down by crossing my arms and pulling down as I jumped. it helped but it made me fall sideways a bit because I didn't have my arms out to stabelize. it was fine, but I didn't realize that it might potentially be bad. we kept swimming and the canyon sterted getting narrower, taller and more beautiful. we were surrounded by red rocks, green hanging gardens and dark water. if I had a waterproof camera I would have used up an entire memory card by this point. it was just breathtaking. the water was so clean that the guide didn't pack us any water and just insisted that we drink the water as we swim. it was amazing.
we got to the next jump...a pretty big one. about 14 meters. I hesitated a bit but still decided to go right after the guide since Dianna was super scared of the jump. this would be our tallest jump of the day so I might as well get it under my belt. right? well...I crossed my arms like last time, counted to three and jumped. again, I went sideways. this time, however, when my head hit it was tilted to one side and it created either incredible suction or incredible pressure on my eardrum and immedietly I knew something was wrong. I opeded my eyes underwater (which I never do) and tried to find up. I felt incredibly disoriented and was in so much pain I thought I might throw up. I couldn't hear anything out of my right ear. I was pretty sure I had ruptured my eardrum. I swam and scrambled to the side of the rocks and layed there for a minute in so much pain I could hardly breathe. when you have that much pain in your head it's hard to function. eventually the pain became manageable and I realized Dianna knew I was hurt and didn't want to jump. there was no going back for any of us and so she eventually jumped and was absolutely fine. we needed to keep moving, so I played it down a bit and told them I was okay and just hurt my eardrum and would probably be fine in a few minutes. the guide thought I just had water in my ear so he had me try and clear it out but it just hurt like hell and nothing happened. we kept moving. swimming, hiking, scrambling...then a jump. I knew if I jumped I would just hurt my ear more so I was forced to downclimb. the guide didn't think it was practical but I managed to pull it off. and again...and again. luckily they were all pretty short and I could jump the last 2-3 meters and still keep my head afloat because of the wetsuit and lifevest. I must say...the only thing that kept me going was the beautiful canyon. it was worth it to just get to swim through km's of beautiful canyon. there's nothing like it. we stopped for a snack and the pain was getting worse. it had been about 2 hours by this point and I had decided that if it didn't get better by the next day then I was going to the doctors.
we kept moving...more swimming now than anything...and after another 2 1/2 hours we made it to the end. by the last half hour I was forcing myself to stay calm. it felt as if the whole right side of my face was swollen and a bit tingly, my nose was running and my ear hurt worse than ever. I was going to the doctors immedietly. I told the guide and he agreed. he said he noticed my balance going but knew that I needed to make it out and didn't want to worry me. he looked pretty concerned. I think thats what made me the most worried...realizing that he was freaked. we hiked out and eventually met up with our ride at the checkpoint. we stripped out of the wetsuits, got dried off, got dressed and went straight to the local doctor/surgeon. they offered me painkillers but I wasn't sure if I would need any work done on my ear so I declined. it was a tough 45 minute drive.
she took me in right away and started asking questions. she checked my ear and got a bit worried. I hadn't ruptured my eardrum, but it was so inflamed that there was the chance I still might. also I guess because all of the pressure in my head my sinuses were swelling as well. great. she immedietly told me she was going to give me a shot to make the swelling go down and also one for the pain. I sterted to pull off my sweater and she just shook her head. yep. I got my first shot EVER in my butt. haha. what a day, huh? the pain started to go away within a few minutes and she gave me a rundown of what I was to do. she wrote me a few perscriptions...an anti-inflamatory, an antibiotic, painkillers and a nasal spray. the point was to get the swelling down as much and as fast as possible. she told me that if the swelling didn't go down substantially overnight then I needed to go to an ear, nose and throught specialist a few towns over. she also told me that I should get my hearing back within a week, and that I can't fly until the swelling goes down enough to the point where I can clear my ears again. she mentioned that if it didn't go down overnight then I would probably need to get it drained the next day, but that she thought that was a bit far fetched and only a last resort.
I thanked her, paid my bill and walked barefoot (yeah...I had gone kloofing barefoot and hadnt planned to be trooping it around town) and a bit loopy to the local pharmacy for even more drugs. the funny this was that they didn't ask me for ID and the scripts were just handwritten on a plain piece of paper. it's so mellow here. haha. oh, Africa. I gathered my newly purchased pharmacy, walked across town to get my laundry that I had dropped off earlier and then caught a ride to the backpackers.
Annie, the owner of the backpackers, totally mothered me...she made me toast and juice and WATCHED me eat it...as if I wouldn't have, haha. and then she made sure I took all my pills and practically tucked me into bed. I had wanted to go to the beach but she said I couldn't because she was afraid I'd get lost or something. it was endeering but a bit much. hahaha. after she left and thought I was secure in my bed I got up and went outside and laid in a hammoc. if I had to lay down it was going to be outside! the meds started to hit me and I drifted off to sleep for a bit. I woke up to pizza night at the backpackers. I wobbily got up, ordered my choice of pizza, made a few phone calls and sat in a hammoc chair to wait for my dinner. well...I fell asleep again and the barman (really cool guy) gently woke me up and brought my pizza and a drink to me. haha. I really felt like a tool. I was so drugged up I couldn't even stay awake. I actually fell back asleep after he brought me the pizza and eventually woke up and ate half of it (small pizza) and saved the other half for lunch the next day. I hung out outside for a bit and eventually just went to bed.
today I felt a bit better in the morning. I slept in, took a long shower and just mellowed out. I talked to the doctor and told her how I was feeling and she said I didn't have to come in if I felt like the worst part of the pressure was gone. I still cant hear very well and it still hurts, but I should be able to fly soon and I should be okay. I feel incredibly lucky that it wasn't worse.
so...Marissa and I hopped on our last run of the Baz Bus and eventually made it to Cape Town safely. haha. what an adventure.
so...here I am. sitting in a pink room with pink blankets, pink pillows, pink decorations and pink art and wondering why I'm sleeping in a 7 year olds room for the night. haha =D but seriously...it's a bit pink for my taste.
so...yeah. thats my story. I'm so sorry I didn't call everyone (like my family) and tell them what happened. I figured writing it here should be good enough. I really don't feel like talking on the phone right now and all I've really been doing is sleeping anyways. this medicine makes me so dopey and groggy. so I'll keep taking my medicine, get better and remember this important lesson learned.
-> wear earplugs next time I jump from something that high.
goodnight.
I think I'm going to watch a movie in bed and then just pass out.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
daily highs and lows
who wouldn't want to spend an entire day in Coffee Bay, SA cliff-jumping?
well...plenty of people, I'm sure, but this story is about me and my amazing day cliff-hunting. and then jumping. jumping. jumping.
woke up around 8 and had a relaxing shower, breakfast, played a game of pool with some travel friends and hopped in the truck for our drive into the hills.
it was a short drive, maybe 10 minutes, until the truck couldn't handle the crumbling road any longer. from here it was on foot. we hiked for what seemed like forever through the hills and down steep cliffs until we finally hit a small cove along the coastline. here we took a quick break and claimed 'camp' for later. on we went through thick brush, up and down hills, along the coast and scaling shale walls to reach a nice beach backed by a tremendous cave...home to the local bat community. we explored the cave a bit but eventually moved on because the tide was rising fast and jump 1 on our roster was low-tide sensitive. eventually we made it along the steep rock cliffs to the place we would be jumping from. only three people out of the entire group had the courage to jump here...and one of them was the guide. this cliff was maybe 9meters high and plunged you straight into the ocean. I did this jump a few times and eventually the group was ready to move on. up up up we went and eventually we hit a bit of a rock wall. while an easy climb for me I couldn't say the same for the rest of the group. I was definitely the only rock climber (guide excluded...he could hold his own but I still spotted him while he climbed it.) so I helped everyone get up and from the top we found ourselves at jump 2. again just two people this time. it was an exhilarating 10m fall into a beautiful cove cut by the rough ocean waves over countless years. After two go's I wanted more. the guide told me about a jump that even many locals won't do. immediately I was interested. he pointed out the wall I would have to climb from our safe spot across the cove. it was a rough shale wall, steep as it could be without overhanging more than once or twice...and just slightly then... and the first potential jump spot was easily 35 feet up...maybe a touch more. I needed to do it. he gave me the 411 on the rocks in the water and I was ready. my jump into the water this time was just a warm up. I hit the water and immediately swam to the other side and began to climb. immediately I slipped on the wet shale and cut my knee open a bit. I wasn't about to let that happen again. Carefully placing my hands and feet I worked my way up and across the slippery wall barely hearing the gasps from my hiking companions from (now below me) across the cove. I made it flawlessly to the jump spot and sat there for a minute just enjoying the view of the ocean from my rock perch. looking up I found another jump spot maybe 5 feet higher up. I knew it was for me. I climbed my final leg, took a deep breath and without a care in the world I fell fell fell fell fell.
splash.
amazing.
all I can remember is thinking to myself "wow, I'm still falling." and then I was getting roughed up by the waves at the bottom. I climbed out, looked through pictures that everyone took and off we went.
cake. yeah. it was amazing.
we hiked up for an eternity and eventually trekked our way back to camp for lunch. grilled tomato, onion and cheese sandwiches could never taste better than after that jump. I ate an apple sitting in a tree, countered a few monkey remarks and watched the ocean.
while everyone was relaxing on the beach I spotted a long cliff peninsula running out pretty far into the water. instead of hiking out to it I opted to swim to it and climb up. it took me a while to get out there, and a bit less time to carefully climb up it but eventually I was on the top. I explored the rocks for a bit and eventually relaxed and listened to the waves breaking on the cliff face below.
my hike back was eye opening. it took almost an hour and a half to navigate my way back across the rocks, through the woods, up and eventually down the hill back to the camp and the beach. I've never felt to close to nature as I did walking barefoot and only in a bathing suit across fields and through rocky terrain. it's a feeling that almost nothing could replicate. the scenery and events of the day only helped to wrap me up in love for this earth and for the opportunities I get to enjoy. I got back to camp rejuvenated and ready to keep hiking.
donning some clothes and shoes I joined the group across some steep terrain until we got to a river where spot 4 was located.
yep. more cliff jumping. what could be better?
this one had two jumps...a really small one (maybe 10 feet?) and a big one.
naturally I was right at the top and ready to take my 8 meter fall. this one actually freaked me out a bit because I had to jump through some branches of a tree and still get far enough out to avoid the sharp rocks beckoning from the water below.
there's no suspense here...I'm typing, I'm fine and I'm incredibly happy. I did the jump two times and actually convinced a girl who swore she would never jump to go off the smaller jump into the water. she was happy she had done it, but was scared enough that I'm pretty convinced she would never, ever, try it again. oh well...always try anything once, but if you don't like it then pack it away and try something new.
the hike back was beautiful, long and tiring. I was exhausted from a day of hiking, climbing, swimming and adrenaline usage.
well...I still am.
I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight.
=D
other than that all I have to report that the food here is fantastic, the people are amazing (it's considered VERY rude if you don't wave, honk and say hello to everyone you pass...and if a horn isn't available then an excited wave and enthusiastic hello will suffice.) and the atmosphere is truly perfect.
I'm considering coming back and volunteering in the orphan school here for a bit. I think it would be a great experience.
oh, and we get one extra unexpected day here tomorrow because for some reason the Baz Bus doesn't come here on fridays. it makes our plans into travel gumbo, but I'm excited to stay and also VERY excited to not have set plans again. I feel like Marissa is way too planned for me. not that she makes plans, but she NEEDS plans. she needs to know where we will be, at what time, what we will be doing and even sometimes what we will eat. it kills me, but it's a lesson in travel planning, humility and patience that I think I'm taking pretty well considering. ahhh traveling. =D
time to go sign up for dinner and maybe read on the beach a bit before eating and sleeping. I have an even longer hike ahead of me tomorrow.
<3
well...plenty of people, I'm sure, but this story is about me and my amazing day cliff-hunting. and then jumping. jumping. jumping.
woke up around 8 and had a relaxing shower, breakfast, played a game of pool with some travel friends and hopped in the truck for our drive into the hills.
it was a short drive, maybe 10 minutes, until the truck couldn't handle the crumbling road any longer. from here it was on foot. we hiked for what seemed like forever through the hills and down steep cliffs until we finally hit a small cove along the coastline. here we took a quick break and claimed 'camp' for later. on we went through thick brush, up and down hills, along the coast and scaling shale walls to reach a nice beach backed by a tremendous cave...home to the local bat community. we explored the cave a bit but eventually moved on because the tide was rising fast and jump 1 on our roster was low-tide sensitive. eventually we made it along the steep rock cliffs to the place we would be jumping from. only three people out of the entire group had the courage to jump here...and one of them was the guide. this cliff was maybe 9meters high and plunged you straight into the ocean. I did this jump a few times and eventually the group was ready to move on. up up up we went and eventually we hit a bit of a rock wall. while an easy climb for me I couldn't say the same for the rest of the group. I was definitely the only rock climber (guide excluded...he could hold his own but I still spotted him while he climbed it.) so I helped everyone get up and from the top we found ourselves at jump 2. again just two people this time. it was an exhilarating 10m fall into a beautiful cove cut by the rough ocean waves over countless years. After two go's I wanted more. the guide told me about a jump that even many locals won't do. immediately I was interested. he pointed out the wall I would have to climb from our safe spot across the cove. it was a rough shale wall, steep as it could be without overhanging more than once or twice...and just slightly then... and the first potential jump spot was easily 35 feet up...maybe a touch more. I needed to do it. he gave me the 411 on the rocks in the water and I was ready. my jump into the water this time was just a warm up. I hit the water and immediately swam to the other side and began to climb. immediately I slipped on the wet shale and cut my knee open a bit. I wasn't about to let that happen again. Carefully placing my hands and feet I worked my way up and across the slippery wall barely hearing the gasps from my hiking companions from (now below me) across the cove. I made it flawlessly to the jump spot and sat there for a minute just enjoying the view of the ocean from my rock perch. looking up I found another jump spot maybe 5 feet higher up. I knew it was for me. I climbed my final leg, took a deep breath and without a care in the world I fell fell fell fell fell.
splash.
amazing.
all I can remember is thinking to myself "wow, I'm still falling." and then I was getting roughed up by the waves at the bottom. I climbed out, looked through pictures that everyone took and off we went.
cake. yeah. it was amazing.
we hiked up for an eternity and eventually trekked our way back to camp for lunch. grilled tomato, onion and cheese sandwiches could never taste better than after that jump. I ate an apple sitting in a tree, countered a few monkey remarks and watched the ocean.
while everyone was relaxing on the beach I spotted a long cliff peninsula running out pretty far into the water. instead of hiking out to it I opted to swim to it and climb up. it took me a while to get out there, and a bit less time to carefully climb up it but eventually I was on the top. I explored the rocks for a bit and eventually relaxed and listened to the waves breaking on the cliff face below.
my hike back was eye opening. it took almost an hour and a half to navigate my way back across the rocks, through the woods, up and eventually down the hill back to the camp and the beach. I've never felt to close to nature as I did walking barefoot and only in a bathing suit across fields and through rocky terrain. it's a feeling that almost nothing could replicate. the scenery and events of the day only helped to wrap me up in love for this earth and for the opportunities I get to enjoy. I got back to camp rejuvenated and ready to keep hiking.
donning some clothes and shoes I joined the group across some steep terrain until we got to a river where spot 4 was located.
yep. more cliff jumping. what could be better?
this one had two jumps...a really small one (maybe 10 feet?) and a big one.
naturally I was right at the top and ready to take my 8 meter fall. this one actually freaked me out a bit because I had to jump through some branches of a tree and still get far enough out to avoid the sharp rocks beckoning from the water below.
there's no suspense here...I'm typing, I'm fine and I'm incredibly happy. I did the jump two times and actually convinced a girl who swore she would never jump to go off the smaller jump into the water. she was happy she had done it, but was scared enough that I'm pretty convinced she would never, ever, try it again. oh well...always try anything once, but if you don't like it then pack it away and try something new.
the hike back was beautiful, long and tiring. I was exhausted from a day of hiking, climbing, swimming and adrenaline usage.
well...I still am.
I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight.
=D
other than that all I have to report that the food here is fantastic, the people are amazing (it's considered VERY rude if you don't wave, honk and say hello to everyone you pass...and if a horn isn't available then an excited wave and enthusiastic hello will suffice.) and the atmosphere is truly perfect.
I'm considering coming back and volunteering in the orphan school here for a bit. I think it would be a great experience.
oh, and we get one extra unexpected day here tomorrow because for some reason the Baz Bus doesn't come here on fridays. it makes our plans into travel gumbo, but I'm excited to stay and also VERY excited to not have set plans again. I feel like Marissa is way too planned for me. not that she makes plans, but she NEEDS plans. she needs to know where we will be, at what time, what we will be doing and even sometimes what we will eat. it kills me, but it's a lesson in travel planning, humility and patience that I think I'm taking pretty well considering. ahhh traveling. =D
time to go sign up for dinner and maybe read on the beach a bit before eating and sleeping. I have an even longer hike ahead of me tomorrow.
<3
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
they say that love goes anywhere...
this keyboard is really sticky, missing a few keys and most of the letters are rubbed off so please overlook spelling errors. I'll do my best but I only have so much time.
straight from my journal:
24/3/09 9:33pm
somehow, in my heart, I always knew that coming to Africa could change my life. oh, how little did I know. and here...and now...even if my wildest dreams can't work their way into an actual reality, I at least know this...
I am a dreamer.
and I hope I always will be.
"you would kill for this
just a little bit
just a little bit
you would..."
life is just more beautiful in technicolor fairy tales and whimsical dreams.
and to any who might not understand a life of spontaneity and careless dreaming...I'm so sorry.
I could never manage a black and white lifestyle with so many beautiful colors pulling me every which way.
I'd rather drown in color, in hopes, in dreams, in love than be forced to stay in the lines. ever.
'goodnight Durban <3'
update:
Durban had more to offer than I could have ever asked for or imagined. I'm head over heels, and even now...hundreds of kilometers away...my mind is still spinning. I have a feeling that it might be for a while.
yesterday was perfect. woke up early, did laundry (my new favorite luxury), and started my day. Marissa and I took surfing lessons, which was amazing. I got the hang of it right away and was standing and riding waves by my third try. by the end I was practicing paddling into the wave all by myself and riding it in. it was great! I'll definitely give it another try as soon as possible.
Tristan drove back into Durban in the afternoon to visit me and we ran some errands, got some coffee, checked out the 'wave pool' where people practice surfing, got in a bit of rock climbing, I got to meet his sister and eventually we ended up on the beach enjoying the night and the stunning views of the city.
words don't do this day any justice.
today we were up by 5 and ready to catch the Baz Bus (SA backpackers bus) by 6ish. the bus came just before half past 6 and we were on our way down the coast and eventually into Coffee Bay...my current beautiful home away from home. I love it here. enough said. we got here just in time to do a sunset drive to the top of a cliff and we got to watch the sun set over the rolling hills while beautiful turquoise waves crashed into the rocky beaches two hundred feet below. it was magnificent. I wish I could share it with so many people...but for now I'll just enjoy it for me. thats what this trip is all about right?
I feel like taking a quick hike down to the beach. I have a lot on my mind and I think that having some sand between my toes and wind in my hair is bound to help me clear my head.
goodnight world.
**************************************************
and thank you for such an amazing, life changing, few days.
don't forget me.
or our reckless dreams.
<3
Sunday, March 22, 2009
if you feel it, it must be real
I'm falling in love.
I've never felt this much love in my life.
I love this place, I love these people, I love these experiences.
I love feeling this free.
I love feeling something so new and fresh.
I love myself.
I'm so incredibly lucky.
hey!
I'm currently sitting in a mall internet cafe in the lovely city of Durban, South Africa, and it's been a CRAZY couple of days. I'm not in a very 'deep' mood, mostly because it's flipping expensive here for internet and I don't have time for insight...only regurgitating facts on virtual paper. so...here it is.
last time I updated it was St.Patts and pretty early in the day.
well...that day I did some hiking and then went on a horseback ride through some beautiful Swazi mountains and plains. we got close enough to almost touch the wildlife and had an amazing time. I can't explain the beauty of that day. <3>. oh well.
the next day we headed into St.Lucia, South Africa, to stay for two days.
I upgraded from a tent to my own room and ended up letting my English friend, Robert, crash as long as he split the cost with me. saved me a little bit of money and still gave me a nice bed to sleep in. we all ate dinner and then went out to a club. we all drank a bit (too much...), I did some drunk dialing (hey guys!) and then went and crashed in my room.
the next day was mellow...Internet, walking around town, had some ME time, bought a cute dress and then we all went out to dinner.
left early the next day for Durban and everyone prepared to say goodbye. we had a nice diner, exchanged emails and eventually Andrew, his girlfriend, and a few of his friends came to the hostel to hang out. we all hung out and had a few drinks. it was SO great to see Andrew again and SO weird that everyone calls him Doug here. we hung out late, they all left and Marissa and I went to sleep in our dorm room.
next am (yesterday) was woken up at 5:30am by people hugging me goodbye (which was funny because I was on the top bunk and more than one person fell while trying to hug me...haha). I tried to fall back asleep but ended up laying there till 9am listening to music on my ipod. oh well.
Andrew and Cathy picked us up around 11, brought us to their flat to drop off our stuff and then brought us to get some breakfast because we were famished. we met up with Cat's family and Andrew/Doug's friend Tristan at breakfast and we all ate together. afterward Cathy went with her family and the four of us (Marissa, Andrew, Tristan and I) headed out to do some hiking/rock climbing.
we drove through what appeared to be a normal residential area for almost half an hour before finally turning into a parking lot and realizing we had been circling a mini Grand Canyon! It is BEAUTIFUL!!!! We all piled out of the car and began our hike down into the valley a bit, scrambled down some rocks, through the woods and eventually came into a narrow pass between two canyon walls that had some amazing climbing. Tristan led a top rope and we all started on a 14 (which is around a 5.7) Marissa and I shared Andrews harness with him and Marissa was using Tristan's shoes in turn as well. I was amped to try climbing barefoot for the first time so I was fine without shoes.
I went up next and LOVED not wearing shoes. I was hooked within the first 20 feet! I felt so connected to the rock. Even though it wasn't the hardest, I feel it was some of the best climbing I've ever done.
I felt graceful, connected and confident. I couldn't believe the grip I was getting on the tiniest holds. it felt amazing. I did, however, find that I lack some important toe strength, and that I don't get nearly as good of a grip (contact wise) with bare feet as I would with some nice climbing shoes. I kept trying to smear and ended up scraping up my foot pretty bad because of it.
the next climb I got to chose and it was a bit harder on a rating scale and MUCH harder barefoot. the holds were sharp and tiny...some so sharp that they cut right into my foot (most in-between my toes...ugh) and made it hard to put weight on while climbing. I pushed through it and eventually made my way to the top. what an amazing feeling.
Marissa and I also scrambled out onto a beautiful ledge overlooking the river and canyon and just relaxed there for a little while. I really can't believe that there are so many beautiful things hiding in this country. apparently this spot isn't too mainstream, which is madness. I'd come back to South Africa just to spend another week there.
That night a large group of us, maybe 13 or so, went out to dinner and bar hopping. we had some great Mexican food, went to a rock bar, a sports bar and eventually an alternative/hard rock club. it was fun walking all over the city and just having a good time. we stayed at 'BURN', the hard rock club, till after 3am just dancing and having fun.
I started getting tired around 1:30/2 from an early morning and went on the roof with Tristan and we just chatted, looked at the ocean, the stars, talked about life, had a few drinks and hung out.
eventually we all did make our way back to the apartment where 7 of us found places to sleep on the floor (naturally Andrew and Cat got their own bed).
Tristan and I decided to camp outside on the balcony and look at the stars since it was such a beautiful warm night and the house was a bit cramped. someone had decided that an inflatable boat would make a great bed, so he took up a large majority of the usable floor space. haha. I have pictures...don't worry. we stayed up talking until the sun was about to rise and eventually fell peacefully asleep outside.
I haven't slept this good in three weeks. I feel like a new person today.
we all woke up, listened to music, cleaned up and went out to breakfast. afterwards we all lounged on the beach for a few hours, hit a market and well...here we are. at the mall.
not sure whats on the plate for tonight but it's out last (probably) night in Durban and we will be hitting the road down to Cape Town by ourselves from here on out.
it should be a great adventure and I'm amped!
I have my cell phone...don't hesitate to call me and say HEY! =D
I'll update again as soon as possible. <3
"that's a bike. you see, a hippo has four wheels."
oh, what amazing memories.
I've never felt this much love in my life.
I love this place, I love these people, I love these experiences.
I love feeling this free.
I love feeling something so new and fresh.
I love myself.
I'm so incredibly lucky.
hey!
I'm currently sitting in a mall internet cafe in the lovely city of Durban, South Africa, and it's been a CRAZY couple of days. I'm not in a very 'deep' mood, mostly because it's flipping expensive here for internet and I don't have time for insight...only regurgitating facts on virtual paper. so...here it is.
last time I updated it was St.Patts and pretty early in the day.
well...that day I did some hiking and then went on a horseback ride through some beautiful Swazi mountains and plains. we got close enough to almost touch the wildlife and had an amazing time. I can't explain the beauty of that day. <3>. oh well.
the next day we headed into St.Lucia, South Africa, to stay for two days.
I upgraded from a tent to my own room and ended up letting my English friend, Robert, crash as long as he split the cost with me. saved me a little bit of money and still gave me a nice bed to sleep in. we all ate dinner and then went out to a club. we all drank a bit (too much...), I did some drunk dialing (hey guys!) and then went and crashed in my room.
the next day was mellow...Internet, walking around town, had some ME time, bought a cute dress and then we all went out to dinner.
left early the next day for Durban and everyone prepared to say goodbye. we had a nice diner, exchanged emails and eventually Andrew, his girlfriend, and a few of his friends came to the hostel to hang out. we all hung out and had a few drinks. it was SO great to see Andrew again and SO weird that everyone calls him Doug here. we hung out late, they all left and Marissa and I went to sleep in our dorm room.
next am (yesterday) was woken up at 5:30am by people hugging me goodbye (which was funny because I was on the top bunk and more than one person fell while trying to hug me...haha). I tried to fall back asleep but ended up laying there till 9am listening to music on my ipod. oh well.
Andrew and Cathy picked us up around 11, brought us to their flat to drop off our stuff and then brought us to get some breakfast because we were famished. we met up with Cat's family and Andrew/Doug's friend Tristan at breakfast and we all ate together. afterward Cathy went with her family and the four of us (Marissa, Andrew, Tristan and I) headed out to do some hiking/rock climbing.
we drove through what appeared to be a normal residential area for almost half an hour before finally turning into a parking lot and realizing we had been circling a mini Grand Canyon! It is BEAUTIFUL!!!! We all piled out of the car and began our hike down into the valley a bit, scrambled down some rocks, through the woods and eventually came into a narrow pass between two canyon walls that had some amazing climbing. Tristan led a top rope and we all started on a 14 (which is around a 5.7) Marissa and I shared Andrews harness with him and Marissa was using Tristan's shoes in turn as well. I was amped to try climbing barefoot for the first time so I was fine without shoes.
I went up next and LOVED not wearing shoes. I was hooked within the first 20 feet! I felt so connected to the rock. Even though it wasn't the hardest, I feel it was some of the best climbing I've ever done.
I felt graceful, connected and confident. I couldn't believe the grip I was getting on the tiniest holds. it felt amazing. I did, however, find that I lack some important toe strength, and that I don't get nearly as good of a grip (contact wise) with bare feet as I would with some nice climbing shoes. I kept trying to smear and ended up scraping up my foot pretty bad because of it.
the next climb I got to chose and it was a bit harder on a rating scale and MUCH harder barefoot. the holds were sharp and tiny...some so sharp that they cut right into my foot (most in-between my toes...ugh) and made it hard to put weight on while climbing. I pushed through it and eventually made my way to the top. what an amazing feeling.
Marissa and I also scrambled out onto a beautiful ledge overlooking the river and canyon and just relaxed there for a little while. I really can't believe that there are so many beautiful things hiding in this country. apparently this spot isn't too mainstream, which is madness. I'd come back to South Africa just to spend another week there.
That night a large group of us, maybe 13 or so, went out to dinner and bar hopping. we had some great Mexican food, went to a rock bar, a sports bar and eventually an alternative/hard rock club. it was fun walking all over the city and just having a good time. we stayed at 'BURN', the hard rock club, till after 3am just dancing and having fun.
I started getting tired around 1:30/2 from an early morning and went on the roof with Tristan and we just chatted, looked at the ocean, the stars, talked about life, had a few drinks and hung out.
eventually we all did make our way back to the apartment where 7 of us found places to sleep on the floor (naturally Andrew and Cat got their own bed).
Tristan and I decided to camp outside on the balcony and look at the stars since it was such a beautiful warm night and the house was a bit cramped. someone had decided that an inflatable boat would make a great bed, so he took up a large majority of the usable floor space. haha. I have pictures...don't worry. we stayed up talking until the sun was about to rise and eventually fell peacefully asleep outside.
I haven't slept this good in three weeks. I feel like a new person today.
we all woke up, listened to music, cleaned up and went out to breakfast. afterwards we all lounged on the beach for a few hours, hit a market and well...here we are. at the mall.
not sure whats on the plate for tonight but it's out last (probably) night in Durban and we will be hitting the road down to Cape Town by ourselves from here on out.
it should be a great adventure and I'm amped!
I have my cell phone...don't hesitate to call me and say HEY! =D
I'll update again as soon as possible. <3
"that's a bike. you see, a hippo has four wheels."
oh, what amazing memories.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
live for the moment...live for now
well...here are some of my journals from recent days. it might take a while to put some of these clips in because my handwriting is so messy from the bumpy dirt and sand roads in Mozambique and Swaziland. I'll do my best to translate. haha.
ps. a few keys and the space bar are finicky. I'll try my best but bear with me.
11/3/09 Wednesday
listening to : the cranberries
today was mellow and long, but amazing. woke up early to hit the road by 6 am with a 5am breakfast. left camp on time to head into Mozambique from Kruger Park. intense! we saw so many more animals on the way out and at one point even had to patiently wait for a lion to finish sunbathing in the road to keep driving. we got to the border around 1 after changing some rand into mitica (spelling???) and played the waiting game for peoples visas. finally got across and am currently in awe of the lifestyle here. shacks line the road and people are living in complete poverty. trash is everywhere, roads are just dirt paths, people can barely afford clothing...and what they have is all torn and ruined. it's hard to imagine this being real life for so many people.
"this is africa" - quote of the day
12/3/09 Thursday
on the truck again. ("don't call it a bus!" - Janet our GAP tour guide)
never have I seen such beauty in 'poverty' or truly understood the simplicity of real happiness.
maybe I still don't, but I know I'm getting closer.
I talked to a man last night who took so much pride in telling me where he got the lumber for his hut, his shack...his home. he told me where he got the lumber and where the rest of the trees from the group are and how to find them. he explained that when he has children he will use the same trees to make a small hut for them. he explained how he picked the reeds for the thatching and the care he took in construction. "Ten years," he explains in broken English/Portuguese "and still stands."
this man knows happiness. he explained with love and compassion how every home has pigeons living in the rafters (I thought he meant chickens at first...the word is very similar to the Spanish word pollo). he told me of the small bird family he has in his home and how in Mozambique they eat pigeons, but not in the city. "they are family here."
later
oh god. I just got my first glimpse of the beach from the road. it is more beautiful than I could explain. I wish that man were here with me to share this. he has never left the confines of the crowded city.
we take so much for granted and it pollutes us. how can we all walk around with our eyes closed? we'll never be able to turn the tables or trade places with these people, but the least we can do is appreciate all the things we do have and find the beauty in every simple little thing. breathe it in. let it inspire us. happiness makes this world beautiful. relax, breathe, take a few minutes and just look around at everything this world has to offer.
these people have so much to teach/unteach us. the true beauty here is in the hearts and minds of the people as much as it can be in our hearts and minds if we just let it.
rubble everywhere. people are still trying to live in houses that lay in shambles. this is the scarred face of a country so recently torn by war that it still haunts the youngest generation and will continue to. these people don't yet have peace, but they hunger for it and their hope is unstoppable. (edit: at least quite a few that I've met. I've also seen quite a few with hate in their hearts and there is nothing I can do to diminish it.)
they're throwing rocks at our truck. someone must have taken a picture against the advice we received. while it's scary to be on this end of it, I can't even imagine the other side...how hard it must be to have all these 'rich' white tourists looking down on you from their shiny new comfortable bus, flashing their expensive cameras and photographing your poverty for the world to see.
how dare we make ourselves look so careless. I'm embarrassed.
how come it takes an action so drastic to remind us that what we get out of this world is a direct result of what we put in?
15/3/09 Sunday
beauty. horror. fear. hope.
never before have I been a living symbol of the things that people hate.
they drove the whites out of the country a few decades ago and here we are again.
unwanted.
16/3/09 Monday
this is a country where cities still lay in ruins and an unknown amount of mines quietly lay in wait buried somewhere, everywhere, in the ground. we were strictly told to never venture more than one to two meters off the road in undeveloped areas.
we haven't yet stopped anywhere with running water or flushing toilets. usually we just go on the side of the road. sometimes we get lucky and there's a bust right there...sometimes we feel a bit...exposed? electricity is still pretty scarse, but much more common than running water.
******************************************
today. amazing.
we woke up early and headed into a swazi village. all the girls were given sarongs because it is rude to show your legs. I've noticed, however, that topless seems to be acceptable. hmmm. anyways. we got let in the gates and trekked back to the village where we learned to weave, grind food, gather reeds, sing and dance. it was a lot of fun. we learned traditional male/feemale, wife/husband roles, some swazi words and traditions. it was such a great experience. we all brought toys for the children...there are 56 children in the village and 43 are orphans. they all played with balloons, jump ropes, crayons, bubbles and toys to their hearts content and we got to play with them for a bit. I learned how to balance a basket on my head (yikes!) and have personally decided I'm not in the running for swazi woman of the year.
'yabonga' in swazi means thank you by the way.
I can sing a few songs, but can't type them because they're more sounds than words. haha.
today is St. Pattys day, so happy St. Patts.
I'm going to go eat some lunch, maybe go horseback riding and then party a bit with everyone else. =D
oh, and for everyone who knows me pretty well you can agree that I'm pretty absent minded sometimes and manage to lose things VERY easily. here's the current running list:
[[I know you'll appreciate it or at least get a good laugh in]]
-hand painted tapestry
-headlamp (found it 3 days later)
-necklace
-groceries
-adapter plug
-merrell shoes (yep...I know. I left them under my bed at the hostel. now all I have is flip flops. I'll have to buy another pair in Durban.)
-superfeet (in my merrells. as if it wasn't bad eough, right?)
-a book I was reading
-money
so...I'll keep adding on as I lose things. hopefully my passport doesn't decide to run away.
kay. times up. pricy update but hopefully worth it.
ciao!
oh, and I'll be in SA again tomorrow night...so I can use my phone again. yay!
=D
text me! <3
ps. a few keys and the space bar are finicky. I'll try my best but bear with me.
11/3/09 Wednesday
listening to : the cranberries
today was mellow and long, but amazing. woke up early to hit the road by 6 am with a 5am breakfast. left camp on time to head into Mozambique from Kruger Park. intense! we saw so many more animals on the way out and at one point even had to patiently wait for a lion to finish sunbathing in the road to keep driving. we got to the border around 1 after changing some rand into mitica (spelling???) and played the waiting game for peoples visas. finally got across and am currently in awe of the lifestyle here. shacks line the road and people are living in complete poverty. trash is everywhere, roads are just dirt paths, people can barely afford clothing...and what they have is all torn and ruined. it's hard to imagine this being real life for so many people.
"this is africa" - quote of the day
12/3/09 Thursday
on the truck again. ("don't call it a bus!" - Janet our GAP tour guide)
never have I seen such beauty in 'poverty' or truly understood the simplicity of real happiness.
maybe I still don't, but I know I'm getting closer.
I talked to a man last night who took so much pride in telling me where he got the lumber for his hut, his shack...his home. he told me where he got the lumber and where the rest of the trees from the group are and how to find them. he explained that when he has children he will use the same trees to make a small hut for them. he explained how he picked the reeds for the thatching and the care he took in construction. "Ten years," he explains in broken English/Portuguese "and still stands."
this man knows happiness. he explained with love and compassion how every home has pigeons living in the rafters (I thought he meant chickens at first...the word is very similar to the Spanish word pollo). he told me of the small bird family he has in his home and how in Mozambique they eat pigeons, but not in the city. "they are family here."
later
oh god. I just got my first glimpse of the beach from the road. it is more beautiful than I could explain. I wish that man were here with me to share this. he has never left the confines of the crowded city.
we take so much for granted and it pollutes us. how can we all walk around with our eyes closed? we'll never be able to turn the tables or trade places with these people, but the least we can do is appreciate all the things we do have and find the beauty in every simple little thing. breathe it in. let it inspire us. happiness makes this world beautiful. relax, breathe, take a few minutes and just look around at everything this world has to offer.
these people have so much to teach/unteach us. the true beauty here is in the hearts and minds of the people as much as it can be in our hearts and minds if we just let it.
rubble everywhere. people are still trying to live in houses that lay in shambles. this is the scarred face of a country so recently torn by war that it still haunts the youngest generation and will continue to. these people don't yet have peace, but they hunger for it and their hope is unstoppable. (edit: at least quite a few that I've met. I've also seen quite a few with hate in their hearts and there is nothing I can do to diminish it.)
they're throwing rocks at our truck. someone must have taken a picture against the advice we received. while it's scary to be on this end of it, I can't even imagine the other side...how hard it must be to have all these 'rich' white tourists looking down on you from their shiny new comfortable bus, flashing their expensive cameras and photographing your poverty for the world to see.
how dare we make ourselves look so careless. I'm embarrassed.
how come it takes an action so drastic to remind us that what we get out of this world is a direct result of what we put in?
15/3/09 Sunday
beauty. horror. fear. hope.
never before have I been a living symbol of the things that people hate.
they drove the whites out of the country a few decades ago and here we are again.
unwanted.
16/3/09 Monday
this is a country where cities still lay in ruins and an unknown amount of mines quietly lay in wait buried somewhere, everywhere, in the ground. we were strictly told to never venture more than one to two meters off the road in undeveloped areas.
we haven't yet stopped anywhere with running water or flushing toilets. usually we just go on the side of the road. sometimes we get lucky and there's a bust right there...sometimes we feel a bit...exposed? electricity is still pretty scarse, but much more common than running water.
******************************************
today. amazing.
we woke up early and headed into a swazi village. all the girls were given sarongs because it is rude to show your legs. I've noticed, however, that topless seems to be acceptable. hmmm. anyways. we got let in the gates and trekked back to the village where we learned to weave, grind food, gather reeds, sing and dance. it was a lot of fun. we learned traditional male/feemale, wife/husband roles, some swazi words and traditions. it was such a great experience. we all brought toys for the children...there are 56 children in the village and 43 are orphans. they all played with balloons, jump ropes, crayons, bubbles and toys to their hearts content and we got to play with them for a bit. I learned how to balance a basket on my head (yikes!) and have personally decided I'm not in the running for swazi woman of the year.
'yabonga' in swazi means thank you by the way.
I can sing a few songs, but can't type them because they're more sounds than words. haha.
today is St. Pattys day, so happy St. Patts.
I'm going to go eat some lunch, maybe go horseback riding and then party a bit with everyone else. =D
oh, and for everyone who knows me pretty well you can agree that I'm pretty absent minded sometimes and manage to lose things VERY easily. here's the current running list:
[[I know you'll appreciate it or at least get a good laugh in]]
-hand painted tapestry
-headlamp (found it 3 days later)
-necklace
-groceries
-adapter plug
-merrell shoes (yep...I know. I left them under my bed at the hostel. now all I have is flip flops. I'll have to buy another pair in Durban.)
-superfeet (in my merrells. as if it wasn't bad eough, right?)
-a book I was reading
-money
so...I'll keep adding on as I lose things. hopefully my passport doesn't decide to run away.
kay. times up. pricy update but hopefully worth it.
ciao!
oh, and I'll be in SA again tomorrow night...so I can use my phone again. yay!
=D
text me! <3
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