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.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
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
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