One of the joys of traveling for 10 months is the ability to be spontaneous and alter ones plans at the last minute... and so we did. Laos is a quiet little jewel in the middle of southeast Asia. Although only there for a week the gentle nature of the people was quite refreshing, the landscape surprisingly mountainous and the food, influenced by the French, was "magnific".
Each morning in Luang Prabang, while it is still dark, you are awakened to the rhythmic beat of drums and peaceful chanting that comes from one of the many Wats that adorn the city. As the sun slowly rises, old and young line the streets with baskets of steaming sticky rice and pink & white flowers, awaiting the procession of orange robes. No words are exchanged as this daily ritual unfolds, barefoot monks collecting their alms before returning to the temple for study and prayer. What a lovely way to begin the day!
After a 7 hour, harrowing bus ride twisting and turning through villages dotted along the mountains edge we arrived in Vang Vieng. This town appears to be Laos' little Cancun, with out a beach, but plenty of partying just the same. Every backpacker under thirty comes here to tube and partake in drinking massive amounts of alcohol served up by the many bars situated on the rivers edge. Not meeting the above criteria we decided to spend our day kayaking and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Things seemed to be going along quite nicely until the second set of rapids, at least we like to think they were rapids, and a strong side current and Carin was under the kayak trying to lift it off her head and Mike wasn't far behind both floating down stream. As Carin always says, every time she's in a boat with Mike we end up in the water, no exception here.
One last bus trip to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. A few more Wats to see and we were off to Bangkok, 12 hours on the sleeper train to meet up with our girls. Can't wait!
Two days later we will have a small party of nine travelers including An, Ed, Nicole and Sue & Dani. Looking forward to spending time with them in this wonderful part of the world.
One heartfelt shoutout wishing all our family and friends a joyful holiday and peace in 2010.
"The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they really are." Samuel Johnson
Ha Noi, Halong Bay, Sapa
There's an endearing phrase used by the Vietnamese people that we found to be most apropos, "Same same...but different". Although the north and the south like to think that they are very different we found...
Both love their Pho and each region thinks theirs is the best, we think they're both yummy. Same same......
Each area has their local specialties but they all use rice to make just about everything. Same same....
Up north in Halong Bay people live on the water just like they do in the south on the Mekong. Same same....
Sapa and Hoi An are both charming villages where women make clothes, one sews and the other embroideries. Same same....
Rice is grown all over Vietnam, on flat land in the south and mountain sides in the north. Same same....
It's hot in the south and cooler in the north but humid in both. Same same...
Both have their own beer with very creative names to match. "Saigon" is king of beer in the south and "Hanoi" rules in the north. Same same...
There are more motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh and more cars in Ha Noi but incessant honking and traffic in both. same, same but not different.
We had an excellent time exploring the north part of Vietnam. In Hanoi, the capital city, we spent the majority of our time wandering through the old quarter. We toured the "Hanoi Hilton" where John McCain spent most of his time as a POW. Carin managed to get hit by a motor bike, don't worry the bike was fine. We sat with the locals on the little red kiddie stools enjoying the street food and ended each day at Fanny's the local ice cream parlor. Never got to see Ho Chi Minh, rumor had it he was in Russia with Mao. Needing a break from the city noise we boarded a Chinese Junk for a relaxing few days cruising, kayaking and caving on Halong Bay. Spectacular! Sapa, our final destination is where we visited the minority hill tribes. We took a two day trek with a our local 20 year old Black Hmong guide up through the rice terraces that cover the mountain side, did a home stay with a local family where we played Uno and did many shots of home made rice wine with our host, yes Carin too, and can't remember the rest. Before heading back we spent the morning at the incredible Bac Ha market, unlike any market we have been to so far.... At this market you could purchase a live water buffalo, pig, chicken, fighting rooster, puppy (we think for a pet, not sure) and the usual or in this case unusual food stuff. This is where the young girls from the surrounding hill tribes, dressed in the most stunning attire come each Sunday to, as we say, Hook Up. They seem to be pretty successful as most of the women have babies strapped to their backs. We would have loved to shown you this and all of Sapa's amazing color, but due to a technical glitch our pictures are locked on the memory card. Help!
Shoutouts
- Erik The food is even more delicious than it looks. Save your money and you can come here and try it for yourself. - Mom Keep the comments coming. Maybe Skyping is in our future. - Ricky & Liz Now that your seasoned travelers it's time to try Asia. No worries Liz the food is basically gluten free. - Mike D If your getting a little itchy to do some more traveling Asia is the place to go. We think it might be less expensive than Mexico with a lot more young travelers. All look like their having a blast sharing adventures. - Marcia We're at a loss, you didn't have Laos in your travel notes. - An, Ed, Nicole, Sue & Dani, our soon to be traveling companions. Leave your worries behind and let the adventure begin. - J&H our arms are ready, can't wait to have them filled.
Just a few hours south west of Saigon is the mighty Mekong Delta. This river begins in Tibet and flows into the China Sea, and is used for everything. We took a 3 day tour including bus, boat and bicycle to explore the area. What we saw was amazing, people literaly living on the water. There were floating markets, stilted houses on the river banks and fish farms right in the middle of the floating houses. The tour included a home stay with a local Vietnamese family, a visit to Chau Doc and a short trip across the river to a Muslim minority Cham community.
Continuing north along the coast we stopped for a little R & R at the beaches of Mui Ne and Nha Trang. Although the beaches were wonderful we really loved skyping with the family on Thanksgiving and meeting Charlie from Buffalo, proud owner of the Texas Steak House & Barbecue who served us an authentic turkey day dinner with all the trimmings, yum yum, a nice change from rice & noodles.
Central Vietnam is home to the lovely, historic city of Hoi An, one of the few places untouched during the war. The old towns architecture is charming, the streets are motorbike free for part of the day and there are 267 tailors. The reason we mention tailors is because Carin decided to go with the flow and have a few pieces custom made. This is when the fun really began. Carin was trying to replace a pair of pants and add a pair of shorts to her collection. While looking through the five million bolts of fabric and trying to explain what she wanted, Carin noticed Mike who was supposed to be helping with the decision making, was fully engaged with one of the adorable young sales girls. She had him wearing a long sleeved Nehru shirt complete with chinese buttons and was asking if he would like a pair of matching pants. Out came the tape measure and and then the comments. You have to understand, the Vietnamese are very small boned, thin people. When measuring Mike's waist the girl looked up at him, patted his belly and said " Oh,very nice, happy buddha" . When Carin asked, whether she should have flaps sewn on the rear pockets, the girl started laughing and said "excuse me madam, but you have little bit of big bum so flaps not so good". It's okay Carin wasn't to insulted because the next thing we knew all the girls in the shop were talking and giggling about their little tushies and saying how they would love to have some. After multiple refits, mostly to let the clothes out, we hit the streets with our new duds. We took a cooking class (ha, ha) learned how to make fresh rice paper and then used it to make the best spring rolls, if we do say so ourselves. We also took a bike ride through neighboring villages on our way to the beach, took part in the full moon celebration and rode a motorbike along China Beach to Marble Mountain, where we saw beautiful Pagodas and Buddhist shrines inside natural caves. During the "American" war one of the larger caves was used by the VC as a field hospital.
By now you've probably figured out Vietnam is a very long country and we're only half way through. Our last stop before heading north was Hue, pronouned "Hway". It rained and rained and rained.
Time for a few shoutouts
-Gerri our dear sister-in-law, you know we love you babe. Thanks for making the drama queens trip to NYC so special. -Mia, tell us what you're studying and we'll take some pictures of it. -Ivi you never fail to crack us up, have you thought about writing for Letterman? -N.I.C.E. very creative who ever you are. Can't wait to see what you write next! -Sue F. you're quite the travel agent, we're glad to give you a little break from packing. -Curry Lee maybe you and Sue can team up! -Doug send some Chicken-E-Licken - Jess and Hannah, eighteen days and counting. Good luck with finals !! -Michele, we think some travel is in your future. - Sue S. let us know if you will be lecturing any where close by Asia..S Africa..India..Egypt.... - Jan, glad you had a great trip to Guatemala, welcome home
-All, Thanks for the feedback on the video. We loved hearing from so many of you!!!
"Beauty and grace are performed whether or not we sense them. The least we can do is try to be there." Annie Dillard
The South Island of New Zealand is breathtakingly beautiful. Jagged snow capped peaks, water ways carved out by glaciers and ancient forests grace the landscape. Like its sister island the hillsides are dotted with sheep. A variety of birds flood the sky. Seals & penguins can be spotted on rocky ledges basking in the sun, while bottlenose dolphins swim up for a closer look. Crystal clear glacier fed icy blue lakes are everywhere. There is a never ending surf that pounds the coastline. The south island is magical.
Tramping the Queen Charlotte and Abel Tasman tracks turned out to be quite the adventure. It always sounds easy during the planning stage from your comfortable living room. After renting backpacks, sleeping bags, cooking gear and packing a large amount of food for Mike including rotisserie chicken, we were off to our first of three huts, only to realize that these packs were really heavy. Four hours later and pretty darn tired, we made it to our first hut located on the beach, a wonderful spot n spite of the relentless sand flies. Between early morning tidal crossings, 35 kilometers of tramping, stopping to enjoy the views and a water taxi ride out we had an amazing, if not exhausting experience.
Queenstown, a beautiful mountain community situated on lake Wakatipu was the start of hours of decision making... should we bungy, 4 wheel drive, white water sledging or sky dive just to name a few of the activities. After consulting the local experts at the I-Site we settled on Funyacking/ jet boating on the Dart River, a day cruise on the Milford Sound, and an overnight cruise on the Doubtful Sound both are fiords. In the process we got to do a wee bit of kayaking, take an icy plunge in the Sound, and be surrounded by the most amazing scenery.
While there are not many people on the south island we managed to meet a few. In Nelson there was Rae & John, friends of Lisa in Brisbane, who made us a wonderful dinner and shared stories of their extensive travels all over the world. On the Abel Tasman we met a couple, about our same age from British Columbia, who sold it all and have been traveling on and off for the past eight years, very tempting. We had such a good time with Elsa and Yugo, our adorable, Portuguesebunkmates on the Doubtful cruise, we are now contemplating adding Lisbon to our itinerary. Finally the two 20 year old hitchhikers we picked up from the Netherlands who entertained us from Lake Tekapo to Geraldine with their stories of hitchhiking and tramping all over NZ. One of the absolute highlights of traveling is meeting amazing people from all over the world.
One last tidbit.. NZ. introduced Possums to controll the Stoats which were intoduced to control the mice and rat population, arriving with Capt. Cook, all to save the native birds like the Kiwi. Today NZ has 80 million Possums and a declining bird population. Not very effective pest control.
SHOUT OUTS;
Hobbs, The Embassy for notorizing was brilliant! We love you too.
New Zealand's North Island is simply lovely. It is quiet and spacious. The hills are green & lush and dotted with fluffy white sheep. Hawks soar in an endless bright blue sky. Huge pine trees and redwoods line up separating one paddock from another. Flowering yellow shrubs, red leaf trees and wild flowers follow along the aqua colored crystal clear lakes and rivers. Wineries and fruit orchards abound. The cities are small and the towns are charming. The North Island is beautiful!!
We began our adventure in Auckland with a killer breakfast, no surprise, and a walk about. Auckland is the most populated of all the cities in NZ (1 out of 3 live in Auckland). The main attraction is the Sky Tower (192 meters high). Why doesn't Denver have a Sky Tower? Next we headed off to visit Fran & Dennis, friends of Marcia's that she met while traveling in Egypt twenty years ago. Located fifty miles southeast of Auckland right on the water is their very quiet and beautiful B&B. We spent the night listening to stories about Marcia & Gerri and getting a bit of travel advice. Enjoyed another excellent breakfast and were off to the Waitomo Caves to see the glow worms. After spending an hour deciding how adventurous we were willing to be, we plunked our money down on the 3hr tube ride through the caves. OK, picture this, Carin in a full wet suit, helmet and caving light on, standing backwards, butt in tube, at the edge of a 4ft water fall preparing to leap into the freezing water below. The look on Carins' face was the best. Unfortunately we weren't allowed cameras. At one point we formed a six person chain, shut off our head lamps and floated in total darkness, guided only by the light from the glow worms, "sweet". The adventure ended with very hot showers followed by bagels & soup and chatting it up with fellow tubers. We were off again continuing our journey south stopping at Rotorua which is home to spurting geysers, hot sulfur springs and bubbling mud pools, all of which is located on an inactive volcano. It was a wee bit smelly! . We hiked in a magnificent redwood forest, checked out the green and blue lakes and spent an evening experiencing the Maori culture complete with singing, dancing and an authentic hungi dinner, meaning the food was cooked in a pit for three hours. It was all you could eat and Mike was in his glory. Our next stop was beautiful Lake Taupo, a hike to the Huka Falls and the beginning of the great decline, in health that is. By the end of the hike Mike was sick as a dog. Carin drove the entire 5 hours to Napier with Mike complaining, coughing and sneezing the whole way. As Mike will tell you it takes a mighty big cold to get him down. Carin got to visit Napier, in between trying to arrange "take-away soup" for Mike with our very enthusiastic B & B hosts. Needless to say Mike got no soup but Carin did take a great walking tour of the art deco buildings. It turned out Mikes cold was so big he shared it with his wife. His care taking skills did not measure up to Carin's as she was left alone in the hotel for five hours while he tramped around Wellington, our final North Island destination. You can imagine how well that went over, but our colds are getting better and we've have decided to continue traveling together.
One big shoutout to Chuck and Chris for keeping the EUI ship afloat and supporting this great adventure!!!
Our journey has taken us where the rain forest meets the sea and the outback back meets the rain forest. We've gone through the hinterlands, tablelands and I-lands. After three weeks, two flights, a rental car, and a 1700km road trip we've only experienced a fraction of Australia. It's one bloody, big country.
ULURU, the Aboriginal name for Ayres Rock, along with Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) is quite the landmark in the middle of the outback. So what does one do at the biggest rock in the world? To start things off you get up really early, well not early enough, which makes the drive a little more exciting and race in your car to see the sunrise, where the light turns the rock a lovely shade of red. Then you walk the ten kilometers around, so you can admire it from every angle, and if that's not good enough provided you're not suffering from heat exhaustion , a little dehydration and craziness from the relentless flies swarming about your face, there's only one thing left to do, CLIMB IT! After finishing our trek around we sat down to relax, happy that we didn't have to decide whether to climb the rock since it was closed due to high winds. Climbing is a point of contention since it is a sacred place to the Anangu people and 34 visitors have died trying. Unfortunately for us the climb was re opened and we were faced with a decision, to climb or not to climb. After chatting with some Aussie mates we were convinced that climbing the rock was something we would remember for ever and "it would only take 20 minutes to get to the top ." How many times have you hear that? So the climb began with a steep ascent, totally relying on the soles of your shoes as there was nothing to grab onto. Carin was a bit nervous in the beginning but with warm encouraging words from her husband ( and a big shove ) upward she went. When the climbing became dangerously steep. there was a section of chain to grab onto. After about forty-five minutes we thought we'd made it to the top to find out that we were only a third of the way. With the water supply running low, blisters on our feet and the temperature rising we finally made it to the top. Ah, the thrill of victory. Except now we had to get down, and that was scarier than going up, at least for Carin. As we descended Mike took on the roll of Uluru cheerleader, encouraging both young and old climbers that they were doing great and to keep it up. By the end Carin thought he was going to get a job as an official guide. One last sunset, a load of laundry and off we flew to Cairns.
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF is Earth's biggest reef system, in fact it is the only living thing that can be seen from outer space. After renting a car , driving to Port Dougie ( as the locals like to call it) choosing a reef tour company from the 500 or so ( we of course chose the one that looked like it had the best lunch), fins and snorkel in hand we were ready to check it out, that is until the two hour boat ride. For those of you who may not know this, Mike gets a little sea sick on the open waters. As the captain cruised along at record breaking speed and the waves splashed up to the windows, Mike began to sweat like crazy and turned a lovely shade of greenish gray. The Canadian couple that we were sitting with asked " do you think he'll be alright? " as he crawled off to buy some motion sickness medicine. No worries, the boat stopped, Mike felt a hundred percent better and we found ourselves part of the most beautiful under water world .
A ROAD TRIP is just what you need to meet the locals and see the country. We traveled north to Danetree and up to Cape Tribulation where the rain forest meets the sea. Hiking, relaxing on the beach and enjoying the company of fellow travelers and great hosts at the B & B's. From there we drove a bit west and many hours south stopping in small towns along the way, enjoying national parks, looking for Kangaroos ( only road kill) and singing along to the great radio stations. Mike was really enjoying seeing how many trucks he could pass at one time on the narrow two lane road between Cairns & Brissie. The highlight for Carin was the " I told you so moment" after the police pulled him over for "dangerous overtaking." Luckily no ticket just a warning.
FRASER ISLAND the largest all sand island in the world (are we noticing a trend here?) .What a blast. The only way to get around is by 4 wheel, so we rented a Jimmy, watched a fifteen minute video on the do's and don'ts , received five minutes of instruction, signed a liability release and boarded the barge. There are no paved roads, the sand is soft and deep in spots, the tracks are rutted. The four wheelin was full on. Mike was in heaven. What makes this island so amazing is the clear fresh water lakes on the interior and ocean surround. Driving up and down the beach trying not to get caught in high tide made things a bit more exciting. We managed to only get stuck once. It turns out Carin is quite the 4 wheeler.
BRISSIE, our final destination. We were lucky enough to be the guests of the "cousins" Lisa & Alan their son Callum and Ruby their great big dog. Their daughter Maltilda was away at university in Tasmania. The minute we saw Ruby we thought of Sony which brings us to our connection -Dave & Lisa Compton. Aussie Lisa, who grew up in the USA , is Dave C's first cousin. They have been so wonderful, showing us around the city, taking us on a bike ride, up to the beach house and treating us like family. They really are quite amazing hosts considering when we arrived they were also hosting Christopher, a student from Germany. Brissie is a great city with wonderful parks, terrific public spaces, a world class arts complex all located along the Brisbane River. It was so nice to have a few home cooked meals and share thoughts and experiences with such lovely people that we can now call our friends.
A few shouties to our mates back home;
- Dennis & Diane, Carin is wondering if there are any tickets left for the concert in NY. She thinks it's worth the 22 hour flight. Keep the sports updates coming. - Sue S, Your China pics were great. We will exchange travel stories. Good luck to Mark in his new school. - Mom & Joe, Loved hearing your voices. What can you tell us about NZ? - Ivi, You know we love you guys. You're always on our list. Thanks for checking in on the girls, and we hope to help you move into your new home in Boulder when we return in June. Ha ha. - Dave & Lisa, The cousins are amazing, thanks. - Cyndy, South Africa is known for having some pretty good golf courses. Check your May schedule. - Jess, Love everything your doing. - Hannah, Our little drama queen, thanks for keeping things exciting. (This one comes from dad.) - Hannah, You are such a delightful daughter. Counting the days til December. (This one comes from mom.) - Brit, Happy Birthday. Sorry Mike's cantina was closed due to extended travel. Should be reopened for the big 21. - Lee, You are the best!! The eagle has landed and the trip will go on. Thanks for keeping us connected. Loved the extra goodies. See you in Cambodia. - To all, enjoy the fall and stay in touch.
G'day mates ! We couldn't resist :) Wow what a difference a day makes. One of the greatest gifts of traveling is the people you meet. While in Ubud at a Kecuck dance show we met Amanda from Australia. We shared dessert, dinner, a few monkey stories and her driver. Next thing we knew Amanda and Pete were picking us up from the airport, excited to show us around their home in North Curl Curl Beach, a short ferry ride from Sydney. We spent three days at their lovely home, where we so thoroughly enjoyed meeting their crew, Pete's mom Helen, son Nick, daughter Phoebe, boyfriend Matt and their "cheeky" grandson Marlon. Throw in a few friends, Brent and Mel, delicious home cooking, including steak on the barbie and we felt right at home. They took us to the northern most point in Sydney, we visited a national park and ate the best fish & chips at Pete's favorite lunch spot. From Amanda's house we took the ferry into the city, the perfect way to see Sydney for the first time. It's all right there in front of you, the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, skyline surrounded by water. We were a bit awestruck by the shear beauty, but no worries mates we got over it once we saw the prices. It's nice to report Sydney's economy is robust and flourishing. Highlights included a tour of the Opera House and our very first opera, walking across the Harbour Bridge, since we couldn't afford to walk on top and the Sydney Tower, couldn't afford the Sky Walk, but it looked great from the street. Loved the Royal Botanic Gardens & Art Gallery of NSW (New South Whales), Hyde Park, the Domain, Bondi Beach and the Fish Market, all FREE. What we really enjoyed was being on the water and taking the Ferry's to all the different neighborhoods and talking to the locals. The Aussie's truly are a friendly bunch. Now Mike can finally tell the difference between an Australian and British accent.
One side note to report. We survived an earthquake, 5.2 on the Richter scale in Bali and a dust storm in Sydney that turned the city red, sky orange and virtually shut everything down for a few hours. We're hoping not to encounter a Tsunami.
Shout Out Time;
- An, before you know it you will be in the blog and not reading about it. Can't wait to see you in Thailand. The Thai are known for their massage. Get ready! - Wayan aka: Sharon, Maday aka: Michele and Momma aka: aunt Carol glad you're enjoying our stories. - Liz & Rick, if you liked the monkey story you should have seen Mike wrestling with a surf board in Bali. -Jan, your always our first responder. We can see you smiling as you read the blog, your beautiful notes always make Carin cry. - J & H, love ya, miss ya, can't wait to kiss ya. - A special shout out to our new friends Amanda & Pete. Save your money and we'll see you in Colorado.
KEEP THE COMMENTS COMING. We love hearing from you all.
A HUGE shout out to our little Jess on her birthday. As you begin your 24th year we are in awe of the wise little Buddha you have become. We left Rich and Hannah with specific instructions to shower you with tons of hugs and kisses. May your day be joyful and filled with laughter. We miss and love you so much.
A few stories as we sadly finish our travels through Indonesia;
In the small village of Tirta Gangga (Water of the Ganges) we met a young man busing tables at the Good Karma Cafe. His true love is taking travelers trekking through the rice terraces and villages that grace this part of east Bali. Like every hike it started with a steep ascent up a million steps to the most amazing view of green and lush rice fields that seem to stretch as far as the ocean . Komang, who goes by John, which sounded like Kong, knew everything about the plants, fruit and the people. He pointed out tiny red pineapples growing on the side of the walking path. There was coffee beans and cacao plants everywhere. Giant Jackfruit, some covered in bags so the birds wouldn't eat them, were twenty meters high in the trees. John showed us the ginger tree, snake fruit, (the skin looks like the outside of a snake hence the name), mangoes and pumpkins growing on trees ( yes that's right). Chickens, roosters and of course dogs ran about the paths. As we walked and talked, he shared with us his concerns for the very poor, elderly people living in the mountain villages, like the one he still lives in. There is no medical or financial assistance (ie. social security) in Indonesia. It seems to be left to the family to take care of their elders. In many cases these people have no family, therefore no assistance. John not only gives 30% of his earnings from trekking but tries to educate fellow guides and travelers to the challenges these people face. We saw it first hand when we stopped in a little village and met an 89 year old woman, partially blind and carrying a bucket of water on her head. She had just come from the river. Her hut, approximately 8' x 9' consisted of a makeshift bed, a small cooking area and a pot filled with rice, enough for two meals hanging on the wall. There is no indoor plumbing or electricity. With donations from travelers and his own money he provides her some food, medication, transportation to the doctors and anything else that she might need. There she stood bare feet, water on her head and the most beautiful smile, we felt privileged and touched at the same time. The human spirit is amazing. Sometimes it takes stepping into someone elses world to realize it. Spending this time with Komang and helping to support his "charity" was a gift.
Something else that we love about Bali is the name system. It's real easy because they only use 4 names, the same for boys and girls, Wayung, Maday, Komang & Ketut, in the order that they were born and then it repeats. This was a blessing for Mike because he always had a 1 in 4 chance of getting it right. (Not so good with remembering names) The only problem is if you're in a crowd you might get 20 Wayung's answering at the same time. They all have these American nicknames like Eddie, John, Eric .. which we found to be very funny.
We took a 10 hour trip to Meno Island, which could have taken 5 hours but Mike folded under the relentless sales pressure and bought the slow ferry, slow bus and slow boat ticket. Carin had to really let this one go as she was not feeling well, hot and hungry. She had plenty of time to let it pass on the white sandy beaches of the quietest of the Gili Islands off the coast of Lombok. No cars, no scooters no one older than 30 and no electricity half the time, but great snorkeling. Yes snorkeling again. Lovely and restful. Carin booked the trip back, much better!
Back to Ubud to finish eating in the restaurants we missed the first time, see another Balinese dance show, a little last minute shopping, motor biking and relaxing (yoga & meditation) at the Ubud Sari Health Resort. This was all in preparation for more relaxing at our final destination, the beaches of Seminyak in south Bali, where the beach is big and the waves are awsome.
A few "small" shout outs;
- Congrats to Corinne & Garrison on tying the knot. - Doug, Thanks for telling me about your crazy brother after the fact. Anything else I should know? - Britt, School first blog second. - Mom & Joe, The place were staying right now reminds us of the Club. We keep looking around for Koko. - Love Me aka Karen, Thanks for keeping mom part of our trip. Please get her on the Internet so she can see the pictures. Judy and Joe are willing to help. -Ivi, We have resurfaced. Congrats to Michael the Bar Mitzvah boy or should we say man! Loved seeing all of you in the pics. And last but not least Hannah - Your e mails and phone calls are such a source of happiness to us. Keep working on your booty pop.
Rachel believed that everyone has a creative side. Maybe that's why Ubud reminds us so much of her. This small city in the central mountains of Bali is an expression of art and beauty. Painters, woodcarvers, silversmiths, bead makers, sculptors and weavers line the streets and small villages surrounding the town. Balinese dance exemplifies the culture and traditions. Music streams from the cafes and restaurants. The countryside filled with rice terraces, gigantic palm trees, rivers, and temples takes your breath away. Even daily offerings to ward off evil spirits and thank the gods are a work of art. The true beauty of course, is in the spirit and open hearts of the people who live here.
A few funnies.. * rented a motor bike to get around with Carin on the back pinching and screaming all the way because Mike was driving like a local * were " attacked" in the Monkey Forest Sanctuary when a gray monkey stole Mike's water bottle right out of his hand, opened it and quenched his thirst * almost attacked again during breakfast in the hotel when a really big monkey climbed up the stairs to the outdoor dining area, where we were sitting and decided to have breakfast, more specifically our breakfast. Mike, the big protector, jumped up leaving me to fend for myself and hid behind the 5 foot, 90 pound waitress carrying a tray of food. When asked about his bravery (lack of) he blamed it on our dear friend Jan Snooks and her monkey story, which flashed before his eyes. * We took a jungle hike led by Ketut our very cute, energetic guide. After a fairly challenging climb up to the top of the rice fields and then a treacherous decent down to the rivers edge, Ketut proceeded to remove his new sneakers and shorts informing us that the bridge hadn't been built yet and it was only waist deep. Carin's eyes perked up (like saucers), thought surely she heard wrong and asked very calmly, "isn't there any other way back?", mind you this is after 3 hours of trekking. Ketut all of 5'7, 140 lbs, smiled and offered to carry her across. Needless to say we kept our clothes on and had a refreshing dip.
In Jogya, short for Yogyakarta , it always starts with a big, friendly smile and then, "Hello, where are you going?". These are the words of the famous Indonesian becak drivers. We fell in love with these poor, gentle souls that stand out side of the hotels and line every street desperately vying for your business. They will take you anywhere, any time, no matter how far, for a meager 25,000 rupiah, a whopping $2.50. Shortly after arriving at the hotel Mike couldn't take it anymore and hired us a becak. Off we went to the Sultan's Palace, Water Palace, bird market, and the silver factories, which are a couple of miles outside the city , where it got a little hilly. On more than one occasion we looked back to find our driver off the bike pushing us in the becak up the hill. These guys are unbelievable! We were hooked. Over the next five days we became friends with every driver on our street spreading the business around as much as we could.
Our Top Three in Java 3. Prambanan Temples- These 9th century Hindu Temples, found in ruins, went through a hundred year restoration only to be knocked down again by the earthquake in 2005 and are now partially restored. Our guide, the foremost expert on these temples, he wrote the book, couldn't resist pointing out all the sexual innuendos carved into the stone base. He felt the women back then were quite aggressive. Check out the photos , do you see anything? 2. Four hour bicycle tour on the outskirts of Jogya through traditional Javanese villages- Our twenty-three year old university student guide took us all over the place. We were put to work in the rice fields, planting rice (which we're sure they replanted when we left), harvesting the rice, quite a challenge when done by hand and even making bricks from mud, which I must say Mike was pretty good at. If the elevator business doesn't survive we know he has a back up career here in Indonesia. Under a big shady tree we took a break, ate a homemade traditional snack and talked in depth about the people, economics, religion and culture of Indonesia. Loved it!!! And here it is, number 1... BOROBUDUR , one of the 7 Wonders of the World WOW! We got up at 4 a.m., that's right, because one of our travel experts, Dukie (Marcia) said it was a must to be there for the sunrise. The morning began with a little hitch when our taxi driver showed up 30 minutes late. After seeing the frowns on our faces he proceeded to finish getting dressed while driving, raced through the streets and turned an hour into forty minutes. Needless to say we ran with camera in hand, in the dark, up the not so well marked footpath, not to mention the plus or minus 250 steps to the top where the sun was just beginning to rise. We sat in awe with fifty of our closest friends. (Mike thinks that's funny, I don't get it). Absolutely breathtaking! Dukie and Gerri, thanks! Just for a little info, this Buddhist temple was built sometime between 750 and 850 A.D. from two million blocks of stone. The name in Sanskrit means " Buddhist Monastery on the Hill". The amazing part is that it was buried under layers of volcanic ash and not discovered until 1815. To close, our 6 day stay in Jogyakarta, Indonesia, a place that Mike still cannot pronounce correctly was extraordinary.
One gigantic hug-filled shout out to Hannah and Jess who we love and miss everyday and of course our angel who is with us always.
"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving"
Lao-Tzu
It's amazing what a chance encounter can do to ones travel plans. While sitting on the beach in KoSamui, Mike met a British family and got to talking, big surprise, and by the end was convinced that the best beaches & snorkeling were in Malaysia. Although not on the route we decided to take a detour.... and boy are we glad we did. - KualaLumpur, otherwise known as KL, is a very diverse, modern, spacious city. There is an excellent mix of new and old including the PetronasTowers (tallest twin towers in the world), world class shopping (Carin was devastated, no room left in the backpack), great public transportation, Chinatown & Little India with vendors and giant woks lining the streets, a bombardment of aromas, all surrounding a giant open air market. - Melaka, the capital of Malaysia a port city settled by everybody and their uncle including the Portuguese, Dutch, British, Chinese and Indonesians. One side of the river is Euro and the other Asian. You know where we went for the food. - PaluaRedang, WOW!!!!!! This is fantasy island. We snorkeled with the turtles, sharks and moray eels plus a plethora of coral and a million tropical fish. It was like jumping into a salt water aquarium. There were fish everywhere. The white sandy beaches weren't too bad either.
Not only does this lovely country have great beaches and sights it also has kind and helpful people. In K.L. there was Jenny and Nicole, our sweet travel agents, that we "employed" while waiting out a torrential rain storm. Not only did they answer a million questions about the islands, they offered to come in on Saturday morning so we could get the tickets. The trishaw driver in Melaka pedaled Mike and I around the old city, no easy task in 98 degrees and 99% humidity. He was amazing with his historical knowledge of the city which he loved sharing and his offers to "take a picture" at every sight. Great guide if you're ever in Melaka. Then there was the nineteen year old bartender who gave us a glass of freshly squeezed watermelon juice and offered us the key to his room after listening to our sad hotel story. How sweet is that! Our last encounter was in a small town close to the airport. We went looking for something to eat around 7:30 at night and stumbled across a little Malay restaurant where there was no English, written or spoken. That's where we met the "Roti Nazi-no roti for you!" A small Malay man with an attitude, scowling at the waitresses, while whipping up the best roti (flat bread similar to naan) ever. Only when we offered to take his picture and conveyed how "delicious " the roti was did he break out into a big smile. Turned out to be a real sweetheart. P.S. we went back for breakfast.
Just a few shout outs.... * Congrats to Grandma Sue and the Gilady/Street family on the arrival of not so little baby Owen. * Lisa & Dave so sorry to hear about Angie. You were fortunate to have each other for a brief, but sweet period of time. * Jennifer & Alice, we took a meditation class from a Buddhist monk in Bangkok and had a little lesson in walking and sitting meditation. See you both in India (Feb/March). Let us know the exact dates. * Ed, our most loyal blogger keep the comments coming. Let Nicole know the universal sign works in Asia too. P.S. No one has asked me about my soccer skills yet. * Marcia, I'm still lugging around the 10 lbs of product. I feel it's doing a great job styling my frizz. This could be the start of something big, literally. * To everyone else we love hearing from you.
We decided to do it the way the rest of the 20 something year old back packers do and travel at night by taxi, foot, bus and catamaran to our next destination, KoSamui. 15 hours later and just a little worse for the wear we arrived at this lovely small island in the south China Sea. The Free House (luxury bungalow, ha, ha) has been our home away from home for the past 6 days. Samui is a crazy place where they drive on "the wrong side" of the road and motor scooters rule! We did the unthinkable and rented a jeep (which drove more like a tank) to maximize our beach hopping ability. Just imagine the steering wheel and manual shift opposite from what we're used to, motor scooters passing on both sides and bicycle carts everywhere, and then throw in a few pot holes and very narrow streets to boost up the excitement. Oh yeah I forgot to mention our maiden voyage was at night. Needless to say we had a blast. Not sure about all the locals we scared to death along the way. We found an open air market in the town of Lamai. It was a bit intimidating but irresistible, so throwing caution to the wind we dove right in sampling the local fare. Fresh grilled fish, grilled chicken, rice and banana wrapped in banana leaves and the most delicious Thai spring rolls. The rest of the days were spent going from amazing beach to amazing beach, listening to all the Euro's (mostly French) and of course eating. Even had the Thai version of a Margarita pizza (still waiting to see if that was a good idea although Carin has a bit of the Bangkok belly). Otherwise all is well from the Small Travelers. We love the comments so keep them coming.
Bangkok is all about the Buddha, the people and the food. We started off going to visit the Grand Palace when we were immediately struck by the heat and humidity along with the smells and the food vendors scurrying about setting up for the day. Of course we had no idea where we were going but with Carin and her guide book in tow and no knowledge of the language we were ready. It wasn't long before a little, elderly Thai woman saw us staring at the map and offered to help with directions . The exchange went something like this. "where you going, see Big Buddha? We told her we wanted to go to the Grand Palace and she replied, "Palace closed 1:30pm Queens birthday (pointing north on the map), see big Buddha". After 10 minutes of her trying to persuade us (which Mike bought into hook, line and sinker) to see Big Buddha we remembered reading about the numerous scammers and tallied on until we ran into "Ar-may". I am Ar-may, you know Ar-may, (pointing to his uniform), where are you going?" and also wanted us to see Big Buddha. Eventually we realized his name was not Ar-may but he was in the army therefore we should believe him. Scammer! We did find the Palace which was open all day. Scamming is an absolute art form here and very well polished. Needless to say we did not see Big Buddha but were amazed by the Emerald Buddha, The Feathered Buddha and the tremendous Reclining Buddha.The rest of the day was spent sampling the street foods and trying to cross the streets with out getting run over. Aside from our "new friends", the people are kind, helpful and very smiley. We leave Bangkok tonight for Ko Samui.
What you may ask do these three words have in common besides the fact that they all start in "T". A week before departure Carin had a filling replaced hence the "Teeth". The day before departure Carin found out she needed an emergency root canal hence the "Tears". Numb mouth and all we arrived in Bangkok as scheduled hence "Thailand". After 25 hours of travel we arrived at our hotel and decided to take a short nap which lasted for 12 hours. Didn't see much on day 1.
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" - Lao Tzu
To view photos click on the post you want to view (ie Big Buddha or Ko Samui) in the main section and this will link you directly to flickr where you can view photos or slide show.
Note: Clicking on post in archive will not take you to pictures.
What statrted as a dream became a topic of discussion and turned into a reality. On August 3rd with little more than a handful of clothes in our packs and our angel by our side, we will leave family and friends behind to experience the world as it is. There will be laughter, there will definitely be tears but this is our journey ... every moment of it. Mike & Carin
