In The Land Of Smiles

"Soot Thanon" ...The End of the Road

2008-04-20T23:16:00.048+07:00

As the glass doors before the international arrivals waiting area flew open we paused & held onto the last moment of our adventure, flinching hard at the reality of returning. 6 movies were watched back to back as we traveled home in a reverse swoop across the Pacific Ocean & the entire width of North America. For a mere 30+ hours we drifted through time zones without shutting an eye, hiding our dismal anticipation within our tireless involvement in plot after plot.

Surviving the initial celebration of our arrival, we stood side by side staring at the revolving luggage while our parents happily & cruelly shared in each others joy behind us. The treasured backpacks that hadn't left our sight in months had apparently been audacious enough to stay in Thailand. So we got into our respective cars, with our respective immediate family members & drove home down that routine stretch of highway from Boston to Newport. I woke up the next morning (that should be night) alone in my bedroom, surrounded by things I'd forgotten were significant to me. The only evidence of the past three months of my life was on this site & in the printed pages of my mother's following; as I still waited for my backpack filled with all I'd thought a person could possibly need to return to me. Landing in Thailand, the culture shock was expected to such an extent that the suspense was more potent than the impact upon arrival. Returning home, there is nothing quite so jolting & unnerving as feeling the familiar as foreign. Like getting through a hangover, we waited to readjust.

Very aware that our time was coming to an end, our last weeks in Railay were savored. I don't have a written word in my journal from those weeks, doubt I made it a full chapter through a book. We were in the home stretch & had officially stayed into Thailand's undeniably hot season where survival techniques like water breaks became priority out of necessity.

Arriving in Railay, we hopped off the longtail boats on the sunrise side of the isthmus & anxiously made our way along the sandy path, under the dreadlocked trees, & back into the little neighborhood of huts & waterside 'Shangri-la'. Things had changed in our absence & we reminisced about our friends that had moved on & the days when the now vanished coffee shop was the place to be. Slowly familiar characters awoke from their daytime slumber in unknown corners & climbed down from their limestone playground to greet us. We moved back into Rappala bungalows, this time coupling off into neighboring quarters, tossing our damp sarongs onto neighboring porch rails.

Immediately we resumed our roles as locals & all that entails on Railay. Every morning we trooped past the chickens on the path out of Rappala, bounced down the 58 steps, mutually greeted Thais leisurely putting their bars back in order, walked way down to the end of sunrise & by the gangs of monkies along the cave covered path, past the climbers clinging with powdery fingers to the cave walls & wobbling tight-ropers, past the phallic tourist-swarmed fertility shrine & the people floating under the canopied shelter of the cave's overhang, around the woman selling corn & her flock of friends offering up massages/mani/pedis, to our favorite spot of sand- 20 feet from both the longtail snack bars & an available patch of shade. Phranang is no doubt in my mind the most beautiful beach in the world. The fine sand shoreline stretches along sheer turquoise water from it's cave beginnings, bending around corners lined with longtail boats, past limestone stacks & shallow sand bars that lead out to them, until it hits a small patch of jungle leading to more complex caves at the far end. We spent our very last day soaking up as much of this slice of heaven as we could. We braved the hot sun all day long seeking relief lounging in shallow spots or floating around making random conversation with other floaters. A late afternoon downpour forced us to dodge into the far cave where we climbed through narrow twisted passages until we found ourselves looking out from a sheltered height over the stormy beach. It felt as if we owned part of this island just for appreciating it's every inch. Life in Railay was true bliss. Sunsets on the sunset beach watching the locals play, curried dinners with friends & their newly expat Swedish girlfriends, fireshows, Chang beers drank barefoot & indian-style by candlelight.. Jenga. We scoffed daily at the longtail drivers along the sunrise-side wall asking if we wanted a ride back to the mainland Krabi town. Why would anyone even humor leaving?

Reality, I guess.

We said our goodbyes & gathered at the travel agency booth to await our exit. As we sat reluctantly looking for our longtail to appear the sky opened up wide & rain came down torrentially. The tide was out so far that several longtails lay stranded leaning on the exposed rain splattered sand. We walked through the length of this surreal tropical shower a good mile out till we finally reached water. I don't really remember much from there. I think we likely got dropped to a truck that drove us to a bus that took us with however many transfers back to Bangkok City where we feverishly hunted for an elaborate variety of souvenirs until a cab took us to Chatree's so we could organize with the added baggage we'd stored there, shower, & get in one last cab to the airport. Maybe Chatree drove us to the airport, he was always more than willing to make our lives easier, which felt so luxurious amidst backpacking. With all the different forms of transportation we'd experienced, a car seemed so personal.

last minute consolidation

our transport list:

tuk-tuk (with bicycle & motorcycle)✓

songthaew (gated truck bed)✓

taxi✓

minibus✓

bus (including double deckers, dilapidated, & sleepers)✓

longtail boat✓

ferry✓

speedboat✓

slowboat✓

skylag✓

plane (assorted)✓

junkboat✓

moped

bicycle

ricksha (samlor)✓

We never got mopeds because of the horror stories (falls, accidents, tailpipe burns, & most worrisome: the frequent outrageous charges for damage already existent at the rental). We tried to stay at hostels that offered bicycles but were never lucky enough to end up with tires. Rickshas simply weren't big enough for three of us let alone the days when there were four & five or in Vietnam where passengers on samlors were carted solo like kings. We managed to check this last one off the list (technically) in the airport & were fully satisfied, as you can tell...

Subsequently our devious backpacks got dropped on our US doorsteps, we made our re-entry into Newport life, & smiled through the agony of endless ambiguous questions such as the "how was it?"s & the "you guys have fun?"s. Occasionally one of us would go off on an elaborate spiel or share some animated travel anecdote, but more often than not we all just said "oh yea, it was a blast." At first we often found ourselves retreated into the ladies room or huddled into a corner clinging together for support & sharing disgruntled memories of paradise. By May the three of us were living off Thames, reconciled with summer in Newport. We served food to thousands, double biked to the beach clutching pool floats, threw backyard cookouts, late night soirees, & celebrated everything from graduations to America's independence; breaking from real life here & there for a little wistful nostalgia...

Days turned into weeks into months & we all got accustomed to life revolving around whatever it is that life revolves around normally. By January we were all antsy to run away. The girls took off to Costa Rica where they've been playing beachside in Tamarindo since. March 24th I'll be joining them with Lonely Planet guides & Spanish companions to throw on our backpacks & uncover what Central America has to offer. Before we know it we'll be right back in the throes of reverse culture shock, coming to terms with routine & reality... only with even more adventures whispering in our minds.

Always do what you wish you could.

✶ tag along to Central America ✶

Hakuna Matata

2008-03-27T19:57:00.022+07:00

Quick update for I feel we may be falling off the face of the earth

& deep into island mode...

With Tara enroute back to the Big Apple, we eagerly departed busy Bangkok & ventured all the way South on a draining series of buses/ferries. During the long overnight segment, the bus operators kindly played our entire collection of black market DVDs for us on the second level while they thoroughly scoured through our backpacks in the luggage room under our feet. A grueling & unexpected 24 hours later (we'd been prepared for 12ish) we arrived on the quiet island of Lanta Yai; dirty, tired, & stripped of a baht-load more than I care to admit. BUT, the glass was half full- Lauren ended up with a quality pair of old man socks & I found in my poor ransacked backpack some chicks supply of anti-diarrhea pills, a really big bandaid, & a travel packet of laundry detergent... life. is. good. Without sarcasm, I can't think of anywhere better than Ko Lanta to station yourself & reconnect with a love of Thailand after being violated in Southeast Asia. We stayed under thick palms in beyond authentic bamboo bungalows only sandy steps away from a desolate perfection of a Thai beach right past the shabby chic restaurant & bar of the fabulously titled "Sanctuary Bungalows." In our garden bathroom the toilet sat out of place surrounded by crushed pieces of coral & an absurd amount of plants, the shower was a waterfall that came out of a slit in a bamboo pipe that ran overhead, & you had to be truly careful not to step on the caterpillars. Our beds were surrounded by mosquito nets that effectively kept all the geckos in their place, & if that's not enough- there was a horse tied up outside our door, Lauren & I chased a chinchilla out by throwing a shoe in it's direction, & we learned that the croaking animal we've been hearing constantly since Cambodia actually resembles a crocodile (we'd had some sort of duck in mind). Mother nature truly seemed to be paying unusual attention to the little island during our visit as we also lounged nightly under clouds illuminated by heat lightning, sat in pure awe of the most amazing sunsets, & took daily breaks from the hot season heat in afternoon tropical rainshowers. On our final night we ventured down a pitch black stretch of silent dirt road to "Relax Bay" for a live reggae performance under the stars.

We've now landed back in Phi Phi, have had our local pals henna-tatoo our tanned selves, & spend the days as we have since we arrived in the Gulf of Thailand: sprawled out on baby powder sands devouring memoirs & breaking only to savor flawlessly fresh fruitshakes, float around in the bathtub clear waters, or switch from the sun to a shaded hammock. OMMMM.

As for our big plans for the remainder of our second & final stay on Phi Phi- we'd like to take Mindy on another snorkeling adventure, want to climb to viewpoint for a sunset, really need to try the mixed berry fruitshakes, & (if we can find the time) might pick up some pool floats :) Saturday we jump a ferry through the limestone splendor of Krabi back to our beloved Railay where we intend to rot away blissfully until heading back to crazy Bangkok to fly back to crazy America. The clock is ticking on our Great Asian Adventure, but I'm sure there will be some part of our experience in home-away-from-home Railay that will be just too irresistable not to share*

Party Of Five

2008-03-17T08:06:00.019+07:00

We had a couple days to kill in familiar Bangkok before the girls arrived. After re-aquainting ourselves with the over-stimulation that is Khao Sarn Road, we dropped off a couple kilos of excess backpack weight & had an amazing Italian feast at Chatree's place, got to know modern Bangkok downtown at the malls, & lay out at Lumphini Park in front of a pond full of massive lizards that we initially assumed to be either anacondas or snakes (hey, you never know in Bangkok).

An era ended & a new chapter began when the girls joined us on the other side of the world- we officially went on a vacation from our vacation. Conveniently we decided not to acknowledge Tara & Mindy's jet lag & on their first day we dropped them at the Royal Palace, took an hour long cruise of the canals, squeezed all five of us into one tuk-tuk across town where we weaved our way through hectic chinatown, explored the uber-modern central world mall, & then head to the train station where we hopped on an overnight train bound for Chiang Mai.

Immediately after checking into our hotel we called up the same massage parlor we'd visited during our first whirl through town & arranged for them to pick us up ASAP. After being chauffered, we all changed into those same orange pajamas & sipped pandanus tea in a row while our feet were scrubbed clean. The former-inmates/current queens of massage lay us out on floor cushions & introduced Tara & Min to what Thailand really has to offer... tiger balm & all. We spent the rest of the day & into the evening perusing the Sunday walking street that had erupted outside the salon unbenounced to us. Every street inside the moated area of the city had closed down & been completely taken over by vendors offering up a unique selection of food, art, & souvenirs. It seemed nearly every person in Northern Thailand was floating through the maze.

ironically looking like jailbirds

The next day Lauren, Jenny, & I separated for the first time in months. Tara, Mindy, & I went off into the suburbs for a 7 hour intensive cooking class while Lauren & Jenny head to the Chiang Mai Zoo. While we learned & successfully made everything from heavenly mango sticky rice to drunken noodles, the girls got up close & personal with hippos & giraffes. We met up later for a cruise through the Night Bazaar & a couple St. Patrick's Day beers at an Irish Pub.

Perm showing us how it's done

Next stop: Pai. Lonely Planet's description of this Northern expat haven sucked us right in.

"The hippie trail is alive & well in Pai"

After a long, indescribably overcrowded, winding trip through the mountains of Mae Hong Son we found ourselves beyond perfect accomodations at the Golden Hut Bungalows where from the benches surrounding our bamboo patio you could see the bright orange robes of monks (who we could also hear chanting at dawn) through the palm trees at their nearby wat. The town was quiet, bohemian, & fully enamored with it's own unique vibe. Small galleries sold postcards & other souvenirs baring cutesy recognition for Pai's Pai-ness...

"utoPAI"...

"insPAIration"...

"Pai in the sky"...

"Do nothing in Pai"....

We spent our first day poolside & surrounded by mountains before heading out into town to scope out the perfect spot for Jenny's birthday celebration. At the edge of town we stumbled upon Ting Tong Bar (Ting Tong means "crazy... but in a good way"), a huge open air bar ran by a lively bunch of locals who promise nightly fire shows & live to entertain. We dropped word of Jenny's birthday to this fun loving bunch & extraordinarily the next day employees donning customized Ting Tong shirts passed out flyers inviting the entire town to join in the celebration of Jenny's 23rd. Strangers were actually stopping the herd of us on the street to wish Jenny a good one. While the girls found a new pool to spread out at, Tara & I spent that afternoon playing alone in a nearby river with a couple loveable elephants. We rode bareback through the countryside & got repeatedly dumped into the river as our new friend plopped himself over repeatedly. Tara had been waiting a long time to hang out with a real elephant & the experience could not have been more ideal.

0 . 2 . 8 . 4 . 0 .

That night, after a candlelit pregame with appetizers on our bungalow patio, dinner at a local restaurant, & a quick bar crawl for some cocktails & live music, we made it fashionably late & spent a memorable night at Ting Tong. Another unique 23rd birthday in Southeast Asia!

Are you Ting Tong?

The next day we left Pai behind & took a bus all the way back to Bangkok where we've been wandering for the last couple days. After a final Thai experience in the Red Light District last night, Tara flew back to the US & now the four of us have only a few hours until we get on a bus that will take us back down South where we'll spend our final weeks on the beach :)

Yet another chapter begins....

The Kingdom

2008-03-11T11:43:00.009+07:00

The faces in Cambodia are darker, the exchange rate is 3800 riel to 1 USD, women balance massive bowls filled with fried tarantulas on their heads... Cambodia is definitely different than anywhere we've encountered so far. Yet, our expectation that this place would be less intense than our experience in Vietnam was way off, at least historically speaking. Cambodia's history may not be quite so personal as learning about our impact on Vietnam, but their memory is still fresh & the details gruesome.

We spent our first days in Phnom Penh visiting S-21 Prison, a now eery genocide museum where makeshift brick cells are still intact, rooms are lined in black & white mugshots, & torture rooms still house their sole wire beds. A high school until 1976 & formerly known as "Tuol Sleng," this prison was designed for the interrogation of anyone accused of being "anti-Angkar."1,500 Cambodians at a time were imprisoned at S-21 for supposedly being against the Khmer Rouge regime. Their photos were taken, biographies recorded, & then they were beyond brutally tortured into writing absurd often lengthy confessions of betrayal before being executed. Their families, including children, were also round-up & killed for clean measure. Of the 20, 000 total brought to Tuol Sleng, only 7 survived. We also ventured to one of the “Killing Fields”, Choeung Ek, a former tree farm slightly outside the city where the prisoners were shipped, killed, & tossed into mass graves. The ground is covered in holes where the bones were fairly recently excavated & a tall haunting memorial holds piles upon piles of anonymous skulls. 343 mass burial sites have been found throughout the country. At these, the Khmer Rouge is estimated to have killed nearly 2 million before being removed from power in only 1979 as the result of an invasion by Vietnam. The organization was not formerly dissolved until 1996 & Pol Pot, the KR’s infamous leader, died soon after in 1998 having never been put on trial.

Our nights in Phnom Penh were spent unwinding. The strip of the city along the riverside is truly beautiful, the food delicious, & the young children constantly hawking souvenirs with their sing-songy sales pitches undeniably adorable. The main market is set up inside a massive warehouse- a seemingly endless maze of stuff. You’ll be standing in an area surrounded by black market dvds, walk too far in one direction, & find yourself smack dab in the middle of motorcycle parts. We often seemed to be the only tourists in sight & the weather was just right for wandering.

For the past several days we’ve been in Siem Reap, a cozy little town with something for everyone. We spent a full three 3 days exploring the lost city of Angkor with the help of a hired tuk-tuk driver. On our second day we watched the sun rise & set behind Angkor Wat; the once principal temple of this region & currently one of the seven wonders of the world. Starting in the 9^th century the Khmer empire built Angkor including numerous stone temples that today are the crumbling evidence of the great city. Each temple was different from the next, some slightly restored & others in the midst of being swallowed up by twisty trees.

Early Risers

Last night we went out on the town in celebration of both a break from temples & not leaving SE Asia as planned (we would be home by now!) Cheers to another 4 weeks! Next we take on the 12 hour bus route back to Bangkok that Lonely Planet refers to as “the Boulevard of Broken Backsides.” Worse than the endless up, down, zig-zag in Laos? We’ll see about that.

2 months deep in our great Asian adventure

In Bangkok we're picking up two of our girlfriends from home before heading North. Should we be warning them about the constant sweating, repulsive bathrooms, or cockroach in my dinner last night? Nahhh half the fun of SE Asia is figuring all that out for yourself :)

Open Tour VN

2008-03-03T16:58:00.014+07:00

We made our way from Hanoi to Halong Bay through kilometers of green countryside. Motorbikes toting crates packed with frightened dogs awaiting their Eastern-world fate swooshed by & the heartbeat paced farming community practically spilled onto the highway from both sides. As we passed through tollbooths women in conical hats worked knee deep in rice patties literally right off the edge of the road.

We arrived to another surreal scene at the dock in Halong. Swarms of massive wooden junk boats flying bright Vietnamese flags waited out their turn to scoop up an awaiting group. Once aboard, we quickly left the shore & head out towards the endless limestone stacks that loomed across the entire horizon. We spent the next 24 hours drifting through the bay, sipping wine on the rooftop deck, & daring to karaoke with our hilariously shameless Volunteers for Peace pals. We also made a couple quick pit stops to kayak through the floating neighborhoods which live under the shadows of the massive cliffs & to check out an expansive cave grotto hidden within one of the mountains. It was a heavenly experience. After being dumped back on shore we said goodbye & got on the road again... just the 3 of us at last.

final VFP shot

Hanoi was also an altered image in the wake of the Tet celebrations. The roads were unrecognizable with all the storefronts open & business back to usual. We had little time to take in the new vision of the city- signed up for an open-tour package (so we could hop on & off at a number of cities along the route to Saigon) & a couple hours later hopped on a sleeper bus for the first 12 hour ride to Hue.

We'd been living in Vietnam for weeks, but traveling down the East coast of the Indochina peninsula we've begun to take on a more complete awareness of this country & the Vietnamese people. The Vietnamese have defended their nation against the Khmers, Chams, Mongols, Chinese, French, Japanese, & of course good old Americans- & still come out alive & kicking. They pride themselves in their resilience which has also helped them bounce back after outbreaks of SARS, the Avian Flu, & an economic crisis back in 1997. Lining the highways are old fashioned propaganda billboards sporting the face of Ho Chi Minh, both the Vietnam & communist flags, images of all people from soldiers to monks, & always at least one peace dove. Vietnam is ALL about National pride & we were en route to find out what all the fuss is about.

Our two days in Hue, the country's former capital city, were rainy. We'd left the majority of our warm clothes behind in Viet Tri expecting sunshine & instead found ourselves trudging endlessly through local highlights. We dripped back & forth over the Perfume River to see Notre Dame Cathedral, the Citadel, ancient forbidden purple city, & a couple pagodas. The crumbling sights looked older & even more magestic in the persistant rain, but we were simply muddy & wet. Luckily we found a great Italian restaurant to camp out at for the evening & we refused to let the weather get us down :)

Next stop- Danang, where we spent the night right on China Beach where the US soldiers spent their downtime during the war. In the morning, after trooping up & down buddah swarmed Marble Mountain, we head to Danang's neighboring city Hoi An, where we'd catch our next bus down the coast. Hoi An was a sleepy pretty little town with a unique Asian/European feel. The weather was beautiful & the fruit shakes just right. It was here that we stumbled upon Randy, an expat from Laguna Beach, California who had set up a bookstore down a quiet street near the river. He set us up with "the boys guide to Cambodia," a list he & a friend created which (aside from the dirty bar suggestions) should serve us well in the next couple days.

Well, thank Buddah we got the sleeper bus, because our next leg out of Hoi An took us 24 hours South to Saigon. We stopped only for a couple bathroom breaks, & a chance to eat at the beach in Nha Trang & the deserts of Mui Ne. Saigon is an intense city. With two names (Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City), 8 million people, & 4 million motorbikes, I think it might just bustle more than Bangkok itself. Even the backpackers district where we're staying is full of locals parked in near-kindergarten sized plastic chairs outside all the local eateries. The markets have absolutely every useless thing you could imagine, the nim chow is incredible, & the traffic is out of control. Yesterday we visited the War Remnants Museum & walked through exhibit after exhibit portraying America's heavy impact on the country during the Vietnam war; every wall covered in beautiful black & white photo evidence backing up every snipit of information. It was hard to take in the dramatic extent of the long-lasting damage we imposed. This was Vietnam's side of the story so it obviously was going to be a bit biased- that we were prepared for. Yet, you couldn't help but be embarassed by the story told. We are supposed to be the country that only gets involved in order to stop inhumane treatment, our constitution is all about equal rights, & yet we were destroying villages full of innocent civilians, dropping anti-foliants for a better view from the sky & meanwhile both destroying lush jungles & poisoning generations to come with Agent Orange. When we finally did retreat, we left in our wake thousands of unexploded ammunitions.

Today we took a day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels where the Viet Cong operated from intricrate underground communities during the fighting. We attempted to crawl through the tunnels only to rush out the nearest early exit to escape our claustrophobia. Our guide laughed at our sweating, flushed group & informed us that the tunnels had already been widened by nearly 2/3rds to accomodate tourists. Tomorrow we leave all the intensity of Vietnam behind & head across the border to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Tam Biet Vietnam!

playing w. an old US tanker

Project Complete :)

2008-02-24T16:20:00.013+07:00

We woke up on the 21st to sunshine & warm weather! Combined with the end of the New Year celebrations, Viet Tri came to life on the streets. It's truly strange how comfortable we've gotten with life here. We cross the streets calmly inch-by-inch making eye contact with the dozens of mopeds flying at us, have the labyrinth of little streets in our neighborhood thoroughly memorized, do not blink at a passing bicycle covered in 20+ squacking chickens or think twice about cows... anywhere, & spend endless hours lounging & playing around with our new best friends- children who for the most part do not speak a word of our language. Yet, somehow it's challenging to actually step back & realize how different this situation really is.

baby Binh!

Nam!

Tinh!

We got the chance to be part of an exciting transition at the village which only takes place every few years. A new group of orphaned children from a Hmong Hilltribe village (21 total) were brought to SOS the other day. They do not understand Vietnamese & seemed so frightened the first day as they were led around by their new siblings that we thought it would take a decent amount of time until they were able to adapt. However, by only the second day we were spotting the new kids skipping around with smiles on their faces.

New Kids On The Block

Today was our last day in the village, so we put together a big American Field Day. We had an egg toss, running race, tug-of-war, limbo contest, potato sack race, & big scavenger hunt. Perhaps it was all the prizes we found, but the kids were more than eager to play & had a great time. The scavenger hunt was especially entertaining- watching the groups attacking the apple trees, scampering through their homes to get chopsticks & other knick knacks, & scouring the ground for the three live insects we stuck on the bottom of the list :) After the games, the 3 of us convinced our coordinator to let us stay behind to eat lunch with house #13 in order to get in a little last minute time. The new addition to their family, Lang, seemed happily at home sitting confidently in the big circle at lunch. We gave the mother a thank you letter that we'd attempted to translate into Vietnamese which they all got a kick out of. After a few hours of playing around, the kids walked us to the front gate to say goodbye. It was hard to walk away & a few of the kids ran up to the gate & waved the entire time we walked down the long stretch of dirt road back to our house.

Tomorrow we leave for Hanoi at 5am &, along with our whole group, we'll then get on a bus to Halong Bay for an overnight boat tour of the famous group of thousands of limestone islands. Happy to kiss those floor mats behind, however I think leaving the village today we all would have signed up for some extra time here.

With our favorite kids

"Hello!" "Xin Chao!"

2008-02-20T20:46:00.017+07:00

Don't ask me how, but we officially feel at home here in this parallel universe. Lauren's birthday was certainly a unique year. We began at a center for abandoned babies, located within the disabled center at which several of the volunteers from our house spend their spare time. Within two small glassed in rooms a couple dozen babies spend their days on beds covered with grass mats. It's not the easiest environment, definitely nothing like the living conditions @ the SOS village, but the babies light up the second you get them in your arms & our time spent there feels truly important. We've been told that the center is just a temporary home as the babies await adoption- an optimistic thought.

Next, as Lauren taught feelings in English to her 8th graders, Jenny & I visited the kindergarten located right in the village. After class, we met up with Lauren & went to check out the school that all the kids in the village attend. We definitely stand out in Viet Tri. ALL the kids heading home on their bikes shouted "Hello!" & "How are you doing? I'm fine" giggling as we walked by all not- Vietnamese. From the school we head to our usual afternoon locale: house #13 to spend time with our favorite family. We put American music on the IPOD & played our daily games of shuttlecock (which is similar to hacky sack) & their crazy jump-rope game. Jenny & I had to keep Lauren out of the house so the other volunteers could set up her surprise party :)

house #13 w. Tinh, Hao, Linh, & Binh

in awe of bubbles

Around 6:30 we got back to the house where our new friends blindfolded Lauren & led her into our eating area where Korean birthday soup awaited her along with tons of balloons & a cake made from choco-pies (massive mallowmars). Happy Birthday was sung to her in English, then Korean, then Japanese, & finally Danish! After dinner we taught the group how to play American classics including flip-cup & kings. We also learned quite the entertaining variety of Korean games- it was a fun night bonding with all our housemates in celebration of Laur's 23rd!

Today Lauren & I were on mom duty, cooked & cleaned for a good straight 12 hours. The other volunteers requested American food again so lunch was scrambled eggs, homefries, toast, & bacon, then scampi pasta with sausage & garlic bread for dinner - another successful long day :)

Good Morning Vietnam

2008-02-14T22:21:00.014+07:00

Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

(Happy New Year!)

We arrived in Vietnam smack dab in the middle of their second New Year celebration of 2008- this time for the lunar New Year... so long year of the golden pig & welcome all to the year of the Rat! Tet, as it's called in these parts, is a BIG deal- everyone heads home for about a weeks length in order to celebrate with their families. Similar to our big holidays, except that they offer their meal to their deceased ancestors before feasting themselves. Flowers & traditional red & gold decorations are sold on every street corner to help the Vietnamese people to welcome the freshness of a New Year.

We spent our first two days in the capital city of Hanoi: the city of peace. CRAZINESS. Mopeds zipping left & right, constant useless honking, rarely a word of English spoken by the vendors that crowd every street, & just a general air of chaos circling the busy smoke-filled streets. Our very first night we found ourselves curbside, on little plastic stools, getting lessons on what exactly to do with a boiling hot pot & plate after plate of meat, shrimp, clams, & vegetables provided to us. The Vietnamese definitely know how to eat... & we are definitely not in Thailand anymore.

On the morning of the 13th we took a dizzying cab ride slightly out of the city to the remote office of Volunteers for Peace Vietnam to meet up with the other 16 volunteers that we'd be cohabiting with for the preceding two weeks. We all piled into a mini bus that took us to our new home in Viet Tri City, a couple hours ride through rice fields away from the capital. 3 Americans, 5 Japanese, 10 Koreans, 2 Danish, & one remarkably energetic Vietnamese coordinator living on top of each other in one small house. We sleep on floor mats, share 2 bathrooms, & trade off cooking/cleaning responsibilities. Did I mention it's freezing here? A local told us yesterday that he's fairly sure it hasn't been this cold in 40 years. You'd think after all the temples we've visited we'd have a little good luck! Besides the initial shock of the shift from vacation to basic living, we're actually having a great time. Every morning we walk down increasingly familiar dirt roads to the SOS Children's Village- home to 150+ orphans who live 10-12 in one of fifteen homes, each with their own live-in 24/7 mother. The homes are comfortable, the neighborhood clean & completely safe for the kids to roam, & everyone interacts as if just one massive happy family. When not playing Vietnamese games or just hanging around with the people, we teach English in groups to classrooms of children ranging from 1st grade to 11th, each with varying levels of both skill & interest. My group spends Saturday afternoons teaching the 16 year olds who were impressively eager to disentangle the intricacies of our upside-down complicated language. Several children since the opening of the village 10 years ago have already graduated from the high school school & moved on to universities, colleges, & vocational programs. We're truly enjoying being a part of such a hopeful community.

Nam!

I'd say the most challenging part of the program so far was mine & Jenny's cooking day. Everyday 3 people stay home to cook & clean from 7am-7pm- breakfast, lunch, & dinner for nearly 20 people. We managed to find likely the only packs of bacon in a 30 mile radius to make BLTs for lunch... while dinner proved to be more challenging. We'd considered trying to make some kind of breaded chicken only to realize in the midst of the busting local market with Vietnamese women pushing hunks of raw meat in our faces that in order to make chicken we'd have to follow through with the task of legit hacking off it's legs & neck! Instead we opted to make pasta bolognese that actually turned out great. Not the kind of food our fellow volunteers are used to, but the speed of their chopsticks seemed to indicate our success!

Today was our first day away from the village. Dubbed "Vietnamese Day," we all head to a nearby market after a 7 am noodle soup breakfast. We split off into groups for a scavenger-hunt style search for spring roll ingredients. We then went to the beautiful countryside home of Hua, a Vietnamese volunteer who has been spending a good deal of time with our group, to make the rolls. They came out beyond perfectly & after we all sat in a big circle on the floor enjoying our homemade feast, singing any song we could think of that everyone knew, & drinking authentic rice wine. In a few minutes we'll head back to the house to finish the day off with a Vietnamese movie. Tam Biet!

Our crazy leader w. his rice wine

Loveable Laos

2008-02-11T09:51:00.013+07:00

Don't let the title fool you. We did fall for Thailand's unspoiled & largely undiscovered neighbor- but definitely not for its transportation system.

Laos

' French beginnings are alive on its tranquil streets where wats, open air markets, & bakeries peacefully coexist. However, we didn’t arrive in Luang Prabang until 36 hours after leaving Chiang Rai.

Turns out the "slow boat" was quite accurately titled. Its alternative, "the speed boat," is known to kill off at least one helmet-wearing tourist per year as it zips down the mighty Mekong River… so we decided to go with the safer version. Along with 50+ others, we settled along the inside walls of a long wooden boat & traveled inch-by-inch down the Mekong River which serves as the border to most of Thailand & Laos. The 7 hour ride went by surprisingly fast. We stopped for the night in Pakbeng, a tiny riverside town that seemed to exist exclusively for the overnight pit stoppers. We were warned that curfew in Pakbeng was strictly at 10pm, but didn't realize that every last light in the town would legit go out. At least we had a flashlight & the shut-off put an end to the serenade of techno coming from our Argentinian neighbors from the other side of our torturously thin walls. In the darkest of darkness, we received a different sort of serenade from outside our windowless windows. Roosters competing one cocka-doodle-doo after another, meowing cats, chirping cicadas & some kind of rodent desperately clawing its way through our ceiling made it a bit hard to rest up. Needless to say, the 9 hour ride that brought us the rest of the way to Luang Prabang the next day did not go quite as smoothly. This time we were forced to make our nest beside the roaring engine in a tiny packed back room. The view made it all worthwhile. We drifted through dense jungles lined with white sandy banks, passed grazing water buffalos, groups of waving children & small villages. We finally reached L.P. as the sun was setting.

long. slow. boat.

day 1

day 2

The country was utterly relaxing compared to Thailand. After 2 hours of backpacked searching, we found a perfection of a hotel room complete with a sunroom balcony through tall glass french doors. The food in Laos was wonderfully different, & we took full advantage of both the laid back vibe & absurdly cheap living. Drifting through one of the hilltop wats, we made friends with a 17 year old monk who willingly answered our questions & even opened the padlock on a 200 year old temple for us to peek inside.

w. our beloved smoothie-bags

On our last day we woke up at 5 am in order to experience the monks’ daily alms route. Known as Tak Bat in Laos, every morning the monks from each town’s (ban’s) temples (wats) split into 3 groups and walk silently in a line through the city collecting fruit, balls of sticky rice, teeny bananas, & other offerings in individually carried golden pots from kneeling lay people. The food collected can be eaten by the monks until 12 noon when they must fast until after Tak Bat & before noon the following day. It was a remarkable sight- some of the monks at the end of the line were barely 9 years old.

Awaiting Monks

That evening we took an 11 hour overnight bus from L.P. that got us to the city’s capital, Vientiane, at 5am. The bus could not have been less challenging. From the very back of the bus we bounced constantly & watched as the front end zig-zagged back & forth down narrow roads. It was dark, so we couldn’t really tell, but we think we must have been making our way through some serious mountains. S-curve warning after hard U-turn sign we finally made our way to the completely shut down capital. A couple hours later the sun came up & a coffee shop finally opened its doors. We ate & cleaned up bum-style in the bathrooms before finding this internet café. Now we have a good 5 hours to explore before taking another jumbo (a tuk tuk with a harley attached @ the front) to the airport. Next stop: Hanoi, Vietnam where we’ll start a volunteer program at the SOS Children’s Village, home to about 150 orphans & also our home for the next two weeks. After a solid month of planning & plotting every last meal, excursion, & resting place, it will be interesting to be a part of something out of our control. We’re also looking forward to temporarily leaving our nomad ways behind & spending two solid weeks getting to know the people & area... & not touching our backpacks!

Peace out Thailand

2008-02-06T20:52:00.002+07:00

We left the islands reluctantly & checked ourselves into the On On hotel in bustling Phuket, the same spot Leo's character in the Beach stayed; it was a classically beautiful building- high ceilings & the same sino-portuguese style that is found throughout Phuket... but the walls were indeed paper thin & a good night's sleep was a gamble. We spent our second day on a tour of Phang gna bay. Most famous for it's towering limestone formations that jut randomly out of the water and it's surrounding mangrove forests, Phang gna was breathtaking. After visiting another monkey-swarmed cave wat, a longtail boat took us through murky jellyfish filled waters & around the stacks to see James Bond island & for a heavenly seafood lunch in the Muslim village of Panyi which is built entirely upon stilts.

The next day we left paradise behind & flew way North to the cool summer breezes of Chiang Mai. The city, whose old center is built within the walls of a giant moat, operates at a relaxed pace despite it's size. We visited a few of the well-known wats, one located deep in the woods. We became smitten with the practice of the wats up North to hang proverbs from the trees written in both Thai & English. Examining a set at Wat Phra Sing alongside a group of novice 14/15 year old monks, I was asked to read aloud a quote on appreciating the buddhist dharma to the giggling orange group. We also decided to check out a massage program operated by the local female low-security prison. The inmates are taught Thai massage and allowed to work through the program in order to save money for once they're released. I now firmly believe criminals give the best rub-downs. We finished our visit off at the intense night bazaar: endless blocks of souvenirs to be bargained for- we're officially pros. 600 Baht? What about 150? :)

We head East today to Chiang Rai where we initially planned to go on an overnight jungle trek into the Hilltribes. After spending some time at the Hilltribe museum, we decided against the trek for a couple reasons. First, the message in the museum is that curiosity is killing the culture of these once primitive tribes who are now becoming focused on & purely driven by tourism. Some tribes are actually started by entrepreneurs & are a complete farce set up to please tourists looking for a freak show of long-necked women. We also realized we're a bit pressed for time. We have to get through Laos, into Vietnam, & to Hanoi for our Volunteers for Peace program by February 12th, & apparently that's not a simple task. So tomorrow we head early to the border town of Chiang Khlong where we'll cross between old Siam & Indo-China on a little boat to Hua Xin where we will then cross immigration & get a Visa into Laos, take a couple 6-9 hour slow boat rides down the Mekong River, & stop to spend one night in some random town called Pakbeng before reaching Luang Prabang. Wish us luck, check back*

Jenny & her friend @ the market

Black Magic Women

2008-02-01T21:50:00.008+07:00

To unwind, western-style, on our last night on Ko Phangan we bought a bootleg version of 'The Beach' and watched it sprawled out in our open bungalow lobby as geckos shimmied above our heads.

Something that came out of Leo's narration struck a chord; traveling in Thailand during the tourist high season, it's frustrating to sometimes feel like we're caught up in a sea of tourists floating from one popular destination to the next (literally- on the ferries, it's ALL backpackers). It's the unique experiences that you have traveling, ones that you know are all your own, which really sink in. In the past week we fell onto that road less traveled & had the time of our lives.

We arrived in unsavory Krabi town after a ferry/bus combo once the sun had gone down. Eager to ditch our backpacks, we found the sleaziest guesthouse we've stayed in for very few ฿ (this made sense once we realized that it was a whorehouse in the morning's light). Krabi province is known to be the most beautiful province in Thailand: the stereotypical Thai paradise complete with massive limestone stacks, bathtub clear waters, endless tropical fish, mangrove forests, etc. etc. Krabi town, was none of this. We wanted out, but first we decided to check out their viewpoint temple. We've been made told, while awkwardly climbing steep uneven stairs at numerous wats, that stairs are meant to symbolically represent the difficulty of reaching higher levels of existence. point . taken . We climbed 1,237 stairs to the vision of a massive golden buddah and an amazing outlook of the islands we'd soon fall in love with. 1,237 stairs. There were markers of how far we'd climbed just so we always knew how few we'd actually conquered. Even the monkeys refused to climb past stair 500. But atleast we had a memorable experience while in Krabi town. The rest of the temple was relatively engaging- swarms of spirited monkeys, elaborate cave shrines, cliff walls with tiny rooms built into them that served as modest homes to the monks, & our first view of the massive trees that frequent this area. We marked our territory on one of the fallen giants

...& then we hopped a longtail boat to Railay.

on the doorstep of paradise

Railay, an isthmus North of Krabi town, is a nirvana like nothing we could have imagined. The rambling town rests along the edges of gorgeous towering limestone stacks lushly covered in palms. The two main beaches have sand the honest-to-god texture of baby powder & truly turquoise waters- there are no cars- not a tuk tuk, nor a bicycle, it is a land of bare feet. Dubbed "Rastafari Railay" by those who call it home, this rock climbers' haven is the ultimate laid back beach destination. Even the trees have their long thin vines twisted into unruly dreadlocks. We checked ourselves into rapala bungalows, a village of little huts located 58 steps up into the side of the cliffs. Nearly immediately, on the very first night, we met the people who would make it torturous for us to pull ourselves away come time to continue our travels.

We joined the group at a blacklit oceanside patio, added ourselves to their circle on floor pillows around a little wicker table, & found ourselves in a beyond intense game of JENGA. We'd stumbled upon a local hangout on the less touristy sunrise side of the isthmus... & thus stumbled upon the locals. Folk oversees a coffee shop, which also specializes in dreadlock repair... & is his home- the smile cannot be wiped off his face, he is dripping in reggae pride, & he actually quotes Bob Marley periodically- when the vibe hits him, of course. There's also Nat, Sun, Pon, Max, Ciao, Jack (who we renamed due to his striking resemblence to Cpt. Jack Sparrow- what with the eyeliner, kitschy pirate-like jewelry, & long beaded braids), & numerous other memorable local Rasta Thais who made our visit truly unique. Along with a set of nomadic rock climbing Brits who were on their 10th day in Railay (despite intentions to stay for just one night), we truly made Railay home.

tree dreads

Viewpoint hike- halfway to the lagoon

Sunset & Sunrise Beaches

the lagoon

We jumped off rocks, climbed (like legitimately up & down ropes) to a lagoon cradled in the middle of the southern stacks, & watched our friends straight scale sides of cliffs like spider monkeys- sans ropes. Sunset was always an event on the west side: the locals take full advantage of this time to show off their insane talents in volleyball, soccer, frisbee, & takraw (kinda like hackey sack with a bigger woven rattan ball) beachside as the restaurants put out grass mats & candles for observers. The whole isthmus shifts their focus in unison, everyone slows down to appreciate the end of the day in paradise. After regrouping in the cool night breeze, we religiously ate authentic cuisine on a picnic table next door to Folk's shop, lounged on floor pillows watching local (& sometimes 10 yr old) fire dancers, & joined in with the tambourine when a group of the boys put on an amazing jam session in our honor. We changed our ticket to leave 3 times. "Phi Phi is so busy, Railay has friendship" they would chant every time we got close to leaving... we legit broke into rounds of cheering "RAILAY" nightly in our starry-eyed bliss.

We did finally leave. Although the end of this story could easily have been "& so we opened a small business & lived happily ever after." Folk woke up at 8:30 the day we swore we had to be on our way & he walked us reluctantly to sunset beach. "Keep your smiles with you always time" he actually said as he pushed our longtail out to sea.

Folk :)

Thai Reggae

our thrice altered ticket to Phi Phi

We're on Phi Phi island now. Other tourists no longer look at us like we're suspiciously exotic for being in the constant company of rastas, & I think we may have fallen back onto that traveled road. But we had a great day. We joined a tour around the islands where the 2004 tsunami hit hardest, and our boat stopped at several beaches (including Maya Bay where "The Beach" was filmed), & gave us time to snorkel/kayak/swim in to explore a little. In the clearest waters we've seen, stripy little tropical fish surrounded us as we swam over intricate coral reefs. We climbed another absurd set of gradually inclining stairs this evening to the local viewpoint for a memorable glowing sunset.

sunset @ Phi Phi Don

*happy & so tan I've genuinely mistaken Jenny for a local more than once.

Under a Thai Moon

2008-01-23T20:22:00.002+07:00

Our tour of Ko Samui turned into more of an adventure than we'd expected. After visiting several temples, being individually blessed by a giggling old monk, & getting climbed on by monkeys, our tour bus took us to the 130 ft. high Lamuang waterfall. Do we want to rent an elephant to trek us up the steep side of the mountain? no, we're all set hiking: no guide needed. Halfway up we must have lost the trail because we ended up legit pulling ourselves up through the levels of the jungle branch. by. branch. Reaching the top, we cooled off in one of the pools with a group of Canadiens before heading back down- losing the path again and grasping onto latex trees as we slipped down the sandy mountain. We made it out filthy, sweaty, itchy... but alive.

Now we have reached Ko Phangan. Our teak bungalow is on secluded Thangsala Beach, located several minutes from town on a palm filled dirt road. There are no cars, no tourists, & little light besides that coming from the insides of the local huts. The beach here is perfect- fragrant exotic flowers... tree swings... calm water.

Last night, however, was the opposite of calm. As night fell, we head to the east end of the island for the monthly celebration of the full moon. We'd heard stories, seen pictures, but this place was pure insanity. The beach was packed with thousands, all covered in glowing body paint, sipping mixed drinks out of buckets, & dancing to the music that pumped out of every bar lining the stretch. We joined right in, grabbed some face paint, and watched the fire dancers. At first we compared the scene to the familiar Spring Break fiascos in the states. Yet, this party could never have occured back at home. Random partygoers took their turn at fire dancing, others lined up to have the fire swung at their faces to light their cigarettes. The metal structures set up for the amazing thailand sign doubled as jungle gyms for those feeling the urge to climb and swing. Hazardous? TIT. Overall, we had a great night.

We're planning on taking it easy before moving on. Days spent on the beach & nights spent sampling local delicacies at the local street markets. We're in authentic Thailand now, have gotten used to implementing certain Thai phrases, and finally have accepted that "ph" should be pronounced "p"- good thing, because we're headed to PHuket.

Island Hopping

2008-01-20T17:04:00.001+07:00

The remainder of our time in Hua Hin was quite memorable. We started our final day off with full body massages from a smiling old woman on the beach. Under a triangular patch of shade made by several leaning palm trees she lay out a blanket and lavender stuffed pillow and rubbed us down from head to toe... literally- the woman massaged our faces. Later in the afternoon we decided to walk to the far end of the beach to check out monkey (aka chopstick) mountain and swim beneath the giant golden buddah that stands facing the ocean. We realized hours later, as we finally got back to our starting point, that we'd walked over 8 miles. After another trip of snacking and shopping through Hua Hin's addictive night market, we hopped on our overnight train. 7 hours later we transferred onto a 2 hour busride and then finally an hour long ferry trip that dropped us on the island of Ko Samui. Paradise found. We've spent the last couple days leisurely sunbathing on palm tree lined beaches, swimming in turquoise water, and sleeping in beachside bungalows. We moved from Lamai beach today onto Chaweng where we settled into a new bungalow, atop stilts and located on warm shallow lagoon. Tomorrow we've signed up for a full island tour where we'll take our first dip at a waterfall, hang with some elephants, and meet the monkeys who do all the coconut harvesting on the island. Then onto Ko Phangan via another ferry for the full moon party where we already have bungalow awaiting our arrival. Life is good on the East coast of Southern Thailand :)

Moving South

2008-01-17T08:57:00.001+07:00

We spent our last day exploring Old City Bangkok- the embellished temples, called wats, were spectacular. Everything was covered in gold, glass mosaics, and jewels. Jenny & Lauren had to wear hospital scrub-looking yellow button ups, provided by the Grand Palace, because we had to have our shoulders covered. Dress code also required we take our shoes off in order to enter the temples. The mourning period for the king's sister was extended to 100 days, and thousands of Thais dressed in black stood in long hot lines to pay their respects.

Monks on Tuk-Tuks

That night Chatree took us out in the city for dinner and then to a bar called Vertigo, on the roof of the second tallest building in Bangkok. Our last taste of luxury for who knows how long. The next morning we strapped on our backpacks and hopped a train to Hua Hin. Definitely not an Amtrak. For 4.5 hours we sat, the 3 of us and an elderly Thai woman, dirt flying through the windows, and vendors walking up and down the aisles selling homemade goods. Through the windows we took in the Thai countryside. After arriving in this small fishing town we found a guestroom perched atop a rickety pier. For the price of a medium coffee at Dunkin Donuts back at home... granted we are sharing one bed and have a litter of howling puppies out the window. But you can't beat waking up to the waves crashing underneath you. We explored the town last night and after eating an authentic seafood dinner, we stumbled upon their red light district. We naively sat drinking outside as the entire street seemed to pair off: one prostitute for every middle-age western white man. We head home after being solicited ourselves. Now we're off for our first

beach day, and very excited to take a dip in the Gulf of Thailand!

Having an amazing experience so far- keep you posted.

T.I.T.: This Is Thailand

2008-01-15T08:32:00.001+07:00

The infamous Khoa San Road- check it out http://www.khaosanroad.com.th/

Friends who gave us bread to summon the fish on our river boat tour.

Clutching hands in fear as our little 3-wheeled tuk-tuk took on the Thai highway.

FRIED BUGS

We've adopted saying "TIT" now that we have a taste for this place- the saying acknowledging that whatever has occured could only be happening in Thailand. We're headed back to the Grand Palace now then into the center of the city to check out the skyrises. We're also planning to book an overnight train & ferry to the islands today. Initially we were considering the bus trips which are being promoted on every corner. But, after reading that now & again bus travelers are gased & robbed, I think we'll opt for safety :)

Bangkok: City of Angels?

2008-01-14T17:44:00.002+07:00

It is Monday in Thailand- a day all you Americans have yet to experience. We already have had quite the adventure since we arrived here less than 24 hours ago. Chatree, the owner of Diva back in Newport, picked us up at the airport last night and helped us to get aquainted with Bangkok. Our hotel, The Happy House (http://www.thehappyhouseguesthouse.com/), is located near Khao San Road- a hippie haven of open-bar lined streets bustling with dreadlocked people, bright lights, food carts, shops... and even a baby elephant. Our room has a balcony over looking an alley complete with wide open restaurant bars playing Bob Marley covers until the wee hours, tempting Thai massage parlors, & fresh fruit stands. After a few hours of sleep we head out this morning for our first day of touristing. We attempted to make our first stop the Grand Palace only to find out that it was closed due to ceremonies in honor of the King's recently deceased sister. "Friendly" Thais welcomed us left & right- asking questions, offering advice, and even handing us corn kernels in order to feed the pigeons that swarmed in front of the palace.. "for good luck." Turns out the smiles in this land are often hiding hidden agendas. Bottom line- today. we. got. hustled. The pigeon people, once we'd emptied our treat for the anxious birds, promptly demanded our bahts. We walked away from the scam laughing at what we'd just let happen. Little did we know theirs were not the last seemingly genuine smiles to trick us and we were about to hop on the tourist trap express for the remainder of the day. Our first tuk-tuk driver delivered us to his friends on the river where a small river boat driver took the 3 of us on an amazing trip down the long & narrow canals. Palm trees, temples dotted with buddhist monks in their bright orange robes, Thai teens jumping off their delapidated back steps into the murky fish filled water, women hanging laundry, hammocks, & absurdly massive lizards... every person we passed waved, smiled, and put up peace signs posing for pictures as though our boat was not one of a billion to pass by them that day. Perhaps they knew we were aboard the express and their genuine smiles were a thanks for the baht we'd be donating. Suspiciously, the same Thai who sold us our boat tickets offered to take us to a great place to eat on his tuk-tuk. He took us entirely across massive Bangkok- & pretty much forced us to go to a gem store and silk tailor- both establishments swarming in ignorant tourists on the same ride as us. Sorry, we don't wear silk suits & we're all out of proms to attend- you can stop bowing to us. Our driver then abandoned us at the final destination restaurant (which luckily served a flaming pot of green curry that helped to revive our spirits). By the time we hailed our final tuk-tuk & strategically wove in & out of highway traffic, clutching the railings & inhaling smog, back to the Happy House we swore never to get on a damned tuk-tuk again & decided to get our heads back on our shoulders now that we know every Thai in Bangkok is in cahoots. Only minutes pass before one of us breaks into laughter over today's adventure. We're now plotting out the rest of our trip day by day- thoroughly culture shocked, & excited to head to paradise on the 16th.

Delayed Gratification

2008-01-13T13:09:00.002+07:00

We arrived in NYC around 9am yesterday morning only to be told that our flight had been delayed 7 hours due to a snow storm in Korea. After a surprisingly comfortable 13 hour flight across the world we were put up at the luxurious Hyatt Regency Hotel in Incheon, right outside of Seoul, Korea. The snow was nowhere to be seen, but the pit stop made our long journey a bit easier to handle. We ate, slept, and were endlessly catered to by the impressively hospitable Koreans. 3 hours until we depart for Bangkok @ last! Jenny just checked the weather to find tomorrow's temperature to be listed as 98 degrees... and to feel like 111. uh oh.