Another short, but excitement filled point form update just for you.
1) We leave Thailand tomorrow and head to Tokyo. I have done my research on radiation, so don't worry. I'm pretty much a nuclear expert now and I think we'll be ok. We will join Mark's older brother, Michael, and his fiance for a celebration of their wedding and other fun. I'm also excited for sushi.
2) We almost got struck by lightening on the top Thailand's tallest tower. We think it struck the lightening rod on the top of the building. So good news - lightening rod technology appears to be sound.
3) We got approached by a group of Indian tourists who either thought we were famous or just really like white people. They made us take photos with all of them in various combinations. It was weird. Mark luckily managed to distance himself from the commotion - either that or he wasn't white enough for them to care about photos with him.
4) My new favourite place in Bangkok is the Pak Khlong Market. Flowers everywhere! And we bought 150 roses for $3. I'm not joking. Now, what do you do with 150 roses while travelling, you may ask? Put them in a pile by the hotel TV, of course.
I'm running out of internet time so that is all for now. My concern for the next couple of days is how I'm going to watch the Royal Wedding. I think I've figured out when it's broadcasting live in Tokyo, so hopefully I will be watching :)
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Up to now...
I'm so far behind. Computers with high speed internet have been hard to come by lately. So to make up for lost time, here is a point form essay of what we have been up to in the last couple weeks.
1) Our friend Karen joined us in Bangkok to travel with us for a few weeks. This was good because a) Dan, Mark and I had run out of things to say to each other and b) having another girl around is good and c) I like Karen.
2) We made our way from Bangkok to Koh Tao, a nice little island in the South of Thailand. Mark, Dan and Karen did some scuba diving. I got massages and drank ice coffees and read Water for Elephants. If anyone goes wants to go see the movie with me in about a month, that would be nice.
3) From Koh Tao, we headed up to Chiang Mai where we joined in the Songkran festivities. Songkran is the Thai New Year's celebration and it is, in short, a nation wide waterfight. So ridiculous. We just walked around with a water gun and a bucket soaking people and getting soaked. It was fun. It's a good thing it's really hot in these countries because otherwise I might not have enjoyed getting ice water thrown on me every 5 minutes.
4) We took a 6 hour bus ride (boring and hot) to the border between Thailand and Laos. Then we took a boat ride across the river to a new country.
5) We went and lived in the Laos jungle for three days, ziplining through the trees and sleeping in treehouses. We saw two snakes, a squirrel, lots of bugs, a couple birds, butterflies and monkeys. Oh, and leeches (luckily I grew up swimming in Wellman Lake and am somewhat desensitized to leeches. That doesn't mean I like them). It was awesome. Although I probably wouldn't have used the word awesome when we were being evacuated out of our tree house at 4am due to stormy weather and "potential strong winds". But in hindsight, even that was fun.
6) We went to an internet cafe while waiting for our 14 hour bus ride to our next location in Laos, which is Luang Prabang.
You are now up to the present. I need not elaborate how I am feeling about this upcoming bus ride.
But I'm sure there will be at least one good story to come out of it.
1) Our friend Karen joined us in Bangkok to travel with us for a few weeks. This was good because a) Dan, Mark and I had run out of things to say to each other and b) having another girl around is good and c) I like Karen.
2) We made our way from Bangkok to Koh Tao, a nice little island in the South of Thailand. Mark, Dan and Karen did some scuba diving. I got massages and drank ice coffees and read Water for Elephants. If anyone goes wants to go see the movie with me in about a month, that would be nice.
3) From Koh Tao, we headed up to Chiang Mai where we joined in the Songkran festivities. Songkran is the Thai New Year's celebration and it is, in short, a nation wide waterfight. So ridiculous. We just walked around with a water gun and a bucket soaking people and getting soaked. It was fun. It's a good thing it's really hot in these countries because otherwise I might not have enjoyed getting ice water thrown on me every 5 minutes.
4) We took a 6 hour bus ride (boring and hot) to the border between Thailand and Laos. Then we took a boat ride across the river to a new country.
5) We went and lived in the Laos jungle for three days, ziplining through the trees and sleeping in treehouses. We saw two snakes, a squirrel, lots of bugs, a couple birds, butterflies and monkeys. Oh, and leeches (luckily I grew up swimming in Wellman Lake and am somewhat desensitized to leeches. That doesn't mean I like them). It was awesome. Although I probably wouldn't have used the word awesome when we were being evacuated out of our tree house at 4am due to stormy weather and "potential strong winds". But in hindsight, even that was fun.
6) We went to an internet cafe while waiting for our 14 hour bus ride to our next location in Laos, which is Luang Prabang.
You are now up to the present. I need not elaborate how I am feeling about this upcoming bus ride.
But I'm sure there will be at least one good story to come out of it.
Friday, April 8, 2011
World Heritage Ruins
As a self proclaimed nerd, I enjoy visiting anywhere that holds cultural or natural significance in the world. I think I have mentioned before that I have a goal to visit as many listed World Heritage Sites as possible. If not, now you know. Please visit http://whc.unesco.org/en/list to be a nerd like me. Anyways, I am working towards my goal on this trip and one of my favourites from Thailand is the Historic City of Ayyutthaya. Mark and I visited this place on a day trip out from Bangkok. We took a long, un-air conditioned train ride where it seemed like we would never leave Bangkok. What a huge city. Yeesh. Luckily, we managed to get seats even though our tickets were actually "standee" tickets. And there was this little Thai boy across the seat who was very bored so I taught him how to unbuckle and buckle up my camera bag. I am quite the entertainer, I know. Founded 1350, Ayyutthaya became the second Siamese capital. It was destroyed by the Burmese in the 18th century. Its remains, characterized by the prangs (towers) and gigantic monasteries, give an idea of its past splendor (I didn't write that bit, that's from the website. As is the photo below). 
There are about 20 or so ruin sites scattered amongst the town and it's incredible. I don't really understand how people had the patience to build such places without modern technology. I suppose they didn't have much of a choice - if the King tells you to build something, you build it. We enjoyed our walk around the ruins and then just made it back to have some pizza at the rip off Pizza Hut before the rain came. We got a bit wet walking to the train, but luckily had the luxury of reclinging seats and a car with fans on the way back. Paid a whole $5 for that ticket (as opposed to the 90 cents we paid for the first one). And it was worth it.
There are about 20 or so ruin sites scattered amongst the town and it's incredible. I don't really understand how people had the patience to build such places without modern technology. I suppose they didn't have much of a choice - if the King tells you to build something, you build it. We enjoyed our walk around the ruins and then just made it back to have some pizza at the rip off Pizza Hut before the rain came. We got a bit wet walking to the train, but luckily had the luxury of reclinging seats and a car with fans on the way back. Paid a whole $5 for that ticket (as opposed to the 90 cents we paid for the first one). And it was worth it.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Busy Bangkok
Thailand - land of smiles. I actually am not sure if that's what their catch phrase is or if I just saw it on a tv commercial. Anyways, we have spent the last week in Bangkok after an eventful trip from Australia. To sum it all up quickly, we had about 48 hours without any real sleep that included one red eye flight, 15 hours in the Melbourne airport and one bit of "scheduled maintenance" that happened to be scheduled during our flight time thus delaying our flight by 5 hours. Turns out scheduled maintenance actually means installing a new engine. And what did we get in return? Free headphones and soda pop. That's what happens when you fly budget airlines. One guy was so mad he started a fight on the plane! Ok, he was actually just really drunk and beligerant and I'm not sure why he started fighting, but it was exciting nonetheless. He got moved to the back of the plane by us because we were sitting by off duty police officers. We finally arrived to Bangkok at about 2:30am and made our way to Koh San Road where we have been staying for the last week. I have to admit that I was a bit shell shocked at the amount of activity still happening on the street so early in the morning, but luckily our hotel room was nice and quiet so I was able to sleep. I have been getting used to the amount of people, the smells, the business - but it's not for me. I like smaller places. I mean, the entire population of New Zealand fits in Bangkok 2.5 times. Bit of a change! Although Bangkok is not my cup of tea, we have seen a few really great things which I will try to write about in the near future. Unfortunately, we had to part ways with our computer in Australia so photos will be few and far between for the next while. I apologize. I even find myself boring without photos. I won't be offended if you quit reading. We are off to a smaller island tomorrow so hopefully that will be more my style. You know, boring and quiet :)
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