I hope that everyone is having a great time over the holidays! I enjoyed Christmas with my family in Alaska very much, although our white Christmas was a little bit difficult to enjoy due to the -20 degree weather. Jeremiah and I have decided to continue using our blog to document our travels, so soon I will be posting pictures of frosty Alaska, and, barring any bizarre accidents, in about a month I will be posting pictures of our time in Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia!

For now though (as per request), here is an excerpt of an e-mail I wrote to my family about my snow/ice/wind delayed trip from Seattle to Fairbanks, Alaska about a week ago- I made it but it was definitely an experience I don't want to go through again anytime soon!

"I made it out! Barely! I did get out of Seattle at 4pm on the 21st. At that point I think we were the second to last plane to leave Seatac airport before they shut everything down, at around 2pm the announced that they only had enough de-icer to clean off 12 more planes, and somehow, my plane ended up being one of them.

It's a long story that spans me getting to the airport at 8pm on the 20th, my flight being delayed until 1am, then canceled at 2am, then standing in the longest line of all time until 4am, making a line buddy (we both had laptops and were standing in line typing with one hand reloading the alaska airlines booking page over and over in case seats opened up), my line buddy getting through to alaska airlines via phone at 4:30am (my buddy was on hold for 2 hours), getting seats on a plane scheduled to leave midnight on the 21st, getting out of line and finding our bags by 5am (well, actually I was the only one to actually find luggage), sleeping on a pile of my clothes under a stairwell (there were people everywhere, I felt bad for the families with small children and the dogs stuck in kennels), waking up at 7am and bluffing my way into the boarding pass only/check luggage line without a boarding pass of any kind and without even knowing my flight number ("it just wouldn't print!"), finally getting a nice lady who checked me in for my flight 18 hours ahead of schedule and gave me a standby pass for a flight leaving at 10am, getting onto the 10am flight when it actually boarded at 11am, getting off of the plane 2 hours later when it became clear that the de-icer people were not going to reach us for another 2 hours, being amused by the Santa riding around in a courtesy cart handing out candy canes and the elf on a unicycle, at 2pm finding out that the Seatac airport only had enough de-icer left to clear off 12 more planes and then the airport would be shut down because all the de-icer was stored in Eastern Washington and they couldn't get it across the pass (!!), finding out that our plane was going to be one of the 12 planes to be de-iced and getting ready to board at 3pm, being told that my ticket was revoked because they decided to pool all of the unaccompanied minors who were in the airport and flying to Alaska on our plane, so they gave away all the standby seats to them, leaving 9 more people stranded, deciding to wait at the gate just in case someone who previously boarded to plane somehow got lost and didn't make it back on, and FINALLY, getting on the plane at 3:30pm (thank god for holiday induced airport confusion). We were de-iced and in the air by 4pm, landed in Anchorage at 6:32, ran to the gate of the Fairbanks flight leaving at 6:43, got on the standby list, made it on the plane, took off at 6:50, and LANDED in Fairbanks and had my luggage by 8pm! Rounding out a full 24 hours in airports, and 2 days without sleep!"

Whew! I hope that everybody else is enjoying their holiday season and has a Happy New Year!!

Home at last!

My flight home was much less eventful than Kat's but I'm back in Seattle and I'm freezing! I've completely lost my tolerance for cold so I'm pretty much constantly chilled here.

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

I'll follow up with some more trip details and more photos soon. First I need to eat some pumpkin pie!

Home Sweet Home!

Well, after several LONG plane flights I am back in Seattle! I am sad that my trip is over but I am getting excited about seeing my family again and moving to Australia! It's a bit of a shock being home again, and the weather here isn't helping!


In Thailand...

In Seattle, 24 hours later...

I SWEAR this happened on accident....

What's better than a mango smoothie? Two mango smoothies!

While we were on Ko Phanang Jer and I really planned on checking out different beaches, going for some dives, going to a different island, and in short, continuing our fast paced travel adventure. Instead, we looked a the ocean, took a deep breath, bought a frisbee and went nowhere. :) It ended up working out in our favor because Jer and I finally got food poisoning, in Thailand of all places. We expected to get sick in India (and we did a little bit) but Thailand is pretty safe for food so we were surprised. We got over it just fine, so don't worry, but I'm glad that we ended up staying in one place after all. I think that sitting on the beach doing nothing really speeded up our recovery.

Here are some long awaited picures from our time on the islands:

Diving in Koh Tao!

A rock formation in Ko Tao, this was one of our dive sites!

Pretty sunset!

The beaches were gorgeous in Ko Tao, perfect for lounging around!

Moving on to Ko Pangang...more beaches and lounging time!

Full Moon Party!

After Ko Phanang we headed back up to Bangkok via all day boat and bus, getting in late and having just enough time to enjoy all of Bangkok's wonderful street food!

Tiny Island, Big Paradise

I'm on a tiny island right now called Ko Mak near Ko Chang (Ko Chang is the more popular larger island). It's only a few kilometers across but it barely has anyone on it. I'm renting a tiny hut near the water. I had to ride my bike across the island to get to the only 'internet cafe' (if you can call it that). The electricity only comes on in the evenings so we can listen to music and then it's back to candles. In short, this place is amazing. The only activities are diving, drinking, and nothing (yes, nothing is an activity if you're actively trying to do nothing). Today I do nothing and tomorrow I go diving.

But this computer is slow so I'm going to be short! I'll update more later.

The Full Moon

For the last few days Kat and I have been relaxing on Ko Pha Ngan. The beaches here are great and the food is awesome but the real reason we came here was for the full moon party. It's by far the largest party I've ever been to. I would guess maybe ten thousand people were packed onto a beach that was lined with DJ's and bucket vendors. We had a very, very good time! We drank buckets of gin and tonic and had our chests painted (we're in bathing suits around the clock here). Kat had a butterfly painted on her but I decided on a giant American flag. I don't meet very many American's here in SE Asia so I decided to show a presence! But with the flag on my chest I actually did meet another American - from Bellevue no less!

This is a little of subject but I have to post it: throughout our travels it's not uncommon to have a little ant problem in most places we stay. We're not exactly staying at the Hilton so it's not such a surprise as you would think! But Kat hates the ants. Bitterly. So one day in Krong Koh Kong she gets fed up and searches the town for a can of raid. She finds a can large enough to kill a termite mound and has been carrying it ever since. But the best part is how zealous she gets in killing ants. This is an actual quote I overhead her saying to herself when she didn't know I was there, "Die! Die! Die! I'm only happy when I'm killing ants!" Ever since I've been a little worried about her so if I go missing you'll know who to ask :)

We'll stay here on the island another couple of days before we head back to Bangkok so that Kat can fly home for x-mas. The end is too near!

Island Time

Kat and I are on yet another island! But this time it's in Thailand: Ko Tao. We took an open water course here so now we're certified to dive up to 18 meters! I always wanted to dive but I don't think I expected it to be so incredibly fun. Kat and I might actually change our plans a bit so that we can fit in some diving off the Similian Islands next.

Basically we are beach bums right now. The most difficult thing I did this afternoon was cut up a pineapple and a mango and open two bottles of Chang. But in my defense the knife was too small and dull so it was rather difficult :) Fresh pineapple warmed by the sun is about the best food that can be eaten. Well, second only to BBQed fish. But I've been eating plenty of both here so I'm happy.

But this internet is far too expensive here since it's an island so I'm cutting this entry short! Kat and I are both happy, tan, well fed, and salty right now. And it's movie time down the beach so I'm off!

Happy B-Day King Bhumibol!

Kat and I are back in Thailand and today is the King's birthday. The people have a great respect for their King so a lot of places are shut down today and there should be some celebrating tonight! It was actually a little tough to find an open internet place this morning. We're finally waiting for out ferry to Ko Tao, a nice little island in the gulf of Thailand that's well known for being laid-back and having great scuba diving. But we've had a marathon last few days getting here!

I think the last time we were able to update was back in Siem Reap. From there we took an early morning bus to Phnom Penh and then an hour later (after a nice lunch at the Capital Cafe) we set off again to Sihanoukville for the night. This meant a full day in the bus but we had a lot of ground to cover! Sihanoukville is a city the french built in the 1950's so that Cambodia could have it's own shipping port instead of relying on Vietnam. But now it's turned into a full-fledged beach town. We stayed in a nice little bungalow and had BBQ'd seafood right on the beach. I really mean right on the beach: big waves would nearly lick our toes! But we headed out the next day for Krong Koh Kong right on the border of Cambodia and Thailand. Krong Koh Kong is a small town and honestly not that memorable but it's a great jumping off point for either the Cardamom Mountains or a boat trip out to deserted island.

The Cardamoms don't have trails and the only access is by a few roads using dirt bikes so we opted instead for the island of Koh Kong. We hired a boat in town that took us to Beach No 3 (no kidding, it doesn't even have a real name) where there's a beautiful lagoon and a white sandy beach. Just down the beach were some rocks that provided great snorkeling. We spent the entire day lounging on the beach, snorkeling, and finding awesome seashells! It was really the kind of beach that I always dreamed about so for me it was a high point in our trip.

But we wanted to spend the remainder of our trip in the islands in the guld of Thailand. So we proceded on a marathon trip that isn't even over yet. From Krong Koh Kong we took a tuk-tuk to the Thailand border and walked across. On the other side we had to wait until a share-taxi had enought people to fill it to drive us to Trat. From there we took a bus into Bangkok's Eastern Terminal. From there we had to take the public buses to the Southern Bus Terminal. From there we took an overnight bus (it's 11pm by this point) and we arrived in Chumphon - although the bus screwed us by not dropping us off in town so we had to take a moto the remaining 10k into town. From here we're taking a ferry to Ko Tao where we can finally relax on the beach once again!

But Cambodia is done for us. I really really enjoyed Cambodia though. The people were very friendly there and always had a smile. Evening bargaining wasn't stressful because they were always smiling. I'd have to say that the food in Cambodia wasn't my favorite, but the fish amok and the lok lak were both very good. The amok is a curry dish with fish and vegetables that comes wrapped in banana leaves. The lok lak is a plate of cubed beef with a black pepper sauce, a fried egg, and of course rice. But the coffee is always good in Cambodia!

Alright, I have an island to get to!

Angkor! Angkor! Angkor!

It's been awhile since I actually posted something myself, so I thought I would give everyone an update of how Jer and I have been doing. First and foremost, Happy Thanksgiving!

The last time Jer wrote we were in Nha Trang, Vietnam. Since then we have been to Dalat, Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City, depending opn who you talk to), Phenom Phen and Siem Reap. Dalat is a mountain town in Southern Vietnam, and was originally built up by the French during the colonial period to be a relaxation spot. The city's weather is much cooler than the rest of Southern Vietnam and it was a nice break for us. Dalat's weather means that it can grow many different vegtables (ones more similar to what we usually eat) so the food there was a treat. They also produce a pretty okay wine and great coffee- including the famous "weasel coffee." Besides relaxation the main thing to do there is to take a ride with the Easy Riders, a group of older motorcyclists who took part in the Vietnam War. Most of these guys worked for the Southern side, so they had a difficult time finding work after the war was over, and when tourists started coming back to Vietnam they began giving people guided tours of the countryside. Since many of them worked with Americans during the war (my driver was actually sent to Colorado for training) they speak very good English and had some really interesting stories to tell. Jer's driver was in the Air Force during the was but mostly worked at the base and didn't see any fighting. After the war my driver was sent to a "re-education"camp for 3 years, a tough price to pay for his involvement in the fight. They took us everywhere and we were able to get an up close view of the coffee plantations, the rice wine making process, and the silk collection and weaving process. I wish I could put some pictures up but the connection is a little too slow.

From Dalat we went to Saigon, a huge bustling city in South Vietnam. The city was a little overwhelming at first but we got the hang of it and had a great time. We visited the Cu Chi Tunnels, an elaborate system of tunnels that the Viet Cong during the war. The tunnels are TINY, I could barely fit in them. I was dissapointed in the tour however, there was basically no effort to present an accurate view of the war, at the beginning of the tour they showed a video made in the 1960s about the tunnels that described the Americans as "devils who like to kill women and children." At the end of the tour there was a shooting range where you could try out an AK-47, but I thought it was very poor taste to put a shooting range over an area where soldiers of both sides fought and died, so we left as soon as we could. The highlight of Saigon, however, turned out to be the War Remnants Museum, which actually did paint a more unbaised view of the war. It has a special photography display for all of the photgraphers who lost their lives during the war, a section on Agent Orange, weaponry displays, and an area dedicated to peace. One of the more interesting things about Vietnam was that everyone we talked to wanted the past to be in the past, and wanted to move forward peacefully. We expected some level of individual animostity to Americans (and we truthfully told everyone who asked where we were from) but we never ran into anything at all. The government might say something different, but the Vietnam people have gotten past the war and are looking to the future.

After Saigon we took a bus across the Cambodian border and into Phenom Phen. Going into Cambodia was a little bit like going back to India, there was trash everywhere, unpaved streets, people living in very rustic bamboo huts suspended over fetid water, but there was one BIG difference: the Cambodian people are awesome. In India the people we met were often not so nice or at the most indifferent and just wanted money, but in Cambodia the people (while they still want your money) will also joke around with you and seem to enjoy life more. Phenom Phen is a big city and I was a little paranoid about being there after being warned about frequent high speed motorbike bag snatching (and one case where a girl was dragged into traffic and killed) but everything went smoothly. Jer and I stayed at a longtime backpacker guesthouse ($5- back to cheap accomodation, yay!) near the lake, simply because soon the lake will be replaced by a resort hotel. For some reason they are pumping sand into the lake, and plan to build a resort on top of it. How this makes sense I don't know, but they are going about it very energetically. It also means that all the houses nearby are beginning to flood, so Jer and I thought we should check it out before it all disappears. In Phenom Phen we visited S-21, the famous and horrible prison/death camp used by the Khamer Rouge. It's actually a high school building, so it looks stragely innocuous from the outside. Inside there are displays of photographs of victims and, in 14 rooms, the empty beds that held the last 14 prisoners, along with some of the devices used in torture. They were tortured to death right before the Vietnamese took back the city and their bodies left in the prison when the Khamer Rouge fled. It was very sad and really brought home the reality of genocide, the sheer number of people that died at the hands of the Khamer Rouge or subsequently starved to death is almost to vast to contemplate. To round out an already depressing day we visited the killing fields, where the prisoners of S-21 were taken to die. The site is mostly grass, which covers a hilly landscape made up of disinterred mass graves. There were pieces of clothing on the ground, which we didn't take much notice to, until we realized that the clothes blonged to victims. Sorry to sound so morbid but just thinking about it gives me the chills...

Anyway, after Phenom Phen we took a bus up to Siem Reap, where we have spent 3 days visiting the Angkor temples. There are many different temples and they are all very beautiful. We watched 2 sunsets and Jer got up for a sunrise viewing of Ankgor Wat. We will post pictures soon!! Jeremiah and I also spent Turkey Day in Siem Reap. We didn't have turkey or mashed potatoes, but we did have fresh veggie spring rolls, beef curry, and ginger chicken! The food was excellent and we ate in a place called the Butterfly Restaurant, the whole thing was enclosed in a giant net and there were butterflies, frogs, and jungle plants everywhere. We spent the evening with Tony and Kate, two people we met on a boat ride in Nha Trang, Vietnam and we luckily keep bumping into! All in all it was a great evening. :)

Attacks in Mumbai

Firstly, Kat and I are NOT in India right now we're in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Second, if you haven't heard about the attacks in Mumbai you should check the news for the latest updates. Briefly, what has happened is that gunman in Mumbai, India have synchronously attacked multiple sites in southern Mumbai, otherwise known as the Colaba and Fort areas. The BBC has a map here. Last month when Kat and I were in Mumbai we visted 3 of the 5 sites that were attacked. This is a little frightening to hear about and I feel very bad for the Mumbians that are involved. We arrived into Mumbai at the railway station that was attacked, we ate dinner and drank beers at Leopolds which was also attacked, and we bought gifts in the Taj Mahal hotel which was attacked as well. In fact the hotel we stayed at was only 2 blocks from the Taj Mahal.

I've heard a few accounts that the gunmen were targeting foreigners and while I'm not sure if this is true or not I just want to say that Mumbai is probably the most diverse city on the planet so please be careful what you read. The train station attacked, the Victorian Terminus, is the busiest train station in the world and would have had about every walk of life you can imagine, while Leopolds and the Taj hotel would likely have been mostly foreigners or wealthy Indians. Leopolds is a popular pub for backpackers to grab some cheap food and beer and meet other travellers, which is exactly what Kat and I were doing just last month.

Kat and I wish Mumbians the best and hope that the Indian government is able to put a stop to such terrorist attacks.

GO COUGS!

16-13 in double overtime Apple Cup victory!

GO COUGS!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally some pictures!

Kat and I bought a cable so now we can finally upload pictures again!

This is a delicious fruit dish we ate in Nha Trang. The fruit in Vietnam is phenominal! The orange stuff is mango, I'm sure you all recognize the banana and strawberry, and the white one is dragonfruit. Dragonfuit is such a beautiful fruit and the flavor is a very mild sweet. It's a lot like a less sugary watermelon.










This is me enjoying the top deck of our boat cruise through Halong Bay. As you can see the views are great. The boat trip is probably my favorite thing we did in Vietnam. Boating, swimming, kayaking, private beaches, and seafood for three days? How does it get better than that!











Hue is the old capital of Vietnam. Just inside the main entrance were large ponds swarming with these gorgeous fish. When Kat dropped food into the water they erupted into a slithering pile of fish.

Cheap beer, cheap food, and cheap clothes

But not necessarily in that order! We're in Hoi An right now and it's a really great town. The hotels are the best we've seen on this trip so far, and the old part of town is right along the river and features beautiful old buildings. There are many restraunts here that feature excellent food and beer for a great price. For dinner Kat and I usually go on a restraunt crawl: we go from restraunt to restraunt ordering one dish and two fresh beers. My favorite dishes so far are white rose, cau lau, fresh spring rolls, any meat wrapped in banana leaves, and fried wontons. Mind you there are MANY other great dishes throughout Vietnam, but those are my Hoi An favorites.

The biggest thing in this town are the tailors. There's dozens of them throughout the city. They can make you anything you want! Both Kat and I went a little crazy but the quality is so good for the cost that we couldn't pass is it up! Plus I'm going to need those nice clothes when I become an engineer again someday :) It's been raining for the last two days so this has been a perfect way to spend our time. The weather is starting to improve so hopefully tomorrow we can spend our reamaing time on the beach!

I'm sad to report that my SD card reader doesn't seem to be working so I can't upload any pictures right now. Hopefully I can find another one somewhere so I can put some pictures online! We've really got some good images here in Vietnam and I can't wait to share them.

ALSO - I figured out how to change the configuration on this blog so that ANYONE can post a comment. This means you don't have to log in, but if you don't log in you'll be anonymous. So if you don't want to be anonymous make sure you type in your name!

We leave for Na Trang tomorrow night on one of Vietnam's spectacular buses that we booked through the popular Sinh Cafe. I'm not exaggerating when I say these buses are probably about the best transportation we've been on in any country. You get a seat that can completely recline, the air-con works (almost too good!), and even the roads aren't too bad. It appears that the main north/south highway is currently being reworked so within a year the roads will probably be even better. So if you come to Vietnam I highly recommend using the buses for transportation!

DMZ

Having grown up a full generation away from the Vietnam War (or the American War as it's called here) Kat and I were both very interested in getting a better understanding of this war from both the American and the Vietnamese perspectives. But after our visit to the DMZ area near Hue it's apparent that there are really three perspectives.

The Vietnamese people that I've talked with about the war seem to have a similar outlook to many Americans about the war. By both parties it seems to be viewed as a bad experience by all who were involved but there is not a resentment of Americans by the Vietnamese, just as there's not a resentment of Vietnamese in the US. But the government owned museums that we have visited give a perspective that can only be described as propaganda. Especially disturbing is the museum at Khe Sanh that only gives the perspective of Americans in utter defeat. In addition, there is rarely any mention of the south Vietnamese fighting against the north or of the Australians or any other nationality that fought in the war. But I would also argue that the textbooks in the US do not give a quality lesson about the war either. I won't get any deeper into this except to say that if we can't get our history straight now how will this war be described to future generations?

The other disturbing side of the war comes from the perspective of the civilians. Kat and I visited the Vinh Moc tunnels where hundreds of civilians had to live to escape bombings. They lived there for 6 years. I can't imagine how terrifying and difficult it would be to have to live like that with the fear of being killed at any time.

Even if it is necessary, war is terrible thing. It was sobering to see the tree-less hills (agent orange and napalm), the tanks still on the road side, and to read the stories written in the museum registries by vets. Even though it was a sad day, I'm glad that Kat and I were able to see this area first hand. Even though the war was over three decades ago the mark is still there and it really showed us how devastating war is for all sides involved.

I'm sure that there will be a few vets that read this so if you have any questions or comments or corrections, please let me know! Kat and I toured through Dong Ha, the Vinh Moc tunnels, crossed through the DMZ and saw the still-standing megaphones, saw The Rockpile off hwy 9, visited the Khe Sanh Combat Base, and stopped at a few Vietnamese memorials along the way.

Good morning Vietnam!

Vietnam has been incredibly great so far!!!

Kat and I flew into Hanoi a few days ago from Vientiane on Laos Airlines. I was pretty impressed by how good the service was not only with the airline but also the lack of rip-offs as we exited the country. Laos officials are notorious for ripping off tourists but at the airport they were very professional and fair.

In Hanoi we've been staying in the old quarter which has been incredibly fun. The streets are narrow and there's people and scooters flying all over the place, but the people and the food are terrific! For people that know Kiet, they'll understand what I mean when I say that I understand how Vietmanese Kiet really is: they'll yell at you for your stupidity but they'll still go out of their way to help you - it's just that sometimes is difficult to tell the two situations apart!

The other day Kat and I had to cross an incredibly busy street. Mind you, we're quite used to busy streets after Calcutta, Mumbai, Bangkok, etc., but in Vietnam the streets are not only crowded but damn fast! Anyways, a young Vietnamese man grabs Kat's arm and walks us across the street with his hand held out towards traffic in a show of "stop for these foolish white folks." After we're across and just as I'm sure he wants to sell us a tour package or a ride on a rickshaw he takes off back through traffic before we could even thank him! I don't know what the Buddhist version of a good samaritan is but this nice man certainly lived to that same ideal.

After two days in Hanoi we went on a 3-day boat cruise through Halong Bay. Halong bay is a series of karst islands. They jut straight out of the sea making for a dramatic landscape of thousands of islands. I'll get pictures up as soon as I can find a decent internet cafe but right now this isn't one of them! On our cruise we were fed excellent seafood and we were dropped off at various spots to enjoy kayaking, biking, hiking, and of course some beach time. One beach we kayaked to was completely made of small coral. Of course that true of all beaches, but this one in particular had large chunks and beautiful shells everywhere! But the best aspect of the trip were the wonderful people that we met. We spent the full 3-days in the company of Simon and Jane from Australia and James and Hazel from Ireland. We had a great time getting to know these people and hopefully we can meet up with them again down the road. If any of you are reading this, thank you for such a good time! Trips like Halong Bay never feel that great unless you're in good company and Kat and I both felt that we definitely were!

We've seen a lot of sights in Hanoi but one of my favorites is the Bia Hoi junction. This intersection sells fresh beer that tastes like a weak pilsner. But at 3,000 dong a pint it can't be passed up! Plus the seating is in tiny plastic chairs in the street so the entertainment of watching people and scooters go by makes for a good time. But the most excitement comes when the police come through: it seems that these shops are running a little bit against the law because each time a police car comes through the proprietors panic and make everyone grab their beers and themselves and cram together on the sidewalk in front of the tiny shop. Of course they don't speak english so I have no idea why this happens but its good fun so I just go along with it :)

Today Kat and I will enjoy our last day in Hanoi before taking the night bus to Hue. Our bus sounds pretty spectacular so I'm crossing my fingers that it works out. At the good advice of Ty and Emily we booked a get-on/get-off whenever you want bus that goes down the coast of Vietnam through Sinh Cafe. They even gave us a free t-shirt!

Coming to America!

Kat and I went on US soil today! We visited the US embassy here in Vientiane, Laos so that we could vote. The other embassies are in nice french colonial houses but the US embassy is a compound behind 15 foot concrete walls with barbwire at the top. It even has it's own water tower complete with outposts just in case it's under siege. I have to say that I was more than a little proud! But the 'citizen services' folks were extremely helpful. Not only did they fax one form in for us, but they let Kat and I put our ballots in with the military mail so it didn't cost us a cent.

Vientiane is a nice sleepy town. It's the capital of Laos but Olympia feels more diplomatic that this town. But then again Laos is probably smaller than Washington! Beerlao is easy to come by and so is BBQ'd food. The riverfront is lined with 'restaurants' that are little more than umbrella clad decks with a bbq and a few tables serving as the kitchen. And they're perfect. Last night I ate an entire fish. It was salt encrusted with the belly filled with spices and it was grilled perfectly. Maybe when I get out of Laos I'll actually be able to upload some pictures of my feast!

One thing that suprised me about Vientiane is the number of ex-pats. It really seems like a lot of countries are putting their stakes into Laos. There's Chinese, Japanese, French, and other Europeans around everywhere. In fact it's kind of difficult to find authentic Laos food here!

Tomorrow we fly to Hanoi. I'm very excited for Vietnam but since Hanoi is flooded at the moment I'm a bit nervous. The weather doesn't look like it's going to improve any time soon either!

Well the midnight curfew is almost here so I better be shutting down. Maybe I didn't mention this before but the entire country of Laos shuts down at 11:30pm. The government has imposed a nationwide curfew. They seem to let westerners get away with it but I haven't been pushing it!

Same, Same....But Different!

Hello from Laos! Jeremiah and I are in Vang Viene right now, and are trying our best to keep dry! This city is well known on the backpacker circuit as being the best place to go tubing down the local river, and is pretty overrun with tourists! We have spent more time watching our fellow travelers than we have enjoying the Lao culture. It's not all that bad though, just a little bit of a shock . The Lao people have tried their best to determine what Westerners like and provide it for us, and the result are bunches of "TV Bars" which are basically a replica of a typical living room, complete with rows of couches with coffee tables set up in front of huge TVs that play a rotation of Friends, Family Guy, and classic movies. They bring you a beer and some french fries and you are set... It's really weird to see from the outside, a whole restaurant full of people just glued to the TV, but I can understand the appeal, after being on the road for awhile and not seeing any TV a little vegging out would start to sound nice to anybody. It's still a typical town though, with goats and chickens all over and people going about their daily business, just with an odd twist. It makes me wonder what the Lao people must think of Western travelers though...

We were hoping to rent motorbikes here so we could get out and see some of the country, (we had a blast on these in Chaing Mai) but so far each Laos city has outlawed the rental of bikes to tourists because they don't have the medical facilities to treat anyone with a major injury or sickness here, and it would be bad for tourism if someone got sick or died. It's something we have had to keep in mind the whole trip, there is no 911 to call and with the exception of the big cities there are no ambulances. Luckily the huge medical kit I have been carrying around hasn't been necessary (except for some Imodium and antibiotics).

Last night we celebrated our first major holiday out of the US- Halloween! Because we are in a party town I was pretty sure that we would find a costume celebration, so Jer and I set out to dress up. This was a little trickier than anticipated because we are both carrying the absolute minimum in clothing and there is nowhere to buy costume supplies around here. We took a hard look at our options and decided to take the easy way out- PIRATES! All we had to do we wear our normal clothing (hippie wrap-around shorts, random t-shirt, sandals, and a bandana on our heads!). Jeremiah also wore his compass to make it all more authentic. :) We went to the "Bucket Bar" and it was a huge party. You can actually buy a plastic pail filled with Lao-Lao (rice whiskey) and 7-Up. I stuck to beer and we had a fun night meeting other travelers and dancing to American music.

Today we wanted to give river tubing a try (this town is famous for it) but so far we have been prevented by the rain. Hopefully it will clear up soon!

Laos - "the most remote country in Asia"

This country, or at least Luang Prabang, is overrun with wealthy Europeans looking for a little adventure. This wouldn't be so bad but the cheap backpacker scene has been replaced with over-priced restaurants serving French wine. Argh! How am I going to get my $1 meals!!?!

I know this post sounds negative but in reality I really do like Laos and wish we could spend more time here - especially off the tourist track! The Laos people are very friendly and a ex-pat restaurant owner we met described the Laos people as having "big hearts" and I really can see that. But I think they really got to our hearts the first time we were served Laos coffee. It's so strong and black that adding cream doesn't change the color. But true Laos people only add sweetened and condensed milk to their coffee so it's really tasting like the coffee version of India's chai and Kat and I absolutely love it!

I'd write more, but unfortunately Kat and I got a little excited in the market and forgot how much money we had left (easy to do when a beer costs 10,000 kip) and we have almost run out of cash. It's a problem here because there are no ATMs, so until the money changers open up tomorrow morning we have about $7.50 to live on!!

Back into the wild

Kat and I were lucky enough to have the wonderful Nick Postornino visit us in Chiang Mai! We had a great time together riding scooters and lounging around this great city. He was working down in Singapore for a few weeks and decided to fly up and meet us. It seemed as though we spent a good amount of time hiding from torrential rain but it didn't seem to dampen our spirits!

Tonight Kat and I leave for Laos. We're taking the night bus to Chiang Khong and the we'll be taking a 2-day river boat ride to Luang Prabang. I don't think there's much internet activity in Laos so we may be out of contact for a week or two. We've met a few other travelers heading in the opposite direction so we've heard very good things about Laos. In case we can't make contact, our plan is to boat to Luang Prabang, then bus to Vang Vieng, then another bus to Vientiane, and then fly to Hanoi. Hopefully we'll be in Vientiane by the 4th so that we can vote!!!

Elephants! One of the 'must do' things on my trip list was to ride an elephant.






This is a waterfall that we relaxed at during our jungle trek. As you can tell it was a pretty difficult journey.










A waterfall in the jungle.











I saw two of these spiders in the jungle! With their legs they're about the size of my hand.







This is the jungle hut we stayed at on our trek. The entire structure was made of bamboo! It was pretty incredible. The man made a deck while I watched. His skill at cutting the bamboo with a hatchet was pretty incredible. He made the lower deck you can see in an afternoon.



We saw a lot of ants in the jungle. I like ants so I thought I'd share this nice snapshot.





Big trees and lush foliage in the hills around Chiang Mai.











Another waterfall with the classic long-exposure shot.







Kat near a field of tiger lilies. This was during our visit to the palace atop the hill above Soi Suthrep above Chiang Mai.






Orchids are everywhere! We saw georgeous specimens at temples, around town, and of course perfect ones like this on at the palace.






I found this moth lying on the ground. I have size 13 feet so I hope this puts it in perspective for you!






This wood carving was just out and about in the palace grounds. It seems wasteful to put such a work of art outside in this climate!










This is a giant bamboo grove at the palace. Nick is wearing a bamboo hat that he made himself.






Badass #3











Badass #2











Badass #1

Monk Chat

Today I found out that there's a Wat in Chiang Mai that has 'monk chat'! Basically it's a chance for foreigners to sit and talk with Buddhist monks so that the monks can practice their english. It was a great time! The monks that Kat and I chatted with were very interesting. They were both from Cambodia and came to Chiang Mai to study at the monastery (it's basically a full fledged university). One of the monks I chatted with had to take a 3 day journey by bus from his hometown in Cambodia to get to Chiang Mai. He didn't speak thai or english yet so he said he barely ate for 3 days! It was a great experience and the monks were wonderful to talk to.

We don't want to leave this place...

We're still in Chang Mai, and I don't regret this one bit. And Nick Posternino gave us an excuse to stay an extra day or two! He's in Singapore right now and decided to fly up for the weekend and meet up with us here! So far in Chang Mai we've kept very very busy. We're meeting more people here than anywhere else before and also getting the chance to take some classes and do other fun activities that we had hoped to be doing all along.

So far we've taken a cooking class, trekked through the jungle, attended a kickboxing fight, and eaten some of the best food so far on this trip.

The cooking class was a full day and we cooked 6 dishes. I LOVE Thai food so this was an excellent day. Not only did I learn how to make some delicious dishes, but I got to eat Thai food all day long. I received a cookbook from the class so I'm eager to continue making these dishes. The surprising thing was how easy most of the dishes are to make. Some ingredients may be harder to find in Seattle, but I don't think I cooked anything that cooked be whipped together in more than 30 minutes.

The trek took 3 days and 2 nights into the jungly hillsides surrounding Chang Mai. The first day we rode an elephant and then hiked our way up to the top of a hill. The view from our hut was amazing! And our bamboo huts were authentic. I expected touristy crap but we actually got to stay in bamboo huts with a hill tribe with chickens and cats running around. The next day we stopped at a waterfall to lounge before getting to our jungle camp. This was also a bamboo hut but this time beside a creek in the dense and lush jungle. Butterflies the size of birds flew around and a papaya tree stood right in the middle of camp. The 3rd day we rafted down some whitewater and then made our way back to town. But by far the best part was the fun group of people that trekked with us! I'm sure I'm spelling these names horribly, but thank you Peter, Andrea, Eoin, Sonne, Jon, Laura, Monica, and Ellen for such a great time! Hopefully we'll meet up again down the road!

Anyways it's noon now and a good excuse to eat some more food. But if I don't get online again before I leave Chang Mai, our plan is to take a bus north to Laos and then take a river boat down the Mekong for two days. I'm not sure that internet is widely available in Laos, but I think that may be one of the more appealing things about laid-back-Laos. So I hope everyone at home is doing well!

Thailand!

Kat and I have made our way from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Bangkok was a GREAT city and it seems as though Chiang Mai may even top it! There are a lot of touristy classes here such as cooking, meditation, and even muay thai kickboxing. But most importantly we'll be booking a trek to get in some of northern thailand's beautiful greenery! We arrived into Chiang Mai at about 5am and quickly made our way to the very popular Julie's Guesthouse. We'd heard about the place from another couple and we decided we really needed to stay there. So we camped out in the lobby (we really did - I napped on their cushy lounge chair) and were first in line at 8am when it opened. It really paid off because between 7 and 8am about a dozen or so people showed up! But we got a room there so we're very pleased.

I'm getting behind in my pictures so here's a few from the past week or so


This is the largest monolithic structure in the world. Its at the Allura caves site near Aurangabad. It was pretty impressive! This site had a lot of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain temples but this was the most impressive one.




This is also at the Adjunta caves site. The stairwells are not lit but I caught Kat by suprise with a flash! We had to be really careful not to fall. It's not like there's a hospital nearby! We had to take a bus for over an hour in the countryside to get there.




A family of monkeys on Elephanta Island! We took a ferry here from Mumbai and saw more caves. By this point we were a little burned out on caves but it was still a fun trip with the boat ride and the monkeys everywhere.



These fishing boats were lined up on the beach of Elephanta island. The muck looked a lot like Birch Bay (near where I grew up). And by the look of the fishermans feet the muck was at least a foot deep.



Kat and I found this little restraunt near our hotel and Khao San road. The owners were very nice and the food was about the best we've had in Thailand! And that's saying a lot because the food here is excellent. We ate here about 4 times.


In Bangkok we visited the Wat Pho temple. The tilework was amazing and colorful. The cleanliness and well kept buildings and plants really contrasted to India.


Still in the Wat Pho temple. This is the main chamber. The monks on the left were chanting.


This was a flower in the garden around Wat Pho temple. This place was amazing!


Yes, another Wat Pho photo, but this is the main attraction. It's a 50m lying Buddha statue. The scale is impressive but perhaps even more so is the intricate ingravings you can see on the Buddha's feet.

Most mammals do not lay eggs

But apparently there is a hairless ape in Bangkok that does.

Enough said.

The Temples of Dhoom!

We didn't actually visit the temple of doom but I see the word Dhoom used a lot here. For example, just about every city has a Hotel Dhoom. Not too appealing is it? Anyways, since the last post Kat and I made our way from Mumbai to Aurangabad. Aurangabad is a nice city on the smaller side. We found a great hotel near the train station. The main attraction of this area is the Ellora and Adjunta caves. They're two seperate sights that house the largest monolithic structures in the world. Basically they're huge temples that are cut directly out of the mountain - and they are damn impressive! We spend a day at each site and I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Then we caught yet another overnight train back to Mumbai. We visited Elephanta Island which is another sight of temple/caves. The only problem is that we had just done that for two days alraedy so we were pretty burned out on caves. But the boat ride out to the island was great! I guess I can say I've sailed the Arabian Sea now, but I don't know if that's one of the seven seas or not.

I have a friend from work (Dev) who lives in Mumbai that was kind enough to put Kat and I up for the night. He was in incredible host! Thanks Dev! We spent some time walking around his neighborhood and visited Juhu Beach at sunset for some great dinner. It is a very nice beach and the food we had was excellent.

Kat and I caught a flight from Mumbai last night and now we're in Bangkok. I should have known better but we flew Air India. Talk about a crappy airline! Our flight left over 2 hours late and they kept switching the gate number of the board. So an entire airplane of people, actually only half an airplane because it was only half full, was in complete confusion. And the ass that worked the check-in counter was not any help to everyone. It's no wonder that Air India couldn't fill their plane. But the food was actually pretty good. I'd definetly say better than what's served on the US flights.

A colorful few days...

After our amazing stay in Jaislmer Kat and I boarded yet another train to Jodphur. Since we only had the day in this city we stowed our bags near the train station and headed out to explore this city. Our expectations were low, after all this was just a train stop on the way to Mumbai, but we were quickly corrected. Jodphur houses a giant fort and palace on a rocky hilltop above the modern city. We tuk-tuked up to the top and took an audio tour of the fort. It followed the Rajastani style in that it was extravagant, elegant, but also bold. The walls were tall and thick but the interior buildings held many couryards full of ornate sandstone carvings. I have some great pictures to upload later!

The other highlight of this day, well maybe more for me than Kat, was the Omelet Man! Just outside the bazaar is a stand that sells omelets and toast. It's really just an egg sandwich but after almost 3 weeks of curry it was a life saver! I walked up to his stand and he immediatly pulled out 2 buckets for kat and I to sit on while he told us that he splits 6,000 eggs a day! His food was delicious and he sold a local cola called Black Horse that only cost 5 rupees (10 cents!!!). Great tasting food for cheap is pretty much my favorite thing in life so this was an amazing experience for me! But I'm sure Kat will be rolling her eyes when she reads this...

After Jodhpur Kat and I took another train to Mumbai. What an expensive city! I guess I should have expected this but it still hurts the budget. But it's also a very western city by Indian standards, which is a great change for Kat and I. It means that she doesn't get lewd stares as often, she can wear a skirt, and we can hold hands in public! These may sound like small things but it definitely raises our comfort.

Last night Kat and I had a very unique experience. We made our way to Chowpatty Beach to watch the burning of a statue. The beach was packed with viewers and there was a stage set up that was acting our some scene involving Hindu gods. Anyways, we were walking home from dinner afterwards very near the Gate of India and we heard music. Upon closer inspection we saw a pier that was housing what we thought was a wedding. We walked up to the well guarded gate just to ask what was going on inside but they quickly ushered us in without explanation - we thought we were about to crash a wedding! But it turns out it was a dance party to celebrate the last day the 9 day festival of navratri! It was a very wholesome dance party where everyone in the family dances. There was dancing in circles and a dance that involves sticks. The people were so accepting they basically forced Kat, myself, and a German couple we met to dance. They taught us how to do it and we had SUCH a great time with them! They were so friendly and accepting and I think they loved that Kat and I enjoyed their festival so much.

Hari Boonbari, Camel-a Safari!

Today Kat and I got back from our much anticipated camel safari! We did a two-day-and-one-night trip into the desert on camels! We booked a great one with our hotel that took us out to a lesser known area and it paid off. We didn't see another camel group the entire time. Most of the landscape was desert scrubland but we did get through a couple of sand dune areas. The dunes are pretty fun on a camel because they really get moving on the downhill side of a dune! Camels are extrodinarily weird creatures. They have really long legs, huge eyes, and they make the strangest gargling yelping sounds imagineable. Luckily none of us were bitten or spit on the entire trip.

Our guides cooked an excellent dinner for us over the fire complete with Chai. We started having some fun with our two fellow travellers with the camera at night and came up with some pretty wild photos like the one shown that Kat so artfully drew. The youngest camel boy especially had fun dancing around at night with the flashlights! After we settled down a bit the camel guides sang some wonderful songs. We slept on blankets under the stars - it was probably the only night in India that we actually have to have a blanket to stay warm.

The other great view in Jaisalmer is the city fort. It's actually endangered right now due to poor water management (get on this Frei!) and it's doomed to self destruction soon. It's a shame because it's beatiful and it's really the crown jewel of this great city. The intricate work done in sandstone makes this city truly unique. Also, the hospitality and generosity of the people of Rajastan has been unrivaled so far in India. I realize this sounds hokey, but this is pretty unique for us so far in India so it is a very welcome change.

Tomorrow we board the train for Jodphur and then Mumbai!