AMERICA @#!; YEAH!
We're back.
Currently in Florida, shortly after Christmas progressing to Wisconsin and then out to the Bay Area to live (on vacation).
Happy Holidays!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!


Just 5 days left. We're coming home soon!

We can now actually say that, this week, hear that, this week we are going home. Our three month endeavor is quickly coming to it's end. It' exciting, it's sad, it has all gone by too quickly, it is time to go home...lots of mixed thoughts, but with them all comes a true appreciation of the experience and great excitement of having seen so much and, yet, having so much to look forward to on our return! Isn't life grand.
After our whirlwind tour of Paris we found ourselves in England, Manchester to be exact. There we spent the weekend with my cousins Leah and Abi. In true form, they got us shopping right away! Leah and her boyfriend Az took us up to the Lake District...a true wonder of England. It's hilly, well they would probably call it mountainous, with lots of farmland, sheep, lakes, and nice little quaint villages with nice little quaint pubs. Jij was able to enjoy a true Sunday pub roast, followed by a cornish pasty the size of his head for dessert! I was quite surprised that my cousin Leah was up for the experience seeing that she and Abi are both generally clad in heels and true city girls. Abi's response when we asked her if she wanted to go to the Lake District was quite classic, "What, you mean you are going to go WALKING, I'll stay here!" Afterall, stiletto heels don't mix well with wet, soggy ground. Though short, too short really, we had a great time in Manchester. It's hard to catch up for 3 years over two days, but we did our best!
A train took us from Manchester to High Wycombe (not far from London) where Grandma and Grandpy were there to greet us. Grandma and Grandpy have been very interested in our travels and know more than we do about the areas we have visited!! We enjoyed showing them our slideshow and chatting about our experiences. Grandpy was stationed in Burma during the war and would go to India from time to time. It's interesting to hear his experiences. We learn something every day from the two of them, have enjoyed some nice walks, Jij has been introduced to "grandmas cooking" which is a treat but recently we have been the cooks giving Grandma a rest!! Always an enjoyable time at Grandma and Grandpy's and nice to know that not much has changed!! It's great to see your grandparents so fit when they are pushing late into their 80's.
We then took a day trip down south/west to a small town called Salisbury with my aunt Judith and uncle John. Always a laugh, really, to spend time with the two of them who are probably more energetic than most people my age!!! We had christmas lunch with my Aunt Marueeen and Joan and my Nana. This is quite a proper bunch so you can imagine the laugh we had as we popped our Christmas crackers (which generally include a really awful joke, a paper hat in various colors that you must wear, and a little plastic noise making toy) and my Nana started pulling the ends of this plastic toy making quite a racket! We then came back to the Wycombe area, enjoyed a little kiddie play of the Christmas story, and had a nice evening sharing our pictures and stories with Nana, later joined by Judith and John once they had finished caroling. We headed down to Misterton, to Nana's bungalow later in the week. Had a lovely meal at their local pub...a very quaint little town in the country.
Spent the weekend in London with my Aunt and Uncle, Carole and Malc. Had a great time bustling around London seeing the historic sights...also the typical London sights, the double decker buses, beefeaters (funny looking men standing guard at the tower of london), red post and telephone boxes, mulled wine and mince pies everywhere! It was a nice weekend, I like hanging out with my aunt and uncle...their daughters might not like to admit it but their parents are fun!
We ate a lot in England. The diet is quite different, consisting of very heavy foods. Roast beef, for example, pasties (pastry filled with meats of all varieties, potatoes, veg of all kinds, you name it), lots of sweets, let's not forget salt and vinegar crisps, sausages (oh sausages), sausage rolls, some christmas lunches, and more. Food, food and more food!
None-the-less, though not in our best shape ever, we will not be embarrassed to be spending the next 10 days on the beach in our swim suits!! We (and when I say we, I mean me since we all know Jij doesn't gain an ounce) have come away with small souvenirs around the midsection but it's bearable...and was well worth it.
A visit to England, in my mind at least, was a perfect culmination to our trip. A bit of reimmersion into western culture and colder temperatures. A chance to reacquaint with family and enjoy their company...couldn't ask for a better ending really.

24 hours in Paris
(please pardon all spellings. i ain't french.)

We had a short time to spend in Paris and we definitely made the most of it. After arriving at Charles De Gaulle, we immediately hopped on the extensive (which rhymes with expensive) public transport system which deliviered us within 200m of our hotel. Lugged our luggage to our room, quick wash, and we were back out on the cobbled streets.

First stop: Eiffel Tower. It always surprises me, seeing any famous sight. The Golden Gate Bridge, Half Dome, and now the Eiffel Tower. The art-deco icon was bigger than i thought it would be, definitely bigger than the one at King's Island, and more elegant than I could have imagined. The very top was shrouded with a fog that gave the whole thing an orangish glow. Took a lot of pictures.
From there we strolled through the cold, along the Seine to start of the Champs Elysees and then down too the Arc de Triumph. Nuff for the first day.
Next day, we packed in a week's worth of sight-seeing trapsing in the early morning to hear nuns sing at the Sacre Couer, on to the Picasso Museum, then monumental Notre Dame, the modern Pompidu Centre, the Lourve and finally the Musee D'Orsay (home of the impressionists). We ended it all with a lovely dinner, compete with wine (that's cheaper than water), before heading back to the airport for our flight out.

I was struck most by how nice everything seemed. On our big trip, sight seeing was never of central importance. We simply enjoyed being in all these new places. But in Paris, all I wanted to do was look around me. Every building was beautiful and old. I gazed awestruck just looking down the sidestreets. Simply writing about the sights
make me feel all romantic inside.

We shall have to go back when we have more time to spend... and money for that matter.

Darjeeling

Darjeeling is the "quintessential hill station", its cooler temperatures (afforded by its 6000ft elevation) and mountain setting explaining why the British summered here to escape the rest of India's oppressive heat. It looks a bit like someone spilled a town down a lush green mountainside, and planted a bunch of tea trees around it (yes, tea does grow on trees). We spent the last week in Darjeeling (our last week in India) and had a most enjoyable time, though tinged with a bit of frustration...
You see, despite being in prime position to view the Himalaya to the North and West, we saw none of it. Clouds, bloody clouds, obscuring our precious mountain views, the main attraction for us really. Don't get me wrong. As I said, we enjoyed Darjeeling. But imagine going to King's Island and discovering that all the roller coasters are closed for the day. You could still, theoretically, have an enjoyable time: swinging on the viking ship, driving the antique cars (I love those things), eating coneys and ribs and ice creams galore. But it just wouldn't be quite right, would it? What's King's Island without riding the Beast? You'd be frustrated, your longings unrequited, right? Well that's what it was for us in Darjeeling. Frustrating. We went to the Zoo (saw red pandas; they're cute), walked the towns meandering and often steep streets, visited the Himalayan Mountain Institute, and enjoyed some fabulous Tibetan foods, like MoMo's and WaiWai (I guess they like to eat things that you say twice). But, alas, no mountains...frustrated...until the last day.
We awoke ready to head down the mountain (to sleep closer to the train station and escape the cold, temperatures in the 30's and 40's F), ready to accept our fate of leaving without so much as a glimpse of peak from town. But when we looked out our window, lo and behold, a clear sky (no cloud, bright sunny day) and, could it be... a mountain! We rushed out the door to the nearest viewpoint (where previously we'd only imagined peaks through the pillowy clouds), and before us stretched a snowy cirque of Himalayan peaks, with massive Mt. Kanzchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world at 26,100+ ft, most prominent of all. It was a wonderful and rewarding sight, as if the mountains came out to reward our patience and bid us farewell.
A lovely, laid back, mountain town in the West Bengal(who dey)Hills. Everything about Darjeeling was refreshing: the cool, thin air, the friendly locals, the lack of touts and stalls preying on foreign tourists, the proper pizzas at the italian/french bakery. All in all, Darjeeling was wonderful to us.

Back in Delhi now, all set to fly to Paris tonight (talk about culture shock). It's almost December... Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving (no turkey for us, but a whole tandoori chicken)... in a few short weeks, we'll be coming home!

Incredible India, that's what the brochures boast and so far our experience would not dispute this claim. Incredible, literally beyond belief, can have both positive and negative connotations. India is clearly a country of contrasts, from the sights (beautiful countryside vs. dusty, polluted cities) to the sounds (the rhythm of traditional music vs. incessant pleas from the begging masses) to the smells (the soothing aroma of chai or the savory smells of Indian food or the ever present, fragrant nag champa incense vs. the all-too-frequent wafts of human waste on the street). It is a land of extremes that takes you from exhilirating highs to sombering lows, at one moment lifting your spirits, at another knocking you down. An Irishman we met put it this way: "One minute, you'll have the biggest smile on your face. The next, all you want to do is escape from the bloody place..." Incredible India, indeed.

We've seen a lot in our short time here thus far. Upon arrival to the capital city of Delhi we were eased into the country by Mr. and Mrs. Raj Duggal who treated us as though we were their own kids. They fed us scrumptious Indian food, being sure that our stomachs could handle such food. Introduced Jij to the surprising sophistication of Indian Whiskey. They arranged our first big travel endeavor for us and truly made us feel welcome in their country.
So on to Jaipur, capital of the tradition-rich state of Rajasthan and known as "the pink city" (the maharaja had the whole city painted a uniform pink to welcome a visit from Prince Albert). Here we were "taken in" by another family the Aroras. They taught us the sanskrit phrase of "a ti tee devo bhava" which means "guest is god". They didn't just talk the talk, but they also walked the walk. We felt very comfortable at their house, enjoyed very much our time there and were very well taken care of.
We were lucky enough to stumble across the "Camel Mela/Fair" in a town called Pushkar. Here people from all around come with their camels, clad in decorative headpieces and saddles. It's a livestock trading fair along with a religious festival...imagine the Minnesota State Fair combined with a Billy Graham revival where everyone is dressed in their brightest, most traditional attire.
After the camel fair, we headed for some tranquility to Keolondeo Ghana National Bird Sanctuary. Here we reunited with bikes and peddled around marshlands to the songs of painted cranes, kingfishers, parakeets and such. Staying in Bharatpur, just outside of the Sanctuary, put us in good position for a day trip to Agra. The town is a pit and spending any longer than a day there would have been unbearable. An hour was nearly too much for us with the bombardment of touts, beggars, and offending smells. It's a wonder that such a place can host one of the most magnificent monuments on this planet...the Taj Mahal. So, we spent the evening in awe watching as the glowing sunset seemed to illuminate the massive marble monument that sat before us.
Then back to Delhi to enjoy some wedding festivities. And festive they were. You've seen it on t.v., they aren't exaggerating. It was a truly extravagant event (and long, lasting into the wee hours of the evening), from the brides attire, to the horse that the groom rode in on, to the band, the massive spread of food, the colorful decor, and most of all the dancing.
We are now gearing up for a 30 hour train ride in the morning to Darjeeling. There we will drink tea and sit, staring at the some of the tallest mountains in the world including the tallest of them all...Mount Everest. We'll let you know how the tea is when we return.

A big thank you to Nisha and Neelam Malhotra for arranging our stay with their family. Shokreea to Mr. and Mrs. Duggal and to the Arora family. Ham Watis Atay (we'll come back).

A Final Note of Gratitude To Our Dear Friends in SE Asia

To Thailand: Kop kun ka/kawp mak mak

For the beautiful beaches, the climbing, the markets; for fantastic foods, bustling Bangkok, and, best of all, a warm place to feel at home (thanks Ginger, Jana and Lisa).

To Cambodia: Ow kun

The Temples of Angkor were magnificent. The roads were bumpy. Driving was stunningly scenic (if you're into rice paddies and water buffaloes). The people were welcoming. And the bicycles... Brilliant.

To Vietnam: Cam on

For: high quality accomodation at very affordable prices; ESPN Asia; Hoi An Tailor Shops; Pho; Water Puppets; Train Rides; Halong Bay by Junk Boat; Lakes in Hanoi; traffic; Bia Hoi; Masala Dosas.

And Last, but certainly not least, to Laos: Kop Jai Lai Lai

To Gina and the Novotel, for accomodating our poshie tendencies.
To our travelling companions, Jana and Ginger, for who you are.
To the gorgeous landscape, for taking our breath away.
To Dramamine, for taking the edge off the windy bus rides through majestic mountain passes.
To Vang Vieng, for facilitating all our aquatic adventures.
To Jai Dee, for facilitating all our lao lao adventures.
To the Organic Farm, for hosting us during a pleasant afternoon bicycle ride.
To the French, for introducing good coffee and fresh baguettes to Lao.
To Luang Prabang, for lazy days and night markets.

And one more thing...

Thank you so much to all of you, our friends and family, for reading this blog, for thinking of us and for checking up on our travels. It's a long trip we've been on, so far away from home, and it's nice to know that you're all back there following along with us.

Love,
Jij and Claire

PS We'll be home soon...

WE'RE IN INDIA!

More news to come when we have more time. Pictures to accompany the posts. We're happy, having fun, looking forward to the Indian wedding festivities that we will be attending in the days to come!

LAOS: Part III

Vang Vieng

Two became four and off we went, Jana, Ginger, Jij and Claire, on the public bus to Vang Vieng. After an extremely scenic, minimally bendy, four hour ride we reached the little backpacker trap of Vang Vieng. Vang Vieng is an active town, you might call it the Interlaken of Asia, an outdoor adventure destination. So, in true form, we did just that...outdoor adventures. We rented bikes and toured around the town, visiting surrounding villages. We had lunch at an organic farm known for its mulberries and silk worms. The food was fantastic, the view from the restaurant was also great, set right on the river that we would be kayaking down the following day. We watched as the local children headed to the river for bath/swimming time. Jij and Jana went down to the river, being the teachers that they are, to interact with the youngsters. The children couldn't get enough of seeing their pictures on the digital camera.
The following day was kayak touring day. A full day tour, the typical touristy thing to do. So there we were again, joining the herd, ready to be told what our every move would be for the next 8 hours. This time we were set loose on the river, with our broken helmets on (for safety), some of us suited in life jackets, the rest in the hands of buddha. We paddled to a village where we had a wonderful caving experience. The caving experience which was advertised as "tubing through a cave" turned into slithering on our bellies, some of us lucky enough to have flashlights in the dark, dark cave, through tight nooks and crannies just fit for the typical Thai or Lao sized person. I don't think they take into account that we westerners are giants. Anyhow, an hour of slithering through wet darkness with spiders and creepy crawlies was not quite the "tubing through a cave" I was expecting. None-the-less we survived it and are surely better people for it!
The flying fox came next! A rope swing and zip line perched high above the river. The only pre-requisite to using the flying fox is that you purchase a beer before going. Claire and Jana were the first girls of the day to successfully complete the rope swing. It was fun, sanook!
More paddling landed us back in Vang Vieng as the sun set behind the surrounding mountains. A truly spectacular scene.
A free cocktail party rounded out the day and segued into an adventurous evening. The night ended with local bar owner Jai Dee taking us to a locals hangout so that our Canadian muscician friend Martin could play pop favorites (accompanied by Jij's rice pot percussion.)
And that was Vang Vieng.

LAOS: Part IV

Luang Prabang

As the mini bus rounded it's last of many bends, we piled out, carsick, groggy and relieved to have arrived in the beautiful town of Luang Prabang. With Jij having spent some time here already, I had a picture in my mind of what the little town would be like. Along with that image came a lot of excitement and anticipation. So, there I was giddy and galavanting amidst my three groggy travel buddies who were suffering from the effects of dramamine (medication to help prevent motion sickness). It was a bit difficult to keep up the giddy act around that crew so I joined in the moping. It was in that fashion that we found a place to call home for the next week.
A few hours spent recovering and regrouping from the ride put everyone in prime form for Luang Prabang's feature attraction...the Night Market. This would prove to be the beginning of our nightly addiction, you could call it a sport, of bartering for "good price for you, good price for me" textiles. Afterall, you can't leave Laos, they won't permit it :>, unless you purchase their unique, beautiful textiles. They are well known for their handywork and do, indeed, produce very nice quilts, pillow cases, aprons, wall hangings and more. Needless to say, Jij and I left with very stuffed backpacks and an overflow bag each! We have now upgraded to rolly suitcases (call us posh, I don't know!) so we can no longer be put in the ranks of dirty backpackers!!
Our time in Luang Prabang was very slow...laid back and mellow! We ate lots of bread and drank some quality coffee thanks to the French influence. We explored a wat or two, spent an afternoon at a waterfall, but our time was mostly consumed by eating, shopping, and wandering by the Mighty Mekong River!
Life's rough when you Live on Vacation.

Part I: NOVOTEL

Two shoestring travelers transformed upon landing in Laos. Poshie 1 and Poshie 2 emerged. For those of you who aren't familiar with such terms...a poshie lives the good life, enjoys luxury, the finer things. Poshies don't stay in common guesthouses on the common backpacker circuit with common backpacker types. They prefer more pampered environs... and in Vientiane it doesn't get more poshie than the NOVOTEL HOTEL.

When at the Novotel, one doesn't have to haggle for the price of the room or ask "Fan or Air Con?" or inquire if the rate includes hot water. No need to hike the many stairs to view a room, it isn't necessary to feel the mattress, look it over for bugs and check to be sure the bathroom is equipped with toilet paper, and if we're really lucky, soap! You see, poshies have connections, poshies know people. And luckily for these poshies, we new MS. GINA!

Upon entering the Novotel (deja vu), we immediately asked to see Ms. Gina, whom Jij had met on his first visit to Laos with his parents. While we waited for her to see us (Ms. Gina is a busy lady), the bell hop treated us to a refreshing glass of cold water. (He would later top this feat with a fancy glass of lemonade, complete with floating lime.) Ms. Gina emerged down the hall and was very happy to see us, demonstrated by her giddy gallop to hug us hello. We then enjoyed the comfort of the posh lobby as we conversed with Gina, catching up as poshies do. With lemonades empty, we moved on to our first buffet experience. Gina treated us to the amazing spread and afterwards, with our posh bellies filled, we headed to our room for some well earned rest.

The ROOM: Carpeted (nothing in Asia is carpeted), teak furniture, down comforter, soothing sage green walls. All the western conveniences, really. espn, marble counters, bathtub, sewing kit, shower cap, talcum powder to boot (all those things a commoner might never use, but who knows when a poshie may need to sew her skirt or powder his bum). An oasis in the arid landscape of Asian accommodation.

Each time we came and left, the doormen opened both doors. Poshies can't be bothered with such menial tasks. Poshies are always greeted with a wai (hands placed prayerfully together, usually around eye level, transitioning into a bow), a sabidee (good day), and a smile.

A big thanks to Ms. Gina for allowing us to enter the poshie lifestyle. Gina, it was great to see you and hear your stories. Kop Jai lai lai lai lai.

LAOS: Part II

Jana and Ginger

We hate waiting, even in the relative luxury of our room at the Novotel. Call us impatient. We sometimes are.
"What time is it now?"
"What time did we agree to meet?"
"What do we do if they don't show?"
The imagination runs wild when you're just sitting. Waiting.

Phone rings and our hearts leap. They're here.

We descend the stairs to the lobby where we greet our friends, who've been graciously introduced to the poshie life with lemonades.

Jana and Ginger, our teacher friends and hosts in Bangkok, on holiday from The American School, are here. Here in Vientiane, at the Novotel, ready to embark on a week in Laos. And so it began...

After traveling for so long, just the two of us (Bill Withers) we had adopted, honed if you will, a successful strategy with which to approach the traveling game. We were now faced with the challenge of integrating two more people and their respective trael styles into this strategy. This challenge turned out to be no challenge at all, as the merger proved to be more than seamless (if there is such a thing).

True, we each had very individual goals:

Ginger was there for the shopping, envious of the countless woven goods she'd seen other travelers return from Lao with. She was determined to go home the opposite of empty handed.

Jana really wanted to practice speaking her Thai, despite the fact that Lao people don't speak Thai; they speak Lao. Never mind. She also wanted to learn the fine art of not getting ripped off at markets in Southeast Asia.

Jij was hungry and just wanted something to eat.

And Claire, well, Claire simply wanted to enjoy being in Laos (how appropriately Buddhist of her).

These individual goals, instead of hindering the group seemed to somehow make the group stronger, resulting in some unspoken group goals; exploring the natural beauty of the countryside, enjoying the unnatural kindness of the lovely Lao people, Laughing a bit too much, buying even more in the markets and drinking Beer Laos more still.

Claire and I have worked with a great many groups and all groups form a sort of group identity characterized by its best moments. Our identity was best characterized by our nightly progressive dinners, sampling the best of as many restaurants as we could find; Our River adventure, kayaking, caving, and especially rope swinging ("It's just water.") in Vang Vieng; Our night out on the "town" with Jai Dee, featuring special guest Martin, an upper-middle-class man's Jack Johnson; sharing everything: food, water, cameras, batteries, laundry detergent, tuk tuks, menthol nasal inhalers; and best of all, TEAM SHOPPING (I pity the old Lao lady that has to haggle with not one, not two, but four of the likes of us. They were no match for the "One Dollar" opener.)

But every team also encounters its hardships, and we were not immune. Had it not been for Ginger's bold leadership, we we may not have made it out of that Vang Vieng cave alive. At the Organic Farm Cafe, we had a run-in with an obnoxious woman (from America, of all places. imagine that...)who Claire astutely described as "a piece of work" (to her face). Worst of all, Jana's bike was stolen from the outside of a temple in Luang Prabang. And, in a country with no insurance, she was responsible for replacing it. Mai chok dee (Bad Luck). Such a setback could have been fatal to lesser travellers. But not us. In fact, Jana was able to delicately negotiate a very fair deal for all parties involved. Everyone was happy.

And so it was, our time in Laos with our travel buddies Jana and Ginger. We love Lao and loved having friends to share it with...

BESTEST EvER: SARAH HALE!!!

And now...

The Best and Worst of People who Posted Comments on the Blog!

Best Scotch guzzlin, RV drivin, "Life is good" sayin, corporate business consultin, human jukebox:
Stuart Shepley, founder, CEO and Employee of the Month at the Shepley Group. "A SucceSSful buSineSS needs alot of S's. Stuart Shepley has at least 2..."
Best Cousin who's like a little sister: Melissa
Best Little Sister Jij never had: Emily Holbrock
Worst Little Sister Jij did have: Gregory Holbrock
Worst Older Brother: Matt Price (I'm older than him. AND, we're not even related. Doesn't get much worse than that.)
Best ARTech student not in the Blue Advisory: Alliya Lovestrand
Best adventure seekin, child mendin, Lasagna bakin mama: Mary Jo De Grandi
Best late postin, smack talkin, closet Bengals fan: David Shepley
Best human being: "Happy" Grant Buntje
Best spiritual being: "Funny" Jacky McFahdtime

Thanks so much for posting on the blog. We love hearing from you all!
We're in Laos now, and as Stuart Shepley of the Shepley Group would say, Life is Good!

Take Care...

PHO

What is Pho (pronounced somewhere between "foe" and "fur")?

Pho is Vietnamese rice noodle soup and THE reason why I wanted to visit Vietnam. It starts with the broth, beefy, fragrant and, dare I say, voluptuous. Submerged in this savory stock are a host of players:
The Noodles- Rice vermicelli. White. Like all good noodles, their simplicity is a vehicle for the more complex components that surround.
The Beef- Thinly sliced, rare beef. The longer it sits in the simmering soup, the more done it becomes. Proper beef management is key to eating pho. Don't eat all your beef too early.
The Tendon- My favorite part. Chewy, almost like a swedish fish, but more slippery. Extra tendon can be had for a nominal fee.
The Meatballs- I love meatballs. It's meat, that's been shaped into a ball! Fantastic. Don't need no flowery language to say that.
(You can get Vegetarian Pho, but why bother.)

If the above play the leads, these ingredients form a strong supporting cast:
Fresh Bean Sprouts, Fresh Basil and Mint, Limes, Chilis

Heaven. Absolute Heaven. No pearly gates. Just a huge bowl and some chopsitcks. All for about $1 USD. I could eat Pho til they run out of tendon.

I may not speak Vietnamese, but those folks sure do talk my language...

Since we last wrote, we have travelled the coast of Vietnam and have now landed ourselves in Laos. The internet in these parts of the world is painfully slow...hence the non-blogging but I'll catch you all up on Vietnam and will add photos and Lao updates later. None-the-less, we are very much enjoying our travels and loved the responses to the last blog (people will do anything to see their name plastered over cyber space :). Don't worry, your moment of fame is coming soon.
We enjoyed a pleasant and restful train ride from Saigon to the small town of Hoi An where we spent our time doddling around the quaint town, drinking fresh beer (bia hoi) for 15 cents per glass and getting new wardrobes specially tailored for us! I had my wedding dress made, so it's official, there will be a wedding in the future.
A few days later we flew up to busy Hanoi..a beautiful city, really, with many parks and lakes so long as you can handle the chaotic traffic! We enjoyed a cultural evening where we stumbled upon a traditional dance contest...many groups of dancers in a variety of different outfits, with props such a large fans, flowers, umbrellas, jugs, etc, all telling a story with their routines. We then watched the famed water puppets, a nice little performance set in a small theater, the stage a pool of water with a pagoda-esque backdrop where the puppeteers would hide.
A three day excursion to Halong Bay was our next destination, aboard a junk boat. A junk boat is a large wooden boat with red or orange sails (somewhat pirate-esque), the top deck with recliners for sunbathing and sightseeing, the next level down for dining and the lower level housed about 10 rooms for sleeping. Off we went with the hundreds of other junk boats in to the bay of limestone soldiers. I felt like part of a herd of cattle as we went from one "attraction" to the next...the first and only organized tour we have and will do. At no point did I know what the plan for the day, or even the hour was...so I put on my "mai pen rai (no worries)" face and let it all unfold. And it unfolded quite nicely. We went on a little "trek", I would describe it as a small jaunt through the jungle, went through a cave, did some swimming, kayaking, and just hung out on the boat with our fellow boat mates (all of whom were quite pleasant).
We then returned to Hanoi for a few nights before we flew off to Laos. Here we are in Laos, in Luang Prabang after having spent a few days in a little backpacker town called Vang Vieng and a luxurious night in a 4 star hotel (Novotel) in Vientianne. More on Laos later.

I'll leave you with the Best and Worst of Vietnam...

Best mode of transport: tie between junk boat and sleeper train
Worst mode of transport: tie between the cyclo in Saigon that tried to rip us off and walking anywhere amid the traffic

Best sales pitch: you from....., go back to ......, want to buy a book?
Worst sales pitch: want to buy a belt? this one 120,000. we shake our heads and begin to walk away. ok, 20,000. still we shake our heads. vendor responds with a loud disgruntled shout.

Best dressed: claire and jij after many hours with a tailor in Hoi An.
Worst dressed: tie between large westerners wearing fisherman pants and pointy hats and the canadian on our boat in speedos.

Best deal: 30 beers for $3
Worst deal: sausages snuck onto your plate

Least fingers: 8 finger McGee from Connecticut who would say "counting to 5 takes 2 hands!"...a close second our boat tour guide Su, who had 9

Best food in Vietnam: masala dosa (Indian!)
Worst food in Vietnam: vietnamese food, especially fish sausages you didn't order snuck onto your plate.

Best entertainment: water puppets
Worst entertainment: crossing the street (now I know how frogger feels)

Best comment to Jij from local: you look like Vietnam
Best reply: so do you!

Special Offer

We are off to Halong Bay off the coast of NE Vietnam for a 3 day boat tour. Since we so love reading all of your comments, we'd like to make a special offer while we're asea:

Anyone who posts a comment in the next three days will have his/her name featured in a future post. That's right. Respond to this one time offer and you will be immortalized on the internet. And don't be shy. You can write anything: Hello. Goodbye. I like Claire more than Jij. Whatever. Just post. (deadline is Oct. 20 at 23:17).

Really we just want to hear from all of you because we miss you so...

See you in a couple of days!

Monday, Oct 10: Saigon

07:00 Wake up

07:04 Shower. Put on all orange clothing.

07:05 Find Bengals game on ESPN Asian affiliate; Claire goes out to fetch Breakfast

07:16 Eat baguette with omelette and laughing cow cheese. 4000 VND ( $ .25. Thanks Claire.)

07:30 Kickoff. Who Dey.

08:15 Bengals down early. Too many penalties.

08:45 Chad Johnson tries to resuscitate ball in end zone, to no avail. Nice drive Carson.

10:40 Carson fumbles. Bengals lose. 4-1.

11:00 Nap Time for Jij. Claire conducts business.

16:00 Claire and Jij book travel from Saigon to Danang, onward to Hanoi, then Vientianne. Business. Nice work Claire for laying the groundwork earlier in the day.

17:30 Eat BBQ pork at food stall in market. Avoid being cheated, kind of.

18:30 Return to room and enjoy A/C and HBO. Letters are good.

20:20 Decide to go out on the town. Have only spent $14 at this point and figure we can afford to spend more.

20:30 Devour gigantic plate of Fish N' Chips. Use 3 gallons of Malt Vinegar.

21:45 Time to go home.

21:55 Smell Pizza and decide we're still hungry.

21:57 Order Bacon Cheese Burger, Fries, Large Pepperoni Pizza. We love Vietnamese Food!

23:00 That's what I call an "elegant sufficiency." Sleepily return to guesthouse. Good night.

23:15 Find Bengals game replay. Maybe they'll win this time?

Traveling is a tough business on the streets of Saigon. Luckily, traveling IS our business; afterall, we do, in fact, "live on vacation."
Our first day of touring around the capital city of Vietnam was marred by two consecutive experiences of people trying to rip us off.
The first was our seemingly friendly Cyclo driver. A cyclo is a gigantic bicycle with a big, almost comfortable seat perched before the handlebars. A very Saigon experience, slowly meandering through the madness of street traffic. (Traffic = throngs of bicycles, motorcycles, cars, buses, vans, trucks, horsemen, unicycles, hovercrafts, swarming intersections like fratboys to the keg or filipinos to the buffet...a sight to be seen.) He greeted us with a very elaborate handshake, quoted us a reasonable price of $2/hour, assured our comfort and delivered us to some very nice tourist attractions (most notably, The War Remnants Museum, which ably depicted the gruesome inhumanity of the Vietnam Conflict through horrifying photos, unbelievable quotes, embalmed mutated human fetuses, and, of course, war remnants: bombs, gas cans, guns, etc.). When it was all said and done, time to pay up, suddenly it was $2/hour EACH! We handed over the money we had originally agreed on, but he refused to accept it. "Only half," he claimed. After some serious posturing, he finally accepted his due, and not a dong more. Off he pedaled, and good riddance.
The next episode came at the Ben Tranh Market, the city's largest open air market. We'd decided to get a bite to eat at one of the many food stalls within. We sat at a counter and ordered some fresh spring rolls, seasoned ground pork and fresh greens wrapped in rice paper. Ang sarap. As we started to eat them, our hostess slyly slid sausages on our plate, sausages we clearly had not ordered. I must admit that I was still steaming from the first ill encounter, and comsumed the sausages ready for a faceoff. "She's gonna charge us for these, but I'm not paying 'cause I didn't order them," I told myself. "I'm from America, gol dernit." When the bill came, of course it included the unordered mystery meats. When I only payed for the spring rolls, she indicated the sausage. "But I didn't order these, you just put them on my plate. They must be free. You were just being nice, right?" My "must be free" ploy didn't work in the end, and we ended up paying for everything... but not without telling off the entire staff of the place with broken english, the only kind of english understood in thses parts (Claire tried doing it in French, I think). "You bad. You cheat. No like you." And not without causing quite a commotion in that particular corner of the market.
How's that for drama? Best kind. Human drama.
(For the stat trackers, our argument was over 10,000 dong, the equivalent of $ .65. Cheap drama.)

Sin Jao (Hello in Vietnamese)!

One last post from me as I enjoy the fastest and most modern computers I have encountered so far!

The bus ride from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh was stunning. Lush, green rice fields tended to by farmers in their pointy hats, palm roofed huts of wood on stilts, cows, pigs, water buffalo, goats, patches of water lillies more notable perhaps than those that inspired the works of Monet (I actually realize now those water lillies were actually lotus). All so interesting and fun to see a day in the life of people in small town Cambodia. I would take a video clip and shortly thereafter think, "ooh, this is pretty" or "wow, look at that" and the videoing resumed. And so it went for a good portion of our 6 hour ride, all from the window of a bus moving much too quickly to allow video of any quality other than dizzying! It's a good thing I was on a bus, confined, otherwise it would have been the old stop and go show to snap some quality photos. And while I would have returned home with some stellar pics, patience may have worn thin and I may have been travelling solo for the remainder of the trip!!

My favorite attractions along the way, other than the various wooden contraptions pulled or pushed or toted by horse, cow or person (there are pigs in those baskets in the photo), were the gas stations. Get some old coke or beer bottles, fill 'em with oil and gasoline, a few funnels on hand and bob's your uncle, you've got a gas station.

We arrived mid afternoon for our short stint in Phnom Penh. Phnom Phenh, the land of happy and funny pizzas...use your imagination and you can guess the special ingredients. Luckily I need no help being happy or funny so I can pass these by ;) We experienced our most primitive stay so far in Phnom Penh, staying in a room with thin wooden slatted floors and walls...teetering above an arm of a lake that is seemingly more of a wasteland than a lake. The structure had no windows, just shutters of slatted wood. Still dirty water and no windows=mosquito mania. So we enjoyed a night within the confines of a mosquito net (though with a good imagination one could equate it to a fancy canopy bed), trying to ignore each and every footstep, bass beat and voice blaring through the paper thin walls.

Another long bus ride (8 hours) the following day landed us in Ho Chi Minh City, otherwise known as Saigon, Vietnam. It was obvious the difference as we crossed into Vietnam with gas stations, toilets (no need for signs explaining how to use the throne like we saw in Cambodia), paved roads, brick buildings, road signs, the works. After 2-3 days exploring Saigon we will be zooming up the coast towards Hanoi with a stop or two along the way. We are debating whether to brave the bus (20 hours to the first stop and another 20 + hours from there) or take the more expensive, but more comfortable train. I think Jij is going to write about our time spent here in Saigon so I'll leave that to him. So that's it from me until we find our way up the coast!!

Leaving you with a picture of Jij and I, clad in orange watching the Bengals!

Bon Tid Teek Juab K'Neer (Kmer or Cambodian for See You Later)

Haven't you always wanted a monkey?

Interesting sights along the way...








































Haven't you always wanted a MONK-eee :)

Our three days of temple exploration were, in the words of our French friend Mustafa, "romantical". Each day we toured a different section of temples. Each set of temples so distinct. Each and every moment smiling uncontrollably at the mere idea of riding bicycles around these ancient Cambodian temples.

We started with Angkor Wat...angkor what? Almost 1000 years old, Angkor Wat is the main and most well preserved of the temples. The layout of the wat overseen by its towers represent the Angkor concept of the universe. In the middle of that universe is a mountain, signified by the central tower. We discovered this representation to be very accurate as we climbed the thin, steep, sand covered steps to the top. The corridors surrounding the towers host the most intricately carved scenes and images of myths and legends, some Hindu, some Buddhist. As the reign changed, so did the temples, as the rulers would destroy icons of the other religion. Hence the many headless Buddhas we saw.

Baguettes in our bike baskets accompanied us on our second day to Bayon Temple in the middle of Angkor Thom, an ancient city. As we rode through the rice fields, we could imagine the wooden homes of the Angkorians who were responsible for building the temples. The towers of Bayon feature giant Buddha faces, each facing one of the four cardinal directions. We couldn't escape the glance of buddha in this temple, so we were sure to be on our best behavior. On our ride back homeward, we were stopped on the way by a pack of monkeys, posing for pictures. We ended our day watching the sunset from one of the few hilltop temples. We shared this amusement park-esque (elephant rides to the top and all) experience with all the other photo snapping, fannie pack toting tourists.

The third and final day took us to Ta Phrom, a temple seemingly consumed by the surrounding jungle. Jij felt like he was back on the set of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It was also our longest bike ride, a whopping 20 km. Our day was made most memorable by several side stops we incurred in search of souvenirs. Kids in these parts are top notch salespeople, some with great material. A little boy we met would shout in his funny, raspy voice, "Oh my god" each time we told him his price was too high. We later returned to give him some pocket money and he offered Jij a piece of string for 3000 riel (75cents) which, using his fine tuned haggling skills Jij got down to 1000 riel. With huge smiles on both of their faces, the boy was proud to have sold a piece of string for 1000 riel, and Jij proud at getting such a steal!

We very much enjoyed our stay in Siem Reap and our visit to the Angkor Temples. They were as lovely as Jij's mom said they would be! If any of you are ever in the area we know a nice couple at Dara Guesthouse who would be thrilled to share their home with you...their bicycles have nice bells.

(I can't take full credit for this post as Jij and I tag-teamed it. I can take full credit for the layout, I finally figured out how to rotate pictures!)

I've been informed that certain people are getting bored with the blog content. Bored because as of yet, it has included no drama. Now, the quality of people's entertainment in reading the blog is very important to me, please hear that. I must admit though, I'm not feeling too upset about the lack of "drama" up to date! For those thrill seekers, I would most willingly try my hand at creative writing...you know, come up with an epic, if you'd like but for now, I would prefer not to live it first hand :)

That being said, despite the horror stories, the much dreaded bus trip to Siem Reap was smooth sailing. Free of hang-ups is a more accurate way to explain it!! We experienced no hassles with visas, no bus scams, the tales of being bombarded by people as soon as you cross the border didn't prove true as it was a religious holiday the day we arrived and quite quiet, all the bridges were in working order (which is often not the case), and there had been no rain to flood the roads. Smooth sailing isn't an appropriate descriptor, really, seeing that the 150 km (93 mile) trip from the Cambodia border to Siem Reap took a mere 8 hours due to the condition of the roads! As we boarded the bus the drivers helper was full of wise cracks..."free massage for you for the next 8 hours," "we'll be lucky if all of the bridges are working," "be careful if you are sitting in the back, a guy last week hit his head on the ceiling and was bleeding everywhere," "maybe we should have a disco ball and some music," "drink beers to forget the bumps!", and on and on. It was a joyful ride. I couldn't wipe the grin (or maybe it was a smirk) off of my face for most of the ride. How I got a kick out of what may have seemed like torture to some is beyond me. It's not often, though, that I get to experience a road so dreadful and a bus ride so bumpy...so I best enjoy it. Our fellow travelling companions were good company, filled with good humor. Jij and I were thrilled to have arrived safely at 10:30pm after leaving Bangkok at 7am.

Today proved to be my favorite day of the trip so far. We woke early, found ourselves a lovely little guesthouse to spend the next few days in, rented bikes and headed for the temples. That grin I couldn't wipe off my face during the bus ride re-emerged as I was peddling away on my little bike, ringing my bell! We only managed to navigate around one temple today. The largest of them all, Angkor Wat itself. The stone carvings so intricate, so old, and so abundant. Buddhas and monks and lotus oh my. We bought a book and gave ourselves a self-guided tour. It was interesting to pair the stories/events with the carvings on the wall. Somewhat of a history lesson, you might say. Tomorrow, we will ride our bikes up for sunrise over one of the temples and spend another day exploring, taking far too many photos and really just enjoying whatever comes our way!

The climbing in rai ley from a long-tail boat. Can't beat climbing right on the beach.










Our latest passion...the MARKETS! Good food for extremely cheap, 75 cents for more food than I can stomach.















Isn't Jij artsy! A picture of the street in Krabi with cars zooming by.














The view from our porch in Rai Ley!





Sunset in Krabi...see you in Cambodia!

Sayonara Beaches

We've had a relaxing time at the beach, but now we're headed back to Bangkok (another longhaul, overnight number).

Next Stop: Cambodia, to the temples of Angkor.

We hear overland travel in Cambodia is "adventurous." Be sure to check back in next week to see how it all turns out...

Thanks for reading and take care til next time!

WHO DEY!

3-0 baby!

When sunset puts a halt to our taxing daytime activities, we spend a whopping $3 to fill our bellies with fabulous flavors and wander around to join in on the nightly goings-on. Muay Thai, traditional Thai boxing, occurs nightly at 10pm. So we watch, well sometimes I have to turn my head, as the fiesty, flexible, fellas kick the tar out of each other. (Charming, isn't it!). Every night brings several fireshows where the well trained twirlers spin chains with weighted ends or sticks, the ends soaked in gas and set alight, creating all different patterns. It's the latest craze to learn this art. Many people practice twirling their chains on the beach, others are getting lesson in local shops. We try to avoid buckets (mini plastic buckets filled with potent concoctions such as whiskey, red bull and coke) at all costs...and generally just enjoy living it island style!!

For those visually asthetic folks, I apologize for the layout of my posts with pictures. I don't have the knack yet!...till next time.

It took half of a day for us to get our bearings and start living island style. Days now ripple in and out like the tide, each one running into the next with little to differentiate one from the next. When living it island style, the most pressing questions become should we climb or go to the beach first?, curry or soup?, fish or chicken?. Our days have been comprised of beach time in the morning and as the shade hits Ton Sai Wall at noon, we meander there for some climbing. The views are spectacular from the climbs...sometimes I have to be reminded to keep my eyes on the rock!

My view of paradise quickly shattered as I disembarqued the boat and made my way through the crowd of greeters, "where you stay tonight?," "cheap room for you," into the streets packed with trinket stalls, internet cafes, massage rooms ("massage for you"), pizza shops, burger stands, English pubs, and a travel service on every corner. We found a modest room in a guesthouse to call home with the idea to sleep cheap and eat well! And well we did eat. For those Thai food lovers out there, if you have never tried panang or massaman curries, I highly recommend them.

The effects of the tsunami are still quite evident. I experienced a sense of sadness being here to begin, imagining what it might have been like. I see foundations of what were once buildings and wonder whose shop or house each piece of debris might have come from. The tides wash up more debris each day. hotels and guesthouses are half salvaged and open, the other half in shambles. Sounds of saws and hammers abound from sun up to sun down. It has been interesting to speak with a few locals to hear their experiences. A woman we met while climbing was on her way to the beach, stopped in a shop to use the toilet and when she came out there was water everywhere. She ran to her second story brick apartment which still wasn't high enough to escape the water so she climbed to the roof. She says the island is a completely different shape now. Her husband, who had lived in Ko Phi Phi for 15 years went looking for her and couldn't figure out where he was or where their apartment was. They say the government is harnessing the money from relief funds to rebuild the island into a ritzy resort town rather than doleing the money out to the people. As a result, the people are left to do the work themselves, hence the hammering day in and day out. Rebuilding their paradise.

As the end of our 1.5 hour boat ride from Phuket neared, so did the island paradise of Ko Phi Phi. I couldn't stop snapping photos, stunned by the limestone formations sprouting from the turquoise waters. The sand so white, trees of bold green textured with groves of palm trees, the water shades of turquoise I thought only possible in mini-golf courses.


Long-tailed boats, the island transport, romantically lulled by the tides. Top that off with a blue sky adorned from time to time with a puffy white cloud and a big golden sun. It's as if I've been transported into the scenery of one of those postcards you see and wonder if that place really exists.

Welcome to paradise....

From one Paradise to another...

We'd been living on an island for a week, blissfully doing absolutely nothing (except some sweet climbing, eating massive amounts of anything curried, and avoiding Thai whiskey buckets at all cost). Ko Phi Phi was beginning to feel like home. We had built a good community of friends and neighbors and established stomping grounds that, with time, would have developed into old haunts. It was not an easy decision to leave, but we had to. Otherwise, I'm afraid we might have stayed far longer than either of us intended...

We reluctantly boarded the boat, questioning our decision til the last mooring was un-moored. And we'd done it... We had just left the most perfect place on earth.

...But on to the next one; that's what we do. A traveler is no traveler if he dilly-dally's in a single port. Next stop: Hat Rai Leh, or (english-ized), Railay Beach. Home, we were told, to some of the best climbing anywhere.

Rai Leh is a peninsula that juts into the Andaman Sea just west of the port town of Krabi. As our longtail boat surfed into the eastern bay of Rai Leh, it was immediately apparent why climber's flock here: rock, and lots of it, reaching up and out of the sea like thumbs giving a welcoming and gigantic thumbs up. I felt my forearms quiver, giddy with anticipation. Once we landed, we played the accomodation game (finding a place to sleep has become a sport for Claire and I) and came out victorious, with a lovely aircon/hotwater bungalow nested high above the coastline with dramatic views of the aforementioned limestone fingers from our spacious and well-lit porch.

With a place to stay squared away, we were off to explore our new home. Straight to the rock, at the southern end of the beach, to get some beta on the vertical adventures ahead. Our closer explorations revealed that the rock was extremely overhanging, and that the climbing would be challenging, at least. Sweet. We decided to check out ritzy West Railay, dubbed the "sunset side" for fairly obvious reasons. A concrete-paved path leads the way from East (the more budget-friendly side where we had decided to stay) to West. The view from the westside is no less dramatic than from ours: whitesand beach gaurded by limestone karst, the quintissential picture of the Southern Thailand beach. We mosied (sp?) northward up the beach, stepping over intricate circular patterns composed of teeny balls of sand (which I astutely noted are the by-product of a sand crab's mealtime activity.) We then made our our way over a jungled headland to Ton Sai Beach, home to yet more climbing. After a quick bite at a beachside eatery (glass noodle salad that set my mouth ablaze), we decided to take the inland path back to our bungalow, making a giant loop of our excursion. This decision made for some interesting travel...

I suppose we'd become accustomed to the manicured, brick-laden paths of Phi Phi, but what we thought would be a quick jaunt turned into our first jungle trekking adventure. The path was little more than a foot trail, barely distinguishable from the overgrown undergrowth of the jungle floor. And above... monkeys? There's no worse feeling than hiking in monkey country. Steep ascent up the hill, panting all the while. Then, the treacherous descent. I would have liked a sled. The long and short of it is we made it back to our side, scored some curry and rice, and took it back to the bungalow to accompany the view. Life is good.

We awoke this morning to the pitter patter, and at times downright roar, of rain. No climbing today. So the decision was easy: boat back to the mainland, where internet is cheap, and up date the blog because it's been awhile... So here I am, in an internet cafe in Krabi, dry and happy to be writing this. I hope you're all doing well. We sure are.

How about them Bengals?

Greetings from Southern Thailand. Claire and I are working on the next round of posts, but its hard to pry ourselves away from the beach.
Just wanted to thank all of you for checking our blog. (Special thanks for all of you who have posted comments.) We do appreciate it.
Keep checking back for the latest on our travels... kop kun krap

Jij and I riding in a tuk-tuk!
















Pre-departure at the San Francisco airport

Look at that SMILE. Jij below the BTS (public train) sign in Bangkok
Our lovely bungalow paradise in Karon Beach.
Look at those waves.

Bengals vs. Vikings

I am in Phuket on Karon Beach. Yesterday was beautiful, today is rainy and in a few days two football giants will collide:

The undefeated Bengals vs. the winless Vikings.

My pick (and you should probably put money on this one) is the Bengals, in a close one, 34-10.

Rudi Johnson will blast through two fat guys named Williams, Chad Johnson will burn Smoot like Grant burns anything he cooks (gatorade easy mac), Carson Palmer will pick apart the Vikes secondary like I pick apart a chicken wing, and Bengals first-round pick David Pollack will wrap his much-maligned wee arms around Daunte Culpepper, causing one of dozens of fumbles by the stone-handed QB.
When the VIkes fall behind early, Daunte will try the only thing that's ever worked for him- deep ball to MOSS. But, Oops, Randy's in Oakland (scoring mad points for Jij's fantasy team against the Chiefs flag footbal D).

Grant, you're on. (Though I'm already wearing the Diesel shants.)

When Jij last posted, we were about to board a VIP bus to Phuket. If a VIP bus has cracks in the window, broken seats, and a crazy driver swigging unknown beverages from mini glass bottles (Jij promises it was a red bullesque drink, I have my qualms!!) then that's just what we did. Our VIP service included no real seats for Jij and I so we were stuck sitting in the very front of the bus, next to the driver!!! Jij has some major skills in zen as he was able to get some sleep while in the front. I just sat there, holding on tight, praying, creating my action plan of how I would save Jij and I from projecting through the massive bus window when we crashed!! Luckily a few hours into our drive, at our first stop, two guys offered to swap us seats. They were seated in the very back getting their knees rammed by the two broken seats in front of them and wanted to be up front so they could smoke! Theirs was a more appealing predicament than ours! The rest of the ride was great save the fact that the 13 hour ride took a mere 18 hours!

None-the-less, we learned some valuable lessons and arrived in the remarkable Phuket! It took a situation like that to light a fire under my @!$, not an angry fire so much as sparking my desire to join in on the game of negotiation. So when the tuk-tuk driver told our friends he would take them from Phuket Town to the beaches for 380 baht, I just laughed and moved on. The next driver quoted 200 baht. I said I knew how to get there by bus for 30 baht (obviously not wanting to take the bus). We agreed on a price of 100 baht. Once we arrived to the beach town of Katon the tuk-tuk driver took us to a resort that is in his circle of money. Our plan was to stay at a guest house for around 300-400 baht so my plan was to spend no more than 500 baht. The 1000 baht/night room was reduced to 800 baht (what a deal!). If we stay for 3 nights it would be 700 baht a night but since they like us, they will give us that rate for our 2 night stay. Ha! "400 baht a night is the most we can pay," I reply. After a good 5 minute haggle, we agreed on 500 baht a night. Afterwards Jij and I laughed at the reality that I was haggling over a mere $2.50!! Anyhow, we are staying at a fancy resort...more like a string of bungalows amidst beds of flowers, right across the street from the beach. We have a pool, internet access, satellite tv (that sealed the deal for Jij!), our own bathroom as advertised: "with an american throne", all the amenities. It's just right. I mustn't get used to such grandeur as I know raggedy guesthouses are in my future.

Today is a drizzly day, hence my time spent blogging! There is a surf competition going on at the neighboring beach of Kata that we may check out later assuming it wasn't cancelled due to rain. The world shuts down when it rains in these parts! Tomorrow, we are going to catch a boat to Ko Phi Phi, a nearby island. We will spend some time there climbing and then head to Krabi and Rai Lay(on the mainland) for more climbing. These names may ring a bell as this is the area that was affected by the tsunami last year. There are still a lot of relief efforts in these areas though where we are it is all mostly rebuilt. We have been playing the guessing game, I wonder if this is new, I wonder if this got hit, etc. We hope to become more educated as time goes on.

Thanks to all who have posted comments!! Still haven't mastered the knack of getting pictures uploaded onto this site...pictures to come!

I'm in internet cafe on Khoa San Road in Bangkok, killing time before Claire and I hop on a VIP bus to Phuket. Don't worry. The tsunami ended last year, shortly after it began. The beaches have been rebuilt and the good folks down there are hungry for tourist dollars, which is what Claire and I are made of...
Claire and I had a great day yesterday, mastering the public transport of Bangkok, which incidentally, may be the nicest I've experienced save the monorail at Kings Island. We also booked some bus rides in the coming weeks, which provided for some good exercise in the art of haggling. Best line: " So if it's 650 baht on VIP bus, 500 on minibus, how much to ride on the water buffalo?" Water buffalo material gets best price everytime.
We're planning on doing some climbing down south. We'll check back in once we get there...

One more thing:

Bengals 1-0
Vikes 0-1

A 16 hour plane ride behind us & a full night's sleep, Jij and I are feeling somewhat human in Bangkok! Strangely enough we enjoyed our first meal out at a Japenese restaurant with a French dinner to follow! We will undoubtedly immerse in the Thai culture soon enough.

Phrases such as "sa-wat-dee ka" and "korp kun ka", with a small head bow, are the extent to my current Thai speaking skills!! Jij questions my use of Lonely Planet's Thai Phrasebook as I attempt conversation at the markets!

I can't get enough of the markets...all those fruits and veg!! Jij chuckles (or groans) as I drag him past yet another stand selling just the same as the one before!

I've been pleasantly surprised that Bangkok is much cleaner, more organized, less crowded and not quite as "Americanized" as I had pictured. I will soon be ready to leave the "big city" for smaller, more quaint adventures.

For our time in the city, though, we have been introduced to the saving grace of menthol. Menthol nose inhalers to clear smog-filled nostrils and "prickly heat", a menthol powder to cool sweaty skin! I'll continue to enjoy such small pleasures and will write again when I have more interesting things to "blog" about! Until then..."lah gorn"

Hey everybody! Welcome to our blog. I like that word. Just wanted to let you all know that we've arrived safely in Bangkok and our adventures are already underway. You can check back here over the next 3 months to see what Claire and I are up to while on our trip: through Cambodia, up the coast of Vietnam, over to lovely Lao, back down to Thai beaches (near Phuket), then to Delhi (and maybe Nepal), quick flip around Paris, and, finally, a visit with Claire's family in England.

Sounds like a lot... here we go!