southern india in a nutshell...

Ponidcherry, Tamil Nadu, India
Originally uploaded by ddboo.

After 17 hours on the train from Goa, we finally arrive in Alleppy. Things work different here than in Asia, there are not always 100 tuk tuk drivers vying for our business to take us to a guest house (they get a commission if they bring business from the station). In India we actually have to look at the map and figure it out for ourselves, which I like but its not as easy, everything is easy in Asia, everything is handed to you because there are many more travellers. I prefer the challenge. Traveling in India in general is more difficult. Especially right now in the south because we are here during the off season, so alot of locals and tourists have headed north to avoid the 40 degree heat and scorching sun. We will be doing the same. We have decided to fast forward the rest of southern India and head north to get out of this weather, its just too hot. We are in Mallapurnam right now and have a place with cable TV (yay! HBO & Star TV!!), 2 fans in the room and a pool. The pool is dirty and has dead crows hanging form the palm trees, apparently to scare off the other crows. I guess if I saw one of my kind hanging dead off a tree I would probably stay away as well, but really it doesn't make for ideal poolside atmosphere. I was trying to explain the concept of a scarecrow to them but I don't think they got it. Anyway we found another resort where we can pay 150 rupees to use the pool with no dead birds blocking our view. TV and pool are all we can do here because of the heat. Not exactly the "real" India experience. That's why were leaving...

Anyway back to Alleppey, We met some people at the train station going to a guesthouse so we went with them. The next morning the owner invited us to his cousins wedding, he was marrying a Swedish girl. He also asked us to bring cameras and record it for him. No pressure, just filming one of the most important days in someones life.

The wedding was a small Hindu ceremony because the groom was Muslim and the bride was Catholic. Neither of the families agreed the wedding was a good idea so it was just close friends and several people from the guesthouse. Most parents prefer to arrange marriages to women or men of equal or higher social status as their own. However this is fast changing in India as the rate of "love marriages" is rapidly increasing. The ceremony took place at the temple and the after party at a friends house which we were also invited too.

The after party consisted of booze, food, guitar playing (Eagles, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Bon Jovi) and lots of singing and dancing. These guys are in a cover band so considering their English wasn't very good they knew every word, every ooh and ahh in all the english songs. Later the party moved over to our guest house courtyard where they continued to celebrate though the night giving all of the guests a free all request live concert.

The main draw to Alleppey is the backwater tours. We rented a houseboat overnight to visit small villages on the shores of this maze of rivers. We met 4 Canadians from Vancouver and 2 Americans that came with us, which made renting the boat cheaper. Andrea and I taught everyone the mafia game..this was the best mafia crew ever. We had some beers and everyone was really into it. We played for hours. The boat cruise was OK. We had a chef on board that made our meals for us, vegetable curry, dosa, rice...typical south Indian food. And alot of masala chai tea. We did stop in one village and got to walk around and take some pics and watch a cricket match. The best part of the boat was the people we were with.

When we got back to Alleppy we all went to Periyar Wildlife reserve to try to spot some tigers and elephants. Everyone form the boat came with us. The bus was about 4 hours and up a steep mountain. It looked like we were 2 centimetres from the edge the whole time. Its not exactly reassuring to hear your driver laying on the horn, looking out the window beside you and seeing a truck or car down the side of the mountain rusting, lodged between two trees. Not reassuring at all. Thankfully we made it in one piece, white faced and traumatized but one piece. This is where we first noticed the smell. I don't know how to describe this smell but its everywhere, now and then I catch a whiff. I don't know what it is and it is completely indescribable. Really rancid is all I can say. Really, really rancid.

We got up the following morning at 5:30am, to take a cruise around the wildlife park to see what we could see. We saw elephants, otters, wild buffalo, pumbas and birds (Pumbas being the animal named Pumba from the lion king whose name I cannot remember at this time). Early morning in the mountains is freezing, which I was ill prepared for, so I froze. duh.

Back in town we found a restaurant that served brown bread which was so exciting for us since we have not seen it since home. We ate brown bread and peanut better for the next 2 days.

The Canadian girls were leaving that night so we all showered (you know its a special evening when..) and put on half decent clothes and went out for dinner. We thought it would be nice to eat at this fancy resort and spoil ourselves but once we got there and heard the price we decided otherwise. The price was 700 rupees - which really, is like 12$ or something. At home it seems like a steal but here it feels like a 300$ meal. We are used to paying about 50 - 100 rupees for a dish. So we found a restaurant more our style. We were all dressed up to spend 2$ on dinner. I love it.

I have to touch on food here for a second. The vegetarian food here is to die for, many Indians are veggie so there is a high demand here for good options. They never eat cows because cows are a sacred Hindu symbol. I have been eating only vegetarian, considering my average meal costs under 3$, I doubt the meat is grade A. I have not gotten sick yet, but I can only speak for myself. I have met many people who have had, ahem .."issues" including my comrade. There is a dish called Paneer Butter Masala that is cheese balls (like bocaccini) in a spicy yogurt based sauce that I am totally addicted to, as well as bread called Parotta, which is like a flat bread that you rip up with your hands and use it as a scoop for the curry. Everyone eats with their hand. Right hand to be exact, because in India (and many other countries) it is considered rude to eat with or shake hands with you left hand because people wipe their bums with it. They do not use toilet paper. Anyway back to food...haha: There is also Mushroom Gobi which is Ans favourite. This is mushroom in a cauliflower / spinach spicy sauce. Oh! and Kashmiri Masala, which is cut up fruit in curry sauce that tastes so much better than it sounds. We have been eating Indian food every day since we got here, I may need a break soon but at this price, and being so delicious who could resist? At home its about 60$ for a good Indian dinner for 2.

Cows in India are like dogs. There are stray ones roaming the street, They hang out in living rooms with families, people walk them, they nap under the shade of picnic tables, etc... They paint the bulls horns many different colours and patterns and dress them up in fancy cow clothes as well. The cows are also used for dairy and farm work but look very well fed and loved. Its cute, we should let our cows into our homes and onto our streets, although we tried that once at Maria's place and it didn't go over so well with the farmer and the neighbors... and the poo would become a problem. Anywhoo.

So from Periyar we went to Pondicherry on a bus. The bus blared Bollywood movie after Bollywood movie until about 1:00am. Which was entertaining for about an hour, the movies are all musicals that start off pretty serious and normal then the whole cast bursts into song. Every Bollywood movie I have seen so far has been like that. Its pretty funny, but not so funny at 1:00am after listening to it on max volume for 5 hours. We arrived at 5:30am, there were many homeless people sleeping in the streets at this time, we were shocked at the amount. The bus station was desolate except for a couple of rickshaw drivers sleeping in there rickshaws. We got one and asked him to take us to an Ashram. It was closed until 8:00am. he took us to 5 other hotels that were all full and he ripped us off about 100 rupees on the fare. We slept outside the Ashram on our bags for 2 hours and actually caught one of the most amazing sunrises I have ever seen over the ocean (pics on my flickr!). By the time we woke the ashram was open and we checked in. An ashram is supposed to be an escape, like a spiritual place of peace and serenity where people meditate and do alot of yoga, this one was right on the ocean and we had a spectacular view. Later in the day wandering the streets and taking pictures we came across these 4 ladies selling little statues. They asked us to take pictures of them, we took a ton and they loved seeing the pictures on the screen after. Thank god for digital cameras is all I can say. It is the best travel accessory. It is an excellent conversation starter with the locals (who rarely shy away from conversation or are not willing to talk your ear off) and a great way to interact with them. I had a father come up to me and ask me to take pictures of his kids, he even fixed his daughters hair for the picture, just so she could see herself. After I took the picture and showed the girl, the look of shock and disbelief on her face was priceless. After our photo shoot with the ladies, they asked us for copies of the pictures. The next day An and I printed out copies for all of them. They were like children just staring and giggling at these photos of themselves. They gave us a couple of the statues they were selling as a thank you gift.

We got up the next morning and decided to head to the beach to escape the unbearable heat. We wound up taking the boat with a family of about 20 uncles, brothers, cousins and sisters, sons, daughters... They all had the day off and had only been to the beach once before in their lives (they live 20 minutes from the beach). We were the only people on the boat who were not part of this family. One little girl was dancing on the boat and they asked us to sing a song for her to dance too. She was doing traditional Indian dancing and our rendition of "hot, hot, hot" kinda threw her off I think, but it was so funny, as if we were on a boat singing "hot, hot, hot" to an Indian family. They pretty much accosted us for the day, shared their food and drinks with us, we all sat together. The little girl was teaching me Indian dance moves and I took her swimming in the waves since no one in her family could swim. By taking her swimming I mean holding her up over the waves in water just above my knees. Every time I tried to stop and go sit on the beach or something she would drag me back in the water, we had so much fun. We were in the water for literally 2 hours crashing around in the waves. An and I swam in our sarongs and tank tops - we were the only westerners there and everyone else went in with all there clothes on. We didn't want to be the only ones in bikinis, we would have looked so out of place. A few women in the group even worked up the courage to ask An and I to take them in the water. They held on to us for dear life. We were in water up to our knees but the waves were pretty strong. With sari's on, the water was pushing the ladies around pretty good and it took alot of effort to hold them up. That night An and I tried meditation in a group for 30 minutes, oddly enough it was the fastest 30 minutes of my life, even though we were just sitting there doing nothing.

we are going this afternoon to a local orphanage to play with the kids and bring food and supplies. We are bringing our cameras so that should be fun.

One thing I have learned her is to expect the unexpected, and the people are so kind and generous. Everyday is truly another adventure in India.

coffee, coffee, chai, chai

Cow in Goa
Originally uploaded by ddboo.

Ok...where was I...We left Cambodia and hit the islands in the south of Thailand for a week of R&R before the madness of India. First we went to Koh Samui, where there were lots of old western perverts and lady boys (oh and a beautiful beaches and fresh seafood restaurants). We even went to a lady boy cabaret show. interesting to say the least. Honestly some of these guys - you cannot tell there men at all, they do a fantastic job of looking and sounding like women. But the best part was none of them actually new the words of the songs they were singing. They were classic drag / karaoke songs like private dancer and various Cher tunes..but their mouths were completely off the whole time, I don't think they were even mouthing words at all, just random mouth movements but they were so passionate and into it, we were rolling on the floor. It was hilarious. I made a small video clip of each great performance, this was not to be missed by anyone. We got out of there after one day and went to Koh Phangan. The first two nights we were in Hat Rinn beach which is where the monthly full moon parties happen. There is usually about 10,000 people at this party every month - its a big rave and totally not our scene, to many people too much madness and debauchery. 5 years ago I would have loved it. We rented a motorbike to explore the island and look for a better place to stay cause our beach was all rocky. I drove the bike and An was on the back, we were too cheap to rent 2 bikes (yet another lesson learned the hard way) the next thing we know we came over this big hill and the other side is suddenly all rocks and sand. The bike skidded out and landed on my LEG. OW. Yah it hurt. No it wasn't broken. No I didn't get it checked out (well I did, but by a Canadian med student, not a Thai doctor). It seems to be healing nicely, its just all scraped up and bruised. An got a couple of scratches as well. We had to pick the bike up and get it back up the hill, which was the worst part of the whole ordeal because we didn't want to even go near the stupid bike. Turns out we blew the back tire out and had to have it fixed on the way back, that was pretty cheap. They did charge us about 100$ when we returned the bike for all the scratches, but we still got out better than expected. Lesson learned, lucky we didn't get hurt...and we did actually end up finding a great place to move to for the following day.

That night back in Hat Rinn beach we did what people do there which is drink "buckets" where they put a small mickey of vodka, soda water and some red bull into a bucket with straws and you share with a bunch of people. After a couple of those we were up dancing to the grease soundtrack on the beach (by dancing I mean hobbling on one leg and gyrating awkwardly). Definitely one of my prouder moments in life.

The next day we got up early and moved to Thongsala beach. Beautiful bungalows right on the water. We read, swam and recovered from the accident for 3 days. it was really relaxing, not many people around, alot of Jack Johnson playing everywhere, white sand and palm trees swaying - hammocks on every post and tree. I think An finished three books while we were there?

As much as we loved Thongsala, the show must go on and we were getting really excited for India, although I could have spend another 2 months in South East Asia, there is so much to do and see. Cambodia is the one place I wish we had more time and will definitely go back. I would have also loved to go to Burma, maybe next time. Although I would also love to go the the Arctic and the moon so..who knows.

I will miss the banana pancakes dearly. And the photocopied books that cost 2$. Oh..and the Thai massages and facials. Yes I will miss it all, even the smell of fish sauce all over Vietnam, which actually tastes alot better than it smells. mmm...fish sauce.

We took the sleeper train back from the islands to Bangkok where we flew from Bangkok to Columbo, Sri Lanka. Slept for 3 hours in a hotel room, went back to the airport at 2:45am to catch a flight to Goa, India.

Arriving in Goa was madness, there was so much going on at the airport, 50 taxi drivers grabbing our bags trying to get us in their cab, us trying to change money and not get totally ripped off. We finally found the bus stop and travelled by bus for 3 hours to the town in Goa we wanted to go to (Palolem). We were the only foreigners on the bus and most of the people were going to school / work. I chatted to one guy on the bus who mentioned that everyone is getting excited for the world cup of cricket which will take place in the West Indies. Sorta like the soccer world cup but huge in India and many other countries. Canada actually has a team in it. Should be fun here once it starts. We spent 2 days on the beach in Goa where we met alot of Indian people who were just as interested to talk to us as we were them. One guy invited us in his shop, made us chai tea then took us out to play pool after the shop closed. Another waiter at a restaurant didn't have the dish we were looking for and told us to come back the next day and he would have it for us. We came back the next day and he had it. I have noticed the people are very talkative, they talk a mile a minute and talk about deep stuff, Iike family problems, spirituality, religion or love. They also like to know personal things about us..like marriage status, religion etc.

And the food, oh god. Its so good. Fish curry and fresh naan and pakoras, every night. We have been eating so much Indian food, each dish better than the next. We have decided to try one new thing every day so we usually order something safe - like fish masala and something else we cannot even pronounce. Last night we ordered ginger fish which was the first bad dish we have had since we got to India. The rest has been so good, I don't think I can get sick of Indian food.

So we spent our 2 days in Goa eating, swimming and boogie boarding. The waves there were perfect for it and we howled like hyenas every time we caught a big one. It was so funny. I think we were just laughing more at us laughing. If that makes sense.

Then we took a 17 hour train to a town called Alleppey. The train was supposed to arrive at 11:00pm, it actually arrived at 12:30am which is apparently normal here, everything is late. We had pre-booked 2 upper lever sleeping bunks so we have privacy and it is supposed to be the best place to sleep. We got on and there is some guy in my bed sleeping refusing to get out. Lucky the Indian guys in the same bunker as us were really nice and basically told him to get out of my bed in a not so nice way, I was just glad to get a bed. I would not recommend top bunk for anyone who is claustrophobic as you are about 1 foot from the ceiling of the train and the fan is blowing right beside your head. The privacy part was nice - but that's really it. Thank god for gravol, we popped two and were out for twelve hours. We woke up to the sound of vendors walking up and down the isles selling biriani rice and masala chai tea for breakfast.

cambodia.

P1080452
Originally uploaded by ddboo.

It is so hot and humid here, we have accepted a constant state of sweatiness and filth, I doubt my feet will ever go back to being the same colour they were 2 months ago. Never have I appreciated cold showers as I do now, actually I have never appreciated cold showers at all, now I love them. Most of the places we stay in don't have hot water anyway. Although last week I only showered about 4 times - with swimming and constantly getting up early to either go see sunrise, take a tour or catch a bus, it just doesn't really fit into my lifestyle. I don't know why I am admitting that or telling everyone....but it’s true. Something is biting me, it’s kind of weird. Not mosquito bites but like little itchy ones. I don't know what they are and I just pray I don't have fleas, or worse bed bugs...ew. Anywhoo...

Another point of note is motorbikes. We are getting really good at riding on "moto's" with more than two or three people on it, since that's just how you get around here. It’s perfectly acceptable to put families of up to 5 people on one bike at any given time. No, no helmets.. just alot of people on a bike that's practically dragging on the ground. I am also getting used to being called lady. Yup, just lady.

Kampot was..well...OK. We went on this tour in Bokor National park which should have been called Breakass National park. In the park, at the top of a mountain is supposed to be a French town that has been deserted since the Khmer Rouge and there are supposed to be tigers and elephants and badgers still living in the wild here. The park itself is supposed to be a jungle. Notice the frequently usage of the word "supposed" as none of it was true. Maybe we were there on a bad day, or maybe the sore ass just wasn't worth it, but it was the worst tour we have done yet! So bad, in fact, that I am still giggling in disbelief as I sit here, still in pain, 3 days later. So bad, that I couldn't be upset or really disappointed cause it was worth the laugh (and only 7$).

We were picked up at 7:00am and driven with a group of people to the river where we took a boat to the base of the national park. This was the best part -at least I got some good pics. It was 8:30am and sweltering hot already. Next was a jeep with two benches in the back (imagine the shape, size and feeling as sitting on a 2 x 4). There were 8 of us so one person had to sit on the roof. We drive up this mountain to the "spooky, eerie deserted French town". The ride up was 3 hours of the biggest, roughest potholes ever. We pulled up to a trail to do the "waterfall hike" of course there is no water, not a drop in sight and the hike was more of a very boring half hour walk on rocks in the beating sun. Did I mention it was sweltering? Then we had to get back in the torture truck to drive to another half hour and walk to a old deserted building (we will call this building A) which was interesting to see for about 2 minutes (if you could find an angle to look at it where it wasn't covered in graffiti or swarming with other tourists). Drive another 30 minutes to building B, look at it...drive away. Enter building C, complete with a million people, alot of garbage, bad smell, bad food and nowhere to go to the bathroom. Luckily, I had to find somewhere private to go pee and came across a cross/grave on the edge of a really steep drop and got a cool good pic. I took a million because I was bored, but really like the cross one. On to building D & E, blah, blah. To make matters worse I busted up my toe pretty bad doing about the dumbest thing ever, which I choose not to disclose due to the pure stupidity of it.

Then the ride home - down pot hole mountain with a driver who was obviously late for something really important driving 100 kilometers per hour. Then us, poor us in the back just in so much pain. We sat there and concentrated on trying to stay in the truck for about a half hour then decided to try and distract ourselves by playing the name game. Ever notice when you play that game its alot easier to think of names when it’s not your turn? I play alot more games here. I do not like games, anyone who knows me knows that. I get it from my dad who also does not like games. I don't know what’s happening to me, maybe I will come home a big game player and show up to parties and family events with a game / party pack!

My butt is still sore, my toe still busted up and I didn't even get to see one stinkin' badger. If you want to see the pics from this great adventure there on my flickr...

We went to the city of Phnom Phen from Kampot (with 8 people in a car that seats 5, with no AC) which is a two hour drive. We spent 24 hours seeing the killing fields (where the Khmer Rouge committed most of the atrocities during the 1970's genocide) and an old high school that had been turned into a prison also from the Khmer Rouge, that is now a museum. We walked around the city and had a great dinner. We heard alot of negative stuff about this city from other travelers but we both loved it, as we have loved all of Cambodia. The river through town is lined with shops, French cafes, bookstores, restaurants, Internet cafes etc. The city was clean - really esthetically pleasing and the people were so hospitable and always willing to help.

Now we are in Siem Reap and Today we went to visit the great Angkor Wat. I will blog about that later because I am late to my massage from a blind person (but the pictures are on flickr). I get the feeling The Cambodians are really trying to get it together. Everywhere you go you find specialized shops where victims of landmines, polio sufferers, ex- Khmer Rouge etc come to work, restaurants where street kids learn skills and seeing hands massage where blind people learn massage. All in an effort to teach disabled and troubled people how to be able to make a living in a country where there is not much help from the government. If you are blind, or missing a leg from a landmine, you must beg on the street or find a way to make a living. Many of them send their small children out to beg for them. Many shops and restaurants donate a percentage of their profits to help teach new skills to these victims or de-mine new areas. There are alot of NGO's here and aid funding from the rest of the world to help pick up the pieces.

The Khmer (Cambodian) people are exceptionally outgoing, charismatic and intelligent. Every kid knows the capital city of all the provinces and states in Canada/USA/Australia and many countries in Europe, how many people live there and even who the P.M is. It’s a gimmick they use to try to sell you a book or just make a dollar. They bet you 1$ that they will know the capital, population or leader of your country and they usually know the right answer, unless your from Uzbekistan or something. The spirit of these people has really touched me. There is a strong sense of integrity / hope in every person we meet. They are also a really fun loving culture, they love to play practical jokes and goof off with both themselves and the tourists, i.e. throwing water on a friend and running away howling, tuk tuk drivers standing around the restaurants on the street having dance parties waiting for customers, stealing a friends glasses and quickly driving away on there motos laughing, even doing that high five, too slow hand through the hair joke. It seems really "what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger" here. They really appreciate the tourists and love to interact with them, I guess it gives them hope for the future and jobs for the present.

all of vietnam, and more

Mui Ne, Vietnam
Originally uploaded by ddboo.

Wow. OK, its been a long time since have been able to blog. I finally figured out that I can blog thought flickr and beat the system but it was my last day in Vietnam. So this blog will be long and will be entirely about Vietnam. I am now sitting in Cambodia in the dirtiest, grungiest internet cafe in town. It is however the only one open in town due to the Chinese new year, or Tet as the Vietnamese say. Hopefully my photos and witty comments have kept you all entertained in the meantime. And by "you all" i mean you mom, and your friends at work. Hi!!.

Right after my last blog we went to Vang Vieng it feels like that was months ago. People go there to go tubing down a river. We, however, were big dorks and did not. That is the one regret I have so far from this trip. Is that we slept too late and were too tired to go, then we left the next day. Don't ask.

Vang Vieng is this town made up of two streets and a river where there are bars and cafes lining the streets with beds in them, yes in the bars. Instead of a regular table you get a "breakfast in bed" type table so you can eat lying down. There are at least three TV's in each restaurant, most of them playing friends reruns or some movie. By the time I left that town I swore that if I ever heard the friends song again I would smash the TV that was playing it. Its always playing somewhere, either right beside you or off in the distance. We left here for Vietnam on a 24 hour bus ride after being here for about 24 hours. We asked one of the guys in the friends restaurants to play good morning Vietnam to get us pumped about going, its a good movie!

The bus ride really deserves a blog in itself cause it was mental, but I will try to sum it up. We left Vang Vieng and headed 3 hours to Vientiane where we then headed to Hanoi. The Bus was pretty normal until the bus driver decided he was tired and pulled over on the side of the road for 5 hours and slept. yep. Were just all sitting there like ???? and hes just snoozing away. Anyway thank god for gravol cause I managed to sleep most of the 5 hours away as well. When he woke up we went to the Vietnamese border where we had to make a foreigners alliance to even get to the border guards cause the Vietnamese would push, shove, crawl, yell, anything to get in front of us in line. It took "budding in" to a whole new level. I have never seen anything like it. We were all so appalled, but learned later that different culture, different set of manners, rules, etc. Fair enough. Apparently personal space really isnt something that is valued here. After discovering the cultural differences I realized that being pushed instead of hearing "excuse me" was something that I would just have to get used to for the time being.

So we arrived in Hanoi on Jan 31st and stayed there for 2 days. We got up at 5am one morning to go watch Tai Chi in Lenin park. The people get up at about 5am, hit the park for some Tai Chi, quick round of badminton or a workout in the outdoor public gym then go to work around 9:00am. And the park is packed! Everyone is there. Meanwhile in Canada my alarm clock was going off at 7:50 for me to be outside waiting for my ride at 8:00am. Another cultural difference or lazy? I think lazy. Or maybe they go to bed really early.

Hanoi to me was not my favourite. It was smelly, there were roasted dogs in the market and about 20,000,000 motorbikes coming at you at all times. There are no sidewalks to walk on because they are filled with motorbike parking. So the technique to getting around is to walk (very carefully) between the gutter (which is full of filthy water and rats) and the crazy traffic where hundreds of motorbikes are whipping by at 100km per hour blaring their horns. I did manage, once, to fully submerge my entire foot in the gutter water. I think it still smells. Crossing the street there is like playing chicken. Although there is a technique to that too: Walk S-L-O-W and make eye contact with the drivers and they go around you as long as you don't make any unpredictable moves. Like deciding to dash to the sidewalk could cost you your life, or at least your foot. We also did all the tourist stuff like see Ho Chi Minh's embalmed body (it looks like he is just sleeping). They heard you like cattle through the mausoleum where you are not allowed to put your hands in your pockets, laugh, talk, or do anything besides look and walk. I, of course, found out all these things the hard way. I wonder why Ho Chi Minh's body is in Hanoi instead of Ho Chi Minh City. hmmm. Food for thought - incase your bored reading this. Hanoi is definitely something to see in your lifetime though thats for sure, just for the level of craziness - smell, noise, constant action, people, etc..

So onto Halong bay where there really isnt much to say besides what the pictures on flickr say for themselves, it was beautiful. We went up in this tour group and this Irish girl taught us a game called Mafia. Which we then continued to play for 3 days straight. Talk about an addictive game. Its not a card game or board game, just a mind game with some scrunched up pieces of paper where you have to try to figure out who is the real mafia. I can imagine how dumb that last sentence sounds for those who did not play. I apologize for that and once I get home I will get you all addicted. Christmases will never be the same again.

So back to Hanoi and on the next bus to Hoi An. For those of you who have Pinks new album, check out the secret track. Its really cool and its about Vietnam which was so weird that I was on the bus in Vietnam and I didn't even know it was on my ipod and it came on. what a ka-wink-e-dink (is that how you spell it ma?). This was an overnight 12 hour bus where we brought on take-out Indian food that was so good and peanut butter and banana sandwiches. We then tormented everyone on the bus by making them play mafia with us and smell our curry and peanut butter.

Hoi An was my favourite in Vietnam, it was so cute the town was quaint and peaceful, people were so nice. The food here was to die for, fresh seafood, fresh herbs and spices. We did a cooking class one night (i kept the recipe) and it was food paradise. Each bite better than the next. I am going to cook it when i get home but it probably wont be the same. We were really only planning on a couple days here and ended up staying for 5, i think. The towns industry is clothes making. So all along the main streets are tailor shops. You walk in, pick a style of something hanging on the wall or in a magazine (or make one up), they take your measurements and make it for you for really cheap. So we would have an amazing breakfast on the river, walk to the shops, get fitted for a new top or something, rent bikes, drive to the beach for the day, come back around 4:00 for a "fitting" where you see if your clothes need any altering, then go to the guesthouse, have a shower and be ready for dinner and drinks by 7:00pm. repeat 5 times. That was Hoi An.

On to Nha Trang where I don't have all that much to say. Its great if your 19 and want to get wasted all the time, its a real beach party town. They are known for there scuba diving, but I did not partake. We took this opportunity to veg in our air-con room and eat banana pancakes (which are so good, I am so addicted to them) and watch HBO and MTV. We just needed some chill time I guess. Plus Nha Trang had a tough act to follow after Hoi An. I did, however run into someone i knew from Vancouver. How weird is that? running into someone you know it Vietnam?

We went from here to Mui Ne a beautiful little strip of beach about 3 hours north of Ho Chi Minh City. Its a fishing village. And you know it by the smell. But again, the food - so good. We had hot pot which is when they bring a steaming broth to your table and a plate of raw seafood and veggies and you make your own soup. yum. We had to cut this stop short cause we found out that all the border crossings into Cambodia by bus were closed for a week due to Chinese new year. So we booked a flight to Cambodia and hopped on the next bus to Saigon to catch the flight. It was unfortunate but it was just a beach, there will be alot more of those.

OK so the last chapter of Vietnam for those of you who are still reading was Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). We basically went there to catch a flight to Cambodia but got there a day early to check the city out. I was pleasantly surprised after Hanoi. We were there for valentines day, the three of us sat in our room ate chocolate and watched horror movies. It was so romantic. It was really hot there, probably 30degreese, and in the city it felt like 100. We went to the war reminiscence museum to take in some history about the American war. It was terrible sad and depressing which is to be expected with any war. But something clicked. I realised that I had seen alot of people in the streets with weird deformities begging for money and then it all made sense. Napalm. The children of those who were exposed to this are now old enough to beg on the streets. Really sad. Anyway I think my flickr pretty much sums it up. There is nothing American here, none at all. I suspect they are not big fans...

Flying to Cambodia was so luxurious after busing my way down the Vietnam coast. It was a 20 minute flight and bam! Your there. Phnom Phen is where we landed, then we had to figure our way out to Sihanookville where we went to our friends dad's beach house for the Chinese Happy New Year. Yes, its funny, they all call it "Happy New Year". like "today is happy new year", "the bank is closed because of happy new year".

At the house we got our first intro to Cambodia which is visibly poorer than the rest of the area. I think there is alot of corruption here and its said about 10% of the people have all the money. The poor are really poor and the few rich are very rich. They are still reeling from the genocide of the Khmer Rouge and Polpot from the late 70's. Somebody told me the other day that the people are being lazy and living off aid from Europe and Japan, instead of pulling there country together. I don't know though, I don't know enough about the country to have an opinion that i can post yet....

When we got here today, we met this 24 year old Cambodian boy who took us to the beach on his motorbike. He was studying to be a banker. He is holding off getting married until he finds an Australian or European girl to marry so he can go there and make alot of money to send back to his mother and sisters. Being a banker here you make 1$ per day. And there are big landcruisers driving around and really expensive pimped out SUV's. Someone if not making 1$ per day. Apparently alot of aid money disappears and alot of new SUV's appear on the roads....

We went to an amazing white sand beach with no one on it for a couple of hours yesterday where the water was as warm as a bath. And turquoise blue. Who would have thought Cambodia had beaches like this. Last night we watched an interesting transaction take place between two Cambodian families. The mother of the family I was staying with had sold a pig to another family in town for 100$. The family who bought it came back the following day to return the pig because the pigs foot was injured. Next thing I know there is a huge pow-wow being held where all members of both families were standing around discussing, very seriously this pig, about 20 people in total. The outcome was unbelievable, the people who returned the pig agreed to give the other family 70$ for it. The other family agreed this was fair. Then no one took the pig. They set it free because of pride. The pig symbolises bad blood between the two families because of the argument so no one wanted it. This was a perfectly good fat pig, that was worth 100$! I couldn't believe it. There it went, snorting off over yonder. haha. I though about grabbing it and taking it to the market myself for 100$. Its amazing what the people in this area will do to save face. They laugh when they are angry just because anger is a sign of weakness. So instead of road rage they sit there and laugh. I think we should start doing the same thing...

Today we took a taxi to a town called Kampot which is really nothing. Just a town beside a river. OH ya, except they are supposed to produce the best pepper in the world. We came here because tomorrow morning we are going on a trip up a mountain through a jungle in Bokor National park. Phew. that was long. Peace.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Me against the internet…

That’s how I feel today..but the rest of the week has been amazing. I am trying to upload pictures and its so s-l-o-w. I have been here for about 3 hours so far. What do I expect in a country that only has one ATM?? Yes..in the whole country One bank machine. At least I got to have a webcam 80’s party with Steph and Martin in real time while I wait. 80’s party’s have taken on a whole new meaning now – thanks to the internet we can have them with on the other side of the world! Only problem is now I have Foreigner stuck in my head.

So we have been in Laos for about a week now. I am wearing smelly white strings tied up ½ way to my elbows from one of the coolest experiences ever. We rented bikes in Luang Prabang (super cool French inspired small city that shuts down at 11:00pm sharp…) for a day and decided to bike around and see the city. We stopped to jump in the river and cool off after visiting a really cool temple. Which I don’t have the pictures from but should upload them - the paintings in this place were crazy. I will get them uploaded. Someday. Anyway these young monks were swimming in the river, they completely ignored us since they aren’t supposed to speak to or look at women. But as soon as we got out the guys we were with and the monks erupted in to the biggest seaweed war ever. We left the river all stinky from gross seaweed river city water we decide to head back to town for a shower and some grub. On the way back we heard loud karaoke music and took a detour to check it out. Lo and behold (what does that even mean??) we come across a birth party where this father was celebrating the birth of his new baby (I don’t know if by celebrating he meant trying to deafen it cause the music was SO loud my ears hurt) and they invited us to join. It was so cool, they had us up dancing with their friends and family and even brought us into the house to bless us and the baby. I guess this is a Buddhist tradition. So after lots of dancing, really spicy food and Beerlao we left a few hours later feeling like we had just stepped in and out of the twilight zone. We are supposed to wear the strings they tied on us during the blessing for a week cause they bring good luck. They are now yellow and starting to smell, but c’est la vie..

The following morning we got up ay 5:30am to witness the walking of the monks. They come out of the temple and walk down the street with baskets that people put food in. All the food they eat in a day is whatever is given to them during this daily ritual. We bought some rice and sat on the sidewalk waiting. It was a surreal experience - it was still almost dark out and there must have been 100 monks.

Last night we got back from a trek here in Laos. We left early in the morning and it was raining, good thing it stopped or I’m sure I would have looked like swamp thing by the time I got to the first village and scared the village people to death. Our guide was a guy name Huan (means house in Lao) he was a 25 year old student and a great guide. We trekked or about 3 hours and arrived at this small village in the mountains, this place was an eye opener. Really the first time I have noticed poverty in the villages. All the ones in Thailand were basic farming, live off the land villages and it seemed to work - the people seemed happy and healthy. Not so much here. The kids were all snotty and sick and very very dirty. Uncle Art would have a heart attack if he saw their teeth. And they didn’t seem to be really growing many crops and the livestock was scarce. And we sat there and ate our lunches. Nice big baguette sandwiches with ham and cheese while the kids stared on. I lost my appetite. No eating there for me.

After a few more hours of hard mountain hiking we arrived in the village where we would spend our first night. This was better, seemed they had it a little more figured out than the first place. Except the opium. All the men were smoking opium and walking around so stoned. It was creepy. But the kids were awesome, even though there seemed to be an over abundance of them, condoms? I doubt it. The guys we were with played a volleyball like sport with them while An and I took pictures. They love posing for the cameras and seeing themselves on the screen after. They scream and laugh, it’s so funny. We had cold hose showers in the outhouse and ate some good food, had a Beerlao and a mini ipod party (iPod speakers – our best friend!) and crashed at 9pm, so wiped out from the trek. The following day was basically the same except we had to walk along a river all day and we all took turns getting sock soakers. That night we were camping in tents on the beach. We arrived to the beach by kayak and jumped in the water. We were so hot and dirty (see my flickr for really embarrassing pics). We set up camp, ate, had a campfire with some of Huans friends and they serenaded us with Lao music and tried to feed us chicken heads and feet. Good times. Next morning we got up at 8:30 after a sleep that left much to be desired.. We began our 4 hour kayak down the Namkong river, which actually turned into about a 6 hour kayak cause the outbreak of seaweed / mud fights and the guys flipping there kayak over the rapids slowing us down. Plus we spent an hour hanging out at waterfalls..

Anyway that pretty much brings me to now. We are going to leave Luang Prabang tomorrow and go to Van Vieng, about a six hour bus ride to go tubing. Yep, that’s the big thing. Tubing. We were going to head straight to Vietnam but our visas don’t start till the 30^th so we decided to chill in Laos a little more. I prefer Laos to Thailand, the people are still glad to see you and not constantly trying to grab a buck out of your pocket. I am even learning the language, thanks to our Dutch buddy Dan who seems to know…every language?? Anyway that’s that. Check out the pics from the trek. Hopefully I can get to those temple ones but I have been in the internet café for 4 hours. Over and out. xoxo

No time!

Hey! So much has happened and I really haven’t had time to sit down and blog! So here it is. Actually it’s really annoying cause I just spent ½ hour writing one and the computer crashed just as I was about to his save. Arg.

We just got to Laos. We have been doing so much. Where do I start.. I guess with the last post is a good idea. We left Bangkok on an overnight train to Chiang Mai. It was a 12 hour ride, really comfy with beds. Then we got there and decided to leave right away cause the amount of dirty old men in that city is pretty disturbing. Every bar..old fat white guys and young Thai girls (lady boys??)…or both. Who knows. They really don’t try to hide it…no shame.

We left the next day on a 3 day trek in the jungle. The trek included about 5 hours of hiking each day which always seemed to be straight uphill or straight downhill. My poor legs. Thank god I had good hiking shoes - the people who didn’t were screwed, falling down all over! We went swimming in this great waterfall where all these little Thai boys (and there mothers) wanted to take photos of me. I don’t think they have ever seen such a tall woman. I felt like Barney the purple dinosaur at Canada’s Wonderland.. On the second day we rode elephants for an hour on which was very exciting at the time..not so much anymore.. (more about that later). The trek was really fun. We stayed in these small tribal villages in the mountain, our guide cooked great Thai food for us at night, even made dishes and cutlery out of bamboo. Mr. 30 Bhat was his name. he was funny. We had campfires and played games at night. Going to the bathroom was a terrifying experience - you seriously never know what will be waiting for you, especially if you have to go at 3am, thank god for headlamps. An and I made a pact that if either of us had to go in the middle of the night the other must get up and go with, cause I wouldn’t send my worst enemy out there alone. The next morning we went bamboo rafting, we were so tired from getting no sleep and hiking so much, we had to stand for 4 hours on the river. But it was still great. Being tired really feels different when your floating down a river in Thailand then it does at work. We even did the hokey poky.

So back to Chiang Mai after that to see if we could get into this elephant camp we heard about on the trek. This Thai lady started rescuing logging, tourism and street begging elephants from Burma / Thailand that were being abused or neglected and started this sanctuary. We decided to go up and volunteer for a couple of days. So we drove up there and learned all there is to know about the Asian elephant. We bathed with them, fed them, took them for walks in the morning but the best part for me was to just sit back and watch them. They are so emotional and intelligent. They form these families and protect their young like I couldn’t believe; they even adopt other elephants with no family around and take care of each other when sick. Anyway please, if you ever come to Asia or anywhere DO NOT RIDE ELEPHANTS!! I felt rotten about it the whole time…but I didn’t know what the training process was like and I knew next to nothing about elephants in general.. I won’t go into the stories of these animals cause they are really sad. Just don’t ride elephants.

After that we left Chiang Mai, headed to Laos where we are now. What a trip that was. One day on a bus and two days on a boat sitting on a 2 X 4. Honestly, my ass still hurts. I stood and read my book for 2 hours today cause it was better than sitting on the benches. The town we stayed at last night was cool, right on the edge of the Mekong river, this place had no electricity after 10:00pm and was completely run on generators. We went down to the beach and had a campfire, then went to bed in the weirdest place ever. There was a mouse on the floor all night eating a bun I had left there and my bed was on a slant so me in my sleeping bag kept slipping slowly off the bed all night, I guess whats what you get for a dollar! There was a toilet down the hall, but I would rather pee in the jungle than use it. Scary stuff. Just so you all know there is no toilet paper in Asia, instead there is a hose beside the toilet to clean your ass with then what? Put pants and undies on your soaking wet butt?? I haven’t quite figured it out yet. I just store toilet paper everywhere since you never know when curry belly might hit. Another issue I am having is doorways. I currently have 3 goose eggs on my head cause I keep walking into doorways. Other tall travelers I have met have the same problem. All the doorways are smaller than me. I am like Alice in wonderland. Haha. Oh ya, on the way to Laos ion the bus we drove past an accident and I saw 2 dead bodies! That was a first for me. Pretty traumatizing. Oh..speaking of traumatizing, we also saw someone bbq’ing the fattest sickest rats ever in Bangkok, I don’t know who eats them but someone does. So gross.

p.s i tried to add a picture but the internet is too slow! check out my pics on the side!

xo

made it!

Were in Bangkok! After a terrible tearful goodbye, 4 gravols (life savers), 30 hours hours and lots of really BAD food.. we made it. I like Bangkok, its really chill and HOT. ALOT of backpackers, millions of hippies. The food/beer is delicious and cheap the people are really pushy....always trying to sell you jusk. kinda like mexico. Actually it kinda reminds me of Mexico only weirder.. and the food is alot better. The first night we made it till 9pm, which is 9am in Toronto. We had Thai food, a beer, then a 3 dollar 45 min thai massage. Man, it was nice, I was in heaven. I kept 1/2 falling asleep and I kept thinking that the people walking on the floor was turbulence and I was still on the plane?!





Yesterday we spent the day driving in a tuk tuk (no doors, or windows!) through the worst pollution EVER to see the rest of the city since we had to wait here till Thursday to get our Vietnamese visas. We saw alot of dirty old men in the park, which was sad, they are with these poor young Thai girls (or boys?!)...the sex trade here is really bad and everyone just turns a blind eye because it brings in alot of money, sex tourism its called. Brutal.

Then we found these weird big lizards. We think they were Kimodo dragons but they probably aren't. I saw my first Monks (see flickr pics)! I got a blister walking around from my flip flops and put lip gloss on it. it works like a charm. no more pain. We saw a man with 4 nipples selling bags to backpackers on Koh San road. We ate curry, had a couple beers and a facial then went to bed (yes, we have started a nightly spa treatment ritual, at these prices who wouldn't!) Everything here is cheap beyond belief, its hard to spend money here! So tonight we are off to Chang Mai on an overnight train for some trekking and riding elephants in the jungle. I am so excited! I miss you all so much, i wish you could see this place! its like mars. haha. xoxo :)

"on a freight train with no brakes..."

In 24 hours we will be soaring through the skies of New York State. Gulp. I am just sitting here, not really sure if whats going on is real. My going away party was awesome (thanks everyone!) and its been great to have a week off to spend some time with my sisters and parents (Mr. and Mrs. Costanza), get packed and sleep in.

We were a bit freaked out last week when 9 bombs went off in Thailand on new years eve. So...we had to alter our plans with a little less Thailand, thats fine though, i am most excited about Vietnam anyways. So thats it. Lets see how I deal with the 24 hour flight.. me...who has ADD and OCD. I go bananas after 2 hours in a car, should be interesting to say the least. OH..and nevermind saying goodbye to Martin and Steph tomorrow at the airport. That will be a whole separate soap opera on its own :(

SO i will have one last 80's party tonight than 9am, drive to Buffalo. wish me luck!

d & m's adventures in bostonland

Ah..just us, the open road and a belly full of hot wings. Here we were...Boston, for a 4 day get-a-way :)

We had an awesome time. I had no idea it was such a cool town. Its so old and European-ish with brick sidewalks, lots of statues, monuments, old churches and pubs galore!

We spent a day and night walking around Cambridge, checked out Harvard campus and had yummy burritos. That night we caught a cool band playing in a pub, had some pints and hit the sack. The next day we moved downtown. Shopped, walked the freedom trail and Beacon Hill (awesome warm weather for November) and took tonnes of pics. We ate seafood (Legal Seafood - a Boston Tradition) the next night, after a full day of walking around Faneuil Hall Marketplace and eating ice cream. Then we ate some more, slept, walked, relaxed. I did not want to come home (as usual). It was a bit of a drive but the Buffalo Wild Wings we stopped at in Rochester, gave us something to look forward too.

guluwalk - bad coffee and overpriced batteries, all for a good cause

This Saturday my Dad, Andrea and I took to the street for an 11km walk in support of the children of Northern Uganda. These children are forced to walk every night to the closest town for protection from being kidnapped by the LRA (Lords Resistance Army) and turned into child soldiers or sex slaves. It is estimated over 66,000 children have been stolen from their homes over the course of this 20 year war in the region.

Team Acholi (the Acholi people are the tribe most affected by this despicable war) consists of Andrea, Maria and I. Unfortunately, Maria couldn't do the walk because of work, but my dad took her place. Together we raised $1285.50!! Thanks ALOT to everyone who donated to this awesome cause. Visit http://www.guluwalk.com/ or Andreas blog for more information. :)

e-bombing and going crazy...

Well..the title sums up the last 3 months of my life...well the last year really.

e-bombing is a term I coined for sending more than 4 emails in a row, to one person, about the same subject, without getting a reply within a 5 minute time span. Andrea and I have perfected the art of e-bombing each other, all night, 7 days a week... sometimes reaching up to 100 plus email's a night...Often bringing unsuspecting victims into our world of madness and confusion (sorry guys). Never mind the text messaging, I wont even go there.

So..whats so important that we must email and text constantly for a year you ask? Well... we are planning our great escape. Which, as you can imagine, takes alot of planning. Here's the coles notes version:

Leave January, fly to Bangkok. Travel Asia /India
Go to Africa in May to volunteer for a while here:

http://www.kidsworldwide.org/tanzaniawatoto.htm

Travel East and South Africa until we either go broke or burn out and go home, or go to South America.

The original plan we devised in October 2005 was a "Round the World" trip... but we obsess about Africa and don't know if we will ever get past it. I am so completely fascinated by that continent. So after a year of surfing, posting, carpooling, saving, making spreadsheets and working multiple jobs....here we are...3 more months.

my first day!

I am so jazzed up about this new blog. I'll be reporting on location all over the world in about 6 months time and I hope to provide everyone with a really great in depth experience. But first, here is a picure of me!!

A little about me? Well, where should I start? I live in Toronto and I am not notable according to the folks at Wikipedia. I tried adding my own entry in and it was rejected. This leads me to my current life goal: to become notable. To be able to enter myself into wikipedia and not be rejected. The question now is: Where do I start?