Air Treks

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Day 21 - 26: Bali

Day 21 - Travel Day

Today we flew out early from Phuket to Densipar, Bali, Indonesia. We had a layover in Kuala Lumpur airport which was really cool. They had an outdoor forrested area in the middle of terminal. It wasn't huge, but was nice to be able to get fresh air while in the airport. We spent about 30 minutes exploring the Lonely Planet store as they had soo many cool and convenient travel items. I really did not need anything at this point as I got free headphones at one of the hotel gyms (lost in China). However, I did end up finding a travel zippered pouch for my passport and necessary travel documents. Nothing in the store was a necessity although most things made traveling more organized and easier. This was why I ultimately wanted the zippered travel wallet. This will help me keep extra credit cards, cash, dive card, yellow fever record, etc... organized in transit and in the hotel safe. I never carry all of these items in my normal wallet, so now I will be more organized. Or maybe I just made up excuses to convince myself I needed something cool from this store. We will see.

One lesson we learned at the airport. We had forgotten to of check the local time vs our watch time as there was an hour time change despite being only an hour flight. This isn't usually a problem when we connect our phones or iPads to the internet as the time auto updates. With no free wifi, we thought we had an extra hour to kill. Luckily we realized it only 20 minutes into boarding vs 40 as we could have missed our flight. We now check the time zone ahead of time.

 

We landed in Bali at 7 pm and settled into a 3 hour hilly and winding road to the north side of Bali. I had no idea the elevation was so up and down in Bali. I am not sure if ether darkness was a good or bad thing. We missed the scenery, but didn't have to see how close we were to the cliffs on the winding road. Despite a day of travel, the three hour car ride allowed me to catch up on my blog from Patong (I usually reflect and organize pictures on travel days).

We were excited to reach the dive resort and to meet Toni (Kristen's sister) and Jim (brother in law who lived in Indonesia at one point in the past). They kept the restaurant open for us so could have dinner together at 10 pm. We literally ate yards from the crashing water.

 

Day 22 & 23 Scuba Diving

We spent the next two days diving in Bali. All in all, four great dives. This was a lot being that I have only dove 4 times in totality and all of those were done while gaining my PADI scuba license. The first day we literally walked right into the ocean from our rocky beach for a dive in their coral garden. I was definitely nervous with our first dive since being licensed. However, it was like riding a bike. I quickly became acclimated being under water again.

The way it works is that you get 200 PSI of oxygen in your tank and you scuba dive with the group until the first person has 50 PSI and you slowly surface. In all of my 8 dives now, I have always been the first to bring us up. I need to work on relaxing during my dives as you will see in some of the videos that I swim to much by using my arms and legs, thus using up oxygen too fast. Here is a summary of my four dives


Coral garden tauch terminal: 37 minutes at 23 meters deepest

Coral Wall. 37 minutes at 30 meters deepest

Tulamben shipwreck: 42 min at 24 meters deepest

Coral Wall: 45 min at 24 meters deepest

 

The good news is that I was able to stay down longer each of the subsequent dives. A few random thoughts and events from the dives:

1) I love diving and could go 3-4 times a day if possible. I am looking forward to Belize which is supposed to be the second best only to the Great Barrier Reef.

2) My Go Pro camera took some great video footage. I love this thing. I guess that Backstreet makes a removable lens that goes over the case that allows the colors to stand out. However, I have to order it online and don't want to bother shipping to Belize. Next time.

3) It amazes me at the diversity of life under water. We saw all sorts of crazy looking and acting creatures. I can't even describe all of them in words.

4) Kristen had problems diving the shipwreck as her asthma acted up. This is very concerning and she will most likely not dive in Belize.

5) Seeing the US World War II shipwreck was awesome. It amazes at how much life grows on the structure. You would think all of the metal was bad for the ocean, but it promotes great coral growth, which in turn supports other marine life. The ship was massive and a bit daunting when we first came to it. We got to dive through it which was a lot of fun. I can definitely see how it would be hard to find sunken ships as if you saw this at deeper depths, it could easily just be see as a coral wall. This wreck though had a few intact structures which made it recognizable as a ship.

6) Staying at the dive resort Tauch Terminal was great. 3 of the 4 dives we literally right off the beach. The other was a five minute boat ride out. I highly recommend them when traveling with the purpose of diving. It makes it soo easy.

7) We got quite a bit of rain here. The best place to be was underwater. You could not tell it was raining when we were underwater.

 

I have really enjoyed the food thus far in Bali. We are on the resort, but the prices are very cheap. Meals have been 50,000-80,000 RHB with a conversion of 12,000 RHB to $1. Mi Goreng has been my favorite thus far: stir fried rice with eggs and chicken or vegetables.

 

It still amazes me how quickly time flies by on the resort. Our two full days came and went in a flash. It was been enjoyable having Jim and Toni with on this leg of the trip. We have fun together and It is the first time we have traveled with another couple. It was been more difficult thus far on our trip than I expected to socialize with other random travelers.

 

Day 24 - Today we got an early start on the day. It is a schedule 3 hr drive from the coast to inland Ubud, home of Eat, Prey, Love. We planned four stops along the way to break up the very hilly and scenic drive. However, we just finished our two hour hilly hike up the temple, Atur Piuning, when the rain just unleashed. We tried to move on two stop two, but the roads were starting to flood and the drive was miserable in the down pour. We decided to cease the other stops and head straight to the resort.

The views were gorgeous on the hike, but it was too cloudy see the two volcanos on the island. We are starting to realize that hat a return trip to Bali might be in the cards.

 

Bambu Indah was our Eco resort in Ubud. It was a bit difficult to find, but once we did, holy moly was it just perfect. Everything is constructed out of bamboo with lush gardens and the most calming landscape. We rented the house on the small resort which was beautiful. They contained two outdoor showers, which I find to be very relaxing. I tried to capture the beauty of the resort in pictures.

 

Despite being about 5 pm, we quickly learned that there was a special festival that evening starting at 8 pm. This festival only occurs every 15 years in the village. I was a bit skeptical as I thought it might be a touristy attraction as no one could seem to explain its importance and it's meaning well. However, the temple was packed with locals dressed in their traditional garb. We eventually learned that the festival highlights the good and the evil in the world through song and dance. Eventually the good kills the evil through many different dances. The dancing started at about 10 pm, but we left at about 130 am. It went on until 4 am. The different dances moved very slow for my liking, but I learned the nest morning that the priests in the back of the temple are controlling the pace based on when the appropriate spirits come into the temple. There are various ways that the good and evil spirits come to the temple, which I did not fully understand. All in all, a good experience to be a part of, but difficult to stay for the entire festival.

I do wish I had taken a picture of my meal today. Grilled Tempe with corn fritters and mixed vegetables. The best meal I had at Bamboo Indah.

 

Day 25 - Today started early at 7 am with a phone interview for a job in Portland. Call went well and I am setting up an on sight interview the week we arrive in January! After a failed attempt to call via local SIM card, the internet signal was weak (no skype or FaceTime), and my iPhone not working, I had to use Jim's US cell phone for the 90 minute conversation. Not exactly sure how expensive that call was, but will soon find out. Either way, worth it to get the interview lined up.

 

We spent today exploring Ubud. We started the day off with a hike through the rice paddies. This was a very intimate hike as we were able to actually get in the field and watch closely how they harvest the rice. We have seen rice fields for three weeks now and we really wanted to get up close to see how it is grown and how it is harvested. We learned that they plant the seeds in one plot and once they germinate they are replanted in the fields. Almost all of the fields are planted and harvested by hand. An extremely hot, humid, and itchy job.

We also learned that some of fields have been killed from a Monsanto modified seed. What we were told is that Monsanto worked a deal with the Idonesian government to get their modified seeds in the country that produce higher yields. Many farmers tried the new seeds for a few growing seasons, but it did not grow in the fields. The farmers went back to replanting the old seeds, but they won't grow either. It is a big current problem for many of these farmers with no clear answer at this point. The farmers do not make much money on the crop as most of it is eaten within the family compound and community.

 

The people we met along the hike were very happy people despite working in the hot fields. They smiled and all stopped to say hello when we passed.

 

We also visited the monkey temple in Ubud which was interesting in two of ways:

1) the temple had huge, and I mean huge Banyon trees, which were cool to see in person

2) monkeys were everywhere. People fed them bananas and they monkeys were not shy to guests. We saw monkeys climb up various people who had treats. We saw a monkey climb up the back of one tourist, take the water bottle out of the bag, open it, and drank it. Right before we left, a monkey jumped on my backpack to grab my water bottle. We couldn't get it on camera quick enough. Luckily Jim, Toni, and Kristen quickly got it off.

We spent the rest of the day walking around Ubud. It is surprisingly better than I imagined. It is easy to walk to walk around. Great shopping and food. The people are very laid back and friendly. There is definitely a sense of calmness about this town.

 

We had a late dinner and I was able to get an hour massage in our room at 8:30. Indonesian massage is the best style I have ever had. It is a mix of applying direct pressure to certain stress points while still rubbing through muscles. The lady I had was excellent as she always had her second hand starting to massage before the first was lifted. The massage was on a regular massage bed vs floor in Thailand. However, she still was able to "crawl" on your legs and back. I kind of wish I could have seen what it looked like from afar. A well spent $23!

 

Day 26 - Today we spent the bulk of the day cycling down a hill with Banyon cycling tours. I was afraid it was going to be similar to the hike the day before, but it was much better. Having a great local English speaking guide is priceless. We were able to learn soo much from him. We got to see a local family compound. There were six families living there, I think about 24 people total. Each family has one room with one mattress! They all share the same kitchen and bathroom. It was in four separate buildings. This family interacted with us and they seemed very happen. The guide said that most people in Ubud are happy despite not having much money. They grow and raise all of their food, so they never go hungry. They get everything that they need, just not much more than that. The female traditionally moves into the compound of the males family. The siblings help raise and support the elders in the compound. A very self sufficient community. A common theme between China and Indonesia. Similarly, the guide did say that people were slowly moving out of the compounds and into the cities to give their children better education and opportunities.

 

The countryside in Bali is outstanding. They get so much rain and sun, that everything grows! We ended the tour with locally cooked Bali lunch. The chef was the wife of the guide! The food was outstanding. Their peanut sauce and tempe is amazing.

We finished the afternoon off with a private yoga class overlooking the valley and river. Very Eat, Prey, Lovish. After about 30 minutes of slipping and sliding, the instructor got me a pool towel for my mat. I forgot how hard yoga can be!

 

We spent out last night in Ubud downtown in search of Nasi Padang. I can't exactly describe this type of Idonesia food. It has been hard to find in Bali as it is more common on other islands. Nasi Padang was Jim's favorite food when we worked in Indonesia, so I was excited to try it. While shopping, we asked one of workers and she pointed us to the "best." Boy was she right. Despite not being the warmest meal ever, the flavors were delicious. I had rice, some sauce that was to die for, a spring roll, fried potato, Tempe, corn fritter, and a "pancake." Not exactly sure where it ranks on the best food we have eaten on the trip, but I most certainly would eat it again!

 

We finished the night having drinks at an outdoor bar reflecting on our amazing "holiday" (or vacation. No one but Americans seem to use vacation. Everyone traveling is holiday). We passed one of the best smelling bread stores on the way to the bar. I left and got us a sampling. The "rugby" at Breadlife was delicious.

 

Fairly early to bed as we had to leave at 6:00 am the next morning for Singapore.

 

Reflecting on Bali: we most certainly would love to come back to Bali. There is a ton of things to do here. We could have easily spent another two weeks exploring the island. What is great about Bali is that there seems to be this calmness. Most people are smiling and they generally appear to be happy. Life is good on this island. You can explorer, hike, dive, swim, trek, bike, shop, or simply relax on the beach or in an Eco lodge or villa. Bali is the first stop that Kristen and I both agree that it would be great to come back and in fact we want to come back. It is affordable to vacation to (once you get here). Australians are all over the island as it is a quick get away for them. The food was great. The people were great. The whole island was great! I am going to miss Bali.

 

Click here for Bali pictures

 

Day 19/20 Patong

Day 19 - Patong

We took the 7 am ferry back to mainland Phuket. We enjoyed spending the two days out on the remote islands. We are really enjoying island life, very relaxing, and for some reason, the days fly by. Some reviews of Phi Phi Islands compared their beaches to the Maldives. We did not find this to be even close. Phi Phi was gorgeous (and different as it had beautiful cliffs and hills), but the water is no where close to the clarity and marine life in the Maldives.

 

We are lucky that today is a special day in Phuket which means Patong is going to be hopping tonight. It is a full moon (which they party to each cycle) and it is Loy Krathong Festival (celebrating to the God of the Sea). To celebrate, people make krathongs, a floating offering to the sea. We got to make on in Phang Nga Bay. After five days of secluded beach time, we are excited for some night life.


We stayed at the Nap Hotel which was beautiful. Clean, open white spaces were very zen like in the middle of the madness and chaos of Patong. We walked the length of the beach checking out the para sailers and hundreds of beach goers. There was even a cruise ship docked in the bay.

 

The Krathong festivities started about 7 pm, so we ate right on the beach so we could see locals and tourists light their krathongs and set them in the ocean. Additionally, there were hundreds of white and red balloons being lite like hot air balloons and let in the sky. This along with occasional fireworks made for a beautiful sky.

We spent about an hour back at the hotel so we would be ready to hit the nightlife. It lived up to the craziness that was advertised. There were all sorts of risqué behavior going on. After a few hours of just taking in the commotion, we landed at a new dance club to get our grove on. Eventually the dance floor filled up and we had a blast. We felt like trendsetters as no one was dancing when we started, but everyone was soon after our arrival. I think we dance so poorly that everyone else felt comfortable dancing too. I'm sure more alcohol had a role also.

1:00 am came before we knew it and decided to head back. Long day of massage, pool, and beach tomorrow!

 

Day 20 - Day of relaxing in patong

To take advantage of a buy one get one free at the hotel spa, we had to take the 9:30 am appointment. We settled in for our 90 minute Thai couples massage. Despite being more expensive than the 400 Baht ($13) per hour on the beach, we wanted a professional massage with no chance of insects. We paid 1600 Baht for 3 hrs worth of massage, so I still felt like we got a good deal: 533 baht per hour ($18 per hr). An extra $15 bucks for a professional, indoor, and couples massage.

 

It gets hard psychologically when dealing with money when traveling. Your mind initially thinks there is a huge difference between a 800 vs 1600 baht massage. However, when you divide by 30, the variance isn't actually that significant.

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool and eventually in the shade as it got really hot. We took some time to upload photos and videos as the hotel had good wifi. Additionally, we spent about an hour finalizing our New Zealand adventures. Well, we actually only booked our flight, but decided on spending almost all of our time (6 days) on the South Island. Auckland where we fly internationally in and out of is on the North Island.

We decided to eat dinner at Charm Thai because it had great reviews and that they supposedly have the best Pad Thai in Phuket. After investigation, it was ironically a restaurant in the Holiday Inn down the road. We took off to explorer the best Pad Thai. Holy cow, the Holiday Inn was a beautiful property. It looked like it was built for families, but was huge and fun to walk through to get to the restaurant. It is interesting how I have a bias on certain businesses from being in the US. Who would have thought Holiday Inns would have at least three beautiful properties in Phuket (we have seen 3). Additionally, seven eleven has helped keep us stocked of water, beer, and snacks. We haven't eaten yet but KFC, Burger King, and McDonalds are busy places over here.

Anyways, back to pad thai. It was good. However, Oldies Cafe in Bangkok was better. They prepared an thin omelette and placed it on top. I think that was the difference. We got ourselves in a pickle again as we barely had enough cash to pay for dinner as I forgot the credit or debit card in the safe. Wouldn't have been a big deal, but an extra beer would have made waiting out the rain more enjoyable. Oh well, I've had enough Chang beer in Thailand.

 

We called it fairly early tonight as we had to pack our bags for a 7:00 am taxi to the airport. On to Bali! Excited to move on from Thailand, but glad we are still going to the beach! Diving the ship wreck is on my top 10 experiences list!

 

Thailand summary.

A few people have asked about how great the food is. Kristen and I both agree that the food in Thailand has not been better than the Thai food we have eaten in the US. It isn't worse, we would rate the same. I think this is two fold:

1) we have fresher vegetables. Being that we both enjoy a lot of vegetables in our Thai, this is huge for us.

2) if you prefer different meats, Thailand doesn't exactly have the infrastructure to raise the best beef, pork, or chickens. In fact, I didn't eat much meat as I have seen the refrigeration systems and the lack of proper food handling here.

This surprises Kristen as she felt the Indian food in India was hands down better than any food in the US.

 

The Thai people have been very accommodating to us as tourists. Many get excited to "practice" their English with you. The better they speak English, the better opportunities they can have.

 

Phuket is beautiful. Bangkok wasn't as nasty overcrowded as I had imagined (wonder if we just stayed in the right place). Motorbikes and taxis are the only vehicles on the road.


Click here for Southern Phuket pictures

 

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Day 17/18 - Phi Phi Islands

Day 17 - Travel to Ko Phi Phi Island

This morning we ate breakfast and took an early morning cab to drive across Phuket Island to the marina in Phuket Town so we could sail to Ko Phi Phi Island. We decided to stay here two nights to experience the white sandy beach life. I never realized how big the island of Phuket actually is. Having stayed the past three nights on the west coast in Northern Phuket we were in a pretty secluded resort with big waves from the ocean. Phi Phi Islands are located southeast of Phuket somewhat protected in the bay.

The marina was a bit chaotic and sure enough so was the entire boat ride. We were a bit nervous as one of these island cruisers sank recently from being over crowded. We can see why. They crammed so many people on this boat. Luckily we found a row of three seats with one seat on a post so no one could sit there. We got lucky to have some space. Maybe lucky isn't that accurate as we were ready to board as soon as they allowed as we know that having the right seat vs the wrong seat can make a difference between a hot and sea sick cruise vs a pleasant one.

The view on the ship was beautiful. We cruised into a bigger version of yesterday's Phang Nga bay. We took turns sitting in the open part of the boat taking in the view and breeze. The breeze can trick you quick as the temperature is perfect with the breeze in your face. However, there are very dense sun rays beating on you.

We booked our stay at the Holiday Inn as it got great reviews and was on a private beach (Leam Tong Beach) on the north side of the island where only four hotels are located vs a buzzillion. This turned out to be awesome. 90% of the boat got off on the first stop which left the rest of us to be picked up via longboat in the open water. Our area did not have a pier. This was a chaotic way of coming in as I was ready to get off the crowded boat, but looking back was a cool way to come ashore.

We quickly put our bags in our room and headed down the beach to Jasmine's a local sea gypsy restaurant. I was a bit nervous to eat too much spice as I was finally feeling better. Pineapple rice and vegetables in oyster sauce did me well. We started out sitting outside about 30 feet from the water, but had to move in once it started to down pour.

 

We were tired from a day of traveling and headed to bed for a full day of beach tomorrow.

One of the "hard" things about traveling so much is not being afraid to go to bed at a decent hour. We usually like to take in the night life also when we travel, but doing that every night isn't possible. Luckily, we are at the isolated part of the island so there was not much pulling us to stay up.

Day 18 - Ko Phi Phi Island

Kristen got up early to take advantage of the fitness room (this was one of the big reasons for booking the Holiday Inn). I decided to get some more rest. She came back disappointed as every cardio machine was not working. All but one, see the video for the one working machine:

After breakfast, we decided to walk the beach since it was high tide. Still amazes me on how much variance there is between high and low tide. It makes the beach look completely different. We quickly noticed a swing hanging over the waves where we both had a blast swinging and crashing into the waves.

After strolling a few of the sea gypsy establishments and the other resorts, we found out that this part of the island did not have an ATM! Damn. This meant that we were eating at the Holiday Inn for dinner. We used up all of our Thai Baht. In hind sight, we probably could have gotten away paying in USD. Not sure why we didn't think of that at the time.

We spent the next few hours lounging at the pool until Kristen got bored. She started to walk down the other part of the beach before returning in a few minutes. There was a path that looked like it went to a private beach, so she came back for me. We took off to find the next resort about a mile later. No hidden beach. We did get some beautiful views though. We eventually found a supposed snorkeling spot, but we found it fairly benign that day. We didn't intend to walk this far so we had no water, bug spray, or money. We walked the mile back tired and wet.

Kristen got ate alive on the way back. And by a lot, I mean a dozen huge bits on her back. She is the perfect bug repellant for me. For some reason, they just love her. Often times before and on this trip, she will be getting bites and I won't even notice the bugs. She hasn't been using fragrant moisturizers either. Who knows why, guess her blood just tastes better.

We relaxed for a few minutes at the pool before taking in a beautiful sunset from on top of the hill. Our dinner was a service disaster as they delivered me the wrong pizza. I needed a break from Thai, not that it isn't good, but I just needed a break. However, we had a blast hanging out as we ended up drinking an extra beer while waiting for the second pizza. She again was getting bit, so we head indoors.

We had been meaning to watch a movie this entire trip, but had failed to do so since the plane to Beijing. The Beach was filmed in the Phi Phi Islands, so we figured they would have that movie to pick from. It was not available so we reverted back to our iPads.

Ever since I started keeping a list of thoughts and questions throughout the day, we are able to investigate more. We had been meaning to investigate the Tsunami of 2004. Kristen found an 8 part series on YouTube that shocked us of the devastation. It is different to watch this when you are located exactly where the tsunami too place. Needless to say, neither of us slept well that night as the stories from tourists and locals who lost loved ones was disturbing.

Pictures to come in the next post

 

Monday, November 18, 2013

Day 14/15/16 - Northern Phuket

Day 14 - Travel day to Phuket

 

Today we had an afternoon flight from Bangkok to Phuket. We had to change our original flight as we were not scheduled to fly to Phuket for another two days. However, we came to Bangkok two days early (to avoid typhoon in a Vietnam) and we did not want to spend four in Bangkok as we preferred to explorer the beaches of Thailand vs the concrete cities. We were able to change our Bangkok Airlines flight for $18 per person! Why can't we have these change fees in the US?

 

Although we were eager to get to the beach, we chose the 2:30 flight. This gave us time to sleep in, workout (well Kristen as I feel like crap), eat a good breakfast, and avoid the traffic!

Our flight was only 1.5 hrs, but we still received a meal. My strategy of ordering vegetarian continues to pay off as the regular meal few ate. The one down side to ordering vegetarian, it seems you never get the sweet dessert, but fruit. Nothing against fruit, but airline fruit is not any good. I would rather eat the high fructose corn syrup cake. Why can't a "vegetarian" get the normal dessert? Kristen said that this has always been since she has ordered vegetarian.

 

Our arrival at the Renaissance on Mai Khao Beach was magnificent: welcome drink in the open aired reception area over looking a huge calm pond. We quickly unpacked the swimsuit to spend the afternoon at the pool, walking on the beach, and playing in the waves. The pictures highlight the beauty of the area.

 

We ate Thai food for dinner again overlooking the beautiful pool before calling it a night.

 

Day 15 - Renaissance Resort day in Phuket

 

We spent the day relaxing at the pool and playing in the waves. The beaches are very pretty. The tide changes every six hours so the waves crash pretty hard here. This makes for difficult walking on the incline of the sandy beach.

I got a traditional Thai Massage in the afternoon. I opted for the local massage right on the property line instead of Marriott high end priced spa. My hour massage was 400 Baht or about $14! Thai massages are different than the traditional relaxation massage in the US. Instead of rubbing through different muscles, Thai massages are about applying pressure to pressure points while holding the muscle in a certain position. Very different. I did enjoy the massage, but I would prefer a more traditional massage the second time around.
Sunset tonight was awesome. We had huge waves coming in and a beautiful sun. We took turns playing in them while the other tried to capture pictures. It was one of the most fun sunsets I've ever experienced. We literally took over a 100 pictures and it was difficult to reduce to a few to post! It was like the sun was shining right at us as there was a sparkle no matter where we stood in the sand.
 

We ate at the same Thai restaurant on the resort as it was delicious the night before. Tonight we got to eat outside where we sat on mats on a raised up floor making our legs ninety degrees and straight under the table. Very weird to eat this way and actually uncomfortable, but fun to at least try once. I tried Thai whiskey which is supposed to be much stronger than US whiskey. I didn't notice any difference in strength or taste.

We spent the remainder of the night planning our day trip to Phang Nga (pronounced Pang Na). We also booked one more night at the Renaissance as we enjoyed it that much.

Most of our trip thus far has been pre-planned. However, we didn't know what beaches or areas of Phuket we wanted to stay, so we didn't book anything after the first two nights. Luckily tripadvisor and hotels.com make it fairly easy to find good reviewed hotels and tour excursions.

 

Day 16 - Phang Nga

Most of the day trips to the area left early in the morning. However, one of the more highly regarded trips, John Gray Sea Kayaking, left at 1130. This was great as you can sleep in, eat breakfast, workout, and relax at the pool before starting the excursion.

This trip was amazing and I anticipate being the highlight of our Thailand experience. The staff picked us and two other couples up in a hardwood floored minivan where we were taken to the pier where many other tourists were. John Gray had two boats for the afternoon. We were welcomed on our boat with drinks and lunch and sat sail into Phang Nga.

The pictures are beautiful, but don't do the islands justice as they are not in 3D. We kayaked through the cave to the middle of the hung and had a blast taking in the beauty of the area. It was really cool to find out there were huge holes in these rock formations. As the water rises, they fill up making them accessible through cave openings. You have to time them just right to get in our out as the openings close when the water is the highest. It makes you feel like a true explorer when you kayak through them.

 

We meet many other travelers, some from the US. One girl from Washington was working for a charity in Pakistan. Holy cow, interesting to learn about her experience there. It is fun to learn about others travels.

 

I will let the pictures and their captions speak to the beauty we got to witness! We came out of our last cave and it down poured. A bit scary for about an hour as at one point lightening struck what seemed to be a few hundred yards from the ship. Luckily the winds were not high, so we just had to wait out the heavy rain. The crew on the ship were awesome and made it much better than it could have been.

We arrived a bit late at about 9:15. We finalized our plans for the next morning. Headed to Don Phi Phi island. Supposedly clear water only to be compared to the Maldives. We will see!

Click here for Phuket pictures

 

Friday, November 15, 2013

Day 12/13 - Bangkok

We arrived in Bangkok in the afternoon, put on our backpacks and made our way to the hotel via subway. We picked the Eastin Grand +Eastin Grand Hotel Sathorn  as it was rated well and right off one of the subway stops. I don't feel so foreign here with our backpacks on as there are tons of people doing the same at the airport and train station. That hasn't been the case up until now.

From the subway, we passed a few huge malls and tall skyscraper, maybe Bangkok was going to be more advanced than I anticipated. Our hotel was fairly new, so we had a very nice room. After about 6 hours of driving and two flying over the past 36 hrs, we both wanted to work out. Holy cow was the gym nice. I rode the bike on the 14th floor looking at the hotel across the street as people played in their infinity pool. Having walked passed ours to the gym, I quickly lost motivation to workout. Seems to be a growing theme. I did 20 minutes, some stretching, a few weights before jumping in our pool with my gym shorts on. The pool was a great surprise as I did not know they had an infinity pool! Luckily, Kristen worked out for an extra hour, so I got some relaxing time at the pool!

At this point it was getting dark, so we showered and headed to the Silom district for dinner. We picked an authentic Thai restaurant. Ironically, when we sat down, it as called Oldies Cafe decorated in 70s US decor and playing oldies music. It was interesting to say the least. Despite being American decor, the food was awesome, all for about $14.

We walked back to the hotel where we saw just about everything for sale. We were offered all sorts of sex shows, ping pong shows, etc. all the scams warned against on the internet. We just took in the hustle bustle scenery. These sidewalk shops set up and tare down each night. Lots of work. Below is picture of my favorite tshirt for sale.

Kristen wasn't feeling well so we headed to bed early.

Day 13
We started today off with some needed relaxation. We had a delicious breakfast at the hotel. The hotels put on huge spread of breakfast and lunch items in both local and Western cuisine. We worked out and relaxed at the pool for a few hours. It was nice to finally spend some relaxation time. However, it was a last of two days in Bangkok, so we wanted to see some of city during the day.
By the time we got ready, it was about 2:00. I wasn't feeling the greatest, but we headed out. We took a longboat up the river to the Grand Palace, which was supposed to be the top thing to see in Bangkok. However, we did not arrive until 3:20 so we could not visit. What kind of touristy spot closes that early. The crazy part of this excursion was the amount of scams going on. Kristen had read about them, and sure enough, we heard them all. They wanted to help us navigate to our next journey. They could sneak us in. They could get us cheaper tickets to the temples. On and on. We really didn't want to be bothered by them, but they were everywhere.

We walked the street markets which looked like a 1990s rummage sale. It baffles me on how they got all of this stuff from America and other western countries. I was starving so I had some pad Thai from a street vendor which was delicious. We made our way to two other temples which you can see from the photos. I was really not feeling well so we didn't stick around for long at each of these.
We decided to take the public transportation on the river. It was supposed to be 3 baht ($0.10) instead of the 125 baht ($4) we paid to come. After about a 20 minute wait, we realized why it was only 3 baht. It may not have been the smartest thing we did in Bangkok. The boats were packed. The only reason we stayed on was because we were literally at the back corner where we could dive in the water if there were issues. However, the black smoke from the exhaust was disgusting. I have no idea where they get the engines. One other public boat tried to come to one of the piers where we were letting people on and off (we had to make 7 stops) and it literally hit the back corner were we were standing. There were some type of government officials on the pier taking pictures of our overcrowded boats and they witnessed first hand the craziness of it to all. Two weeks ago we read how a ferry in Thailand sank from being overcrowded. We now understand how that is possible. We couldn't even make it in the inside to pay. At least we didn't have to pay to risk our lives.
We eventually made it home safe and a shower never felt better. Between the people, the crowds, the exhaust and the view of the trash filled river, we were happy to be clean. At dinner we discussed how our government is not perfect and there is wasteful use of our tax dollars. However, we are happy to over pay to avoid the unsafe and unsanitary conditions that are in some of these countries.

We got dressed up and made plans to hit the crazy nightlife of Bangkok. Indian for dinner, rooftop bar for drinks, Nana Plaza to observe the crazy red light district, and RCA area for a late night club scene. Unfortunately, I was feeling awful and barely made it home after rooftop drinks. I was disappointed as I wanted to experience the night life in Bangkok, but I just couldn't make it. I needed to lay down. Oh well. It wasn't meant to be. I still don't know what I ate that Kristen didn't.

The rooftop bar was awesome. It was on the 61st floor and had only open sky above us. 360 degree view of the city. It was the first time that heights really bothered me. I am hoping that it is because of illness. We only had the iPhone so not sure how the video looks on a computer screen.

We called it an early night and were excited to fly to Phuket the next day. We really need a vacation from vacation. Just some beach relaxing time. No subways, no navigating city streets and crowds. Simple life of eating and relaxing and hopefully some recovering.
Click here for Bangkok pictures!

Monday, November 11, 2013

Day 11 - MeKong Delta

We had a different tour guide today who drove us about 2.5 hours to the MeKong Delta. We were both very excited for this day as we had booked Vietnam for this experience. It was not a let down. The pictures highlight our excitement to put on a pointed hat and cruise on the river. It amazes me that people still live like this, floating on the river or living right next to it in what we wouldn't park a car under at home.

 

One thing I have to say about Vietnamese is that they are extremely resourceful and creative. They use and reuse many of the natural things around them. They grow the different types of rice for the season, burn the outer shell for cooking, then replant the remains as fertilizer. They use the mud from the river to make bricks and all sorts of random plants and materials for items in their shops and homes.

 

A few highlights of the day:

1) Kristen told our guide for the day that we were NYU students from NYC traveling after our exams. She had been told in India to always lie about your profession to be either a student, social worker, or teacher. This way people won't try to take advantage of your money.

2) To date, I have not seen a sign for rent or for sale. Now obviously I do not speak any of the native language, but even where signs are in both native and English, there hasn't been anything that even resembles.

3) To date, no windows in local buildings or hotel have screens. Interesting as Mosquitos and bugs can be problems when opening up for fresh air.

4) a conversation in the car to MeKong:

Me: if you had to pick, would you rather live in Vietnam or China?

KT: That is difficult, but I guess Vietnam as you have a little more freedom. That's like asking if you would rather eat cat or dog.

Me: (without skipping a beat) Dog for sure.

KT: (with a look of horror on her face) you would eat Lou?

Me: Of course not. But I am allergic to cats

We both laughed at my quick response to what Kristen thought was a tough and complicated question.

5) I got a bit uncomfortable in one moment when the guide asked me a question: "I heard in America, some bitches..." I didn't hear the rest of the sentence as I was shocked at what he said. A few sentences later, I realized he meant to say "sand beaches". Freaking hilarious. Luckily I have an English to English translation guide with me, Kristen.

6) Kristen continues to be annoyed when they assume I am Mr. Kristen Thomas. When we use a credit card under her name, they ALWAYS assume I am Kristen. Obviously, no woman should have their own personal credit card.

7) I continue to be annoyed that everyone thinks we are friends since we don't share the same last name.

Pop Rice - Step 1

Pop Rice - Step 2

 

After visiting the Delta (the pictures do way better justice than my words), we made a detour to Can Thou for the night. We were supposed too fly to North Vietnam to visit the beautiful Halong Bay. However, the typhoon is hitting today so we are leaving Vietnam early to spend a few more days in Thailand. We are hoping to get to the airport any minute to hopefully catch the end of the Alabama/LSU game in the airport. It is 9:30 am Sunday here, so the game is probably halftime. I don't expect the channel to be available but hopefully we can get the audio via wifi.

 

Vietnam pictures click here


 

Day 9/10 - Vietnam

Day 9 
We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) at about 1100 am. We breezed through security and customs and were excited to have a half day to explorer HCMC. We came out of the airport to look for our tour guide. No signs with our names to be found. Very frustrating. We arranged for pickups at the cities that do not have subways that are easy to use to get to our hotels. HCMC does not have that and they don't speak English. Here we are with no ride/guide. We found the hotel worker for the hotel we were going to check into and he called our tour company. They were 30 minutes behind. She came running to meet us and apologized profusely. Not the best start, but hey, we had our English speaking guide so we were set.

She was younger and spoke good English which was nice. We did a city tour which was fun. We went to the Eastern Medicine Museum to see how they use eastern medicines to treat illnesses. We explored the Chinese market, yep, Chinese as they once ruled the country so they have a big presence here. All in all, a great start. +New World Hotel 
We checked into the New World Hotel and got lucky as they upgraded us to the Residence floor. Free happy hour! Full top shelf liquor and great food. President Clinton and Bush both stayed here when they last visited HCMC. Our floor had its own reception desk which came in handy since our room key frequently stopped working. They blamed one of our credit cards or cell phone. Who knows. The floor had its own private outdoor space which was great to sit for happy hour.

We had a cyclo tour scheduled at 6:00. I didn't exactly know what to expect. We have now seen rickshaws, tuk tuks, and now cyclos. So here is the differences:
Rickshaws: this is what we took in Beijing when exploring the hutong. Biker in front with a carriage like seat for two people behind him. The bike is manual pedal style.
Tuk tuks: this is the same set up, but the bike is motorized. We haven't been in one of these yet. Many people got around in these in Cambodia.
Cyclo: best concept yet. I had seen both of the first two when traveling before but not the cyclo. Here they put the passenger in the front so you get a better view. This makes sense so you don't stare at your biker the whole time. The downside is that it is only one seat in front. If there were two seats, the biker couldn't see.
This tour was awesome. It amazes me how different the city feels when you slow down and are not in a car. It is different from walking around as you don't have to pay attention to your route or each step. You simply put your feet up and watch the city live! My driver did not speak English which was perfect as I appreciated the quiet time.

We had a fabulous Vietnamese dinner at Hao Tuc. It has also been fun trying the different types of beers. To be honest though, most lagers taste the same. Sometimes I think they just taste better as they are less than a dollar!

Speaking of dollars. $1 USD equal about 21,000 VND. VND = Viet Nam Dong. This is very weird as I went to the ATM to get money out and hesitated to remove 1 million Dong until I realized it was only $47. I never got used to carrying around 500,000 bills.

We decided not to do some foot exploring as there was time for that tomorrow. I really enjoyed our first day in Vietnam.

Day 10
After a great breakfast on our floor at the hotel (business world travelers live the high life in these hotels!), we met our guide to head to the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Vietnam war museum. I was excited for today to learn about the War. Remember, we are in South Vietnam which is who the US Soldiers helped support in battling Communistic North Vietnam. I state this as Kristen and I were very shocked with the message that both sites highlighted. I am not going to pretend to be a Vietnam War expert and will not go into what I know to be the truth. However, the entire day was spent highlighting how horrific America was for fighting Vietnam. There was no mention at either exhibits that there was a civil war going on between their own citizens. There was no mention of France, China or other countries who were helping with the fight. It was basically, look at want America did to our country.
Our guide and all of the exhibits highlighted how much they celebrated when the US pulled out and Vietnam could celebrate their "Independence". After some fairly deep discussion with the guide, we had to agree that they were celebrating their unification as one country, as the north took over the south and the south actually lost their Independce. Anyways, enough war talk. After contemplation, it makes sense why the message is the way that it is. The communist government controls the message at these exhibits and of course they do not highlight that the north Vietnamese soldiers also killed Vietnamese citizens from the south. Also, many of the south Vietnamese citizens who did not want communism were either killed or left for America after the war.

What shocked us both was how one sided all of the exhibits were. Additionally we were shock at how our guide spoke at how horrific America was by randomly attacking Vietnam in order to colonize it and how proud she was that her country was smart enough and able to battle of America. She spoke how free and clean her country was and how communism was good for their country. This was the same sentiment we heard from other English speaking guides. What shocked us the most was later she described how she had plans to move to America in three years with her boyfriend. Her plan was to have her baby in America so her baby can have US citizenship.
All of this highlights to me a few things:

1) no doubt we are all lucky as hell to have been born in America.
2) how people can be very close minded when they are not exposed to what is available in the world. Kristen and I are very lucky to be able to explore the world to learn this also. This was highlighted when our guide said how proud she was that her city was clean. She said this as we were driving by the river in HCMC with all sorts of visible trash floating in it. No way would we take a swim in that water. She simply has never seen cleaner. HCMC is definitely cleaner and more advanced than Beijing, Xian, Siem Reap, etc... However, it is no where close to meeting American standards.
3) even though people know it can be better, they would rather learn that themselves. People in the masses would rather continue as they know it than believe someone else that it can be better a different way. This really interests me to learn more about our foreign policies. We can't continue to try and help people who don't want help. I appreciate the hard grey area as I do believe that the US has to help in many instances. Kristen and I talked about this a lot as it highlights why we step in when there is additional political gain when helping mankind of other countries. We have to prioritize resources in the US and abroad and at some point someone gets help and someone doesn't. That list must be very difficult for our country's leaders. Traveling has made me realize that we can most certainly help with many basic societal problems in other countries that would help millions of people. Prioritizing that compared to our own country's needs is very complicated.
4) Observing the exhibit on Agent Orange was not pleasant. I felt embarrassed to be American. I wondered how hypocritical other countries see us knowing that we nowadays advocate heavily agents chemical weapons. There is nothing that can be said to defend our decision on Agent Orange, it was simply wrong. I do reflect on trying to understand why we did it. Did we know its effects on humans? Ever since then, it appears that we have learned our lesson. It almost feels like the US is similar to an old drug addict who now tours schools to advocate against its use. Maybe we have learned our lesson. We must find a way to win wars in more diplomatic ways. I also reflect on how a few key individuals are empowered to make decisions like this. They truly do represent us. The rest of the world initially judges us as individuals based on the decision our country makes.
All in all, today's experience really prevent a recommendation for Americans to travel to Vietnam. The people here have been friendly to our face, but we are uncertain how they all truly feel or would feel if they knew we were American. Hard for us to understand, but many can't tell if we are European, Canadian, or American. I especially do not recommend if anyone has an emotional tie to the war. It upset both of us and we don't.
We did not feel comfortable taking pictures of the exhibits in the war museum. Images of war are brutal and were not necessary to document our trip.
We finished a day with free dinner at our happy hour and a stroll though the streets of HCMC. Some fun pictures and video of this experience.

Important to note: we are waiting until we are out of country to post this or any similar messages on Facebook. The guide stated that Facebook was supposed to be blocked, but most people could actually get on it. I definitely believe that speech is monitored.

Vietnam pictures click here