Koh Tao!

Left Koh Phangnan yesterday by ferry- in typical Asian fashion it showed up an hour late so I didn't get in until about 8pm. My friends were on the earlier ferry (which was sold out when I went to go book) so they met me and already had a place to stay which I appreciated.


They're doing they're diving course through a different company but we're really close to each other. My course starts tonite with a little intro and then we start the practical part tomorrow! I'm really looking forward to it. I've only done a little snorkelling before when I was in Australia so it'll be completely new.


The company I'm diving with offers free accommodation with the course which is great for a thrifty traveler like myself. The description of the room on he website painted a pretty grim picture about what the room was like, and they weren't lying- but it's free and I really won't be spending much time in there. It's hoootttt and with 6 beds, the single fan doesn't really do anything. It actually feels like it just blows hot air haha.


Koh Tao is beautiful! It's small, only 21km squared. In Thai "koh" means island, and "Tao" means turtle- so turtle island! The vibe is a lot more relaxed here, Koh Phangnan was so much of everything, 24 hour techno music blasting didn't really allow you to relax. I could spend a lot of time here and like a lot of the other places I've been, there are all types of people. There are a couple high end hotels/ bungalows all the way to free dorm beds.


Throughout the next week or so our group will slowly start diminishing. Dan has already left because he wanted to fish on Koh Samui instead of dive.. And then after diving everyone seems to have different agendas. Ill be off to Krabi to climb, and then Indonesia and Cambodia! So much to look forward to.

<3

R&R in Koh Phangnan

I flew from Vientiane, Laos to Bangkok and then to Koh Samui, Thailand. Then I took a 45minute ferry to Koh Phangnan to meet up with my friends from fire. We have a bungalow right on the ocean it's really great. After a hectic last few weeks traveling it's been good to hang out with friends on the beach. Our bungalow also has a pool and a water slide which we spent most of today at. The island itself is pretty commercialized, especially around full moons because it's notorious for their full moon partys. It was last night- the whole beach was PACKED with people. Every bar up and down the beach was blasting different music, there were fire dancers, games... It was pretty cool. I've booked a 4 day diving course on Koh Tao- another island just north of here. A few of my friends are going to join me which is fun. I'm having a great time, really not doing much just enjoying the beach and having my friends here! <3

Final words from Laos

Our last day in Vang Vieng I relaxed in the morning, read my book and went for a run. And then Dan and I hiked to Lusi cave which was 2km from town. It was a smaller version of the Poukham cave we went to the day before. The owner of the hostel we were staying at had a wife who owned a restaurant right beside. She offered to cook us a Laos dinner our last night! It was so nice. She bbq'd fish, made veggie stir fry and a salad. It was so delicious (Sai Lai in Laos) and even though we really couldn't understand each other it was cool to interact the little we could. The hostel was called Nana Guesthouse, I'd recommend it to anyone in Vang Vieng the owner and his wife are amazing.


Tonight is our last night in Laos, we're in the capital, Vientiane. I left the decision making to the boys for a few days... to get from Vang Vieng to here we hired a minibus at 3am. We didn't have a place to stay in either city so we layed in the lobby in Vang Vieng until 3am, drove 2.5 to Vientiane and then layed in the lobby here until 8am when we got our room. The whole time I was questioning the decision making skills of the boys... Never again haha. Needless to say we had a good long nap yesterday, walked around for a bit, splurged on an amazing dinner (splurged by Laos standards it was really only $15). And then got to bed early.
Today we stumbled across a Laos food festival which was fun. They were having some sort of cooking competition- whatever they were cooking looked REALLY spicy! We roamed around a really cool night market on the Mekong river tonight, I bought a cool dress.


We fly back to Thailand tomorrow morning. Through Bangkok to Ko Samui (an island beside Koh Phangnan) and then we'll take a quick ferry to Koh Phangnan. My two girlfriends from fire got to Bangkok 2 days ago and I'll get to see them tomorrow! We said goodbye to 2 guys we'd been travelling Laos with from Montreal. They headed back to Hanoi, Vietnam and then back to Canada. I hear it's record low temperatures at home. It is hooootttt here! So hot. I've really enjoyed Laos, it is beautiful and the people are so nice. Looking forward to meeting up with friends and relaxing on the beach!

<3

The Invitation

A poem I've come across that i really like.

The Invitation- Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it, or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, 'Yes.'

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
<3

Vang Vieng

We took a sleeper bus from Luang Prabang. We'd been traveling 2nd class so the sleeper bus was a big step up. Each person had their own little cubby that you could lay in. It's a great alternative to the sitting seats that I can never seem to get comfortable in. Our first day we went tubing in the river. It used to be vang viengs' claim to fame- but for some reason (I've heard many different sides), the tubing has become a lot less common. We still had an amazing day. Laos is the most beautiful country! The river we were floating in is surrounded by mountains and greenery. It's amazing... Laos is also home to the most delicious sandwiches! I could eat them for every meal. Today we rented bikes to go to some caves. We told the place we rented where we were going but they failed to mention that an old school road bike would make it a tough go. The lonely planet said it was 7km on flat terrain.. The terrain was definitely flat- but the whole road was rocks. Big rocks. It was a BUMPY ride!! 14 km. And I got the short straw and had the worst bike. My chain fell off 12 times haha. The cave (Poukham) was huge! Caves kind of scare me, the idea of not being able to get out, but I still explored inside. We didn't realize the cave was so treacherous so we didn't bring runners. Between our road bikes and flip flops we were unprepared for the day. But we still had a great day. After the caves we had a swim in the blue lagoon. The water was so refreshing. We have 3 more days in Laos and then back to Thailand to meet up with our other friends from fire. Still having an AMAZING time, Southeast Asia is the best. <3

Luang Prabang

Our first day here we really just wanted to chill out with no public Transport so we rented bikes and drove around with no real purpose. It was great! We first climbed down the river bank, crossed a very sketchy bamboo bridge and then back up the river bank. It was a hot day for a bike ride but we got out of the city and into more rural towns whic was nice. We had a pretty good group of us. Myself and the 2 guys I'm wih, 2 Canadians from Guelph who we met at the Laos immigration. I really like them we spent a lot of time with them. An American girl who is still with us and a German guy who we also think is on our bus tonight to Vang Vieng. We've also picked up 2 friends of Matt hat he knows from Canada. They'll be with us for the rest of Laos and then they head back home. I also booked a 2 day trek which I've been doing for the last 2 days. Yesterday we hiked for about 6 hours. I didn't think it would that intense but it was straight up for more than 1/2. It felt good to do activity again... All that walking in the jungle reminded me of all the walking in the bush we do for fire. We stopped at 3 villages. All under 400, one had only 25! 2 of them were of the Hmong tribe and the other I'm not sure, I couldn't really understand. We stayed over in the last village at a homestay. They cooked us meals and we stayed in their house which was really neat. Everything was very basic, had a delicious noodle soup dinner and in the morning they made us eggs. The accommodation was bamboo huts with a hard sleeping bad and some pretty gross blankets. But they kept me warm, the nights get pretty chilly because we're in the north of Laos, and we were at a higher elevation. This morning we did an hour hike down to an elephant village. I wasn't sold on whether I wanted to ride an elephant because I know that some are treated very poorly but this place saves elephants who were working in logging. The way it was explained was that having an elephant is very expensive- they eat up to 1000 lbs of food a day!!! So in order to have an elephant it needs to bring in some sort of income- like logging. But as logging becomes more uncommon ( more laws making it more regulated) the elephants won't have homes. So this sanctuary rescues them and creates revenue with tourism. People can ride them, feed and bathe them. And it's a lot better (easier) work for them. Having them explain this made me feel better about riding them. It really was great! I got to sit on his neck and we walked through the water and the jungle for about 45 minutes. The mahout (elephant guide) told me the elephants name but it was in laos so I can't spell it, or pronounce it! But I know he was 32 years old. After that we kayaked 3 hours back to town. There were a few little rapids which was fun. A really great trip- tiring though! And I was really impressed with the company- Tiger Trails. They give a % of our fees to the villages we visit as well as to the elephants. Eco tourism seems to be a big thing in Laos which I love. When I left our plan was to head to Vang Vieng on Saturday morning but when I got back to our hostel the guys had booked us buses and hostels so I'm on the night bus there now! The bus is pretty cool- it's my first experience on a 1st class bus. We've been doing 2nd class. This bus has individual pod beds for each person- much more comfortable than sitting. This bus is only 6 hours though... Although 6 hours on Asian transport is usually closer to 8. I'm having an amazing time! It's been quite a whirlwind since I got here. The second half of my trip will be much more relaxing. We have 5 days in Koh Phangnan where 3 other friends from fire are meeting us. I am planning a dive certification course for 4 days in Koh Tao and then hopefully do some surfing and yoga somewhere (maybe Indonesia?) and then to Cambodia for the last week! Plans are slowly materializing but will most likely change many times! <3

The slow boat

We managed to get to the slow boat with no problems. From chiang mai we were planning to take a bus to chiang khong where the Laos immigration is but we missed it so we had to go to chiang rai, spend the night there and get a 6am bus to chiang khong in the morning. Chiang khong ended up being a pleasant surprise! We found a huge night food market with live music. We got a hot pot that was boiled in a clay pot with charcoal and then a big basket with vegetables and some prawns- then we made our own little soup! The boys tried maggots - I did not. They said it tasted like feet and had the consistency of sand. The morning bus to chiang khong was funny- it was a legit Asian bus not a tourist one. There were 2 other people from France- one of them who hit his head really hard getting onto the bus- great way to start his day I'm sure. I've been hitting my head a lot too- everything is 2 feet shorter here because thai/Laos people are so short. We got to chiang khong, got our Laos visa on arrival and got to the slow pat which we were told let at 1030am. Noon rolled around and we finally were on our way. The boat was pretty hilarious. We had seat numbers but of course no one follows them so we had the last row- right beside the engine. I wore earplugs the whole time and conversation was out of the question. The first day was about 7 hours. We stopped for the night in Pakbeng which was a little town really only for these boats. It was a little dodgy- before we even got off the boat we had 2 guys asking if we wanted a guest room... Or some opium! Haha. Opium is pretty big around here because there used to be a piece of land in the golden triangle called "no mans land" where the river connects Laos, Thailand and the old Burma. Since no one owned it opium trading was legal. Its not anymore but still floats around. A little history fact I learned on my tour! The second day was 8 hours, we got into Luang Prabang around 8pm. We were much smarter the 2nd day and we got seats at the front. We met some great guys from Holland, and american and a handful of others. We were turned away from about 10 guesthouses that were full before we found one. We went to the night market and had a huge dinner- I got a whole fish that I ate with chopsticks. It was so delicious!! I htink that's my favourite thing to eat so far. <3

Chiang Mai

I've been in Chiang Mai for almost 3 days now. Our 10 hour bus trip was long, but uneventful. We arrived here at 130am and got a tuk tuk (scooter cab) to the hostel. I wasn't sure of we were going to make it. The three of us and our bags was a tiiiiggghhhttt squeeze! The first day we explored the city. We all love it here. A lot smaller than Bangkok, but still a good energy. There's a fun night bazaar where you can find anything in the world. New Nike shoes, purses, clothes, food, backpacks, toys... We also booked tours- Dan went catfish fishing, Matt went to the highest point in Thailand and I went to the Golden Triangle (where Laos, Thailand and Myanmar meet at the Mekong river) and then we visited the Karen long neck tribe which is near the Myanmar border. They're refugees from the old Burma. It was crazy to see their neck rings. I got to feel them and they are HEAVY! The rings don't actually make their necks longer it pushes their shoulders down which makes more sense. If they take off their rings their neck will go back to size in 5 years! Today we're going to relax around here and then take the night bus to Chiang Khong which is where the slow boat to Laos starts (the Laos border). The boat stops for the night in Pakbeng and ends in Luang Prabang. I'm looking forward to Laos, a lot of my friends who have been to Southeast Asia says it was their high light! <3

The hangover 2

Yesterday we did a lot of walking!! We took the sky train and ferry down the river again and then walked to khao san road which is a popular place for tourists. It was also where some scenes from The Hangover 2 movie were filmed. they like telling people that. The walk there was my favourite part, all the streets are covered in people selling things. It's the nice kind of selling though, people aren't bombarding you to buy they're just happy for you to look. I bought a really cool pair of handmade sandals. We had lunch at an amazing food stall by the river. It cost $1 for a huge plate of pad Thai. I am loving the food here. At night we went to the Sky Bar which was another scene from the Hangover 2 movie. It was amAzing. It's the highest building in Bangkok, 64 floors and you can see everything. Bangkok is an expansive city, it looks like it never ends. We were up there for sunset, although it was smoggy so it wasn't that great. I thought it looked the best once the sun was down. We found another little food stall for dinner. I had rice vegetables and prawns. I don't even know how far we walked but I was early to bed last night. Today were headed to Chiang Mai, hopefully on a bus. We have to go to the bus station and book our tickets. Its 10 hours which I imagine in thai world is more like 12 or 13. Its air conditioned and the seats recline a bit. I'm hoping to get some decent sleep. Originally we were going to take the train but it's full- something that I didn't think even happened! Will hopefully have Internet when we get to chiang mai (will hopefully get to chiang mai) so will update when I'm there. <3

Good Morning :)

It's my second morning in Bangkok, my other friend Dan arrived last night. Yesterday Matt and our new friend Rob from England explored the city. We took the Skytrain to Central Pier where we caught a boat down the river. Boat seems to be a very common mode of transportation. The river was SO busy, it was like rush hour. We were on the public transport boat, the biggest on the river which I was glad for. All the smaller boats seemed to be yielding to us which was probably in their best interest. The river was VERY polluted, I don't think anyone should be swimming in there. I can't imagine there are any fish in there either, and if there are I don't think anyone would be able to eat them. I'm pretty sure we saw a dead cow floating along the river (Matt checked it out with his binoculars haha). I have never traveled with someone who had binoculars before but I guess they come in handy for situations like that... if you really have to know if the floating thing in the river is a dead animal, or just a piece of wood. We started out at Wat Po, the highlight there was the Reclining Buddha. It was a huge (HUGE!) gold Buddha laying on it's side in a room. Also on the grounds were other temples and little statues of Buddha. After that we walked through a market to get to The Grand Palace. I often feel that once you've seen one palace/ temple, you've seen them all. They're very beautiful, detailed, ornate, sparkly, golden... but without knowing some history about the temple it could be anywhere. The Grand Palace was created in 1792- I like imagining how it was built back then, how long it must have taken. I also like to imagine what the palace was like when it was still in use. There are paintings all over the walls of these buildings that portray what it could have been like. A lot of Buddhists still come to these temples and statues of Buddhas to pray. We saw a lot of monks there saying prayers and bowing. You're not allowed to face your feet towards the Buddha so you have to sit on your knees, otherwise a Thai security guard comes over and blows his whistle at you... luckily that didn't happen to us. My general feeling of Thailand so far is a good one. Everyone I've interacted with so far seems genuinely interested in helping you. Unlike India where I felt like everyone just wanted to get money out of you. I haven't been bombarded with people trying to sell you things or take you in their cabs. We'll see if that holds up for the rest of my trip- it'd be awesome if it did because people in your face all the time gets exhausting. I think today is our last day in Bangkok, tomorrow we'll head out- either to Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) or Vientiane (Laos). We're going to explore some more today and make our plans for tomorrow. I don't want to jinx anything but I'm feeling good- I haven't been sick yet and I haven't been super jet lagged. <3

BANGKOK!

I've arrived in Bangkok! It's so nice and warm here. I traveled the whole way in flip flops getting weird looks from people in Detroit, but it's worth it now haha. My flights were pretty standard. Detroit to Tokyo was 13 hours- epic journey. I can never get comfortable enough in airplanes to sleep well. I dosed off a bit on each flight but never felt well rested. I've never minded airplane food, I always thought it was edible but not amazing. Delta airplane food though, it's bad. I ordered a special vegetarian meal before I left, which I did get but it was so weird. My dinner was some unidentified mush.. it was brown and salty, and it came with something green, maybe spinach. Instead of a brownie for desert like everyone else, I got honeydew melon... and no butter for my bun. And then breakfast I got couscous and mandarin oranges- the weirdest combination. It was so bland but I was hungry so I ate it. Lunch was a little more typical, rice and some stirfry veggies. I got some delish Udon noodles with tofu in Tokyo to make up for it though. I got through customs and got my bag without any trouble and I found the bag carousel where my friend's flight was and met him without any trouble too! It was cool to see someone I know halfway across the world. Our other friend gets here tonight. AND one of our other friends from fire, Caitlin, sent me a message last night- she's coming to Thailand at the end of the month!!! Amazing, she's going to come to the Full Moon Party with us in Koh Phangnan, and maybe continue on with us after. I'm just waiting for Matt to get up and then we'll go get some breakfast, and explore Bangkok. Maybe the Royal Palace, Kohsoan road, and the skytower? We met people last night who had just been to the Skytower, it's in the Hangover 2 movie and apparently the views are amazing. They suggested we go at night, so we'll see how we're feeling tonight. The hostel we're at right now is called WE Bangkok, it's great. Clean, friendly, free wifi, lots of people. We're here again tonight, and then from there not sure. So excited to be in Thailand! :D <3

I'm off again!

I leave Sunday morning for a 2 month trip to Southeast Asia. I am very excited!!! I keep telling people it feels a lot different than my trip to India because I was so nervous about traveling by myself that I never really got excited.. just anxious. I've got 2 travelling buddies this time, friends I met while fighting fire in Red Lake- Matt and Dan. Dan will be there for a month, Matt for a month and a half, so I'll have the last 2 weeks of my trip by myself. I figure by then I will feel settled in the culture and will enjoy some time to myself. We have loose plans; what we know for sure is that we're flying into Bangkok, going to Laos, Northern Thailand, then heading down to the Southern Thailand islands (koh Phangan and Ko Samui) for the full moon party. After that I think we're going to Malaysia, then maybe Cambodia or Indonesia. We're going to play it by ear, if we find somewhere we love we'll stay there a bit, if not we'll keep moving.

I've really been enjoying this snow, I got out to Holiday Valley last week. It's ALMOST enough to keep me here for a winter, but it's 35 degrees in Bangkok... and that sounds amazing. I'll be keeping my blog updated with my whereabouts and my adventures. Of course internet is sporadic so I'll do my best!