Parks and Festivals

Music, food, kids, colors, art, beer, wine, family, friends, beaches, parks, streets, bikes, strollers, blankets, coolers - - all out under clear blue skies and perfect sunshine. Summer in Seattle is filled with festival after festival. Everyone is active. There are people everywhere taking it all in and enjoying the short-lived, but beautiful weather. Much different than the blistering 105 degree Austin heat.

It's the ultimate park and festival weather. Since we've been here - which is nearing 3 weeks - we've been to Bite of Seattle, Ballard Seafood Festival, WaMu Summer Concert Series (at the Woodland Park Zoo), the Wallingford Children's Parade and to see autocross racing in Bremerton. We could definitely get used to this.

So far, we're enjoying what Seattle has to offer. However, we still get that feeling like we're still on vacation. It hasn't completely set in that this is really home now. It will. I'm sure. But until then, we're just taking it one day at a time.

Last night we went to see Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and Marc Broussard at the Woodland Park Zoo. The show was AWESOME!! Definitely, though, a contrast to music in Austin. In Austin you see a show and you usually know who you are going to listen to. Here, most people just go out because it's summer and there isn't much of it so why not go sit in the sun, eat some good food and enjoy your friends. The differences...the crowd - as I'm sure is also venue related - was very family oriented. There are kids everywhere. No smoking, no drinking in the main area - well not legally. In Washington they have a law where all drinking has to occur within a fenced off area. Weird, but OK. Limiting trash, yeah, I get that. But it's also fun to sit in your own seat and drink a beer while watching a good show. Not that we didn't. What are flasks made for anyway. They also had major announcement before the show -- don't block your neighbors view, come tell someone if you can't see, keep your conversations to a minimum so those around you aren't disturbed. In all, the differences were really pretty good. I could actually lay on the blanket and see the stage at the same time. The only real drawback (besides the beer and wine tent deal) is that it's not conducive to shaking it to the music as you might be the only one standing in your area. A few drinks later and we made our way to the front to find other like-minded music fans. As a side note though, it seems that Seattleites do know their music and do appreciate hearing the real thing. The crowd was pretty hyped up and most people were standing at the end.

To view the slideshow with captions, run your mouse over the slideshow and click on the note icon that appears in the bottom left corner. Or just click on it and it will open in another window.

New place

Thought you might want to see the place we're going to rent. It's AWESOME. 3-levels, 2/2, balconies off the living room and master, garage for all Donovan's toys. Can you picture sitting up there at sunset with a glass of red wine, good company and an amazing view? If so, COME VISIT!

Move in date is most likely August 1st. I'll post some of the inside then. Especially important to note is that we are around the corner from a bar. There is a shuffleboard which should tell you all that its a cool place because any place with a shuffleboard is cool in my book.

The Red Elvises

If you haven't seen them. Check them out. I'm sure they play in Austin as their drummer was, still is or used to be from Austin. He was on the VH-1 video we saw on them, but he wasn't on stage when we saw them at the Tractor Tavern last week. They put on a great show and we're hilarious. Check out the video.


In the middle of the show all they took a break. When they came back on stage, they were followed by belly dancers. Not your typical belly dancers, see picture for verification. Loved the guitar though!!!

never ending hills

Jess writes: Riding bikes in Seattle is NOT the same as riding bikes in Austin. Not that I thought it would be, but man these hills never seem to end...ever. I keep telling myself "OK just over the hill," then I can catch my breath and my legs might just stop burning. Not that I need a long break, but you know just 30 sec

of non-burning would be graciously welcome. To make matters worse, they have all these roundabouts. I could easily just ride in circles until I catch my breath. Jason is the one who gave me the idea - since that is what he does when he's waiting for me to catch up. Jason is our current roommate who was generous enough to let us stay in his empty room, which - go figure - is on a very big hill.

Jason, who, by the way, has legs of pure muscle and nothing else, rides almost everywhere. We've been riding down to Green Lake to swim every other day. I have to say, I'm seriously getting better. Now I don't risk being left behind to find my own way b/c you all know that my sense of direction has never existed. Honestly, it really is good exercise. I bike to swim or I bike to go run. Who knows, maybe a triathlon is in my future! :)

Scoutin the other SEA

Right now we are exactly halfway between the equator and the North Pole. Random that they put a highway sign up that says this, but how nice of them to let us know. After all, it is a pretty interesting fact and one that seemed worth enough to share with you. However, in other words, we are 350 miles from our new home – Seattle, WA.

We spent last night with family in Boise. Donovan’s aunt and uncle have a nice little set up near Wilder, ID – a suburb of Boise. They built their house from the ground up. The detail is impeccable. We hope to get back for ski season!

Next stop is Jason’s house in Wallingford – just north of downtown Seattle. As luck and generosity would have it he has an extra room, as his roommate just moved out. Then the search starts for a new home. Donovan starts work next Monday. Two days training in CA, then back to Seattle. Depending on where he’s working – we’ll figure out what side of town to live on. Traffic is a bitch so we’re biding our time.

In all the drive to Seattle will have taken us 2,200 + miles, 3 + days and too many hours to count. The drive wasn’t as bad as we thought. Boring at times, but what better way to finish our blog.

Leaving our families behind wasn’t easy, but we’re excited for our new adventure.

Stay tuned…

KL – Round 2

To get to and from the Perhentian Islands isn’t the easiest trip. After taking a small boat jam packed with people and luggage for 45 minutes to Kuala Besut, then a taxi to Kota Bahru, we then boarded a flight to KL. While trains and buses are also available, flights aren’t very expensive and we didn’t have much time as we stayed several extra days in paradise.

I know that some people say taking shells from the beaches is disrupting nature, etc. So, try not to be mad, but I took one. It wasn’t from the sea or anything – I found it on the beach. There were two halves to it and I left one there. I might have taken two, but Donovan wouldn’t let me. Plus it felt kind of greedy. Even taking one was a risk because I didn’t know if it would make it all the way back to Austin with us. And then it would really be like taking something from the sea and never being able to admire its beauty. So sad. But it didn’t work out that way. The wonderful security check point lady in Malaysia let me through (because it wasn’t coral and you can’t take coral back for sure – it was just a shell – a really really big shell). We got through security in KL, Singapore and LA with no issues. Well, except for the fact that my neck was a little jacked up because it weighed so much and Donovan didn’t want to bring it back so of course I had to carry it. Which is fine. It was totally worth it. Now when you put your keys in our shell when you come in the door, you too can appreciate a little piece of Malaysia.

Back to KL. We stowed our luggage at the airport and caught a taxi for a 20 min ride to the recently built Formula 1 race track in Sepang, Malaysia. We were there just in time for the GT Car Racing Series. Donovan was in heaven. Well, almost. Hello, Muslim run. NO BEER! A tough reality considering the Bud-drinking down-home Nascar fans in America. The race track was pristine though – surprise surprise. No rowdy beer drinking fans. The race was FAST. Fun to watch. We left early (only partially due to the lack of beer). We found our hotel at long last, grabbed some fast food and crashed hard.

The next morning, we narrowly made it to another random hotel to catch a luxury bus to Singapore. We rode in style for $30 a person on the 5 hour journey across the border to Singapore. Train service does exist, but it is surprisingly much slower. Plane tickets were much more. We decided a reclining leather seat with pillow and blanket, as well as power outlets for each seat was definitely an acceptable alternative. If only they had this kind of service from Austin to Mexico!

Upon arriving in Singapore, we taxied back to Iggy’s house and hung out with his parents for several hours. They are great! A wealth of knowledge and so interesting to talk to. Iggy’s dad took us (and their huge husky, Hunter) for a walk in the neighborhood. Real estate here is continuing to sky rocket. Houses are being bought for over 3 mil and knocked down or remodeled. Sounds like they are just biding their time and watching the market to see what kind of deal they can get. Real estate all over the city is in short supply and hard to come by. We also wandered over to a nearby nature reserve where you can pick various fruit – jack fruit, durian, leiches, etc. How great that it’s so close! Though the monkeys tend to hoard it before it’s ripe so you don’t always get your fill.

The next morning we hopped a plane for a long journey back to Austin. Time to try and get over the 12 hour jet lag.

The Perhentian Islands

Jess writes: Off the northeast coast of Malaysia lay some of the most beautiful beaches we have ever seen. The Perhentian Islands consist of Pulau Perhentian Kecil and Pulau Perhentian Besar. Pulau means island in Malay. Besar is the bigger of the two and is a little more touristy and family oriented (which means the hotels are a little more expensive). Kecil is extremely small; only a 10-minute hike from one side to the other. We researched all the accommodations before arriving, as many of them don’t have Air Con (only the Americans call it AC and they look at you funny when you say it so we conformed). The island is divided into two main areas separated by a jungle with one path connecting the two. The sunrise side is larger and has several combo hotel/dive shop/internet room/restaurants. We stayed on the sunset side of the island in a beautiful bungalow on a hilltop overlooking a cliff.
On one side is the pier and a somewhat busy beach front with various restaurants and guesthouses. Longtail boats come in and out all day long taking tourists out snorkeling or on tours or they might be just going out to fish. Tourism is obviously the only livelihood the islanders have. Catching fish, selling fish, cooking fish, snorkeling, scuba diving, a few small shops selling necessities (such as suntan lotion and Frisbees), 8-10 restaurants and about 20 guesthouses. We’re talking small. The place we stayed was called Shari-La. It’s currently being remodeled. Upon completion we probably couldn’t afford to stay there – at least not for long. It’s going to be an amazing place. The restaurant is located over the cliffs and decks are being built so guests can have a perfect view of the sunset. The bungalows are spacious and clean with nice hardwoods, but can be closed off so at night it’s completely pitch black. We loved it! One side the hotel has stairs down to “Romantic Beach.” We saw maybe 8 people there all three days we went. The beach was deserted accept for the locals who come fish off the cliffs every night. We watched as they caught the fish, gutted them and built a fire to eat their dinner. Simple life.

Every night we walked down to the beach on the other side of our hotel, watched the sunset from the cliff, then went to dinner at “Mama’s Café.” The staff here is friendly and fun and the food was SO good. Every evening when it gets dark around 7:30 or 8 p.m. they light up the BBQ on the beach front. You sit at tables stuck in the sand and can dine on any type of perfectly grilled fish, along with a side of rice, baked potato, coleslaw and fruit. Seriously, I had 3 lobster tails with garlic butter – 5 nights in a row. FOR less than $6! I want to go back! Donovan tried everything else (I tried his, but the lobster was just unbeatable). They had King Fish, Barracuda – which if you’ve never tried is a close second to lobster, Spanish Macrel, Prawn (Shrimp in America), Squid, White Snapper and Red Snapper. Heaven. They would even go and get us beers – which is really nice since they are in short order on the island and they have to go down to another shop to get them. We met two English girls and told them about Mama’s. They caught on fast and we ended up eating with them 2 of the 5 nights. Good times.

Here’s the deal with alcohol. Bring your own whiskey! Luckily we did. Being a Muslim country, booze is hard to come by. They don’t approve of it in many places and it’s not allowed in others. Muslim run business in Kecil aren’t able to get liquor licenses, however their Chinese counterparts are. Here’s how we learned. One night we went to a pseudo full moon party on the other side of the island. We sat in the sand at small tables drinking beer and our whiskey stash when the bar all of the sudden stopped selling, cleared off all evidence of drinking. No one said anything. We learned that the “moral police” showed up to investigate the goingson of this peaceful remote island. Apparently, there are two different kinds of police and the moral police come around quite a bit more than the police you are I are aware of. Shortly after they left, the party picked back up and alcohol was served again. However, beer ran out and they had to send a boat to the mainland to get more. The only type of hard liquor they had was vodka and the only mixer was ice. Ouch. Lots of drunk people that night. I sprained my ankle in the jungle on the way home. That was the last of the late night jungle treks for me. We stayed on the other side of the island the rest of the time.

Besides Laos, which Donovan and I thought was our favorite county we visited, the Perhentian Islands are a place we could have stayed for several weeks. Life is simple and easy – not to mention cheap. And the diving was unbelievable!!! We saw a 6 foot black tip reef shark – I didn’t want to leave until we did. There were stingrays, GIANT puffer fish, scorpion fish, a very large turtle – another thing I couldn’t leave without seeing, and on and on. We dove a ship wreck, which was also pretty interesting. When you looked inside you could see bamboo sharks hiding – wow! They sell these cases for your digital camera and you can bring it underwater with you. Pricy, but we’ll have to think about investing in one after this. It’s just too hard to describe how amazing it is down there.

What else? Six days in paradise. Not a bad ending to an unforgettable vacation.

KL – Round 1

Jess writes: We set off on a ferry to Phuket, choosing to spend the 2-hour ride on the bow of the boat in the sun and wind. A perfect perch for Donovan to see what he thought was a dead body floating by. I didn’t see it so no confirmation from me, but if it was – it must have been a full moon party blunder. We talked with some of the locals who said that at every full moon party several people die. The party is in several feet of water and drunk tourists tend to pass out and drown. However, the Thai news doesn’t ever publicize anything. Scary. Anyway, we didn’t make it to one of these drugged trash can punch parties (literally), but I’m sure it would have been fun.

After disembarking and finding our luggage amidst the large pile on the back of the boat, we found a mini bus to take us to the airport. A short flight later and through immigration, we landed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As a side note – not all of the countries we visited require you to pay for a tourist visa. However, there are rules on how long you can stay and how many times you can go in and out of the country. In every country it is possible to get a visa upon arrival, however with some it’s easier to get the visa prior to entering the country (namely, Vietnam. The rest we bought upon entry). There are numerous travel agencies that will help you get them in every country. For instance in Cambodia, you can get a visa for Vietnam and it only takes 24 hours. It makes traveling much easier.

So KL…we got there mid-afternoon and took a shuttle into the city to look for a place to stay. Because it was a Saturday night, hotel rooms weren’t the easiest to find. We went to three places before settling on a not-so-great hotel. It wasn’t until we could hear the cell phone of the person next door to us that we realized how absolutely thin the walls were. And their phone was on vibrate!!!! We left the next day to find another hotel that was a few steps up, but the same price.

Overall, we didn’t particularly like KL. The city itself is pretty dirty – I can’t imagine what some Singaporean travels would say! Not only that, but there seemed to be far too many obstacles on the sidewalks and streets. You really had to watch where you were going. There were large holes without any warnings on them. They are about 3 times the sized of your average manhole, about 5 feet deep and unmarked. There were concrete blocks where something obviously stood at one time, but the leftover remnant of it is about a ½ foot square and can appear in any part of the sidewalk. The streets are obviously neglected, considering the city’s growth rate and desire to attract tourism, this is a little disheartening. OK, well maybe I am a little biased about it, but for good reason. You would think they would put up a sign when they fill a hole with new concrete. At least maybe an orange cone or something. I walked right into it. What I should have done is drawn a star around my foot print in the fresh concrete, as I realized after the fact that we were standing directly in front of the Kuala Lumpur Hard Rock Café!

The highlight of our trip to KL was definitely getting to hang with my cousin Drew. He’s working in Air Force Intelligence and is currently stationed in Okinawa, Japan. He just happened to be working in KL for the month of June, so we had an opportunity to grab some beers in Malaysia of all places - a beautifully random coincidence. Drew, of course, had to work most of the time, but we luckily managed to see him two nights in a row. We met up on Saturday night for dinner and drinks and then again on Sunday night. Next stop – Japan.

In all we spent 3 days here. Malaysia, and KL in particular, is different than the other counties we visited. It is a predominantly Muslim country, as opposed to the large Buddhist influence we previously experienced. Malaysia also has a lot of oil money which is apparent in their rapidly growing infrastructure. The government is trying to grow their capital city, KL, into the countries’ commerce center. Although most likely due to the fast growth, they are obviously still lacking some aspects. Namely, the previously stated dirty streets and lack of ability to walk around the city.

Koh Phi Phi

Donovan writes: The Koh Phi Phi islands are about a two hour ferry ride off the west coast of Thailand. The movie "The Beach" was filmed here. This island was devistated by the tsunami. Although there wasn't an official count, it was estimated that over 2,500 tourists and residents died on the island. We only visited the large island. Here, reconstruction is still occuring, but most businesses have reopened.

One of the greatest features of the island is that no cars or motorbikes are allowed. It means the only thing you are dodging on the streets are local teenagers on bicycles. It makes for a much more relaxing stroll through the town. It was a little rainy, as we expected, but it made a good excuse to catch up on some sleep. The weather cleared up after the second day and we were able to get some sun and do some snorkling. There was a huge shallow coral reef only a 20-minute boat ride from our guesthouse. We also hiked up the hills to the highest point on the island. It provided a great view of both beaches. The photo hanging from a tree near the viewpoint showed what it looked like just after the tsunami. For good reason, no residents in the town were interested in talking about the event. The nightlife scene was pretty good on the island. The biggest bar on the island has a boxing ring, which provide a free drink for anyone willing to enter the ring. The Thai boxers were good, but watching drunk guys and girls try to fight was the highlight. 

Jess interrupts...Honestly, the main draw here was geared to tourists in search of a beautiful, but westernized island. That and buckets of alcohol (literally) and meeting other bucket drinkers who like to drunk box...then go watch fire twirling shows on the beach while dancing to trance and techno music. Only to wake up with a killer hangover at noon and missing good sun that is in short supply during the rainy season. We skipped the beach, but caught the rest. One night was enough. Though, we did notice our fellow bucket buddies heading out night after night. We figure they must be single...

We shortened our stay to 3-nights before heading on to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

Diving in Koh Tao

Jess writes...Have you ever scuba dived? If not - come visit Koh Tao. Less than half the price of diving certification in the US and you get to learn in beauiful, clear waters full of amazing fish. You get off the ferry and are bombarded with diving companies more than willing to extract money from you. How do you decide? It's not easy, especially as they are standing their collecting tourists into their open pick up trucks. They give you a total of 8 mintues flat to make a decision. Needless to say, prices are all the same, accomodations are included, therefore, we are left with no determining factors and a confused look. We end up following up on a lead from another backpacker only to find the staff to be somewhat void of friendliness. We bum a ride from them to view their secondary location (knowing that the other place we were interested in was nextdoor to it). Jackpot. Nice people, good prices, beautiful resort - the offer of two free dives didn't hurt either.

We started our Open Water course at Coral Grand Divers that afternoon. Lucky for us, we end up in a group with just the two of us and a very cool German chick instructor. After minimal course work we head to our first lesson in the pool with an ocean view. Believe it or not, we passed the swimming test. Donovan took to it immediately. I, on the other hand, had some issues with breathing underwater. I have a tendency to be claustrophobic at times. I think it's something that has come with age though because I've never really had a problem until our honeymoon in Italy. We headed up a tower viewpoint in Venice, the small circular stone stairs we're packed with people, it was hot and I was freaking out. It took me a good 30 minutes at the top before I was able to embark back down into hell. That was the first episode, diving apparantely was the second. After some coercing and deep breaths, I was able to conquer my fears. It still takes a good several mintues every time I dive, but the sight and feeling of being part of the underwater world - even for only 40 minutes at a time - is an amazing feeling that I hope you are also able to experience.

The open water course included a pool session, a final exam and four open water dives - two one day, two the next day. My favorite was the gigantic eagle ray and the spanish dancers. We liked it so much that when they offered for us to take the Advanced Open Water course for a discounted price - we said, "why not?" As an open water diver you can only dive to 18 meters, as an advanced diver you can dive to 30 meters. Big difference.

There were five us in the advanced group together with our red-headed Canadian instructor - "Captain Ginger." Captain Ginger, British Police Officer Andy, Double Dutch and Donnie and Jess. The first trip included two dives to local sites and the next day we headed to a place called Sail Rock several hours away by boat. Three dives that day, a couple beers (and a couple buckets) later we crashed hard. Good times, good people, GREAT diving (25 meters visibility!).

In all, we spent 5 days, did 9 dives (Donovan did 11), saw a school of 15+ giant barracudas, met some crazy Dutch girls, a great couple from England and an ex-hippie Australian (Gus the Snail), drank several buckets of red bull vodka, danced on the beach, watched Holland kick ass over Italy 3-0 and soaked up the beautiful sun in Eastern Thailand. I could go back tomorrow.

However, it was time to say goodbye to our new friends and head to Krabi and Koh Phi Phi on the west coast. Our fingers are crossed that the rainy season will hold off for a couple days.

Bangkok

Jessica writes...As you can tell we've been MIA for a while. Truth - we fell straight into island time. It seems to suit us after all our constant traveling.

So Bangkok...
Normally, we tend to avoid big cities. But this was the exception. 2 nights in Bangkok easily turned into 4. Local transportation is super easy - tuk tuk, boat, sky tram, bus, taxi - whatever you fancy. We stayed several blocks from Kohsan Rd - Bangkok's famous strip of bars, overpriced drinks, young tourists getting absolutely hammered and prostitutes. We got several offers from tuk tuk drivers to go to a ping pong show (use your imagination), but declined and headed to see a good cover band. The scene was just a little too much for us so we didn't make it back for a repeat night of drinking. Instead we opted for some pizza and beer in the comfort of HBO. After days of traveling, we are started to miss cooking (well I do at least). Donovan on the other hand could eat absolutely anything with curry in it every meal for a year. I've instead opted for pad thai, which is cooked up on every other street stand by our current home. I'm not sure I could ever get sick of it - well maybe, but then I can move on to fried rice :)

Now for the kicker - those of you who know Donovan will appreciate this. He actually made the suggestion - on his own, without the help of any irish or begging - to go to the mall. And not just one mall, but TWO!!!! It's only taken me eight years, 10 months, 20 days, 12 hours and 8 minutes. Cathleen, you would be proud! (OK, the small detail that I'm being forced to mention is that one of the malls showcased several Italian Sports cars - but I'm still proud and will promise to remind him every once in a while of his lapse in concentration).

On a separate note, Thais (and many other visiting foreigners) are obsessed with shopping. How else could Bangkok support their 6+ malls, their weekend market that extends over 35 ACRES and their daily night bazaar that's open until past midnight. It's absolutely insane and even crowded most of the time. The food stands that exist among the shopping makes the experience quite different than your average American mall or boutique shopping court. The prices are right or at least you can bargain them down to a price that is right. My game plan consists of asking half and sometimes a third of the offering price - it usually works out and if not the next stand sells the exact same item so I just keep moving. (Note: at this point, Donovan is usually left to his whiskey at some random bar OR off for yet another thai massage). I'm thinking that maybe if Austin malls had several pubs/massage places/sports that many man would actually consider a day shopping trip or at the very least several hours)!

On Saturday we headed to the weekend market, Chatucak Market - the 35 ACRE shopping extravaganza that housed so many freaking stands that I got lost in the pet section for over an hour. After a 5 minute break watching the cock fighting, I found myself in the chicken and rooster section where they actually also hosted a food stand of BBQ chicken skewers right across the hall. I'm thinking that maybe this practice is a little bit bad for business, not to mention disgusting. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. As I stumbled around a corner because of almost running into a passing motorbike in the 4 foot aisle, I came face to face with a parrot that was twice as big as Fuji and just a little bit smaller than Scooter. It made the loudest squawk that I have ever heard, though if it could talk it might have been pretty cool. Actually, considering that there were over 20 of these 4 foot parrots, maybe not. So in all, my hour of wanderings got me trapped in a different world with good stories for Donovan - if I could ever find him again.

At Siam Paragon, yet another Bangkok mall we went to, had the most unbelievable movie theatre. Ticket price includes an escort to your modern and super comfortable lazy boy chair, fully equipped with blanket and pillow, as well as superior electric reclining abilities. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (or something like that) never looked any better. Though, I did forget how majorly cheesy these movies were. Harrison Ford must have had to try hard to act that bad. Don't go. Unless of course, you have a soft spot for Indiana Jones flicks. Don't say I didn't warn you...

Four days in Bangkok was a blast! We both loved it. The streets aren't NY crazy busy and the people are very friendly. But it was time to move on.

Next stop...
flight to Surat Thani then
to a random dirty bus stop then
to another random even dirtier bus stop then
to a ferry dock then
to a boat to Koh Panghan then
to a half remodeled bungalow on the beach then
to another ferry to Koh Tao

signing off...click to see more photos...

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is a large city, but easy to walk through. Many markets (of course), many great restaurants and bars. A moat surrounds the old city, which really helps when trying to navagate the city. Several impressive temples are also scattered throughout, but after seeing all the temples in Laos, we're about temple'd out. Jess spent Monday in a Thai cooking class and I spent it on a 4-wheeler in the mountains. We were both happy with our respective choices. Jess ended up in a class with only 6 other people, and all of them were from either Seattle, Victoria, or Vancouver. What are the chances of that?!! She gained some great tips on Seattle and the areas around.

We were a little hesitant to sign up for another tour after the problems we encountered in Sapa, we decided to do a three-day jeep tour through northern Thailand. It provided a great way to see the northern mountains and hill tribes, along with the cities of Pai and Mae Hong Son. Some of the highlights were the elephant riding and the waterfall we visited. I of course enjoyed driving the jeep (really a 4x4 Suzuki) through the off-road mountain trails. We had a couple on their honeymoon from Israel riding with us. As soon as I found out he was a military helicopter pilot, I knew I would have to share the driving duties. Overall, it was a great trip and the jeep had a killer stereo with Ipod hookups which made the trip even more enjoyable.

The only problems of the tour involved our jeep. Although the stereo was great, the rest of the truck was lacking. On the first evening, when we were going through the mountains near Pai the brakes went out as we were headed down. Luckily there wasn't any traffic coming up and I was able to pump the brakes and get it stopped. After letting them cool off, they worked fine. The mechanic checked them out the next morning and said he made "some adjustments" but that everything was in good working order. Yet again on the next day while our Israeli friend was driving, approaching a police checkpoint, the brakes failed. He swerved into the (empty) on-coming lane and flew through the police checkpoint the wrong way. Luckily he was able to get it stopped just past the checkpoint. Although we were relieved, the police weren't too happy. The cop standing in the road thought we were trying to kill him. Our tour guide jumped out of his vehicle and was able to calm the police down fairly quickly. The mechanic worked on the jeep for a couple hours but didn't make any major improvements. Needless to say, we refused to get back in it. We drove the mechanic's truck and he drove our decreped machine on to Mae Hong Son. The next day, the tour company provided us another ride. The rest of the tour was great.


We returned to Chiang Mai in the evening of the third day, and caught a flight to Bangkok on the next morning...

Luang Prubang

Donovan Writes: Sorry it's been so long since the last post. We've been busy having fun and internet was difficult in Luang Prabang. We ended up tubing again on our last day in Vang Vieng. Luckily, this time there wasn't any rain. I think we made the right decision after talking to some folks who weren't very impressed with the caves they visited. We decided to take the mini-bus (really just a minivan) from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang. It was about a 5.5 hour trip, winding through the mountains of Northern Laos. It was a gorgeous trip, and Jess took motion sickness pills so she could enjoy it too.

Luang Prabang is a quiet town on a peninsula between the Mekong and the Mae Kok rivers. Lots of great cafes, restaurants, and markets. Another popular night market on the main street kept Jess busy and kept me at the bar. There are also a number of day trips that are offered from the many travel shops. On our second day, we took a tuktuk to some nearby waterfalls - spectacular. The following day we did a kayaking/mountain biking trip. Our whitewater kayaking skills apparently aren't up to par. We capsized twice on the trip. The second time I wacked Jess on the head with the paddle. Luckily she was wearing a helmet. After a lunch at the guide's childhood home, we hopped on the mountain bikes and headed back to town. After about 15 km, Jess's neck was bothering her so she decided to stop and wait for the van. I continued another 13 km back to town. It turned out the van never came to pick up Jess, so she waited about an hour, and then decided to hop back on the bike and ride to town without the guide. She made it pretty close, but as she stopped the 5th person, hoping they spoke enough English to be sure she was still headed in the right direction, our guide made it back on a motorbike to pick her up (a lucky friend of the guide's got the job of riding the her mountain bike home). Slept well that night, although I think I was suffering a little from heat exhaustion.

Taking it easy the next day was a necessity, but it was difficult to stay cool, as they turn the power off for the entire city from 7:30 in the morning to about 2:00 in the afternoon on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays (apparently they're making repairs to the power lines). No A/C, no fan, no breeze, and no fruit shakes made for a hot morning/afternoon. Overall, if it wasn't so hot, I think we would have loved Luang Prubang even more. On Saturday afternoon, we hopped on a plane bound for Chiang Mai, Thailand. Since I was sick over our anniversary and my birthday, we decided to splurge and stay at a 4-star hotel in Chiang Mai. Guesthouses are great, but after a month in developing countries, it was great to have a full shower and a pool.

Off to Pai and Mae Hong Son for some elephant rides, bamboo rafting, white water rafting, four-wheeling and sightseeing. Should be busy and eventful...stay tuned.

Tubing

Jess writes: Think of tubing the Guadalupe or the Comal...get the picture in your head...climbing into a bus with tubes and other fellow tubers most already with a beer in hand. Now add in beautiful mountain views as the river is nestled up against the rocks, next add bamboo treehouse bars with tarzan swings and zip lines into the water. Every several mintues you try and get roped (literally) into another bar along the way, only to meet other like-minded happy travelers.

We got caught in a rainstorm for part of the trip...afterwards the sky was blue on one side and black on the other, it was quite a sight. We accidentally missed the turn off where we were supposed to return our tubes. Somehow it got a little later than we expected. We learned that it gets dark here around 6/6:30 p.m. Luckily Donovan recognized the guesthouse where we were staying - and we unloaded at their doorstep. Truthfully, I think he knew where he was the whole time, but was just messing with me.

Off to explore some caves or maybe tube again (if they let us)...

Vientiane to Vang Vieng

Jess writes- Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane may only be worth the quick mention below, as the city itself is far from exciting. Although, it did offer more American/Western comforts (i.e. restaurants with aircon and actually toilet bowls instead of holes in the ground). We got there, drove to several guesthouses - all of which are full as they are preparing for today's rocket festival. I think its to culminate the beginning of the rainy season. They strap homemade rockets to large bamboo sticks and then shoot them off. We have yet to see it, as it should be tonight. Some cities celebrate more than others, but according to the Vientiane Times, they have quite a party. Overall Vientiane is exactly what the other travelers we met told us. It's a boring city with amazing food. We thought - perfect - a great place for Donovan to finish recovering. All we did was take a motorcycle tour of the various not so exciting monuments, eat, drink and sleep. Very relaxing.

On the second day in Vientiane, we loaded a bus for an estimated 3 1/2 hour ride to Vagn Vieng. The bus couldn't have been more hot - Donovan thinks it should be driven off a cliff - preferably without us in it. Half way we had to stop and change a blown tire, not to mention driving through two thunderstorms. After 6 long hours, we approached Vang Vieng at sunset. The large fog covered mountains with the sunset backdrop were beautiful. We checked into our guesthouse around 7:30, ate at their restaurant overlooking the river, and crashed. (side note - I had mashed potatoes with miniture lamb meatballs and a peanut sauce on top - top 5 best meals of the trip so far).

Apparently Vang Vieng is the chill out capital of Laos. The funny part is that many of the bars strategically place the tables around a TV that constantly plays re-runs of all the Friends or Family Guy episodes. Very random.

As an aside, we tend to be older than many of our backpacker friends. Most of which are traveling just out of college. Our accomodation comfort levels seem to also be a little different than theirs. A dirty $5 - 8 a night bed just doesn't cut it. We're staying a little further from town, paying a little more, but can enjoy the peace and quiet of our camp-like guesthouse with cold AC. Definitely an inviting atmosphere (when sleeping off a hangover :)! Not that I've needed it yet, but I'll let you know tomorrow.

This morning we ate at their restaurant while watching elephants be bathed across the river. This afternoon we take the revered 4-hour tubing trip down the river. Luckily, we are Guadalupe floating veterans. We'll let you know how it compares...

Halong Bay

Donovan Writes: After arriving back in Hanoi in the morning, we boarded a small bus for the 3.5 hour ride to Halong Bay for a two-day boat trip. There are literally hundreds of Oriental "Junk" boats providing tours throughout Halong Bay. We boarded one of the nicer ones along with about 14 other travelers. The scenery was amazing. We visited caves and fishing villages, and just traveled throughout the bay. We had a very nice room on the boat with large windows, which was fortunate because I spent nearly the entire trip in bed, still with a fever and feeling very weak. The seafood they served on the boat was fantastic, and luckily, even the flu couldn't kill my appetite.

We returned to Hanoi the following evening, and I headed to the doctor to be sure I didn't have anything worse. That night my fever broke for the first time since Sa Pa. Finally starting to feel better.

We decided not to stay very long in Hanoi. It is an interesting city and we did spend some time walking around, but the streets are crazy, noisy, and dirty. Great food, but not a good place to relax. On the evening of the 15th, we boarded a plane for Vientiane, Laos.

Sa Pa

Jess writes: We flew into Hanoi and an hour later had a tour booked to Sa Pa. It's a beautiful city, situated among the green mountains of Northern Vietnam. The weather here is much cooler and the people are very nice, but definitely different than the bustling Hanoi. There are 5 tribes denoted by the various bright colors they wear. Their clothes are all made of the hemp they grow. They soften the hemp, color it and weave it. The process for making an entire piece can take one entire year to make! It's pretty amazing and very detailed. (And of course, they try to sell all sorts of items to you- most are not authentic, but they are very pretty). The division between men and women is very apparent here. The men work very hard all day in the mountains and the women tend to the children, the crops near the home and the sewing. They are about to start the planting season here so you can see many of the pictures are of the water buffalo pulling a makeshift plow to prepare the soil for planting. Additionally, some of the tribes have created water systems for shucking the outer shell from the rice. They then separate the shells from the rice using a fan. The shell is very light so it blows onto the ground while the rice stays in your hand. They have also rigged hydro electric power systems to create electricity for their homes. Most family's use the electricity to power their TV and maybe a light. Very clever water systems are also set up in order to channel the water from the mountains. Some families in the photos have systems set up in order to send water to each level of their rice crop. From afar the various levels are absolutely beautiful. The green level contains a large portion of rice which they then take and systematically separate into rows on the other levels (the ones that are currently being plowed by the water buffalo). Some families - the ones who have been around for 5 generations have level after level up and down the mountain carved out of mud and rock.

Random, but there are many puppies here - we opened our door this morning to go down to breakfast and a puppy ran into the room. I'm loving it! Donovan on the other hand, is worried that I might take one home with me.

The children here are also interesting. It's not uncommon to see a six your old with a 5 month old baby strapped to her back. They are everywhere along the road, tending to the water buffalo, the cows, the crop, hearding goats and sometimes just playing. They learn at a very young age as many mothers can only afford to take one week off (many times only 3 days) after giving birth. They follow their parents around the field for most of their childhood. By the age of 7 or 8, they are off on their own tending the land and then can be at home cooking their own meals. A striking contrast to American life!

On the second day, I spent four hours with a guide my age, we traveled around two different villages on motorbike. The landscape is just BEAUTIFUL! We had a lunch (and lots of homemade rice wine) with one of the families along the way. A very special experience. Unfortunately, I had to leave Donovan at the hotel. He came down with a fever, and was feeling pretty sick. In the evening, we took the overnight train back to Hanoi. As a side note, Sa Pa is only about 35 km from the China boarder. Although we didn't feel the earthquake in China, other travelers in the town said that they could.

Pink Threads & A Dong Silk

Jess writes: Hue is a small city, bustling with tourists. Every 5 steps there is someone asking you moto, moto. They all want you to pay them to take you around to the city's sights. They also want to charge you for EVERYTHING. This we found out the hard way. Hue is home to the Perfume River, several famous pagodas and tombs, as well as a beautiful Citadel. The two motorbike drivers we found were father and son and after 20 minutes of confused supposed bargaining, it was going to be $7 each for a 5 hour tour of the city. The Vietnamese definitely know how to confuse and take advantage of any weakness and we got on the bikes feeling a little ripped off. They were supposed to take us to the Citadel and one other pagoda that was out of the way compared to the rest of the sites. On top of that, without saying a word, they took us to another pagoda, a tomb, a hilltop lookout with a famous bunker and the sleeping buddha. Each time we told them, this is great, but this not what we asked for. At the end of the day, they dropped us at our hotel and asked for more money - of course. We gave them the agreed amount and walked away from two very angry Vietnamese men. The rest of Hue was somewhat similar, so we learned never to agree to anything, because everything costs something. If you even ask someone on the street where to eat, they try and bring you to their family or friend's restaurant. By the end of our stay, we were quite tired of the constant - no thank you, no thank you. No please go away. We did end up seeing one of the angry moto drivers the next day. He was in a great mood, hoping to convince us to take another trip with him. Too bad we had to leave.

Hoi An - Clothes making central. Donovan's version of the second level of purgatory. Except we have sweetened the deal by renting him a motorbike to drive from place to place. Hoi An is a small, but very pretty city. Again, people trying to sell you something everywhere. You can pick any style of any clothing or shoe or bag or whatever else you can think of....then pick the material...then you bargain. We're getting better at the bargaining part. It's more tiring than I thought it could be. New wardrobe - empty wallet. However, at least it's fun trying to calculate the money in dong ($1=approx 16,000 dong). Around every corner there is another store - A Dong, A Dong Silk, Le Dong Silk. And yes, the donger jokes are endless. Brandon - you'd be proud!

The last day in Hue, we met a great couple from Buenos Aires, Argentina. We're staying at the same hotel in Hoi An. Took a long motor bike trip to see some Champa ruins (My Son). The ride was more eventful that the ruins. After Angkor Wat nothing really compares.

The Birthday Rat

Jessica writes: The hotel where we stayed in Hue is great! Super clean and the staff couldn't be more helpful. They saw that I had sunburn on my back when I was checking my email and went out to the pharmacy and got cream for me. Not the typical American hotel experience. The first three questions you get from any and most Vietnamese people is Where are you from? How old are you? Are you married? (side note - I left my wedding ring at home so we've had some strange looks. One guy wanted to know if Donovan was my boss!) Needless to say, they asked how old I was and I told them I was turning 30 that day. They wished me a Happy and Lucky Birthday as we left for dinner. When we returned later that night, Kim, the woman at the front desk took us aside and explained that she was extremely sorry, but that while we were gone, they cleaned our room and found a rat. She was completely apologetic and said that if we felt uncomfortable that she would change our room. Kim wasn't the easiest to understand because her English isn't the greatest, so I had to get Donovan to help me translate exactly what she said. I couldn't figure out whether the rat was dead or alive and for some reason in my slighly drunkin haze, I thought this was going to make a difference. When we got to the room there were roses, a birthday cake and a card waiting for me. I was very touched that they went out of their way. However, I still thought there was a rat. As I began to pack to switch rooms, I kept telling Donovan that I felt bad that we were switching rooms after they did this nice thing for us. He proceeded to check all our food and was amazed that the rats didn't get into any of it, as it was sitting out. 20 mintues into packing, we received a phone call asking if we found the rat. It was all a big joke - as you probably guessed. But if you know me, you know I'm SO gullible. I kept reminding Donovan that he fell for it too! We just didn't expect the nice, sweet Vietnamese to be able to play such a practable joke. They are so serious most of the time. HAHA.

Also, thank you all for your birthday wishes. It was a great day. We went on a river boat tour and then out drinking with a great couple we met from Argentina.

Photo Link

Here's a link to all the photos so far...we've just added Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville ("Snooky")

http://picasaweb.google.com/jessLcrowley

Cheers,
Jess