Beaches, beaches, and beaches

our last few days in thailand was spent on the beaches of ko samui and phuket. we decided to stay in the chaweng area of ko samui and chilled out on the beach and crashed a resort's swimming pool. we also checked out the ladyboy show. those ladyboys have hot bodies..made us jealous. it was a bit sad tho to see that most of the bars were surrounded by thai women entertaining white men for a fee.

we then took a car, ferry, bus and mini bus to phuket...the trip took alllll day. we also missed our initial bus pick up so instead of getting into phuket at 3PM, we got in at 10:30PM. ha ha oh well. anyways, we stayed at Phuket backpackers which was super clean although they initially lost our reservation. they sorted it out quite quickly tho.

next day was another rainy day but we headed out to patong anyways with some new buddies who were also staying at the backpackers hostel. drank a bunch of beers, had dinner and i passed out. ha ha. woke up with a hangover that lasted well into the following afternoon. p played kings until the wee hours of the morning!!

this morning, we took our flight from phuket to singapore, land of the merlion!

Rest and relaxation at the Sanctuary

After two back to back overnight trains from chiang mai to surat thani, a bus ride to the ferry, a ferry ride to ko pha-ngan, and then a long boat to hat tien, we finally arrived at the sanctuary. That was 43 hours of travel (we included our stop in bangkok where we watched body of lies. Leo is a hottie).

The sanctuary is a resort slash backpackers hangout where u can order yummy vegetarian cuisine and beer but also get some yoga and fasting programs at the same time. I LOVED it. P and I opted to stay in the 120BHT dorms ($3.50). The place is a "no cash" resort allowing you to pay at the end of your stay (u can rack up bills easier that way. Haha).

Food was delish and I loved the cashew pesto cheese wrap. Although menu was mostly vegetarian, u could get seafood if u wanted. Was just happy that the food tasted fresh simple and clean although on the pricier side vs. The rest of thailand. The menu was a great change from the oilier less than healthy cuisine from our travels. The cashew almond salad is great as well. Oooh, I had a tuna fish sandwich. This might sound wierd, but that tuna fish sandwich was just perfect...a simple meal. (I have to admit, I'm getting tired of restaurant type food and am craving simple things like pb*j and tuna.)

There were two daily yoga classes for 250BHT or 200BHT (if bought in advance) as well a free nightly meditation class. We tried the meditation the first night and it was an "active meditation.". The hour passed quicker than I thought but I still prefer to go to yoga instead.

I got a pedi and facial. My pedi actually ended up being free and actually a 450BHT credit to my overall bill. I wasn't about to complain about that. Massages I think were on the pricier side, but 200BHT/hr massages are easily done in had rin instead.

We spent about 3 days there resting and recuperating from our travels. I was able to catch up on my reading and finished A Thousand Splended Suns and started The Devil Wears Prada (silly reading to offset the heftier suns book). My reading has tapered off significantly since my travels and I've been craving some quiet time to read.

We didn't participate in any of the fasting or wellness programs but did meet a bunch of people who did. It actually sounds really interesting and I'd be keen on trying it the next time I'm there. Most seem to feel energized after fasting. There is a separate wellness center at the sanctuary for all the fasters to hang out since the smell of food at the bar/restaurant can't be all that fun.

I would say I'm the opposite of hippie (yuppie in fact), but I had a great time at the sanctuary and it's a good place to get some relaxation if u need a break from the full moon party craziness.

We are now in ko samui and will be heading to phuket after.

Xoxo!!

Saying goodbye to chiang mai...

We are again on an overnight train heading back into bangkok followed by another one to surat thani.. Our days in chiang mai were pretty full and we're a bit sad to leave chiang mai.

We rock climbed at crazy horse and even completed a level 6a!! I think p and I have found a new hobby and can't wait to see if we can find some rock climbing in new zealand. Our rock climbing guide, crazy, then took us to a reggae bar called root rock (I think) and we met a bunch of other climbers from the peak. One of them, nuy, is the guy in all the peak rock climbing brochures and has also won a bunch of competitions. We then went to a post 2am bar called spicy. Woke up this morning with a hangover, but of course p didn't. Haha

Tiger kingdom - we paid $30 to spend quality time with tigers. Yeah! I have now spent quality time with lions, cheetahs, and tigers. Misu would be proud! We saw 1 month old, 6 month old, and 11 month old tigers. Since we asked a lot of questions about the tigers, the guide let us stay in with the big tigers much longer. I think tigers are now my top fav cat (besides misu of course). Our photographer was a super hot thai guy...even hotter cuz he's crazy about tigers. Was fun just watching him mess around with the tigers like they were little kittens.

We spent a day with elephants and rode on them bareback. We learned a bunch of elephant commands although my elephant pat-bung didn't listen to me at all. A whole day was a bit much tho as my arse was in pain after.

We also took a thai cooking class and learned to make: pad thai, green curry sauce, cashew chicken. Tom yum soup. am planning to repeat the menu for everyone at home!!

In between all this, p and I also went to a yoga class and saw a temple wat phra singh in the main city square. We tried a bunch of street and canteen food which was similar to the home cooked chinese food we usually get in the us.

We would def rate chiang mai as one of our top visits almost up there with safari and zambia. Haha were already planning to come back in april!!

China Hotels and Hostels

After our month long journey around china, we came to the conclusion that we preferred hostels over hotels. Our hostels have been clean and fun while our hotels have been muggy and a bit on the drab side. Oh, u can bargain hotel prices down tho. We did have one exception ...the Snow Lion Resort in Yangshou was by far our favorite hotel. Staff was great also. The following are our ratings:



Beijing - stayed with Charles so of course a 10. Quite the homey experience. Thanks again charles.



Xi'an - Seven Sages Hotel - 7

Great staff. We had two doubles with a shared bathroom. Rooms were pretty basic.



Chengdu - Kai Bin Inn - 5

Wasn't as bad as Shanghai hotel but def lacked character. Rooms basic.

Sketchy ladies would call at night asking if alan wanted a "massage"



Hangzhou - Dong Po - 5

Again, a cheaper hotel in China. Basic rooms. P and E had a smelly room, but they switched to a better one. Nothing special except proximity to the lake.



Shanghai - 24K Hotel - 2 - ceiling stucco was falling due to rain. Rooms were a bit musty as well



Guilin - YHA backpackers - 7

Atmosphere was great and we met some nice backpackers who we also saw again in Yangshou. Room Lou and I shared had a shower that didn't seem to drain properly but A, P and E's room was fine. In fact the beds were large enough for me to fit in on the last night. A for some reason had a wooden mattress though.



Yangshou - Snow Lion Resort - 10

The resort is new and a little bit further from town center but it was worth it. We were one of three rooms filled given that we were off season and it was awesome. Breakfast was included and the meals were large enough for two. Free internet, bikes and a so-so pool table. It cost a little more ($12/night) but worth it. Ask for Helen Huang if u go as she will take great care of u!

Overnighting to Chiang Mai

This morning we said our goodbyes to alan who is heading back to nyc. It will be wierd wo alan as he has been our masculine presence over the last two months. Now down to just me and p. (Last I hear, however, alan is stuck at the bangkok airport which sux)

Having spent a few days in bangkok, I wish we had more space in my luggage for shopping but alas, its our goal to keep our backpack to 15kgs. I did buy a democrat donkey shirt for november and we also bought little miss sunshine (me), trouble (b), and wise (p).

We did see the cultural sites of the Royal Palace (I'm so templed out by this point) and the Jim Thomson house which is my favorite. We also did get scammed by a tuk tuk driver but worked in our favor cuz we ended up paying 20bht for a ride around town.

We also ate yummy food. Alan took us to le lys as well as a drink at the Banyan Tree hotel for our last night. How sweet!

We are now on an overnight train heading to Chiang Mai. The cost of the ride is 23 usd!! What a deal! Bathroom is stinky but we get clean sheets and everything. The xian train was def better but I'm pretty satisfied so far. Am glad we are happy with our train experience so far since we are overnighting it back to bangkok and then to surat thani.

Time to go back to reading. Found catfish and mandala which is about a vietnamese american bicycle ride through vietnam. Has been pretty engaging so far and educational given my 7th grade knowledge of the vietnam war.

Good morning vietnam!

While our original plan was to go straight to thailand after hk, after discussions with folks, we decided to detour to vietnam!

As we arrived in hanoi, we realized a typhoon was on course to hit halong bay. We figured a boat cruise to halong wouldn't be too smart. Puking off a boat is not my idea of fun.

We decided to head to hoi an for a few days since matt spoke so highly of the town. We booked a jetstar ticket and took of for hoi an.

We loved hoi an as it is a small quaint village in central vietnam. The roads are narrow and many of the old buildings are UNESCO world heritage sites. It was nice to walk in the streets without thousands of mopeds to maze through. I would recommend against a tailored suit, however, even though hoi an is known for tailored clothes. Quality isn't really all that great and I'm not so sure P and A were all that satisfied with their tailored suits.

We visited My Son, Vietnam's version of angkor although much smaller and shabbier. Apparently the vc used to hang out in the mountains behind My Son so the americans bombed the ruins pretty heavily. We also hiked up the Marble Mountain which is actually closer to Denang and saw large caves with buddha statues inside as well as pagodas. A visit to an asian country is incomplete without a visit to a pagoda!

My fav part is just driving around on a moto bike and seeing the countryside! Oh forgot to mention that there was a beach near hoi an also.

After are few days of relaxing at hoi an, we headed back to the business and craziness of hanoi. We visited the temple of literature which is dedicated to teachings of confuscious (sp?). The chinese architecture reminded us of china's sphere of influence in the old days. We also went to hanoi hilton and saw where john mccain stayed as a pow. Interesting to see that the museum made the american prisoner experience resemble a resort with lots of fresh fruit like california or so they say!

We followed lonely planet's suggestion of using kangaroo cafe to book a boat tour to halong bay. Apparently hotels and hostels are sketch about prices. Neways, the halong bay boat cruise is a bit of a rip-off any way u price it. U are on the boat for a full day but u are surrounded by many many other boats and tourists the whole time. The cave u visit isn't all that exciting and even the karst mt formations are similar to guilin/yangshou. Basically, we came to the conclusion that we should have listened to cmc and gone to cat ba island on our own and done some rock climbing!

however, we def want to come back to see more of vietnam. We want to visit sapa and ho chi minh city and the rest of s. Vietnam. So many places and so little time!!

Recommendations for Africa

Part of this blog is supposed to be tips from our RTW travel but I have yet to post any of our top picks...so here are the ones from the Africa leg. I rate them below:

Safari Makers (Moses) - 10. See comments below. By far, safari has been the best experience on my RTW travels.

Impala Hotel, Arusha, Tanzania - 6 (basic and a bit boring. Breakfast was awesome though!)

Kibo Hotel, Marangu, Tanzania - 6 (rooms were kind of ghetto but management nice and prepared us a late night meal when we arrived late)

L'Oasis, Arusha, Tanzania - 7 (lots of character with good food although bathrooms could be nicer. Food service was very slow but yummy)

Kitete Beach, Paje, Zanzibar - 5 (would be much higher if mgmt not so sketch, next door Paje By Night had great pizza and pasta)

Aman Bungalows, Nungwi, Zanzibar - 5 (basic rooms, no atmosphere)

Jollyboys, Livingstone, Zambia - 7 (great atmosphere with tons of activities to choose from. We stayed in the ensuite doubles. Rooms are basic with showers that sometimes clog but what rooms lack, place makes up with the other fun lively backpackers)

Capetown Backpacker, Capetown, S. Africa - 4 (basic rooms with hot water. We stayed in triple with shared bathroom)

Stumble Inn, Stellenbosch, S. Africa - 3 (would be a 1 if they didn't have the cool bar; the most ghetto hostel so far. Don't stay here as rooms are bare and empty and FREEZING)

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Our safari was through Safari Makers which we highly recommend. Our primary contact Gideone was very helpful and always answered our million email questions. He also got us a better deal on our flight to Zanzibar after. If u do decide to go with Safari Makers, u should def book with Moses our guide. Moses went out of his way to make sure we saw as much as possible. He had an incredible wealth of knowledge about animals and was very fun! We can't say enough great things about Moses.

Zanzibar
We spent half our time in Paje and the other half in Nungwi. In Paje we stayed at Kitete which was gorgeous and next to the beach but sketchy management. Manager Lawrence seemed to be price gouging us on everything including giving us restaurant bills that weren't even ours!!
In Nungwi, we stayed at Aman Bungalows which were decent and unassuming. Nothing all that interesting with the hotel rooms.

Cambodia...

While our visit to cambodia was short, it was a worthwhile visit to see the country's rich and powerful past at angkor. Visiting the country's painful past with the Khmer genocide also made me look at life from a different perspective.

Am now a big fan of tuk tuks!

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Arrived in phnom penh where charles was already there to greet us.

We spent our first two days in pp visiting remnants of the days when the khmer rouge held power. We went to the tuol sleng museum which used to be a high school but in the days of the khmer rouge served as a security prison (s-21) where cambodians were interrogated and tortured. We also took a trip out to the killing fields of choeung ek. During a rain, clothing and bones continue to be washed up. Charles also brought his laptop so I watched the movie, killing fields, which put the whole experience into perspective. Its amazing the genocide was only 30 years ago and u never think something of this magnitude will repeat... but it continues to happen over and over again.

Angkor-

A and P caught a bus to siem reap while charles and I flew the next morning. We arrived and met up with a and p, got in out tuk tuks to see the major sites: angkor thom, ta prohm (tomb raider) and phnom bakheng. Temples were amazing in scale and grandeur and u could picture the days when the khmer empire was the strong empire it once was. Charles and i saved angkor wat for dawn the following day. I never did find the scene from the movie in the mood for love. after our angkor wat visit the next day charles took off for hk to party it up with eug and thuy. A, p, and myself set out for temples far far away. We love just riding in the tuk tuks cuz u forget about the humidity in se asia. While banteay srei was more than an hour away, the elaborate carvings (said to have been carved by a woman) made the trip more than worthwhile. We passed a bunch more ruins all less crowded than angkor wat and all in difft states of ruins. We really did feel like laura croft (minus the leather bodysuit). At the last temple, we ran into matt (grace's buddy) and his gf. It really is a small world! He talked about his trip in vietnam and how much they loved hoi an. We were def tempted and hoped to have the opportunity to check out the cute little town.

Am off to vietnam next!