Up Up and Away

Well...

Jen and I have been travelling queens. Currently, we have about 1 week and a couple of days left on our travels. Time travels by so quickly. Last time we wrote, we were on the quaint little island of Koh Tao, swimming with sharks. We talked to lots of other people who also took in the snorkelling tour, but we were the only ones to see the beasts! I think that we were pretty lucky

After departing Koh Tao, we headed to the Andaman Coast to check out the Phi Phi islands with one night on the mainland in Krabi. Both islands, Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Lei were spectacular in beauty. I think that this may have been my favorite place for pleasant scenery thus far in our travels. The little village of Phi Phi Don was quaint and not too populated with tourists. I think that we were lucky, though- as this is the low season. Our opinions may have changed if we were there in high season. Regardless, you can't take beauty away from a beautiful place. On the afternoon of our full day there, I climbed to the top of the island's viewpoint. I was dripping buckets by the time I got to the top (mugginess combined with a decent hike up there)- and the view was stunning. And to think that this place was demolished from the tsunami not too long ago. Most places are up and running, back to normal business, but you could definitly see some of the aftermath of the massive, destructive wave- many vacant lots filled with rubbish. That evening, Jen and I signed up for a sunset boat tour- as recommended by some British lads we met in Krabi. This was a "definite must do on Phi Phi"- and boy were they right. Phi Phi Lei (the uninhabited, smaller of the two islands) was equally beautiful- perhaps even more so- and the sunset produced so many vivid colors. I think Jen posted a pic on the website of this- the scattering of light was beautiful. We also checked out the beach, Maya Beach, in which "The Beach" (with our good friend Leo) was filmed. Again- stunning.

Well, I think that Jen and I exhausted our senses on the Andaman Coast, so we decided to head back to Bangkok and then up to Chiang Mai. What a travelling adventure this was! About 30 hours of travel for us just to check out Chiang Mai. We survived, though... barely. An interesting overnight bus ride for me. I witnessed some Thai guys rooting around in bags and purses at 3am. I had no idea what to do. So I tossed and turned and breathed heavily and coughed in hopes of scaring them off- without letting them know that I was awake. My imagnination got the better of me and I thought that they may have tried to harm me if I made a scene. They were just petty theifs, though. I decided that when we got dropped off in Bangkok, that I would inform the people that we were riding with and those who got stuff stolen could confront the theives. Jen and I were very careful and nothing got taken from us. We heard of theiving bus rides in the past and were very protective of our valuables. To add insult to injury, they dropped us off on the other side of Ko San Road (the main tourist ghetto in Bangkok) to try and get us in a taxi and pay even more money at 4 in the morning- they were supposed to get us there by 6am, and Jen and I planned to go straight to the bus stop for an additional 10 hour bus ride. But here we were... Bangkok at 4 in the morning! We found a internet place to chill for a bit, grabbed a bite to eat to waste more time, took a tuk tuk to the bus depot, hit a mut on the way and hopped on a bus to Chiang Mai at 6:45am. Luckily, this bus was filled with Thai people and the chances of theivery in the middle of the day are quite slim.

So here we are in Chiang Mai! I am going to sign up for a 3 day treck in the jungle and Jen is going to chill out in the city- perhaps take a cooking class. And tonight... very exciting... we are going to see a ladyboy caberet! How fun

Until next time,

Day (and Jen)

Well well... Here I am writing yet another blog.

So... Jen and I survived the Full Moon party on Koh Phangan! It was a great experience! So many people rippin' it up on the beach- We started the night by getting our arm (Jen) and back (Day) painted with this paint that illuminates in black light. This Thai woman made pretty flower designs and we were suckered into the tourist money maker for a bit of fun. Needless to say, I think Jen regrets hers, as the paint somewhat burned her arm and she now has the imprint of a vine crawling from her forearm to her shoulder. We joined in the "bucket festivities"- which pretty much means booze in a small pail with a couple of different mixes. I wandered the streets looking for a soda mix and found one vendor stand that called my name from a far. They were lovely- cold at the begining and very warm near the end. I guess that they all have the same effect in the end We partied with a group of Canadian guys for awhile and made our way to the beach that was pumping music until all hours of the morning. There was even a designated sleeping area in which people could pass out safely. Some took advantage of this area, while others lay in the sand, face down- right in the middle of the beach. Bars lined the entire bay with a variety of music playing from each of them. There was always something good playing, you just had to find it. We lost the Canadians as there were so many people dancing the night away that it made it very difficult to follow anyone to one area or another. Jen and I designated the 7-11 as our meeting point- yes, ladies and gentlemen, it does exist even here in Thailand. We called the night quits around 4am and eventually sauntered back to our pumping bungalow. We had to be out by 11am and I remember music still going strong until about 9am. Crazey scene here!

Checking out in the morning made us pretty happy- as we were getting pretty sick of Haad Rin (the beach where the party was at). So many farang (Thai word for tourists) and so commercilized- I am not so sure that I liked it. However, we headed off to Bottle Beach on the northern tip of the island- on advice given to us my some random Irish dude in Saigon (I think I already mentioned this). Bottle beach was very quiet and very beautiful. A much different pace than Haad Rin. We met a cool couple from New Zealand and chilled for a couple of nights with them. Our last night there was pretty amazing. There was an enormous thunder and lightening storm- literally right above our beach. It was down-pour for about 5 hours straight with thunder that shook our bungalow and lightening that (I think) cracked a near by tree. Night faded to morning and it was as though the storm didn't even exist. Funny how that happens. There has been lightening on the Gulf Islands almost every night- must be the heat.

Currently, Jen and I are in Koh Tao. The last of the 3 major islands on this side of Thailand. I rather like it here. The pace is nice and it's not too touristy. The island is a huge dive centre as well- although Jen and I decided to bypass certification. We did, however, go on a full day snorkelling trip around the entire island. This has got to be the best snorkelling I've ever done. Highllights... Jen and I saw a shark! Many of them! The largest being about 2m! It scared the shit out of me and Jen and we initially had to turn away. Here we were, swimming with sharks. Crazy!

Tomorrow we head off to the Adaman coast and to Krabi and the Phi Phi islands. I hear that the weather hasn't been too good on that side, but we are going to check it out anyways.

Until next time-

much love,

Day and Jen

Hello Hello,

How is everyone doing? Jen and I are doing pretty good. Let's see, the last time we left off, we were in Cambodia exploring the temples and dealing with upset tummies and wierd heat rashes. We decided to leave Cambodia and make our way to Thailand- specifically Bangkok- via bus. Now, we had heard that the road from Siem Reap to the Cambodia/Thailand border was quite a painful ride (very bumpy), but we decided to brave it anyways. The tourist operator insisted that we had an air conditioning bus and that the total time the whole trip would take would be 11 hours. Well- we got picked up from the hotel in this small, cramped van and Jen and I exchanged looks like, "you've got to be kidding." Thankfully, this was only our transpot to the nice, air-conditioned bus that was to wisk us away to Bangkok. Well, the A/C promised was nonexistant and the luxury somewhat promised was just a tiny white lie. So here we were, bouncing like crazy for 6 hours down a dirt road to the border, cramped in a dirty, tiny bus. White was definitly not the color of t-shirt of choice (bad idea Daylin). Well, we got to the border had to leave our rickety bus behind and walk to the Cambodia border crossing- then walk to the Thailand crossing- all with our backpacks on in 40 degree weather. Hot hot hot. So we finally entered Thailand, and found our magical mystery tour bus to take us the rest of the way to Bangkok. This bus was great- red seats, pink curtain, 70's style light fixtures... and... A/C! It was the promise that we were waiting for. The remainder of our ride to Bangkok went very smoothly- that is, until we were approximatly 1 hour outside of the city. For some reason, the bus pulled over on the side of the road- and the driver just got out and left the bus running. He returned after about 15 minutes and we continued on our merry way. We joked a bit about him visiting his lover or something of the sort. Well, literally, 15 minutes later, we stopped again. This time, both drivers left the bus with it running and the door locked. Us travellers began to worry a bit and wonder what the heck was going on. Oh- and did I fail to mention that engraved on the seat in front of Jen was "ATTA = bus scam". We heard of these scams- where buses try and stall the trip as long as possible so travellers enter a city very tired and hungry- without a place to stay- and are taken to their family-run accomodation thereby making more money. So everyone on the bus was skeptical. We the 2 Thai drivers finally came back claiming that there was something wrong with the headlights. We sat around a bit longer and the problem of the headlights turned to a problem of the starter. After a bit of complaining from weary travellers, the bus was finally "fixed" and we were on our way- travelling down the freeway at an incredably slow pace of 40 km/hr. So... we finally got into Bangkok and were dropped off in the main tourist area- Kho San Road. We didn't get taken to some random hostel or robbed or nothing... so what was the delay for? We never really found out. I think that us travellers were too smart for them to scam us.

We were only in Bangkok for 1 night and 1 day and decided to fly down to Koh Samui and boat our way to Koh Phangan. Bangkok was pretty crazey- consumerism galore. Jen and I will definitly do our final bits of shopping here. We fly out of Bangkok, so that shouldn't be a problem. Samui was a bit of a stop-over as well. We experienced our first beach bungalow- so cute- and made our way, by boat to the party central, Koh Phangan. There are sooooooo many tourists here. It's definitly way more commercialized than Vietnam. I'm not sure that I like that as much- but I am sure that we will find our niche. The full moon party is tomorrow and the beaches are slowly being more and more crowded with farang (Thai word for tourists). Jen and I are staying right on the beach that the Full Moon party takes place. The last few nights haven't been too crazey- but "the" night should be wild. Today, I think that we are going to take a small trip out to a beach that is on the northern tip of the island- Bottle Beach. I met an Irish lad raving about this locale so we decided that it needed to be explored. If we like the place, we were thinking of coming back to it after the big party. So that's about it for now- oh, and we might take in some traditional Thai boxing tonight- that should be interesting.

Miss you all and until next time,

Daylin and Jen

ps- we also got a Thai massage yesterday. It was absolutly wonderful. I am thinking that I am going to have to indulge again... soon.

Hello Again,

We are in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and it is kicking our asses. Actually we really like Cambodia, but it seems that Cambodia doesn't like us. We are both sick. I (Jen) have a cold and stomach issues, Daylin has a rash, stomach issues and a general sense of Blah. But enough about our ailments and on to the temples. Yesterday we wandered through Angkor Wat and the temples of Angkor Thom. They were truly spectacular, I was in awe that we were actually allowed to walk and climb all over them. We spent the whole day just lost in the temples. There were so many tourists there, but occasionally we would find ourselves in a perfectly quiet secluded spot.

Today, we went on a long bumpy moto ride out to a waterfall and a remote temple, but due to both of our ilnesses we had to cut our tour short. Our decision to come back early turned out to be for the best. As soon as we returned it began to rain and storm. We had never seen rain this ferocious before. It knocked out the power to our part of the city.

Tomorrow we are leaving for Bangkok and although we have enjoyed Cambodia we are excited to leave. Cambodia is a hard country for me to be in. There are so many children begging and selling. Daylin and I can't even have a meal without attracting hoardes of children. Lastnight we were approached by a boy who couldn't be more than six years old. He was holding his newborn baby sister and begging for us to buy milk for her. It pretty much broke my heart so Daylin bought the boy some pablum.

I know this entry is not very funny or witty, but we are both a little worn out right now. We are looking forward to our 12 hour bus ride to Bangkok tomorrow. The road between Siem Reap and Bangkok is notoriously refered to as the ''highway of broken backsides''--very bumpy! So until next time (when we are well and happy again), we miss you all.

Jen and Daylin

PS. It is really not as dismal as it sounds, we are still loving every second!

Hello Again,

Last time you heard from us we were on our way to spend so much needed quiet time in Mui Ne and that is what we did. Mui Ne was a tiny little beach town with one main road running through it. We rented a moto and a guide and spent a day exploring the area. This may have been the hottest day of my (Jen) life. We hiked up a great big white sand dune and sandboarded down. We soon found out that the costs of sandboarding greatly outweighed the benefits. Sooo hot..... There is nothing quite like hot sand stuck to a mixture of suncscreen and sweat all over your body. At the end of the day, Mui Ne proved to be just the right amount of quiet time, and so cheap--7$ a night split three ways!

So now we are in Saigon, where nobody ever sleeps and every hour is happy hour! We started off the day with a fantastic breakfast on the street. We are finding that street food is surprisingly delicious and cheap! Today we rented another moto and hired another guide to give us a private tour of the Chu Chi tunnels about 30 km outside of the city. Between driving through the crazy streets of Saigon and crawling through the tiny claustropohic tunnels, our adrenaline was pumping for most of the day. Now we are gearing up for our last night in Vietnam and our last night with Paddy. Tomorrow, Day and I are getting on a bus to Siem Reap in Cambodia.

Vietnam has been more amazing than we expected, the food is delicious (yum... noodle soup), the people are so friendly and genuine and the landscape is breathtaking. We are going to miss it, but we are excited for the next leg of our trip.

Miss you all,
Jen and Daylin