RTW: Step One!

Wow. I am terrible at keeping up with weekly photo challenges. I suppose I just got caught up in the excitement of travel planning. Last week, I managed to take some time off and visit my family and friends in my hometown. It wasn’t all about catching up though. Stefanie and I had some major travel plans to discuss. In fact, I was hoping to book my flight while I was down there. Flight where? I guess I should start from the beginning…

Seeing as this will probably be the last opportunity for me to travel with very little strings attached, I’ve decided to pack up my things, leave the dog with a friend and jet off to some faraway destinations for a while. How long? Well, here’s the kicker…. 6 months! Yikes, even typing it is exhilarating yet terrifying. This adventure will be my longest one yet. Some people won’t understand it, but I’m confident in my choice. And as the wise man Drake once said… YOLO (you only live once). I feel ridiculous writing that.

So, WHERE AM I GOING?

Sharpening my travel senses

Hmmm…. road trip through Vermont? Camping in Algonquin? Hiking the Bruce Trail? Clubbing in Montreal? Eating hotdogs in NYC? Suntanning in Cuba?

You’ve guessed it. I am in the midst of travel planning – once again! Jessie and I have decided to do a little travel dance at the end of June. I haven’t gotten the time off yet, so nothing is set in stone. Actually, we haven’t even decided where we want to go. We are just searching the best travel deals on the web. If all else fails, we are going camping. Go Canada!

Don’t rain on my parade

It’s my BIRTHDAY!! I’m sitting in a coffee shop (not the kind in Amsterdam, although that would be a story) and enjoying a delicious Americano while writing this overdue blog. Despite the dull, rainy weather, today is going to be a fantastic day! Last year, I was in Toronto for my birthday a mere week before backpacking Europe with my best friends. I’ve come full circle. My nomadic lifestyle has finally come to an end, for now.

Running out of time

My last week in South East Asia was jam packed. I tried to fit in as many activities as possible, as I realized we hardly did a thing. To some of you, that may seem absurd. I mean, yes I did loads but in comparison to South America, Stefanie and I pretty much chilled the entire time in Asia.

So, in Luang Prabang, Laos – we visited a waterfall and hiked up a hill. Yes, hiking!! It was a lousy 10 minute hike, but ridiculously steep. I realized how out of shape I am. Then, it was back to Thailand. We had only had a few short days before heading back to Canada.

Stefanie and I met up with Adam, the Canadian and Scott, from Manchester. It’s funny how you see the same people again – we really need to pick a road less traveled next time. We stayed at this dingy, but friendly hostel. We had 4 single beds, all aligned with each other along the one wall. You could roll from one bed to the other in one swift action. We were that close – but thankfully, we’re all friends.

Oh La Laos!

night market in Vientiane, Laos

I was ready to say goodbye to Vietnam. We heard such amazing things about Loas and we were to keep moving forward. We headed straight for the capital city – Vientiane. There isn’t so much to do in Vientiane, but we did rent bicycles for the day and found this amazing herbal sauna and spa. We thought we broke in to some Monk village and were not sure if women were allowed to talk to a Monk – but thankfully, two monks approached us and lead us in the right direction. Thanks boys!

For $6, we enjoyed the steamiest, rustic herbal sauna and shared hot green tea with a bunch of local Lao women – including a lady boy. Side note: A lady boy is the term given to cross-dresses in Asia. They are so convincingly feminine! We ended the afternoon with a 60 minute traditional massage. Bliss. I never sweated so much in my life and the massage was backcracking-ly authentic.

Travel woes in Halong Bay

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Wow. Why haven’t I updated since Hanoi, Vietnam? I suppose too many things have happened and we’ve been busy bees – but that’s no excuse. I thought I was making a better habit out of writing these posts…. I failed.

Our Halong Bay tour was a bit of a disaster. Stefanie and I ended up stuck in Hue because the bus to Hanoi was sold out. We only realized this after we had already checked out of the guesthouse and one hour before we thought we would board the bus north.

Saigon – Da Lat – Nha Trang

Chaos in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

As I mentioned in my last post, we stayed in Ho Chi Minh City during the Vietnamese New Year called Tet. Because there were so many places closed, we decided to spend our last day in HCMC at the waterpark. We expected the park to be busy – but when we arrived I couldn’t believe the swarms of people! Thousands! Hundreds of thousands and we were the only foreigners. haha. I experienced more culture shock here than in downtown Saigon. Families picnic-ing on any manageable surface, grandmothers hanging their hammocks on trees, children racing each other, dads smoking cigarettes in the pools, etc. It was bizarre.

Cambodia’s Capital and Back to the Beach

Royal Palace & Temples, Cambodia

Anyways, the following the day – we took it easy (mentally and physically). It was over 34C in the capital. We visited the Royal Temple, which has a 9,000 diamond encrusted Buddha statue and a Silver tile Pagoda, which was less than impressive. Each tile is made from pure silver and weighs 1kg each, but they covered the entire floor in cheap carpet and had display cases of knick knacks that all looked the same. Why not polish the floor and show it off! Kind of lame. The royal palace and temples in Bangkok were a lot more dramatic and better maintained. Still, the gardens were beautiful and the architecture was very inspiring.

Royal Temples, Cambodia

Stefanie’s coworker’s brother lives in PP, so we arranged to have dinner with him and his boyfriend. He’s 65 years old and has been living in Cambodia for 3 years, working as a principal and a teacher. Before Cambodia, he lived in Japan for 28 years teaching at a university. He brought us to this restaurant called Friends, which trains underprivileged youth for careers in the restaurant industry. Stefanie and I arrived early and we were curious to meet his boyfriend. Was he Canadian, American, European, Cambodian, young, old? Well, weren’t we were surprised!

A Taste of Phnom Pneh

THIS IS AS-IAH! Actually, the real term is ‘The is Africa’ but Stefanie and I invented our own slogan about Asia due to recent events. “This is Africa” is the term Leo DiCaprio uses in Blood Diamond to explain how anything and everything happens in Africa – good or bad, but mostly bad and how nobody can do a thing about it. AS-IAH because 1: we needed something that sounded like Africa and 2: we are practicing our Spanish.

Thailand was breezy and easy, but Cambodia is another story. The landscape, the people, the poverty, the rules, the corruption… everything I mentioned in my last post. It hasn’t been all awful. In fact, I’m really starting to like it here. However, I did have one bad day where it everything goes wrong and you start to feel homesick. It sounds so trivial now, but sometimes you just get stuck.

Siem Reap was amazing, but Stefanie and I had to make our way down south to Phnom Penh, Cambodia‘s capital. We booked a 6hr bus ride to PP through our guesthouse. The bus was supposed to have a/c, toilet, tv, etc. Not bad for $5! A minibus was picking us up one hour before departure and would bring us to the station. Stefanie and I made a breakfast call to Jessie and then went upstairs to gather a few last things. Our key wasn’t opening the door, so the front desk guy took a look, but he couldn’t open the door either. Needless to say, after prying the handle off the door and shimmying a metal twig around for 30 minutes, the manager finally got the door open a mere 5 minutes before our minibus arrived. PHEW!

Temples and Tuk Tuks

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

The 14 hour bus journey to Bangkok wasn’t that bad, so Stefanie and I decided to head straight to Siem Reap, Cambodia – another 7 hour journey. We’re crazy right?! I was really nervous about the border crossing. I heard that there would be a million scams (including money exchange and visa scams) and it would be quite a hassle – but having travel experience eased the process. We arrived at the border prepared and made it all the way to Siem Reap unscaved.

Our tuk tuk driver brought us to a cheap guesthouse for about $4 each a night. So cheap! Actually, Cambodia is a dirt cheap, but significantly poorer than Thailand. You can tell just from the taxi ride into the city. There are a lot more beggers, including children and there are a lot of landmine victims as well. Cambodia is the world’s most heavily mined country. It’s really sad to see a barefoot child searching the garbage bins for recyclables next to an expensive hotel. Stefanie and I were sitting at a street stall and this boy comes up to us asking for money. I didn’t want my food anymore, so I offered it the boy. I barely touched it, but he didn’t want it. He asked for money. And then earlier, this little boy dragged stefanie into a store and asked her to buy him milk for the baby. She was considering it before these two girls came up to me and told me that it’s a known thing around here that the boy will return the milk for money later on. It just shows how desperate the children and families are for what little money they can get. Even though it is a scam, you can’t help feeling guilty and want to help, but it just perpetuates.

beach bumming and border crossings

Rai Leh Beach, or Railay if you're cool, Thailand

After the official Full Moon Party, which by the way wasn’t as fun as the nights leading up to it (ie. too many people, no room to dance, etc.), Selina, Annalina, Stef and I made our way further down south to Krabi, Thailand. Krabi is a great base to explore all of the beautiful west coast islands and beaches. We decided to sleep in Krabi and make day trips out to more beautiful waters – it’s the cheapest option!

Into the Deep: Scuba Diving in Thailand

Big Blue Dive Resort was amazing.

Stefanie and I are officially SSI Adventurer Divers thanks to Big Blue Diving Resort! We ended up staying in Koh Tao for two extra days and completed the next level up from Open Water – now, we can dive anywhere in the world down to 30 metres. For the open water course, you complete 4 dives up to 18 metres. For adventurer, you need 5 dives: one buoyancy dive, where you practice going through hoops and doing headstands and hovers in the water – one deep dive, where you go down to 30 metres – one night dive, where you go diving in the pitch black sea with only a torch – one navigation dive, where you use your compass and learn your way around dive sites – and one other dive of your choice. I picked FISH ID or naturalist, where I went down with slides of fish and coral and had to record everything I saw. Stef chose a computer dive, where she learned to use the computer to track and plan her dive underwater. We are so nerdy.

Out of all the dives, I really enjoyed the night dive. It was such a surreal experience, especially when you begin your descent and it’s pure blackness all around you, then you start to see shapes of the rock and coral. We each had torches, which was pretty cool because you focus on only one spot. At night, the barracuda are hunting and you can help them catch fish by flashing your light on targets. It was exhilarating. We also saw sting rays and eels in action.

our dive group from Big Blue Dive Resort

Our dive group was awesome. There was Stefanie and I and three Germans: Simon, Selena and Annalina. We got along so well and now, we are hanging out in Koh Phangan. We also teamed up with three other people from another dive group: a danish girl and two aussie boys. We reserved bungalows next to each other and have been partying together for the last 2 nights in honour of the Full Moon Party. The aussie boys left today and tomorrow the danish girl and Simon are leaving for Bangkok, while Stef, Selena, Annalina and I are traveling to Koh Phi Phi on the West coast for much needed beach bumming and relaxation. It’s so sad to say goodbye to your travel buddies. You start to feel like a little family.

Tonight is the official Full Moon Party, but the few nights leading up to the full moon are just as crazy. The party is along the Haad Rin beach and there are tons of Thais selling drinks called ‘buckets’ from their stands. A bucket is a dangerous thing. It’s literally a small bucket, with 200mls of alcohol and mixers, like red bull, juice or pop. One bucket and you have a pretty good buzz, two buckets and you are GONE. They are so cheap too – less than $3. There are also bars along the beach and people dancing on tables and on the sand. The last two nights, there was a foam party, a giant skipping rope on fire, rings of fires, fire limbo – pretty much tons of fire! All the drunkards think they are invincible and end up getting burned half the time. I avoided all fire activity – don’t worry! I did however, participate in the foam madness. I’ve never felt so sandy. The entire party was madness.

pre-full moon party group shot

I forgot to mention that everyone paints themselves for the party with florescent colours. So last night, we got all dolled up in neon pink, orange, green and blue. We’re having round 3 tonight, but I am thoroughly exhausted plus we have to wake up early and take a 3 hour puke-worthy ferry ride to the mainland. We shall see. The trick is no buckets – but will I have enough strength to resist?

Full Moon Party, Thailand

Thai Paradise: Scuba Diving Part 1

Koh Tao at sunset

The road was long, but we made it to Koh Tao – an island in the Gulf of Thailand. The journey was interesting and full of unexpected set backs. We packed up our bags in Bangkok and decided that taking the train down to Chumphon, spending the night and catching the 7am ferry to Koh Tao would be the most comfortable route, but then we were whisked away on a tuk tuk (a three-wheel motorcycle hut) to a travel agency INSTEAD of the train station by some ‘tourist police’. We ended up missing our train and paying for the overnight bus/boat combo ticket from the agency – exactly what they wanted from us, at a price we later found out was twice as much as the other people on our ferry. Scammed. We arrived at the agency around 1pm, but the transfer to the bus wasn’t leaving until 5pm, so Stefanie and I cruised the streets and found a local thai massage parlor. Ah, finally some bliss!

The Thai masseuse was amazing! Mine – at least. She was a tiny, old Thai woman, who hardly spoke a word of English, but we communicated just fine. She gave me an interesting, forceful massage using every part of her body and massaging every part of mine! She even massaged my face! She told me I was beautiful and so I complimented her as well but she told me ‘noooo!!! you so pink! beautiful’ and then pointed to her skin and said something in Thai. She reminded me of my grandmother. My avoe often says how she wishes she had light skin, instead of her tanned Portuguese colour. It’s definitely an old school way of thinking – but it’s funny how our generation wants the exact opposite: a bronze glow.

Photo update: BANGKOK

Here are a few photos from Bangkok, Thailand.

the dash of our first Thai taxi

Aki, the Japanese girl who guided us around the weekend market

YYZ to BKK

Stefanie posing with a guard at the Grand Palace, Thailand. They look like a couple. hehe

It’s been two days since arriving in Bangkok, but Stefanie and I are still jet legged. For everyone back home, we are exactly 12 hours ahead of you. So, when I tell my boyfriend I’ll call him in the morning, I actually mean at night. A little confusing – but we are getting the hang of it.

The 22 hour flight was not as horrible as I imagined. We flew Air Canada and it was fairly comfortable – for once! We had individual tv consoles to watch movies, tons of food and some leg room. We had a connection with Air China in Beijing and then flew the remained 5 hours. The flight was full of Chinese businessmen and just like I heard, they all started their synchronized stretches half-way through the flight. So adorable.