How to meditate in a Buddhist wat with three weeks of backpacking gear on your back. We had some time to kill in Chiang Mai while we waited for our flight to take off for Phuket, so we visited some Wats before heading out.
How to successfully fit three people on a motor bike while dodging the craziest traffic you've ever seen at 80 kilometers an hour. The largest Big Buddha statue in the world was totally worth the near death experience, even if it meant being sandwiched between Chris and a big Thai man who decided to double the price we originally agreed on for a ride to the site mid flight. (“No- I meant 200 baht there and 200 baht back!....)
How to kick it, Thai -native- island style. We stayed in a Bungalow on our first night at Ko phi phi, I guess you get what you pay for.….Outdoor bamboo shower, mosquito attacking, roach fested dwelling and all. But, because it is no longer the season for tourists, prices were 50% cheaper than regular- and we felt like we had all the islands to ourselves!!! We were dissaponted that we couln’t scuba dive as the seas were to rough from the monsoon season. I geuss that just means we will have to come back again.
What to do when one of us needs the sun, and the other some shade:
How to eat three rotees for breakfast. A rotee is everything goodness in a napkin: deep fried crepe with sweetened condensed milk, lot of butter and oil, and nutella.
How to ride a scooter. We rode all over Ko Lanta island- so much fun!! But don’t temporarily turn it back in only to find that the gas you filled it up with the night before was syphoned and resold back to you. Oh- and look out for elephants passing through.
Chris learned just how amazing a pedicure is. Looks like I have a new pedicure buddy!
I'm not sorry to say that one thing we did NOT learn was what cows tongue tastes like. However, Chris willingly ordered frog's legs last night for dinner....
Baz Lurhman said it best; "Wear sunscreen"....Or at least marry a wife who knows how to accurately apply it.
We took a van and a ferry from Ko Lanta to Krabi, an all night sleeper bus from Krabi to Bangkok, and arrived just in time to catch the 6 hour train ride from Bangkok to the border of Cambodia at 5:55 A.M. Advice: Do not get scammed by the lying border personnel. Twice. Cause we did. (Even after we had read warnings of it in the guide book) We were still able to receive our Cambodian visas, we just had to pay $30 more than the actual price. Also, don’t leave ANYTHING valuable in your bag that isn’t on you in the bus. It will save you a phone call to Wells Fargo to report a stolen credit card. But it was worth the unfortunate experiences to get to Cambodia. Do wake up at 4:30 AM to see the temples of Ankor Wat and the faces of Bayon at sunrise: beautiful!!
Chris learned the pleasure of getting a "special fish foot treatment"...Gross.
Do go to the Russian market in Phnom Pehn- We bought some DVD’s for a dollar a movie! However, do not attempt this at home:
Sure, you can buy fish from the Cambodian central market; but I wouldn’t advise buying the fish at the stand where the woman is clipping her toenails by the counter.
No matter how much the Cambodian ladies at the hair dressing booth in the central market assure you that they can give you blonde hair of extensions, from asian black locks—"for just One hunded dolas!"; do not be convinced. It will turn orange, and then yellow. We however did not follow such advice as I now have orange-yellow tangled locks of beatuty. The determined Cambodian stylists used about 5 boxes of bleach and one last final box of "expensive platinum die” to achieve the butterfinger golden color. Once again, I geuss you get what you pay for, but good thing I won the Help International Photo contest prize of $250! Right, Chris? This is a picture of the desperate attempt to bleach black hair:
They should come out in three months....
Today we visited the Pnohm Pen killing fields and the museum S21. S21 was originally a highschool, but then converted into a torture camp for the victims of Khmer rouge. When they no longer had room or use for the prisoners, the throusands of innocent people were taken to the killing fields where they were brutally killed with tools such as machetis, spiked trees, and other gardening tools to preserve bullets as the country no longer had any structure or any kind of wealth. It was incredible to learn of something so horrific that has happended so recently. Our tour guide was quite emotional as he showed us around the museum as most of his family are dead from the tragic experience.
We are having a lot of fun- we miss you guys!
There is a bigger Buddha outside of Hong Kong. Really. I've seen some big Buddhas, the one you saw also. I hear the biggest is in China, and Intend to go see it next year.
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Enjoy your stuff. Keep writing