American Soil

Friday night Jorie and I stepped back onto American Soil in San Francisco after 20 flights over the past 80 days. My older brother Jamie welcomed us with raspberries and bags of fresh food in tote. The raspberries were gone before we even made it back to his home, they were the most delicious treat we could have ever wished for.

Everything American has seemed exciting... We marveled at how clean even the airport bathrooms were, how orderly and safe driving felt, how refreshing the clean cool air is, how we could shower with our mouth open or just turn the tap for some water and of course we have been obsessed with all the food we have been craving for weeks. Although we have had the time of our lives and loved traveling our appreciation for America has grown.

We ended our trip with an amazing San Francisco weekend where we were spoiled by Jamie and Theresa. We explored the fun neighborhood streets, walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, caught up with old friends, played hours with my adorable nephew and ate so much delicious food. It was so fun to share some of our stories and experiences with Jamie and Theresa. Our weekend was such a wonderful way to come back to the States and get acclimated back into the "American way".

So after 81 days of being inseparable travel buddies (the most time we have spent apart was no more than 3 hours on two occasions) our trip came to a close as we parted each heading home. We were even better travel buddies than I could have ever imagined... Agreeing on budgeting, activities, food, and every detail of traveling life with one other person can be extremely challenging. Yet to Jorie and I it seemed to be completely natural and we shared all similar intents. We never fought or had hard feeling, we shared responsibilities, always seemed to be hungry at the same time, although it seems impossible we always had something to talk about and of course we enjoyed each others company. The more time you spend with a person the more you find out and often, especially in stressful situation, you learn about qualities that aren't your favorite. However, this wasn't the case at all for me, my respect for Jorie only grew the more we encountered character building situations. The opportunity to travel and see the world in the way we did is a once a life time opportunity, but to have such an amazing travel buddy to share the experience with, well that's one in a million.

Over past 82 days we have created a life time of memories. We soaked up cultures from 10 different counties, and ironically the more we traveled the more the world seemed to get bigger and small at the same time. We learned so much about history, culture and just human beings, yet the more we learned the more ignorant we felt. We went to the theater and opera, we biked, we went to museums, we farmed, we went to churches, we sailed, we snorkeled, we rode elephants, we played with tigers, we swam, we rode in Tuk-Tuks, we kayaked, we trekked, we ate local dishes, and the list goes on. And of course we took thousands of photos but most of the best moments weren't captured on film, only in memory. It sounds cliche but wandering the world was life changing. It was an epic 3 months and it was a trip of a life time.

Dengue

So we didnt come out of Asia completely unscathed and the end of our trip hasn't exactly gone as planned. Jorie sadly was the unfortunate one who took the blow of bad luck for the two of us. For the past 8 days Jorie has been a victim to the tropical mosquito transmitted Dengue Fever which causes a myriad of symptoms (high fever, massive headache, fatigue, aching, nausea, etc). As someone who has witnesses Dengue fever in action, let's just say you never want to get it. Jorie has been extremely brave and a trooper through the waves of discomfort.

Over the past 4 days we have been back and forth to the visit "Doctor Brian" (a curmudgeon man from Canada but a tropical disease specialist). We have also spent more time than we could have ever imagine in our $22 windowless ant-infested hotel room (at least it was cheap). We rented a DVD player and bought tons of pirated DVD's. I have learned a lot about Jorie on this trip, and have discovered that she tends to have random narcoleptic moments. These moments of narcolepsy were only exacerbated by Dengue. While Jorie was narcoleptic I wandered the city of Hanoi observing more of the Asian culture. Walking into oncoming traffic doesn't seem to give me an heart attack anymore, the guilt I once felt for turning away street vendors who hackle us has disappeared, and I now think meals should be under $5; these are all signs we have been in Vietnam for a while.

This morning Dr. Brian gave Jorie the clear to fly back to the States. We were ecstatic to be able to leave the confines of our hotel and go back to the comforts of the US. We are leaving the land where there are countless motor bikes, where PJ's are acceptable any time of day, where the national sport is badminton, where chickens run around the city streets, and where the sounds of honking horns is constant. We are now heading back to San Francisco earlier than expected but thankful for the past 12 weeks of an epic adventure.

Things we are looking forward to...

We are both extremely sad that our days of traveling seem to be coming to an end. As we sit in our hotel room waiting for Jorie's dengue fever to subside we are thinking of all we are looking forward to about going home to the land of the free (free of disease)... So here is the list:
- clean tap water and being able to drink as much water as we want
- exercising
- fresh air
- peace and quiet
- clear side walks and crosswalks
- cold weather without disease
- clean cloths
- raw veggies
- signs in English
- home cooked meals
- fruit
- peanut butter
- spending free days (no money)
- family
- doggies
- new music
- driving
- cell phones
- American efficiency
- Holidays
- key board
- no Asian food
- no more bad smells
- electric toothbrush
- closet rather than a suitcase
- no more malaria meds

Oh My Buddha

Oh my Buddha - Our tour guide, Kong, would say this instead of Oh my gosh... it was a great expression.

In Northwestern Vietnam the village of Sapa is perched on a mountain side. Ethnic minority villages surround Sapa- there are 5 ethnic groups residing in the valley, but the Black Hmong are the most prominent. We spent the past three days treking from village to village across the green terraced rice paddies.The mountain environment was much cooler than the rest of our Asian experience, which we enjoyed immensely, and we lucked out with awesome sunny weather. Rice harvest is already over, making the fields less green, but the landscape is still breathtaking.

After returning from Halong Bay to Hanoi, we took an 8 hour night train to the town of Lao Cai, arriving at 5 AM. We then took an hour long bus to Sapa. An older Australian couple joined us with our local guide Kong. We hiked for 4 hours through the farm land on the walking trails the local Black Hmong people use. 6 Black Hmong ladies walked with us helping us when it was slippery or steep. The women were all just shy of 5 feet tall and all wear their traditional dress - all indigo blue clothing made embellished with their hemp embroidery. They use marijuana plants to make hemp, then they weave the hemp into fabric, then us the native indigo plants to dye the fabric and then spend hours adding their personal touch with embroidery. Their clothing is an art in itself and they are constantly working on some embroidery project. They carried big wicker baskets on their backs with their projects in it to sell. Although their traditional way of life is largely still practiced, they have learned basic English from the tourist. In general the ethnic minority people are extremely impoverished and their way of life is far from easy. Still the ladies were happy and helpful as they walked with us. The 6 ladies stayed with us until we reached their village for lunch.

Like I said before the landscape is breathtaking. The mountains are steep with green bamboo covering them in un-farmed areas and terraced rice paddies covering the rest. The clear river runs in the valley and is fed by the many tributaries coming down from the mountains often creating waterfalls. There are scattered small wooden shacks with scrap metal roofs and tons of animals roaming the area - water buffalo chomping on the rice paddies, pigs rummaging through the mud, chickens being chased by dogs all over the place and of course the the random goat eating anything it desires. It is unclear what kids belong to what adult or even if an adult is watching them - most of the kids can be found half clothed creating a game to entertain themselves. The kids are incredibly cute despite how dirty they are. I loved seeing what simple things the kids found entertainment in, I would have to say they tend to be much more imaginative then the average american child who is bored after 5 minutes of an activity. Anyways, my description could never do justice to describe the beauty and charm of this place.

After lunch in the Black Hmong Village we hiked another 3 1/2 hours farther down valley to our home-stay next to a beautiful waterfall. During this walk we picked up more ethic ladies who followed us in hopes we would buy some of their crafts. It is hard to see their way of life and not want to support the people, but you can't buy everyone's crafts.

We stayed with a wonderful couple, Long and Yue, and their two boys. Long has been incredibly inventive and creative about building his house in a way that is tourist conducive. They fixed us two massive meals and were so generous. It was a wonderful experience being able to stay at their home.

The second day we hiked another 4 hours down valley to another village for lunch. We took a car (there are very few cars in this area - cars are only really for tourists) back to Sapa where our guide showed us the local Sunday market. Getting swarmed by the ethnic women is pretty standard around here... they all use different tactics to try to make you buy their products. Luckily I have found a strong side in me to resist the badgering.

Last night we enjoyed the amenities of civilization in a hotel. Today a Black Hmong woman (only 18) took us up valley to the local village of Cat Cat. This village is much more accessible, making it more touristy. It was still beautiful to see and we enjoyed stretching our legs more. We have spent the afternoon exploring more of the town of Sapa and relaxing becuase Jorie has been under the weather lately. We loved Sapa and having the opportunity to hike around this incredible landscape. It is a different way of life here but there is still lots to learn from the simplicity.
We headed back to Hanoi on the night train and were back in Hanoi about 4:30 am, good thing we can sleep just about anywhere at this point.

Jorie has been sick for almost 5 days, so now we are back in civilization we went to see the doctor. The uncomfortable state Jorie has been in was explained by test results showing she had contracted Dengue Fever. Don't worry she will be just fine and I am taking care of her. Nothing like picking up an extra swamp souvenir!

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Ms. Loan - Hanoi and Halong

Over the past 6 months I have been corresponding via email with Ms. Loan, a lady who works for Poseidon Junk Boat Sail tour company. The emails have been excessive, she consistently spells my name different (and never correct) and always ends the email with "waiting to serve you". Through these countless emails Ms. Loan has become quite the character in our minds and we were so looking forward to meeting her. Unfortunately we still have not met this women, but the emails have been supplemented by several confusing phone calls with her and she has arranged for us to be taken care of.

We wandered Hanoi for one solid day seeing everything worth seeing. Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam, so it comes with the big city attributes of lots of people, tons of traffic and lots of pollution. The Old Quarter of the city has lots of shops, tour companies, and restaurants.

Ho Chi Minh is a God in this counties and it is impossible not to know who he is or what he looks like because his face is plastered more places than George Washington. Ho Chi Minh complex in the city is a place Vietnamese people flock to to see Ho Chi Minh's embalmed body. The complex felt communist with tons of guards ordering you this way and that in order to see the embalmed body and Ho Ch Minh's old residence. The experience was weird to say the least.

We also went to the Temple of Literature (which is extremely old) and to Hoa Lo Prison. Hoa Lo prison is extremely historical- it contained Vietnamese during French rule and then American's durning the Vietnam war. It was good to learn more Vietnamese history. While in Hanoi we also went to a water puppet performance which was hysterical. We couldn't understand the majority of what was going on but it was entertaining to see the puppets splash around in the water and it remains a mystery as to how they work.

Halong Bay
We were picked up early Wednesday morning by our tour company, Poseidon Junk Boat. Our hopes for a young English speaking crowd were dashed as we boarded a bus full of older Asians. It was a 3 1/2 hour drive to Halong City. The harbor was packed with junk boats and thousands of tourist. Our 3 story junk boat is comfortable for 15 passengers and spacious compared to our sail boat in Greece. Luckily Halong Bay is a perfect temperature- warm and sunny and we can actually put on pants at night!

After an extensive 8 dish lunch, most of which was shellfish which Jorie couldn't eat, we headed to "the amazing cave". Our tour guide, Duk, took a liking to us, so he made me, "Alice" (as he liked to refer to me), the main character of all the myths he told us about the cave. The cave was massive with three different rooms of stalactites, stalagmites and rocks that looked like animals if you use your imagination (Duk found an animal in almost every rock). Jorie and I took a short kayak around the beautiful landscape as the sun set.

Halong Bay is gorgeous and is a natural wonder. There are some odd 1,900 limestone islands that have extremely steep topography and are covered in green vegetation. The scattered islands create a maze of bays, lagoons and isolated areas that feel extremely remote.

We anchored for the night in a popular junk boat area near the famous cave. Our dinner was even more extensive than our lunch. After dinner the karaoke became our entertainment... A young Malaysian couple was like a human jut-box knowing every song and having no shame to belt out their duets. After a few songs Jorie made her debut with quite an impressive performance of both dancing and singing. Her performances included "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and "Heaven is A Place On Earth". Jorie has always claimed that her mother's musical talents were not passed down to her but now I know that she has just been hiding them all along. The Malaysian couple, an Australian guy and the two of us had a great time singing all together to countless songs. It was comical to say the least.

We spent yesterday getting away from the thousands of other tourist and seeing the real beauty of Halong. We took a small boat with two other older couples and a tour guide to the more isolated areas. We hiked to the top of one of the islands and had spectacular views. Then we went to a pearl farm where we learned about the labor intensive process of culturing pearls. The rest of the day was spent exploring in kayaks. We paddled through a floating fishing village and saw a school room in session with the children's small boats floating outside. Our guide, Kay, also took us through a massive cave where we could not see a thing and had to paddle blindly until we saw the light at the end of the tunnel, literally. The other side was an entirely enclosed inland lake with the cave as the only access point. We explored two more remote areas via caves, and I loved the peaceful isolation. The water was a perfect temperature for swimming. On the small boat they managed to cook us just as massive of a meal as they had on our junk boat. It was such a fun day of exploring and seeing the less popular areas.

We had a whole new group of people on our boat for our second night, including Ruby a 7 year old Australian girl who was an absolute stitch. We actually had previously met Ruby at breakfast in our hotel a few days back so it was fun to see her and her family again. Ruby stole the show for most of dinner and karaoke. Jorie and I seem to be coming down with a cold of some short, Jorie way worse off than me, so we have been spending the rest of the time resting on the boat.

We drive back to Hanoi this afternoon to quickly turn around and head to Sapa, in the northern mountains of Vietnam, on a night train.

Tailor Made

Friday we left the inferno of Ho Chi Minh City and flew, on our 17th flight, to Hue in central Vietnam. Our wish for cooler weather was granted with temperatures in the 80's and monsoonal rains (normally I wouldn't consider these temperatures cooler). When we arrived in Hue, the tourist information and bus services people had spoke of were no where to be found. We boarded a local bus into town where we found another bus to Danang, which was not our final destination but the closest city to Hoi An. The bus to Danang didn't even really stop for us to get on as we boarded the half empty rolling bus. The bus was designed for an Asian petite build with only 8 inches worth of leg room between seats. Much to our dismay the bus did not stay half empty for long, and it continued to fill passed the number of seats. Benches across the center alley were soon used to pack more people in. We were in the back two corners of the bus, legs crammed against the seat in front of us, with 3 Vietnamese men between us. For the 2 1/2 hour bus ride the horn blared for at least 2 hours of it as the bus plowed around corners and up the hills warning all the motor bikes and cars to get out of the way. Although there was no leg room, there was plenty of entertainment on the bus; a new age outrageous pirate movie played which caused lots of giggles, I was used as a human pillow to the young man next to me, one man wore his bike helmet the whole trip, a man in the row in front of us was getting sick into a plastic bag, etc. Both Jorie and I loved the cultural experience. Due to a traffic jam the bus dropped us randomly on a street in Danang, where we were to fend for ourselves finding another bus to Hoi An. Another travel angel appeared to help us find our way. The rains were causing the city to flood so badly that while we sat in our taxi water came in and up to our ankles. But we made it past the flooding and to our hotel just a little more wet than we had planned.

Hoi An is a wonderfully quaint town set back from the Pacific Ocean on the Thu Bon River. The town has preserved some it's charm by keeping some of the old streets only for walking. The French influence is still evident in the yellow stucco buildings with wooden shudders that line the stone streets. The famous Japanese covered bridge in the center of town also shows the multicultural influence in this small town. At night the streets, trees, and bridges are all lite up by the colorful lanterns creating a magical setting. There is a central market along the river which is full of produce, textiles and cook wear. The traditional Asian cone hats are seen everywhere as women paddle into the market on their small wooden boats or come carrying their produce carefully balanced in baskets hanging on both ends of a stick across their shoulder. The Vietnamese people always seem to be happy, however they did seem to be more aggressive about trying to sell things. These charming characteristics make this small town enticing for tourist, but the main reason people are drawn to this town is for tailor made cloths. Hoi An is the epicenter for tailor made cloths, and my guess is that over 80% of the stores are tailor shops or shoe-making shops. Any piece of clothing you could ever dream of, including wedding dresses, can be made in this town in less than 24 hours for much cheaper than they would ever cost elsewhere.

We knew it was inevitable that we would be drawn into the tailor made experience while in Hoi An, however we didn't anticipate how consuming our shopping experience would be. Our first night we tried to do the smart thing by surveying the shops but then the next day we were fully suckered into a tailor made roller coaster. In the end with spent many hours getting clothes made at two different shops. One place we felt very much trapped into and we did not have the most positive experience, but it worked out. The second tailor shop, Phuong Nam, was amazing; they were extremely helpful, listened to exactly what we wanted and produced incredible cloths. At the last minute when Jorie decided she wanted another dress they made a full length dress in less than 3 hours that fit her like a glove.

When we weren't shopping we enjoyed a boat ride down the river, a bike ride to the beach, splashed around in the pool, went to a cultural dance, and went for some walks in the more bearable temperatures. To help our budget and counterbalance our shopping splurge we had two of the cheapest dinners of the trip with a grand total of $2. On Saturday night, we sat on little stools with a small table (kindergardener size) on the sidewalk next to where the river was flooding over it's banks onto the street. Some ladies cooked us dinner on their portable kitchen set-up and we enjoyed the colorful lanterns lighting the lively streets. The $2 meal did leave my hands greasy but luckily the flood water was within reach to wash them off. It was an awesome Saturday night experience.

We loved our Hoi An experience and left with once again full bags (we arrived with about 12kg each and left with 16 kg each). Today we decided to try a different means of getting back to Hue for our flight. This time we took a tourist bus which consisted of three rows and two levels of basically bunk bed seats that reclined. It was tons more room and a lot more comfortable of a 3 hour bus ride. We are now on a flight north to Hanoi, Vietnam.

P.S. People here love to wear pajamas at all hours of the day. This includes both children and adults.

America, have you heard of it?

The title of this blog entry is dedicated to our Vietnamese friend, Pho, who worked at the hotel we stayed at. He always asked us where we were from and each time when we told him "the United States; America" his face remained dumbfounded without an ounce of recognition. He told us he had never heard of America, but he knew of Canada, Holland, and some other Asian countries. We did not fight the issue but have pondered how Pho has never heard of the country that occupied and fought a war here for over 15 years.

Ho Chi Minh City was our introduction to Vietnam and our host for the past four days. And let me tell you we did just about everything the city has to offer in 4 days.

When we arrived in Vietnam Jorie could not have been any more excited to see a bed, and she crawled in and crashed before the bellman of our hotel had even left our room. Once all the shrimp was out of Jorie's system (she is allergic to shrimp and it seems to be the secret ingredient in a lot of foods in Asia), she seemed to recover quickly from her 'death warmed over' state. I was thankful to have my travel buddy functioning again after having a taste of what traveling by myself would have been like- one night of eating and exploring alone was enough for me.

Monday we spent the day exploring the city and all its major attractions. Ho Chi Minh does not have public transportation options (like Bangkok), so we tried to venture by foot hoping to be back in our European ways. Well walking around Saigon (downtown Ho Chi Minh) is nothing like walking around a European city; there are two major differences: the heat and the traffic.

The heat in Ho Chi Minh is outrageous- walking outside is like walking into the oven but with humidity that soaks you. Our hair didn't even have time to dry from the shower before it was soaked with sweat.

As far as the traffic, its utter chaos! I am sure you all have at one point or another participated in guessing how many jellybeans were in a massive jar... Well when traffic is stopped, the street resembles the massive jar of jellybeans with some random candy bars mixed in (jellybeans representing motor bikes and the candy bars as cars and buses). It is wall to wall people on motor bikes. Then throw that massive jar of jelly beans on the ground and that is what the moving traffic is like... There are 5.2 million motor bikes within Saigon and each motor bike commonly has more than 2 people on it. I saw a motor bike with 7 people riding on it, one big happy family all balancing on 2 wheels. Kids often stand on the front area or are sandwiched between adults. When the motor bikes aren't transporting tons of people, they have tons of stuff on them. We saw one man with about 10 plastic tables balancing on the back of his bike and he even had one around his neck. The motor bikes weave through traffic, go up on the sidewalks when they are feeling impatient, and go in whatever direction they feel inclined to. A honk is a warning system on the streets and flashing light's communicate that "you better move because I am not slowing down". There is no break in traffic, so waiting for an opening to cross the street, well that's not going to happen. So crossing the street is terrifying, it is a massive game of chicken where you feel the exhaust of the motor bikes burning your leg as they go by and the wind created by them whizzing by. Jorie and I always try to find a local to cross with, but even still screaming and holding hands for dear life seems to be in the cards for the major intersections.


Some other random cultural things we have noticed.... Vietnam is no where near as developed as Thailand, but is ahead of Cambodia.... The dong is like monopoly money and has proven to be our hardest currency to convert with 21,000 dong to the dollar.... A lot of the motor bikers wear face masks, and they even sell designer ones... Backstreet Boys and other 90's teeny bopper music is still in over here... Even adults like the Disney channel.... They eat everything here- cockroaches, every part of whatever animal, tons of fish, etc.... The smells here are overwhelming and often nauseating... Maps are not southeast Asia's strength, and the people have no clue how to read a map or even where things are... However, they have good spacial awareness to ride motor bikes practically on top of each other... It's too hot to be outside during the day, so the parks are packed at night- the locals love to play badminton, do an asian form of zumba and an asian version of hacky-sack....And in general the Vietnamese people seem so happy and jovial!

So now to what we have been up to over the past few days....

Monday and Thursday we spent learning how to play chicken with the traffic and seeing the major sights of Saigon. We walked to the famous Norte Dam Cathedral, which was beautiful but didn't compare to European churches. The famous post office was not too exciting but offered us a cool break. The War Museum was incredibly powerful and depressing. Feeling rather ignorant to the Vietnam War, known here as the American War, we learned a great deal about the torture, hardship, distraction and the ever lasting effects of agent orange. The more we learned the more we were disturbed and frustrated by the war that inflicted so much pain on so many people.

The Jade Emperor's Pagoda is another sight that looked better in the guide book than in real life, but we did get to see lots of turtles there. We wandered the zoo and botanical gardens but the heat was draining. The fine arts museum had a lot of potential but after Europe's art museums it was hard to compare. We of course enjoyed window shopping but found the major market to be an unbearable inferno.

Tuesday we took a tour to the Mekong Delta which is about two hours from the city. The Mekong Delta is a massive area that is known as the rice bowl of Asia due to it being the second largest producer of rice. The area has 9 strains of the Mekong river flowing through it and then hundreds of streams connecting them. The water is extremely murky and brown, but is highly productive. We took a big boat down one of the major tributaries with floating scrap metal houses and muddy banks with settlements. We also took a small 4 person boat up a palm covered and jungle banked stream. Immersing ourselves as much as possible in the experience we bought the traditional Vietnamese cone hats to protect us from the sun. We had a traditional lunch on the river bank, learned how coconut candy is made by a local family, sipped honey lemon tea in the jungle, and even listened to a local folk band. It was worthwhile to see how the people live in this region of the world.

Wednesday we took a tour to Cao Dai Holy See Temple and to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The Cao Dai Holy See is the birth place of the Cao Dai religion which was created in the late 1800's and is a mix of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity. There are about 3 million followers in Vietnam and a large portion of which practice at this temple. The temple is 2 hours from Ho Chi Minh, so it was a long trek to see it. The building is extremely colorful with dragons and eye sculptures covering the mixed European and Asian style architecture. Feeling like intruders we watched some of their afternoon prayer service where all members dress in white and file into the service in a hierarchy way. The service seemed to be a series of bowing mediation to singing and chants.

The Cu Chi Tunnels are a massive spiderweb of underground tunnels reaching father than 6 meters deep. The Cu Chi guerillas built the massive underground world during the war to both protect their families and fight the Americans. The tunnel entrances are impossible to see without knowing about them- often they were a 1x 1 foot hole covered with a wood door. I barely made it past the entrance before claustrophobia set in and I went above ground. Jorie managed to go down into the first two level of tunnels, but after about 50 feet her back was tired and she came up. With people shooting war time guns at the complex shooting range it was eerie to see the series of booby traps with sharp points meant to slice the enemy in half. Seeing the conditions war creates to make people act so inhumanly towards each other was a harsh reality.

Now we are off to central Vietnam and we are hoping for some cooler weather!

THE Beach

The movie "The Beach" was a favorite for Jorie growing up, and it shaped what she has pictured as Thailand's beaches. With massive flooding in Bangkok and rain covering most of the country for our last 4 days in Thailand, we decided to fly down to the west coast area of Krabi so Jorie could see "the beach" in real life.

Dumping more than half of our possessions on to my mom to take back to the states, making our bags go down to a weight of 12kg each, we caught an early flight south to Krabi. We were in Krabi by 7:30 AM, but didn't reach our hotel until well after 10:30 AM due to some key details lost in translation with our taxi driver. Communication in foreign countries can be tricky and very unpredictable. We spent one day at a remote beach resort (resort is a lose term in Thailand) about 45 minutes down the coast from Krabi Town. Although the views were spectacular most of the beaches are covered in trash. After 8 weeks of travel we took our first intentional rest day; napping, watching movies, and walking the beach. It was well needed and a great place to recharge.

We took the ferry out to the island of Phi Phi Dom, where "The Beach" was filmed, and spend 2 1/2 days enjoying the island. The clear turquoise water surrounded the steep jungle covered cliffs and the occasional lagoon with white sandy beaches. Phi Phi Dom and it's sister island Phi Phi Lay have breathtaking landscape and according to Jorie it looks just like the movie. Phi Phi Dom, the inhabited island, has what I refer to as a trashy tourist scene with more westerners than Thai people. The nightlife is booming, probably because it's too hot in the daytime to function, people wearing clothing is rare, sunburned people are part of the landscape, and there are more tattoo parlors than restaurants. Around the island the slogan seems to be a bit different from most places in the US; Phi Phi Dom island tends to live by no shoes, no shirt, no problem. Over our trip Jorie and I have found people watching to be a great source of entertainment, and we are constantly trying to guess peoples' nationalities or to find the weirdest haircut. Phi Phi was a Mecca for people watching for us; there were more lady boys and mail order brides than we could have ever counted, the crazy haircuts we saw were award worthy, men in weird speedos were more than common and there were so many Chinese people doing amazing poses for photos. Lets just say we were entertained.

We stayed in a bungalow perched on the hillside that overlooked the major bay- it was beautiful. We spent one morning exploring Phi Phi Lay's bays and beaches in a long boat. Our guide, Boy, took us to all the famous spots, and so did the other 100 guides who brought their boats full of tourists. Despite the masses of people, Phi Phi Lay was beautiful. We enjoyed swimming around 3 bays with steep cliffs covered with green jungle, and the water was so warm and salty. After seeing the famous Maya Bay we snorkeled along the steep cliffs and saw sea turtles.

We attempted to hike to the tip of the island but had difficulty finding the path a Swede told us about- all the locals we asked did not know of said path. It was so incredibly hot that we were dripping of sweat, it was like Hansel and Gretel but instead of bread crumbs our sweat dripped in a steady trail. My fear of jungle creatures kicked in and we turned back before heading too deep into the jungle. On our walk back past where the locals lived a man stopped us pointing to a massive jungle snake. It was clearly poisonous and so big it could have done some serious damage. The Thai man killed it with a rock and we went on our marry way thankful we had not continued in the jungle.

The words "Thai massage, Thai massage" ring through the streets of just about every Thai city as the people try to get customers. After turning down hundreds of offers we final got massages at our hotel. Jorie, going for the true authentic experience, got a Thai massage which probably made her more sore after than she was before. I had a facial and a back massage for about 1/3 the cost it would have been in the US.

On our last day we rented kayaks and paddled around to the nearby Monkey Beach. While on the water it poured rain which cooled us off from the heat and was refreshing. Monkey Beach is just what it sounds like- a beach with monkeys running all over it. When we arrived in the rain there were no monkeys to be seen, but as the sun came out so did the monkeys and then the beach lived up to its name. The monkeys did there own thing but were not scared of us. Kayaking was both beautiful and a fun way to see the island from the water.

We spent lots of time reading on the beach, but the sun was too hot to sit in without an umbrella. I also made a monkey friend named Peter... He held my hand, sat on my shoulder and would drink smoothies from a straw. He was so fuzzy, playful and cute, too bad I can't bring him home.

Being on Phi Phi made us think back to the 2004 Christmas Tsunami that devastated this part of Thailand. Over many of our meals we pondered what we would do in the case of a Tsunami and to be honest we didn't come up with many good ideas, the islands are incredibly vulnerable.

We thought we had made it out of Thailand unscathed but last night food poisoning or an allergic reaction to shellfish hit Jorie. We were fortunate to be able to fly despite all the flooding, but unfortunately we have to fly all day today while Jorie feels terrible.

We have enjoyed our two weeks in Thailand covering from the mountains in the far north to the sea in the southwest. Now we are off to Vietnam for yet another adventure.

Puripunn, The Land of Sharing

After traveling on a tight budget over the past 8 weeks my mother spoiled Jorie and I for 3 days in Chaing Mai. It was a fantastic break from our typical pattern of travel and a great way to celebrate Jorie's 24th birthday. Puripunn Baby Grand Boutique Hotel was a deluxe lap of luxury compared to our normal hostels. The hotel staff was incredibly attentive and thoughtful, they made us feel like royalty. The grounds were so peaceful and beautifully designed, and Jorie was especially into the 3 level pool and the surrounding lounge chairs. We had the most delicious breakfasts each morning; full fruit spread, fluffy waffles, fresh yogurt filled with fruit and so much more that we couldn't even take advantage of all the amazing food they offered. Puripunn, which means the land of sharing, was the most incredible experience to share!

Most of Jorie's birthday was unfortunately spent traveling from Cambodia to Chaing Mai, Thailand. However, once we got to Chaing Mai we celebrated by going to a great restaurant along the river- it was a beautiful evening and finally a comfortable temperature. We also went to the night bazaar and we had a few purchases, but it wasn't as impressive as other markets we have been to. Back at the hotel, fried bananas and ice cream stood in as a birthday dessert, and although it wasn't a traditional American birthday cake it was one of the most incredible desserts ever!

We had 3 rain-free days while exploring the small Thai city located at the base of the mountains. Although we had already ridden elephants we decided to go to the world famous Maesa Elephant Camp. This camp was much bigger and less intimate than our last experience but we attended an impressive show. The elephants were extremely well trained and seemed to be more talented than some humans. Each elephants' personality came through as they showed off their skills, and they were surprisingly communicative and even seemed to have a sense of humor. The performance included elephants: dancing, stealing their mahout's (trainer) hat, playing a harmonica, playing soccer, throwing darts and popping balloons, playing basketball, helping their mahout up onto their backs, giving a massage and painting. Watching the elephants concentrate and work so hard to paint with their trunk was by far the most impressive, and they produced beautiful works of art. After the show the three of us got up close and personal with the big creatures as we each got hugged by their big trunks.

We traveled in the back of a red cover truck (a common taxi form in Chaing Mai) up into the mountains to Doi Suthep temple which over-looks the city. The temple is famous and flocked to by all visiting people and even locals, but after visiting so many temples already we did not find it to be too impressive.

We visited many craft workshops where we saw how the umbrellas, cotton goods, and other crafts are made by hand. Learning how cotton is produced start to finish was impressive and made me appreciate all my cotton cloths even more.

We wandered though the sprawling Sunday Night Market for ages, and it was incredibly over stimulating. Bartering skills are essential for the markets, and we have found that walking away after your last bid is the best trick to see if they will in fact lower the price.

Living in America has given me a craving for diverse foods, so after only being in Asia for a week we had to venture to find western food. We found one of the coolest restaurants, Ginger@Kafe, with amazing decor and incredible food. It was a great change to have a sandwich rather than something with rice.

We spent most of yesterday taking a cooking class with Air's Thai Cooking School. For 2 hours we wandered a local market (very very local, no white people to be found) learning about all their traditional foods. I try very hard in life not to "yuck other peoples yums" but I found quite a few items in the market hard to stomach just by looking at them. The markets consisted of: tons of fruits I didn't even recognize, lots of sticky rice, tons of prepared food that all seemed to be monochromatic brown unidentifiable stir fries, bizarre dessert concoctions that all appeared to have the consistency of flan, a massive meat section (every part of the animal being used including the pigs' heads), chicken feet, frogs, crickets, fried water buffalo skin, congealed chicken blood, cockroaches, and so much more. We learned tons from our chief and it was a true cultural experience. At the cooking school we learned how to prepare the famous Phad Thai, a green curry dish, and Tom Yam (lemon grass sweet and sour soup). My mother was especially thankful to not be cooking the unusual foods we saw at the market. We were able to enjoy the food we cooked for lunch.

We explored more markets and an incredible hill tribe shop. Controlling my mom's spending in the Hill tribe shop was an epic fail, but we all walked out with some incredibly unique items.

We are sending all our purchases and our non-essential cloths home with my mother, so hopefully we will be traveling lighter over the next 4 weeks. Tomorrow we will say goodbye to my mom and hello to Thailand's beaches.

Secrets of Angkor

Cambodia was amazing! We spent 3 solid days exploring the area around Siem Reap, Cambodia with Intrepid Tour Company and a local Cambodian guide, Satya Go. Satya was an incredible guide- he not only has lived the harsh history but he also is a walking encyclopedia of all the history. He told us more information than we could ever comprehend let alone remember. After 3 days days with Satya we found out that he has his own history TV show about the country, so he is very much a professional history buff.... Even more so than my own father with US history.

Cambodia to me felt like the Africa of Asia with so much beauty and so much poverty. The opening in tourism over the past 10 years has helped to develop the country, but it still seems to feel so far behind compared to the western world. The country is still working to recover from the Khmer Rouge Genocide from the 1970's and reconciliation is a constant process. Also, the economy is not stable enough for their currency to have very much power, so US dollars are used the majority of the time.

Before I dive into the other detail of our time in Cambodia I need to enlighten you about the weather. First of all it is the wet season, which basically means the swimming season. The monsoonal rains bring massive amounts of water everyday, often in the afternoon. We came during the wettest and worst flooding Cambodia has seen in over a thousand years. Also, for those of you who pay money to belong to a gym with a steam room I challenge you to go for a steam today with pants and a shirt on and then stay in the steam room for the entire day. That is similar to what this country feels like... Hot, humid, sticky and did I mention HOT! You walk outside and your body begins to drip, then you have to move around in it and you might as well have jumped into a swimming pool. The weather forecast has said in the 90s but it feels like 120 degrees. The part that blows my mind is the fact the locals don't even act like they are hot, in fact one of our guides even got goose bumps!

Satya Go, our tour guide, and the Khmer Rouge:
I won't go into tremendous detail about Satya but I do want to share some of his experiences. When Satya was 8, in 1970 the Khmer Rouge took over the country and forced everyone to move to the country side. His father, a professor, had to hide his intelligence and his once honored profession, because the Khmer Rouge killed all the doctors, professors and everyone of high intelligence. The Cambodian people were starved and forced to work the land to produce rice. When they talked to one another in the fields they were sent to the killing fields to be disposed of. Satya's brother was accused of being in the CIA, so he was killed. After 4 years of these inhuman conditions, the Vietnam Army came in and fought the Khmer Rouge for 10 years. The country of Cambodia was not free of the Khmer Rouge until the leader, Pol Pot, was killed in 1998. This genocide killed over 6 million people in those 4 years, but people today still are being injured by the land mines left behind from these people. This is a very brief and general overview of Khmer Rouge but you get the picture. So now Satya and his father lead tours to educate people on their country to help gain global awareness and prevent this from happening again. It was astonishing to spend so much time with Satya, who appeared to be such a normal man but has been through such hardships.

Cultural Landscape:
Oh where to begin... Let me start with the driving experience. Most countries have a designated side of the road people drive on and for the most part people follow this general guideline. Well in Cambodia this does not really apply, as people drive on which ever side of the road they fancy, and it is complete and utter chaos. Honking is the key to survival. There are bikes, motor bikes, Tuk-tuk's, cars, vans, and busses coming from all directions and the smallest vehicle on the food chain must get out of the way when the larger one honks. Even though the driving experience goes against every American rule, it surprisingly didn't feel too unsafe (it could be the fact we have been traveling so long that little phases us). Not only are the conditions of driving rather nuts but they transport so many people per vehicle. Often on one motor bike there would be 5 people, with 2 year old kids balancing on the front. Also, the Tuk-tuk's, known here as remorks, are carriages that are attached to motorbikes with a hitch. The remorks we rode in were very comfortable and a great way to see the country.

Siem Reap is a small city with a tons of new hotels (all built in around 2000 with the tourist boom). There is a beautiful night market with hundreds of stalls of Cambodian items. I had to chaperone both Jorie and my mom at the market, as they went nuts over all the cheap market stuff. Pub row is the well developed tourist street with restaurants and hundreds of massage places. I felt like a broken record constantly turning down the cheap massages and pedicures (you would think that it would be hard to say no, especially to an hour-long massage for only $5, but after the 15th massage place it gets old).

The countryside is beautiful! Green rice paddy fields, green sugar cain, and green jungle everywhere. And when it isn't green, it is water- flood water that is. The scattered houses are often on stilts to protect them from flooding in the wet season and to provide a cool place in the dry season. The houses are made of palm, scrap wood, mahogany, or teak, as these are all abundant resources here. A lot of this agricultural land has been recently taken over by the farmers after sitting for almost 40 years unused because it was ladened with land mines from the war. Tons of the country remains thick jungle for this same reason. The hope is that the land will soon be freed of the mines.

If you see a child under the age of 10 by themself in the US people would freak out. Here children over the age of 4 roam by themselves and seem to be part of the landscape. We saw young kids walking their cows, jumping off bridges into the flood water, fishing, riding their bikes which are way too big for them, and even directing traffic. Kids tend to take care of the other kids, as they all watch out for one another. All the kids seemed to be so happy and playful, and they loved to wave as we passed by. Due to a lack of teachers and limited funding, children only attend school for one session a day- the morning from 7 to 11 or the afternoon from 1 to 5. Around 11, uniformed school children would line the roads on their bikes, often 3 or 4 kids balance on one bike (I have no idea how they stayed). Some kids spend their free time outside the temples trying to sell trinkets to tourists. We got practically mauled by a swarm of kids after Jorie bought postcards from one little girl.


Temples, Temples, and more Temples:
The first two days we saw and learned about more Temples than we could even handle. There are over 2,000 ancient temples in Cambodia but the most famous ones are the Angkor complex. The Angkor temples were all built between the 9th and 12th century of lava rock, sandstone, and bricks (only the older ones). They are all unique but they have similar designs. They all have 4 entrances, one from each cardinal direction, then they have 3 levels with the top level closest to God. There is often a moat around the outside and most of them have 5 towers representing the 4 elements (air, fire, water, and earth) and the center one is to God. We were able to climb to the third level of most of the temples, up the stairs that were incredibly big and steep, and then at the top there was no ledge, just straight down- this would never have passed safety regulations in the US. All of the temples have both Hindu and Buddhist influence. For hundreds of years the temples were completely engulfed by the jungle and people didn't know of their existence. They were discover again at the turn of the 20th century, but it wasn't until after the war people began to spend money to remove the jungle and restore these ancient ruins.
Satya told us about every carving and statue in the temples, but I will spare you those details and just hit the major temples we saw...

Angkor Wat: the most famous and best preserved, it is massive and so beautiful. There were so many steep steep stairs going to the top level, and the views from the top were gorgeous. The moat surrounding this Temple made the area so peaceful. There were also tons of monkeys outside of this temple that were so fun to watch.

Angkor Thom City: a massive city of ruins with the temple Bayon in the center of the city. Bayon Temple has 54 towers with 200 smiling Budda faces. The gates entering this city are also impressive, there are over 50 statues on each side lining the road leading to the massive arched gateway.

Ta Prohm: this is the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed with Angelina Jolie. The temple is covered with massive jungle trees that are intertwined into the structure. Also, there was a spot where you could go into a chimney and bang on your chest and it echoed like a drum. This was probably my favorite temple, just because the jungle vegetation made it feel mysterious and wild.

Pre Rup: One of the oldest brink temples.

Banteay Kdei: we had to walk on a floating bridge through the jungle and flood water to get to this almost submerged temple. Only the two top levels could be seen and a lot of the original statues have been stolen from the sight (this is a problem with almost all the temples).

Banteay Srei: is a more Hindu influenced temple with pink sandstone. A fire to destroy the overwhelming jungle vegetation has made some of the temple black.


Flooding Life:
We spent our last day exploring the Tonle Sap lake region. This is one of the most productive lakes in the world and the water level fluctuates so much between wet and dry season (12,000 km2 during wet and 2,500 km2 during dry). However, this year the flooding was so severe that water has come miles farther inland, consequently damaging tons of villages. We took Tuk-Tuk's miles to where we could drive no further due to the flooding. Then we took a wooden boat with essentially a weed wacker for the motor to another flooded village where there was a bigger boat. We took the bigger boat for about an half hour through water that appeared to be the lake, but is usually just a river. Then we came to another village, essentially a floating village. The houses are all on stilts between 3 and 5 meters off the ground. Only the houses that were 5 meters off the ground were not flooded, and the rest were completely saturated.
The village had around 400 families in it, all of which depend on agriculture for a living. There were tons of little canoe like boats that people were wandering around on, kids (ages 6 or 7) taking a boat to school, men fishing off of them, women with tons of goods to sell to her neighbors on her boat, etc. It was unlike any other village I have ever seen, and it was so authentic.
We stopped at someone's house for some coconut to drink (these were the biggest coconuts I have ever seen) and to use their bathroom. Well I can't really say it was a bathroom, as it was more of an experience. There was a sectioned off area for the water closet, which is actually a fitting name because we had to walk through water to get onto the squatting platform. The squatting toilet contents went directly into the the water and both Jorie and I could see the fish as we went. Then we had to walk back through the water (essentially the contents of the bathroom). The flood water is used for everything: dishes, laundry, bathing, bathroom, playing, and of course, drinking. No wonder there are so many waterborne diseases.
We then took the boat out to Lake Tonle Sap which was massive- you couldn't see the other side at all. The whole experience was so worthwhile and amazing.

Other things we did:
While in Cambodia we also went to the Angkor Center for Conservation of biodiversity where we saw lots of birds, turtles, monkeys, and gibbons. We had a very informative guide and it was encouraging to see conservation work being done in a developing country.

We also went to an artisan community and saw people work on silk paintings, mahogany wood carvings, sand stone carvings, and copper jewelry. It was impressive to see all the artists at work and how much goes into each piece.

We went to a land mine museum started by Akira, a man who was once a boy soldier for the Khmer Rouge and now works to clear the country of land mines. He has disarmed hundreds of thousands of land mines around the country freeing up tons of land for farming. He also has a foundation and orphanage attached to the museum. 37 kids, some of whom have been victims of land mines, live and go to school within the orphanage. There are still 5 million land mines left in Cambodia and Akira's foundation is instrumental in making that number go down. It was a powerful experience and we all learned a lot.

We went to the killing fields which was depressing.
Also for those of you who many go to Cambodia in the future, go to the Blue Pumpkin Restaurant- it is delicious!

As you can see from this extremely long blog we made the most of our time in Cambodia and enjoyed it immensely. Now we are off to Chaing Mai in the northern part of Thailand!

Taste Bud Exploration

Over the past two days we have been exploring Bangkok and all of the city's unique opportunities. We explored more famous temples: the Reclining Budda and Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn). Both of which were so impressive, my mother found them to be like an adult Disney World with all the colorful temples and fun statues. We also went to The Jim Thompson House and Museum. Jim Thompson was a famous American who developed the silk industry in Thailand. His home was a true oasis in the center of the city, and it was impressive to see the mix of western and Thai styles.

Our fascination with the massive deluxe shopping malls and the chaotic jammed markets has increased with the more we have seen. In particular, we could have spent days wandering Kho San Road, a famous street with thousands of surrounding stalls containing anything from authentic souvenirs to knock-off designer clothes. Needless to say, bargaining is it must in this environment. We sacrificed some sleep today to go to the flower market at the crack of dawn. It was bustling with people, all Asian (not a white person in sight) and was full of gold marigolds and orchids. My mother was in seventh heaven seeing all the flowers. Also, my mother is taking advantage of the opportunity to have clothes made to fit like a glove, so we have spent time at the tailor and it has been amazing to see how fast they work.

As we have wandered the city it has been amazing to see the effects of all the flooding. There are sandbags just about everywhere; some are precautionary but most have already seen practical use. Some places are beyond the point of sandbags helping. Close to the river, shops and buildings have a foot or two of water flowing through them. Some of these places have continued business as usual by building ramps and platforms to walk on above the water. We took two different water taxi's over the past two days; the major river water taxi seemed to struggle with the current of the gushing river from all the flood water.

My mother has been astonished at how adventuresome Jorie and I have been with the food. The two of us constantly seem to be tempted by the street food but we are being smart and selecting only the safe ones. Our palettes have tried lots of new food, some of which we can identify and others will remain a mystery. We both have experienced some of the spiciest food we have ever eaten, as my lips burned for a good 4 hours the other night. I don't know why most tropical counties have such spicy food when it is so hot out already- why do they need to make their mouth feel on fire too?

We are off to Cambodia for 4 days and then will return to Thailand. That's all for now!

Fun facts about Bangkok and Thailand culture:
- instead of yellow, most taxis are hot pink
- Most Thai people don't use toilet paper, but instead use a water sprayer next to the toilet to wash off with... We have opted out of this cultural experience.
- Within Thailand and several other Southeast Asian cultures there is a huge "lady boy" population. These are men who have undergone sex changes to become women. The only way to really identify for sure these "lady boys" is by checking for man-hands.
- Like other Latin American countries, to-go drinks are often served in a plastic bag with a straw and even handles on the bags- how convenient!

Tuk-Tuks, Typhoons, and Tigers in Thailand

From Strike Zone to Flood Zone

Our 24 hours of travel from Meteora (Greece) to Athens to Cairo to Bangkok was full of delays and raunchy food. Lucky for us and an Egyptian Bride (who wore her huge wedding dress the whole time), we had a half-empty flight from Cairo to Bangkok. This allowed us to each take a row of seats to ourselves, which monumental for sleeping while in the air for 9 hours.

We left the strike zone of Greece to come to the flood zone of Thailand. As we flew in, it there appeared to be hundreds of lakes, but then we realized the Thai countryside below was solid flooding. We soon found out that October is the rainiest month (monsoon season) for Thailand and it has been the rainiest October on record in over 60 years. We both have experienced our fair share of heavy rains but I have never seen water fall from the sky in such a way as our first night here in Bangkok. Sheets of water fell from the sky persistently for over 3 hours as the lightning randomly lit up the city. I now understand what the meteorological term "monsoon" truly means.

We are staying at our first real hotel for the trip! It is like a palace in comparison to all the hostels and inns we have stayed in over the past 7 weeks and the best part is that it is cheaper than some of them. Baan K Hotel is in the center of Bangkok and provides amazing facilities- we essentially have a studio apartment. As much as we love our hostel adventures, it is such a nice change.

Jorie's friend from Bates, Collin, who has been living in Thailand this year and teaching English, gave us a great introduction to the city. Over our first traditional Thai food dinner he told us all about the does and don'ts in Thai culture. He then showed us around a bit... The subway system is the cleanest we have seen (they even do security checks)... Walking down Cowboy Road (essentially the red light district) was truly a shocking experience. I don't know which was more blinding to my eyes- the skimpy dressed Thai women or the sea of neon flashing lights. Thank goodness the nude beaches in Europe someone broke us in for this quick walk through.

At midnight we finally had our Wohelo reunion with our mutual friend Nicole arriving for the weekend with us. It was great to have another friend join us for the weekend and spice things up.

Temples and Tuk-Tuks

The three of us had a fun filled Saturday exploring Bangkok's temples and markets. We started by seeing the Grand Palace and the Emerald Budda. Asia is quite a contrast from Europe... The gothic churches have been replaced with Goddy colorful bedazzled temples, the saint statues have been replaced by Budda's and mythical creatures, and the fall-like weather has been replaced by hotter than hell stickiness. The contrast is great, and like the churches we saw in Europe, the Grand Palace and the Emerald Budda were so beautiful and masterpieces.

Our true Thai experience really began when we decided to take a Tuk-Tuk around to see more temples and the rest of the city. For those of you who don't know, a Tuk-Tuk is a motor bike with a covered cab back (hard to describe) that is a very traditional form of transportation around here. We payed 10 baht (32 baht = $1) for this Tuk-Tuk to take us around for over 3 hours, and he would wait while we went into the temples, stores, and had lunch. Although dicy at times, for example when he would go on the wrong side of the road, the Tuk- Tuk was a blast and we really felt in the center of everything. During our Tuk-Tuk tour we went to the Marble Temple (incredible massive ornate temple), the huge Golden Budda, several hand made clothing stores, a jewelry store (where I caved to the cheap prices), and to lunch. Our lunch was an amazing adventure... It was a traditional Thai place down an alley right next to the river, or I should say it was suppose to be by the river but instead the river, due to the floods, was going through the place. The waiters were actually in waders, and the cooks were wearing rain boots as water rushed over their feet. We hopped from sand bag to sand bag to get to our table. The food was great and for our 3 meals it was less than $4 total.

Before the afternoon monsoon came we went to Jatujak weekend market, the largest market in Bangkok. Large does not even begin to describe this place... We spent 2 hours going down two rows of stalls and probably only saw 1/8 of the place. The market has thousands of stalls and is at least 3 football fields in area... This place had everything under the sun. It was so overwhelming and over stimulating, but so fun.

After being completely over stimulated we relaxed with pedicures, which were beyond needed. The ladies had to work so hard on our feet, as the miles of walking we have done over the past 6 weeks has taken a toll on our feet.

My mom arrived late last night after a long day of travel. We are so excited to have her join us for the next 10 days and then to lighten our load by taking all of our purchases home.

Elephant Kisses and Tiger Bites

At 7 am we hopped in a van heading 3 hours Northwest of Bangkok for a full day of adventure with the animals. We first stopped to see the Death Railroad (a railroad built by the prisoners of WW2 from Burma through Thailand) and the museum to go along with it. Then we drove past sugar cane fields and through rain forests (with monkeys) to the foothills of beautiful mountains where we stopped at an elephant camp. We rode two people per elephant on a strapped-on seat with a guide on the head of the elephant steering the elephant by tickling it behind the ears. It was amazing to be so high up on the elephant's back and to be riding to the unrhythmic gate of the huge creature. While we were riding it began to pour rain, which seemed to make the experience that much more authentic and the baby elephant that followed his mother (me and my mom's elephant) seemed to love it so he could roll around in the mud. After riding for a while we were all offered the opportunity to take the place of the guide and ride on the elephant's head. Jorie was the only one who accepted this offer and she had a blast riding the elephant, but consequently smelled of elephant for the rest of the day.

After riding the elephants we were able to participate in a little show with one of the younger male elephants. This little guy was amazing, as he would take money in his trunk, put it in a bucket, then grab him self a bottle of milk, walk the drink back to us for us to then feed him the milk. As if we weren't already impressed, we then each laid down on the ground and he gave each of us a kiss on the face with his trunk, which was not only incredibly slobbery but also ticklish, and then he gave us a butt massage with his feet. In my opinion it was a true Thai massage and he was rather skilled. We were so entertained by him and loved every minute of it.

We were on an absolute high from our elephant experience while we ate a traditional Thai lunch along the river. The fried chicken, as Annie Riley told me, was delicious!

We then went to the tourist trap of The Tiger Temple. It was an amazing experience that you most certainly could not have anywhere else in the world, both because of the geography of The Tiger Temple but also because it would be a legal nightmare anywhere but in Thailand. There were tons of animals around the Tiger Temple- everything from water buffalo to wort hogs to tigers. There were also lots of Western "volunteers"- aka, tiger freaks. In fact, there were more "volunteers" than actual tourists. There are 99 tigers that live in the complex and they are all tame. We first walked the tigers to a canyon area where we took more pictures than my iPad can even handle (literally it won't take any more pictures). Then we watched the tigers play with each other, wrestling and jumping at each other. They are such big agile playful creatures, but they are not as soft as they look and they do smell. We then went in with the 3 young tigers (2 were 3 months and 1 is only a month) to play and feed them. Within the first minute the feisty boy pounced on my thigh and sunk his teeth in, but with a quick smack to the face like a puppy he was off. Then he did the same to Jorie and then to my mom. After trying it with all three of us and getting the same smack in response he figured out not to bite us. The little tigers were so cute and had the biggest paws ever- their paws were so disproportionate to their bodies. They were extremely playful like puppies until it was time for their afternoon bottle. They sucked down every drop of the milk and were so much more affectionate after eating. The Tiger Temple was quite an experience, and it was great to see and handle these beautiful animals.

So far we are loving Thailand! It is unlike any other place we have ever been. More to come!

Monks, Hairy Beds and Expensive Taxis

We have spent our last three days in Greece on an inland adventure up to Meteora.

Tuesday afternoon we took a bus from Athens up to Kalambaka, Greece. Getting to the bus station was an adventure in itself and it was a miracle that we actually made it to the well hidden and out of the way bus station, thank goodness for the group of ladies who helped us. The bus ride was much longer than we expected, 5 hours of listening to Greek music (less than fun) and hundreds of pages read in our books, we finally found ourselves in Kalambaka. Kalambaka is a small town that looks at two of Greece's mountain ranges and it sits at the bottoms of massive rock formations. The rock formations are geologic wonders and host many monasteries. There once were 28 monasteries built into the rock formations, but today only 6 remain.

We were so happy to get off the bus after the long trip, but were unsure of where we would stay for the night. Within 30 seconds of us surveying the scene and which way we should begin our hotel search, our travel angel appeared- an old kind faced man on his motor scooter. He handed us a brochure of a nice looking hotel and told us 35 Euros. We were in shock and agreed to see the place. Well, our old man did deliver on his promise of a cheap place to stay, however it was not the nice hotel we had seen in the pictures. The place he was offering for the cheap price of 35 Euros was a bedroom above his store.... The bedroom was simple with 3 single beds and with a quick glance it would appear to be just fine. However, with a closer look we could see hair on the sheets, the floor, and just about everywhere, as well as a leaf in the toilet and oh, the light bulbs were all dead... We decided to take the cheap price aware it would be an adventure. We had to go down into his store to pay, and there are no words that could describe his store in a way to do it justice. This small store contained everything and the kitchen sink: belts, chains, nails, mugs, tools, birds (yes live birds) and much, much more. I don't think he had added any products since about 1955 and I think his last customer purchased something soon after that. The amount of dust made our noses go nuts. He fished out some traditional Greek candy as a thank you, I hesitantly put it in my mouth not knowing if the white chalky outside was due to age or on purpose.

Wednesday, we spent the majority of the day exploring the rock formations and the monasteries. We walked for 5 hours and went into 3 out of the 6 still functioning monasteries. The beautiful weather along with the incredible views made it fun to explore. The monasteries were unbelievable- they looked as if they were impossible to reach perched up on top of isolated rock pillars. But back entrances bridges and hundreds of stairs always led to the peaceful residences. The last monastery we visited was the Great Meteora, and it was well deserving of it's name with the most impressive church and the most extensive facilities. The church practically had the whole bible painted on the walls.

We were both running on empty by time we finished seeing the Great Meteora. We arrived to catch the bus 10 minutes early but Greek maybe time was against us, and the bus had already left. With low blood sugar we began walking the 8 km back. Within 10 minutes a car pulled up and offered us a ride, as they had heard our disappointment of the bus leaving without us. We were so grateful for the ride and even learned some more information about the monasteries because the lady was a tour guide.

We enjoyed the small quiet town, delicious chocolate cake, and eating our last big of raw greens. Today is a day full of travel... First an hour long bus, then a 4 1/2 hour bus to Athens, then a expensive taxi ride (because Athens is on strike again there is no public transport), now we are waiting for a flight to Cairo (delayed because of the strike), and then to Bangkok.

P.S. We just learned that 92% of Greeks smoke cigarettes.

Things we love about America...

My Dad questioned why I would want to go on this trip and leave, in his opinion, the best country in the world. I tried to explain that this trip would only make me appreciate home more and would open my world up... So this list is for you Papa Grenney and we will continually add to it.

In America...
- the majority of people don't smoke cigarettes (unlike Europe)
- water fountains and clean drinking water always at your finger tips
- Bus drivers and taxi drivers follow most rules (unlike Italy and Greece)
- there are driving rules (unlike Italy, Hungary and Greece)
- Dinner is before 9 at night (unlike Greece)
- you don't have to pay for public bathrooms ( unlike all of Europe)
- the majority of bathrooms have locks and toilet seats (unlike Greece)
- having one common language rather than multiple (unlike Europe)
- that you don't have to hold the shower head (unlike lots of Europe)
- that you can put toilet paper in the toilet (unlike Greece)
- people wait in lines rather than pushing and shoving (lots of Europe)
- strikes don't shut down public transportation (Greece)
- stores don't close in the middle of the day for siesta (although I love an afternoon nap, this really prevents anything being done all afternoon) (unlike Italy and Greece)
- people use deodorant

Strike and Strike-outs

Both of us this whole trip have had high hopes for Santorini (the largest and most populated island of the Cyclades). Jorie was excited for Santorini so she could finally see where 'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' and 'Mama Mia' were both filmed. I was excited to see the island after studying it in geology classes in college. To say the least, both of us had high expectations and images in our head of what Santorini would be like... Santorini isn't a mystical volcano land or a city with donkeys rather than cars. After two days of bad weather on the island, it honestly didn't live up to our expectations. But it's still a rather cool Greek island.

Although we were unable to ride donkeys, Santorini has inspired Jorie to maybe make some money off her donkeys at home with some donkey rides at birthday parties and such. Greece has really hurt our budget, so we both might be getting creative with jobs when we get home.

Anyways, after a late Saturday night (due to our midnight ferry ride) we had more of a leisurely Sunday morning. We had fantasized about renting scooters but in reality a car ended up being safer, more practical, and a lot drier with all the rain. We drove up to the top of Ancient Thira which had beautiful views. The island is much smaller than we had imagined and it is very narrow- you can practically see the ocean from wherever you are on the island. It is significantly more fertile than the other islands in the area due to its volcanic soil. From Ancient Thira we could see the black beach and the location of the red beach.

We walked along the coarse black beach until the rain came and then we took cover in the beach front stores of Kamari. In the torrential down pour we drove up to Fira, the capital town of the island. Fira is built on the cliffs that overlook the giant caldera and bay. The views are impressive but the town has little charm. After some window shopping we drove up along the coast to the town of Oia.

Oia is the town that finally lived up to all the pictures and images we had conjured up of Greece. It is a charming town with traditional Greek architecture built into the cliffs of a peninsula. It was awesome! We loved walking around this beautiful village and shopping. We even splurged on dinner at a place that overlooked the bay and back to Fira. Fira looked like snow on top of the cliffs.

Today we had a day of constant strike outs, as nothing went as planned. We woke-up early to go on a boating adventure with the family from our sailing trip. When the driver picked us up at 6:30 AM the family wasn't in the van as planned, and needless to say we had to drive back across the island to their hotel. From that point on the morning was in a total state of chaos, however, Jorie and I remained the calming force. Our relaxed attitude wasn't very contagious with the teen angst of the 14 year old boy constantly battling with his mother. The morning consisted of a serious game (I don't think the mother would refer to it as a game) of lost and found; however, the 14 year old boy was very skilled at the losing part and the finding aspect of the game was not his strong suit. First it was a jacket, then 2 cameras, then a memory card and then a 10 Euro. This game of lost and found monopolized the majority of 3 hours: the mother frantically calling the taxi company that the cameras were left in, then Jorie and the boy going back up the cable car to meet the taxi man, then them not being able to return because of the lost money.... and the list goes on.

Simultaneous to the game of lost and found, we took the cable car from Fira down to the old port. The cable car had incredible views of the caldera and of the town. The family had arranged a private boat to take us out to the volcano, to the hot springs and then back through the bay. We waited for ages for the boat to come, as we thought that the boat might be on "Greek maybe time" (Greece is not a country that really functions with a time focus, my mother would fit right in). As we sat waiting, 4 local men smoking their cigarettes turn to us and casually say "oh your boat is not coming". We thought they were just messing with us because they seem to have very little idea of the situation or any authority to tell us what was going on. But I guess you should never really doubt a local, as it turned out that they had talked with the captain who said the weather was too bad to go. This created an onset of indecisive chaos, where we tried to find another way to go to the volcano. There are way more details than you all ever want to know, the moral of the story is that we ended up right back at our hotel 3 hours later not having gone out on the water.

Our day of striking out continued with trying to find a place to do laundry... We literally walked around for over 2 hours with almost all the cloths we have on the trip trying to find a laundromat... You would think Jorie would have a sixth-sense/built-in homing device to find a laundromat but unfortunately that was not the case. Anyways, after continued frustration we found ourselves eating some of the best falafel and drinking wine coolers.... The pouring rain also limited the rest of our afternoon.

Tonight, just outside the security line at the airport we had our amazing creative budget dinner. Our first course was Greek yogurt, our second course was honey nut cherrios (that we stole from our boat) that we ate in empty yogurt containers, and our third course was a banana. We enjoyed our well rounded meal while we people watched the security line. Luckily, Jorie was given two sporks as a going away gift for the trip and these have been monumental in our budget eating.

In keeping with our strike out day, Athens was on strike today, so our flight was delayed. We sat and played games with the family in a stuffy, crowded airport. When we finally arrived in Athens at 11 PM there was no public transportation due to the strike, so all 5 of us (the family and us) piled into a taxi. The taxi driver definetly didn't know what a defroster was which made the drive a bit sketchy with fully fogged windows (6 people in a small car in pouring rain). And I dont think dotted lines on highways in Greece indicate anything to a Greek driver.... We finally arrived to our hostel just after midnight and for the first time all trip Jorie and I were separated... We are having to sleep in two separate rooms. Hopefully our umbilical cords can stretch for a night.

Recommendation: After seeing 7 Greek islands our favorite was Mykonos. It was classy but still affordable, quaint and charming, picturesque Greece and has great beaches.

Radom things we forgot to tell you about our sailing trip:
- we sailed along side a dolphin which was so cool....
- Jorie is fascinated by the topless beach culture but could not muster the courage to truly 'experience' this first hand
- Greek public bathrooms are the worst because not only do they not have toilet seats, most don't have locks either

Salt Salt Salt

Over the last 7 days we learned to manage sea sickness, we made some of the most challenging sandwiches (trust me it is challenging to make a sandwich in a galley kitchen when the boat is swaying away), and we became acquainted with port life of a sailor.
The adventure continued the last 3 days on the sail boat. After exploring Naxos Island we set sail for some of the smaller Cyclades islands. I will spare you the details, but due to some toilet issues we had to change our course to a bigger island. We ended up at Ios Island, which has a small settlement down by the port and then the larger local population high up on the mountain. By the time we got to Ios Jorie and I needed a break from the group, so we ran to the beach for some quiet time. Ios felt like a ghost town, as most of the shops had closed for the season and there was very little going on. Luckily our mechanical toilet problems got fixed so that we could leave the next day.

We sailed from Ios to a beautiful remote bay in one of the small Cyclades islands. The bay had steep mountain sides with Greek goats wandering the rocky terrain and then a isolate beach. There was a WWII fighter jet sunk in the bay, it was rather eerie to look at the skeleton plane that has sat their for almost 70 years. We enjoyed a beautiful swim in the majestic water. Then we sailed to Katokoufonisia, a very small island with a population of 240 people and probably just as many cats. Because there wasn't tons to do we played cards on the boat and continued to peal through our books.

The weather is very unstable in the Greek islands this time of year, so we had to change our plans again and head back to Naxos rather than to sail on to Santorini. We were all bummed that we couldn't make it to Santorini but a big storm would not make the seas fun. It took almost the whole day to sail back to Naxos, but the wind was good.

Our captain gave us two options of ferries to take to Santorini: Saturday night at 11:00 PM or Sunday at 3:00 PM. He didn't think anyone would be crazy enough to leave so late at night, but we wanted to maximize our time in Santorini so we sacrificed another nights sleep and took the late ferry with the other family from our boat. We arrived into Santorini at around 1:30 AM. We were both so tired, and the 12 year old girl Kaylie said I looked scary because my eyes were so bloodshot from exhaustion. Jorie and I took a bus to the town that our hotel was in and the bus driver pointed us in the right direction, but we had other directions from the lady who runs the place. It felt like the Czech Republic all over again, as the directions made it seem obvious but it was no where to be found. After walking the streets at 2 am with our big packs for a while we caved and called Pension George. Even on the phone with us she struggled to describe how to find the place. We finally collapsed after a long day at 2:30 AM in our hotel room. Although we didn't sleep as well without our swaying boat, we are glad to be on land again.

Touring Naxos

Dramamine is our new best friend! Yesterday, with the help of our new pill, we managed to not get sea sick. We started the morning with a breakfast and a salty swim in a secluded peaceful bay. The water is so clear and refreshing. We then sailed from Paros to Naxos, which are rather close islands. It was a much less windy day and much less rocky which probably helped the reduction in sea sickness.
Naxos is a much bigger island than any of the other ones we will be going to. It is very mountainous and arid. We rented some bikes (apparently we haven't done enough biking this trip), which were about 30 times nicer than our Czech Republic bikes, and rode down the coast. We stopped at a beautiful beach for a swim and some time in the sun. We were able to find a Greek meal deal for dinner and enjoyed a quiet evening.

Today the group rented cars and our skipper showed us the island. We saw some extremely old churches (4th century), went to the oldest distillery around, hiked up part of Mount Zeus (the tallest mountain in the island chain) to some caves, and then went to a remote town for a traditional Greek lunch. It was delicious! The roads on the island are very narrow and twist and turn with steep cliff edges, although we weren't sea sick today it is shocking we didn't get motion sickness. I was much more comfortable when I got to drive and was in control.

Our group dynamics have proven to be rather entertaining. Let's just say we are seeing everyone's true colors in these close quarter. Tomorrow we head to a new island... More to come.

Salty Seas

Last night we met up with our Gap Sailing Adventure and today was our first day of sailing!

About the boat:
We are sailing a 50 foot, 2-sail sailing yacht. We use a foot wide board to bored the boat, which makes it truly like walking the plank. There are two helms and then a deck seating area with a table. Within the cabin there is a small galley kitchen, a seating area, 3 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms and the captains quarters. We are staying in a room with bunk beds, and we refer to them as coffins though. There is barely enough room for us both to stand in our room, turning around is out of the question. Our bags are on our beds during the day and on the floor at night. It's defiantly the tightest quarters we have been in yet, but still very nice. The boat is beautiful- it's a new boat but still has a lot of wood finishing and is tastefully done.

Our Captain:
Our captain, Cornelius, is a German 27 year-old balding sailor. He is, well, let's just say rough around the edges. I think the three things he loves most in life are sailing, cigarettes, and alcohol, and I think he loves them all equally as much. He is a very good sailor and has basically been on a boat most of his life. He can completely sail the boat by himself but we can help too.

Our fellow boat mates:
Ray: a single 30 something Canadian guy on his 2 week vacation for the year.
Jenny and Mike: a newly wed Canadian couple who are on their honeymoon.
Kara (mother), Masson (14) and Kaylie (12): a Texas family who is traveling around the world for 6 months... They are doing their school work remotely via the computer and Kara's teaching, and they will return in December and have to take final exams for school. They are in their 4th month of traveling and have some amazing stories.

Last night we met at a tavern in Mykonos. We were briefed on the week and then about the boat. We got to know each other while having drinks and watching the sunset- it was picturesque. Cornelius took us to a traditional nice Greek dinner at the traditional time for dinner, which is 9:30 pm. We are all accustomed to eating this late... But our Captain ordered to show us the Greek ways and we ended up with tons of food, including disgusting after-dinner shots. The dinner was way out of our usual budget. We were up way later than usual but had a good sleep as the boat rocked us to sleep.

Today we had a safety briefing and then set sail. We sat on the bow enjoying the sun and conversation. We sailed down wind most of the day which is suppose to be smoother but after about 2 hour Jorie and I both started feeling sea sick. We remained green the rest of the sail and even after we were on land tonight the sea sickness continued. We stopped in a beautiful bay with turquoise blue water. Although it was rather chilly with the wind, after some encouragement we all ended up getting into the cold water (not as cold as Sebago at the beginning of camp though). The water is so so salty which makes floating very easy. After splashing around a bit we had lunch in the gorgeous setting.

We ported tonight at Paros Island, which is south of Mykonos and a much smaller version. The town is cute but small and much more quiet. It took no time to explore the streets, and we found some great stores and even a good gyro. Because we found that dinner the night before didn't fit our budget we decided to eat on our own, so we had dinner (gyro) and dessert (delicious chocolate cake) for the two of us for a quarter of the price of last night.

We both feel rather queazy and off, but we hope tomorrow we will be able to manage our sea sickness better.

Things we have learned:
- tomatoes are bad for sea sickness....
- bananas taste the same going down as they do coming up (luckily this was not learned from experience)
- there is only about a one inch tide in the Mediterranean
- the topless trend appears to exists throughout the islands... Luckily our boat has not yet decided to follow the in- crowd

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

My Big Fat Greek Wedding, yes this is a movie but we witnessed this as well. We were walking to the bus after a wonderful day in Mykonos Town when we heard a ruckus of noise. Our first thought was "oh no, not a riot or strike". But the noise was coming towards us and resembled sounds of New York City. A long stream of cars all with their horns sounding came driving down the hill. Leading the charge was a car covered in decorations with a voluptuous bride who was overflowing her dress and her groom. All the guests of the wedding were loud and excited and it appeared that most of the locals were involve in the festivities. Let's just say I am so thankful we don't have the tradition of making this much noise for a wedding in the US.

Mykonos is amazing, Jorie and I are in 7th heaven. The Island is dry with rolling hills that look over the rich blue ocean. The hillside is covered in sugar cube white buildings with the deep blue accent color. The little town has streets that wined like a labyrinth and it is easy to get turned around on the narrow streets with the surrounding uniform white buildings. Also, there are stray cats everywhere.

We had a blast shopping and wandering for hours. We had to control our urges to buy buy buy. We each bought 2 things for our sailing adventure, including an epic sun hat. We had two rounds of gyros, as well as drinks over looking the gorgeous views. Much to our dismay we did get coaxed into going up to a roof top bar that overlooks the beautiful sunset. Everything in the place far exceeded our budget and we tried to devise a plan to escape but we had no such luck. So we split a milk shake and watched the sunset.

Today we are relaxing on the beach! It is absolutely gorgeous. The water is clear blue and pristine. And there seem to be Greek boobs (both women and men) everywhere our gazes take us. Regardless, we are loving laying in the sun in this beautiful place. We will meet up with our sail boat tonight.

Ruin Cities

In the past two days we tackled two cities of ruins, Rome and Athens. Yes we were rather turbo to take them both on in such a short period of time, but it worked out and was fun.

We left the farm early Thursday morning and took the hour and a half train to Rome. Jorie's roommate, who studied abroad in Rome, mapped out a walking route to take us by all the big must-see places in one afternoon, and this was key to our efficiency (thank you Matt). We started by fueling ourselves at a hole in the wall pizza place- it was delicious. We started our walk at the Colosseum. It was very impressive to see, and it looked just like the pictures... Old, massive and a little decrepit. We walked up to Venezia Plaza (a massive building with statues and guards), then to Argentina Plaza (in the center of the plaza is the Cat Sanctuary with tons of ruins), then to Navona Plaza (a beautiful plaza with a big fountain and statues as the focal point) and then to the Pantheon Plaza. The Pantheon was extremely impressive, it's almost 2000 years old and so well preserved. It was mind blowing to stand inside and to think of people building the massive stone gorgeous building just after Christ. While we were wandering through the crowds of people, I found myself recognizing a familiar face... I was in utter shock to see Dick, our camp handy man, standing at one of the oldest buildings in the world with us. It was so out of context, by the time I register to say hello the crowd had already separated us.
Anyways, we continued wandering through all the shops and fun streets until we reached the Vatican. We pulled out our scarves and covered up to see the Catholic Mecca, St. Peter's Cathedral. The church was massive and decadent. In my mind one of the most impressive things is that what looks to be tons of paintings on the walls and ceiling are actually mosaics. In the 1700's all the painting were transformed into mosaics. The idea of the billions of little pieces boggles my mind.

After a meal deal dinner (good for the money but nothing compared to Kirstie's home cooking) and some gelato, we headed to Trevi Fountain. There were so many people gathered around the beautifully lite up masterpiece. Seeing it at night made it even more impressive.

After feeling as though we had seen all we could see of Rome in one day we headed to the airport... This is where the adventure really begins... And this is also why you travel when you are young. So hostels were looking rather pricey and we were concerned about getting a train to the airport at 3:30am to catch our flight. Being the problem solvers we are, we decided the best plan would be to sleep at the airport. I did some research on the airport and believe it or not I found a website called Isleepinairports.com. Yes it is possible to find just about everything on the web including all the info you want to know about sleeping in an airport. Anyways, the airport did not have as many options of where to sleep as we had imagined. We both have always slept in airports with carpet or padded chairs, but the Rome airport doesn't have either. So we found 4 big plants blocking off a little corner. We each made ourselves a little bed the concrete floor. The floor, as I am sure you can imagine, was hard and cold (the cold factor was the worst part because by the time we woke up we were frozen). We got very little sleep but it was worth it to save the money for one night.

Our flight to Athens was a much more comfortable sleeping environment.

We started out experiencing Athens by having a tasty Gyro for lunch. We took one of my tennis players advise and decided to see Athens via a Segway. We took the Segways for a two hour tour all around the Acropolis, and it was a much faster way to cover a lot of territory and it was so fun. I loved exploring the old world ruins on the new world hi-tech form of transportation, the contrast was amazing. Our tour guide Pluto wa also very helpful and attempted to educate us on the history with his thick Greek accent. Jorie did have one incident where the Segway had a mind of it's own and ran her off the road causing her to fall off- I found it hysterical. I would recommend the Segway Tour to everyone who visits Athens, it's awesome.
We hiked back up to the Parthanon after the tour. It was amazing to see the structures which have been there since 5 centuries before Christ. The views from the top were also impressive, Athens sprawls for miles.

We went back to the shopping areas Pluto had showed us and enjoyed ducking in and out of the much cheaper (than any where else we have been) shops.

We had an amazing Greek dinner of salad and gyros. And then topped it of with Greek yogurt.

It was great to go back to a hostel with beds that were warmer and more comfortable than the concrete floor of Rome's airport.

Now we are off to the Greek islands, first stop Mykonos!

Gettin Twiggy with it

September 28, 2011
Gettin Twiggy with it comes from our time spent liberating the olive trees... We got lots of twigs stuck in our hair.

Our last few days at the farm flew by and we enjoyed every minute. We continued to have amazing meals and indulge on all the home cooked fresh food. Over our time on the farm we never had the same meal twice and although they all had similar ingredients they tasted different from the one before. Although our way of contributing to the meals was to do the dishes, by our last night we were having cooking lessons from Kirstie and found out some of the secrets to her delicious food. We both feel very inspired to cook when we get home, and hope we can figure out how to make it taste the same.

We worked on liberating the olive trees the past three mornings. We tackled the trees that seemed to be fully engulfed in vines, blackberry's, and rose bushes. All the prickers did not bowed well for our arms and legs, which looked like they had been in a serious cat fight. But it was extremely satisfying to find the olive tree after clearing away all the other vegetation. Our last tree we worked on for two hours, and the vegetation around it had been growing into a thick mess for over 28 years (before Kirstie moved to the farm). Kirstie was rather impressed that two young American girls plowed through so much work on the olive trees.

We also continued our other chores of feeding the animals, walking the dogs (who became our new best friends) and watering the garden. On our last day we also helped stack a massive wood pile, which we are sure will make Jorie's dad very proud.

Two afternoons we went on adventures... On Monday we hitched a ride into San Casciano (the closest big town) with Kirstie and Granny/Robin. San Casciano is a cute town with lots of fun streets and lots of local social life. It was nice to be in a non-touristy town for a change. On Tuesday we tried to tackle the Italian bus system again and go to Siena. Kirstie packed us the best lunch to eat on our journey. Getting there was smooth without a problem, however, getting home was more challenging. We got back after dark again and we had yet another angel help us, this time it was Pascal, as he picked us up at the bottom of the hill so we wouldn't have to walk in the dark.

Anyways, Siena was amazing, it was our favorite city in Italy (I should say so far because we are on our way to Rome now). The city is built on more of a hilly landscape which allows you to have views of the city and countryside. The streets are narrow and winding with tall stone buildings with shutters. There are lots of plazas, but the most notable is Piazza del Campo which is built like an amphitheater with a clock tower as the focal point. It was great people watching on the plaza- people laying on the incline looking up at the clock tower, kids playing kick the can, and tons of people with gelato. We of course couldn't resist the gelato and it's a good thing we didn't because it was the best ice cream so far this trip! The Siena Duome Cathedral was incredible and we can go as far to say it was the most impressive church, both inside and outside, that we have seen. We were in awe of the detail and the spectacular art work. We went nuts with the camera but the pictures don't do it justice. This church should be on people's bucket lists....

Our last afternoon at the farm we did some more print making, had some cooking lessons, and enjoyed Granny and Kirstie's company.

The whole week was a dream come true, it was the perfect way to see Italy. We had an amazing deal on the farm- we lived in paradise with a wonderful family and outstanding food in exchange for 4 hours of work a day. This morning we left the farm heavier, both our bags from added olive oil and our bodies from indulging on olive oil. We were sad to leave but hope to make it back to the farm for olive harvest season someday.


More lessons from traveling:
- Finding someone to take your picture is a serious art.... We have had so much trouble with picture taking in Italy. We practically did an entire photo shoot with one women to only discover later that she infect never pushed the button. The key is so look for people with a similar camera, but even that doesn't aways work.
- Italian men are not shy about starring.... We've even been getting honks from tour bus drivers. Also, While in a Internet Cafe we had a man take pictures of us on his iPhone... This creeped us out.

Lessons from Granny:
- a baguette is actually called a "husband banger"
- a joke: "what did the bra say to the hat?", "You go on ahead and I'll give these two girls a lift"