Last week we embarked on a three day, two night cruise to the spectacular Halong Bay. Just as everyone says it is some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, in my experience, and although the tourist movement there has become somewhat overwhelming, it remains well worth a visit to experience its grandeur. As you leave the dock on your big wooden junk, the sleeper boats used for all tours here, massive limestone karsts begin to rise all around in amazing teetering and flowing formations that require lots of camera work. What really made our particular trip so fun, however; was the group of twelve people that made up our boat, the Duong Song. As usual, and on this trip more than ever, the people around us continue to make all the difference, despite the location. Our boat consisted of travelers from Germany, Singapore, Australia, Belgium, and one crazy Russian. He felt obligated to buy the boats stock of wine(8 bottles) amongst many beers to ensure everyone had a good time during our night spent on the boat, afterwich I felt obligated to free the bird that was caged on the bow of our boat. The second night was spent on Cat Ba Island in a great hotel right near the beach. It was a really fun trip and we were sad to say goodbye to our new friends.
That said, I looove Sapa. It is my favorite city/town that we have visited to date. Located high up in the mountains, yet still surrounded by even larger mountains, Sapa is breathtaking. Its beautiful old buildings are backdropped by splendor from all sides and the flowing stair-stepping rice paddies covering the hillsides are stunningly green and concentric, reminding me of the lines that make up our fingerprints. On top of that, we got the deal of the year at a great hotel with a great view and staff, even bartering for two free breakfasts each to accompany our room. The town is full of great restaurants and cafes and the people are friendly. The most surprising, but my favorite, aspect of Sapa were the droves of hilltribe women wandering the streets, trying to sell their handwoven goods. Many of them speak fluent English, which they learned from tourists alone, none in school. Their people, the Black Hmong, live extremely difficult lifestyles, comparable to that of native Americans in the U.S. a hundred years ago. They live completely off of their own crops and weavings, in dirt floored wooden huts. They are opressed by the vietnamese people who call them cats and have zero respect for them. We found them to be more friendly and smarter than any Vietnamese we have encountered. We had the privelage of joining two of our befriended hilltribe women, So and Csi, for lunch one day in their village. After buying some food at the local market, we hiked three hours up to their house through dense mist. Upon arriving we found the house empty except for Grandma and the youngest daughter of So. After twenty minutes ten more family memers had arrived, straight from the fields where they spend their entire day, even the 10 year old boys and girls. After about two hours sitting around the wood fire, cooking lunch, we sat down to a delicious meal, men at one end of the table, women at the other. Throughout the meal any time someone said "How", everyone took a drink of rice wine. DO NOT be decieved by the name wine here..this stuff is lethal. Rice whisky or 100 proof wine would be a more appropriate name which we found, and experienced quite quickly. We should have known it was trouble after grandpa stumbled out of his room at 11:00 am, already drunk as a skunk, almost falling into the fire. I was lucky enough to sit next to him at lunch as he rambled on in Hmong dialect, to nobody, for two hours, before stumbling back to bed. Impressive for an 86 year old. Our second to last day we took a moto to Bac Ha for the Sunday market where we saw buffalo, pigs, and dogs being sold among other craziness. We spent five days enjoying this great little spot and I wish I could stay longer. Now its off to catch our flights to Taiwan for our last stop. Miss you all and hope everythings great back home. Love Mas
p.s. Happy Graduation Kenyonites!!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Escape the Heat
Since our great few days in Dalat, one of my favorite stops in Vietnam due to the beautiful area and friendly locals, we have been heading north faster than expected. Hoi An was our next stop where we spent three days in brutal heat waves reaching over 100 degrees every day, 104 once. The town itself was a really fun, beautiful old town full of great food and over 500 tailors interestingly enough. We made it a few hours walkin around the town before retreating to the nearby beach on rented bicycles for the rest of the afternoon on day 1. Day 2 started at 4:45 am for a tour to My Son, a Cham Ruins site nearby. Again we made it to around noon before running for shore. Aside from touring and beaching we had some custom clothes tailored for us, some button downs for myself, which are especially comfortable.
Next on our route north in n attempt to flee the heat was Hue, the old capital of Vietnam which was a big bustling city, but full of culture including a really interesting old Citadel from an earlier emperor which was heavily bombed. Other sites included tombs and pagodas from hundreds of years past. We took the sleeper bus from here north and stopped in Ninh Binh for the day to visit Tam Coc. These sleeper buses are pretty hilarious. Two levels high, three "beds" acrosse each row. I unfortunately am far from fitting but with enough snacks and a book I make it through the night. Tam Coc is called the Halong Bay of the rice paddies. Half of our canoe ride was spent in the rain, but the scenery was the most spectacular that we have seen yet. Huge rock formations and cliffs coming out of the rice paddies as we quietly canoed through their shadows..a real highlight despite the weather (It wasn't all bad as we were the only boat out there for the first hour).
Now we are in Hanoi, a huge metropolis full of motorbikes, big buildings, an endless flow of people, and most importantly niiice cooler weather! It is a great city with lots of great attractions around a very nice 'Old Quarter' part of the city which is centered around a big lake. Among the many museums we have visited is the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, which houses the body of Ho Chi Minh. Not a fake body, or a wax body, his real body, which spends three months a year in Russia being kept in good shape. It was a little creepy in there, and extremely strict. If you stepped out of line, a military official was there to push you back in line. Tomorrow it's off to Halong Bay for two nights!! Hope you're all happy and healthy, love Mas
Next on our route north in n attempt to flee the heat was Hue, the old capital of Vietnam which was a big bustling city, but full of culture including a really interesting old Citadel from an earlier emperor which was heavily bombed. Other sites included tombs and pagodas from hundreds of years past. We took the sleeper bus from here north and stopped in Ninh Binh for the day to visit Tam Coc. These sleeper buses are pretty hilarious. Two levels high, three "beds" acrosse each row. I unfortunately am far from fitting but with enough snacks and a book I make it through the night. Tam Coc is called the Halong Bay of the rice paddies. Half of our canoe ride was spent in the rain, but the scenery was the most spectacular that we have seen yet. Huge rock formations and cliffs coming out of the rice paddies as we quietly canoed through their shadows..a real highlight despite the weather (It wasn't all bad as we were the only boat out there for the first hour).
Now we are in Hanoi, a huge metropolis full of motorbikes, big buildings, an endless flow of people, and most importantly niiice cooler weather! It is a great city with lots of great attractions around a very nice 'Old Quarter' part of the city which is centered around a big lake. Among the many museums we have visited is the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, which houses the body of Ho Chi Minh. Not a fake body, or a wax body, his real body, which spends three months a year in Russia being kept in good shape. It was a little creepy in there, and extremely strict. If you stepped out of line, a military official was there to push you back in line. Tomorrow it's off to Halong Bay for two nights!! Hope you're all happy and healthy, love Mas
Friday, May 6, 2011
Ho Chi Minh??
Vietnam. We have successfully returned to the flow of backpacker living. After a few rocky days missing the comfort of traveling with my parents i.e the comfy beds, buffet dinners, great company, and the occasional massage, we have regained our stride.
We spent two nights in the Mekong Delta at a cool little "homestay" on an island in the river. Our place had a working orchard full of tons of delicious fruit and a 91 year old owner who eerily resembles Ho Chi Minh himself. Every so often, only when you were lucky, you would see him emerge from his quarters, staff in hand to walk the grounds for a minute or two before silently disappearing again for hours. When we made contact it was clear he may not have really known what was going on as he waved his hands around somewhat randomly until we continued on our way. The only downfall was our room was a bit dirty..we awoke to several hundred dead bugs coating the floor the second morning. That aside, we enjoyed a great river boat cruise through the delta canals with a local guy, and visited one of the many floating markets where we clambered onto the sellers boats to pick out the best watermelons and pineapples from the pile of several hundred laying in the hull. In the afternoon we used Ho's rickety bikes to explore the island a bit, and Stef got a nice purple 50 cent pedicure along the way. Other than that we spent a lot of time reading, relaxing, and watching some great evening lightning storms.
After the delta we headed North to Mui Ne, a beautiful little beach town full of great cafes, lots of guesthouses, and perfect weather. We were in full out relaxation mode at this point, reading on the beach, and swimming in the amazingly warm waters. In the afternoon we rented a motorbike and headed off to find the sand-dunes we had heard about. After about forty minutes driving, we tailed a tour jeep most of the way so as not to get lost, we arrived at spectacular white sand dune mountains next to a water-lilly filled lake. It certainly did not feel like Vietnam at any point. We hiked up them for a beautiful view of the surrounding desert area. It felt just like New Mexico strangely enough.
Today we arrived in Dalat, a town north of Mui Ne and inland at an altitude of about 5000 ft. The weather is sooooo nice, 70 degrees in the middle of the day, almost cold at night! What a great relief from the 90's and humidity. The city is bustling but very interesting. We had our best Vietnamese food yet and found some tasty street stalls as well. Tomorrow we are heading 15 km out of town to hike Lang Bian Mountain which is a little under 8000 ft so we shouldn't have to much trouble..we hope. Hope you are all doing well. Miss you, Mas
We spent two nights in the Mekong Delta at a cool little "homestay" on an island in the river. Our place had a working orchard full of tons of delicious fruit and a 91 year old owner who eerily resembles Ho Chi Minh himself. Every so often, only when you were lucky, you would see him emerge from his quarters, staff in hand to walk the grounds for a minute or two before silently disappearing again for hours. When we made contact it was clear he may not have really known what was going on as he waved his hands around somewhat randomly until we continued on our way. The only downfall was our room was a bit dirty..we awoke to several hundred dead bugs coating the floor the second morning. That aside, we enjoyed a great river boat cruise through the delta canals with a local guy, and visited one of the many floating markets where we clambered onto the sellers boats to pick out the best watermelons and pineapples from the pile of several hundred laying in the hull. In the afternoon we used Ho's rickety bikes to explore the island a bit, and Stef got a nice purple 50 cent pedicure along the way. Other than that we spent a lot of time reading, relaxing, and watching some great evening lightning storms.
After the delta we headed North to Mui Ne, a beautiful little beach town full of great cafes, lots of guesthouses, and perfect weather. We were in full out relaxation mode at this point, reading on the beach, and swimming in the amazingly warm waters. In the afternoon we rented a motorbike and headed off to find the sand-dunes we had heard about. After about forty minutes driving, we tailed a tour jeep most of the way so as not to get lost, we arrived at spectacular white sand dune mountains next to a water-lilly filled lake. It certainly did not feel like Vietnam at any point. We hiked up them for a beautiful view of the surrounding desert area. It felt just like New Mexico strangely enough.
Today we arrived in Dalat, a town north of Mui Ne and inland at an altitude of about 5000 ft. The weather is sooooo nice, 70 degrees in the middle of the day, almost cold at night! What a great relief from the 90's and humidity. The city is bustling but very interesting. We had our best Vietnamese food yet and found some tasty street stalls as well. Tomorrow we are heading 15 km out of town to hike Lang Bian Mountain which is a little under 8000 ft so we shouldn't have to much trouble..we hope. Hope you are all doing well. Miss you, Mas
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Laos Livin
We have made it to Vietnam after an amazing two weeks in Laos with my parents! Our time in Laos included an amazing two day river cruise down the mekong, full day treks over unbelievable green peaks and rivers, kayaking, spalunking, elephant riding, tons of eating, and endless great company.
The river cruise was really relaxing and enjoyable as we cruised about seven ours a day, split up by some cave stops and village walks. It was really interesting to observe such a remote culture based on fishing and farming alone with little to no interactions with the outside world. We saw lots of new fishing techniques, people panning for gold, and there were always lots of naked kids screaming and running around the shore. We met up in Luang Prabang after the cruise where my dad met up with us and from there we were on the move, treking, kayaking, and touring the city. We did one long trek to an overnight homestay in a Hmong village of only 300 residents. We were definitely brought back in time a bit as we lay in our bamboo hut that night. It was really fun. After, we headed south 7 hours y van to Vang Veng, known for its absurd drugs and party scene...mom picked it. It was by far the most beautiful area we have traveled through with dramatic steep peaks covered in virgin jungle. The town itself wasn't much and we spent most of our time outside of it. One day we went spalunking in some huuuge caves, some that take over 4 hours to walk through. We went about 500 meters into the largest one before turning around. The final cave/tunnel was filled with water so we rode tubes through it. After some more hiking and kayaking we headed down to Vientiene for a final couple days of touring and eating and enjoying the peaceful, happy, friendly Lao people. It was really great getting to travel all together and we had an amazing time. Laos is a spectacular country and will thrive in the coming years as they have so much to offer.
Our first day and a half in Vietnam have been humbling as we visited the war museums. It is definitely hard not to feel like the bad guy as an American, especially since the communist government is in charge of all the writings. They make it very clear the North "liberated" the South and we were trying to destroy the country as a whole. That said we were clearly well out of line on several issues and it was very hard to see the images of tortured POW's and those affected by agent orange. Today we went to Cu Chi tunnels, a network of vietcong caves stretching over 500 km at their peak. We got to 'walk' through one of them about 30 meters ( I basically had to crawl it was so small) which was a really eye-opening experience. These soldiers would spend weeks inside, often without room to sit up. Crazy.
Tomorrow we are off to the Mekong Delta for a homestay and some floating markets!! Hope your all well back home and getting some nice weather, Love Mas
p.s Happy Liberation Day! (Yesterday in Vietnam)
The river cruise was really relaxing and enjoyable as we cruised about seven ours a day, split up by some cave stops and village walks. It was really interesting to observe such a remote culture based on fishing and farming alone with little to no interactions with the outside world. We saw lots of new fishing techniques, people panning for gold, and there were always lots of naked kids screaming and running around the shore. We met up in Luang Prabang after the cruise where my dad met up with us and from there we were on the move, treking, kayaking, and touring the city. We did one long trek to an overnight homestay in a Hmong village of only 300 residents. We were definitely brought back in time a bit as we lay in our bamboo hut that night. It was really fun. After, we headed south 7 hours y van to Vang Veng, known for its absurd drugs and party scene...mom picked it. It was by far the most beautiful area we have traveled through with dramatic steep peaks covered in virgin jungle. The town itself wasn't much and we spent most of our time outside of it. One day we went spalunking in some huuuge caves, some that take over 4 hours to walk through. We went about 500 meters into the largest one before turning around. The final cave/tunnel was filled with water so we rode tubes through it. After some more hiking and kayaking we headed down to Vientiene for a final couple days of touring and eating and enjoying the peaceful, happy, friendly Lao people. It was really great getting to travel all together and we had an amazing time. Laos is a spectacular country and will thrive in the coming years as they have so much to offer.
Our first day and a half in Vietnam have been humbling as we visited the war museums. It is definitely hard not to feel like the bad guy as an American, especially since the communist government is in charge of all the writings. They make it very clear the North "liberated" the South and we were trying to destroy the country as a whole. That said we were clearly well out of line on several issues and it was very hard to see the images of tortured POW's and those affected by agent orange. Today we went to Cu Chi tunnels, a network of vietcong caves stretching over 500 km at their peak. We got to 'walk' through one of them about 30 meters ( I basically had to crawl it was so small) which was a really eye-opening experience. These soldiers would spend weeks inside, often without room to sit up. Crazy.
Tomorrow we are off to the Mekong Delta for a homestay and some floating markets!! Hope your all well back home and getting some nice weather, Love Mas
p.s Happy Liberation Day! (Yesterday in Vietnam)
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Pai, Songkran, and a New Traveler
Last week we headed up to Pai, a small town on Northern Thailand that we kept hearing about on out travels from fellow backpackers. We had an interesting ride to Pai, to say the least. To put it quickly, we were jammed in 1/4 of a pickup truck back (the rest was full of stuff) with three thai teenagers, driving up a road that they make tee-shirts about due to the 700 and some turns/uturns it takes to get to Pai over the mountains. Luckily we only hit one chicken, which smashed the front light, and only rubbed one guard rail on an espcially tight turn, making it there safe and sound. In Pai we had a relaxing couple days filled with a great Thai cooking class, and a Thai massage class the following day. Both were very informative and I'm sure very useful for the future. The area itself was really beautiful, lots of mountains, and a great little town full of stalls and cafes.
After Pai, we took the bus back to Chiang Mai to stay at the house of Judy and Richie, friends of a friend from Lizzie's family in Chicago. Jusy and Richie lived in New York for 30 years and are now retired back in Chiang Mai in really great house with beautiful gardens. They took us in like family and piled us up with more Thai food than we could handle (Judy loves food and is a great cook as well). These few days also happened to be Songkran, the Thai new year. It is also known as the water festival and in Chiang Mai has turned into absolute mayhem. The streets are crowded with thousands of people, mostly Thai, with foreigners mixed in, in an all out water fight for three days straight. Every truck that drives by has eight people in the back, and three trashcans filled with water and buckets to throw on the crowd. Everyone in the crowd is armed with giant super soakers and buckets of their own to battle the trucks as well as each other. To make it all even crazier, there is loud music blasting from different stages and trucks with ice blocks that some people have the coldest water possible to dump on you. This goes on from morning until night in the center of Chiang Mai. Luckily, after the 200th bucket of water gets poured over your head it's all the same; though you never get used to the ice buckets. It was a really fun time, comparable to a spring break like atmosphere down in Florida, but much better.
Three days ago my Mom arrived in Chiang Rai, Thailand and we met up with her that afternoon! Since then we have been having such a great time together exploring the markets of Chiang Rai, ordering all the best Thai foods, and for the past two days we have been on a bike trip through northern Thailand with our guide Bee. It is such a great change of pace to ride through smaller towns on bike and to enjoy the beautiful countryside and different farms. Tomorrow, we have one more day on our bikes before heading into Laos for ten days, where we will meet up with my dad. For all of you family members worrying, mom is doing great, and Stef and I are trying to keep up with her. We just enjoyed a nice Thai massage and are off to the Opium Hall in the morning before heading out on our bikes. Hope everyone back home is happy and doing well. Love, Mas
After Pai, we took the bus back to Chiang Mai to stay at the house of Judy and Richie, friends of a friend from Lizzie's family in Chicago. Jusy and Richie lived in New York for 30 years and are now retired back in Chiang Mai in really great house with beautiful gardens. They took us in like family and piled us up with more Thai food than we could handle (Judy loves food and is a great cook as well). These few days also happened to be Songkran, the Thai new year. It is also known as the water festival and in Chiang Mai has turned into absolute mayhem. The streets are crowded with thousands of people, mostly Thai, with foreigners mixed in, in an all out water fight for three days straight. Every truck that drives by has eight people in the back, and three trashcans filled with water and buckets to throw on the crowd. Everyone in the crowd is armed with giant super soakers and buckets of their own to battle the trucks as well as each other. To make it all even crazier, there is loud music blasting from different stages and trucks with ice blocks that some people have the coldest water possible to dump on you. This goes on from morning until night in the center of Chiang Mai. Luckily, after the 200th bucket of water gets poured over your head it's all the same; though you never get used to the ice buckets. It was a really fun time, comparable to a spring break like atmosphere down in Florida, but much better.
Three days ago my Mom arrived in Chiang Rai, Thailand and we met up with her that afternoon! Since then we have been having such a great time together exploring the markets of Chiang Rai, ordering all the best Thai foods, and for the past two days we have been on a bike trip through northern Thailand with our guide Bee. It is such a great change of pace to ride through smaller towns on bike and to enjoy the beautiful countryside and different farms. Tomorrow, we have one more day on our bikes before heading into Laos for ten days, where we will meet up with my dad. For all of you family members worrying, mom is doing great, and Stef and I are trying to keep up with her. We just enjoyed a nice Thai massage and are off to the Opium Hall in the morning before heading out on our bikes. Hope everyone back home is happy and doing well. Love, Mas
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Pygmy Seahorses and Giant Olivers
Tonight is our first night back in Thailand so, as always, we celebrated with a trip to the night market for pad thai, spring rolls, fruit shakes, mango sticky rice, and banana roti. Amazing. Our last week in Bali was a blast. We took our rented moto up and around almost all of Bali. Our first big leg of the trip across half the northern coast line took three hours and was spent nearly entirely in a torrential rainstorm..not very fun on moto. We arrived at our final destination in Lovina late that night and after two hours of bargain hunting found the best room. We went on a morning, 6AM, dolphin watch on a tiny Balinese boat and saw two dolphins for a total of 3 seconds. The more entertaining part was watching the 40 other boast zoom around in packs every time one boat appeared to have seen a breach. After that we took our moto to the NE corner of Bali to look for Oliver, who we knew was docked somewhere off the Menjangen Resort bay. Two hours of motoring and we found ourselves at the beach looking out at his ship the Mir. I stopped to help some locals and a westerner fix an anchor while we waited to try and figure out how to get to the boat. Turns out that westerner was Laser, the owner and captain of the Mir, and the mooring we were getting ready was for his ship. Soon after, we found ourselves aboard the Mir with Oliver and the rest of the crew, enjoying some lunch and an amazing view of mountains, volcanoes, and ocean. We ended up spending the entire day on the Mir, helping with daily chores and mooring the ship. We had dinner and left around 9 to get back to Lovina for the night. Our next two days after were spent in the most amazing world ever. We went diving, four dives in two days, at Menjangen Island, which is known as one of the best dive sites in the world, especially for coral. It was incredible. Our first day was highlighted by spectacular hundred meter walls covered in every color coral and every color fish you could imagine as well as five black tipped shark sightings (The Mir had seen two sharks on twenty some dives so it was very lucky). While I thought it would be nice to get a closer look at them, Stef, Wide eyed with terror, went torpedoing in the opposite direction. Day two was highlighted by equally amazing coral and the sighting of the pygmy seahorse (three) which is the smallest seahorse in the world, about 1cm long. The big time divers come from all around the world hoping to catch a sighting of these guys in this area, often with no luck at all. A frog fish, also very rare, and another shark topped off a great trip. We spent our last day and a half meeting up with Oiver back in Ubud and saying our goodbyes at Yayasan. I will definitely miss Bali, but am excited to get back to Thailand as well. Hope all is well back home, Love Mas
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Shipwreck Scuba
Barracuda!
Field Trip
Sadly, today was our final day teaching at Yayasan Widya Guna. It has been an influential three weeks that I have really enjoyed from start to finish. I have especially loved our morning special ed class which I blogged about before. They are all so enthusiastic, celebrating every right answer with multiple fist pumps and high fives around the class. They are eager to learn despite their difficulties learning and always entertaining. Our oldest student, Putu, is always amazing us with his dance moves and passion as he performs rock and roll songs up front, using the chalk as his microphone. Our afternoon class was also great, though a bit less organized. We had the kids for two hours and were told to teach anything in English. This left lots of room for creativity but was also more difficult without any guidance. The kids had okay English skills and were much more interested in games involving being chased and thrown in the air. To be fair they were arriving after real school and probably a bit burnt out on learning for the day. It's also tough as we have such limited Indonesian. None the less, I loved working with all the kids and learned a lot about teaching...I think.
Last Friday we took the mentally/physically handicapped class to the zoo and the beach. As you can imagine this was one of my favorite days so far all trip. At the zoo they all got to hold iguanas, parrots, and even pet the deer. There was also an amazing bird show which our older kids participated in. They had eagles and hawks landing and eating food off their outstretched arms. It was so great seeing the amazement on their faces as these birds of prey swept past their faces. The lions, tigers, and even the orangutan were all very cooperative as well, and all came right up as close as they could get to the viewing areas, which made it all even more exciting for everyone. After the zoo and some lunch we all headed to the beach at Sanur. Little did we know, everyone was terrified of water deeper than 1 foot. They loooved playing in the waves though, and I took a few of them out into the deeper water with me. This ended up being a little more dangerous for myself than expected as they koala beared my neck and chest with all their might in terror/excitement. Putu only lasted about 30 seconds before panicking and almost taking us both down. One of the greatest moments for me was getting to take our two cerebral palsy kids, Ayu and Ari, out with me into the water. They could not have been happier in that water. Uncontrollable laughter and screaming accompanied their kicking and splashing. It was a really great trip.
Last Friday we took the mentally/physically handicapped class to the zoo and the beach. As you can imagine this was one of my favorite days so far all trip. At the zoo they all got to hold iguanas, parrots, and even pet the deer. There was also an amazing bird show which our older kids participated in. They had eagles and hawks landing and eating food off their outstretched arms. It was so great seeing the amazement on their faces as these birds of prey swept past their faces. The lions, tigers, and even the orangutan were all very cooperative as well, and all came right up as close as they could get to the viewing areas, which made it all even more exciting for everyone. After the zoo and some lunch we all headed to the beach at Sanur. Little did we know, everyone was terrified of water deeper than 1 foot. They loooved playing in the waves though, and I took a few of them out into the deeper water with me. This ended up being a little more dangerous for myself than expected as they koala beared my neck and chest with all their might in terror/excitement. Putu only lasted about 30 seconds before panicking and almost taking us both down. One of the greatest moments for me was getting to take our two cerebral palsy kids, Ayu and Ari, out with me into the water. They could not have been happier in that water. Uncontrollable laughter and screaming accompanied their kicking and splashing. It was a really great trip.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Yayasan Intros
I am officially exhausted but feel the need to blog before I have too much to write..which may have already happened. Before I really get started I need to let you know that we actually farmed today! Stef and I got up early and headed over to Putus' farm, our neighbor, to help harvest his rice field. We helped cut and then bang (to knock the actual rice off the stem) the rice crop and he filled us in and the whole process and techniques for growing the best crop. It was great. Now to get started..we have spent five days at Yayasan Widya Guna where we are teaching. To correct an earlier statement, it is not an orphanage. At one time, orphans were living here but all have moved out at this time. Instead it is a children's foundation which provides extra classes for all of the children in the surrounding area as well as some of the only classes for mentally and physically disabled children. School ends at lunch time for primary school so afternoon classes are held here daily for these children from 2-4pm. Yayasan provides sponsors for over 100 children, and these sponsors financially put these kids through the extent of their education. Many of the children here have lost parents, some to the Bali beach bombings in 2005, but all except 8 sleep at home. Of the eight here, two are children of the founders Ketut and Nyoman, and three are his sisters sons. Yayasan also provides playing fields, a computer room, dance classes, and music classes for all of the children.
Our main task to date has been teaching the mentally disabled class each morning Monday-Friday, alongside Nana, their Balinese teacher, and at times, other volunteers. There are usually around eight students with either downs syndrome or cerebral palsy and one with severe autism. It is an unbelievably challenging job teaching this class without any background in their language, but by using pictures, white boards, games, and Nana, we are able to make good progress. The kids are amazing and I find myself fluctuating between excitement, frustration, love, and heartbreak very quickly. There is one girl I find myself especially attached to named Ayu who is wheelchair bound by cerebral palsy. There is no question that she is extremely smart, and it is so so difficult to see the frustration in her eyes that her body won't do what she wants it to. She cannot walk, has minimal motor function, and has trouble getting words out. I find myself trying to speak to her through my eyes because I can only imagine what she wants to be able to say, and can't imagine how hard it must be to be trapped inside. When she does answer questions, they are almost always correct. It is really hard. The other kids are all great and each has his/her own difficulties and sadnesses. This said, they are some of the happiest kids you'll ever meet and loove coming to school. There is lots of high-fiving, clapping, and chanting going on for every assignment.
Some afternoons we have been teaching the younger primary school kids from 2-4. They are all great kids and their english is good. Daily activities with the kids include yoga, baseball, roughhousing, and helping with homework( for the ones that live here). I will not embelish for now as this is already getting long.
In our spare time we have been keeping equally busy. We rented a moto for three weeks so that we can travel around on our days off, and we have visited spice farms, sarong weaving businesses, markets, and warungs(cafes) in the surrounding areas like Ubud. We tried local Kopi Luwak (for those who know what it is) and also took our moto up to Mt. Batur, an active volcano north of here which was beautiful. One night, Stef and I got dressed up in our finest Hindu attire (sarongs, sashes, headdress) and headed to Temple for a ceremony to honor the gods. We were a little late but got to sit and talk to the locals and the Pomang Ku (he leads the ceremony) about how they pray and to whom. It was very intresting, and we have been invited for dinner at one mans house sometime in the future.
Starting Thursday we are taking over the afternoon primary school class full-time so I will keep you updated and maybe get some pics on here. Hope you're all well and safe. Mas
Our main task to date has been teaching the mentally disabled class each morning Monday-Friday, alongside Nana, their Balinese teacher, and at times, other volunteers. There are usually around eight students with either downs syndrome or cerebral palsy and one with severe autism. It is an unbelievably challenging job teaching this class without any background in their language, but by using pictures, white boards, games, and Nana, we are able to make good progress. The kids are amazing and I find myself fluctuating between excitement, frustration, love, and heartbreak very quickly. There is one girl I find myself especially attached to named Ayu who is wheelchair bound by cerebral palsy. There is no question that she is extremely smart, and it is so so difficult to see the frustration in her eyes that her body won't do what she wants it to. She cannot walk, has minimal motor function, and has trouble getting words out. I find myself trying to speak to her through my eyes because I can only imagine what she wants to be able to say, and can't imagine how hard it must be to be trapped inside. When she does answer questions, they are almost always correct. It is really hard. The other kids are all great and each has his/her own difficulties and sadnesses. This said, they are some of the happiest kids you'll ever meet and loove coming to school. There is lots of high-fiving, clapping, and chanting going on for every assignment.
Some afternoons we have been teaching the younger primary school kids from 2-4. They are all great kids and their english is good. Daily activities with the kids include yoga, baseball, roughhousing, and helping with homework( for the ones that live here). I will not embelish for now as this is already getting long.
In our spare time we have been keeping equally busy. We rented a moto for three weeks so that we can travel around on our days off, and we have visited spice farms, sarong weaving businesses, markets, and warungs(cafes) in the surrounding areas like Ubud. We tried local Kopi Luwak (for those who know what it is) and also took our moto up to Mt. Batur, an active volcano north of here which was beautiful. One night, Stef and I got dressed up in our finest Hindu attire (sarongs, sashes, headdress) and headed to Temple for a ceremony to honor the gods. We were a little late but got to sit and talk to the locals and the Pomang Ku (he leads the ceremony) about how they pray and to whom. It was very intresting, and we have been invited for dinner at one mans house sometime in the future.
Starting Thursday we are taking over the afternoon primary school class full-time so I will keep you updated and maybe get some pics on here. Hope you're all well and safe. Mas
Beautiful Rice Terraces (all over Bali)
Stef and I in our Hindu Attire with Mapong and Kawi
Ayu
Our Classroom..and some of the students
Friday, March 11, 2011
Small World Big Friend
For those of you who missed the last blog, we are currently in beautiful Bali. We had a very exciting encounter our first day and half in the great form of Oliver. We met him at his marina, during a massive thunderstorm, the nigth we arrived, as he was given a two nights leave from Mir, his ship. We headed out to a delicious Balinese meal and a walk around Kuta beach, the site of the Bali bombings, before heading to our less than stupendous lodgings, which consisted of two extremely narrow twin beds. It was an upgrade for Oliver atleast. The next mornig we got up early to walk to the beach after some breakfast omelettes. We swam for a while, enjoyed the sunshine, and headed North to Sanur beach for the afternoon and some more beach time. This beach was much quieter, almost all locals, and we treated ourselves to some 4$ massages before heading back to our room. After a quick rinse, we went to a local cafe for a dinner special which included eight or so different balinese dishes, and gave us great insight for our future dining. This was followed by live reggae music, aka Bob Marley, and some arak, a Balinese liquor. Eventually we found ourselves at a very westernized sports bar where we finished the night out with some drinks and pool. It was really great to run into a great friend so far from home and in such an amazing place. If I had to describe him in two words; dark and trim.
Now Stef and I find ourselves at Yayasan Widya Guna, a children's foundation (orphanage/school) in Gianyar, Bali. So many thoughts and feelings are sprinting through my mind. An impossible feeling to portray in blog form right now, so I will have to embelish later. We are teaching, learning, and experiencing something new and great.
Now Stef and I find ourselves at Yayasan Widya Guna, a children's foundation (orphanage/school) in Gianyar, Bali. So many thoughts and feelings are sprinting through my mind. An impossible feeling to portray in blog form right now, so I will have to embelish later. We are teaching, learning, and experiencing something new and great.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Thank You Grows!
The last 10 days have been spent in luxury. We have been visiting my cousins on my dad's side, the Grow Family (Shawn and Glen and their children Sawyer, Corbitt, Sorell, and Caleb) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where they live. They have been the friendliest, most generous hosts we could ever imagine, and it has been so much fun to spend time with their whole family.
Our day to day activities varied, but always included a refreshing dip in their pool and lots and lots of all the foods we have been missing in our travels (like cheese!) Other activities have included baseball games and practices with their kids, movies, and city tours! It has been a real treat.
On our city tours we investigated the many cultures of Malaysia. There is a large population of Chinese and Indians here so naturally we visited China Town and Little India. Both were very touristy and were highlighted by authentic meals (we got to eat with our hands at the indian stall!) We also visited Batu Caves, which is the site of a Hindu temple right outside KL. There were roves of vicious monkeys waiting to steal anything they could on the long 272 stair stairway up to the caves, and plenty of vendors to really set the mood. The caves were beautiful, and a huge Gold hindu statue guarded the entrance. Definitely worth the trip.
Another highlight of our trip included a great jungle hike with Glen, Uncle Tom, and Marsha (Shawn's uncle and his wife who were visiting). The morning mist was hanging in the canopy and we found the leech population to be very friendly. Glen kicked up a triangle headed snake which I have yet to identify and on top of that we saw a Giant Blue Forest Scorpion which was about 7" long! It was surprisingly beautiful, an iridescent blue, and poised to strike. We are now well rested, clean, and packed for our next adventure which has changed drastically. Thanks to Glen and Shawn, instead of heading back to Northern Thailand to a new farm, we will be traveling south to Bali to teach at a local orphanage for three weeks!! Shawn and Glen are friends of the founder and have helped us set up this opportunity to live in the guesthouse while teaching and helping with the day to day activities. It should be an amazing time. Hope your all well and ready for spring, miss you. Love, Mason
p.s For those of you following Oliver's blog, you'll know he's also in Bali so we are planning to meet up before he sails off in two days!
Our day to day activities varied, but always included a refreshing dip in their pool and lots and lots of all the foods we have been missing in our travels (like cheese!) Other activities have included baseball games and practices with their kids, movies, and city tours! It has been a real treat.
On our city tours we investigated the many cultures of Malaysia. There is a large population of Chinese and Indians here so naturally we visited China Town and Little India. Both were very touristy and were highlighted by authentic meals (we got to eat with our hands at the indian stall!) We also visited Batu Caves, which is the site of a Hindu temple right outside KL. There were roves of vicious monkeys waiting to steal anything they could on the long 272 stair stairway up to the caves, and plenty of vendors to really set the mood. The caves were beautiful, and a huge Gold hindu statue guarded the entrance. Definitely worth the trip.
Another highlight of our trip included a great jungle hike with Glen, Uncle Tom, and Marsha (Shawn's uncle and his wife who were visiting). The morning mist was hanging in the canopy and we found the leech population to be very friendly. Glen kicked up a triangle headed snake which I have yet to identify and on top of that we saw a Giant Blue Forest Scorpion which was about 7" long! It was surprisingly beautiful, an iridescent blue, and poised to strike. We are now well rested, clean, and packed for our next adventure which has changed drastically. Thanks to Glen and Shawn, instead of heading back to Northern Thailand to a new farm, we will be traveling south to Bali to teach at a local orphanage for three weeks!! Shawn and Glen are friends of the founder and have helped us set up this opportunity to live in the guesthouse while teaching and helping with the day to day activities. It should be an amazing time. Hope your all well and ready for spring, miss you. Love, Mason
Batu Caves -Light Beam
Batu Caves Entrance
The Grows!
Giant Blue Forest Scorpion
p.s For those of you following Oliver's blog, you'll know he's also in Bali so we are planning to meet up before he sails off in two days!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
More Pics
Ko Samui-Sunset Bungalows
Chiang Mai- View from next to Ryans
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Barefoot Building
For the past two and a half weeks we have been living in our tent, wwoofing, in the hills of Chiang Mai, right outside a small village of a couple hundred locals with Ryan Libre, a professional photgrapher from Chico, California, who's lived here for over five years. Our first ten days were spent learning how how to build a house from scratch in just a couple weeks (I finally lived up to the true meaning of my name). We built a new adobe office with a built in loft for Ryan. Adobe is where you make bricks from mud(dried in the sun) and then use them as well as mud mortar and some supports to construct whatever it is you are building. The office was about 9 feet tall, and 200sq feet with built in shelves, desks, and the loft. Our days during this workshop consisted of an early breakfast followed by building from 9-5pm on the work site, afterwhich we would run to the nearby lake for a 'shower', then dinner, then bed.
After construction was all finished, we enjoyed the freedom of days off and half days to explore our surroundings. We took a couple of Thai boxing lessons from an ex-boxer, current pro-coach from the village, learned how to make wine, learned a lot about cooking, and even got to enjoy personal photography lessons from a pro. I am now sufficiently photographing our adventures in manual mode!
Another new experience was living veagan (and barefoot..to add to the picture) the entire time minus one breakfast of eggs and a bite of catfish. Though this may sound tough to all of you who know my eating habits, it was not too hard given we had endless veggies, rice, and noodles. I will not be giving up meat anytime soon, but am glad for the experience.
To top all of these new experiences and lessons learned off, we enjoyed a quick lesson in firefighting. We were sitting by our tent, soaking up our lunch break, when we heard some crackling, followed by shouts, followed by the need of our assistance fighting the massive grass fire(a couples acres in size) that had just popped up a couple hundred feet from our tent. With the help of many wwoofers and locals we dug a succesful fire line and stopped the flames in their tracks! Just another exciting surprise to add to the list. Hope everyone back home is great. Miss you all, love Mason
p.s. Happy Birthday Rhymes!
After construction was all finished, we enjoyed the freedom of days off and half days to explore our surroundings. We took a couple of Thai boxing lessons from an ex-boxer, current pro-coach from the village, learned how to make wine, learned a lot about cooking, and even got to enjoy personal photography lessons from a pro. I am now sufficiently photographing our adventures in manual mode!
Another new experience was living veagan (and barefoot..to add to the picture) the entire time minus one breakfast of eggs and a bite of catfish. Though this may sound tough to all of you who know my eating habits, it was not too hard given we had endless veggies, rice, and noodles. I will not be giving up meat anytime soon, but am glad for the experience.
To top all of these new experiences and lessons learned off, we enjoyed a quick lesson in firefighting. We were sitting by our tent, soaking up our lunch break, when we heard some crackling, followed by shouts, followed by the need of our assistance fighting the massive grass fire(a couples acres in size) that had just popped up a couple hundred feet from our tent. With the help of many wwoofers and locals we dug a succesful fire line and stopped the flames in their tracks! Just another exciting surprise to add to the list. Hope everyone back home is great. Miss you all, love Mason
p.s. Happy Birthday Rhymes!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Snakes Instead of Rakes
Greetings from southern Thailand (Krabi). We arrived down south roughly10 days ago with plans to 'continue' farming. Unfortunately (or fortunately..depending on how you look at it) all three of our farms have fallen through. One has family visiting, one was hit with heavy rain and couldn't house us, and one, a certain Ms. Alp, seems to have serious issues using a phone as she answers once every few days and forgets to call back with directions upon her insistance on calling back later becasue she's busy. (She has since emailed me and facebook friended me yet still fails to give her adrress so we can find her). A bit frustrating, but a week of island living, and 3 nights camping in the immense Khao Sok National Park is hard to complain about as a consequence.
There have been a ton of activities so I will try and keep each short and sweet. We first traveled to Ko Samui in an attempt to stall for Ms. Alp. We spent two nigths at a beautiful beachside bungalow with plenty of street food to keep us healthy. We took a one day boat trip to the Ang Thong Marine National Park, which we turned into two days by bringing our tents and camping on the uninhabited island (besides the park ranger staff and a few other campers). This trip included ferry service, snorkeling, lunch, and two great hikes. The first hike took us to the highest lookout point over an incredible view of islands spotting the sea in every direction, which we did at sunset. The destination of our second hike was a huge cave full of spooky caverns and massive stalagmites and tites. Both were well worth the seemingly endless amounts of sweat pouring down our faces.
After Ko Smaui we camped in Khao Sok for three nights. There were several great hikes and we were camping right on a pretty little stream. One hike took us to the largest flower in the world, the Rafflesia, which only blooms three days out of the year and reached a diameter of almost three feet. After an hour hike straight up a mountian side we found one blooming flower and several bulbs, so we considered the hike a huge success. Our second hike lasted for eight hours. We were rewarded for our determination with a beautiful little waterfall with a great big swimming pool at the bottom. We jumped off some big rocks and swam to cool off from our hike. Naturally, given there was a waterfall, I decided it was time to try and climb up next to it to look down on the pool. When I got within 15 feet or so of the side of the pool I looked up only to realize there was a 12 foot python sunbathiong on the rocks, still wet from a recent swim of his own. Needless to say, our swimming ended there as it was time to head home anyways to beat the darkness.
Our most recent adventure took us to Ko Lanta, an island near Ko Phi Phi in the Andaman Sea. We had a great time but made our first blunder of the trip by agreeing and paying for three nights in advance at our tree house bungalows. The rooms themselves were very cool, set high up in the trees, with those same trees growing through the rooms. We quickly came to realize that the staff was a bit pushy and ultimately very sketchy. The details aren't important but we stayed as busy as we could so as not to have to interact with them or pay for the absurdly overpriced food and beverages. We escaped on a one day, three island longboat trip through another guesthouse which could not have been better. We had unbelievable snorkeling (hundreds of different species of incredibly colored fish), a great beach BBQ, swam through an underground channel to a beach (there was a beach on the inside of the small island with open air..like a volcano but a beach at the bottom instead of magma), and finished it off by jumping off a 30 foot cliff into ocean, which I am proud to say all four of us completed. It was a great trip.
Now we find oursleves in Krabi, pondering our next move, hoping Ms. Alp gets her brain in working order, but ready for whatever comes next. Hope everyone at home is happy and healthy. Miss you all, Love Mason
There have been a ton of activities so I will try and keep each short and sweet. We first traveled to Ko Samui in an attempt to stall for Ms. Alp. We spent two nigths at a beautiful beachside bungalow with plenty of street food to keep us healthy. We took a one day boat trip to the Ang Thong Marine National Park, which we turned into two days by bringing our tents and camping on the uninhabited island (besides the park ranger staff and a few other campers). This trip included ferry service, snorkeling, lunch, and two great hikes. The first hike took us to the highest lookout point over an incredible view of islands spotting the sea in every direction, which we did at sunset. The destination of our second hike was a huge cave full of spooky caverns and massive stalagmites and tites. Both were well worth the seemingly endless amounts of sweat pouring down our faces.
After Ko Smaui we camped in Khao Sok for three nights. There were several great hikes and we were camping right on a pretty little stream. One hike took us to the largest flower in the world, the Rafflesia, which only blooms three days out of the year and reached a diameter of almost three feet. After an hour hike straight up a mountian side we found one blooming flower and several bulbs, so we considered the hike a huge success. Our second hike lasted for eight hours. We were rewarded for our determination with a beautiful little waterfall with a great big swimming pool at the bottom. We jumped off some big rocks and swam to cool off from our hike. Naturally, given there was a waterfall, I decided it was time to try and climb up next to it to look down on the pool. When I got within 15 feet or so of the side of the pool I looked up only to realize there was a 12 foot python sunbathiong on the rocks, still wet from a recent swim of his own. Needless to say, our swimming ended there as it was time to head home anyways to beat the darkness.
Our most recent adventure took us to Ko Lanta, an island near Ko Phi Phi in the Andaman Sea. We had a great time but made our first blunder of the trip by agreeing and paying for three nights in advance at our tree house bungalows. The rooms themselves were very cool, set high up in the trees, with those same trees growing through the rooms. We quickly came to realize that the staff was a bit pushy and ultimately very sketchy. The details aren't important but we stayed as busy as we could so as not to have to interact with them or pay for the absurdly overpriced food and beverages. We escaped on a one day, three island longboat trip through another guesthouse which could not have been better. We had unbelievable snorkeling (hundreds of different species of incredibly colored fish), a great beach BBQ, swam through an underground channel to a beach (there was a beach on the inside of the small island with open air..like a volcano but a beach at the bottom instead of magma), and finished it off by jumping off a 30 foot cliff into ocean, which I am proud to say all four of us completed. It was a great trip.
Now we find oursleves in Krabi, pondering our next move, hoping Ms. Alp gets her brain in working order, but ready for whatever comes next. Hope everyone at home is happy and healthy. Miss you all, Love Mason
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
High Tide Tent Turmoil
We have just returned to Bangkok safe and sound from an unbelievable week in Koh Mak, an island in SE Thailand. The island is only 16square km and full of coconut and rubber trees. We took an hour ride ferry after a 6 hour bus ride to get to this paradise.
Our first two nights were spent at a great little guesthouse called island huts. We lived in little open air bungalows right on the edge of the ocean and enjoyed lots of sunshine, great food, and some really cool snorkeling at our beach. Then we were off to find our first farm, run by Ann and Sunny, a Thai couple who are inheriting her fathers coconut farm soon. They could not have been nicer and were great to talk to and learn from.
They had only reached Koh Mak days before us so, instead of farming, we were instead dropped off on the uninhabited side of the island in a crazy overgrown jungle that hadn't been touched in ten years, which for those of you who know me, was pretty awesome. We had to clear out land for our tents with big blades and rakes and we were right on the beach. For food, Ann dropped off rice and veggies and the occasional bag of chicken to go along with the coconuts we collected and even some clams we found in the ocean. It was completely secluded with nothing in sight but trees and vines and water(only reachable by foot). We spent our days clearing jungle (they have plans to build a farm on this land one day) and swimming and exploring. We built a cool fire pit, some benches, and a kitchen area with shelves and a sand floor. Everything was pretty perfect until the moon started reaching its peak, and the tides began to become less predictable....
It was a cool night and we were sleeping peacefully in our tents on our third night. At around 4am we began to feel some splashes and hear the water outside unusually clearly. When we looked out, we realized the water was about five feet from the door of our tent. Stef and I decided to take our chances and moved our tent just a few feet to the edge of the jungle. Luckily it was just enough and we stayed dry. The next night, the tide reached our tent edge around 2:30 am...this time we were a little late in realizing it. While Stef wanted to have a little chat about our options, I jumped out of the tent, yelling at her to follow and we picked up our tent and ran, through the waves, to the furthest back point of our cleared jungle over in the kitchen. Safe and a little wet we went back to bed. The next morning we found out that even there the water was only feet from sweeping us away and this time we had no more room to move back. With a heavy heart and a firepit filled with sand, we packed up from our little paradise and spent the next night on Ann's lawn before heading back to the big city. It was a great experience despite being cut a bit too short. We will just have to return soon to finish the job.
I almost forgot, we had 10 puppies with us the whole time living around our tents. They
had a mean mom, so Ann brought them to our beach to live with us and eat with us. It was great. We are off for Suratthani in southern Thailand on the train tonight to find the organic shrimp and oyster farm. Hope your all doing well, miss you. Love, Mas
Our first two nights were spent at a great little guesthouse called island huts. We lived in little open air bungalows right on the edge of the ocean and enjoyed lots of sunshine, great food, and some really cool snorkeling at our beach. Then we were off to find our first farm, run by Ann and Sunny, a Thai couple who are inheriting her fathers coconut farm soon. They could not have been nicer and were great to talk to and learn from.
They had only reached Koh Mak days before us so, instead of farming, we were instead dropped off on the uninhabited side of the island in a crazy overgrown jungle that hadn't been touched in ten years, which for those of you who know me, was pretty awesome. We had to clear out land for our tents with big blades and rakes and we were right on the beach. For food, Ann dropped off rice and veggies and the occasional bag of chicken to go along with the coconuts we collected and even some clams we found in the ocean. It was completely secluded with nothing in sight but trees and vines and water(only reachable by foot). We spent our days clearing jungle (they have plans to build a farm on this land one day) and swimming and exploring. We built a cool fire pit, some benches, and a kitchen area with shelves and a sand floor. Everything was pretty perfect until the moon started reaching its peak, and the tides began to become less predictable....
It was a cool night and we were sleeping peacefully in our tents on our third night. At around 4am we began to feel some splashes and hear the water outside unusually clearly. When we looked out, we realized the water was about five feet from the door of our tent. Stef and I decided to take our chances and moved our tent just a few feet to the edge of the jungle. Luckily it was just enough and we stayed dry. The next night, the tide reached our tent edge around 2:30 am...this time we were a little late in realizing it. While Stef wanted to have a little chat about our options, I jumped out of the tent, yelling at her to follow and we picked up our tent and ran, through the waves, to the furthest back point of our cleared jungle over in the kitchen. Safe and a little wet we went back to bed. The next morning we found out that even there the water was only feet from sweeping us away and this time we had no more room to move back. With a heavy heart and a firepit filled with sand, we packed up from our little paradise and spent the next night on Ann's lawn before heading back to the big city. It was a great experience despite being cut a bit too short. We will just have to return soon to finish the job.
I almost forgot, we had 10 puppies with us the whole time living around our tents. They
had a mean mom, so Ann brought them to our beach to live with us and eat with us. It was great. We are off for Suratthani in southern Thailand on the train tonight to find the organic shrimp and oyster farm. Hope your all doing well, miss you. Love, Mas
Friday, January 7, 2011
Elephant Ruins
After a couple more days in Bangkok touring, eating, walking and boating, Stef and I took the train up to the ruins of Ayutthaya. We spent our first day on a tuk tuk tour of the beautiful temple remains dating back to the 1300's when Ayutthaya was the capital of Siam (now known as Thailand). The ruins were huge and full of amazing Buddha images including one embedded in a tree trunk! We stayed at an amazing little guesthouse run by two older sisters. They could not have been more friendly and helpful. They were a highlight of the trip. We ate lots of delicious food, as always, and even ventured into tasting the market food! It is delicious, though we are still wary for the most part of most street vendors.
This morning we had our most amazing encounter yet...with Boon Maa the elephant. When we woke up, we randomly decided to take a tuk-tuk to this far off temple to go for a run where there was some open space. When we got there we saw an elephant off in the distance. As we watched, it slowly began to lumber towards us with a young (teenage boy) riding it (Chah). He brought Boon Maa into the river next to us and started cleaning him in front of us for ten or so minutes. Of course we started trying to converse in our limited thai as best we could using phrases like Kun cheu a rai(what is your name) and sa bai dee (how are you)..it was short but effective. Soon after he asked us if we wanted to ride Boon Ma!! It was unbelievable. He came out of the river towering over us and knelt down beside us upon command from Chah. We climbed up on him bareback and rode him around for a while. We were litereally the only people in sight with a river on one side and temple ruins on the other. It was one of the most amazing experiences either of us have ever had! Luckily we have lots of pics taken by Chah to show you when we get back. For now we are back in Bangkok for a couple days with Pong, awaiting Lizzie and Dylans arrival on Sunday. Hope you're all doing well. Love, Mas For those of you not following Stefs blog..you should..between us we are trying to cover as much as possible. Her blog is called Stef in Thailand and you can find it on my blog site.
This morning we had our most amazing encounter yet...with Boon Maa the elephant. When we woke up, we randomly decided to take a tuk-tuk to this far off temple to go for a run where there was some open space. When we got there we saw an elephant off in the distance. As we watched, it slowly began to lumber towards us with a young (teenage boy) riding it (Chah). He brought Boon Maa into the river next to us and started cleaning him in front of us for ten or so minutes. Of course we started trying to converse in our limited thai as best we could using phrases like Kun cheu a rai(what is your name) and sa bai dee (how are you)..it was short but effective. Soon after he asked us if we wanted to ride Boon Ma!! It was unbelievable. He came out of the river towering over us and knelt down beside us upon command from Chah. We climbed up on him bareback and rode him around for a while. We were litereally the only people in sight with a river on one side and temple ruins on the other. It was one of the most amazing experiences either of us have ever had! Luckily we have lots of pics taken by Chah to show you when we get back. For now we are back in Bangkok for a couple days with Pong, awaiting Lizzie and Dylans arrival on Sunday. Hope you're all doing well. Love, Mas For those of you not following Stefs blog..you should..between us we are trying to cover as much as possible. Her blog is called Stef in Thailand and you can find it on my blog site.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Safe and sound in Bangkok!
After a loong but eventful trip overseas we find ourselves in the hustling bustling city of Bangkok with its 6.5 million inhabitants! Our flights overseas were highlighted by amazing ice flow and mountain landscapes over NE Russia and fireworks displays over Beijing as it was New Years Eve. We sat next a man from Beijing who we found sprawled out over all three of our seats asleep upon our return from the bathroom. Once we got back into our proper seats, he disappeared for a few hours. Eventually, we went to the bathroom again, wondering where he had gone, only to find him sprawled out asleep on our seats again when we returned. Very peculiar..
On our first day in Bangkok we visited several unbelievable temples including Wat Phrae Kaew(the emerald temple) and Wat Pho which houses the largest reclining buddha in Thailand..43 meters! Both temples were amazingly decorated with gold and jewels and full of strong incenses and beautiful paintings filling the walls. Being new years day, all 6 million Thais were out in force to display their devotion(and money) to Buddha to ensure a productive and happy 2011. This made for some insane crowds and mayhem but allowed us to see Bangkok at its height of activity and culture as well. We stayed our first two nights at a little hotel in Bangkok with a breakfast buffet with the best stir-fry chicken and noodles and we enjoyed some delicious Pad Thai and egg rolls last night! We have not ventured into the street food industry just yet despite the appetizing dried fish and pigs ears but we will get there soon enough. The weather has not been too hot (high 80's) and our Thai speaking skills are coming along nicely as we now know at least 8 useful phrases/words. Today we are hopefully off to stay with a Thai family in Nothburi (outside Bangkok) for a few days while we await the arrival of Lizzie and Dylan to start our farming adventures. I hope all of you had a great New Years Celebration and are enjoying 2011! Happy, full, and still clean, Mason
On our first day in Bangkok we visited several unbelievable temples including Wat Phrae Kaew(the emerald temple) and Wat Pho which houses the largest reclining buddha in Thailand..43 meters! Both temples were amazingly decorated with gold and jewels and full of strong incenses and beautiful paintings filling the walls. Being new years day, all 6 million Thais were out in force to display their devotion(and money) to Buddha to ensure a productive and happy 2011. This made for some insane crowds and mayhem but allowed us to see Bangkok at its height of activity and culture as well. We stayed our first two nights at a little hotel in Bangkok with a breakfast buffet with the best stir-fry chicken and noodles and we enjoyed some delicious Pad Thai and egg rolls last night! We have not ventured into the street food industry just yet despite the appetizing dried fish and pigs ears but we will get there soon enough. The weather has not been too hot (high 80's) and our Thai speaking skills are coming along nicely as we now know at least 8 useful phrases/words. Today we are hopefully off to stay with a Thai family in Nothburi (outside Bangkok) for a few days while we await the arrival of Lizzie and Dylan to start our farming adventures. I hope all of you had a great New Years Celebration and are enjoying 2011! Happy, full, and still clean, Mason
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