adventures on a sailboat

hey guys...sorry for the delay in updating the blog. We went from a few low key not too eventful days to a bunch of fun stuff going on. Since the last post, we left Cairns and took a long bus trip to Airlie Beach, where we hung out for a day or two (Airlie Beach isn't that cool except for a lagoon where you can go swimming...this lagoon is also a safety measure since you can't swim in the water because of the scary stingers (jellyfish)). From there, we boarded the British Defender to spend two nights and two days aboard a sailboat. There were 26 of us on it and 3 crew members. It was absolutely spectacular.

The first day, we hoisted the sails and because of the wind, the sailboat tipped over at an incredible angle. Thankfully we were on the high side (the side where the wind comes from). That is the safe side to sit on...the other side of the boat is where almost the railing is in the water. OK, i exaggerate a little, but we were far from level. Trying to get something underneath the boat was worst than trying to maneuver through the crazy kitchen at the museum of science and tech in Ottawa.

The first day we also went snorkelling, although this time we didn't have flippers, and the water was really shallow. I didn't have a good day at all. At one point I looked around and couldn't find Jason, and then started freaking out because I couldn't put myself up straight to clear my mask. I also got really tired from swimming (there was nowhere to take a break) so I got pretty worried. It seemed like forever until someone came to get me. I sat on the reef to wave for help. A big no no, I know, but I was really starting to worry being out there all alone, with the shallow reef coming up really close to me. I was really uncomfortable, but I am sure it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. After snorkelling, we had some yummy food in the cabin and hung out with some of the people on the boat.

The second day, we got up early, had breakfast and went to whitehaven beach. What a magical place! The sand is almost 100% silica and it feels like flour. The view from the lookout was amazing. At some points during the day it looks like a marble cake from the tide coming in and out. We went down to betty's beach, a huge beach with lots and lots of sand. It feels like an unspoiled magical place because there are no shops, which usually accompanies great tourist areas. We even saw a few baby sharks in the water, but we didn't go too far out because of the stinger warnings. Jason flew a really cool kite too. Afterwards, we went snorkelling again. We went to a beautiful spot where we were covered in a huge variety of fish. The evening was pretty much the same. I am glad I brought my sweater. It was pretty chilly at night.

Today we went for a quick snorkel and headed back. We sailed a fair bit during the trip, which was absolutely incredible. It's so cool to see how quickly we can go on just wind power!

Anyays, here are some pictures from our journey. It might be a few days again until the next posting because we are taking an overnight bus tonight to get to Fraser Island where we will hang out for a few days.

From left to right: Airlie Beach, another sailboat the first day, betty's beach on whitehaven, Jason with the kite, two photos from the lookout, the sunset on the second night, and another sailboat on the way back to the marina today.

Rainforests and reefs

hey guys,

Saturday, Jason, two friends of ours and I took an all day trek to see cape tribulation, the daintree rainforest, the mossman gorge and we even went on a crocodile cruise to spot crocs in their natural habitat.

the day was lovely...we were picked up at 7am (i haven't gotten up that early in AGES) and were given a great description of the area by our tour guide. I can't get over how much sugar cane there is in the area (by the way it looks like tall grass). We went out for a walk in an enclosed canopy rainforest. it felt kind of like a grade 9 science class walking around the rainforest looking at different types of trees, vines and ferns. From there we went to a beautiful gorge - the water was freezing (I like swimming in bathwater-warm water, but this was really cold) but the sights were beautiful; rushing water, trees, huge rocks...afterwards we went on our croc cruise and spotted two crocs. Nothing like what we saw in Thailand, but it was nice to see them in their natural environment instead of the artificial environment in which they were in when we went to the croc farm in Thailand. From there, we saw a bug museum, had a delicious lunch (we had a fish called barramundi. Very tasty!), saw some more rainforest and saw cape tribulation, where the rainforest meets the beach. We didn't swim though (I don't think we had enough time...plus I don't think I would have felt comfortable considering there were jellyfish and croc warnings).

Yesterday we saw the great barrier reef. It was beautiful. We were on a catamaran; thankfully one of our buddies Mark gave me a motion sickness pill. I don't think I have ever felt that woozy on a boat before. I swore I was going to be sick, but thankfully I was ok. The boat was REALLY rocky. We snorkelled twice and saw incredible corral and an amazing variety of fish, including a white tipped reef shark and some giant clams. it really was an incredible experience to see such a huge variety of underwater life. I almost wish I would have borrowed an underwater digital camera. Oh well, next time!

So, some pictures..from left to right: mossman gorge, the creek near where we had lunch, two pictures of cape tribulation, and finally a cute harmless frog that was on our croc cruise boat (no joke...the tour guide just pulled him from under a seat. Apparently they like to sleep on the boat), Jason at a beautiful lookout, and finally Jason snorkelling in the reef (he's on the left).

So, from here, we are leaving to slowly make our way on the whitsundays tour, then to fraser island for some more beach time. From there, we are slowly going to make our way down the coast to Byron Bay, then off to Melbourne before heading back to Sydney on the 13th to catch our flight to Auckland NZ.

show us your Cairns

hey guys,

here we are, in beautiful Cairns (pronounced "Cans" for some reason...the Aussies love to drop random "r"s). We arrived yesterday late afternoon - the flight was about 3 hours. I keep forgetting how huge Australia is!

We checked into a hostel called "gilligan's" which is probably the nicest hostel we have ever been in. The reception area is huge - bright, hardwood floors - and the hostel even has an elevator! It's a luxury not having to haul my 20kg suitcase up flights of stairs. On the shuttle bus ride over, we met a few people and ended up all sharing a room last night. Some of the people moved on, so Jason and I got two beds in an 8 bed room (oh yes, back to the hostel lifestyle) and one of the lovely people we met is from France so we have been spending time with her as well. Last night we got a cheap meal and hung out at the hostel bar - they had $1 champagne for ladies (although our friend Élodie looked outraged at how they were pouring the champagne..it was like they were opening a bottle of rum and pouring it straight out. Apparently it's just sparkling wine, but hey, for $1, a girl can't really complain).

today we did absolutely nothing. it was lovely. Élodie and I lounged around near the water, and Jason explored for a while. We are saving ourselves for the next few days; tomorrow we are going to Cape Tribulation, a world heritage site rainforest, and the following day we are going to the great barrier reef all day, to potentially go diving (you apparently don't need to be certified because it's not that deep). So, a busy few days coming up!

I will post pictures of our adventures in the next few blog postings. I hope this message finds you well! Keep the comments coming! We love to read them :)

M xoxo

Sydney

here we are, the fourth day in Sydney (although the third "full" day, even though it's 3pm and we have been a little slow to get moving). Yesterday was slightly more productive than today. We checked out the Sydney opera house, and then we took the ferry to Manly beach. it wasn't really a beach day...it was quite cold, especially near the water (yeah yeah, I know you guys back home are thinking, pfft, how cold can it really be?). I am not sure in degrees, but I was walking down the beach in sneakers, jeans and a sweater and was still cold. The water was fairly rough, but the tons of surfers didn't seem to mind. Afterwards, we went out last night to a bar (an evening organized by our hostel). There were free drinks and karaoke. Jason wowed the crowd with his signing of "Ice ice baby". Apparently it's cool again to know all of the words to songs you used to listen to as a kid :) Although the food prices in Australia are comparable to the ones back home, they wholeheartedly embrace happy hour here...you can usually get $3 (Aussie bucks, so about 2.50) pints until about 9. Here are some pictures from the last few days. The first is in Darling Harbor and the rest are either in Manly Beach or on our way back:

photos and update

hey guys,

it's been a little while since I updated the blog. We were in transit quite a bit over the last few days. I think we ended up seeing 5 countries in 2 days. We decided a while ago to skip our flight to Manila to spend more time in Thailand and Cambodia, so we had to catch our flight to Manila on the 18th to make it to Sydney. So, we went from Siem Reap to Saigon (also called Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam), and from Saigon to Manila. We spent the night in Manila...what an experience. Everyone we talked to said that Manila was a dodgy place where it's pretty dangerous. Of course I wasn't super comfortable being there...We stayed at a youth hostel not far from a bunch of bars. By the time we checked in and everything, I was starving. We went into the first bar we found and it ended up being a strip club! Needless to say we didn't stay there too long. We went to another place that was pretty sketchy but the beer was good and cheap. When we got back to the hostel room, we found a cockroach in the room. Jason was very brave and killed it for me :)

The next morning we left from Manila to Sydney. The flight wasn't too bad...I think it was about 9 hours. We both managed to get a little bit of sleep. We arrived in Sydney at about 9am local time (Sydney is 4 hours ahead of Thailand time, so we're both catching up a little with the time difference). We are staying in a hostel called "Funk House Hostel". it's pretty decent. All of the doors are painted fun cartoons. After checking in, I spent most of the day lying in bed while Jason was out exploring because I felt awful all day. I don't know whether it was a virus or something I ate, but I wasn't feeling too ready to party. I am feeling much better now. Thankfully this has been the first time in the whole trip where I have felt under the weather. Last night we met a bunch of people from France and hung out with them for a while.

So, finally some pictures...

Temples of Angkor (some scenes of Lara Croft Tomb Raider were shot here)

The opera house in Sydney, and one near a waterfall.

Ankgor Wow

hey guys, Yesterday we had a taxi driver (ok, taxi is a strong word. it's essentially a wagon pulled by a motorbike) take us our to the temples of Angkor, not far from where we are staying in Siem Reap. Nevermind Angkor Wat...what about Angkor Wow? All of the temples are unique and incredible (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat). I can't believe how many incredible pictures we took. Although time hasn't been kind to the many temples, you can't help but imagine how spectacular they must have looked when they were built so long ago (Angkor Wat was built in the early 12th century). Angkor Wat is obviously the biggest, but Bayon was incredible as well. In Bayon, there were faces carved into the rock. Even though it's been so long since the temples were made, the detail in the rock is awesome. Yesterday was also the hottest day we can remember. We both had steady streams of sweat in not too wonderful places within the first 20 minutes of being at the temples, and it didn't seem to stop until it poured later on in the afternoon. Thankfully there were many parts of the temple that were shaded, so the discomfort of being in the blazing sun didn't last too long. Surprisingly, neither Jason nor I wore sunblock (I know, I know...not super smart) but we didn't burn. One thing about Cambodia...they have trained their people well to get as much money from tourists as possible. The children are the worst at trying to use your emotions to sell you things, items of varying degrees of usefulness (from cold water to bracelets to postcards). They try to appeal to your emotions (by sending cute young kids), your ego (by sending older children to sell you things, and if you are not interested, using games like "what's the capital of Madagascar?" If you knew you could get a cheaper price on a book, or playing tic tac toe, and if you lost you had to buy whatever they were selling), or to your sense of pity by having a woman with a young child ask for money because the baby has nothing to eat. It's very difficult to say no...but I know that if we encourage this industry, they will continue to ask for more. Believe me, looking at a beautiful young child and saying no is not an easy task! Today we are off to make our connection to Manila, by flying from Siem Reap to Saigon, and then from Saigon to Manila, to catch our Manila-Sydney connection on Saturday. Hope all is well. Don't be shy, drop us a comment or two every once in a while to let us know that you're following along :) Photos of Angkor will be posted soon...I am writing this in a dairy queen at the airport waiting to board the plane to Saigon. The photos are gynormous and it will take forever to load them.

Day one in Siem Reap, Cambodia

hey guys,

Last night, our taxi driver dropped us off at an internet cafe, and while I was updating the blog, Jason went on an adventure. He took me to a salon where I was fawned over for almost 3 hours. I got a haircut, my nails painted (literally painted...not stick on nails, someone painted a beautiful flower design on each of my fingernails), I got a face massage (including a cream on my face that when it hardened, felt like cement!) and my toenails painted, all for about $18. Yup, life is tough :)

Our driver took us out today to see the royal palace, the home of the king of Cambodia, but unfortunately today the king decided to take a stroll so we could not see the palace from the inside so we just took pictures from outside.

Instead we went to the national museum (see photo below):

Our driver took us to the Wat Phnom, a temple where the city got its name. There was an elephant and monkeys near the wat too.

We even got to see a baby monkey.

Asia is so crazy cool and different!

We arrived tonight in Siem Reap, Cambodia, after spending 6 hours on a bus from Phnom Penh. The bus ride wasn't too bad...not a luxury bus by any means, but we got to see a lot of the countryside. It's difficult sometimes to see the poverty that Cambodians live in sometimes. A lot of people find themselves having to sell what they can or beg for money. On one of the stops in the bus, we saw a man who had no eyes. He just had holes where his eye sockets were, and he was being led around by a small child. Also, we were swarmed by children selling fruit. One even had a tarantula on her shirt (apparently it didn't bite, but I didn't want to find out). Other people were selling tarantulas that had been grilled. Eww, no thanks! It's definitely difficult sometimes to see how people struggle while we live in a country with such a high quality of life.

We have checked into a really nice hotel that has a pool. We met some North Americans and had dinner with them tonight. It's amazing all of the interesting people we have met along the way.

Tomorrow we are going to check out the temples of Angkor. More photos to follow!

Not for those with weak stomachs...first full day in Cambodia

hey guys, So, to start, we are in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. We left Bangkok yesterday morning and flew from BK to PP. From there, we took a taxi to some random guesthouse recommended by Lonely Planet. We're at Tat Guesthouse and spending a whopping $5 a night for a room with a fan (bathroom down the hall). After settling in, we explored the city a little and ended up at the top of a restaurant in the "Luxury World Hotel" where you can get an incredible room for under $50 US (note: in Cambodia the US dollar is commonly used). We had a few drinks there and took a motorbike to a nightclub called "Rock Star", which was recommended to us by the server at the restaurant. It was the funniest thing...you walk in to gangsta rap, and all I saw were Cambodian dudes...it wasn't a gay bar, I think it was just where they like to hang out. It was fun to be away from foreigners and hanging out with the locals. At one point, I went to the bathroom and when I came out, Jason had found himself a little entourage of short Cambodian dudes (I think they were more interested in him than in me). We had a few drinks and danced to random Cambodian tunes. I am pretty sure we were the only foreigners in the whole place. Most of the girls were in another part of the club, just hanging out, while it was a total sausage party on the dance floor. Today, we hired a driver to take us around the city. He first took us to a shooting range (part of the Cambodian military training ground) where Jason shot an M-60. I was in the room taking a video..wow was it ever loud! The 50 bullets he shot were gone in no time. From there, we went to the killing fields (for more info, see http://www.dithpran.org/killingfields.htm). (from left to right: building where the skulls and remains of clothing are kept, examples of what is in the building, and a sign along the way) It was crazy to see pieces of bone and clothing still on the ground and near the sites were the bodies were found. Afterwards, we went to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum), where the victims were first interrogated before going to be executed at the killing fields. (tiny cells where people were held) It seems so surreal to be there in all of this horror that took place not too long before Jason was born. Cambodia has a way of slapping you in the face of reality, something that Thailand didn't really do. Thailand was mostly sugarcoated life, filled with drunk tourists, spectacular sites and openness to doing pretty much anything you wanted. In Cambodia, driving is a nightmare, with people going all over the place. There is garbage on the streets, cows tied up near ditches and dust everywhere (a lot of people wear masks when they are driving). For an example of the crazy driving: On the plus side, in Cambodia, people drive on the right side of the road, unlike in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, where they drive on the left (likely because Cambodia has ties to France, whereas the other countries have ties to England). In a way, it's refreshing to feel a stronger feeling of culture, where you cannot see a foreigner for hours and hours. If anything, I feel that this trip has changed us into people who are more tolerant of differences and who are more prepared to accept whatever comes our way. Tomorrow we are going to the grand palace and then from there, we are heading out to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat. We hope you had a great thanksgiving!

Koh Phangnan

hey :) sorry for the delay in posting a new message. We arrived in Koh Phangnan a few days ago (it's funny how when you travel, you lose all sense of time...). We took a ferry over from Koh Samui. The water was really rocky, and I had a nasty hangover, so I wasn't feeling too ready to party on the ride there. We got off the ferry, feeling a little lost, and all these Thai taxi drivers were yelling us to figure out where we wanted to go (Lonely Planet had suggested a few options but we weren't in the mood to try to sort them out. All we knew was that we need something that was away from the crazy party scene (Koh Phangnan is the site of the famous full moon party, which is held on Tuesday the 14th). We used one of the flyers that was given to us on the ferry and ended up finding a little piece of paradise for about $5 each for a private bungalow with a fan. The place was just what we needed - we had our own private beach, the gardens and restaurant were beautiful, and it was just far enough out of town to get some rest. The reason for the delay in posting was because the place was too remote, we had no access to internet. One thing about this island is the crazy roads - for example, the ones near our place had some really crazy turns and hills. Sometimes with two of us on the motorbike we couldn't quite make it up the hill so we had to use our feet like fred flintstone. It was quite comical! We partied that night on the beach. One bar had a fire party. One thing that is really big on the islands is fire shows, where Thai men light a rod on fire and do crazy things with them. In addition to the fire shows, someone had lit a skipping rope on fire and people could jump in the skipping rope. No, we didn't do it, although Jason really wanted to. I had to remind him that the damn thing was ON FIRE, and that we saw most people getting hit somehow by the skipping rope. Thailand is an incredible country that is divided into two things: incredible beauty and the freedom to do pretty much anything you want. Want to see some guy put his head in a crocodile's mouth? no problem. Want to ride an elephant? Sure. Anything goes!

The second day, we took the motorbike out to see a waterfall. The roads going to the waterfall were the worst we had ever seen. The storm from the day before didn't help. The hills were really steep, the roads were covered in sand and gravel (very slippery!) and there were trenches in the road so we couldn't get enough speed to make it up the hills sometimes. At one point we wiped up and had some sweet cuts on our legs. We decided to head back shortly after dumping the bike. Some of you noticed my scraped up leg; that was from trying to learn how to drive a motorbike on a dirt path in Koh Samui. The fall from the bike the second time definitely destroyed my career in being a leg model... For some reason everything is happening to the left leg. It looks worst than it really is.

Last night we went to our first muay thai fight. It was right near the beach so really close to the party, but it was awesome to get away from the tourists and really get a sense of one aspect that is so important to Thai culture. Muay thai has a more spiritual feel than other martial arts. For example, when the boxers come in the ring, they spend a few minutes praying for good luck in various parts of the ring. It's a much more spiritual feel than wrestlers from the WWE who walk into the ring with their wrestling bunnies who do it purely for entertainment purposes.

We took a high speed catamaran to the coast (about 4 hours long), and an 8 hour bus ride to Bangkok, where we are now. We are leaving for Phnom Penh in Cambodia tomorrow to spend some time with Angkor Wat. I am sad to leave Thailand, but we need to keep moving! The world won't wait for us!

I will post pictures separately. Blogger and I are not really getting along right now!

M :)

Day three in Koh Samui

hey guys,

Yesterday was fairly uneventful...we lounged around the beach, I got a thai massage (which is generally just a series of random presses, sometimes more comfortable than others) on the beach, we had an incredible dinner on the beach about 20 feet from the water and then went out later at night. Apparently some dude pulled a knife on Jason, but that's another story. We also both rode a mechanical bull. I like to think my horseback riding skills came in handy! It starts out pretty slow but then goes pretty quickly and if you lose your balance it's pretty hard to get it back. Thankfully you just fall into a lovely air mattress.

We stayed out all night and watched the sun rise this morning. It was absolutely incredible. This was the view we had from our beach (you can click on all pictures for the original size):

After a few hours sleep, we met our friend Chris and went to a spectacular spot for lunch. It was at the top of a hill (quite the fun trying to get up on the motorbike). The view was jaw dropping: you could see for miles and miles.

Afterwards, we went to a monkey show. The monkeys did the funniest things...play basketball, do somersaults, play guitar, it was funny. At one point, I got on stage and got my hands tied.

The monkey came and undid all the knots (there were probably about 10 of them). At one point one of the monkey's hands was resting on my arm. I couldn't believe how human-like it felt. You could also pet a gibbon that was playing around. At one point I got a little too close and it jumped near me. I had visions of television shows of "when animals attack" ;)

Anyways, that was our day! Tonight is our last night in Koh Samui; tomorrow we leave for Koh Phangan for a few days, and then off to Cambodia for a few days before hitting up the Philippines.

Thanks for following us along :)

Koh Samui

Before I write about what we have been up to, here are some much overdue pictures (I have figured out how to upload them here so i will likely be putting up more pictures as we go). Here are a couple from phi phi island. The first is during the boat trip to Ma Ya Bay, and the second is the day we left Phi Phi to go to Krabi. This is the view I had from my bungalow.

We arrived in Koh Samui last night around 6, took a minibus to a hotel on the beach (I wish this could be reality!) and called our friend Chris (from England, who we met in Singapore, which seems so long ago!)

This is in Koh Samui. The sunset is through the minibus windows, which were tinted.

After a fair bit of difficulty finding his hotel on a motorbike, we had an incredible dinner on the beach. We spoiled ourselves to a dinner of barracuda, mussels and crab. How ridiculous is that? Only in Thailand can you live such an incredible, affordable adventure. I know our trip to Australia and New Zealand will not be this extravagant, so we are enjoying it while we can.

Afterwards we went out to a few bars with Chris. At one point, we are walking and this guy put a baby gibbon on us! It's a scam to get money...they take a picture and then guilt you into buying it. We didn't buy it, but the monkey was soooo cute. I am always amazed at monkeys and how they are just like people. A short time later another guy was walking around with a bald eagle for pictures. Yes, a bald eagle. Only in Thailand...

Today we decided to take the bike out to explore, and ended up following signs to a crocodile farm. We met a nice Danish couple and hung out with them for the two animal shows. We saw a bunch of monkeys (sooo cute) and a large collection of snakes (Mom, you would have loved to see them). The first show was a crocodile show, where two guys were doing some crazy stuff with crocs. They started by trying to wake them up with bamboo sticks, then they were pulling them around by the tail (these are adult crocs by the way) and then they did tricks, like putting money in one croc's mouth and putting their hand in to pull it out. The show concluded with a guy putting his head in a crocodile's mouth.

Afterwards we saw a cobra show, which started with a huge snake (boa maybe?) that people could pose with. Jason was very brave and finally gave in to having his picture taken.

I couldn't have done it, of course. I mean, who would take the picture?? From there, the two guys doing crazy things continued to do crazy things, like kiss cobras.

Yes, kissing a cobra, a snake whose venom is so poisonous that you die within 20 minutes of being bitten. Who thinks of this crazy stuff?? It was really intense though. After the show, Jason paid to feed dead chickens to a pool of about 20 hungry adult crocs. The fun never ends in Thailand!

Afterwards, we went with our Danish friends to a beautiful waterfall. Here is a picture from the viewpoint on the way to the almost 2000 m waterfall.

It was a decent hike, and not one that should have been made with flip flops and a skirt, but hey, we don't plan too far ahead. On the way down, I took a nasty fall, but thankfully landed right on my bottom so no major damage done :)

At the site of the waterfall, you could also go on a trek with elephants. I have never seen so many elephants walking around!

So, that was our day...and it's not over yet. In a way, I almost wish that we would have ended our trip with Thailand because it just seems like such a dream. The weather, the sights, the food, the people, the buckets...Thailand definitely stimulates all of the senses!

getting crabby in Krabi

We sadly left Phi Phi yesterday afternoon. I could have stayed there forever, but the reality is that we need to keep moving. We took an afternoon ferry to Krabi and spent the evening there, as we can take a bus to Koh Samui from Krabi (the bus is about 5-6 hours long). We got a cheap room last night with no AC, and we met a cute couple from England who told us that their bed had bed bugs in it so I think I spent most of the night worrying that in fact, I likely couldn't sleep tight because the bed bugs would bite.

We borrowed a motorbike from our hotel and toured around the town. We ended up driving out in "real" Thailand (no English signs), far from tourists (or farang as we are called here...). The scenery was beautful - huge cliffs, palm trees - and it was awesome to get a sense of what Thailand is when you get away from the tourists and sugarcoated beach life. The bike got a flat tire so we toured around slowly trying to make it back in one piece. Jason was an awesome driver and got us back to the hotel, although the tire was completely messed up. The rental place owner was really mad though, and wouldn't give me back my passport until we got the bike back from the shop. Her argument was that we shouldn't have driven the bike back in that condition, especially not with two people on it...our argument was that we didn't want to leave the bike, or call a taxi (we had no idea how to get anywhere...we didn't have the telephone number for our hotel). In the end we paid less than $20 for a new tire and I got my passport back so everything is ok!

So, i hope this message finds you well. We will post another message when we are settled in Samui. Hopefully I will get a little bit of sleep then...

M :)

Boat tour of Maya Bay

hey :)

Today Jason and I took a longtail boat (http://photoblog.philipandsiowyen.com/images/20070729200326_dsc_5592b_small.jpg) to Maya Bay. We ended up having two other Canadians on the boat with us (the second and third we have met on this trip...last night I met my first other Canadian who was from Quebec); one was from Ottawa and the other from Newfoundland. It's nice to spend time with people from home every once in a while to remind us of things back home.

The tour was awesome. We left our beach to go to Monkey Beach, where we saw a lot of monkey being fed by other tourists (we just took pictures). Oddly enough, the beach is pretty well-known, even though it's tiny. From the monkeys we went to Maya Bay and swam around for a while. The bay is jaw dropping beautiful. We went snorkelling not too long after that; I have only ever been snorkelling once, and that was in Hawaii where all I saw was the same fish over and over again. The snorkelling here is incredible; it feels as though you're in a massive aquarium at the zoo, with tons and tons of different fish. The water is so clear you can see for a long time in front of you. The second snorkelling trip was better, with even more fish to see. The last trip wasn't the best because the water was shallow, with lots of rocks and sea urchins (I didn't want to get too close to those guys...ouch!). Throughout the tour we are surrounded by enormous cliffs that rise up out of the water and provide us with an incredible source of pictures. We went out to the open water after to watch the sun set. it was beautiful! I wasn't feeling super comfortable on the way to where we watched the sun set because the waves were huge and really rocked the boat! I don't think it helped too much that I swallowed a bunch of salt water while snorkelling...:( Although we spent the day outside, I surprisingly don't seem to have gotten a sunburn.

So, I hope this finds you well!

Another day in paradise

hey :) Last night, we went to a great beach bar and partied on the beach. We met some guys from Sweden and we talked about hockey (I asked if they heard of Daniel Alfredsson, the captain of the Ottawa Senators). We had some great hockey talk, and I couldn't help but laugh at how the name sounds in Swedish (it's more like "donyel olfredsun"). My mom just gave me an update that Ottawa won against Alfie's old swedish team, so i am pretty happy about that! Today I lounged around on the beach beside our beachside bungalow (it doesn't get any better than that) and safely worked on my tan, while admiring the incredible view in front of me. The beach sand is white, the water is turquoise and so clear you can see everything to the bottom, and we are surrounded by huge cliffs. Later this afternoon, Jason and I rented a kayak and went around. Even at a considerable distance out in the water, you can still see the coral and fish at the bottom. At one point, we even saw a jellyfish, with a body at least a foot in diameter. We visited a nearby beach which we had to ourselves. The sand felt like hard flour under our feet, we had jungle-like vegetation and caves in the back, and turquoise water for as far as you can see, with huge cliffs jutting out of the water in some spots. We stayed out to watch the sunset. Although it was a little cloudy, the sky lit up in beautiful shades of pink and purple. Oh yeah, and pictures. it takes a long time, but here are photos from my trip to Vancouver, where I spent the weekend before leaving on this magical journey (http://s428.photobucket.com/albums/qq4/mbeimers/) and Singapore (http://s428.photobucket.com/albums/qq4/mbeimers/Singapore/, mostly of the botanic gardens and our trip to Sentosa Island south of the city). More to follow from KL and Thailand soon! I think we may go on a camping trip to Maya Bay (http://www.phuket-tourism.com/cover/images/p1.jpg) tomorrow night, and camp on the beach, so we'll see how that goes! Maya Bay is where "The Beach" was filmed. So yeah, life is pretty tough right now :)

How do you spell "paradise"?

I'll tell you how...K-O-P-H-I-P-H-I! This place is absolutely incredible (I really need to learn new adjectives). We took a fancy Toyota Corolla from our hotel in Patong Beach to the town of Phuket to take a ferry to Ko Phi Phi. The boat ride, which took about 1.5 hrs, was beautiful, and reminded us a little of the Thousand Islands. We arrived in Ko Phi Phi and are staying at a bungalow on the far end of the beach for about $15 a person (and has AC and so far no signs of bed bugs!). We had a delicious meal almost on the beach (Thai food is so yummy) and now it's just shortly after 9pm. We will likely go out tonight, and take a kayak out to monkey beach (just that....a beach where monkeys come and tourists feed them). I am having a bit of a tough time with the whole animal thing. On one hand, of course you want to pet a baby tiger, but on the other hand, we're really messing around with nature....so we try not to encourage it too much.

M :)

Four legged creatures in Thailand

hey guys :)

Last night we went out again with our newfound Thai friend who took us to two different clubs (one old one new). One of them was close to a bar known for lady boys. In the case of some of them, I really can't tell if the person is really a woman or a man looking like a damn fine woman. If I can't tell the difference, some poor drunk foreigner (tourist = "farang" in Thai) is certainly going to get a surprise! Yes, this area of Thailand seems to just ooze sex and fun for sale.

Today was filled with spending time with four legged creatures. This afternoon, Jason and I headed out to another beach (Bangtao Beach not far from our beach, Patong). I always wanted to ride a horse on the beach so we set out to do just that. The place was a lot nicer than I thought it was going to be and for a rent a horse place it was decent. Jason was really impressed with the height of his horse. Mine wasn't overly thrilled to be doing any work...when we headed out to the beach, I was having steering issues with the horse I was riding (after being led to the beach...Jason was content being led because he doesn't like trotting...) I couldn't get my horse to canter unless we were headed back towards the barn (funny how horses always know which way is home). Oh well...the scenery made up for the not super great horse. The stalls were really nice, but the horses are definitely not as plump as we like to see them back home. On the way back from riding on the beach, Jason and I visited "Phuket Fantasea" show not far from Phuket (check out http://www.funtasiagroup.com/pf_old/fantasy.html for a description). Fantasea is supposed to be the first Thai cultural theme park. It feels a little like a mix of Thai culture, Disneyworld and small town carnivals...only this park had white tigers, a carp pond (I think it was carp...the fish almost looked like sharks. They were huge), and ELEPHANTS. like EVERYWHERE. I even pet one...their trunk is really weird, hairy, heavy and rough, kinda like how I would think an armadillo's skin feels like. Right in front of the theater you could take an elephant ride. There were three or four elephants walking around. It was so impressive. They seem like really docile, intelligent animals, although I am sure sometimes things can get a little nasty, like in the case of any wild animal. During the show they had a magic trick where a tiger appeared...and then the tiger jumped three jumps (for the horsey folk, it was like a gym line with one stride in between each jump). At one point during the show, chickens and goats ran across the stage. Then, at the end, i think at one there were 15 elephants on stage. FIFTEEN. The younger ones were doing really cool things, like they were all up on their back legs. I guess part of me should have felt sorry that these gorgeous, gentle creatures are being subjected to doing tricks on a stage, but the bigger part was just in total awe. Anyways, enough about the elephants...it was cool. Yes yes, I will post pictures soon (we couldn't take our camera into the theater, but you'll see lots of elephant pictures)

Sidenote: driving to Bangtao beach today, we passed a lot of people setting off fireworks and walking on the street. At one point, I noticed a few Thai men not wearing shirts and covered in what looks like blood. Apparently we are right in the middle of the Phuket vegetarian festival, and yes, that was blood I saw. If you have a strong stomach, here is an article that I read on the mutilation that takes place during the vegetarian festival. Sitting back here now and realized what I saw, that was probably the craziest cultural thing I have ever witnessed: (http://www.aegis.org/news/ap/1997/AP971003.html).

Tomorrow we are hoping to go to Ko Phi Phi. We'll see! I will keep you posted. Hopefully no blood...

M :)