Hot and cold, temples and more temples, and deer cuddles in Nara

We have gone through some pretty crazy weather changes recently! We arrived in Magome from Matsumoto to find the weather in Magome to be miserably rainy and cold. Nonetheless since we really wanted to do the 8km hike from Magome to Tsumago, two post towns in the Kiso Valley region, we sucked it up, dressed warmly and borrowed umbrellas from our guest house.

The trek took us mostly through the forest where we saw some great waterfalls and bamboo trees. We occasionally walked through smaller post towns as well. Unfortunately the photos don't properly illustrate the wetness of the day but trust me when I saw we arrived in Tsumago wet damp and slightly miserable. Since it was so junky out we managed to grab the first bus back to Magome for dinner, which ended up being steamed buns (one had curry and was delicious) and convenience store treats (convenience store food has become a staple for us since there is always a great variety of surprises for cheap!).

The guest house (Magome Chaya) is absolutely lovely. It's a more traditional japanese style accommodation with hardwood floors throughout, tatami mats in the room and an amazing wooden soaker tub/mini hot tub (never mind it kinda looks like a coffin). The cover of it is always on and you take it off in sections.

After a low key night (everything closes at 5!), we set out the next morning for Kyoto. Such a welcome change in weather! It's about 28-30C here. It feels amazing to finally bust out my tank tops and shorts! On our first day in Kyoto we checked into the Kyoto Piece hostel. We are here till we leave for Nagoya on the 18th to meet our friend Rheanne. It's a brand spanking new hostel that opened last month. Our twin room is super tiny but we are making it work. Thankfully we have really comfy bunk beds and a REAL pillow! My head isn't loving the bean bag pillows I have been sleeping on, which apparently are that way because back in the day women would have their hair done and the hard pillow would help keep everything in place for days.

So, on our first day we toured around some temples nearby. Kyoto was the capital before Tokyo so it's the hotspot for temples. You could probably spend a month here looking at all the temples and not see them all! After a couple temples we went for dinner on the lower level of a nearby department store. After walking around we settled on okonomiyaki, a Japanese omelet that basically translates to leftovers. There is a special sauce though that is quite tasty. You can get all kinds of toppings: mine had sausage, potato and cheese, while Yosha had seafood an cabbage.

(Note: in one of the nearby sushi restaurants I saw horse sashimi was on the menu,  a local delicacy. Thankfully "horse" is one of the characters I recognize from my mandarin class days. As curious as I may be to try it my love for horses will always be stronger than my curiosity!)

Yesterday we ventured out for a full day of sightseeing. We got a day pass for the subway and saw the imperial palace. Thankfully the timing was right and we managed to squeeze in on a free English tour that has a limit on the number of participants every day. The palace was where the emperor used to live before the capital was moved to Tokyo. The palace burned down a number of times but they kept rebuilding it. It has stood there since 1855.

From there we went to a confectionary museum that had exhibits made of sugar art, had some tasty curry for lunch and saw the Nijo-jo castle, which was built in 1603 as the official residence of the shogun Ieyasu. As a safeguard against treachery, Ieyasu had the interior fitted with nightingale floors, which squeak like birds when you walk on them. Very cool! The inside was gorgeous and had a number of beautiful paintings of tigers, trees, birds and other animals and sights. The gardens around the castle were gorgeous too and well worth the price of admission!

We walked around the Nishiki food market as well, a huge market in tue shopping district of Kyoto. It was really hard to not buy some funky shoes but we still have a lot of the trip to do and I would rather not carry around too much stuff if I can avoid it.

Side note: I have been fortunate to travel a lot and have always done it with a suitcase. For the first time I am really regretting it and which I would have brought a backpack. I feel like we are always going up and down stairs for the train so it's not the most convenient thing to be hauling around. Thankfully Yosha has been a great help!

After our touring we met up with our American friends for dinner at an izakaya, a Japanese pub. We had a number of tasty dishes and plum wines then walked around the geisha district. It's an absolutely gorgeous area with narrow streets, red lanterns hanging from the restaurant doors and even narrower side alleys. We managed to spot a geisha on the street and were all so much in awe that we couldn't snap a picture. According to my lonely planet book, geishas (or geiko, the Kyoto word for geisha) are not prostitutes or escorts. They are highly skilled entertainers who are paid to facilitate and liven up social occasions in Japan. They receive years of training in various Japanese arts. Because of this extensive training, a geiko is like a living museum of Japanese traditional culture. It's therefore not surprising that both Japanese and foreigners consider a meeting with a geisha to be a magical occurrence.

We checked out a karaoke bar after, which are much different from the ones at home. Here you rent a room with your friends, grab some drinks and pick the songs you want to play. It was hilarious and confirmed in me that if my career as a public servant doesn't work out, singing would NOT be a career change I should consider! On the walk back Yosha and I spotted another geisha. I guess we are really lucky! :)

Yesterday we took a day trip to the city of Nara, which was the first capital of japan from 710 to 785. We spent the day walking around and checked out a couple temples. One of the highlights for me was definitely the deer. In one of the parks we visited, there are over a thousand wild deer that live there. In Buddhist times, the deer were considered messengers of the gods and today they roam the park and surrounding areas. They mostly hit up pedestrians looking for food but I must have pet over a dozen of them! They were  so gentle and sweet. Walking in the woods lined with stone lanterns and hanging out with the deer was a memory that I will cherish long after we have left this beautiful country.

We are heading out shortly to check out Aoi Matsuri, a parade to celebrate the hollyhock festival. It's supposed to be a really big deal so we are looking forward to that!

More updates soon!

On the way from Magome to Tsumago. The photo is lovely but doesn't quite capture the fact it was pouring rain! 

At the top of Nijo-Jo castle

In Nishiki market...No shortage of seafood here!! 

Outside an izakaya with our American friends

In front of the five-tiered pagoda in Nara

Outside one of the shrines in Nara

Outside one of the shrines in Nara

I loved these lanterns! They were all over the place in the forest. They added an air of mystery to the park

Getting cute with some deer (a young Japanese student gave us a cookie to share with them)

Monkeying around!

Day one in Nagano: our hotel was closed till 5 so we left our stuff with the hotel associated with ours and walked around. We checked out the zenkoji temple, one of the highlights of Nagano, as well as some cute shops. Since the Olympics were here in 1998 there are significantly more English signs and English speakers than what we have seen so far.

We returned to check into our room which was a twin room without Internet so we went to a single room with Internet. I wasn't pleased with this as we had paid for a double room with Internet so after much discussion we were checked into two single rooms (there is no wifi in our hotel, ly a network cable, so again Yosha's laptop had come in handy!) We toured around Nagano, went to an old temple, then went to a tasty Indonesian/Thai/Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. I had a Thai salad and deep fried cheese (don't knock it till you try it!) and Yosha had a tasty stir fried rice dish.

Thursday we went to Yudanaka to check out a snow monkey park. It's a park in a valley (which Sean told me is translated to Death Valley) where snow monkeys come and hang out in the hot springs. It was so wonderfully cool to hang out with the monkeys and observe them so closely in their natural habitat! At one point I put my bag on the ground to observe a monkey and looked back to find two small monkeys playing with the zippers on my bag and trying to open it. It was adorable! Unfortunately one of them left some monkey poop on my bag. Hopefully the bag won't get quarantined at customs but I am sure by the time we get home most of it will be cleaned off!

We met a group of 5 cool Americans on the bus so we spend the afternoon with them walking around the town, then we took a train to Obuse,  nearby town known for their chestnuts. Between chestnut stores, sake tasting and touring around other stores it was an enjoyable afternoon!

We met back up with them for dinner in Nagano. After consulting a number of menus we settled on a place called Vingo. We ordered some yummy plum wine and a number of delicious dishes like steak, spare ribs, a sort of egg, noodle, veggie omelette wrapped in bacon and chicken. It was an amazing dinner made even better with the entertainment from the room next to us. Some Japanese patrons next to us were getting stinking drunk, falling all over themselves and stumbling around. Naturally I had to go say hi! They spoke a bit of English, asked where we were from and high fived us all. It was quite comical! From there we went to a funky Indian bar that had every cheesy wall clock you could imagine! We ended fairly early as we were all heading to Matsumoto in the morning.

On the way to the train station we had a lovely chat with an 80 year old man who loved my Hello Kitty backpack. His English was absolutely amazing! We talked about Japanese culture mostly, our experiences thus far, our itinerary, that kind of thing. We talked about how amazed we were at how friendly everyone is, and even if people couldn't really speak English they would do everything they could to help. On two occasions when we were looking for a particular destination and asked someone they walked us to where we needed to go, which was incredibly helpful and friendly!

We arrived in Matsumoto around noon and came to the Matsumoto Backpackers (which is super neato by the way. We are sleeping on tatami mats on the floor with a futon mattress and a duvet. There are 4 girls in the room; it kinda feels like an old school sleepover! We spent the day walking around the city, checking out shops downtown in the shopping district and went to see Matsumoto Castle, the oldest castle in Japan. The shops were neat though I can't really argue with the fact there was some kind of bakery every few doors! Of course we had to sample as we went. We couldn't say no! In our defence we walked around 5-6 hours today!

For dinner we went to a restaurant that has sushi on a conveyor belt. Plate of various kinds of sushi go around on a conveyor plate and you grab what you want. We tried tons of different kinds of sushi and various desserts. In the end we ate 21 plates worth, though there were only two pieces of sushi per plate. It cost about $10; take THAT, all you can eat sushi!! Afterwards we went to an onsen. Thank goodness we went before with Nonaco and her mom so we knew what to do! There were a number of hot tubs both inside and outside. It felt amazing to be out in the cool breeze! 

Tomorrow we venture off to Magome, about two hours from here by local train plus a half hour bus ride. Magome is an old post town where a lot of trading used to take place. We are hoping to do an 8km hike from Magome to Tsumago and back but according to the weather it looks like it will be pouring so we may have to hike super early Sunday morning before checking out! Hopefully not though... 

It feels like we are covering a lot of ground in a short period of time. Matsumoto is a great city with a super funky vibe, so it has definitely been a worthwhile stop! We are both looking forward to dumping our stuff in Kyoto and settling down for a few days. Moving from place to place every few days can be a little tiring! 

Here is a random mix of funny photos!

at the castle at Matsumoto; on the way to Matsumoto (we are in the Japanese Alps here so it's amazing snow-covered mountains all around us!); the lil monkeys trying to bust into my bag; we could get so close to the monkeys that I just wanted to pick them up and hold them!; on the podium in Nagano; and a monkey didn't want to make friends with Yosha :(

Thanks for taking part in the adventure! 

 
 

 

Beef and a temple on a mountain!

Konbanwa from Yamagata! Hopefully the posts will be a little more regular now that we have settled into a routine...which is mostly using Yosha's laptop since wifi is slightly sketchy!

Since the last post, we got settled into Yamagata and had tasty beef for dinner. Yamagata is known for its yummy marbled beef so we thought why not give it a shot? The hotel staff recommended a place across the street so we tried it out. Unfortunately neither of us thought to bring our Japanese phrasebooks, something that we haven`t gotten too much use out of at this point since we were travelling with English-speaking friends. So we sit down at this restaurant, to find the menu had minimal photos and no English, something we have sort of gotten used to but hadn`t really had to deal with till now. We ended up ordering a tasty plate of beef that we grilled ourselves...and nothing else. The beef itself was absolutely fantastic but it was slightly odd to just have beef. It was a great reminder to always pack the phrasebook!

Today we ventured out to Yamadera to see Risshaku-ji, a temple on top of a mountain. There are over 1,000 stairs to the top, with amazing statues along the way. The view at the top of the mountain was definitely worth the climb! Even though it was on and off rainy and cold the whole day I felt that the mountains, temples and experience were worth it! On the way home we planned out next few days in Nagano (we leave tomorrow morning) and had a spicy black bean tofu dish and ramen noodles on recommendation from the server (we aimed for two dishes just to be safe though we would have been fine with just the tofu dish!).

A few side notes for your entertainment:

- For all that finding people who speak English has been a challenge, one thing that has come back time and time again is how incredibly sweet and helpful we have found Japanese people to be. From our Japanese hosts Makiko, Nonaco and her family, servers, train conductors and the hotel staff, we have felt nothing but welcomed here. Yesterday when we checked into the hotel was a good example. We were greeted by two gentlemen: an older man and a younger man. The older man had a better command of English so he was the one giving the information, though the younger man understood enough that he was the retriever of information. By retriever it was like watching something in fast forward. When we asked for a recommendation for Yamagata beef, he scurried around for pamphlets like he was gathering his most precious possessions from a burning house. I had issues with the wifi and both of them bowed apologetically so many times and so low I thought they were either going to throw their back out or break their teeth on the counter. One thing that surprises me is the lack of non-Japanese tourists. Though we may find more foreigners along our travels as we continue, so far on the walk to the temple there were only two other white guys, one of them being a Japanese girl`s boyfriend.

- Yamagata is an incredibly clean city but for some reason it`s almost impossible to find a garbage. Anywhere. Today on the walk back from Yamadera we ventured to a grocery store to get some food. There were were eating random meats on a stick and huge chunks of battered octopus but unable to find a garbage. Maybe Japanese people bring their garbage home? It`s really quite impressive that the city is so incredibly clean!

I look forward to more adventures in the next couple of days. We are going to Nagano tomorrow, then to see snow monkeys bathing in hot water pools (apparently they walk right up to you!), check out some castles, some samurai mansions, some old post towns...it`ll be enough to keep us out of trouble! We just can`t forget the phrasebook!

Anyways, more action to be continued!

Photos below: a sample from the kimono shoot; photos and a video on top of Risshaku-ji. I was amazed at how incredibly peaceful it was! (and yes it was cold enough for a tuque and I was still cursing that I didn`t bring enough to stay warm!)

 

 

Konnichiwa from Japan!

Hey guys thanks for following along on another adventure! I am so incredibly fortunate to take another wonderful trip with my very dear friend Yosha. Not only was she willing to travel with me in 2011 for a month, but didn’t hesitate to travel again with me for another month. I am really excited for more wacky adventures, and I hope you will enjoy reading them along the way!

We arrived in Tokyo safe and sound after a great 12-hour flight. Somehow they oversold their seats so we were moved to premium economy, which basically means bigger seats and if you are sitting at the window you only have to climb over one person instead of two to go to the bathroom.  We made it to the train to the city to meet up with Makiko. We got to see her place in Urayasu, close to Tokyo. She lives with 7 other girls in a really cool house. Her bed is sort of a bunk bed/loft, which we thought was neato! Once we got settled in to her place we tried to sort out the next couple of days. Because of Golden Week (two back-to-back long weekends where Japanese people tend to travel), we couldn’t get reasonable accommodations in Yamagata so we opted to leave the next day (Saturday) with her friend Nonaco instead to hang out with Nonaco and her family in the Iwate prefecture, not far from Fukushima where the awful tsunami destroyed so much of the country. (I met Nonaco when she came to Canada at the end of February).

We were thankful Makiko was there to sort out a lot of the details with finding accommodation prices in Yamagata, talking to Nonaco, and providing us advice about potential hiccups because of Golden Week. Once everything was sorted out we headed back to where Makiko met us at the train station to have some food. We stopped off at a convenience store. I wish convenience stores back home had this great variety of food! There are rows and rows of different Japanese dishes and snacks. Last night Yosha, Makiko and I had yakitori (yaki = fried, tori = chicken) and some onigiri, which is a rice cake wrapped in a nori sheet that usually has some kind of tasty magic in the inside. I had an egg and fish egg treat. Yum! Then we went out for dinner, where I struggled to stay awake. People can smoke in restaurants here which is a little odd, and there is a doorbell to ring for your server to come serve you. I am a huge fan of the bell, but obviously not of the smoking! Yosha and I crashed on the floor in Makiko’s room in a small futon mattress. Snuggling in a tiny mattress is just like being in Beijing all over again on our first night sharing a single bed to stay warm, only the first night we weren’t wearing all of our clothes trying not to choke on a dusty duvet. Ahhh, trip memories J

After not too much sleep we got up to meet Nonaco at the Tokyo train station. We got there with tons of time to spare so Yosha and I toured around at the food shops. It’s super fun to just see pictures of things with a price and trying to guess what they are. I really should get better at reading Japanese! But that would take out the fun of the adventure. Sometimes we are pleasantly surprised, like we got these cream puffed cupcakes with red bean paste and mochi, and other times slightly disappointed, like this weird dessert ball I got. (there is no shortage of sugary goodness here for those of you who think we are eating 100% healthy!!). We arrived in Shin-Hanamaki (Hanamaki City) to meet Nonaco’s family. It is such an amazing treat to be able to stay with locals! Their place is just as I would picture a traditional Japanese home, with tatami mats on the floor and sliding doors. Her family is very welcoming, even though the bulk of the conversations are taking place with Nonaco’s mom who studied English a number of years ago and Nonaco, who speaks some English.  They took us to a cherry blossom festival to see a ton of cherry blossom trees. The trees were absolutely gorgeous and I am incredibly thankful that Makiko suggested we come here so that I can say that I saw cherry blossoms! J We also had some incredibly fresh mochi (rice flour mixed with hot water), with green tea, some kind of black sesame paste and red bean paste. OMG melt in your mouth amazing!! That night we had an amazing sushi dinner with deliciously fresh melt-in-your-mouth fish, then booked our hotel in Yamagata on Monday and booked a hotel near Disneyland on our last night in Tokyo.

The next day we ran some errands with Nonaco and her mom, then spent the afternoon at an onsen. If you take the hot tub portion of Spa Nordic and put a whole lotta naked Japanese women in there, that’s basically an onsen. There was an enclosed area with a couple really hot tubs, a sauna and a rose petal bathtub (I am definitely doing that when I get home!!) and an open air part, on top of a mountain, that was the experience. It was amazing! Afterwards to clean up there we showered. Japanese showers seem to be where you sit on a bench that had a slot in it and use the handheld shower head to clean up. I try not to think of the fact I was sitting where another naked woman had her butt. Yes, I am still Western at heart J

Last night after the onsen and a tasty dinner at the top of the hotel  attached to the onsen, we went back home and Nonaco’s mom taught us traditional Japanese calligraphy. I thought I would be awesome since I studied Mandarin a few years ago and vaguely remembered the brush stroke order. There is a whole art to the angle of the brush, how you use the brush and how you end each stroke. It was a beautiful experience! I wrote “love” and “family” to decorate the new apartment when I get back!

Today we got up early and got dressed up in traditional kimonos. Nonaco’s father Yosuo is a photographer and has a proper studio upstairs in the house so we got to play with props (including wearing shoes that were insanely tight). I can’t wait to get the photos back and post them here!

Random observations (I find variations on what we consider normal are always the most fascinating when travelling):

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-   - Most toilet seats in Japan are heated. It’s flippin’ amazing! Why can’t we have this?! It’s like I want to drink more water so I can get my rear end warmed up. Some of them play music, like the sound of a toilet flushing in case you have a shy bladder.

-        -   I haven’t been overly frustrated by the lack of English but it’s definitely a challenge. Like, buying food and not really knowing what you’re getting. Seeing Japanese writing everywhere you go. Having cashiers speak to me in Japanese and I have no idea what they are saying. Thanks to calculators we make it work, and I am picking up a few words here and there so I am optimistic that with exposure and a bit of work I can pick things up along the way. I am happy to see that a country can continue to move along independently without giving up their own identity in the name of evolution.

-        -   For a country that is really advanced in the technology department, I am surprised at some of the health and safety stuff I have seen, like at the airport you can take your baggage carrier down the escalator (it’s a normal one not a ramp). When we stayed at Makiko’s, I noticed her dryer drips water on to the washing machine below close to the wires. Hopefully she will get this fixed!

-        -   There are lines on the platforms for the trains and in front of cashiers to tell you where to line up.

-          I haven’t quite figured out the no shoe thing. You can’t wear shoes in the house, but there is a specific way to place the shoes at the door. And sometimes there are slippers at the door to another room. There are often slippers in the bathroom too, which you leave at the door so you wear the slippers from the door to the toilet and back to the door.

-          - Bathrooms are disconnected from showers in a house. There is a tap on top of the toilet to fill up the water tank so when you flush the toilet you can rinse your hands with the water from the tap so you aren’t wasting water.

-          - When most people think of Japanese food, they think of sushi rolls like dragon rolls, California rolls, avocado rolls, etc. We haven’t had one sushi roll since we landed and I doubt we will. They are big on rice at every meal, usually some sort of soup, but the dishes are variations of fish, veggies and other random surprises. Tempura, edamame and soba noodles are authentic, but sushi rolls definitely aren’t. Not that they aren’t delicious on their own, but being in Japan has definitely redefined Japanese cuisine for me!

   

This trip is definitely different from my last one though in that I left my super fantastically amazing boyfriend Sean at home. It is really hard to not see him but we are making due with Skype and What’s app, but the problem with both of these is that I need to have a wifi connection, which sort of comes and goes. I am really lucky that he is so incredibly supportive of this trip even though it’s hard for both of us to be apart.

Thanks for following along! I will try to update more with shorter messages so you’re aren’t overwhelmed with text!

Photos: Yosha eating super amazingly fresh mochi at the cherry blossom festival; Nonaco, Yosha and I playing in the cherry blossom trees; a line of carp streamers tied to a cable near the river for children's day (for more info, check out wikipedia); Yosha and Nonaco in the kitchen after Nonaco taught us how to make onigiri for breakfast (rice cake with various things in it. I think we had tuna and eel); one of the many tasty dishes for dinner: tempura!; and showing off our calligraphy after dinner. 

 

 

Goodbye Koh Lanta, Railay, Bangkok...

Being goofy in Railay Beach; a monkey mom and her baby; crossing the mudfield to the longtail boat; the cave wall to the beach at Railay; a limestone cliff at Railay; Chatuchak market; Standing Buddha in Bangkok.





hey guys! Sorry for the delay in posting in the blog. Life has been wonderful, we have been happy and healthy, and most importantly, having fun!

On our last few days in Koh Lanta, we went to a full moon party (not THE full moon party in Koh Phagnan, but they still had a "full moon" sign that was set on fire, as well as burning bushes, which the organizers miscalculated how much the sparks would fly and they set the mats almost on fire). The next morning on just a few hours sleep we went to a cooking class run by a Thai chef. The food was delicious, but after having taken two cooking classes, we realized that oil is a central part of Thai cuisine! We made phad thai, stir fry chicken with cashews, tom yum soup, and panang curry paste from scratch. It was incredibly delicious but I definitely should have worn pants with an elastic waist!

Koh Lanta was such an unexpected surprise. It was so beautiful and the people were incredibly friendly. We had the chance to get to know Thai people away from the hustle and bustle of overcrowded tourist spots. We will always remember the nice Thai boys who put on a special fire show for us on our last night, Jennifer from California, who moved to Thailand for a sex change at the age of 52, a Swede who went to school from Eric Karlsson who now plays for the Sens, and Rob, Mem and their beautiful 8 month old daughter Stella who ran the hotel we stayed at.

Railay beach was incredibly gorgeous as well, and felt a lot like a less commercial Ko Phi Phi. I keep thinking that I find paradise, then Thailand surprises me! The view is fantastic, and the sand feels like flour under your feet. The arrival here was strange though...you got to the beach on a longtail boat, then you had to carry your own bags through the water on to the beach. Unfortunately I had spent far too much time supporting the Vietnamese economy through shopping and my bag weighed a TON! The hotel was ok, though it was more expensive overall to stay in Railay. Like Koh Phi Phi, it's a completely pedestrian island with no roads. The odd thing about the east side of the island is that the tide comes in and out a few times a day so at times it's a complete mud field for a few hundred meters!

The great thing about Railay was the walk to the west side of the beach. You could walk along an amazing jungle path and follow a cave wall; at times the wall came almost completely over to the other side. On some parts of the path you could meet monkeys that were used to being fed by people so were incredibly friendly and could be hand fed. There were a few babies that were by far the cutest things that I have seen in a long time!

We left Railay on the morning of the 12th for Bangkok. Again we had to carry our junk through the mud field of a beach to reach the longtail boat. Unfortunately on the walk to the boat we had to step over some sharp stones so I sliced my heel open, but it's far from my heart and it seems to have healed ok!

Bangkok was wonderful. It's busy and crowded all the time but there is so much energy in this city! We are about a good half-hour walk to Khao San Road, the famous tourist hangout, but it makes for a good excuse for exercise! Yesterday we checked out some Buddhas and temples, and got swindled by some tuk tuk drivers who wanted to take us to check out some shops where they get a commission ("special promotion today!") so we tired of that fairly quickly. We checked out Jim Thompson's house, where Jim Thompson, an American who was responsible for the promotion of the Thai silk industry, lived. It was interesting to see some of Thailand's architecture!

Today we went to the incredible Chatuchak market, which has somethink like 8,000-15,000 stalls. You could get lost in there for days and days! Thankfully we managed to get what we needed before breaking the bank completely!

We leave very very soon for the airport for a gruelling trip home. Overall it was an amazing trip, and I am so fortunate to have done it with one of my best friends! The trip makes me appreciate the simpler things in life and the importance of respect, friendship and family.

Thanks for following along!

M xoxo

Paradise and elephants!

hey guys! Thanks for following along! :) after spending a couple days in Ko Lanta I can see how people decide to just sell all of their worldly possessions and move to Thailand. Ko Lanta is a really cool easy-going beach town where you can get to know people and you sort of feel like the theme song of Cheers ("sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name...") is always in the background. It's a great place where you can get to know the people and talk to them. It's a refreshing change from super commercial and congested Ko Phi Phi.

We stayed a couple days in a bungalow on the beach before moving across the street to a nice room with air conditioning and a balcony. It's not on the beach but at least it's cool, comfortable, a bit cheaper and the room isn't super hot (we only had a fan) and doesn't smell like sewer. It's funny how your standards change after a while!!

In Thailand they drive on the left side of the road...which means that when you are coming up to someone it's right hand to right hand (unlike left to left back home). It also means you need to reprogram your brain to which way to look when crossing the street...it's always a bit of an adjustment but I think I am ok again! Ko Phi Phi had no roads so it was easier there to forget where you were!

Yesterday we went on an amazing snorkel trip to Koh Rok. It's like a little piece of paradise! The island is a national park so it's protected and since it's closed 6 months of the year it's quieter than other tour programs. I have been very fortunate in that I have snorkelled to some of the top destinations in the world such as the great barrier reef in Australia and the red sea in Egypt so it's pretty impossible to top that (the coral was mostly dead or brown), but the Koh Rok beach was gorgeous. the sand feels like flour under your feet and it's never burning hot; the water is crystal clear and the shades of blue and turquoise are phenomenal. There are also wild iguanas walking around; all we have are squirrels and sometimes raccoons! We spent the day snorkelling, swimming and suntanning before coming back to a gorgeous sunset. I am a little peachy from the sun yesterday so I am trying to take it easy, but it's tough when it's so gorgeous outside and we only have a few more days to soak up the sun!

Today we went elephant trekking; we really wanted to go to Pai in the north to visit an elephant sanctuary but it didn't quite work out as it wouldn't make sense to spend a couple hundred dollars to be out of the way for a couple days. We had an opportunity to find an elephant park that seemed to take good care of the elephants, where it was cool and comfortable for them, and they didn't have any dumb elephant shows. It was sooo cool! We both even got to ride on its neck for a bit too. I sort of felt like horseback riding bareback, only in slow motion! We got to feed our elephant after too and cuddle with it, which was awesome. Overall it's been a great couple of days! We are planning to stay in Ko Lanta for a few more days and then spend a couple days in Railay beach, where it's also supposed to be gorgeous, before spending some time in Bangkok before flying home.

Here are a few photos: Koh Rok beach; trying to cuddle with a wild iguana, a beautiful sunset on our beach; cuddling with our elephant "Nookyiay"; and riding the elephant in the forest.

M xoxo

Life's a beach! :)

hey guys! I hope this message finds you well. I heard that it's stinkin' cold out in Ottawa right now...or at least it was really cold a few days ago! it's a beautiful cloud-less 30 C every day here in Ko Lanta. Ko Phi Phi was fun and I am glad to have done it again but I doubt I would go back for a third time. I don't remember the island being as congested and dirty three years ago as it was this time. We also stayed at the busier end of the island though. It's a bit of a tough call because I don't think the tourists are going out of their way to keep the island clean but the locals aren't giving the tourists a reason to keep it clean either when you come back to the beach the next morning and find it in almost the same state as it was when you left it the previous evening.

I think that Yosha and I are great at making responsible choices, often in the name of saving a few dollars, but sometimes we get burned too. In the words of a wise colleague of mine, "the cheap often pay twice". We thought we would move to a cheaper room on our second and third night in Ko Phi Phi. Air con was a priority but we were willing to let the tv go because hey, we have the beach! who needs tv? Unfortunately we only noticed till after that the place we booked didn't have hot water, or a sink (note: some things on this trip have become automatic. like bringing tissues to use the toilet. but not having a sink at all? though I suppose if you use the hose to clean yourself off after going to the toilet you don't technically need a sink, but it's helpful for other things, like washing your face, brushing your teeth, etc); and you could hear everything outside. I don't know what kept us up more: the bullfrogs, roosters, drunk people coming back at all hours from the beach parties or the super hard beds. oh well! it's an adventure. and I know that I have gotten no sympathy anyways from you wonderful people back home because you'll be like, oh boo hoo. at least you aren't shoveling snow!

The highlight of Ko Phi Phi, other than the six fruit shakes a day, was the half-day sunset trip to Ma Ya May where the movie "the beach" was filmed so long ago (they are still milking that cash cow. it's a gorgeous place though!). We went swimming, snorkelling in the bay and watched the sun set. The bay is absolutely amazing with sand that feels like flour under your feet. It was really busy though but we managed to soak in the sun before heading out.

Yesterday morning we got up to the Ko Phi Phi viewpoint, which was a decent hike! The view from the top was amazing! We were all alone up there except for a guy who, turns out, is from Ottawa, lives now in Montreal, and is a beatboxer. He beatboxed some Wu Tang Clan on the way down from the viewpoint which was pretty funny and made the walk down more interesting!

We left yesterday morning for Ko Lanta, which seems to be our own little piece of paradise! The beach is a lot rockier than in Ko Phi Phi but you can see uninterrupted ocean for miles and miles. The sun sets right outside our door too (we paid extra for a bungalow with a view to the ocean for a couple nights. No air con though...so we are moving tomorrow night for something with air con but not on the beach. it's a compromise!) I think I am going to start running on the beach for the time that I have left just so that I feel like I am doing something other than lounging around all day!

Tomorrow we are going on an all-day snorkelling trek to somewhere that is supposed to be absolutely gorgeous. We are looking into elephant trekking at somewhere that apparently takes good care of the animals (animal welfare is a priority for us. We didn't want to see any baby elephant shows or any of that nonsense) and likely we will do a cooking class too while we are here. so at least some kind of structure!

anyways, I hope that you are staying warm. I will be suffering a bunch to adjust to the cold when I get back!

Photos below: viewpoint from Ko Phi Phi; Ma Ya Bay; being goofy on the beach in my new ridiculous Sex and the City-meets-resort-yuppy hat :)