This and That

So.....we decided to sleep last night (Sunday) in Waganui before heading to stay with a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend. We didn't do much there, except visit a black sands beach (see flickr) and see Borat. It feels like a sleepy little town, and a nice break from the touristy places we have been going. Today, we will work our way down the west coast of the north island to Wellington.

Thermal Pools

Saturday, we went and checked out the Wai-O-Tapui thermal area. First off we saw the lady knox geyser. We were somewhat disappointed in it as they trigger it to go off as opposed to it going off naturally. From there, we walked around the thermal pools. They were quite impressive being multi-colored and very vibrant.

After the thermal pools, we took a soak in the hot springs we went to the day before. We opted to visit the spring that had the hot and cool streams. We soaked in there until we were as wrinkly as a shairpei. The combination of the hot and cold enable you to stay a long time in the water. We had a nice chat with other visitors as they stopped by and got some suggestions for traveling.

Today our plan was to drive to Tonganero National Park and do the Tonganero Crossing. Well, the weather had different ideas. It was gloomy and overcast....so we skipped the hike and are heading to the shore. We were disappointed about missing the hike as they shot the Mordor scenes there from LOTR there. We could see it from a distance though.

Other musings....
- The hostel we stayed in was the best we have stayed in so far. Clean and very friendly. We were quite pleased with it.
- We have met many Americans in New Zealand. There were about 8 staying at our hostel. It was nice to chat with them.

First thoughts on New Zealand

So, we just arrived in New Zealand last night. It took all day to get from the blue mountains to Auckland (9am-10pm), but so far its worth it. The people are quite lovely, and it appears to much cheaper here than Australia. We are renting a car tomorrow to tour around it. After checking into our hotel, we found out that renting a car was going to be just a little more than taking the bus. We figure the extra freedom will be worth it. Ok, that's all for now. We haven't done much in Auckland today. Ash is getting her hair cut right now, and we spent the morning doing planning on new Zealand.

The Blue Sorta Mountains

So, we decided to escape the craziness of the Australian cities and head to the nearby Blue Mountains for a couple of nights. It was nice to be out in nature and hiking, something we really haven't done since Slovakia. Well, after taking the train from Sydney, we arrived in Kotoomba. The first thing we noticed was that it wasn't really the mountains. More like foothills, or cliffs. There was no visible peaks to us. This isn't to say it wasn't nice, as it was quite relaxing but its a
misnomer to call them mountains.

Yesterday, we did a really nice hike through the park. We walked along a cliff edge and saw some local sights (some waterfalls, three sisters, cockatoos, echo point) check flickr for pics. We enjoyed our time here, but it pales in comparison to the American West.

It was a lovely national park and very well organized. You can walk to the park from the town, or take a shuttle bus. There was also a lot of attractions nearby.....caves, skyways, scenic railroads, etc. We opted to hike instead of ride.

Other musings....
- We head to New Zealand today. I write this from an airport lounge. We are excited about New Zealand, but recognize that it signifies the end of our trip. :-( Only 23 days left until we head home.
- We are quite excited to meet our friends Jay and Carla in New Zealand. We are going to have a blast.
- Australia was nice, but its pretty much just like America with funny accents and driving on the wrong side of the road.
- I would like to put a museum in my basement when we return to America. For some reasons, museums make me sleepy and it would nice to have a way to fall asleep when I have insomnia.
- Coopers Pale Ale is a very good beer. Not sure if its available outside of Australia, but we really enjoyed drinking it.
- Both Ash and I have that lingering cold. We would like to get well!

G'day Mates

So after a long travel day (is there any other kind?), we made it to Sydney yesterday. The travel day shouldn't have been too long but the mini-bus from the Sydney airport to our hostel took longer than the plane ride. Strange. Anyway, they actually say G'day mate in Australia. I somewhat thought it was just a catch phrase, but I have heard it said to me numerous times.

Today in Sydney we had a relatively full day of sightseeing (didn't spend a penny either until Dinner). We walked over to the Royal Botanical Gardens and looked at the harbor. Sydney is quite lovely and the weather while not perfect is much better than Melbourne. The Botanical Gardens were nice with lots of birds and plants. The birds were all quite strange looking. We thought we would see more strange birds on our trip, but outside the kingfisher we saw in Thailand, nothing too exotic. Until today that is. We saw some odd ducks (check flickr) along with a wild parrot and very large ravens.

From the botanical gardens, we headed around the bay to see the Sydney Opera House. It was just as cool as the pictures show. We wandered around the Circular Quay and watched some street performers. There were several aborigines playing the Dierado, which was pretty cool. After that, we checked out the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was a decent museum, with one excellent exhibit on some aussie modern artist. I can't remember his name, but we both liked his stuff especially the Manta Ray and the neon rhinoceros.

Other tidbits....
- Ashley was slightly sick in Melbourne, and I have seem to have caught it. Nothing to serious, just a cold.
- We have figured out that Germany actually is deserted. They are all out traveling. Sydney is loaded with them.
- We are back to hostels for our accommodation, as my mom commented, its a steep drop from where we stayed in Thailand. But hostels are nice cause you can cook (we got sick of eating out in Thailand). Plus, the showers are relatively normal and the bathroom sinks actually have hot water.
- Australia is definitely expensive, mostly cause the dollar is weak. We are managing to stay on budget by cooking.

Wet and Cold

So, our plan before the trip was to have basically an endless summer. Start out in Europe during the summer, have India during the fall (when its not summer just feels like it), a little splash during Thailand dry season (warm again) and then finish it up with later spring early summer down under. Well that got shot down as soon as we got to Melbourne. Its downright chilly here.....and rainy. Quite annoying, hopefully Sydney (where we go tomorrow) is warmer.

We really didn't do that much today except check out two museums. The first was on Australian art. The facilities were quite nice, however outside the aboriginal art, the art was lackluster. The second was the international art museum. It had both nice facilities and art, but we lacked the time to explore it fully.

Other musings.....
- Our total travel time from our hotel in Thailand to our Hotel in Sydney was 31 1/2 hrs. It didn't feel that bad due to a combination of nice airport lounges and Xanax.
- Our budget will feel the pinch in Australia. Our accommodation willl take up over 50% of our budget, which won't leave that much money for food or sights. We handled it well in europe, and I think we can do it here. Plus, we banked up a solid reserve in Thailand.
- Its nice to hear people speak English.
- Ashley and I were looking forward to western food, but all we have had in Australia so far is Indian fare. HA!

Lady Boys

Last night, we went to a show at Simon Cabaret. The whole production is staged by Lady Boys, or Katheoy in Thai. These are Thai men/boys who have chosen to live their lives as women as opposed to men. It seems to be accepted throughout Thailand, as we have seen many women who we suspected to be men in actuality. To learn more, check out the wiki page. But its not like we are going to ask them. So anyway, we went to check out the show....essentially a drag show. It was top notch, as the performance were well rehearsed and choreographed. They danced, and lipsynched to a variety of tunes. Many of them looked exactly like women, but the shoulders on some gave them away. Overall, it was quite a hoot and a good ending to a visit to Thailand. We just wish we had brought our camera. I don't know why we always forget it!!!!

Musings.....
- We have really enjoyed Thailand. We set out to spend about 8 days here, and are actually spending 27 days. What a change. Its quite easy to travel and the locals are friendly, plus its very reasonable on the wallet.
- We spent the last two nights in Patong, which more of a touristy area. I am so glad we spent the bulk of our beach time (16 days) in less touristy areas. Not only is it cheaper, but it was cleaner, safer and way more relaxing. We liked both Ko Phayam and Ko Jum light years more than this area (or the Marriott and all of its luxury).
- I read a ton of books in Thailand. English books were widely available, if not slightly pricey. Some of my reads include - long way down by hornsby (quite good), the lincoln lawyer by michael connelley (another good one), Indigo Slam by Robert Crais, Backpacker by some unknown author, Jane Eyre by Bronte (very good!), Kim by Rudyard Kipling (god awful), Trace by Cornwell (almost terrible), a clancy novel along with a couple of others that I cannot recall. I am simultanously reading an Elizabeth George and Lonesome dove. I read Lonesome Dove about 18 years ago, and am re-reading it. Ash has first dibs on it, but I pick it up when she is snoozing.
- I listened to my ipod quite a bit.....favs included Jackie Brown soundtrack, Tool (10,000 days is a great album), and American Analog Set. For some reason, I can't remember what else I listened to.....must be something else we did a lot of in Thailand.
- I write this in the internet area at the Royal Silk Lounge in Bangkok Airport.....another perk about traveling so much for work was getting status and free access to the VIP lounges!

Ko Jum

We just got back from another deserted island. Its also on the Indian Ocean side of Thailand, but further south from Ko Phayam. It was truly delightful. The island was somewhat similar to the first one, but there were no crabs and the surf was lackluster. However, the accommodation was a little nicer (still no hot water) and the water definitely clearer. We really didn't do all that much during our visit there, except read, drink, swim and walk. But we did take another sea kayak adventure (hopefully pics to be posted later) to a nearby island and snorkeled. Before the Tsunami, the snorkeling at Ko Jum was supposedly pretty nice. However, the Tsunami destroyed much of the coral nearby and the related marine life. We still saw some cool fish but not as many as we would have a few years ago.

The bungalow we stayed at was owned by a British ex-pat, so everyone hanging around was British or Scottish. It was so nice having people to chat with in both our native tongues! Plus, they had a wide stock of English reading material. The food at the bungalow was not as good as it was at Ko Phayam, but still pretty tasty and cheap. An added bonus was satellite TV in the bar (not in our room), where we could get caught up on the elections. So glad to see that the democrats won, its time for a change in America.

We leave for Australia on Monday afternoon. So probably not many updates until Weds. It take over a day to get there from here.

Loi Krathong

On Nov 5, we did a bit of cultural voyeurism. Loi Krathong is a festival on the night of full moon in November. I have no idea what the festival celebrates. Our guidebook covers it, but only what happens not why. Nor did I see any information on it last night, but a Thai guy told me it was like Thai New Year and you make wishes. Basically, you float banana leaf boats/baskets filled with flowers, incense, a candle and a coin for good luck. People also light these paper balloons. So, last night at Ton Sai, we went out got really drunk and floated a basket along with watching others floating baskets/balloons. It was pretty cool.

There was a full on party atmosphere happening.....bands, raves, fire twirlers, etc. Very hippiesh but also a nice time. They celebrate every full moon with a party at many places in Thailand, but only once a year is Loi Krathong. We really enjoyed the little bit of Thainess that we saw last night.

The beach (Ton Sai) we are staying at (you can hardly call it a beach) is a backpacker hangout, specifically of the rock climbing kind. There are loads of Americans here which is a nice change as we have seen so few in recent months. The beach is basically rocks, so not much swimming going on but there are tons of other activities. At low tide, we can wade around a set of rocks to get to a real beach. From here, we head to Ko Jam, which from what I gather is even more isolated so not much updates from there. There is internet here, but its 4 Baht a minute, which is about 6-8x what we have been paying.

Best Body Surfing Ever

So for the last few days, we have been at Ko Phayam (Ash will write more about it later). It was absolutely amazing place - totally tranquil and isolated.....but no internet. We just chilled out for a few days and read - which was an absolute relaxing time. The beach was pretty nice, about 3 km long with white sand. The water was relatively clear but did have some debris and silt.

One of the best things about the beach was that it was awesome for body surfing. The first day there was no surf, but it picked up every day. Since the beach is very wide and with a gradual incline, waves break slowly. You can easily catch a wave and ride it for a long time (assuming that it was big enough). It was great fun standing out there and catching waves. I do wish there were more waves to catch, but the seas were relatively calm while we were there. Hopefully we will get pictures up soon, but no promises. Although we really didn't do anything worthy of taking photos.

Backpacker lifestyle

So.....we are loving the Marriott. It seems so plush to what we have become accustomed too. They have such nice things as washclothes! Anyway, I feel slightly out of place here. It seems to extreme of a jump to go from dread locked smelly backpackers to fat germans (the resort is loaded with them). We also have carried some backpacker lifesytle options over to the Marriott which makes it tough. No way are we eating the $15 breakfasts, so its yogurt and museli for us. $9 burgers - No Way! Its PB&J for us. We have a Tesco (british wal-mart) across the street so its easy to shop, and we have a fridge so we can store beer, jelly and yogurt in our room. But it does feel a little silly sitting on a plush bed eating a PB&J....oh well 3 more nights till we go back to our normal lifestyle.

Changing Rupees

As we were leaving India, the Thomas Cook guy said to change our Rupees in Bangkok as we would get a better rate. So today, we decided to trade them in. Well after 5 stops at banks were they wouldn't accept Rupees.....we were cursing him. It took the better part of the morning to trade them in. We did get a better rate but only marginally so.

Other than that we checked out the royal palace in Bangkok (check flickr) which was pretty cool. They have this emerald buddha, actually made of jade They dress it up for the seasons....ha! Tomorrow we head for Hua Hin and the much awaited Marriott resort.

Other tidbits on Bangkok
- The touts have nothing on the Indian touts.
- We have been traveling by ferry in Bangkok which is a nice change of pace
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Chaing Dao

So yesterday, we decided to head out of Chiang Mei and into the hills for a respite from the city. Well, we decided on Chaing Dao, which is a town about 75 kms from Chiang Mei. We took a bus, which was actually nicer than many of the buses we rode on in Europe up here. We are so glad we came up. For starters, our accommodation is very quaint. Its 6 bungalows nestled at the base of a mountain, the largest limestone mountain in Thailand. They have thatched roofs and are in a lush environment.....we are surrounded by banana trees and other flowering plants. The food at our restaurant is also some of the best we have had in Thailand.

In addition to the delightful accommodation, we also saw some nice sights. This area is famous for its caves and we got a tour of them. For the most part, the caves are completely dark, so a guide leads you through them. You have to crawl around to get to some areas, but its well worth it. The formations (all of which are named) are awe inspiring. They just look freaky (Hopefully we can upload some pics soon). After the caves, we checked out this famous monastery. It was at the top of a hill and required 500 steps to climb up to it. It was definitely worth it, but we were covered in sweat by the time we reached the top. The views from up there were beautiful and the temple itself was quite impressive. Its somewhat strange to see monks everywhere, but they seem to be just part of life here. Today, we check out a local hill tribe and some more monasteries/wats. To be honest, they are similar to churches in Europe or temples in India....and I can see them starting to blur in my mind after a while.

Thailand so far

Ok, Thailand so far has been relatively boring. Not because Thailand is boring, but because I have been sick. We arrived on Tuesday and didn't do much besides walk around due to exhaustion from travel.

On Weds, our primary goal was to arrange for a trek which we did. That took a longer part of the day, and we filled the rest in with massages along with shopping at the night bazaar. The night bazaar is a shoppers dream. It pretty much has everything you could want there, plus it is loaded with designer knockoffs. Ashley picked up a two cute Izods, I picked up a Von Dutch t-shirt. We purchased a few gifts for our fashion conscious friends and relatives.

Late Weds night, after several Changs (Thai Beer), I broke out with a fever and some stomach problems. So all day Thursday, I laid in bed hoping to get better. We ended up having to cancel our trek as I was too sick to go. Luckily we got our money back, but I was definitely disappointed. Today, we have kept it low key also, as I still feel a little shaky. We did check out another Wat (see picture) with this spectactular buddha statue. Tomorrow we head to some caves nearby.

India vs. Thailand

So, we are in Thailand and we can't stop thinking about India. We are constantly comparing and contrasting India and Thailand.....here is a summary.

Price - this is the first thing that pops into my cheap mind. The price of things in Thailand are signficantly higher. Its still cheap, but no more $2 meals.

Aroma - Thailand smells much better than India. We have yet to smell raw sewage which is nice. We miss the street cooking smells of India food.

Food - Total mixed bag here. The food so far in restuarants is inferior, no questions about that. Its good but not Indian good. However, we are not paranoid about what to eat. We got freshly made fruitsmoothies on the street today....which was a nice change. We saw them all over India but were too scared to try them.

Conditions of Streets - Thailand is much cleaner than India. Not much trash. Ashley is happy about the fewer street dogs, but they have been replaced by prostitutes (which makes me happy too).

People - The people are friendly in Thailand and always smiling, but not near as friendly or as interested in us. We are no longer celebrities. Plus there are tons of westerners.

So far we like Thailand and look forward to spending more time here. We are in North Thailand now (Chaing Mei). On Friday we head out for a trek for two nights, so today to prepare we got two massages. 1/2 hour on the feet and 1/2 hour on the back.....total cost per person - $10.

India.....Assault on the Senses

We will miss India. We truly enjoyed the experience of it all. From the lovely temples to the home stays to the incredible food, the imprint of India is burned within our psyche and will forever change us (ok, that was a little over the top but it was definitely memorable). Anyway, as we were leaving India, Ashley thought we should talk about how India is totally overwhelming on all of your senses. The most noticeable is visual, you see both crushing poverty and overwhelming beauty. The Taj Mahal was probably the single most impressive man made structure I have ever seen. It just blew me away. At the same time, seeing families sleeping on the streets in hovels, or sometimes not even hovels just a tarp, imprinted visuals I will never forget. For the audio, the most noticeable was the honking although dog barking is a close second. It was incessant and quite annoying but we got used to it. But at the same time, the Hindi music and the kids giggling, just have to make you smile. Smells were the most overwhelming of all the senses. As you walk down the street, smells intermingle. One moment you will be smelling the most wonderful street food (which we never sampled but smelled awesome) and the next you are reeling from the smell of raw sewage. It was quite intense and I will never forget the two inter-twinning.

For taste, we only have good memories. The memories of some of the best food we have ever had in our life. For Ashley, it was a vegetarian paradise. I ate vegetarian the whole time in India and I have to say it was incredible. You know you are going to have good veggie options when things are labeled - as Veg or Non-Veg. Ok, we don't really have anything for the sense of touch but we liked this theme for a post (Ashley's idea!).

We really enjoyed our time in India, but we have moved along to Thailand. While we will miss the intensity of India, we welcome a slightly easier travel experience.

Finally, the gruesome travel day(s) was not as bad as we thought. Besides getting upgraded on the train to first class, we got an earlier flight to Chaing Mei (northern Thailand) which reduced our layover. I am not keen to travel for 40+ hrs anytime soon, but it was not as bad as I imagined.

Hello

Whenever we walk around, we often get stares. Its a little odd. The kids seem to do it the most and most often after staring at us they say "Hello" really loud. When we respond with "hello" they start giggling uncontrollably. We are not sure why they do this, but we find it very cute. Usually its the younger kids who do it and for the most part its the boys, not girls that do it. The older kids will walk with us and ask us where we are from and chat with us......not just stopping at hello.

Right now, we are in Kalimplong. We don't find it quite as endearing as Darjeeling. Its got better views (it might be the weather), but the town is slightly dingier and our lodging is sub par. We got here by taking a share jeep from Darjeeling. This was a total trip and a half. They crammed 12 people (11 passengers and the driver) in a mid-sized SUV. No seatbelts and not much of a roof combined with a ride with no guard rails through the mountains made for a slightly scary ride. Yeah, it was crazy scenic, but nerve wracking. After the ride, we checked out a Buddhist monastery. They were beating drums and chanting, pretty cool. We also spun some Tibetan prayer wheels. Today, we are heading to check out another monastery and the top of a mountain.

Other musings....
- We are slightly worried about our package of goodies shipped home. It was supposed to arrive Thursday, and has yet to arrive.
- I forgot to mention two other food favorites. Fresh lime sodas and Vegetable Jalfrezi. Both are new to us and both are yummy. Fresh lime soda will be easy to replicate in the states, not so sure about Vegetable Jalfrezi.
- We are thinking of adding another week in Thailand. We want more time on tropical beaches than the currently allocated one week. We are also toying with flying from Australia to Bali, but will probably just stay in Thailand for another week.
- I got to watch Mets-Cards game yesterday. A nice treat. I got up early to watch yesterday's game, but our cable was out.
- Kingfisher beer is pretty good. Its a Indian brew and quite tasty. I would strongly recommend it if you get a chance to try it.

Indian Food

As you probably can tell, we have been eating well on our trip. With the exception of two meals, every meal we have had has been at least pretty good, with most being outstanding. The home cooked meals we got at Auntie and Uncles (both of them) where by far the best we had. We also got to sample fare that we would have never tried without being in someone's home. For instance, at Auntie and Uncle in Bombay we got to try the Bombay specialties such as bhelpuri. Its was a puffed rice mixture and Ashley and I loved it. We would have never known to try it without Auntie preparing it for us.

We have got to sample some old favorites (from our frequent Indian dining in America) such as Chana Masala (Chick peas in a sauce), Palak Paneer (Cheese and spinach), Navarratan Korma (vegetables in a cream sauce), Pakoras, Samosas, Naan, Dal Makahani (lentils), Lassi's and Dosas (pancake with potato filling). But we also found some new ones to love such as Chapati (another type of bread), Paneer Tiki (Cheese cooked in a tandori oven with spices), mixed vegetables, Vegetable Kebabs (ok, we make these at home, but they are better here), masala tea, and Momos (Tibetan steamed thingies).

Also.....I would love to get some pictures posted but there is no way from Darjeeling. I would suspect you will get few posts and pictures after Saturday. On Sunday we leave for the worst travel stretch so far.....we leave Sunday afternoon from Kalimpong (our next stop) and arrive in Chang Mei Thailand on Tuesday afternoon. Ouch!!!!

Darjeeling

Yesterday after a long travel day (4am to 8pm), we arrived in Darjeeling. Its much different from the other Indian towns we have visited, as the touts and beggars bother you much less. Plus, its in the mountains, so great views abound (although its often marred with trash). This morning, we went to Happy Valley Tea Plantation for a tour. It was quite interesting to see how tea was grown and processed. We didn't see much of the processing but did see the growing. Also, we saw the picking of the tea leaves. Only women pick tea leaves and do it for 8 hours a day, the compensation is only 40rs (about $.90). Not much if you ask me.

The tea that is grown there is sold to twinnings......so we have drunk that before and will do so again. The main tea that they sell is "super fine tippy golden flowery orange piko." What a crazy name but it was quite tasty to drink. We purchased some for a true tea lover in the family (although I am pretty sure the tea lover doesn't read this blog).

Hanging with Uncle

We had a really nice day today. Uncle, Ashley and I went to Elephanta Island. Its this Island about 1 hr boat ride from central Bombay. It has these rock temples to various gods (mainly Shiva). Anyway, it was pretty cool to check out the caves and the statues. The exact history of the caves are unknown, but they date from around 500 AD. There were 5 caves with one being the main cave and a temple to Shiva, the god of destruction. The statues and carvings are very intricate and for the most part in pretty good shape. The pictures (check flickr) came out only so so due to the lack of light, but they were very impressive.

Other notables:
- Uncle got us some fresh squeezed cane juice. We have seen it all over the place but were scared to try any fresh squeezed juice (guidebook warned us). Uncle took us to a reputable place. It was quite tasty.
- We also tried these "Bombay Burgers" which are veggie burgers (fried potatoes). They were quite tasty but slightly spicy.
- We also checked out a Jain temple. We almost went to see one in Delhi, but you have to take your shoes off and the area in Delhi did not look hygienic (standing water, rats). It was good to check out the temple and Jainism is a very interesting religion.
- Uncle was a terrific guide. He is knowledgeable about a wide variety of subjects, and doesn't mind Ashley and I constant questions. Plus the local touch keeps beggars and touts away.
- So you know, Uncle and Auntie are generic terms you use to describe relationships. They aren't my uncle or aunt as you think of it, but its what you call someone to show respect. I like the tradition and it came very natural.