Two Packs

Jamon in Madrid, Beer in Dublin!

2009-06-23T11:36:00.005-04:00

This is it for all our faithful blog readers! We hope you've enjoyed "traveling" with us and will enjoy this final write-up of our time in Madrid.

We arrived in the evening and Steve led Lindsey around Madrid on a massive walking tour. Amazingly, he navigated each alley by memory/luck to arrive precisely at each famous land-mark that he had visited during a rather intoxicated boys-tour of Madrid last year.

We strolled past several plazas, the Plaza Major being the best known, past the cathedral, and the royal palace.

At around 11pm, when the gatos (Madrid locals) head to dinner, we stopped in a tapas restaurant in the La Latina neighborhood. Steve somehow maintained a decent grasp of the Spanish language from college, or at least enough to order plates of jamon and cheese, and great glasses of rioja.

The next morning we hit some of the city's museums, first stopping at the
Museo del Prado. The Prado holds one of the finest collections of European art, most of it portraying religious scenes. Steve's favorite are the black paintings that Goya created directly on the walls of his house after going mentally insane. Summing up the entire collection, Lindsey commented that it was an amazing museum, but there sure was a whole lot of Jesus.

Next we stopped by the Museo Reina Sofia, which houses a large collection of Picassos, including his famous work Guernica. Sadly, it was closed and Lindsey let out a little pout.

While these museums were exceptional, the Museo de Jamon stole the show. This venue dishes out plates of ham and cheese which we devoured on three occasions in our day and a half stay in Madrid.

Here's a closer look at this divine culinary experience.

Our other great stop was at a famous institution that has been serving Churros con Chocolate for over 100 years. Again, Steve discovered this by fantastic luck, having been there last time at around 6am after a long night on the town. These churros don't have the cinnamon that you might expect, but are served with an entire cup of warm chocolate.

With a great tour, fantastic food, and priceless art we finished our trip, both excited to return home. But little did we know, we had one more stop in for us.

Ten minutes into our flight bound for our connection in Dublin, the plane started to make a wide u-turn. Lindsey woke up Steve (who is generally asleep before take-off) to alert him that we were headed back. Steve responded dismissively to a nervous Lindsey: "planes turn"

Within seconds, the captain alerted us on the loudspeaker that there was an "acrid smell" in the cockpit similar to "electronics burning" and that he was headed back to Madrid because the smell was coming from under the dashboard and "he couldn't really know if it was nothing or really serious."

Needless to say, he lacked much of a filter on his communication sending Lindsey into a bit of a panic. A long eight minutes later, we landed and sat on the plane while mechanics investigated the problem. The captain, who must have been about 25, walked through the plane answering our questions! About 30 minutes later he explained that a reservoir, used to hold a type of windshield cleaner, had broken and was spilling all over the avionics electronic boards. He said that the mechanics were fixing it (maybe with a hairdryer we thought) and we'd be good to go in 30 minutes. This seemed serious, but we took off and after a rather uncomfortable flight, safely arrived in Dublin.

The delay made us miss our connection and we were put up in a hotel for the evening. We grouped up with some other young travelers, many returning from semesters abroad, and headed downtown for some pub-hoping. It was a great evening and made us both want to return to Dublin for a longer stay.

The next day we safely made it to the United States of America, touching down in our new home of Chicago. We were both excited to wrap up the trip, although in reality we'll still be traveling around the US for the next month.

We hope everyone has enjoyed the blog and that we'll see each of you in the coming month.

The End

Fes

2009-06-15T08:02:00.007-04:00

Depsite the excitement of our engagement, we kept moving and headed north to Fes. Like all the major cities in Morocco that we´ve visited, Fes is divded into both an old walled city (the medina) and a newer French-created Ville Nouvelle. Fes´medina is believed to be the largest contiguous car-free urban area in the world, if you´re into useless facts.

We stayed in the VN and headed to breakfast at a French cafe on our first morning there. We were taken back when our eggs arrived in oceans of olive oil and had to document it!

Next we enter Fes el-Bali, or the old city. We wandered through more souqs and made a final purchase of a sheesha (water-pipe) to keep our African memories alive. Along the way we peaked in the Bou Inania Madrasa, which like all the madrasas we´ve seen consisted of an intricately decorated courtyard.

Here´s a closer look at the different texts and patterns adorning the walls.

We wandered more shops, and especially liked this one selling hand crafted bronze lamps and shades.

We continued past the University of Al-Karaouine, thought to be the world´s oldest university and stopped for lunch at a B´sara stall. Surrounded by locals in a cramped closet of a restaurant, we devoured our bean and olive oil soup with thick pieces of bread. It cost about 40 cents each.

Our last stop in Fes were the doors of the palace. Their scale and details made them a worth-while sight.

Other than these sights, we spent more time in Fes making plans for our return home. We changed our flight and will arrive back in the states on the 17th of June! Our first stop is Chicago to find a place to live, followed by New Orleans to look at wedding venues.

Currently we´re in Madrid and loving the wine and ham. Stay tuned for the last blog post of the trip!

Stop, Pause, and Relax / We're Engaged!

2009-06-12T02:15:00.016-04:00

Eight years ago, a Frenchman was horse-riding through the Morocco wilderness outside of Marrakech. As he crested one of the rocky hills, he spotted a small oasis of palm, fig and olive trees. One this site, he dreamed of building a hidden retreat that would become La Pause. Over the years he slowly added different mud and straw adobes, berber tents, a pool, and various natural gardens to create the ultimate private resort.

We heard all this as Frederic drove us from Marrakech to La Pause a few days ago. As we turned down an unmarked dirt road, passing villages of dried-mud, we couldn't wait to see his vision.

Along the way Frederic explained that he'd recently hosted a wedding at the resort and to reward his employees (mostly locals) for their hard work, he was taking them on a one-day beach vacation. We looked at each other wondering if we'd be making our own meals, but were quickly assured we'd be taken care of. He was right. He also explained that because of this we'd be the only guests at the resort and that he would put us in the "big house."

Upon arrival, our bags were carted up a rocky trail to our "room" at the big house.

We were shocked and surprised as we toured the two living rooms, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and kitchen. It was larger than some of the tourist sites we've been to. The rooms are simply decorated with Moroccan rugs, low-lying couches, and enough candles to light the electricity-free hotel.

In awe of the privacy, space, and quiet that we've missed for some time now, we sat on our patio and took it all in. The staff brought us some olives and made arrangements for our evening sunset horse ride.

Around 7, we saddled up and a guide led us up and down the surround hills. We took in views of the Atlas Mountains, wheat-blanketed slopes, and old fortified casbahs. Lindsey galloped ahead up and down hills while Steve tried his hardest to hold on and slow down his horse.

By the end, though, he looked like a cowboy. A young pony followed us for the whole ride.

When we returned after sunset, the stars had come out against a deep purple sky. We cleaned up for dinner and Steve asked Lindsey to change into one of her only dresses. She was a bit curious as to why she needed to, but agreed nonetheless. Steve had wine, olives, and candles set up on the patio where we both sat down for a drink before dinner. It was one of our few glasses of wine in the last four months!

Moments later, Steve asked Lindsey to be his wife. She agreed rather quickly and cried for a very long time.

After we held each other and the tears stopped, we headed down to dinner to celebrate, which like all meals at La Pause, is an endless supply of amazing food. We absolutely gorged ourselves. Steve bragged about having proposed while wearing Patagonia and adventure pants.

When we finished, the trail leading to our house was lit by lanterns and every room within it was lit by candles. It was a very romantic setting for us.

The next morning (hardly even hungry) we enjoyed a massive "petit" dejunier at a new dining location. Each of our meals was set up at a different perfectly chosen site. We were both still excited, but Lindsey was a tad frustrated she couldn't call anyone without electricity. Steve thought it was a perfect way to enjoy it for a day.

We followed our massive carb-intake with a hike down the river bed. We passed some beautiful hillsides and local homes.

After an equally large lunch (this time set in a berber tent), we clenched our stomachs in pain and surrendered to an afternoon nap.

That evening we mounted camels and took a shorter tour of the surrounding area. Our temporary dog, who followed us everywhere and slept on our doorstep, joined us.

Our last morning, we enjoyed breakfast, some pool-time, and lunch before bidding farewell to La Pause. We took some of their self-bottled olive oil as a memento to an amazing and special stay.

Back in Marrakech, we loaded Skype and began the phone calls. We were both excited to call our friends and family to share the good news. For those of you just finding out, we are hoping for a spring 2010 wedding in New Orleans and will be holding an engagement party in New York City on July 11th. We can't wait to celebrate our engagement and wedding with all of you.

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White-Washed Essouria

2009-06-11T10:30:00.009-04:00

From Marrakech we took a three hour bus to Essaouira, a small town fortified behind tall ramparts built by the French. The town has a bustling fishing industry, soaring seagulls, small souqs, and picturesque doorways. It was also a one-time home to Jimi Hendrix who wrote 'Castles Made of Sand' about one of its off-shore crumbling fortifications.

We wandered the cavernous white-washed alleys and photographed many of the doorways. There a whole set of these in the album.

Wandering past the fish souq we picked up on the strong smell and got a closer look. Here you could buy everything from sardines to sharks to eels and have them cook it up for you right there. The cats in this area were especially fat and lazy.

The town was very picturesque, but had limited sights or attractions to speak of. We basically just took in the views and wander the alleys for a day until we headed back to Marrakech.

The other forte of Essouiria are the restaurants, with Elizir and Cafe Des Alizes delivering some of the best meals we've had in months. Our last treat was a rather hidden bar where we savored some of Morocco's hard-to-find beers.

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Snakes, Souqs, Soup & Sausage: Marrakech

2009-06-09T04:58:00.010-04:00

Marrakech's center is the D'Jeema el-Fna within it's fortified-walled medina. Formerly used for public executions, the large square now hosts fearless snake-charmers, pushy juice sellers, smokey food stalls, and tribal musicians. People sell everything from teeth to tanjines (pots used for cooking a tajine). We arrived at the square in the evening just before sunset when the action is at its peak.

Lindsey carefully navigated the crowd to avoid snake-holding men and was a bit unnerved whenever she heard the charmer's oboe playing.

We bought some dried fruit, and sat down for the world's best sausages, lentil soup, and fresh bread.

The next day we wandered the city's endless souqs, or marketplaces. Along the way we stopped at Bahia Palace, boasting floor to ceiling painted, tiled, inlaid, and gilded masterpieces that took 15 years to complete. The garden courtyards are a great refuge from the cramped nearby souqs.

Next we stopped by the 14th century Ben Youssef Madrasa, or Islamic theological school. Like the palace, this too showcased beautiful moorish architecture including mashrabiyya (wooden-latice screening) and move zellij (mosiac).

Back in the souqs we began a shopping spree. For most of the trip we've held off on large purchases since we didn't want the obligation of carrying them with us. With the trip's end in sight, we lost this concern.

Each purchase involved a lengthy sit-down discussion with the shop owner over hot tea. To refuse the tea would be rude and by our 4th or 5th shop our hearts were racing from both sugar and caffeine overload.

We bought a handmade leather bag, crafted in the nearby tanneries. Some Moroccan tea glasses to remember our many mandatory glasses of 'Moroccan whiskey' as they call it. Some ceramic tiles to be used as coasters. And finally, a carpet-fabric bag that fits nicely inside the first leather one. We're holding off on a few last purchases to be made in Fes.

We wandered so much that we were eventually lost in the tangled streets of the medina. A few dead-ends and 20 minutes later, we emerged at a gate through the rampart miraculously near the bus station. We bought tickets for our next stop: a white-washed coastal town called Essouria where we headed the next day.

After a few days in Essouria (next blog post) we returned to Marrakech for the morning where we stopped by the Jardin Majorelle, crafted by Yves Saint Laurent. It was a great oasis within a loud city.

Marrakech is an exciting city for all the senses and we loved it. Everyone should come here.

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Cafe au Laits, Croissants, & Casablanca

2009-06-08T18:19:00.006-04:00

We entered Morocco via Casablanca, and spent half a day here before heading south. Casa has a very European/French feel to it with wide boulevards, cafes, and a distinct lack of third-world chaos. While it does remain a fairly poor city with large slums surrounding it, the city-center doesn't let on to this which was a treat following our last day in Cairo.

Our first stop was to a patisserie where Lindsey was successfully able to order us breakfast in French! English isn't that widely spoken here which is funny given that everywhere else we've been has really catered to English-speaking tourists! Our petit-dejunier was divine, especially the coffee which contrasted sharply with months of instant-java. The chocolate croissants and baguette were other treats of returning to the western world.

The main tourist attraction in Casablanca is the Hassan II Mosque. Built by Morocco's former sovereign, the mosque is the second largest in the world (after Mecca), cost nearly one billion dollars, and was completed in 1993. Unfortunately, the site is closed to visitors on Fridays (their holy day) so we missed out!

To fill our day, we took a long walk past some of the city's best know Moorish/Art-deco architecture. Again, a lot of the city looked French, with some Moorish accents. We liked the French/Arabic street signs.

Our last stop, before catching our train, was the local market. Sardines, horse-meat, and lamb were the most popular items.

So Casablanca wasn't that thrilling (we only took 10 pictures!), but luckily we had planned to just spent a day here! Next stop: Marrakech.

Obama in Cairo, Duck!

2009-06-06T11:56:00.008-04:00

We planned to spend a couple of lazy days in Cairo before leaving Egypt and heading to Morocco. Nothing of interest really happened, until our last day, which happened to coincide with Obama's visit to the country. Our biggest goal of the day was to return to the restaurant where we'd enjoyed a fantastic lunch the week before. As we approached the restaurant, our cab driver informed us that Obama had just left the mosque opposite our restaurant. We'd missed him by five minutes!

As we got out of the cab, a woman pulled a large rock (and by large I mean bigger than a softball) out of plastic bag and hurled it in the general direction of Lindsey. Luckily, she had absolutely terrible aim. We looked at eachother as if to confirm that we'd actually just been targeted and Lindsey started to run away. Steve looked at the woman in disbelief long enough to get a rock throw at him as well, which again was way off target. Next, a nearby Canadian couple caught her attention and she threw a few rocks in their direction. The couple shouted "shame & evil" in Arabic which caught the attention of a few slow-to-react secret police who took her away.

Hoping the worst was over, but still very uneasy, we continued walking towards the restaurant. Both our hearts were pumping quickly and our senses were hightened to see if the threat was over. Without warning, however, the woman reappeared waving a shoe violently and headed straight for Lindsey. The police grabbed her again (not sure why the let her go the first time?) and tried to hold back her violent thrashing. Lindsey, however, wanted some revenge and clubbed the woman in the face with her 1.5L full water bottle. It was a pretty solid shot and the police didn't seem to mind.

Next, the police asked us to come to the station, where they offered us tea and tried to take our story. They didn't speak the best English in the world, but genuinely wanted us to feel better about the experience. They told us the woman appeared to be homeless based on her rotting feat and general hygiene and that they suspected she was mentally ill. They tried to tell us she wasn't targeting westerners and was just crazy, but we tend to think that someone who brings a bag of rocks to a mosque where Obama is appearing and throws them at white people sounds well-prepared rather than crazy. Nevertheless, the police called in a doctor, who agreed she was nuts and commited her to a mental hospital for no less than 45 days. After leaving the police station, we continued on to our lunch spot, but the experience made us happy to be leaving Egypt that day. Even though we found Egypt to be extremely welcoming to us as Americans, getting rocks throw at you is enough to make you want to move on!

That evening at the airport, we watched Obama land in a helicopter, run up the stairs of Air Force One, give a wave and take off. It was a rewarding end to a day where we payed for being American!

Sharm El Sheik & the Last Crusade

2009-06-02T08:34:00.009-04:00

From Luxor, we headed to Sharm el-Sheik, a popular resort town located on the southern tip of the Sinai Penninsula. We quickly discovered that budget lodging is non-existent here and headed to an internet cafe to search out some last minute specials. We got lucky and landed a room at the massive Sofitel, with a sea view, and for once, a comfortable bed.

Our first morning, Steve surprised Lindsey with a horse ride on the beach, something she's been dying to do. Yasmina kept Lindsey company that morning, while Steve headed for some scuba diving. She was able to ride freely, with a private guide trailing her. It brought back memories of riding Arabian horses as a child.

Steve headed to Ras Mohammed National Park, one of top dive destinations in the world. While he enjoyed the dives, they unfortunately fell short of his expectations (after all he did just swim with a whale shark in Asia), but he may have just had some bad luck. The largest fish was a fat 5+ft tuna, but he missed the rays and sharks he'd expected to see. He did find where all the world's goldfish must come from though.

The rest of our time was spent catching up on planning, specifically a quick jaunt to Petra. We'd planned to head out there on our own, but more trouble at a ticket office made us change our minds. The man at the ticket counter explained to us (with the help of our cab driver translating) that he couldn't sell us a ticket because the bus might show up and be full or be broken down. We rolled our eyes and headed for the tour company.

The tour would take what we figured would take three days to accomplish (due to infrequent transportation options) and cram it into one day. We'd leave at 3:30am aboard a bus, head north near the Israeli border, catch a ferry to Aqaba Jordan, board another bus to Petra and arrive after a total of 7-8 hours. We'd complete the same ride after touring Petra, and arrive back around midnight, 21 hours later. Why not.

The morning's transport went smoothly and with a lot of sleep, we barely noticed the first leg of the trip. The boat ride was enjoyable, as we took in the view of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. We also spotted a massive American Aircraft Carrier, docked in the Straight of Aqaba.

The real dread of the group tour began once we boarded the bus and met our tour guide, Hassan. As he began his incredibly slow and flatly-delivered speech of useless facts, we kicked ourselves for taking the tour option. Somehow his explanation of the various denominations of the Jordan Dinar or the different ancient names for Jordan failed to excite us. Whenever he got sidetracked he'd throw in a "Welcome my friends to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan"--not that he ever explained what a Hashemite is.

Once we arrived at Petra, we quickly snatched our tickets and headed off away from the group. We wandered down the Siq, a snaking canyon lined with irrigation pipes. Petra's builders, the Nabatians (and later the Romans), survived in the hostile desert by controlling and storing water, which they used to create an artificial oasis. At the end of the Siq, stands Petra's best-known monument, Al Khazneh (The Treasury), built in 100bc and made famous by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

And another one...

Other tombs and structures throughout the valley were impressive, but none seemed as well persevered (or restored perhaps?) as The Treasury. The walking was hot and dry, and we couldn't have lasted the whole day even if we'd been on our own without the time limits imposed by the group.

One thing we observed a lot of, and found really amusing, was the heavy use of camcorders. We both figure that these are great for capturing a child's birthday, but can't image watching the videos we saw being recorded. One guy held his video camera to the bus window for over an hour, another got thrilling footage of ancient carvings, and a third did a great job of documenting the seating area on the ferry. Put simply, they chose poorly.

After exploring Petra, we had a buffet lunch at a nearby hotel and began the long voyage back to Sharm el-Sheik. Exhausted from the heat, we slept most of the way back home.

The next morning, we caught a 50 minute flight to Cairo, where we'll rest and plan, before beginning our tour of Morocco. We'd planned to see Mt. Sinai, but given the logistical hassle involved with cheap travel here, we gave up and opted for more time exploring Morocco.

Finally, there seems to be an issue lately with navigating to the entire picture albums, but once you click on an above picture, just click "sedisons albums" to see the entire collection.

Tombs & Touts in Luxor & Aswan

2009-05-29T07:49:00.016-04:00

From Cairo we headed south to Luxor and Thebes, best known as the home of the Valley of The Kings, where we started our day. We toured three of the 63 tombs at the Valley of the Kings. Each was filled with hot stale air, so it's advisable to keep the amount of time you spent in them to a minimum. The walls are adorned with ancient paintings and carvings, but all the treasures that once filled them have been removed and stored in museums. This leaves them a bit bare, and while 4,000 year old paint is kind of amazing, the whole experience leaves you wanting a bit more. Hieroglyphics are extremely elementary looking so it didn't wow us in the way the Sistine Chapel might. We got one good picture (without a flash as our guidebook said was okay) before getting in some serious trouble for snapping it. Nevertheless, here it is.

After an hour here, we headed to the lesser visited Valley of the Nobles. These tombs seemed better preserved and we liked them more than those of the pharaohs. You can see them cut into the side of the mountain like in this picture:

Because each and every attraction required a separate ticket (pretty annoying), we saved money and snapped a picture of the Temple of Hatshepsut without entering.

That evening we watched the sunset on the Nile, but held off on riding on a felucca, despite the tout's best efforts.

One major downside of the day was continuously being hassled by taxi drivers, touts, and useless people demanding baksheesh (or a tip).

First the taxi drivers. These guys honk about 25 times as they pass you and scream "taxi" 5 time, which gets pretty tiring. If you do happen to ride in a taxi, the entire trip will be an annoying sales pitch of their services or the services of their brother's cousin's friend's camel-walker who happens to have a great alabaster shop you should look at. When it comes time to pay, the driver will never have any change, which results in another 10 minutes of waiting for them to find change. It makes you feel cheated and annoyed which really ruins your impression of the culture.

Next are the touts. These guys, mostly offering felucca rides, walk beside you closely and ask you repeatedly if you'd like to go. They don't understand words like 'no' or 'I already went on one' and accuse you of being rude if you ignore them entirely, generally finishing the encounter with some Arabic cursing. Lindsey told one she would take his card at which point she had to go down to his boat to get it, then he asked her to get on the boat, then he said he didn't actually have a card, then he went to find a pen, etc, etc. We understand that these people need to make a living in a fairly poor country, but it's absolutely tiring, and beyond any annoyance we experienced in Asia.

Finally, and worst of them all, are the baksheesh-demanders. These people perform some useless task that you haven't asked of them and then demand baksheesh, or a tip, from you. This could include pointing a hieroglyphic and saying something you don't understand, awkwardly standing in a bathroom and not doing anything, or walking alongside you and claiming to be showing you the way to something clearly marked. Any attempts to tell them you don't want their services are ignored and generally result in them getting angry with you (again with the Arabic cursing). In the event you do give them baksheesh, it's never sufficient, which again brings you back to the Arabic cursing. This really ruined some of the tombs and temples we toured, as we spent the entire time trying to escape them.

Enough of the ranting, but wanted to share and make everyone aware of the dark side of Egypt, specifically in Luxor & Aswan.

Our second day, we headed to the absolutely massive Karnak. The best feature here was the Great Hypostle Hall, supported by 134 towering pillars meant to resemble a papyrus swamp. This temple is usually plagued with tour buses, but we arrive early and again missed the crowd. We had some annoying backsheesh experiences here, but enjoyed this temple the most of our stops in Luxor.

Originally, the entire temple would have been painted, and many of the ceilings, still remained that way.

While we'd planned to stay in Luxor/Thebes for three days, we didn't find the temples to be as time consuming or interesting as we'd expected, and headed down to Aswan for a day.

The train ride proved to be another annoying experience that made you feel cheated. The staff at the ticket counter in the station refuse to sell tourists (white people) train tickets and instead instruct you to buy them on the train. Once on the train, they demand that you pay a fine for not purchasing a ticket in the station. A few other tourists bothered arguing with the conductor to waste his time, but to no avail, they just really love to cheat their visitors out of a few more dollars.

Getting off the train in Aswan, we had an interesting cultural encounter. Three Nubian women shoved their way off the train (stomping on Lindsey's feet in the process) and began a sort of screaming-howling-singing chant in a large circle of bounding people directly on the train station. Our jaws dropped and we looked at each other to see if either of us had a guess as to what was happening. A bystander must have seen our bewilderment and explained that someone had died and it was their tribal way of mourning. We wish we could explain this a bit better, but it was certainly something tribal and ancient to observe.

In Aswan, we walked through some Nubian villages on Elaphantine Island in the middle of the Nile. These villages were filled with colorful houses as well as cruder mud-dwellings. Lindsey picked up some henna tattoos on her feet in a rather awkward home where dead frogs adorned the walls and a baby played with a cucumber and hookah.

We had planned to take one of the famous felucca (Nile boat) rides here, but decided not to. We'd grown increasingly aggravated with the felucca touts and couldn't stand the thought of encouraging them anymore.

One last highlight was drinking a Stella beer, our first drink in an otherwise dry Islamic country.

Overall, Luxor and Aswan didn't live up to the high expectations we developed in Cairo. Next stop: Sharm el-Sheik for some Red Sea diving.

Holy Crap, Those Are Big

2009-05-27T11:53:00.010-04:00

We saved our last day in Cairo to see the Pyramids of Giza, the only remaining monument of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. We woke early to beat the crowds and jumped in a cab to Giza. Surprisingly, the Pyramids are smack in the middle of a Cairo suburb. Within 20 minutes we had our first exciting glimpse of them from the highway.

When we arrived, we were both floored by their scale and stood in silence for a bit, just as people probably did 4,000 years ago when they were completed. The largest of the pyramids stands over 50 stories high and has sides 800 feet long. It's simply unbelievable that such a monument was completed so long ago. We had been nervous about crowds of tourists here, but were surprised to find that we practically had the entire place to ourselves.

The nearby Sphinx is dwarfed by their scale, but the right camera angle makes it okay.

To get the full experience, we jumped on some camels and guides led us through the "desert" to all the best photo spots. Even with the city in view, riding a camel up the sand dunes makes you feel like you are far away and even in a different millennium. The best part were our head scarves for added photogenic appeal.

Riding a camel is fairly comfortable, although they move faster than expected. It can also be a bit awkward when they kneel down to let you off.

Along the way, our guide offered to buy Lindsey from Steve for 200 camels. It seemed a fair deal, but we're still working out the logistics of shipping all those humps to Chicago.

Our best stop was a small hill from which you can view all of the nine pyramids at once.

At the pyramid's base we got a close look at their rough exterior that was formerly covered with a smooth and shiny layer of limestone that reflected the sun. This rock, however, was removed during the rule of Mohammed Ali, to complete the construction of his mosque.

After nearly three hours at the pyramids, the tour buses began to arrive and we quickly left. We had an early lunch at the Oberoi, which has an amazing view of the pyramids from their restaurant.

That evening we headed to the Egyptian Museum. The collection was extensive, and we especially liked the King Tut collection, which includes his well-known death mask. Unfortunately photography was not allowed. The museum could use some work, however, as it lacks air-conditioning, artifacts are in old wooden boxes, and descriptions on thousands of items are missing. A new one is planned in Giza in 2011 which will hopefully improve the experience.

That evening we took a night train to Luxor (not just a casino in Vegas) to see the Valley of the Kings and actually go inside ancient tombs. We really loved Cairo, and ending it with a day at the Pyramids was perfect.

Cairo Day 2, Don't Stop the Mosque-ing

2009-05-25T23:13:00.014-04:00

Our second morning, we headed to Coptic Cairo, home to various Coptic Christian churches. We didn't even know 'Copts' existed, but apparently they're Egyptian Christians that split from the Catholics back in the day. The most notable of churches here are the Hanging Church and Saint Sergius, where Jesus is said to have stayed. These structures date to the 3rd century, but have been rebuilt time and again so it is difficult to know hold old any of it is. We enjoyed the amazing detail in the patterns, but didn't spend too much time here.

Next, we returned to Islamic Cairo, stopping at the Citadel which for 700 years protected the ruling Fatimah party. Originally constructed to protect against invading crusaders, the Citadel now is best known for housing the Mohamed Ali Mosque. Although this one is only about 200 years old, the people here love it and have placed it on some of their bank notes. We found the scale and outside of it impressive, but the inside lacked the details of other mosques we've seen. The limestone used to construct this was actually taken from the outer layer of the Pyramids of Giza in the 1800s.

Still within the citadel we stopped in the small mosque of Suleiman Pasha. This was our favorite thus far due to the intricate ceiling mosaics.

Starved and determined to eat a real meal, we searched the streets. Without many options we took our chances on a random empty restaurant and were rewarded. It was a huge meal in which the humus and bbq'd chicken stood out.

Amazingly still not sick of mosques, we headed to the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan. This was built on a massive scale, as you can see from Lindsey's size in the below picture.

Lastly, we stopped at Ibn Tulun, a mosque large enough to hold every man in that district. The view from the roof and climb up the minaret were great.

It was amazingly empty.

In the evening we headed to see a performance of the whirling dervishes, but for some reason they weren't having one that evening. Nevertheless, we returned to close-by Fishawi's for another tea, and this time had some apple sheesha.

We cabbed it home, excited for our trip to the Pyramids of Giza early the next morning.

Welcome to Cairo, let's Mosque

2009-05-25T15:48:00.009-04:00

We arrived in Cairo a few days ago after a record setting day of travel that had us in four different countries within 16 hours. We left Bali, switched planes in Kuala Lumpur, sat on the runway in Mumbai, and eventually landed in Cairo at around 8am.

There's a very long story about how we almost didn't make this flight due to the incompetence of Malaysia Airlines, but the end is the best. With little more than an hour until takeoff, Steve had to ride on the back of a motorbike with a man from their operations department to a travel agency's ticket office where he was instructed to buy a ticket for travel on June 1st and guaranteed that it would get us on the plane leaving in an hour. After months of irrational and sketchy travel arrangements, he followed suit and amazingly we made the flight. But to be clear, don't fly this airline!

In Cairo, our first tourist stop was to Islamic Cairo, a section settled around 1000AD known for its beautiful mosques and markets. We powered up with some fast-food falafel (pretty good!) and jumped in one of the cities dilapidated taxis.

Walking around the city, we immediately found the locals to be incredibly friendly and interested in meeting foreigners. They all walk with you for a while, which makes you suspect they want something, but amazingly they generally don't. The men are very touchy and walk arm in arm with each other. The women stay covered and reinforce that this is a pretty serious society, despite how modern it may seem. Traffic laws don't exist and we think of the song 'Walk like an Egyptian' everytime we scurry across a street. The weather is beautiful, not nearly as hot as we'd expected. Everyone says 'Welcome to Egypt', and EVERYONE loves Obama. The only negative side of the city is the practice of bakseesh, in which you have to tip everyone who happens to do any small deed for you. It gets to be a bit ridiculous.

Our first stop in Islamic Cairo was the Mosque of al-Azhi, which is the center of Sunni Islam eduction. The university-mosque was filled with friendly-students (mostly from Egypt, Sudan, and Malaysia) cramming for exams. A man led us around the mosque (this time someone looking for money) on a tour that covered many places we wouldn't have felt comfortable venturing. Lindsey stayed covered up as directed and Steve was ridiculed for not producing any offspring at the age of 27. The man, Saeed, literally thought there was something wrong with Steve and constantly chastised him for the entire tour. We learned a bit about the Muslim architecture and were generally just taken back by our new surroundings.

We got to climb to the top of the minaret for a good view of the mosque and Islamic Cairo.

After getting hassled into making donations to both Saeed and "Allah," we escaped the mosque and headed to the Wikala of al-Ghouri. This complex is the city's best example of a medieval merchant's hotel. The bottom floor would have been used as stables and the upper floors for the merchants. Again the architecture including the wooden screens, marble fountain, and arches were amazing and would still make a great hotel. At night, the venue also hosts whirling dervish dance performances which we hoped to make.

Following this, we headed across the street to one of the biggest bazaars in the Middle East. Khan al-Khalili, which now mainly caters to tourists, dates to the 1300s and is the spot to buy hookahs, gold jewelry, belly dancing outfits, bronze lamps, spices, or just about anything. It was a great change from Buddhas and more Buddhas!

Exhausted from our pace, we stopped for lunch and again devoured some falafel sandwiches. After lunch, we headed to 200 year-old Fishawi's, one of the city's oldest coffee shops. We sipped mint tea aside mostly locals who puffed away at sheeshas. We met some Saudis, one of whom gave Lindsey an incredibly ugly bracelet from a street vendor. It was a great place to relax for a bit.

After tea, we stopped in at Beit as-Suhayami, a stunning example of a 17th century Ottoman house. We loved the wooden screens and intricate ceilings and the numerous "party rooms" throughout with dozens of pillows and low tables. This picture doesn't begin to show you how amazing it would be to live here. Look at the full album to get a better idea by clicking on any picture.

After a day of cramming in tourist sights, we started to crash and took in a four hour nap to adjust to our new time-zone. We headed for a late dinner at what turned out to be a disappointing fast-food style restaurant--we're losing all faith in Lonely Planet food.

At the end of the day we were amazed at everything we'd seen and happy for the new experiences of a different continent. We slept well excited for another two packed days in Cairo.

Be sure to check out the complete picture album and check back soon for day 2 in Cairo.

ReRouted

2009-05-20T07:14:00.017-04:00

A few weeks ago, we wrote out a list of all the places in the world we wanted to see in our lives. When we recognized that we wouldn't cross a single place off our list in our last month of travel, we started thinking. We researched the current climates, cheapest flights, day-day to costs for touring each country and arrived at this: Enough of Asia, we're headed to Africa.

Our last month will be spent in Egypt and Morocco before heading home via Madrid on June 28th!

We'll see the Pyramids, swim and dive in the Red Sea, climb Mt. Sinai, and visit Petra. Then we'll jump over to Morocco to smoke hasheesh with snake charmers, wander the markets of Fez and Marrakesh, sleep in the Sahara, ride a camel, get our Mosque on, and rock the casbah. All this, before high-tailing it through the south of Spain, stuffing our faces with jamon, and catching the cheap seats state-side.

Back in the US of A, we'll be stopping in NYC from Thursday July 9th-Sunday 12th. We've worked out the following plan of our old stomping grounds.

Thursday 9th Night - Loreley (Dinner & Drinks)

Friday Daytime - Lunch/Drinks with old colleagues at ML/NYTimes

Friday Night - Drinks: Black Bear Lodge/East Village Crawl (7B, Sing-Sing)

Saturday Night - Drinks: BYO-Wine Party & Slideshow, Location: To Be Announced.

Sunday - Brunch: Bondi Road, Drinks: Iggys

We're excited. We hope you are!

This morning we've actually already arrived in Cairo and are loving it. For our last post on Bali, read below.

Ubud and Rest

2009-05-20T07:14:00.013-04:00

Ubud, one of Bali's cultural centers, is set among steep ravines and rice paddies. We spent our days here walking around the town's various galleries and shops. Most sold traditional Balinese wood-carvings or masks worn in the various traditional dances. Scarves and the omnipresent buddha images were also popular.

Culture aside, the real reason we wanted to come to Ubud was to eat Babi Guling. Balinese suckling pig is stuffed with herbs and spices, basked in coconut milk, and slowly cooked for 5 hours over an open fire. When we first learned of this swine sensation on Anthony Bordain's No Reservations, we added Bali to the trip itinerary. Like Tony, we headed to Warung Ibu Oka, to give it a try at $2/plate. The meat was moist and spiced perfectly, and the crispy skin was sweet from the coconut milk. This is a great meal not to be missed when in Bali.

Following our meal, we walked down the street to get a look at the kitchen. Within the walls of a traditional balinese home, two pigs were slowly being roasted. A proud cook gave us a tour, describing how that day he'd prepared 6 pigs.

In the afternoon, we walked through the town's Monkey Forest, home to 200 macaque monkeys. Steve got a close encounter with one that tried to climb up his leg from behind. One temple within the forest had an Indiana Jones vibe to it, but overall the park was a fairly small place, that basically just offered some monkey viewing.

Following a few days in Ubud, we headed back south to Seminyak to relax away our last days on Bali and in Indonesia.

Our biggest accomplishment, so to speak, was a long beach walk and ultimate visit to Tanah Lot. This temple, which means "Land in the Middle of the sea," attracts a large tourist crowd for its picturesque setting.

One adventure that we should mention was a disappointing trip to the nearby island of Nusa Lembongan. Because Lonely Planet dubbed it as the "bali people dream of but never find" we hoped it might get us back to something like we'd seen on the Gili islands. To get here we took a small public speed boat that ended up being one of our most terrifying transportation adventures yet. Powered by 4 engines, the small craft bounced from wave to wave across a churning sea. Each time the boat's hull crashed down, the deafening thud made you wonder if everything was still in one piece. At times, you could look out and actually see long rolling waves that were above eye-level. It was a harrowing experience to say the least. Surely, we figured, the island must be worth it!

We were wrong. So wrong in fact, that it wouldn't surprise me if "Lembongan" translated to "the island of smelly seaweed". Seaweed, along with some surfing, seemed to be island's focus and every inch of beach or path was taken up by it. We accepted our mistake and headed back to Bali the next morning when the waves had calmed.

Our final impression of Bali is that it's great for surfing and resorts, but it didn't have the best beaches or towns. The island is fairly congested with traffic and we found ourselves having to take taxis nearly everwhere. We do have to say that we got a bit lazy and didn't see all the island had to offer, so perhaps places like Lovina in the north or other hidden spots might prove us wrong. Nevertheless, we're exicted to move on and continue our trip.

One month left and we're mixing things up a bit. More to come.

Southern Bali

2009-05-18T01:31:00.008-04:00

Our first stop back on the island of Bali was Sanur. This beach isn't anything spectacular, but it happens to be the home to a kite-surfing school we were both interested in. We spoke with the instructor and were told that he'd take us out as soon as the wind showed up. Unfortunately, the wind never showed up, but we did manage to fit in a few things in the surrounding area.

We booked a driver and headed south to the tip of Bali. Our first stop was Padang Padang, a beautiful cliff-lined beach popular with surfers.

We headed to a platform atop one of these boulders for a view of some great surfers and some even better wipe-outs.

We continued onwards to Ulu Watu, a temple at the southern-most tip of Bali. The temple itself can't compare to some of those we've already seen, but it is popular for its dramatic views and monkey population.

As you arrive, you are warned by scores of people to remove any and everything that a monkey might be enticed to grab: sunglasses, hats, purses, necklaces, etc. This proved accurate as we saw people in tug-of-war matches against the monkeys. One monkey managed to grab someone's camera and carried it away to a high tree limb. Many of the guides threw nuts and bananas at it, which eventually it went for and inturn dropped the camera. This one was perched high over the waves.

Following our tour of the temple, we attended a traditional Kecak dance. The performance consists of several elaborated dressed characters interacting within a circle of about 50-100 men chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms. Their actions depict the Hindu story, the Ramayana, which to extremely simplify it, is about a princess being rescued from an evil king by a prince with the help of a monkey.

We enjoy it, although we would have opted for an abridged version. Fifty minutes of guys going "cak-cak-cak" can be a bit much for a first-timer. The freakiest part is the way in which the female dancers are able to bend their fingers backwards.

The following day we walked along three of Bali's most well known beaches. We began in the over-developed and backpacker-haven of Kuta. This should be avoided by anyone heading to Bali and as the waves are filled with trash, and the town looks like a strip mall. We continued onwards to Legian, which is little more than a buffer-zone to the higher-class Seminyak. All of the beaches are known for surfing and boards line the beach.

We had planned to meet up with friends from New York here, but due to a last minute injury they were unable to join us. Get better Jay! We did take a stop to look at their planned hotel, the Oberoi, which we'd highly recommend. It was simply amazing.

We continued walking through the botique filled streets of Seminyak, and just as Steve was about to collapse of boredom, stopped into a Moroccan restaurant for dinner.

We left southern Bali and headed just a bit north to Ubud, disappointed we missed out on kite-surfing, but excited for some famous local food.

Gili Islands

2009-05-14T02:54:00.008-04:00

Our newest home is Gili Meno, a tiny tiny island that lies two hours from Bali, surrounded by turquoise waters and beautiful reefs. We chose Meno, the smallest or the three Gilis, because it is the least developed, which is really saying something as none of the islands have paved roads or motorized transportation. Getting here was another saga, but only involved two flights (one only 20 minutes!), a taxi, one boat, and a horse-drawn carriage! Here Steve is towards the end of the journey ready to make our boat crossing in a typical bali-style boat.

Once we arrived, we jumped in a cidomo (horse-drawn carriage) for a ride across the island. While this seemed convenient at the time, it turns out that its a lot like being pulled around in a wheelbarrow. We both clung to the sides of the cart on a steep incline as the horse pulled us around and the driver jumped on and off to keep him going. It wasn't the most relaxing ride and we were both happy for it to end.

On our first full day, we took to the shores for the island's excellent snorkeling. We spotted a sea turtle, a black lion fish, among thousands of other fish.

Later that day, we took an hour-long walk around the island's entire perimeter (we told you it was tiny!). Lindsey was psyched to be here as you can see. We both thought it was more beautiful than anything we'd seen in Thailand, and wish we'd gotten here sooner.

In the evening, we layed on the beach, far away from civilization and gazed at a star-filled sky. It was the "Bali" both of us had imagined.

Our second day, Steve went scuba diving in the morning at Sunset Reef. He was most excited about seeing cuttlefish, which are able to change the color and texture of their skin in order to camouflage into their surroundings.

He also spotted a white-tip reef shark in the distance, a red lion-fish, some clown-fish (Nemos) hiding in the soft coral, more blue-spotted rays, and a moray-eel.

In the afternoon we napped and sat on our bungalow porch under a light rain.

Our third day on Meno, we headed for a snorkeling site on the other side of the islands know for its friendly turtle population. We didn't understand exactly what this meant until one was headed right for us. We got a bit nervous and started to swim away which prompted the turtle to look at us as if we were crazy. Seems like we could have had a much closer encounter (touching it) if we were a bit calmer and knew what we were in for.

The afternoon was spent reading on the beach, and preparing plans to move onto Bali, proper. More to come...

Ko Phangan & Farewell Thailand

2009-05-08T20:29:00.011-04:00

We hopped a quick ferry ride to Samui's sister island, Ko Phangan, best known for its monthly full moon raves, but also home to some secluded beaches. Our first home here was Blue Hill Resort, which is currently undergoing a renovation to into an upscale resort. Lucky for us, they hadn't finished yet, and we got a room overlooking the water at a bargain price. The collection of bungalows were largely empty, and at times it seemed that we had the entire place to ourselves. The highlight was their infinity pool that looked out on Ko Samui.

As usual, we rented a motorbike and explored the island's beaches ('hat's) including Hat Son, Hat Yao, and our favorite Hat Salad.

A couple days into our stay, we realized that our Thai visas had expired. It turns out that we had been given a one-month visa our first time in Thailand because we entered through an airport, but our land entry (from Laos) only earned us a two-week visa. Since we had hoped to make it to Thailand's west coast (Phi Phi & Krabi), we headed to Ko Samui's immigration office to resolve our issue. Here we got a eye-opening lesson on dysfunctional and illogical government.

The immigration official informed us that we could purchase a 7-day extension (which we did in order to exit the country legally), but that she could not provide us with a 14 or 30 day extension. Ok, we figured, it seems logical we can't just stay forever. A bit harsh, but understandable. But wait, if we wanted to stay she told us--no problem--just board a bus on a 16-hour round trip to Ranong on the Burma border, where we could board a long-tail boat, cross a river, stand on a small concrete island for 10 minutes, pay $10 with a crisp ten-dollar bill ONLY (for sale for the equivalent of $20), and then begin the eight hour bus ride back. After doing this, you would be given another 14 day extension for entering Thailand via land.

We both laughed that the official and encouraged government policy was to promote this ridiculous practice instead of just charging us more money for another 7 days. We factored in the annoyance of doing this, the bragging-rights of going to Burma, and the impending monsoon season on the west coast and decided to bid farewell to Thailand a bit sooner than planned. So nice work Thailand, less tourist dollars!

With our remaining days, we decided to return to Ko Phangan and spend the remainder of our time at Hat Salad. We got a great room at Cookies Salad (weird name, but whatever) that looked out over the entire bay.

This made for a great happy hour each evening with our favorite beer.

We continued to explore the island, and chartered a long-tail boat for a ride to Hat Khuat (aka Bottle beach).

Like all the beaches we've seen, the water here was beautiful blending from crystal clear shallows to light greens to dark blues. It's just a beautiful place.

As the full moon party approached on the 9th, the island began to noticeably fill up and we were excited to have timed our exit appropriately.

So we bid a fond farewell to Thailand (we've spent a lot of time here) and hello to Bali & Indonesia. First stop: Gili islands for water sports, diving, and of courses, more pretty beaches.

Operation Ko Samui

2009-05-02T20:48:00.008-04:00

You should have expected this blog update to take so long with our change over to island time. For the last week, we've plopped ourselves on various stretches of sand and done little else than read, sleep, and relax.

Ko Samui, although more westernized than its neighbors, is known for its long stretches of palm fringed beaches, white sands, and clear warm waters. The beach tends to be over crowed for much of the year, but is currently undergoing its very warm, but low-tourist, season. For nearly a week, we spent each day on a different beach, including Chaweng, Lamai, and Bophut.

During this time, Steve started to live in his silly looking fisherman pants, which he picked up for $2 in Luang Prabang. It's getting hard to remember when he wore something else.

We also took time to indulge in some western cuisine, and treated ourselves to an absolutely massive tasting menu at the swank 'Library'. The restaurant/hotel looks as if it were designed by Apple, which especially delighted Steve's nerdy-ness. The meal consisted of ten appetizers, five soups, ten entrees, and five desserts. Needless to say it was entirely too large of a sampler.

As fun as a 30 course menu was, our favorite food in Samui came from a deli, reminding us a bit of being in New York.

We also took a day away from beaches (well, almost) and headed by boat to the nearby An Thong National Marine Park. We motored around this collection of 42 pristine islands, stopping to snorkel, see some incredible vistas, and lay on more beaches.

The inside of one island holds a blue lagoon, that was especially beautiful.

The postcard-perfect waters put Ko Samui to shame and we especially loved the small beaches throughout, depsite their coarser sand. In this shot, the rock in the middle is known as the praying monkey.

After five days of relaxation, we headed to nearby Ko Pha Ngan for a change of scenery. This smaller island, infamous of its full moon parties, also has its share of secluded beaches that we'll search out. More to come, although don't expect it too soon.

We're on Island Time Now

2009-04-26T05:46:00.025-04:00

We left Laos on an overnight train headed for Bangkok. We stayed here a couple days so that Lindsey could follow up on her ear issue with a doctor at what proved to be the nicest hospital (Bumrungrad) either of us had ever seen. We're a bit sad we didn't take pictures as the entire hospital looked like a hotel lobby.

Having already seen most of the city's major sites, we took a different approach to the city this time around. We binged a bit on Starbucks and fast-food, saw a couple movies, and spent most of our time wandering air-conditioned shopping malls. The highlight of it all were VIP seats at the movie theater which reclined and came with blankets and pillows. Even though the Nick Cage flick was a bit lame, you could enjoy any movie in seats like this.

From Bangkok we headed to Ko Tao, an island on the Gulf of Thailand known for its exceptional scuba diving. Lindsey was a bit disappointed that Ko Tao doesn't have the long stretches of beach she'd envisioned, but we'll get to those on our next island.

After seeing a few overpriced rooms, we checked into a horrifically hot (and overpriced) room at a dive 'resort' for $5/night. Our first day we rode around the island's insanely steep and slippery roads to some of the island's more remote bays. At several steep points, Lindsey had to get off and walk up since the bike didn't have enough power to keep going. We both wish we'd been forewarned, but once we arrived at Hin Wong and Tanote Bay we enjoyed the swimming and snorkeling. That evening we cooled off in the breeze along the beach before retiring to our sauna of a hotel room.

The next day, Steve went on a full day scuba trip, at three of the island's best dive sites. He was immediately impressed as he swam through literally millions of fish, the highlights being a school of barracuda, a massive puffer fish, moray eels, blue spotted rays, a 5ft potato grouper, and large stretches of beautiful coral. Lindsey had hoped to get her scuba certification here, but decided it was not a good idea given her ear issues.

Swimming through the school of barracuda was amazing.

The ultimate highlight was a brief encounter with the world's largest fish, a whale shark. This was exactly what Steve was hoping to spot, although they are generally very elusive. Even though it was a small one at only 10 feet (they grow to 40 ft), it was still amazing how easily such a massive creature can move through the water. Steve's dive group of four was the only one to see a whale shark that day and earned him some special bragging rights back on board. He was a bit excited and distracted, resulting in some pretty bad pictures and video.

The same day, Lindsey took a great yoga class before relaxing on the beach. There she played with a couple local dogs that eventually were sleeping on her towel with her. She was excited to take the day to just relax.

Since Ko Tao lacked the wide beaches we wanted to relax on, we skipped over to Ko Samui aboard another ferry. We might head back to Ko Tao (it's fairly close) for more snorkeling at some point, but are currently enjoying things here on Ko Samui.

Tubing Vang Vieng

2009-04-22T01:38:00.007-04:00

Heading south in Laos, our next stop was Vang Vieng. The town is a backpacker haven, which means the former local flavor has been over-taken by 19 year-old revelers, loud guesthouses & bars, and "happy" (aka marijuana-supplemented) restaurants. What the foreign influx hasn't yet ruined, however, are the views of the surrounding limestone cliffs. We had a great one of these from our balcony.

One of the main attractions of the town is inner-tubing down the Nam Song River. While this might sound like a peaceful and relaxing experience, we soon learned it was anything but. The river is overflowing with tubers, swimmers, motorboats, kayaks, and those brave enough to leap from the numerous rope swings. The river's edge is also overrun with western bars, each with its own music genre in competition with the next's. The bars have various platforms, zip lines, rope-swings, and slides that all look a bit suicidal, but are amazingly popular. When we heard a rumor that two girls had died in rope swing accidents so far that month, it didn't surprise us much. Yet despite all the bars, there were some pretty parts.

The highlight of our float was the local crowd. Even after three days of celebrating the new year, the Lao people were still going strong. As we floated along everyone splashed and tried to involve us in the celebration. Two men, specifically, took a special interest in us and practically forced beer down our thoughts to our delight.

Away from the river we tried more street meat and especially enjoyed the Lao BBQ chicken and rice cooked in bamboo shoots.

The next day, we returned to the river, this time on a kayaking trip. During the wet season, the river can be quite trecherous, but as we were at the very end of the dry season it ran quiet low. Along the way, our guide stopped at two different caves to explore. These were not the tourist-safe caves you'd see in America, with installed lighting or walking platforms. One of the caves had been used as a bomb shelter by locals during the many bombing campaigns in this area. The other cave provided a shortcut through the mountain and is still heavily used by the locals. This cave's floor is littered with burnt bamboo sticks which they use instead of flashlights.

After kayaking, caving, lunch, and more kayaking, Lindsey started to slack a bit on the paddling.

Vang Vieng was a beautiful place and we can see what brought people here once upon a time. Unfortunately, it now lacks any of it's former charm and is a lot more like a college spring break venue. So after a few days of playing around the river, we headed on a bus to Vientiene to cross back into Thailand.

Vientiene turned out to be a pretty dull place. The one thing we did do here was visit a rather odd park of Buddhas set just outside of the city. This provided a good 20 minutes of entertainment and a few funny pictures.

Our next planned stop to the Beer Lao Factory was going to be the highlight of our day, but the plant was sadly closed for the new year. We looked at the closed gates sadly and returned to our hotel for a nap.

After a couple days in backpacker-land followed by another in nothing-land we were excited to get back to Thailand and headed there on an overnight train. More to come on the Thai islands.

Super Soaking Luang Prabang

2009-04-14T00:20:00.010-04:00

We headed towards Luang Prabang on a slow boat down the Mekong River, arriving after two days of relaxing, reading, and watching the scenery pass by. The views weren't as grand as we expected, given the popularity of this boat trip, but regardless the ride was a nice way to get from a to b. We shared the ride with Adrian and Sabrina whom we had met on the Gibbon Experience and were able to play a few more games of our new favorite card game: wizard.

We were excited to return to Luang Prabang, having been impressed with it for a whole two hours our first time through. We checked a few places to stay, all of which were extremely overpriced for the New Years celebration, and decided to splurge rather than be ripped off. Our room at the Sayo Naga was divine and a happy home for three nights.

Lindsey was enchanted by the town's architecture and we enjoyed walking and biking around the small town.

Our first morning there, Steve woke up early to watch the monks collect alms. The monks, only allowed to eat twice each day, depend on donations of food each morning, mostly consisting of sticky rice. This morning it happened to be a bit rainy, but was still a great sight to see their robes in the dim light.

We toured the obligatory temple, Wat Xieng Thong and were satisfied without seeing the city's other 100 wats.

But aside from these sights, we really came to Luang Prabang to celebrate Pi Mai, the Lao New Year. This three-day festival celebrates the passing of the old Songkan spirit and the arrival of the new spirit. It also marks the end of the hot season and the arrival of the monsoon season. On different days they wash their houses, their buddhas, but on all days they delight in dousing each other with buckets of water.

We quickly realized that we weren't exempt as a simple trip around the block would leave you dripping wet whether you happened to have been walking, biking, or riding in a tuk-tuk. Already drenched, we bought massive water guns (Lindsey's had a backpack of water) and fought back.

We rode around town, shooting back at road-side groups of people who hurled buckets of water at us. In certain places, we stopped to join small parties with music, food, and of course, water fights. The waterproof case on the camera certainly came in use.

This kid really enjoyed drenching us:

We also pickued up the ability to claim something few can: "I once got in a water fight with a group of monks." These guys, who live a pretty strict life, seemed especially delighted to be joining in.

Locals everywhere were incredibly inclusive and wanted the foreigners to enjoy it. It did get frustrating at times when you just wanted to get to a restaurant and still be dry, but all in all it's a great holiday.

One thing that did amuse/frighten us were the realistic water guns that children carried. It's just a bit odd getting shot with water by a kid weilding an AK-47 rather than one with a super-soaker.

The rest of our time in Luang Prabang, we ate some great food (Joma, Saffron, Paradise, and a street-burger) and enjoyed the night and day markets. There are lots of pictures in the albums of the things they sell in markets, or favorite of which is random plastic stuff by the pound. Lindsey picked up a new bag and a Lao beer t-shirt, while Steve bough a woven soccer ball for our upcoming beach time.

While we left Luang Prabang before everything really finished up, we we're ready to be dry again. Next stop: Vang Vieng, Laos for tubing, rafting, and some beautiful views.

Finally, for those of you concerned, we're keeping and eye on the events in Bangkok and trying to figure out how we are getting to the Thai islands. Not to worry.

Gibbons, Ziplines, and Laos

2009-04-08T06:25:00.014-04:00

We entered Laos on a flight from empty Siem Reap airport (with its two daily departures) to the even smaller Luang Prabang airport. We happily picked up some new passport stamps and caught a ride to town, excited for the thrill of a new country, but missing Cambodia a bit.

Even though we flew to Luang Prabang (where we will return to) we wanted to head farther north to the Thai border, 14 hours away. After checking out our options, we decided to leave only 2 hours after we'd arrived. Given that Laos isn't as touristy as our prior stops, our only option was the local's bus, which lacked air conditioning and other luxuries (like a toilet). What they didn't lack, however, was a seriously loud entertainment system, which showed Lao music videos for the entire 14 hour trip. The videos were hillariously filled with random things one might see around Laos (rice farming, rivers, elephants) and got the locals singing at all hours of the night when their favorite tunes were played.

After a while we opted for an ipod movie and quickly realized we weren't the only ones watching it. Behind us, a man had lodged his entire head between our seats to get a good view. He watched a movie he couldn't even hear for over an hour, but seemed delighted to do so.

We were headed to Houayxay (pronounced way sigh), which itself is absolutly void of interest, to book a trip with the Gibbon Experience. The trip takes you into the nearby jungle to sleep in tree houses, fly across dozens of ziplines, and see wild gibbons. We booked a trip, got some rest and walked around town.

The next morning, we took a bumpy three-hour drive on benches in the back of a covered pickup truck to a small village. From here we hiked for about an hour to the Gibbon Expereince base camp where we got harnesses. They reviewed some general safety info and when asked, 'is it safe?' responded that it definetly wouldn't be allowed in the States. Not too encouraging, but at least they guaranteed that no one has ever fallen. They told us about the three treehouses we could between to stay in: #1 had a large bee-hive and cat that kept the tree rats away, #2 only slept two, and #3 had a resident viper that also helped with tree rats. Lindsey was put off by all of them, but agreed to #3 as it was farther into the jungle and one snake (that keeps away from the actual house) is better than these mysterious tree rats.

Five of us and our guide headed for #3, and after ten minutes of walking we arrived at the first zipline. We clipped our roller and safety line to the wire and took a short, but amazing, 60 meter glide into tree house #1. We continued onwards, and after another hour of hiking and five more ziplines, we arrived at tree house #3. Each zipline we took seemed higher and longer than the previous, yet they weren't at all frightening. We both felt very safe and loved the sensation and vantage point high over the canopy. Steve just loved being geared up and sweaty.

Once we arrived, the five of us (us, an Austrian couple of doctors, and an Australian) relaxed and got to know eachother. We played cards, had dinner, and discussed the gastro-intesinal issues of travelers. Lindsey serenated the jungle with various ABBA tunes before we all fell asleep, tucked safety in our mosquito/rat nets.

Our guide, who was supposed to stay in a shelter across the zipline, also stayed in our treehouse. We later learned that the local guides are terrified of spending the night alone in the jungle because they believe ghosts will attack them in their sleep. They have such a strong belief in this, that you can't really argue with them.

Around 3am, we heard thunder crossing the mountains and within minutes strong wind blew our mosquito net into the air and heavy rain drenched us. Having briefly reviewed storm evacuation at base camp, we asked our guide if we should go, only to find him already harnessing up and heading out the door very nervously. The guides are even more scared of storms than ghosts, and his frantic demeaner hardly put anyone at ease. With lightning illuminating the sky, we all scrambled to harness up, and because the thunder was still over five seconds away, we were able to safety zip out of the tree house under heavy moonlight. We were all drenched and cold, but we felt we'd gotten a certain thrill out of it, or at least Steve did. Closely piled into the shelter, our group got even closer as we took a few more hours of sleep.

In the morning, our guide took us farther into the jungle, crossing a series of ziplines, the longest spanning 380 meters (~1250 ft). Here is a virtual zipline for you all:

[Long zipline video coming soon!]

The humidty took its toll on our cleanliness, but we loved every minute of it.

By noon, we headed for lunch with those staying at the other treehouses and began to piece together some issues with our guide. The other travelers had been taken to see gibbons in the morning, and had warm breakfast delivered to them, while we did not. Additionally, our soaked beds and pillows had not been changed, when the guide promised they would be. We headed to basecamp to resolve these problems, and were able to work them out with the volunteer English teacher. While his job description certainly wasn't guest relations, he promised to improve the rest of our stay. He explained that the Hmong guides are generally very lazy people and cared little about work or learning English. When he tried to ask our guide why he hadn't brought us to see gibbons or delivered breakfast, the best answer was that he was tired from the storm evacuation.

After lunch (delivered 2 hours late thanks to Hmong work ethic), our group of five headed off without a guide, for more ziplining. Eventually exhausted, we returned to our treehouse for an early night to bed. Lindsey loved acting like a monkey the whole day.

The next morning, we woke up at 5am and headed to a platform overlooking the trees in search of gibbons. We waited patiently and were rewarded with a very close (although brief) look at these amazing acrobats swinging across a bamboo patch. For the following ten minutes we watched them work away from us across the canopy, jumping from tree to tree hundres of feet in the air. Thankfully, the "Gibbon Experience" lived up to its name. The early morning mist also made for some of our most beautiful views.

The rest of the morning, (you guessed it) we ziplined with a newfound comfort, easily riding upsidedown or backwards as the guides do.

Steve snapped one last picture of our crew monkeying around.

After a dozen rides, we headed to breakfast before a bumpy ride back to town. Even with unreliable guides, we both really loved the Gibbon Experience. It could certainly be organized 100 times better, but gives you an opportunity to hike and zipline on your own at your own pace. It's something you can't do anywhere else in the world, and most certainly not in the U.S.

Next we're headed on a slowboat down the Mekong River back to Luang Prabang to join the massive water fight that is the Buddhist New Year!

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Angkor

2009-04-03T13:10:00.006-04:00

We arrived in Siem Reap excited to see Angkor Wat, the world's largest temple, as well as other temples built by the Khmer Empire from about 800-1400AD. The Khmer, once the predominant power in South East Asia, built scores of temples surrounding Siem Reap. The area, collectively known as Angkor, was the largest preindustrial city in the world, with nearly one-million inhabitants, at a time when London was home to only fourty thousand. After the collapse of the empire, the temples were abandoned, and suffered severe decay from wet weather, jungle growth, looters, and vandalism. They were "discovered" again in the mid-1800s by a French explorer (brought there by a Khmer guide) who popularized them to the west. Many of the temples remain in ruins, from centuries of neglect, although some survived or have been partially restored by various NGOs.

We arranged for a tuk-tuk driver to take us around the temples over three jam-packed days and on our first day, we were joined by a tour guide. The guide helped us understand the history, symbolism, and stories of each temple. We started out with sunrise over Angkor Wat at 5:30am, and didn't quit that day until nearly 4pm. The next day, we took in another sunrise and lasted til sundown, making our way to some of the outlying temples. By day three, we skipped the sunrise and stopped midday, suffering from some severe temple fatigue.

Angkor Wat, the Cambodian people's favorite, also proved to be ours. The temple is surrounded by a moat 2 miles long, rises to 65 meters, and was constructed around the same time as Paris' Notre Dame. It was built as a shrine to the Hindu god Vishnu, although has fluctuated between Hinduism, Buddhism, and a combination thereof throughout its history. Our first glance at dawn (pictured below) was an amazing sight and made us consider just how different it is than any other structure in the world.

Covering the outer wall, 800 meters of bas-relief carvings record various historical or religious stories in great detail. We spent a lot of time learning the significance of each of these. Below is a picture of one of the most famous bas-reliefs, the Churning of the Sea of Milk story, but I'll leave out the long explanation of it.

On the last day, Steve took a hot-air balloon ride to get an aerial view of Angkor Wat. Those pictures are in the online album, and show you the grand scale of it all.

Another favorite was Bayon. Built by a king who clearly liked himself, the temple looks out over the land with 200+ faces that are a combination of his own and buddha's. While there are also various carvings here, the faces were the main attraction. Steve couldn't resist this opportunity:

Our next choice was Ta Prohm, which you'll likely recognize from the movie Tomb Raider. This temple, torn apart by jungle growth, was not fully restored and allows visitors feel like they are discovering it themselves. Only the largest trees remain, but it still feels like you are Indiana Jones walking through the ruins.

The last one I'll mention is Bantaey Srei and while minascure by comparison, has some of the finest details in its carvings.

Another great moment was sunset atop one of the temples.

Aside from temples, we toured the Cambodian Landmine Museum to learn a bit more about the six million mines that have been laid here by the Khmer Rouge, various other Cambodian governements, Thailand, Vietnam, America, and Russia. The head of the museum was a former Khmer Rouge soldier who laid thousands of mines and is now doing his best to remove them, having so far personally removed over 50,000.

We had planned to do some volunteer work here, but ultimately decided against it. While there are plenty of opportunities to visit orphanages, it is difficult to determine if showing up for a day is good or bad for the children. Most places either charge you a significant amount of money (which may or may not go to the children) or require a monthly commitment. Instead we bought some students lunch at the market and handed out some toys to children who were working.

Our last stop in Siem Reap was to their night market, which was unlike every other market we've been to and must have been established exclusively for tourists. The shops here had a bit more variety and creativity than we've seen elseswhere, and as a result we made some purchases. We picked up some souvenier tshirts, Cambodian scarves, and silver trinkets which are popular here.

Today we fly to Laos, to swing through trees with gibbon monkeys and celebrate the buddhist new year! Cambodia has been a great stop and we really recommend it to everyone.

Phnom Penh

2009-03-29T00:13:00.013-04:00

We've been absolutely loving our time in Cambodia, and immediately we knew the blog's timeliness would suffer. So however belated, here is a very long post on what happened in Phnom Penh.

Phnom Penh is filled with great people that haven't yet been jaded by tourism like the Thai or Vietnamesse. Everyone, from children to adults, wants to learn English and genuinely enjoys speaking to tourists. Cambodia, however, has more social problems than its neighbors: 50% of the country is under the age of 18 and consequently they have many orphans living on the street. While this is upsetting, it isn't as pervasive as we anticipated, and these issues are possibly being mitigated by the incredible UN and NGO presence. Anyways, despite all of the people's problems (and we haven't even gotten to their recent history), they are happy and a pleasure to be around.

Since we arrived in the evening, our first goal was dinner and drinks. For drinks we headed to the Foriegn Correspondants Club, prevously home to most war-time reporters, and currently housing a great photography collection showing the chaos that has unfolded in PP for decades. Next we tested and were delighted with Khmer cuisine (at Frizz), enjoying a sprout-stuffed crepe, some chicken curry, and slow bbq'd chicken. The flavors are similar to Indian cuisine, (Cambodian culture is largely influenced by India), but without much of the heat.

The next day, we toured the Royal Palace, which isn't as grand as Thailand's version, but impressive nonetheless. We continued on through the obligatory market, past the Hotel Le Royal, and on to the not-so-fantastic Wat Phnom. Seeing the city itself was more rewarding than these sights in many ways.

Walkin around, Lindsey has especially enjoyed the children's sales skills and strong personalities. Granted children shouldn't really have to sell things on the street, but they sure are good at it. One kid asked, 'Where are you from,' and upon hearing 'America' replied: 'Howdy, You have 300 million people, your president is Obama, your Capital is Washington DC.' It was pretty impressive as he went from table to table with his pitch.

One of the things that brought us to Cambodia is their rich history, both ancient and recent. One thousand years ago, the Khmer people were Asia's Romans, building grand temples and cities. More recently, their country suffered one of history's most brutal genocides under the Khmer Rouge. We wanted to get a closer look at both of these.

A quick history lesson: the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, was a communist political party and militia, that ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979. The party imposed a severe form of social engineering on the society, forcing the entire population to leave the cities and work on agrarian communes or forced labor projects. Anyone who dissented or showed modern tendencies was tortured and executed. By 1979, when the KR lost power to the Vietnamesse, they had murdered over 1.5mm people, roughly 25% of the Cambodian population. To get a better understanding of this history, we toured the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, formerly the Khmer Rouge's largest prison and interrogation center, where over 17,000 people were tortured and murdered.

A tour guide walked us through each room, describing the torture that occured in the place we stood. It was graphic and shocking as we saw splattered blood that remained on ceilings, blood stained floors, and pictures of countless prisoners before and after tourture. We also had the rare chance to see one of four remamining survivors of the prison (there were only 12 of 17,000) being interviewed. The survivors were kept alive for certian skills (artist, mechanic, etc) that were deemed useful.

The pictures of children, deemed "enemies" of KR were unimaginable.

The museum was a shocking look at history, but more interestingly revealed the forgiving nature of Cambodians. As our tour guide showed us a picture of a man beating another to death with a bamboo stick, she explained that the same man worked upstairs at the museum. We were shocked: a former S21 executioner, responsible for personally killing hundreds worked at the museum devoted to explaining the same barbarism! Upstairs, we saw the man turn on a movie about the murders he had personally committed, and couldn't help but cringe. It is an incredibly different culture that is hard to understand.

When we found out that both of our guide's parents had been executed, we had to ask: "Are you angry?" She wasn't at all and much of this comes down to two things. The first is practical: they figure that if they had killed all of the khmer rouge soldiers as retribution that 50% of their country would have died instead of only 25%. The second component to their utter lack of anger is related to their Buddhist faith. They figure that these people will be punished in their next lifetime, and as such they don't have the same appetite for "justice" as the West. The only exception, is their excitement that the former leaders (about 4 people) are imprisoned or currently on trial.

Once prisoners were tortured, generally over the course of a few weeks, they were taken to the nearby Choeung Ek Killing Fields for execution and mass burial. This was our next stop and an eerie place where bone fragments and bits of clothing litter the ground you walk on. It is also site to a memorial stupa, which holds over 8,000 skulls that have been exhumed.

In the evening, in need of some pep, we got massages from blind people at Seeing Hands Massage, before having the first good Mexican meal of the trip. Steve had given up hope of every getting decent Mexican and refused to order anything until he'd tasted the salsa and chips. Luckily Cantina was a great exception and we returned for a second dinner here before leaving Phnom Penh.

The next day, we took a full day Khmer cooking course, through Frizz restaurant. We learned to make spring rolls, a curried fish amok steamed in a banana leaf bowl (below), banana leaf salad, and sticky rice dessert. It's another few courses for our internation banquet upon our return. The most rewarding part, however, was speaking with our teacher, who was an orphan that learned to cook through a local charity that teaches cooking and English skills. He grew up eating rats and insects (his favorite is actually dog), and is now studying to apply to American Universities. It was amazing how far the country and its people have come in such a short amount of time.

In the evening, we had a drink at the posh Elephant Bar, one-time host to Jackie Kennedy, before returning to the FCC for a few more. During out time here, Earth Hour occured and the FCC turned off their lights and we continued drinking by candle light. Oh, and they gave us free sangria for earth hour!

The following day, we had one more nerdy stop at the Cambodian National Museum, which housed the largest collection of Khmer art. Most of their works are from temples near Angkor Wat (our next stop) and so was good preparation. We learned a bit about Hindu and Buddhist symbolism in the sculptures and really enjoyed this place. It was probably the best museum of the trip thus far.

We really enjoyed the history, food, and people in Phnom Penh and think we'll return. It was one of our favorite stops so far, but we're excited for Angkor Wat where we'll see the world's largest temple!

The City Formerly Known As Saigon

2009-03-28T21:53:00.004-04:00

Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as the locals call it, was a pleasant surprise. Having been overwhelmed with Hanoi, we were apprehensive about the city's four million motorbikes, but the wide boulevards reasonably handle the traffic. The city, more than our other stops, felt like a global city, with a decent mix of western brands and its own culture.

We started with a walking a tour and passed a pho (rice noodle soup) stand that was once the secret headquarters of the VC in Saigon. Continuing on, we entered the Beh Thanh market, for a quick look at vendors selling everything under the sun. Lindsey wasn't a big fan of being grabbed and literally pulled into each of the stalls, but its all part of the experience! Next we passed the Rex Hotel, once the headquarters of the US Army, and opposite it, the fancier Hotel D'Ville, which is now the headquarters for the communist People's Committee. No visitors allowed there!

Our first stop was to the War Remnants Museum. It's initial name, "The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government of South Vietnam" might tip you off to its bias. The museum showcases some incredibly moving photographs of the attrocities of war: napalm burnt children, deformed humans from agent orange exposure, and mass graves from massacres. Even though the museum only covered damage done by Americans, and ommitted the crimes the North committed against its own people, it wasn't exactly offensive, just one-sided. It was a very in-your-face exhibit in the damage that wars create.

The museum also had other sections that provided general information about the war's differnet units, and where they were stationed. We saw one photograph of one of the only parachute jumps (a practice one) in the war by the 101st Airbone division. Lindsey's dad was the first man out of the plane on this jump and we likely saw his chute in this picture.

Next, we made our way past Saigon's own Notre Dame Cathedral, and its post office (below), before arriving at the Natural History museum. This was a quick stop, and we'd suggest anyone else skip it since the numerous piles of jugs don't even have English explanations!

Given it was a scorching day and we had finished our walking tour, we stopped in for a cool air-conditioned massage, where Steve and Lindsey's dad literally got walked on! Lindsey's massage was a bit gentler.

Finally, we made our way through rush hour traffic back to our hotel for some beers overlooking a street corner. Overall we were impressed with Saigon on our first day, and felt that of all the cities we'd seen thus far, it would be the easiest place to live.

Our second day, we took a cyclo ride to Cholon, the Chinese section of Saigon. We wandered through another market (Bin Thay), took in the smells of the traditional herd stores, and saw an impressive pagoda (maybe Phuc An Hoi Quan?). We ate some great duck soup at a local spot, before our worst cullinary experience yet: durian icecream.

Durian is a popular fruit here that supposedly tastes like eating rotten fish while sitting in an outhouse. The guy on the food channel that eats gross foods across the world doesn't even like durian. Even so, we felt the need to try it. Rather than take the full plunge by digging into the actual fruit, we decided that durian icecream would be a good first step. We each took a spoon full, and before it even touch our lips, the smell gave all of us second thoughts. Nevertheless, we ate it, squirmed, and quickly sent it away without a second bite. Simply put, durian is absolutely revolting.

With most of the sites of Saigon exhausted we opted to move on to Cambodia the following day. Our last night with Lindsey's dad, we sat in plastic chairs, drank beers and watched the motorbikes go by. We witnessed two motorbike wrecks, Steve's chair collapsed underneath him, and we discussed our final thoughts on Vietnam.

There are many to talk about another time, but here are two of our favorite memories:
1) "Same Same" is a phrase that can be used for anything. Like if you have a beer belly like Lindsey's dad and you pass a statue of buddha, someone might point to both and say "same, same!" This only happened four times. Or if I want to eat the same thing, but I don't want cheese... they would feel the need to responsd "Same Same, But Different". Anyways, we enjoyed that phrase.

2) Driving here is absolute madness for so many reasons. In a city, you can't ride on the edge of a street because that space is used by vehicles going against traffic. Basically, every road has four "lanes", alternating in direction. There are no turning restrictions and few stop lights, none of which are enforced. A motorbike attached to a wooden cart can pull almost anything. On the highway, when two cars drive by each other they always honk, even if they are in their own lanes and completely alone. If it is dark out, they use their brights instead of their horn. This we just don't understand at all.

ps, we're in Phnom Penh now and loving it. More details to come.

Mui Ne: Resorts and Dunes

2009-03-23T02:53:00.004-04:00

If we've learned one thing by now it's that taking a bus always results in a good story. We arrived in Mui Ne by bus around 1am only to be dropped off about 3 miles from our hotel, but conventinely directly in front of the bus company's hotel. Determined to not fall into their trap, we began walking towards our hotel, not fully aware of the distance. After about 20 minutes of walking and seeing very little change in the address numbers, we were getting nervous. Luckily, two motorbike taxis pulled up and after a ten minute high-speed ride we arrived at our hotel. Our place turned out to be a dingy bungalow with windows that didn't open and in the morning we opted to look for a new room.

We decided to visit Mui Ne for more beach time. The coastal town is famous for its sand dunes and wind/kite-surfers. The beach is lined with bungalows and resorts, but other than that there isn't much of an actual town.

Our first morning we walked the main road to find breakfast and stumbled upon a fancy resort where we were able to grab a breakfast buffet. We completely binged. The resort (Blue Ocean) had a great pool area and since it was only a bit more than the previous night's room, we splurged and settled down in lounge chairs. We spent the morning sitting by the pool, swimming, and reading up on the next leg of our journey in Cambodia.

In the afternoon we rented a motorobike and drove out to the sand dunes. At the dunes we rented sheets of plastic from children and went sledding. It's a fun ride down, but the way up is absolutely exhausting. You crawl on all fours, and each step you take results in sliding backwards about two steps. We only found enough motivation for two rides each. There are some more great pictures of this so check out the whole album.

This shot gives you an idea of the scale and steepness of it. That's Lindsey flying down.

Sand, sun, and a climbing dunes left us exhausted, but Steve looked particularly gross.

In the evening we had another Indian dinner at Shree Ganesh which was great and watched some terrible TV before falling asleep.

Our second day, we relaxed by the pool and did little else. Steve considered going kite surfing, but figured that one day probably wasn't enough to get going. Tonight we head to Saigon on a quick five hour bus that will no doubt result in something odd happening. There we will regroup with Lindsey's dad for our final stop together and take in the sites of another crazy city.

Nha Trang: Beach Life

2009-03-21T03:22:00.006-04:00

We left Hoi An aboard an overnight bus to Nha Trang that proved to be horrific! We each had a top bunk three across, Steve barely fit into his "bed", and all of our seatbelts were broken that would prevent us from crashing to the floor. As if this wasn't bad enough, the driver honked continously throughout the 12 hour ride to prevent any rest. And to top it off, the locals tied hammocks to the beds and swung in the aisles below us. At a certain point we just laughed at how ridiculous the entire thing was. Luckily we had some Zanex that allowed us to get a bit of sleep even in the worst of situations.

Nha Trang is a beach town and our first activity was renting a catamaran to sail up and down the shore. There wasn't enough wind to get it out of the water, but Lindsey learned how to sail a bit. Afterwards we ate lunch at beach-side Louisianne Restaurant and napped a bit on their lounge chairs. It was a relaxing start to a few lazy days here.

That night we had one of the best French meals ever at Le Petite Bistro which we highly highly recommend to anyone coming here. We're probably headed back there for our last meal in Nha Trang tonight.

The next day Steve and Lindsey took a wind-surfing lesson in the morning. Lindsey was a natural and Steve could have used a bit more wind to get going, but we both enjoyed it. Lindsey's instructor speaking English also may have helped! We're hoping to rent boards again at the next beach on our trip for some more practice.

Later that day we hooked back up with Lindsey's dad and rode bicycles through some crazy traffic to a great photographer's gallery, the Long Son Pagoda, and the Po Nagar Towers built by the Champa people. The pagoda was more impressive than anything we've seen in Vietnam so far, but still fell short of Thailand's wats.

Following this, we rode to the harbor where all of the boat trips to the surrounding islands depart. We met a boat captain and negotiated a private trip with him for the following morning. The captain had been in the South Vietnamese Airforce in '71 and was a big fan of us being Americans.

Our boat trip turned out to be fantastic and after seeing boats packed full with 40 tourists we were glad we spent the extra $20 to secure a private trip. We stopped at a two islands to do some snorkelling and despite Steve's mask not really keeping water out it was a great time (see pic). At the second site, Lindsey returned to the boat rather quickly after seeing what she thought were sea snakes, but it turns out they were some other strange harmless creature. Look at the album for some fun underwater shots.

After snorkelling we made our way to a floating fishing village. We saw some massive carp, squid, and lobsters inside their nets, and took a wobly ride in their circular boats. They wanted us to buy some seafood and have it cooked at the neighboring restaurant, but it was surprisingly expensive and we headed back to port.

Our last day in Nha Trang, we wanted to stay out of the sun as we're both a bit burnt and headed to Thap Ba Hot springs. Here we took a mud bath, sat in some spring-fed mineral pools, and relaxed a bit. For $6, it wasn't the fanciest place ever but a nice end to our time here.

Tonight we're headed to Mui Ne (aboard another sleeper bus!) to ride down sand-dunes and enjoy some more beach time!

Hoi An, Finally!

2009-03-20T11:51:00.006-04:00

Hoi An looks and feels like the Vietnamese town we imagined and had been waiting for. It's become a staple on the Vietnam tourism trail for its French and Chinese architecture, abscense of motorbike traffice, and polite people. It's also well known for its tailors and over the last 20 years has grown from having just 10 tailors to nearly 700. We stayed clear of the tailors this time!

First we walked around the French Quarter and got a tour of a traditional home by its owner who was the fourth generation in his family to live there. The house was interesting, but the man's feelings on his country were especially touching. He was the first to speak openly about communism and was optimistic that his grandchildren would experience true freedom. He also joked that the country was previously under the rule of communism, but now fell under the rule of tourism.

The next day we took a boat on the river for a closer view of the fishing.

Afterwards, we rode bikes to Cua Dai beach, got sunburnt, and ate some grilled shrimp. Walking down the beach women from each of the restaurants sprint towards you to try to convince you to eat at their venue. This has the opposite effect since the women look rather frightening convered in hats, masks, jackets, long-pants, gloves, and socks. Steve suggested to the waitress at our restaurant that they should offer a free beer with each entree instead of running after people, but they didn't seem to understand. No matter what the waitress was doing when people walked by she would drop everything, sprint 30 yards to the water and try her best. It never worked!

Back in town, Lindsey picked up a new dress from a great designer who hand-paints her own silk dresses. The artist didn't seem to market herself outside of Hoi An and Lindsey thinks it would be interesting to introduce some of these newfound designers to US botiques.

Other than that we ate some great French food (at Cargo) and just enjoyed the slow pace of the town.

Hue, Really Not That Interesting

2009-03-17T05:20:00.003-04:00

The city of Hue (pronounced way and not huey as we've heard it called) is really not that interesting. But since we've gotten some requests, here's what we saw:

Our first stop was to the Citadel and Imperial Palace, which from 1802-1945, was the imperial capital of the Nguyễn Dynasty. We weren't all that impressed with the architecure and just don't think that the temples we've seen in Vietnam are anything great-especially because of their heavy use of blinking lights. At the same time, however, we have a newfound respect for cheesy restaurants in the US for their spot-on replication. Here's one of the gates in to the palace that is respectable.

The city was also the sight of the Battle of Hue, during the 1968 Tet Offensive, which left nearly all of the grounds in ruins. The Vietnamese have only recently put effort into restoring it since they can now sell tickets to see it.

Following the citadel we took a ride on cyclos around the city to find out if we were
missing anything. It turns out we weren't, but our drivers were nice and put in a good hour of work pushing us around.

In the evening we went to a restaurant which specialized in "Imperial" food. All of the ingredients were carefully carved into peacocks or flowers, and while we still prefer Thai food, it was a fun experience.

We left Hue enroute to Hoi An, which has proved to be our favorite stop in Vietnam so far. More details to come...

Junk Boats, Choco-Pies, & Tiger Beers

2009-03-12T23:30:00.007-04:00

We returned from SaPa on an overnight train, and even though it has been a bit chilly, headed to Ha Long Bay for a two-night tour.

After a three-hour minibus ride, we boarded our junk boat and began to motor around the many limestone cliffs, and fishing villages. As an unappetizing lunch was served we began to realize (and soon confirmed) that we were placed on the cheap boat, even though we'd paid for the nice one! That just seems to be the way things happen here! Over the next few hours we sat on the roof, played cards, drank some tiger beers, and met a great couple from Ireland finishing up a six-month trip of their own.

Next we stopped at a touristy cave which was crowded and dull, and afterwards kayaked around some of the bay. We were able to get some close up views of the fishing families that literally live on the water. Unfortunately, it was a bit cold to do much swimming, but it would be an amazing place in warmer weather. We also discovered a newfound love of choco-pies, which are sold at many of the floating stores that pull up alongside boats.

The next day, we went to Cat Ba Island and took a short, but steep, hike to a peak for some great views. And after our fourth meal of fish coated in an unrecognizable sauce, we headed to Monkey Island to see, well, monkeys. After anchoring offshore we waited for a long while for a boat to bring us ashore. Steve grew impatient and dove off for a cool swim in.

The last day we boated a bit more and headed back to Hanoi. Our plan was to kill time before our evening's train trip south, but unfortunately, Lindsey began to feel dizzy at dinner and we took her to the clinic. It turns out she had a lot of fluid built up in her ears and sinuses which caused bad vertigo. Steve teased her that she should at least get a good illness like malaria or tape-worms!

So after a few days of laying low in Hanoi, and eating some great non-Vietnamesse food, Lindsey is feeling better again and we're headed to Hue for what will hopefully be warm weather.

SaPa: Fog, Rice, and Tribes

2009-03-06T19:19:00.015-05:00

We arrived in Lao Cai on the overnight train around 6am and boarded a minivan bound for SaPa. SaPa is a little mountain town close to the Chinese border with a lot of tribal and tourist influences. Vietnam has over 50 different tribes, the majority of which live in the Northern mountains. As we climbed into the mountains, we passed people dressed in tribal clothing carrying farming tools or loads of wood, but the dramatic mountain views that we expected were blocked by a thick fog. Even so, we were excited after seeing several tribes so far that just wore old nike clothes. We arrived and checked into the Cat Cat View Hotel, had breakfast looking out into the grey, and hoped it would burn off.

With the fog unchanged, we opted for a walk through town. Immediately, we were approached by three women from the Black Hmong tribe who spoke excellent English. Many people on our trip so far manage to communicate, but these women (who learned exclusevly from tourists) even had proper pronunciation--it was pretty amazing. You can't go anywhere in town without a tribal escort and as they talk to you they slowly guilt you in to buying something from them. Their favorite expression is "buy from me" so that you don't buy a similar item from a competitor. This got annoying on day 2, but it was initially a fun experience.

We walked to nearby CatCat village and as the fog began to fade we took in some great views of rice pattys, tribal homes, and the imposing mountains. This village is a bit touristy compared to others, but we were happy with anything that wasn't fog. We also saw lots of kids (some of them clothed) running around their homes.

We had a great French lunch at Baguette and Chocolat, which is a training restaurant to help underprivleded youth from the area develop cooking skills. It was a nice break from our diet of mostly Asian food thus far. (The food cravings are starting to set in and all Lindsey wants is 9th Avenue pizza.)

We also bought train tickets back to Hanoi, which as usual proved to be an experience. In Asia, it seems that most transactions that anywhere else would be very simple are instead executed by sketchy means. Because we would leave from Lao Cai (where the train station is) and not SaPa we needed to purchase our tickets from a ticket agency. He provided us with a few reciepts (not tickets) and assured us that if we waved them above our heads at the train station we would be fine. Lindsey and Steve have apparently adjusted to how thins work here and thought this seemed reasonable, but her dad had his doubts. In the end we somehow picked them up at the restaurant in Lao Cai that we ate at, but it's amazing that it worked so smoothly. They really could make things a lot easier!

After getting our reciepts, Lindsey and Steve rented a motorbike to see more of the valley and expore some of the higher roads. By this point the fog had cleared a decent amount and we got our best views.

The next day we walked to the Ma Cha and Ta Phin villages where we saw the Black Hmong and Red Dao tribes respectively. This day, however, the fog never burnt off and we spent the day walking through a cold and wet cloud. Even so, the Red Dao have some amazing tribal clothes to see. They all have very long hair that is wrapped under their red hats.

This day, however, the tribal sales gig got old and we were soon annoyed with being shadowed for hours and hours. Steve bought a scarf from one woman, which only seemed to make the second woman more desperate and upset. Apparently the concept of "you don't have anything that I like" does not translate and they demand your purchase based on the fact that they've followed you for hours. Regardless, the guilt wasn't enough to make us buy a tribal wall hanging, but we did give her a dollar (They like US money).

One purchase we did want to make was of an embroidered blanket, which proved to be an overwhelming experience. Upon looking at one blanket, blankets and saleswomen appeared from nowhere to surround us with their product. Steve pointed at the pink and purple ones and told them just to not even bother, and we eventually were able to buy one off of the least pushy girl there.

In the evening, we headed by bus back to Lao Cai where we caught the overnight train back to Hanoi. SaPa was our best experience so far seeing tribal clothing, but the town is a bit overrun with tourists. We were lucky to get a half day of nice views, but for the most part it seems to be a very damp and foggy place this time of year. We're hoping to trade in the cold fog for some sunshine on a junk boat in Halong Bay.

You may have had a problem seeing our Hanoi pictures, so if so it's fixed now. As always click any of the above pictures to access our complete online album.

Bia Hoi in Hanoi

2009-03-06T03:55:00.008-05:00

We arrived in Hanoi on the 2nd to meet up with Lindsey's dad who is joining us for the Vietnam portion of our trip. He's interested in seeing the country as a tourist after serving two tours here as an Army Ranger. The city is packed with motorbikes, markets, and salespeople and most of our time was spent walking the streets, each of which specialize in the sale of only ONE type of product. It's amusing to wak down a street completely devoted to the sale of shoes or party-favors and I can't imagine how difficult it must be to make a variety of purchases. All the walking also taught us how you cross a street (just go for it) and to dodge motorbikes.

Our first site was to Ha Lo Prison (aka the Hanoi Hilton) which was built by the French and where America POWs (including John McCain) were held during the Vietnam War. The museum mostly focused on the attrocities of the French against Vietnamese, and their exhibits on the treatment of American POWs were intense propoganda: smiling American POW faces and videos of B52s dropping bombs on schools.

We also toured the Ho Chi Minh complex, which includes his mausoleum, a museum, and some presidential houses. HCM, or Uncle Ho as he is called, is basically the Vietnamese equivalent of George Washington, because of his leadership during their fight for independence from France and people take this place very seriously. Everyone walks in single-file lines as directed my military guards, and when inside of the masoleum you aren't allowed to even have your hands in your pockets. Inside the masoleum you can see his preserved body in a Lenin-like fashion and
it's obviously pretty creepy. We learned that two months every year his body is sent abroad for restoration!

We also toured the HCM Museum, which is one of the more bizarre museums we've seen. Here's one exhbit which we especially enjoyed:

Aside from museums, our favorite activity was sitting on a corner and enjoying bia hoi with
locals and tourists. Bia Hoi is freshly brewed beer that is made without preservates and it
eant to be enjoyed immediately. It's a pretty nasty tasting drink and we quickly switched
to canned beer, but people watching on small plastic chairs is second to nothing in Hanoi. The only downside to this are the street vendors which repeadetly bother you. Check out the album for pictures of the funny things that passed us by.

Although the pho could have kept us longer, we felt the locals weren't as friendly as those we'd seen in Thailand and we boarded an overnight train to SaPa in northern Vietnam.

Riding Elephants

2009-03-03T10:01:00.006-05:00

Our last day in Pai (before heading to Vietnam) we began at Thom's Elephant Camp. Unlike the USA, Thailand lacks any kind of safety precations or instruction, and immediately we were able to pet and feed the elephants. The elephants were previously used for teak logging in the jungle which was outlawed. Our elephant was Pompaen (meaning Lovely Girl), a 19 year old female and the smallest of their group.

Soon it was time to ride the elephant and we grabbed an ear, stepped on it's leg, and not-so-gracefully pulled ourselves on top. We walked to the river and quickly realized there are more comfortable modes of transportation. Regardless, it was a pretty fun ride.

At the river, the elephant walked in and began spraying us with water, with Lindsey taking the worst of it. The trainer had her spray us, sit in the river, and do everything to drench us. The best moment was the elephant dance (kind of like bull riding) which sent Lindsey screaching and falling into the river. Steve lasted a bit longer since he knew what was coming. We have it on video, but need to get to a better internet connection to upload it. Here's a picture for now:

After the ride, we got to relax in thermally heated hot tubs before heading for a slow ride on a bamboo raft. The raft was pretty boring, but we got some close up view of bathing water buffalo.

Pai was a very relaxing place, and would have been even better without the smoke. Our next stop is Hanoi to meet up with Lindsey's dad and begin our journey down the Vietnamese coast.

Path to Recovery

2009-03-03T06:26:00.002-05:00

After hardcore trekking and Lindsey's finger injury (see previous post), we checked in to Pairadise (cheesy name, but a great hotel) for some much needed relaxation. Lindsey finally got her anti-inflamatories, soaked in the pool, and took in another massage and mani-pedi. For those in Pai, she highly recommends the massage at "IceHouse". She especially enjoyed the manicure were she was presented with a wide variety of sparkly nail polishes, manufactured by HelloKitty.

Steve got bored and "boated" around a little pond.

The only activity in these two days was a 2.5-hour Yoga class at YogaSala, Steve's first. He got a lot of enjoyment out of the instructors meditative instructions, such as "whatever it is, just be happy with it" and "awaken the tips of your nose." Yet despite the funny moments, it certainly helped to stretch out our muscles.

In the evening we saw "Milk" at a theater constructed of bamboo with a bedsheet for a screen. We laughed as mid-way through the movie a subtitle appeared: "This copy is for awards consideration only and not for public presentation." Oh well, welcome to Pai.

Two days of relaxing had offset one with Mr. Chart.

Chart vs. Wild

2009-03-02T19:18:00.007-05:00

Meet Mr. Chart, the Northern Thailand equivalent to television's 'Man vs Wild' survivalist Bear Grylls. Having read great things about Mr. Chart online, we arranged for a two-day overnight trek through the jungle to a remote Lisu village where we'd overnight and get a closer look at village life. What we really got was our butts kicked.

Around 8am, we arrived at Mr Chart's office (and home) where we were quickly offered breakfast. But Chart (apparently his first, last, and nick name) doesn't serve the standard fare, and quickly pulled out jungle ferns (yes, ferns) and a whole chicken, head, claws, and all. We embrace the strangeness of eating ferns, staring at a chicken head, and sitting on a plastic floor as we dig in. It was actually pretty good, but aside from the ferns, we begin to pick up on some odd things: 1) he named his son bamboo because he liked bamboo, and 2) he has a bag of raw boar meat (which he hunted in the jungle) and which he plans to carry all day for food. We look at each other happy we'd brought clif bars and snickers.

After a quick ride in the back of a pick-up, we start our journey at 9am and head into the woods at an aggressive pace. Chart leads the way, wearing what are basically slippers, and we quickly learn that he has been a Muay Thai boxer since the age of 7, hinting it's going to be a tough day. An hour into the hike, we arrive at the edge of the jungle and Chart offers whiskey to god(s?) to protect us at a makeshift shrine.

The next portion of the hike crossed back and forth across a stream and required a lot of footwork on slippery rocks to stay dry, which needless to say, we didn't. A few hours into the hike, Lindsey took a bad fall on one of the rocks and slammed her fist into another rock badly hurting a finger. Not sure if it was broken or just badly bruised, we stopped to treat it.

Unfortunately, Steve had knocked out the power in our bungalow the night before (which wasn't fixed!) and had forgotten the medical pack with normal things like ibuprofen and tape that could have really helped at this point. But we were confident that Mr. Chart had some supplies to help. Confidence couldn't have been more misplaced as he pulled out tigerbalm which he guaranteed can treat anything. Lindsey was not happy and in a lot of pain, but she continued on.

Another 2 hours of trekking (4 total so far) we stopped for lunch, having already taken in a quick break at a remote waterfall. Chart offered us some pickled (raw) boar, which we both declined and we stuffed ourselves with sticky-rice and clif bars. Steve made some safe drinking water with his steripen gadget, while Chart, on the other hand, just about shoved his face in the river and started drinking, assuring us it was safe. We opted for the steripen.

As lunch ended, Chart told us: "now hard part, morning trail for villagers and animals, next trail only Chart use." Given that we already felt it was a pretty difficult hike, we were a bit concerned and we quickly discovered that by "hard part" he meant we'd be following a 4 inch path up near-cliffs, down slippery stretches of gravel, and through thick jungle. It was an incredibly difficult hike and even more so for Lindsey who was unable to grip with her right hand. Yet despite how hard it was we thought that lots of people do this with Chart so we were just being a bit whimpy.

By about 3pm we reached a high elevation corn field and figured we must be getting close to the village. As we sat down for a break, Chart said "New York" and simply laughed. The 43 year-old was kicking our butts. Chart showed us some pottery fragments in the fields from a 1000-year old people and let us rest for 5 minutes. Here we found out that we were an hour and a half out from the village.

We continued uphill, climbing to 1800m and passed our first villager, 'Sam' who was out hunting for squirrel. Another hour later we stopped for our final break and found out the big secret. Instead of changing Chart's usual 3-day, 2-night trek to accomodate our 1-night requets, he just combined two days of hiking into one day. He was very excited about the time that we had made covering 30km and climbing to 1800m. We were utterly exhausted.

At 4:15, we arrive at the Lisu village and were welcomed by mean barking dogs that Chart shot at with a slingshot he had crafted in the jungle. He tells us that we have hiked all the way to the Burmese border and that the Thai army was just over the hill protecting the border. We snapped a few pictures and quickly made our way to a bench where we'd rest for the majority of the evening.

Village life was not what we had imagined. We both envisioned a rather romantic concept where the community would work together and take a lot more pride in their community than a modern society does. But this wasn't the case and it really just seemed like seperate households trying to survive: doors were locked, there was garbage throughout the area, and each family cooked for their own. The floors were dirt, livestock wandered freely (including inside the houses) and we wondered what kept people living in this manner.

As we sat and rested, Steve was invited into a house with four men squatting around a small fire eating and drinking. He had a bite of black-chicken (a gross looking animal, but tastes like regular chicken) and some shots of gasoline-powered whiskey (Samsong brand). Here he learned that no one knows how old they are in the village and they typically just say 'I was born in the rainy season' or the dry season, which occur annually. He also met a man who claimed to only shower during the wet season. He quickly left and returned to the bench for more rest.

In the evening, we slept in a house with bamboo walls, dirt floors, chickens, bags of corn/rice, and a chicken-feet door ornament. Yet despite how filfthy it all seemed, the people were kind and lit us a fire to stay warm, which typically isn't done. For dinner, Chart made some more pork dishes (we declined again) and a nice chicken soup which we devoured.

Before dinner we also made more water with the Steripen and a few villagers gathered around in awe of modern technology as Mr. Chart explained it to them in their tribal language.

We went to sleep, hoping that Lindsey's finger would feel a bit better by morning and praying there weren't any fleas in the bed. We managed to get some sleep until about 5am when we were woken up by roosters.

We always thought that roosters did their noise once when the sun came up, but in reality they do it continually for about 5 hours. And when the village has about 100 roosters, this means you just don't sleep after sunrise. It was the most annoying alarm clock the world has ever known.

In the morning Lindsey's finger was still quiet swollen and painful and we decided to hike out to a road and take a truck back instead of risking her falling on it again. Even though this day's hike was supposedly easier, the tigerbalm just hadn't done much to help surprisingly enough! We hiked uphill (even more!) to a road where we caught a 1.5hr ride back to Pai in search of some ibuprofen and some serious recovery. Hiking on the road Lindsey got a great picture of Steve and Chart:

One day of Chart had proven to be enough, and the village stay was a bit more than we were prepared for! For anyone considering Chart here's our advice: bring your own food and medical supplies, and opt for three days of trekking.

Relaxation time!

Pai, Ride of Death

2009-02-25T07:19:00.013-05:00

Wednesday morning we boarded a minivan for a three hour drive to Pai without a full understanding of what we were getting ourselves in to. We soon realized this was no ordinary bus ride as the driver flew around pinhair turns up the mountanside at 60+mph. These were windy roads that turned both of our stomachs and sent us back and forth across our seats. The drivers technique, especially passing on the opposite side of the road around sharp turns terrified us throughout the trip. Lindsey nearly vomited on Steve. It was a ride we were both happy to be done with as we arrived in Pai. (btw, we are taking it again back to Chiang Mai so we obviously deserve it!)

Steve was a bit disappointed upon arriving as much of the coffee fields have recently been burnt and the valley was filled with smoke. While you can see the mountains, it is only through a thick haze, and we're hoping it fades to catch some of the views we had seen online.

Next we checked out a few places to stay along the river and chose a riverside bungalow where no one seems to speak a word of English--actually rare so far on our trip! Then we walked through town and arranged activities for the next few days. Steve was amazed he got Lindsey to agree to a hardcore trek with Mr. Chart (just check out the website) and Lindsey is ecstatic that she's booked to ride and bathe elephants.

We rented another motorbike (this one even cheaper!) and headed to a remote waterfall and canyon. It certainly wasn't the most impressive nature we've ever seen, but was still nice to be outside on a beatiful day--it's a bit cooler here.

It was a bit dusty...

On the way back we checked out a new hotel to try out after we get back from our trek, then picked up some Singhas to sip next to the river before dinner. As we walked into town for dinner the town had come alive. Earlier it seemed as if it were completely tourists, but at night there was more local flavor. For dinner we tried an entire platter of various thai dishes at Laan Taung and enjoyed talking about it with our newfound cooking knowledge. Finally we headed home to rest for our trek that would end up being quiet an adventure.

I Cook Thai in Chaing Mai

2009-02-24T06:35:00.011-05:00

Our second day in Chiang Mai we spent in a full-day cooking course at Baan Thai Cooking School where we learned to prepare customary Thai dishes. After being picked up at our hostel, our first stop was to a local farmers market where we learned about the different Thai produce and starches. Our class of eight stood out among the locals, but we really enjoyed learning more about the funny things we'd seen since Bangkok. The Thai enjoy very literal names for their ingredients and some of our favorites are Mouse Shit Chilies (because they look like mouse shit apparently) and ear mushrooms, which definitely look and feel like someone's ear! Steve never takes any normal market pictures, so here's another gross one.

We picked up the ingredients we'd need for our six courses and headed outside of Chiang Mai to the Baan family home. It was a beautiful setting with an organic garden and fish pond surrounding our outside seating and cooking area. All that was missing was a hammock for our soon to be realized food-coma. They even welcomed us with a plate of some of the fruits we had just learned about. Jack fruit (the yellow one) tastes like laffy taffy.

Throughout the day we made a stirfry, appetizer, soup, curry paste, curry dish, and dessert--and ate all of it! The dishes were spaced throughout the day so that we could make room to stuff ourselves course after course. We learned certain techniques like rolling out a Thai lime makes them sweeter and less bitter, how to make curry paste from hand (it takes a lot of physical effort), and all the herbs that are fantastic for flavor but will make you sick if you eat them.

The dishes turned out great, we met some nice people from Scotland, Quebec and California, and we took home a complete recipe book. We're excited to cook a Thai feast for you all upon our return, complete with our new favorite beer: Singha!

After cooking Steve did some work online planning the next leg of the trip and Lindsey took in another $5 massage. Life is tough! Late at night, our hunger returned and we returned to Lemontree for a small $4 meal.

Next stop Pai, Thailand for trekking, elephants, and the remote countryside.

As usual, click on any of the above pictures to navigate to our complete online album.

Chiang Mai, $9 Rent-a-Bike!

2009-02-24T06:01:00.004-05:00

Despite arriving a few hours late to Chiang Mai (took us 16 hours!), we were energized to seize the day, and didn't yet know it, but were about to crush all existing budget records. We checked in at the Bluehouse ($9/night), rented a motorscooter for $9, added $2 of gasoline, and headed for the summit that overlooks Chiang Mai. A few clif bars, some nuts, and strawberrys kept us going as Steve tried not to send us off a cliff on the windy road.

We passed waterfalls along the way and upon reaching the summit, saw a sign for a Hmong village. Not certain on daylight, we took our chances and descended the other side of the mountain into their valley. The village children came out to see us, chickens and piglets were everywhere, and dogs chased Lindsey around. Steve was offered a giant glass of whiskey to have with the locals and tasted a very small sip (definetly not jameson quality). It was an incredible sight and the highlight of our day. We were glad we took the chance to see it.

We quickly sped down the mountainside on no gas and lot of brakes to arrive back at our hotel. We headed for dinner (our first real meal of the day) at a nearby family joint (Lemontree). The food was incredible and for $6 we feasted on what you see here. It would have been $4! but we splurged for a tasty Singha beer.

Afterwards, Steve caved in and bought a very very cheap Asian laptop to stay out of internet cafes. While it was a good purchase in the end, it did take about two hours to learn how to type in English!

Our first day in Chiang Mai was complete paradise after the chaos of Bangkok. It was one of our favorite days thus far.

A special thank you goes out to Matt Borgman, who generously funded (via donate button!) nearly our entire day. We tried to stretch it as far as we could and for the price of 3 Manhattan beers, think we got the biggest bang for his buck.

As always, to see more pictures click on any of the above pictures to navigate to our complete online album.

Final Observations on Bangkok

2009-02-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

We've never seen so much food in our lives. Everyone, everywhere is making or eating food. We can't imagine what happens to all of it at the end of the day or if it could possibly all be consumed!

There was a lot of prayer. We wern't sure if people do pilgrimages to the many wats in Bangkok or if they were strictly locals, but people prayed everywhere: wats, make-shift temples on street corners, in parks, etc. People would bow to a two inch buddha when entering a massage place and we easily (Without exageration) saw 5k buddhas in our 3 days. It was a bit shocking and we almost felt uncomfortable not doing it.

The city as a whole lacks proper mass transit, housing and other things that really could improve their quality of life. Steve joked that if you reallocated all the effort and rescources that went into building gold covered buddhas and temples you could have a pretty comfortable city! Just about every corner had this many powerlines.

There was a heavy police/military presence, which surprised us for buddhist nation. Tibet, clearly buddhist, was easily taken over by China simply because they didn't have any army because they were committed to buddhist teachings, and Thailnd contrasted quite a bit by appearance. Maybe we need to do some more wikipedia reading on Thailand politics and history, but if anyone has the cliffnotes version, we'll take it.

There we also lots and lots of pictures of the King all over town. Reminded Steve of Maoist China.

That's all, just a few thoughts!

Bangkok: Palace and Napkins

2009-02-24T05:45:00.008-05:00

On Sunday we woke up early and headed for the Grand Palace, but in long pants this time. Again we took the water taxi and felt a bit like pros explaining how it worked to the next round of foreigners. While waiting for the taxi, we fed the fish, which literally filled every inch of the river below us.

Arriving at the palace, we were taken by its over-the-top design. Oppulent buildings fill every bit of space within the walls and each building is covered in intricate gold inlay, paintings, and tiling. It was amazing to see and gratifying to finally be someplace younger than America (Bangkok is only 200 years old). Also inside the palace is the Emerald Buddha (actually solid jade), but very impressive. The buddha has apparently been taken from country to country as the result of different wars which we found ironic given the peaceful religion. We moved quickly through the sites as it was over 90 degrees and we we're in long pants!

Out of the palace, we detached our convertible pant legs (we love gear) and proceeded to Wat Pho, home to the Reclining Buddha. The buddha is absolutely massive (150 ft long) and it's mother-of-pearl feet are the most impressive part with intricate designs telling various buddhist stories.

Since we'd come in under budget the previous day, and had been sacrificing meals to see more sites, we treated ourselves to a feast at The Mandarin Oriental for all of $30! It was a great feeling to dine with napkins and air conditioning!

Sunday night we headed off on a 13 hour (ended up being 16!) overnight train to Chaing Mai eager to see some country side and get out of the city.

Bangkok was the craziest city either of us had ever seen. We walked a lot, sweated more, got Wat fatique, started tuk-tuk arguements, cringed at markets, and loved it. That being said, we're happy to be in the country now.

As always, to see more pictures click on any of the above pictures to navigate to our complete online album.

Bangkok Day 2, How Much You Pay?

2009-02-23T12:53:00.005-05:00

Saturday morning we headed for the massive 10,000-booth Chatuchak Market. While a lot of it was junky, there were an impressive number of actual botique designers and antique dealers that really seemed to run a good business from a hot and dirty marketplace. There was also more street food here, a smell to behold, and Steve's favorite thing to photograph.

After the market we snuck in one-hour massages (@ $5 each!), then walked to Khoa San Road to see where the tourists and backpacker crowd congregate. Here we ate some Pad Thai prepared on the street for $1/each, which was actually pretty tasty!

Next we opted to avoid tuk-tuk drivers and walked to the train station to purchase tickets for the next evening's journey onwards. To fully understand why we opted for an hour plus walk through the heat, we first need to explain how Bangkok works.

Tuk-Tuk drivers generally pick up westerners and instead of taking them to the requested destination, drive them to an assortment of businesses that pay for their gasoline if they bring in customers. These include tailors, travel agencies, restaurants, etc. It takes extremely direct language to get your way with a driver, and we felt our New York impatience helped us a bit in dealing with them.

Anyways, en route to the train station we walk through the largest and most chaotic Chinatown we'd ever seen. We also passed Wat Traimit, which holds a solid-gold Buddha weighing over five tons.

After picking up train tickets, we headed to the night market and strolled through Bangkok's Patpong red light district, not the least bit interesting.

Our biggest amusement of the day was the Bangkok local's favorite question: "How much did you pay?" Everyone you talk to, concerning any purchase will ask you. Massage, food, bus, tuk-tuk, taxi, tailor, hotel: how much did you pay? We couldn't stop laughing at their obsession with the market. We also began to tell them ridiculous prices to see their reactions.

At day's end we were proud of seriously coming in under budget. $20 on hotel, $6 breakfast, $10 on massages, $5 on water, $2 dinner! Not bad for having a great day.

Bangkok, Ro Noy

2009-02-21T01:39:00.023-05:00

Welcome to Bangkok , overfilled with bubbling pots of food, harrasing tuk-tuk drivers, stray animals, and warm smiles. Writing this having already left the city we have some interesting impressions of the place, but we'll save those for a seperate post. Here's what we saw...

After a red-eye flight from Dusseldorf and a stop at our hostel the Shanti Lodge (nice enough), our first stop was to the Grand Palace. We got lost among the alleys, wandered through a market and some pretty desperate neighborhoods in our attempt to find the river ferrys and Lindsey began to wonder what Steve was getting her in to. Her tension peaked when a man emerged from his shack, covered head to toe in buddhist tattoes, and kindly directed us towards the pier. It was a great first impression of the locals. The wander also allowed us a chance to see (and smell) some of those meals best kept to the Travel Channel, which are documented in the pictures (click a pic to get to entire album).

When we arrived at the Palace, we were rejected for innapropriate attire (shorts!) and opted to return another day, rather than wear plastic borrowed pants. Walking across the street, a university student began chatting with us and telling us the lesser known sites to see. He took our map, drew stops on it, then negotiated a price (60 baht / $2) with a tuk-tuk driver for us. He spent well over ten minutes talking with us and we couldn't imagine a New Yorker ever doing the same. The Tuk-Tuk driver was to take us to each stop on the map, and at the final stop we would pay him. This technique (known as "Ro Noy" apparently), was the student's greatest help.

So off we went with the stranger's tour guide to Bangkok. The first stop was at one of Bangkok's scores of Wats, (buddhist monestaries), and we began to get a closer look at the architecture, buddha images, and monks. Next we stopped at a tailor, which (and this has been 3 times corroborated by non tuk-tuk drivers!) was only open to foreigners for one week and generally requires a governemnt ID card. Steve picked up a sports-coat and Lindsey orderd a 60s'-mod coat of Thai silk, which may or may not turn out. Next we stopped at Wat Intharawihan, home the 100ft giant standing buddha (see below), and lastly stopped to walk the stairs of the Golden Mount where we rang the bell three times for good luck. It was a fun couple of hours, and a well spent $2.

At night we headed to see Muay Thai boxing at Lumphini Stadium. We laughed when we saw the actual "stadium", complete with folding chairs and a sheet-metal roof, but couldn't have enjoyed it more. The heavy-weights were 145lbs with zero percent body-fat, but the true stars were the 60-80lbers. The locals are incredibly animated and gamble with each other in the same way wall street pit traders work, pretty funny.

We have so much more to tell you about the rest of Bangkok and promise to get another post out tonight! Also, for those of you that haven't seen all the pictures, click "pictures" on the right hand side of the site to navigate to our complete online album.

Be The Beer

2009-02-19T02:38:00.012-05:00

Our last day in Amsterdam we walked around some of the different neighborhoods, Jordaan and De Pijp, before heading to the Heineken Brewery. The highlight of the experience was the "be the beer" video where you were sprayed with water, and stood under heating lamps to understand the beer making process. Oh, and we got to drink beers.

In the evening, we picked up some sausages at the market and Dior cooked us a great German dinner, before we headed out to Xtracold, a bar inside of a freezer constructed of ice blocks. Granted it was a bit cheesy, but since we're headed to Bangkok tomorrow it's probably our last chance for ice.

Afterwards we played pool and had pastries at a local coffee shop. We'll miss Dale and Dior, but especially the following munchies that we recommend if ever in Amsterdam: chocomel, stroopwafels, and ollieboelen.

Our lasting impression of Amsterdam is that it caters to Americans and actually felt less foreign than London. It's a beautiful city in terms of canals and houses, but also has a lot of American influences that detract a bit from that. On the whole we enjoyed it, but can't say we really did a whole lot that could be considered Dutch.

Next stop Bangkok!

Clogs, Cheese, Wind, and Water

2009-02-17T10:54:00.009-05:00

Tuesday morning we (and Dior!) headed on a bus just outside of Amsterdam. Our first stop was Zaanse Schans, which is an industrial area with over 700 windmills still in use. There we learned about making the traditional wooden clogs, gouda cheese, and using a windmill to make peanut oil or cut lumber. Granted it was really touristy, but who goes to Holland without seeing clogs and windmills?!

On the bus ride we learned more about the dyke system that keeps people living in a nation that's over half under sea level. Next we stopped in Edam, a medieval town, famous for its namesake cheese. It was quaint and gave us a good picture of rural life in Amsterdam--we also got some cheese!

Our last stop was in Volendam, a fisherman's village that was pretty overrun with touristy places, but lay alongside a manmade lake that was formed when they created a 30km dyke across the sea.

At night we ate peking duck with Dale and Dior at Oriental City which we recommend, followed it up with a stroll through the Red Light district (not that crazy after all), and lastly played pool and listened to live music at WaterHole (fun american-ish bar with live music nightly).

TIA, This is Amsterdam

2009-02-16T15:40:00.012-05:00

Sunday night we landed in Amsterdam after a quick 45 minute flight from London. checked into the ITC Hostel, and called it a night. (for fellow travelers ITC was fine, but not the best)

Monday morning we headed to the Van Gogh Museum in the rain and were able to catch a special exhibit of his works from around the world. Steve was impressed to learn that his well known style wasn't established until the last two years of his life, and so easily could have never happened! We saw Starry Night (usually at the MOMA), and one of his sunflower works, among many other impressive pieces.

After the museum we grabbed lunch (Max Cafe--great place), and took a canal cruise around the city. It wasn't the best tour, but we were able to see some great homes, a LOT of bicycles, and plenty of water. One interesting, and a little bit gross detail, is that the house boats release their waste into the canals which are flushed out weekly! Eww!

Next we met up with our hosts, Dale and Dior at their new home on Kerkstraat before having a great dinner of ribs at Castell. Again, the diet is beginning in Asia.

Cymru vs Lloegr Rugby

2009-02-15T10:44:00.023-05:00

Saturday morning we took a bus to Cardiff, Wales for the sole purpose of watching a rugby match between Wales and England (in Welsh, "Cymru v Lloeger"). Steve was especially excited, having played rugby for many years. Lindsey traded the typical Valentine's Day (and anniversary of our first date) to drink beers with Welsh barbarians. When we arrived in Wales the city was abuzz with revelers and each pub was overflowing, although Lindsey made sure to mention that LSU tailgating is better.

We noticed that Cardiff is a rather industrial city and seems to have more of a club-scene than pubs. Additionally, the locals have a certain attire that reminded us of South Jersey at its worst (see pics). We were quickly able to buy some overpriced tickets off a scalper and breathed a sigh of relief that we hadn't come 4 hours to sit in a bar. Over the next hour we had beers on the street, people-watched, and procured some Wales scarves.

When we finally entered Millennium Stadium and took our seats we were pleased that we had managed to buy front row tickets and were just yards from the field. We had a close up view of warm-ups, saw the Welsh band, and the mascot sheep (with which the welsh boys apparently have a bad reputation)

Both teams sang their national anthems and we were impressed with the vigor with which they belt it out. The match saw Wales triumph, and throughout it the crowd continued to sing various national songs.

Following the match we opted for room service rather than fighting the crowds and called it an early night.

Sunday we returned to London (but not without first missing our bus), packed up, and headed to Amsterdam. We can't believe that only a week has gone by and we have another adventure waiting for us in Holland!

Notting Hill, Not Just a Film!

2009-02-15T10:42:00.021-05:00

On our last full day in London the only real thing of interest was a visit to Notting Hill, home to the famous Portobello Street Market. The road began with small colorful row houses, turned to a collection of English sporting antique shops, continued with cheese and vegetable stands, and ended at Portobello Green with a wide selection of vintage clothing, shoes, jewelry and furs. Lindsey thought it was the most magical place in the world and to Steve's amazement didn't by a single thing--she either wants to save money to make it to Fiji, or realizes she'll have to carry it the whole way!

After the market we walked about the different neighborhoods, admiring the architecture and bright colors.

We ended the evening with a feast at Hunan in Pimlico with 15 of Matt's friends. Hunan, lacks a menu and instead continuously brings dishes out the entire evening. We learned that "no awfuls" means not to serve any hearts, tripe, feet, etc--and were thankful for it. Nevertheless, we were a bit adventourous and tried sea urchin, frog legs, and eel!

We ended the night at a martini bar drinking freshly crushed rasberry and mint vodka martinis before calling it a night. It was a nice and relaxing last day in London as we looked forward to Cardiff.

Special thanks to Matt and Isabelle for being such fantastic hosts!

Let Them Eat Beef

2009-02-13T11:23:00.014-05:00

We grabbed a quick breakfast en route to the Tower of London. The Tower, built in 1078, wasn't just a prison, and over the years has served as a fortress, royal palace, prison, armory, treasury, mint, zoo, and tourist attraction. We enjoyed an animated tour from a Yeoman Warder (aka Beefeater) who explained much of the castle's history and details of the most famous executions, including that of Anne Boleyn and other wives of Henry VIII. We walked through Bloody Tower (where Elizabeth I was held), sat in a small chapel that holds the remains of over 3000 headless bodies who had been executed on Tower Hill, and took in a good view of Tower Bridge from the outer wall.

We were also able to view the Crown Jewels, including a 530ct diamond, which Lindsey was in awe of and Steve was pleased was not for sale. The only letdown was the museum inside the White Tower, which was under renovations and lacked its normal supply of armor and torture devices.

One interesting surprise was that the Beefeaters actually live on the Tower premises with their families and each night they are locked in ceremoniously at 10pm, which tourists can view. It must be a pretty eerie place to live.

From the Tower, we headed to the centuries-old Smithfield's Meat Market for lunch with some of Steve's old Merrill colleagues at 'Smiths'. Lindsey highly recommends the BLT and we figured the meal was fitting for our time with the Beefeaters.

In the evening, Matt and Isabelle prepared dinner for us and his sister and brother-in-law and were kind enough to open a bottle of 96 Vintage Dom Perignon. (They're leaving the country and drinking everything they have left!)

Following dinner Matt and Steve donned plastic guitars and whaled away on guitar hero until the wee hours, powered by some rather potent tequila.

Hogwarts and Beers

2009-02-12T13:22:00.030-05:00

Day 3 was an early rise and London to Oxford by double-decker bus was an easy ride.

We started out climbing a spiral staircase up the Carfax Tower to get a view of the town, and next headed to Christ Church College, where various Harry Potter scenes were filmed. Again, we were amazed by the history of the place and laughed that the school, founded in 1546 is far older than America. Next, we toured Magdalan College for some similarly impressive architecture and a nice collection of deer. Lindsey walked around whispering, in a sixth-sense voice, "I see smart people." We saw a few others places including Bodleian Library (also in Harry Potter), but began to get bored at the various collections of stacked rocks.

Thus, we began the pub tour. The day had again been bitterly cold, and we headed to the only pub with a fireplace for our first beverage. Sipping away, we were befriended by Joe Williams, a slow-speaking, but friendly Englishman. Lindsey and Steve laughed about the pace and manner of the English and were reminded of a favorite Eddie Izzard skit, that contrasts American and British movies.

After a slow chat, Joe volunteered to walk us to our next bar, a favorite of his, which proved to be our favorite. The bar, Eagle and Child, was once frequented by CS Lewis and JRR Tolkein, who spent hours drinking beers and discussing their writings. Lewis taught at nearby Magdalan. We enjoyed having drinks in the seats the authors of Narnia and Lord of the Rings once sat in, and reading the note they once left the owner; a toast to his health. We also acknowledged our complete lack of creativity relative to the old regulars.

From here, we hopped to another of Joe's recommendations: The White Horse, so named for a policeman's horse who held back the crowds after a rambunctious 1923 championship match at Wembley.

Finally, the time had come to return to London, again by bus and we got in a good nap and an iPod episode Faulty Towers (really sticking with the English thing).

Back in London we ate in Chinatown, for a meal that started out great and ended pretty poorly, before returning home. On the walk back I snapped a few pictures of the London Eye and parliament.

London Day 2: Tourists to the Max

2009-02-12T11:41:00.024-05:00

After oversleeping way too late as a result of the evening detailed below, we set out for a closer look at Big Ben and Parliament. It turns out, contrary to Clark Griswald, there isn't a traffic circle near it. Nevertheless it is still impressive as the world's largest four-faced chiming clock and we've enjoyed hearing it throughout our time here.

Next we headed to Westminster Abbey, which was thus far been the highlight of the trip. The abbey in one form or another has occupied the site since 600 AD, and is the burial place of over 3300 monarchs, poets, scientists, and others. It has also been the site of all 38 coronation ceremonies, the last being Queen Elizabeth II. As we wandered around the cold halls, we especially enjoyed the 13th century mosiac tile floor, the tombs of Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Edward Long-shanks, Darwin, and Charles Dickens, the coronation chair used for all 38 ceremonies, the altar where all state funerals (including Diana's) are held, and lastly the impressive architecture and stained-glass. It was especially meaningful for Lindsey who was able to light a candle for her grandmother, Vida Broussard, who was buried the same day in Baton Rouge. The history and beauty of the abbey is daunting.

From the abbey, we walked to Buckingham Palace (the queen was home!) and had a look at the guards. Unfortunately, they were more green beret looking than you might think and there were no red coats or funny tall hats to be seen. Apparently, the scary guards are there when the Queen is home, and the tourist-looking guards are there when she is away.

A couple pictures and we strolled past the Spencer House (childhood home to Diana) and the St. James Palace (home to Prince Charles). Continuing through St. James Park, we reached Bond Street, site of high-end labels for Lindsey to window shop. Steve was shocked at multiple Cartiers on a single block.

Next we headed down Regent St to the Times Square of London, Piccadilly Circus. Pretty awful and we continued onwards at top-speed, stumbling upon a two-block Chinatown covered in lanterns.

For dinner we met up with Matt again in East London, having a quick drink at The George (a fantastic barebones bar by the way), stopping for another at the Old Royal Stock Exchange, and then heading to a Indian/Pakistani/Bangladesh restaurant (there was some severe confusion on this). Matt shared some great history on the stock exchange, which originally lacked a ceiling or windows, and now shops and restaurants have replaced the dirt floors where farmers and locals once traded everything under the sun.

Finally, we headed home and began to plan out day 3 before some much needed sleep.

A London Welcome of Cold & Rain

2009-02-11T18:44:00.035-05:00

Red-eye to Heathrow, tube to London, and a walk through the cold rain to our first temporary home: exhausted and cold is the best way to describe day 1 in London. Nevertheless, as we turn the corner to our friend, Matt's flat, the sight of Parliament, Big Ben, and the Thames justified the cold and we realized the trip had begun. (Side story: Lindsey mistook "No1 Albert St" for "NOT Albert St", and narrowly kept us searching for another flat)

After dropping off our packs, and three bottles of duty-free liquor, our first objective was a traditional, and large English brekkie with a whole lotta coffee! Eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, toast, and taters hit the spot, and gave us a much needed boost of energy... clearly the diet has yet to begin.

Three pounds heavier, we trudged up the river-walk through continuing rain past the London Eye (big ferry wheel) to the Tate Museum of modern art. While museums were not the number one thing on our list, it was a warmer alternative to nature. While it did house a nice collection of Pollocks, Picassos, and Kandinskys, we both felt it fell a bit short, although with free-entrance it's hard to go wrong.

From the Tate, we crossed the futuristic Millennium Bridge to the north side of the Thames and strolled up narrow streets toward St. Paul's Cathedral. After a brief look inside, we accepted our jet-lag, but determined to save money, began the 3 mile walk back home.

A solid nap prepped us for the night's activities and we shared dinner with our hosts Matt and Isabelle in the Covent Garden neighborhood, tried out London's oldest pub (the Lamb & Flag), ate some fish & chips, and eventually joined forces with Steve's previous Iraqi-Scottish roommate, Ali (aka A-L-I). Back to the pub--we laughed that we could drink beer in a bar that was 100s of years older than our own country.

At the end of the night we all ended up at Matt's flat, popped some champagne, and embracing Matt's Moroccan heritage, lit the hookah. Matt, in fact, felt the evening was so special, that he graciously uncorked a bottle of his wedding champagne, Andre (MSRP $7).

The night ended around 3am, after a bit of river-dancing, too much champagne, and just enough London. We're off to a good start.

p.s. We're still sorting out how to best upload and share all our pictures so you'll see more in a few days.

Where Exactly Are We Going?

2009-02-04T19:47:00.010-05:00

Here's the target itinerary that we've planned. We won't be sticking to this exactly, but if anyone wants to join us for part of the trip, this gives you a rough idea of when we'll be somewhere. If you are in fact hoping to join us we'll adjust or stick to the schedule as required. It would be amazing to share parts of the trip with our friends so please let us know! You can see where these places are by clicking on the google map to the right.

For the Wild at Heart, Trapped in Cubes

2009-02-03T22:43:00.003-05:00

We hope to keep everyone entertained and involved in our trip through this blog!

We're both excited to see new places, eat new foods, explore new cultures, and share them with you through our witty commentary, graphic pictures, and PG-13 movies.

We've left our jobs, family, friends, apartment, dog, and hygienic products behind. We now go...

into the wild (with only two back-packs)!

One more thing, if you miss being able to buy us a beer or a bite, you can still donate above!