“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until she comes home and rests her head on her old, familiar pillow.”

Well, we're here....we landed in Edmonton late last night greeted by Vinny's smiling face (the airport pick up guy!) It was a long, painful journey home, and the snoring symphony in our hostel for the two nights prior to our departure did nothing to help us ease into the journey ahead! We were able to collectively sleep two hours in those two nights in that hostel. We woke up at 3:30 in the morning to go the the airport in Singapore to fly to Hong Kong. As much as we had grandiose plans to do some sight seeing in Hong Kong, a few snapped pics of some big buildings used all the energy up that we could muster, and we resorted to a pub for a beer and back to the airport to await the plane taking us back to Canada. 

For some reason, when we checked in there were only single seats available (Even though we checked in three and a half hours before departure!)...so for the twelve hour flight ahead, Leif and I sat beside complete strangers! I managed to snag myself a sweet seat with a ton of leg room, but as soon as I sat down I realized how ridiculous I was being as Leif's legs are quite literally twice as long as mine.  Ever the gentleman though, he refused to switch with me as he wanted me to sleep, and I was able to sneak in four more hours of much needed sleep...and Leif watched a total of seven movies....and didn't sleep a wink!

Then twelve painful hours later, we arrived in Vancouver...the three hour layover there went pretty fast though, and before we knew it we had landed in Edmonton!  Being home so far is a wee bit strange. What happened to....

• tuk-tuks?
• street vendors?
• driving on the left hand side?
• disorderly traffic?
• palm tree jungles?
• beaches?
• backpacks?
• a warm breeze at night? (brrrrrr!)
• having every meal prepared for me?
• getting my laundry done for me?
• 7-11 selling beer?
• wild monkeys?
• the ocean?

Though I will miss nearly everything about SE Asia, home ain't so bad either. Leif and I will always make going on trips a priority...maybe not five month trips, but many different trips to see different parts of the world, we will plug away at seeing it till we dead and gone. 

I can't believe how much travelling has opened my eyes, packing up your life into a backpack for five months to live in another part of the world...I mean, it's bound to change a person.  Travelling  was the best way for me to learn.  I was a girl who knew NO geography, had never seen any cultures outside of North America, didn't know much world history (or had memorized it for a test, and promptly forgot it the next day), but as we travelled I read over 20 books, more than half being about history, culture, environmental issues, wars and struggles. Not only did I learn through books, but by taking it all in by visiting religious temples, war memorials, and by watching them live day to day. I realized that my way of life isn't necessarily the only way to go. They seemed perfectly content living a simple kinda life where possessions weren't everything, which I think is pretty admirable.  Cambodia was my eye opener....it'll always be that place where I had  that indescribable "moment."

Anyways, got a little deep there cuz this blog will be the end of the road for my blogging adventures.  I have enjoyed every minute of keeping everyone updated on our travels! We had the best time EVER!!! SE Asia stole a little piece of my heart!

Can't wait to eventually catch up with everyone over a glass of wine and hear about what's going on in your lives!

Love you all! xoxo

Bangkok, blargh!!!

So, in our nearly five months of travel, we have been to Bangkok now 7 times!!!!!! 7 freakin times, lol! Every time our bus comes to a stop and the driver yells out "Khaosan Road, Khaosan Road," I feel a little pang of dread. Don't get me wrong as I love every aspect of Thailand....the beaches, the lifestyle, the food, the islands, the fellow travellers, living out of a backpack...but one thing will always remain-- my dislike for Khaosan Road. Every time we get to Bangkok it is after a night bus...which means we are incredibly groggy (especially me as I am like a walking zombie in the morning). Being groggy and stepping onto Khaosan Road at 5:30 in the morning is an experience in itself. As every single night on Khaosan is a party, the street is lined with remnants of everyone's shenanigans, and of course there are the hardcore drunkies still sauntering around wondering why the party died down. Stepping back onto Khaosan after we have found somewhere to eat and fully wake up is always fun too...."You want tuk-tuk? Good price!"..."You want suit sir? Here take my card!"..."You want massage?". Yup, Khaosan has come to life again. Bangkok seven times has left me wanting this shirt, more than ever:

Other than my dislike for Bangkok (phew, good little vent sesh lol) every other aspect of our continued Thailand adventures has been amazing. Chiang Mai was a delight, a clean little city filled with great shopping and good food! We rented a bike and went to a little hippie town way up north called Pai. Leif looked it up on the internet and was convinced we must go, the man is a hippie at heart. It was awesome! It was total hippie-ville--arts, crafts, dreadlocks and rainbow hippie pants everywhere...such a cool, laid back vibe; I totally envied their carefree life! The ride there was an adventure too, uphill all the way, and a total of 762 curves in the road (no, I never counted lol).





Next up, Koh Phi Phi...we thought this island was gonna be a no go on account of our budget and the prices of accommodation there, but it is low season now and prices here have gone down....so we can go!!! We plan to beach bum it, go on a few more scuba dives, and live it up for our last few weeks of the trip!
Later gaterz!

Time To Get A Wee Bit Deep...

We hear it all the time...how lucky we are as Canadians. We have democracy, freedom of speech, and most of all peace. Obviously, I have always known that I come from a peaceful country, but it all kinda snowballed into a huge realization when I visited a place fresh out of war and civil unrest. I say "fresh out of war" like it just happened yesterday, and it didn't. Cambodia's war technically ended in the late '70's, but the effects of that war, the millions that were killed, and the ongoing struggles after it "officially" ended are still happening today.

Phnom Penh stole my heart almost immediately. The city's appeal might not appeal to everyone...the streets aren't necessarily the cleanest, the tuk tuk drivers are still lined up on every street corner saying they will give you "cheap price!", there are kids much too young begging on the streets, as well as adults, and many people walking around who have been visibly wounded by their country's struggles. If nothing else, Phnom Penh is a city that is clearly working towards getting better, step by step. It's a great place to take in a lot of culture and history if you are willing. Leif and I decided to dive right in. Our first day there, we hired a tuk tuk to take us to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum where mass amounts of people were tortured, imprisoned, beaten and starved. They have literally kept this place in almost the exact condition as when it was found, to the point where we saw blood on the floor of a jail cell. We walked around for a few hours, jail cell to jail cell, torture device to torture device...and we went back to our hotel pretty amazed and humbled at how lucky we truly are. I find myself looking at old women and old men, just wishing we spoke the same language; they all lived through such hell and survived, it would be amazing to hear just a snippit of their life story.

The next day, we dove right in again...another tuk tuk ride a few kilometers out of Phnom Penh to the Killing Fields. They couldn't have coined a better term. Walking in, you are greeted by a gorgeous pagoda. Inside though, are the skulls of about 9000 people that were found in this mass war graveyard. Pretty friggen intense to say the least. There are pathways to walk around and see where the pits holding bodies once were. The bones and clothes of many people still stick out of the ground. Walking down the path, I came across some molars just lying on the ground.

One of the best parts of the killing fields for me was hearing kids laughing and playing in either a school or a field nearby as we took it all in. We were walking through blatant evidence of the hell they had gone through, but we could hear kids laughing....it was just so awesome to hear....a much needed reminder that things are getting better.

After Phnom Penh we headed to Sihanoukville where we lazed around because Leif once again pushed his limits with tanning oil and looked much like a tomato. We found a place online where you can stay in huts shaped like mushrooms, so we made our way there, and can now say we slept in a mushroom :). We rented a bike on our last day to see some rice paddies and the countryside. Though it was a long ride and I thought I would never feel my ass again, it was pretty worth it...and fortunately, I can feel my ass again. The best part about renting a bike is being able to get out of the city and see places completely unaffected by tourism.

We took a night bus to Siem Reap and checked in at a gem of a guesthouse. To see Angkor Wat of course! We woke up at 4:30 in the morn, met our tuk tuk driver at five, and made it there for sunrise. Angkor wat is ridiculous. So gorgeous, so old, so historic. Leif and I walked around all day and put on 15 or more kilometers in flip flops, thank goodness it was somewhat overcast!

While in Cambodia, we had to decide what to do next...Vietnam or back to Thailand for the last month of our trip. After the first few days away from Thailand it kinda became obvious what we wanted to do. The second we leave Thailand, we talk about little things we miss...and after being told by a ridiculous amount of people on our trip thus far that we are crazy folk for not seeing Chiang Mai and spending as much time as we have in Thailand, we decided to give the Thai embassy a visit. It was a wee bit stressful handing over our passports for the day so they could process our Thai visas ahead of time, and it probably cost us more than it should have...but we got it done, and I am finishing this blog from our amazing little room in Chiang Mai. Sorry Vietnam, maybe next time :)

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum:

 The Killing Fields --pretty intense:

 Our mushroom hut village:

 Me documenting our bike trip around Sihanoukville:

 Sihanoukville countryside:

 

 Working in the rice fields:

 A rice field and a temple:

 Angkor Wat at sunrise:

It was apparently a holiday for monks, so there were sooo many! It was awesome!

Leif chillin' with a monk, no big deal ;)

Such ancient buildings!!

 Chillin' like Dylan :)

 Happy May Long!!! xoxo

Pix :)

Full moon fun!

Koh Samui!

Leif enjoying our culinary delights during our Thai cooking class :)

Awww yah baby, we be eating good!

Our message to the cooking class :)

Out for a delightful dinner.....

....with these peeps!

I love this place.

The hardest day of scuba, getting used to the equipment and trusting that we could actually breath underwater!

Hell ya, we're certified!!!!

Pool fun!

We're now in Cambodia, and I'm head over heels in love with Phnom Penh, seriously...head over heels!! A blog is coming soon :)

....On To The Next Chapter!

Well, where to even begin! The blog has kinda been put on the backburner after our travel buddies arrived at the beginning of April.  Ang and Thad were great travel companions, and it's already weird to not have them here with us...but I'm just glad they could meet up with us for a month :) Geeg, the magnums already miss you; and Thad, the bean bag chairs at Fizz are calling you back already!!!

Since my last blog, we've done tons! We went to the full moon party, which was only a few short days after what we still title "the craziest night of our lives." It may have been a combination of that, and the fact that we were in the mood to people watch, but the full moon party for us consisted of some buckets, a few dances, some glow paint, and a ton of people watching. Seriously, if you like to people watch, Thailand should be in your future.

A few days after the full moon party, we decided to hit up another island. Koh Samui it was! We actually did quite a bit in Koh Samui! A big highlight for Leif and I was signing up for a Thai cooking class. Seriously, we've fallen head over heels in love with the food here...to the point where Leif actually has intense curry cravings each and every day; so we had to sign up for this class! We learned how to make ALL our favorite dishes, so we will be eating GOOOOOD when we get home! We also trekked up to a waterfall, where Leif saw the demise of his camera. From what I gather, this is a trend for Leif and travelling. Plunk went his camera in the waterfall. Thankfully, we still have my camera along!  We also went for a ridiculously fancy dinner, clearly it was MUCH too fancy to fall into the category of a backpackers' budget, so for this I would like to thank Lorne E. Schreiner for treating us all to that dinner! Sheesh, my tastebuds have been spoiled!  Lastly, we went to a cabaret.  Probably something we wouldn't have done if we hadn't had a few drinks at dinner, but we went and watched many ladyboys put on a rather entertaining performance.  It was actually hilarious as all the performers were men, but such convincing women! Two of the ladyboys had us convinced they were women, that is until they talked to us after the show and their voices were clearly that of a man! lol.  Good times!

Our last island was Koh Tao. Ohhhh Koh Tao. This island is where me, Ang and Thad did one of the hardest things of our lives....got our scuba certification.  For those of you that didn't know me that well two years ago, my biggest fear in life was the ocean. I overcame that a bit when I went snorkelling about a year ago, and then we came to Koh Tao and signed up to get our scuba certification. With the help of our crazy instructor Klaus, and my big sister playing her role as we got used to the equipment, we all got certified and went for four absolutely amazing dives!!!!! To anyone that's a wee bit scared, just try it out...the end result is amazing! We saw so much stuff underwater, an entirely different world! I can't wait to go again!

After Koh Tao, it was back to Bangkok to say goodbye to Ang and Thad. We splurged and spent a day at a nice hotel there, hit up the pool and soaked up some rays, and then went to the airport the next morning to say goodbye. Leif and I caught our plane to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  The traffic here is ridiculous, people are crazy friendly, and the little kids still melt my heart. A little one year old Cambodian boy was yelling "hello" to us over all the traffic as we were driving to our hotel in our tuk tuk. Sooo cute.  I'm sure Cambodia is going to be an experience as we plan to take in a lot of the sites of the Khmer Rouge and the recent struggles of the Cambodian people. Will be sure to keep you all updated :)

Glad to hear the weather back home is smartening up! xoxo

Ps a few pics to come in the next day or so, I have had quite the battle with posting pics on this blog!!!

Thai Time!

Hey folks!

So it's been a few weeks since my last bloggy, and there's a lot of stuff that's happened and I truly can't even begin to cover it all....so I will do my best to cover the good stuff. 

Our last few days in Laos consisted of a lot of excitement for the upcoming arrival of Thad and Angie.  We decided one day to get out of the town and we rented peddle bikes and explored the countryside.  We made our way to the blue lagoon, which was just how it sounded...a vibrant blue lagoon, with a perfectly placed tree over it for jumping in and cooling off. It was so nice to get out of the town for a day, and it was the perfect way to top off our time in Laos.

We flew out of Laos on the tenth back into Bangkok, and Leif and I were faced with the one thing that has caused us stress this entire trip...really the only thing that has caused us stress this entire trip....getting a 30 day stamp in our passports at the airport! When we saw that we got our 30 day stamp, we shared a ton of high fives, and our one stressor was gone! 

Angie and Thad came a few hours later, and the butterflies in my stomach felt like crows! When they walked out of the gate, I let out a few happy tears...as did she, the waiting was over!

Bangkok can be pretty overwhelming stepping off the plane, and my poor sister was a touch overwhelmed, as I was my first time there. Fortunately, we had a stroke of luck with when they planned their trip as the Songkran Festival was going on in Bangkok starting on the 13th.  The Songkran Festival is the Thai New Years, and literally Bangkok erupts with energy and positivity.  Some shops close down for three days, and it's time for their biggest celebration of the year!  For a place like Thailand, a lot of the parties and festivals are geared towards tourists (aka full moon party), but this Songkran Festival was a place for locals and tourists to party together.  Basically, it's a huge water fight in the streets, actually it's said to be the hugest water fight in the world. Thousands piled into the streets for the party. Trucks with people in the cab drove by and dumped buckets on bystanders, hoses sprayed into crowds, and water guns were strapped over everyone's shoulders.  It was the most fun we've all ever had, seriously.  Every few meters there were tables lined with different kinds of water guns, and people refilling your water gun once you ran out. At first, we didn't have water guns and we fell victim to many people shooting us with theirs, and dumping buckets of water on us.  Ok then....game on!!!  We bought ourselves some water guns, headed off to Khoasan Road, and joined the fun.  Once we were drenched, the victims became the "dry people," in which we teamed up to ensure they were no longer dry.  The funniest were the people that honestly thought they could avoid getting wet, we made sure this didn't happen. It was just so nice to see the locals let loose and to party with them...and to get a friendly smile every time you shot someone, likely followed by getting a shot back in return. If and when I come back to Thailand, I will be sure to plan it around that festival.

We were literally in that water fight until the second we stepped on the bus to head down to Koh Phangan again.  My love of this place has been revived.  The rain that we were plagued with last time we were here has subsided, and the weather is straight outta paradise.  We're all lovin' it! 

A few days ago was Thad's birthday.  Above I explained the "funnest" time of my life, and Thad's birthday was the "craziest" time of my life. Not one I will get into on the blog, but I will be sure to explain further when we return.

Tonight is the full moon party, can't wait!

Our bike ride to the blue lagoon, just biking with some cows lol:

The blue lagoon:

About to head back into Bangkok!

The start of the Songkran festival, Thai flags lining the streets!

Game on!!!!!

Met up with Thad's buddy, Scott who said this was the most fun he's had since he was two years old!

With talcum powder on our game faces, a Thai tradition to ward off evil for the upcoming year:

Are you scared?? ;)

After a good drench fest!

Back in gorgeous Koh Phangan!

Our partners in crime!

Here's a video of the Songkran festival that someone posted on youtube...

....And an article about it as I did my best to explain, but I'm not sure if I fully captured the awesomeness...Enjoy!

http://www.thailand-travelonline.com/thailand-activities/culture-of-thailand/thailand-songkran-festival-2010-worlds-biggest-water-fight-part-2/835/

Anyways, that's all for now!!!

Keep fit, and have fun!

Sabaydee From Laos!

It's time for a Laos update!!

After an excruciating adventure to get up here, aka - two night buses, no leg room, painful sleeps, and a runny nose on my part, we finally made it into Laos!!!  Looking back, the only good thing about our night bus from hell, was the two amazing Canadian girls we ended up sitting beside on the way.  Winnipeg rules! We made sure to catch up with them after we settled in!

After we arrived in Vang Vieng, found ourselves a guesthouse, and crashed hard for the remainder of the day, the next day was tubing time! The thing to do in Vang Vieng is tube down their river. I'm quite used to Leif talking about how much everything has changed since his last southeast asian adventure, but he can't believe how much the river in Vang Vieng has changed.  When you are at the starting point, all you see is a mass amount of bars luring you to float into theirs to drink, swing, and slide.  The first three bars are the best, and people find themselves not even tubing and just bar hopping between them.  We were these people.  Tubing adventure day one consisted of MAYBE one minute in total in the water.  Luckily, we met the Winnipeg girls there, and we proceeded to have the most ridiculous day so far. Three Canadian girls on top of a picnic table belting out Bryan Adams Summer of 69...pretty awesome! Lol. We took on the challenge of the swings, Leif was a master...but I, however, somehow managed to come out with a swollen eye and missing eyelashes.  We were honestly stumped as to what the heck happened, and only a few days ago, upon reviewing the video did we put two and two together.  When I let go of the swing to plunge into the water I plugged my nose, and when I hit the water, I punched myself in the face!!! Come on eyelashes, grow back!! Lol.

After our ridiculous day on the river, Leif was "sick" the next day, and I miraculously was not!  I hung out at the pool with the Winnipeg girls and went to an irish pub with them at night.  It was so awesome to have a girls night!! I miss them already!

We were then greeted by rain....so we've been reading books, continuing on with our Solitaire tournament, and watching movies on my ipad.  The best part of our "rain" days... for me anyways, has been supper time so we can go to the restaurants playing Friends! Leif finally saw the episode where they all go to Vegas and Ross draws on Rachel and they get drunk in their hotel room, literally one of the best episodes ever ("there's that macadamia nut!!") Leif claims he is getting sick of Ross' voice, but for some reason, I can't get sick of this show!

Yesterday, the sun returned.  We scurried to the pool to try and revive our fading tans, and today we mastered tubing once again! We tubed right on past the first three bars as we really wanted to just tube down the river.  It was awesome, and the sun was amazing!

I can't believe how soon Ang and Thad will be here! I get butterflies thinking about it!  Less than two weeks left, and we're back into Thailand.  

Enjoy some pix... 

Note: The first two pictures are of Laos people trying to master English, they usually do a great job, but have made a few crucial mistakes in their menus, which I can't help but chuckle at...

Soft Dink?

Fried rice vegetables with chicken ass?

Gorgeous views!

Tubing Day One - Bar Number One...

Winnipeg Girls!!!!

Pool Day!

Leif mocking how I sit! Lol

Tubing Take Two!

Awww luxury, keep paddling Leif! ;)

That's all for now!!!! Hope everyone back home is enjoying the warmer weather, miss you all! xoxo