Hi all!
We're back in California, looking for an apartment and on our way to becoming real people. I posted 60 of my favorite shots from Asia on Facebook, and supposedly this link will let even non-Facebookers see the album (but if there are problems, please please let me know). Enjoy!
http://ucla.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2171830&l=aa076&id=2504404
Monday, May 28, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Pictures!
Hi! Quick catch up: had fun diving, it poured all day. Phi Phi islands were fun too, it was pretty choppy, but fun. I had a great birthday, had cake and champagne sent twice (from Mom on my birthday, and from Jon on the day we celebrated my birthday.) The day itself was nice and quiet, we had a lovely Italian dinner at one of the other hotels. To celebrate my birthday, Jon and I stayed at this amazing villa at the Banyan Tree. We had our own pool! I was completely floored when we walked in-- I kind of suspected that we were going to the Banyan Tree, but was not prepared for how incredible it was!
Now we're back in Sydney and leaving for LA tomorrow. Not surprisingly, I am feeling a lot of mixed emotions. I am so ready to settle down, but obviously we had a great time. I'm sure I'll give more details later, but I figured I would share a few pictures! We took 1,581 pictures between the two of us, and I haven't even begun to look through them all. So I figured I would post one from each country, and then add more once I've seen them all.
Now we're back in Sydney and leaving for LA tomorrow. Not surprisingly, I am feeling a lot of mixed emotions. I am so ready to settle down, but obviously we had a great time. I'm sure I'll give more details later, but I figured I would share a few pictures! We took 1,581 pictures between the two of us, and I haven't even begun to look through them all. So I figured I would post one from each country, and then add more once I've seen them all.
China:
Great Wall
Vietnam:
Halong Bay
Cambodia:
Angkor Thom
Thailand:
Phuket
Great WallVietnam:
Halong BayCambodia:
Angkor ThomThailand:
PhuketSo like I said, they're not the best, but reasonably representative of what we've been up to. See you all very soon!
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Thailand
Hi! So I wrote this whole long entry about Thailand so far, but I literally had my hand on the button to post it, and there was a power surge in the hotel and I lost it. I'm so angry right now. So you get the short version.
Bangkok: hated it at first. lots of scam artists who like to tell you big attractions are closed so they can pretend like they will take you somewhere else but really take you to fake gem places. we knew about it, so didn't get scammed, but it's funny to always hear "no, wat po is closed, i will take you to the big buddha" or "you can't go to the grand palace today, i will arrange for you to go to the big buddha." always the big buddha, not sure if it's real or not. the sites are really cool, wat po has a reclining buddha that is like 150 meters long and gold (not solid). the grand palace is beautiful, still used for ceremonial occasions, so it's in good shape-- not ruins like angkor wat or the forbidden city where you wonder what it would have looked like when it was in use-- this is actually in use and very impressive. went to patpong, the red light district-- avoided the infamous "ping pong shows," still interesting. stayed close to khao san, the "backpacker ghetto" which had cheap food, cheap drinks, and cheap internet. not too bad, fun to go out. went to a tiny vegetarian restaurant where there was no menu and the lady didn't speak english- fun to just point at things and hope for the best-- not something i get to do very often as a vegetarian. went to a gorgeous high tea at one of the really nice old hotels in town, felt very old-fashioned. went antique shopping with absolutely no intention of buying. went to some fun markets and tried some food (and lots of drinks!) from street vendors. in general, bangkok ended up being pretty fun.
left bangkok for koh tao-- got to the airport and couldn't find our flight or even our airline-- bangkok has two airports and we were at the wrong one. luckily, as my mother's daughter, when the taxi guy said to leave at eight, i said great, see you at seven thirty, so we got a new cab, rushed across town, and made our flight.
koh tao is small and hard to get to, but not very developed. all the taxis are pickup trucks with benches in the back, and our guidebook said the roads were better used for water drainage than driving, which is definitely true. our resort was rustic at best, but we had a private bungalow with airconditioning (jon accidentally stole the AC remote, not sure what we're going to do about that one), and was definitely all we needed. only one restaurant, but it was pretty good and to get to town was a 5km drive that took half an hour because it is so mountainous and bumpy. did three dives, lots of fish but almost no coral, went on a little wreck which was kind of fun. beautiful little island.
spent a day in koh samui because the ferry and flight schedules are not very well timed- had about six hours between the two. randomly found a restaurant on the beach, had a table on the sand, lots of drinks and food, i had a really cheap massage right next door.
got to phuket, beautiful hotel, since it's the off-season, room was pretty cheap and is amazing. we literally have the closest room to the beach in the entire hotel, a private patio with chaises that opens up to some grass, then 20 feet away is sand. really beautiful and lots of amenities-- a much nicer room than we should be in, but it is thailand, and the rainy season makes everything very cheap. weather has been good so far.
today we spent most of the day on the patio, forgot i was in thailand then looked up and saw an elephant walking down the beach. tomorrow we go diving, thursday we go to the phi phi islands which are supposed to be unreal (where they filmed "the beach"). friday is my birthday! no plans, jon has a surprise for me on the thirteenth, but we will probably spend the 11th on the beach and maybe get a good dinner somewhere. i can't believe we have less than a week left in asia. glad we're spending the rest of our time here-- the hotel really is amazing, in spite of the power surge.
i promise to use proper grammar again soon! sorry about the short entry, like i said, i tried!
Bangkok: hated it at first. lots of scam artists who like to tell you big attractions are closed so they can pretend like they will take you somewhere else but really take you to fake gem places. we knew about it, so didn't get scammed, but it's funny to always hear "no, wat po is closed, i will take you to the big buddha" or "you can't go to the grand palace today, i will arrange for you to go to the big buddha." always the big buddha, not sure if it's real or not. the sites are really cool, wat po has a reclining buddha that is like 150 meters long and gold (not solid). the grand palace is beautiful, still used for ceremonial occasions, so it's in good shape-- not ruins like angkor wat or the forbidden city where you wonder what it would have looked like when it was in use-- this is actually in use and very impressive. went to patpong, the red light district-- avoided the infamous "ping pong shows," still interesting. stayed close to khao san, the "backpacker ghetto" which had cheap food, cheap drinks, and cheap internet. not too bad, fun to go out. went to a tiny vegetarian restaurant where there was no menu and the lady didn't speak english- fun to just point at things and hope for the best-- not something i get to do very often as a vegetarian. went to a gorgeous high tea at one of the really nice old hotels in town, felt very old-fashioned. went antique shopping with absolutely no intention of buying. went to some fun markets and tried some food (and lots of drinks!) from street vendors. in general, bangkok ended up being pretty fun.
left bangkok for koh tao-- got to the airport and couldn't find our flight or even our airline-- bangkok has two airports and we were at the wrong one. luckily, as my mother's daughter, when the taxi guy said to leave at eight, i said great, see you at seven thirty, so we got a new cab, rushed across town, and made our flight.
koh tao is small and hard to get to, but not very developed. all the taxis are pickup trucks with benches in the back, and our guidebook said the roads were better used for water drainage than driving, which is definitely true. our resort was rustic at best, but we had a private bungalow with airconditioning (jon accidentally stole the AC remote, not sure what we're going to do about that one), and was definitely all we needed. only one restaurant, but it was pretty good and to get to town was a 5km drive that took half an hour because it is so mountainous and bumpy. did three dives, lots of fish but almost no coral, went on a little wreck which was kind of fun. beautiful little island.
spent a day in koh samui because the ferry and flight schedules are not very well timed- had about six hours between the two. randomly found a restaurant on the beach, had a table on the sand, lots of drinks and food, i had a really cheap massage right next door.
got to phuket, beautiful hotel, since it's the off-season, room was pretty cheap and is amazing. we literally have the closest room to the beach in the entire hotel, a private patio with chaises that opens up to some grass, then 20 feet away is sand. really beautiful and lots of amenities-- a much nicer room than we should be in, but it is thailand, and the rainy season makes everything very cheap. weather has been good so far.
today we spent most of the day on the patio, forgot i was in thailand then looked up and saw an elephant walking down the beach. tomorrow we go diving, thursday we go to the phi phi islands which are supposed to be unreal (where they filmed "the beach"). friday is my birthday! no plans, jon has a surprise for me on the thirteenth, but we will probably spend the 11th on the beach and maybe get a good dinner somewhere. i can't believe we have less than a week left in asia. glad we're spending the rest of our time here-- the hotel really is amazing, in spite of the power surge.
i promise to use proper grammar again soon! sorry about the short entry, like i said, i tried!
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Cambodia
Happy May! I love May. I think May is my favorite month, and not just because my birthday is coming up. Although it helps.
Hi! I'm in Cambodia! Which sounds weird. Weirder than Vietnam. Not sure why. So, hi! We've spent the last three days checking out the temples at Angkor (the most well-known of which is Angkor Wat) and they are very cool. It's a crazy area, as you drive around you just pass by ancient temples all over the place! Our guide told us that there are over 300 temples in this area. Our favorite was definitely Ta Phrom, which is apparently where they filmed one of the Tomb Raider movies. Most of the temples have been restored and are in little grassy areas. This one, though, is still all jungle-y. Trees grow up straight out of the walls of the temple, and beautifully carved stones sit in piles around the complex. It totally makes you feel like you are in an Indiana Jones movie. Or Tomb Raider, I guess. It's funny because people in the town love telling you about Angelina Jolie's favorite's when she was here (we went to her favorite restaurant. Jon got her favorite cocktail, which was on the menu with a big picture of her.) Interesting, but I guess not all that surprising. The actual Angkor Wat complex is very impressive, the buildings are large and intricate, with lots of carving. The temple at Angkor Thom is also amazing, maybe even cooler, because all of it's fifty four (I think) towers have four faces of Buddha on each tower. It's a really neat effect.
Anyway, the sites are awesome, since it's such a developing country, though, there is a lot of begging, which I really hate. I mean I know no one likes it, but it always makes me feel uncomfortable and guilty. Seeing the way people live around here has been eye-opening, like not even having fresh water to bathe, so bathing in the gross river-- not to mention all of the horrible things that were happening here only a decade ago. I know no one wants to hear preaching about this sort of thing, but it does kind of make me feel guilty for having so many opportunites. I guess that's how I'm supposed to feel. Anyway, I guess it's been a good learning experience all around.
On a totally unrelated note, French tourists are awful. Cutting in line, yelling in temples, pushing in front of people, wearing scandalous clothing... I mean, yeah, it's hot here. I would love to be in tank tops and short shorts, but I (and most other tourists) have my shoulders covered and at least knee-length shorts on all the time. But every time we see someone in spaghetti-straps and tiny shorts, they're always speaking French. I think it just bugs me because American tourists have such a bad reputation, but I really don't think it's deserved.
Today we got up for sunrise at Angkor Wat, but sunrise+Tricia=disaster. Seriously, if you want to see a nice sunrise, don't bring me along. Early morning hot air balloon ride in Kenya? Cloudy. Even early morning (basically late night) hike up Mount Sinai? Cloudy. In Egypt. I didn't even know it got cloudy there. So, true to form, it was totally cloudy. (Sorry, I don't know when this became the complaining blog.) But, good things came of it-- that was when we decided to go back to Ta Phrom, which was much cooler when we were the only people there. And the rain made it look even better, since there were pools of water all around that make it feel even more authentic and undiscovered. Pretty cool.
Our hotel here was amazing, all green pools and a moat and stuff, a giant room, fresh fruit in our room every day, and seriously the largest bathtub I have ever seen. (The tour company booked this one for us... not what we would have picked). The food has been very good (if you're ever curious, Cambodian Mexican food is better than Australian Mexican food)-- but don't worry, we have eaten traditional Khmer food as well. Jon is much more into eating the local cuisine, I like to kind of balance between local and familiar. I think being a vegetarian makes it a lot harder for me to eat unfamiliar food, although Cambodia, being largely Buddhist, has been pretty easy to find clearly-marked vegetarian options. But Jon and I are striking a nice balance-- like the time in Vietnam when he wanted to try Cha Ca, which is a type of fish, and was literally the only dish this restaurant served. I got a delicious baguette sandwich across the street. But Jon is very good about going to vegetarian places with me, and I think we're really both just getting excited for Thai food.
Speaking of which, we're off to Thailand tonight! This is the part of the trip I've been most excited about, and kind of the home stretch, which is weird. At the moment we're doing some last-minute planning, but the general idea is four days in Bangkok, a couple days diving on the East coast, a couple days diving on the West coast, a few beach days and some special birthday surprise. Can't wait. Love to you all, and I'll be in touch from Thailand.
Hi! I'm in Cambodia! Which sounds weird. Weirder than Vietnam. Not sure why. So, hi! We've spent the last three days checking out the temples at Angkor (the most well-known of which is Angkor Wat) and they are very cool. It's a crazy area, as you drive around you just pass by ancient temples all over the place! Our guide told us that there are over 300 temples in this area. Our favorite was definitely Ta Phrom, which is apparently where they filmed one of the Tomb Raider movies. Most of the temples have been restored and are in little grassy areas. This one, though, is still all jungle-y. Trees grow up straight out of the walls of the temple, and beautifully carved stones sit in piles around the complex. It totally makes you feel like you are in an Indiana Jones movie. Or Tomb Raider, I guess. It's funny because people in the town love telling you about Angelina Jolie's favorite's when she was here (we went to her favorite restaurant. Jon got her favorite cocktail, which was on the menu with a big picture of her.) Interesting, but I guess not all that surprising. The actual Angkor Wat complex is very impressive, the buildings are large and intricate, with lots of carving. The temple at Angkor Thom is also amazing, maybe even cooler, because all of it's fifty four (I think) towers have four faces of Buddha on each tower. It's a really neat effect.
Anyway, the sites are awesome, since it's such a developing country, though, there is a lot of begging, which I really hate. I mean I know no one likes it, but it always makes me feel uncomfortable and guilty. Seeing the way people live around here has been eye-opening, like not even having fresh water to bathe, so bathing in the gross river-- not to mention all of the horrible things that were happening here only a decade ago. I know no one wants to hear preaching about this sort of thing, but it does kind of make me feel guilty for having so many opportunites. I guess that's how I'm supposed to feel. Anyway, I guess it's been a good learning experience all around.
On a totally unrelated note, French tourists are awful. Cutting in line, yelling in temples, pushing in front of people, wearing scandalous clothing... I mean, yeah, it's hot here. I would love to be in tank tops and short shorts, but I (and most other tourists) have my shoulders covered and at least knee-length shorts on all the time. But every time we see someone in spaghetti-straps and tiny shorts, they're always speaking French. I think it just bugs me because American tourists have such a bad reputation, but I really don't think it's deserved.
Today we got up for sunrise at Angkor Wat, but sunrise+Tricia=disaster. Seriously, if you want to see a nice sunrise, don't bring me along. Early morning hot air balloon ride in Kenya? Cloudy. Even early morning (basically late night) hike up Mount Sinai? Cloudy. In Egypt. I didn't even know it got cloudy there. So, true to form, it was totally cloudy. (Sorry, I don't know when this became the complaining blog.) But, good things came of it-- that was when we decided to go back to Ta Phrom, which was much cooler when we were the only people there. And the rain made it look even better, since there were pools of water all around that make it feel even more authentic and undiscovered. Pretty cool.
Our hotel here was amazing, all green pools and a moat and stuff, a giant room, fresh fruit in our room every day, and seriously the largest bathtub I have ever seen. (The tour company booked this one for us... not what we would have picked). The food has been very good (if you're ever curious, Cambodian Mexican food is better than Australian Mexican food)-- but don't worry, we have eaten traditional Khmer food as well. Jon is much more into eating the local cuisine, I like to kind of balance between local and familiar. I think being a vegetarian makes it a lot harder for me to eat unfamiliar food, although Cambodia, being largely Buddhist, has been pretty easy to find clearly-marked vegetarian options. But Jon and I are striking a nice balance-- like the time in Vietnam when he wanted to try Cha Ca, which is a type of fish, and was literally the only dish this restaurant served. I got a delicious baguette sandwich across the street. But Jon is very good about going to vegetarian places with me, and I think we're really both just getting excited for Thai food.
Speaking of which, we're off to Thailand tonight! This is the part of the trip I've been most excited about, and kind of the home stretch, which is weird. At the moment we're doing some last-minute planning, but the general idea is four days in Bangkok, a couple days diving on the East coast, a couple days diving on the West coast, a few beach days and some special birthday surprise. Can't wait. Love to you all, and I'll be in touch from Thailand.
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