Blue Mountains, Australia - The Australian "Grand Canyon"

For our second full day in Sydney, we booked a trip to Blue Mountains, which is about an hour outside of Sydney. We were picked up at (yawn) 7 am, so we had to get up (yawn yawn) at 6:30 am. As a bonus, that was the day we were checking out, too, cause that night we flew to New Caledonia, so we got to pack as well.

Even though we decided not to go out at night (after Rony's DJ course), we ended up going to sleep very late. Like 2 am late. As in, 4.5 hours before we had to get up - late. We were pretty exhausted when we got up, but we kinda napped a bit on the way.

We had the best group on this tour, we all got along real well, all made each other laugh. But the best part of the tour was our tour guide, Rod. He was hilarious. The guy is kinda like an Australian hippy type guy who didin't look much more excited than us to be up that late, but he is a really great guide. He grew up in the Blue Mountains so he knew the area real well. He called us "Gangsters" the entire time, which caused funny looks from other random tourists, and played Australian rap and hip hop the whole way.

This is Rod the tour guide

After driving around Sydney to pick up the others (of course we were the second), we started out towards the Blue Mountains. It's up in the hills, past the Olympic Stadium, which is much farther out of Sydney than you'd think, especially considering it was called the Sydney Olympics.

But I digress.

We made a stop for some coffee and a potty break, which Rod was very fond us and gave us many of. Let's stop for a moment of appreciation.

Before we got off the minibus he told us which places had bad coffee and which were good, and where to get more water, etc. The guy was really looking out for us.

But he was right. After a fairly short hike (down), we got to an incredible view point. Words and pictures cannot describe how gorgeous it is. If you're ever in the area, it's totally worth going out there. And shop around for the tour, cause some companies take $100, ours took $55, and honestly, we could have probably done it on our own for cheaper, but it was a lot of fun with the group and our guide.

First view of the Blue Mountains - pictures don't do it justice

The Blue Mountains are actually not mountains. As it turns out, the valleys were created in the same manner that the Grand Canyon was created, with water washing away parts of the stone, though it's filled with trees. We climbed up and down all kinds of parts, and I thought I was going to die twice. But before I was a loser twice, I was a winner once. :-)

The guide would kinda tell us to go and when to turn, as in "Go straight, when you hit a fork, go right, then just go straight till you get to the waterfall." In this particular instant, Rony and I were in the front of the line, and somehow I became the leader. I have no idea how it happened, it is sooo not part of my personality.

But I was a great leader, no one fell, no one died, and we reached our destination successfully. I call that a win.

This is my "everyone is following me" picture :-)

There isn't really all that much to tell because we just went from one gorgeous view to another gorgeous view, often through rainforest-type areas. Instead of eating lunch at the restaurant they usually eat at, Rod had our lunches packed and we had what he called an "adventure lunch" where we sorta climbed down a bit and sat on a beautiful spot and had lunch there.

This is where we had lunch. Gorgeous, ay?

Well, everyone else ate while a bee fell in love with me. I can't help being who I am. Don't hate me because I'm sweet.

Towards the end of the tour, we stopped at a liquor shop and everyone bought a beer/alcohol. Here again, Rod appeared to know a lot. He said, "Come on, try an Australian beer. They're all good except VB." So we took his advice and each of us bought his preferred beer. I don't remember seeing any Australian beer going out of the shop beside Big Helga (which is made in German style.) Then we went to have a "party" on this gorgeous cliff. The following exchange killed me, if only because of the level of dense you must be to ask this:

Tour member girl: Rod, why aren't you drinking? You don't like beer?
Tour guide Rod: Driving drunk is kinda frowned upon in Australia.

Group shot at the last point (where we had our party)

We got back to the hostel with about an hour to spare before we were picked up to go to the airport. Rony showered and I went on the relocation websites to see if any cars were available for relocation, and we found and booked our first one!

An explanation about car relocation: People, especially in big countries like Australia, will rent a car in one place and drop it off in another. For example, they will pick up a car in Melbourne and drop it off in Sydney. The rental companies need someone to bring them back to the original location, so instead of hiring drivers or putting the cars on trucks or trains, they offer them at really low prices for people to bring them back.

We are hoping to get all of our cars this way, but since the relocation agencies only publish the list of cars 3 weeks in advance, there weren't any cars available for our dates yet. But yesterday there was!

So we will be relocating a 2 berth camper van (with a double bed, fridge, and stove) from Sydney to Melbourne over the 4 days that we chose, for a grand total of - are you ready? - $5 a day. Plus the company gives us the camper van with a full tank of gas and - get this - reimburses us for up to $150 in gas!!! How crazy is that??

There are several relocation sites, and I visit each of them every day, and yesterday as Rony was showering, suddenly one became available, so I called and we got it! It's very exciting (the cheapest car you can rent is like $45, so that's saving us $40 a day plus most of the gas, if not all of it), but we weren't really able to enjoy the excitement because we had to catch a flight and our ride was a bit late.

It got us to the airport on time, though, and we had the grossest flight ever. The staff was really nice and the plane itself was very comfortable, but there was tons of turbulence, and even my stomach was turning, and I have no problems with airplanes.

Today we walked a bit around the main city here in New Caledonia and bought clothes for the fairy-themed wedding party we will be attending on Saturday (our host got married), and bought a bunch of groceries. Rony and I prepared dinner, and we've just been chilling with everyone here. Tomorrow we start to plan our real trip here and we will update you with what we're up to and photos when we can.

Pics from Blue Mountains:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=573098&id=906005363&l=978e2dc451

 

P.S. In the last post, we were unable to upload pics because the hostel's Flash was from the stone age, so here are those links:

Last day in Bangkok:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=573068&id=906005363&l=564ad07944

Sydney, Australia

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=573076&id=906005363&l=ce56c3e0a1

Sawadee Thailand, and G'Day Australia!

Hi guys,

Didja miss us? :-)

So we last left you with our last days in Pai and Chiang Mai. We flew back to Bangkok and arrived in the early afternoon. We were exhausted since we had to get up at 5:30 am (you heard right) to catch our flight. Since I hadn't been to Thailand before, I really wanted to see the temples and palace that we hadn't had a chance to see yet.

I went to the bus stop like a big girl to catch the bus, but the one I needed didn't stop the first time it came around. This is because, despite letting you know that the Thai bus system is insane, and you need to run 50 meters in either direction to catch one, I didn't take my own advice. So I missed the first bus because I had the audacity to blink.

After waiting another 50 minutes for the next bus, I got royally pissed (hence my Facebook update), and went back to the hotel. The temples close at 15:30. and it was already 14:00 - no use in going anymore. About 4 minutes after I got to the hotel, it started to rain. Hard. As in, I wouldn't have made it anywhere anyway. So Rony said it was meant to be that we go together the next day.

That night, we went to the Patagon mall again and had some yummy dinner, and then I had a Cinnabon (for real!!) and bought some cheddar cheese Gold Fish (for real!!) that I bought at the big grocery store that Rony swears is the Monoprix with a different name.

And then we went to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1 at the IMAX. It rocked. :-)

On Sunday we got up early in the morning to go to the temple and the palace. The Wat Pra temple is gorgeous and there was a cute group of kids that were, most likely, practicing for some kind of a show that night. And of course, we saw the Reclining Buddha, which is much more impressive than the pictures can show.

Reclining Buddha

We then walked to the Palace, only to find out that it was closed because of the holiday. So in essence, Thailand was like, "Oh, well, guess you have to come back!" and we're all, "Fine! We will!"

Now you've seen as much as we have of the Palace

That afternoon we flew to Sydney,Australia, which is where we are now, but only for a few days. Tomorrow night we fly to New Caledonia for 2 weeks, and then we will be back to Australia for a whole month.

We arrived very early in the morning and were happy to find out, the night before, that our hostel has a free shuttle from the airport. Our flight landed at 6 am, and Rony was kicked for about 8 hours straight, and the person in front of me put his chair all the way back (I could barely see the TV screen!), so neither of us got any sleep. Luckily, they let us check in early, and we were both out in 5 minutes flat of making it up to our room.

In the afternoon we went exploring a bit and walked to Hyde Park and back. We're in the King's Cross area, which is really close to everything, so we took a long walk around and got back and crashed into bed. :-)

We were planning on making a fairly early start - breakfast is until 9:30 - so we woke up naturally, cause we never sleep late anyway, and it was suddenly 11 am. No fear, however, we walked sooo much today, you have no idea. We were so proud of ourselves!

If we would have to describe Sydney in 2 words, those words would be "gorgeous" and "expensive." We had no clue that it would be this expensive. No guides we read or websites we surfed let us know about that. Some places wanted $3 for a small bottle of water!! Australian Dollars and US Dollars are basically the same now.

We walked over to the Sydney Harbour (that's how you spell it in Australian), and, while we noticed how gorgeous everything was, the main thing we saw was that everyone was jogging or sprinting. Seriously - everyone. The people through the pier and the park were divided into two: 1) The joggers/sprinters 2) The tourists taking pictures of them.

The Opera House

We decided we were going to have a long walking day - and we did. We walked through the beautiful Botanical Gardens. They are absolutely gorgeous. And I loved the sign at the entrance that said that we should all walk on the grass and smell all the flowers. We saw many plants we knew, and many more we didn't.

One of the cool flowers at the Botanical gardens

As we were walking through, Rony looked up and found that there were approximately a bazillion bats hanging upside down from the trees! I mean, I am used to seeing bats, but only at night when they're pooping on my car! It was so amazing. Some of them flew around, too. Rony thinks they were having turf wars, which is entirely possible, but we probably stood there, looking up at the bats, for like 10 minutes.

Bats

More bats - I couldn't choose

Then we went on towards the Darling Harbour and walked back to Oxford street by taking the long way, including going through - what else - China Town.

Finally, in the evening we split up for a couple hours so Rony could finally get his birthday present. His birthday was in August, but I got him a one-on-one DJ and spinning course. I heard the end (I didn't want him to be nervous with me in the area, so I left), and I personally think he sounded great, as did the teacher who suggested he take more classes back home.

Dj Rony

We got back to the hostel, where we are now, and found out that we are sunburnt, even though we technically were barely in the sun - we spent most of the time in the shade, plus there was such a strong breeze that we weren't even warm at any point. Also, it still counts as spring here, so it's not really hot yet, about 25 degrees during the day, and sweater weather in the evening.

One final word before we sign off: The commercials here are almost as insane as the ones in Thailand! We will try to locate some of them on YouTube for you, just so you see what we saw.

Tomorrow we are being picked up at 7 am for an all-day tour in Blue Mountains, and then we fly to New Caledonia, so I'm not sure when we'll be able to update again.

Until then, bye!

Pics from the last day in Thailand:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=573068&id=906005363&l=564ad07944

Pics from Sydney:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=573076&id=906005363&l=ce56c3e0a1

Chiang mai (and Pai), Thailand - Doi Inthanon National Park, Wachirathan waterfall, Karen hill tribe, King and Queen Pagodas, Royal Gardens

On our second full day in Chiang Mai, we took a full-day tour (8 am to 5 pm) to Doi Inthanon, Thailand's highest mountain. Let us start by saying that the most incredible views were from the ride up and not the mountain itself, even though it was great as well.

If on the tour on the day before we met a girl from Tokyo who gave us tons of advice about where to go and eat in Tokyo, this tour we made friends with a girl from Switzerland who gave us advice about Pai, much of which was very valuable.

Also, she had more leg strength than me (Talia), so when I did all the climbing I could do, she went on with Rony and I rested a bit.

We started out by going to the Wachirathan waterfall that is absolutely stunning. Our tour guide, Tik (Tac Toe, as an Austrian couple called him), showed us a picture of the waterfall a few weeks ago just after the heavy rains and it was even more gorgeous, but we aren't complaining.

There are two parts to the waterfall: The bottom, which we wouldn't even consider a climb since it's only about 30 steps or so, and the top. Like true adventurers, we decided to go all the way up and the view was beautiful (on the way).

Wachirathan waterfall. Look at the rainbow :-)

We then drove (and then climbed) to the top of the highest part of the mountain, otherwise known as the highest point in Thailand. Apparently, there was a king (the 7th I think) who loved that mountain so much that he asked that when he die, his ashes be scattered at that spot, a request that was obliged. That spot is now a shrine. My favorite part of the mountain was that some spots were so hot, and others were freezing, like tropical rain forests.

Funny signs all around Thailand

Tik told us how they used to grow tons of opium there, and asked us if anyone wants some. No one answered after he insisted, so he said that's a shame, because with Thai opium, after an hour you see Buddha. After two hours you see G-d. After three hours you sing along with both (or something along those lines - the way he told it was so funny that we couldn't stop laughing long enough to hear the end). But that was just a joke of course. There is no opium in this area anymore. Instead, the king decided to stop the traffic and find other occupations for the local tribes. It is called the Royal Project and it consists of giving alternative culture like growing coffee, flowers and other vegetables as well as trading hand made products.

As an example, Tik drove us to see the people of the Karen hill tribe.They make their living off of great Arabica coffee and some really pretty quilting-type activity, and Tik told us about their clothing, the most interesting being that unmarried women all wear a white dress. Which, of course, eliminates the need for men to look for a ring,  but at the same time must cause Jewish Mother Syndrome to the 10th degree.

But I digress.

Karen Hill Tribe

We then had lunch, which was nice enough (but not all that), and went on to another waterfall. We can't remember what its name was, but it was by the Royal Gardens.

The Royal Gardens are gorgeous. The waterfall is nice, but the gardens themselves are so beautiful, and we had some time to climb and walk around and talk more to the people in our group. The Austrian couple was, without a doubt, the funniest people ever, especially when you take into consideration that Claus (we don't actually know his name) speaks about 10 words of English. When you see a random self-portrait, that's him.

At last we saw the royal pagodas (one for the king, one for the queen) with their gardens. Beautiful. And on top of each pagoda, diamonds and rubies. As our guide said, if you want to be a millionaire, you "just" have to climb and grab them. Right. 

The waterfall at the Royal Gardens

We got back around 5:30, showered, and decided to do the most logical thing:

Order pizza.

So we did. Turns out, Chiang Mai has a delivery service that you can reach at www.mealsonwheels4U.com (we aren't making this up). And then we went to sleep real early since we knew we wanted to catch an early minibus to Pai.

Speaking of Pai, remember those motorbikes we rented? Well, they are rented for 24 hours, so since we only got them at 11 am, we made the conscious decision to take our time each place and go to Pai Canyon this morning.

We were advised that the best time to go to the Canyon was either early in the morning or later in the afternoon since it gets really hot, so we went around 9 am. Not that I wasn't excited to go to the Canyon, but we were just so happy to ride those motorbikes again!

Pai Canyon is gorgeous, especially when you go first thing in the morning and the mountains are still misty. The regular part of the canyon isn't a really hard climb and is maybe 5 minutes long, but when you get to the top, there is a tiny path that you can take, part of which is through rocks, and being the adventurous people we are, we decided to walk across to the next hill.

Part of the path to the other side

I have no idea what got into us, but for us that was our extreme sport, our bungee jumping (that's what Talia thinks. For my (Rony) part it was too easy. Really.). To me, it was a conquer. OK, fine, not a conquer, but we were a bit scared to do it at first. Anyway, from that point, you can see this video below. You may notice that there is very little land around us, that's cause we climbed through very thin trails to get there.

We were very sad to leave Pai, and even more sad to leave the motorbikes behind, but we had to catch our minibus back to Chiang Mai, where we currently are. Tomorrow morning we have an early flight to Bangkok and we will go to the temples that we didn't go to before, and then it's bye bye Thailand.

Pics:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=569635&id=906005363&l=7225387d6b

Pai, Thailand - Riding motorbikes and seeing stuff :-)

We haven't updated in a few days because the Internet in Pai keeps disconnecting, and we do have a lot to tell about our last day in Chiang Mai, but we have to tell you about today first.

Yesterday morning we left Chiang Mai and took a minibus to Pai. While we have loads to say about buses vs minivans, we will leave it to this guy who is hilarious and says everything that needs to be said about transportation between Chiang Mai and Pai. We actually recommend reading it even if you have no intention of visiting Thailand. He's that funny.

Anyway, we took the minibus and arrived in Pai yesterday around 13:00 or so and the town is tiny. It is also in North Thailand, and it's basically a vacation town. There are many awesome things to do and see in the area, which has helped the town because a huge tourist destination.


We are staying at the Baan Pai Village guesthouse, which is known to be one for the best guest houses in Pai, and we have a very cute and very basic hut. Still about 5 steps above where we lived when we were at the wildlife rescue center, so we're cool.

Since the guest house i so close to the bus station, we walked there, and on the way we saw that it costs 50 baht ($1.56) to rent a bicycle for a day, and 100 baht ($3.10) to rent a motorbike for a day. So we today we did what any two people who have never driven a motorbike before would do.

We rented 2 motorbikes.

Have I mentioned yet that neither of us have ever driven one? Need I remind you that I just mentioned a few days ago that I had ridden on one for the first time in my life?

I have no idea what got into me, but my sense of adventure seems to be heightened when I'm around Rony.

By heightened I mean exist.

So this morning, after breakfast, we went to rent the motorbikes. Since we hadn't driven them before, we were both taken to a secluded area where the Thais did what they want with us we were given a quick lesson in how to drive a motorbike.

By quick lesson I mean this (and I quote verbatim): Dis - up, key - here, this flont blake, this back blake, this start bike. Go.

Y'all, people learn how to ride a motorbike for months to get their license, and we got a 30-second explanation. At this point we were to get on the bike and drive around a bit to get the hang of it, which is a nice concept.

So I'm thinking, OK, in their minds, their 12-year-olds can ride, so I should be able to, too. Um, no.  Here's a basic description of the looks on our faces. Rony: Complete exhilaration and excitement. Me: wishing I hadn't sent all of my other pants to the laundry, thinking I will need to change them a few times.

After Rony said, "Go!" a few times, we were off to drive around the secluded area. I got to be pretty good at going straight, but turning - not so much. Then I was able to turn right, but not left.

Me: Can we just turn left the whole time?
Rony: No.

Once I mastered not falling, and then mastering turning right, (and by mastering I mean not falling), I tried to turn the bike around so I could practice turning left. And I fell into a bunch of rocks. Luckily, I was going about 0.035 kilometers per hour and I only got a few bruises. Even more luckily, they match the other bruises on my leg in size and color. I am such a girl!

After the fall, the two "instructors" (who we should really call drivers), said OK, let's go back, and I'm all, hello I need a few more minutes, did you not just see I can't turn left? And he's all, go back, and I'm like crap, Rony, they won't give me a bike.

But they did, and we were off.

Very very slowly.

Rony: Smiling. Talia: Peeing herself.

After slowing down to almost a complete stop every time we had to turn, we started to get the hang of it, and suddenly I was going so fast! I was speeding! The wind was in my face! I was going so fast!! I was going... 17 kilometers per hour. That's 10.5 miles per hour in American. So, yeah, I had a long way to go.

The truth is, slowly I started going faster (an oxymoron if I've ever written one), and I am in love with the whole concept. Though every now and then I would suddenly slow down a little cause falling at 10 kph is a lot better than falling at 60 kmp. Thankfully, Rony was very patient with me. At first, he would go real slow, and later when I felt more confident, he would go a bit faster (don't get worried, Rony's family, I was going 20 kph, it's easy to go faster and still be slow) and then stop to wait for me. Such a good guy.

Pam Bok Waterfall - not impressive in itself, but gorgeous area and drive up

So today we went to see the Pam Bok waterfall. As a waterfall, it isn't that impressive, but the drive there is gorgeous and the view all around is amazing. You can hike about 20 minute up to the top of the waterfall and there are a bazillion butterflies there (and everywhere else), but they're a bit ADHD and wouldn't stop long enough for me to take a picture. They're all hello I have 24 hour, I can't stop to strike a pose.

I love this picture. This is the top part where we hiked to

I loved the hike there, even though it was a short one, and from there we went back to Pai to eat lunch. I wasn't hungry, I just wanted to drive more and more, but we had to change into our bathing suits anyway cause our next stop was the hot springs.

After lunch, we drove back out and went to the Tha Pai Hotsprings, and on the way we stopped at the World War 2 memorial bridge built by the Japanese in 1943 (I have no idea why I know that). Then we were off to the Tha Pai hotsprings. When we got there, we were asked to pay 200 baht ($6.25) to get in.

World War 2 memorial bridge

While this isn't expensive, there is no reason to pay that much, especially since we weren't sure we'd even be able to go into the hotsprings there, but then we remembered that our new friend, Claudia, who we had met on the tour we took on our last day in Chiang Mai, told us that we can go to the Pai Hotspring Spa Resort and only pay 50 baht, so we turned around and went there. Just for perspective, the 150 baht difference pays for an entire meal including alcohol.

After passing several random elephants along the way, who - I swear - recognized me as a former elephant slave by the look on their faces, we arrived at the Resort. It is gorgeous. For 50 baht ($1.56), we could freely use the hot spring and their pool for as long as we wanted - and they even stored our nifty motorbike helmets for us.

The place is beautiful. If we were swimming in cash, we would totally go there. After resting in the springs and swimming in the pool, we set back to Pai, seeing as it was starting to get dark, and we really didn't want to drive in the dark on our first day on motorbikes.

Hot springs

All in all, it was in amazing, incredibly fun day that left us with great memories, soft skin, a happy heart, and a backpack tan.

Direct link to pictures for Chiang Mai and Pai:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=569635&id=906005363&l=7225387d6b

Thailand: Chiang Mai wonders

So we left you at the Sunday night market in Chiang Mai, where we met up with a nice English couple we met at the cooking class. At the Sunday market they sell a bit of everything. Reminded us of Carmel Market and Nachlat Benjamin back home. It's basically the same idea: cheap clothes, food, and handmade art and crafts of all sort. The price is about the same too, so we didn't buy anything.

Also, we know that we have to schlep (carry) anything we buy, so next time we'll just finish our trip in Thailand :-)

At one point we ran away from the crowd and entered an architecture exposition that happened to have a photo exposition of Paris (!) - how random is that?!

So of course, Rony had a bit of nostalgia and suddenly missed Paris, but it lasted only a few minutes.

No time to linger!

Back to the market. We had to stay focused on not losing each other (literally, not figuratively). We already lost our English couple somewhere on the way,  so no need to worry about finding each other. Anyway, we said that if we do, we meet each other at the entrance of the market.

Because of all the dishes we prepared earlier and the strong smell of (fried?) food in the market, we couldn't eat anything so we ended up having a cup of mocha/hot chocolate at a nice coffee shop. And guess what was playing when we were there? You got it: Taylor Swift! It's like she's everywhere we go. Even on magazines:

We walked back to the hotel which takes 45 minutes more or less. We exercise whenever we can :) 

Today we had an easier day. We woke up late (8:00) and decided to take it easy: breakfast at the hotel, laundry in our room (it's about time!!) and reading about the rest of our trip. And a tour of Doi Suthep and Bhubing Palace that started in the afternoon.

First, the guide we had was very funny and instructive. He told us about Chiang Mai history (it's a 714-year-old city), Thai history, and the king's life. For example, we learned that the king has American citizenship! He was born in Boston, Mass., and apparently Elvis came to sing for him in the 60's. He didn't know what song, but serenaded us with Love Me Tender just in case. Anyway, very interesting.

Doi Suthep itself is a very interesting and beautiful site. The whole site is set on the top of a mountain,  2500 meters high.  And the Bhubing Palace, the royal winter residence, is a big complex of gardens and big lodges where everything is carefully taken care of to the small details. Beautiful roses and other flowers all around, fountains, and huge bamboo trees.

After that we went to Doi Suthep itself. This temple is one of the most venerated temple in Thailand.
There are 300 steps leading to the entrance, but we took the cable car to get up. It's main distinguished feature is the golden Pagoda at the center. It is currently being renovated after being partially ruined in the 2005 tsunami/earthquake.

Pagoda at Doi Suthep

We learned a lot about Buddhism traditions. For example, a color represents each day of the week: Monday is yellow, Tuesday is pink, Wednesday is green, Thursday is orange, Friday is blue, Saturday is purple, and Sunday is red, and you are supposed to walk around the pagoda 3 times: once for Buddha, once for  karma and once for the monks.

At the end of the trip, Talia won a bracelet because she answered correctly the trivia question about our tour: When was Chiang Mai built? And the answer is: 714 years ago.

At least we walked DOWN the stairs...

We were dropped off at the night market where they sell all the funny T-shirts, and had the typical meal when you've been in Thailand for more than 2 weeks.

McDonald's and Subway :)

That's it for today! Tomorrow we'll be on a more serious tour: Doi Ithanon in the south of Chiang Mai.
We wake up at 7:00, so we've got to go to sleep now!

See you tomorrow!

Photos from this photo and up:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=15686717&l=bf2238fb28&id=906005363

Thailand: Bangkok to Chiang Mai in 1 hour

Yesterday we left Bangkok for Chiang Mai, which is in north Thailand. We'll be back in Bangkok at the end of the trip to see the temples we haven't yet seen.

Lantern ready to fly near Chiang Mai Sunday market

Originally we were going to take an overnight train to Chiang Mai, but we tried getting them 3 days before and it was sold out, so we had to order a flight on Air Asia, the low-cost airline. The flight isn't that much more expensive than the train at all, but we did have to get another night in the hotel, which was an additional expensive we hadn't expected.

We took the morning to rest up and get some things prepared for more parts of our trip, and then took the train to the airport. In case we weren't clear enough before, there is zero reason to take a taxi to the airport. It is expensive and takes a really long time since traffic is horrible, and public transportation in Bangkok is marvelous. Check out our tips on the backpacker's practical info page

We arrived in Chiang Mai yesterday evening and got to our hotel, Rainforest Boutique, which is really cute, but it's kinda in Harlem, Chiang Mai. We haven't heard any gun shots, so we think we're OK. They hotel has a nice service where you can rent bikes here for pretty cheap, and the first hour is free, so we grabbed a couple of bikes to go to the 7-Eleven to get some stuff.

We had originally intended on going to the night market, but for some inexplicable reason we were exhausted, so we had a really delicious and inexpensive meal at the hotel and decided to get a couple of massages. We were both hurting a bit from carrying our bags on our backs for so long, so it sounded like a great idea, and for 300 Baht (under $10) it's hard to say no.

The ladies who did our massage were a bit late, and incredibly apologetic - and adorable like everyone in this marvelous country. They gave us some traditional massage clothes to wear and got started. I wanted to explain that I didn't want the massage to be too hard, but of course they didn't understand, so I said "No" and then sign languaged rough squeezing with sound effects. It was funny, but they understood.

The massages were great, even if they hurt a bit, until we got towards the end when Rony's masseuse felt his shoulders, and for the next 30 minutes she kept saying "no good, no good" and making "tsk tsk" sounds. It was really funny. Well, not so much for Rony.

We called it a fairly early night, because this morning we got up early for a whole day at a cooking school. That was such a fun experience! And a great way to know new people (Side note: gather people around food so they will get to know each other, that's a start up!)

After a gigantic breakfast (though we didn't eat much since we knew we'd be eating a lot at the school), we were picked up at 9 am by the cooking school. Most of the people taking the classes were American, but there were a bunch from all around, and one Israeli guy.

We call him The Annoying Israeli.

And he didn't know we were also Israeli.

We made sure of it.

We walked into the school and were given a menu from which to choose which 5 dishes that we wanted to make, divided into soups, curries, desserts, etc., and of course we both chose different ones so we could taste the most, and were given a really nice cookbook with all of the school's recipes to take home with us.

Side note: I couldn't remember how to say dishes in English. I had to ask Rony for help. To which he just replied, "If you need any more help in English, just let me know."

Back to school. The food was amazing, classes were fun, and all the teachers spoke great English. After choosing which dishes we'd like to make, we all went to the market together and got an explanation about everything and picked up what we'd need.

Basically, every time we made a new dish, we were divided into separate cooking areas to make whatever we chose, and then we would meet after each dish to eat them.

All in all, today was a wonderful day. We got back to the hotel to watch bootleg TV and are now about to head out to the famous Sunday market. Talk to you soon!

You can see pics from today here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=568258&id=906005363&l=cdcee0fa2f

Sorry they aren't labeled yet, we need to head out to meet some of our new friends.

Bangkok - Day trip to Ayutthaya (the former capital of Thailand)

As you may have read, yesterday we planned on taking it easy, seeing as we were still tired from the week of no sleep at the WFFT, but it didn't really work out the way we planned and we ended up being on our feet about 5 extra hours.

So today Rony wisely changed our plans and decided we should take a day trip to Ayutthaya instead since it involved a 1.5 hour train ride in each direction and would allow us to sight-see and rest simultaneously. Being the dutiful girlfriend that I am, I followed.

Also, I really can only find our hotel.

Ones of the rare whole Buddhas remaining in Ayutthaya ruins

Ayutthaya used to be the capital city of Thailand, and at one point was the largest city in the world when it boasted 1 million citizens. Most of the historical areas of the city are actually ruins, having been destroyed and left to burn back in 1767 by the Burmese army.

End of history lesson.

Let me start with this: Historic Ayutthaya is really nice. The town itself is kinda grungy, but that's OK.

Don't worry, they have 7-Elevens, so they're cool.

Anyway, most of what you'll see there is ruins, and it's a nice breath of fresh air (when you're not on the main road) - literally and a change from Bangkok.

Getting there is really easy. We took the Metro (MTR, not the Sky Train) to the end of the line, which is Hua Lamphong, and from there we took a Thai train. What I mean by Thai train is that everyone on it, except us and a few others, is Thai. It also means that the cost of the train's 1 hour and 45 min ride to Ayutthaya is - wait for it - $0.47. The touristy train comes less often and costs about 10 times as more, which still isn't a lot of money, but you can buy a lot in Thailand for that amount. And since we'll be backpacking for 4 months, we figure we should be as frugal as possible.

The train isn't air conditioned, but it's an open train, so there's lots of air, no bad smell, and people are walking up and down the aisles selling food and drinks all the time (and the locals buy it).

As everywhere else in Thailand, the people at the train station and everyone in Ayatthuya was incredibly friendly, none more than the very old and very drunk man on the train who "God bless you"'d us more than once and told me I was beautiful.

Now before you think the comment was because he was under the influence, please note that I was told 4 (four) times today that I am beautiful, none by people I know. Well, once I told Rony that, he said it too, of course, so that's 5, but the first 4 lead me to believe that either 1) Everyone in Thailand is drunk or 2) I am a goddess.

I'm going with #2.

We arrived in Ayatthuya, where the locals drive as marvelously as the people of Bangkok, and then took a 2-minute ferry to cross the river that cost a whopping 12 cents per person (per direction, 25 cents round trip, if you will) and then started walking.

So here's the thing. We didn't have a map and didnt' really know where we were going. But we never ended up in Harlem, Ayatthuya, so we were fine. As usual, everyone was very friendly, but most spoke even worse English than in Bangkok, so we took to asking the few tourists we could find where we could get a map.

The head of the sandstone Buddha image in Wat Mahathat

Eventually, after walking through another typical market, we arrived at our first location: Wat Mahathat. Like basically all of historic Ayatthuya, Wat Mahathat is mostly ruins of a Temple. The place was burned down, and even though much of it has survived, it is mostly black, and almost all of the Buddhas have had their heads chopped off. It's very sad, in our opinion, that someone would disrespect someone's beliefs that way, but most of the Buddhas are like that now there.

Once we finished walking around that area and the one by it, we sat down at the cutest coffee shop/guest house. Their mocha was great, and even though we didn't eat there, we loved that all of their food was offered in two different sized portions: Big and very big. The owner was incredible sweet and so very helpful. Since we didn't really know what we wanted to see (the change of plans was literally this morning), we asked her what the best places to go were, and she told us - and she was right.

One Love - the coffee shop/guesthouse/tuk tuk negotiator where we asked for directions

The best part was that she actually negotiated a tuk tuk price for us. Generally the rates there go for about 250-300 Baht ($7-9) per hour, but she got it down to 150 Baht ($4.70) for us by saying that we are her guests. The place is called Coffee One Love, and it's a bit more expensive than most places in Thailand that we've seen so far, but still very low budget, and we were so tired from updating the blog until 2 am, that we really needed the coffee pick-me-up (which was delicious).

The place we went next used to be a temple, also destroyed by the Burmese, named Wat Chaiwatthanaram. It was so far from everywhere else, that the only way to get there is by tuk tuk or cab. Another popular option is to rent a bike or a motorcycle, but we didn't want to die.

Wat Chaiwatthanaram

This temple is magnificent. At first we couldn't really understand why she recommended it, but when we saw the last side of the temple - wow. See for yourself in the Facebook pics, it's just gorgeous!

At this point, we had another hour that we could have been walking around for, but we were exhausted, so we went back to the guest house where we were picked up and walked the 30-minute walk back to the river and just waited for the train.

All in all, we had a really great time, and the (relative) rest today was really needed. Rony is lucky, he can sleep whenever he decides he wants to, but me? Not so much. So I'm updating the blog. It's only 12:20 am, though, but I will go to sleep soon becuase we have a long day tomorrow including temples in Bangkok and a flight to Chiang Mai.

Talk to y'all soon!

P.S. More pictures in our album on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=567114&id=906005363&l=0f03363831 (We added today's pics to the Bangkok album)

Bangkok, Thailand: China Town, Siam Malls, Patagon, and Dean and Deluca's

So, as we started to say yesterday, we had a surprising first evening in Bangkok. Som, E.P.'s friend, asked us to meet her at the BTS sky train station Chong Nonsi. Our hotel is on Sukhumvit street and very close to the Sky Train, not to mention we have a complimentary Tuk Tuk from the hotel to the station, so it was very easy to get meet her.

Dean & Deluca Christmas tree

She invited us to the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Bangkok's Dean & Deluca. Neither of us being from New York City, we had no idea what it was, but it sounded interesting. Som has all the pictures from last night, so one day we will get them and upload them, but for now our descriptions will have to do.

The Christmas tree is gigantic, there was Christmas music playing, and a live band was playing Christmas music, too. Santa Claus sang a lot and he had a great voice! I took a picture with him - my first! - and he gave me a lollipop. :-)

There was tons of great champagne and wine, and loads of small sandwiches of all kinds, and some incredible looking desserts, all on the house, of course. We met the manager of the place, John, who is a friend of Som's (since she eats there every day), and he invited us to lunch today, so these pictures below are from today.

While we were at the party, Som asked us if we knew what couch surfing was. We said of course - we will be couch surfing in Australia and Japan! And before we knew it, we were at our first couch surfing meet up that took place in a nice non-touristy area. It was so much fun - I can't imagine our first evening in Bangkok being any better.

Dean & Deluca desserts - yum

After updating our blog last night and uploading some pictures, we sank into a marvelous bed, infinitely more comfortable than at the volunteer center (but no complaints!). This was, of course, after enjoying our first hot shower in a week and staring at the marvel that is a flushable toilet (after not seeing one for a week as well).

This morning we got a bit of a late start, since we weren't able to get a train ticket to Chiang Mai and will be taking a flight with Air Asia instead, so we needed to extend our hotel stay here by another night. We went for brunch(ish) at Dean & Deluca and then set off.

Dean & Deluca line and menu

About D&D: The place is magnificent. We got salads first, mostly because we were craving fresh vegetables after over a week of stir-fry and fried foods. Here's a tip: Everything at D&D is so great, skip the salad. Babies eat more when they're 3 weeks old. The portion was tiny. But we also ordered a sandwich later which was delicious and definitely a normal (not huge) sized portion. We also had a couple of desserts, cause we had to, and they were also wonderful.

Rony eating an opera cake at Dean and Deluca

Talia eating a coconut cake at Dean and Deluca

Then we were off. We walked over to Silom, which was not far away, and then walked down. We originally intended on taking a boat up the river to the Wat Pho Temple, but we could only find one-hour (and more) tours that were incredibly expensive, so we forewent the boat ride and walked through China Town.

Walking through Silom was great, but China Town was such an awesome experience! First of all, I got the cutest traditional Chinese outfit for less than $7 for my 2.5 year-old niece to wear as a costume (or whenever if she likes it). But the colors and the smells and the sounds were so wonderful. Though we have to mention that the air pollution took its toll on us and we had to escape into a mall to be able to breath for a while.

China Town - so clean

One of the biggest things we noticed about Bangkok - not just China Town - is that it is absolutely impossible to find a trash can. The funny part about this is that it's a very clean city - we rarely saw trash on the streets, and definitely monumentally less than we should have had there been trash cans.

Yum!

The stands through China Town had basically everything you could possibly think of - and some you really couldn't - but it gave us a preview of what to expect when we're in China. Every few feet you could also buy all kinds of fruit, which is awesome, but the most common is the pineapple. The pineapple here, as we learned at the volunteer center WFFT, is incredibly aromatic and full of juice. This is great when a human eats it, less great when an elephant splats the juice on you.

But I digress.

We love that we have the option to buy something small to eat on the street when we need a bit of sugar instead of having to give in to the really fattening and expensive options elsewhere.



Sidenote: There's Dairy Queen in Bangkok! How random is that?

Back to us.

We enjoyed walking through China Town (and Silom) so much, that before we knew it, it was almost 4 pm, and the temple was closed - it closes at 3:30 pm. So we did what any self-respecting person would do.

We went shopping.

We didn't actually get anything at the shopping center we went into, but it was so much fun to browse. After we got enough "fresh" air at the shopping center, we decided to take a bus back to the Sky Train, seeing as, for some reason, the Metro and Sky Train doesn't reach China Town, and a two-hour walk back was not an option.


Luckily, we plan ahead and we already knew what bus routes would take us to the Sky Train.

Not.

We had no idea how to get there, other than by foot. Fortunately, the Thai are incredibly friendly and helpful, and once we found a random bus station, a lovely lady pointed us in the direction of the station that we needed. Once there, we asked another Thai man which line we would need and he let us know. Not only that, but when a different line came by, he walked up to us to let us know that line would take us there, too. Wonderful man.

We got on the bus, that had like, one other tourist on there (it's a regular Bangkok bus), and instead of paying when you get on the bus, there is a lady whose sole job is to walk up and down the bus to charge people for the ride. It was very interesting.

This wonderful job is what allows the bus drivers to start driving with the doors still open and people still stepping up on the bus. Also, here's a tip: Bangkok bus drivers (not just the one we were on, we observed this on at least 5 other buses) do not feel the need to actually stop at the designated station. Anything withing 50 meters is fair game. So if you see a bus coming up that is the one you want, just start running towards it. The only time we saw buses actually stop at our station was when there was traffic, and even then they pretty much glided past us.

While we're on the subject of Bangkok transportation, we suggest you never ever drive here (unless your eyes are closed), and if possible, you should keep your eyes closed for as much of the drive as possible. The drivers here are insane. We thought Israelis are bad drivers, but oh my goodness, we're pretty sure all Bangkok driving lessons are defensive driving. Everyone knows they can pass and push to get where they want and someone will eventually stop. You can see people on bikes randomly crossing through driving traffic. The driver we had yesterday who brought us into Bangkok is probably still laughing at the mini heart attack I had yesterday when we were cut off.

So we had our wonderful map and just kept looking to see where we were. Siam is one of the biggest stations and is also a connection station, so about 1/3 of the bus actually got off there. The nice ticket lady who had asked us where we were going earlier also told us that this is the stop we should get off at.

Having a peach tea for two... at Tea For Two

We fully intended on going back to the hotel at this point - it was about 5 or 5:30 pm - but we couldn't find the Sky Train entrance and found ourselves inside the Siam Discovery mall. Which was cool. And we walked around a bit, I bought a new pair of sneakers because the soles of the (old) ones I brought disconnected, and then we went into a few toy stores to find gifts for my niece and nephew. We ate at a really cute local restaurant/coffee shop named Tea for Two and it was really delicious, though their definition of "only a little spicy" leaves something to be desired.


All in all, we walked around the mall for about an hour and then proceeded to find out about the International Film Festival going on at the Siam Patagon just down the street.

But once we stepped into the building...

Oh
My
Goodness

Y'all just don't understand. There was everything you could ever think of, it was huge, there were tons of restaurants, and that was just the first floor. It was gigantic and spacey, and Som told us that the Krispy Kreme just opened and there was often a 2-hour line (for a donut!!), so we did what every self-respecting person would do.

We stood in a two-hour line for a donut.

Not.

We took a picture of all the idiots standing in a two-hour line for a donut.

We decided to go up tot he 6th floor to see if there were any movies that we wanted to see so we could walk around later, but we never made it. Each floor of the mall is more amazing than the one before it. We took a few pictures, but they will never fully portray how incredibly huge the place is and completely gorgeous.

All this is made of Lego! For real!

There was an incredible Harry Potter Lego display on the 1st floor (we were able to see it well on the 2nd floor) and after oohing and aahing for a few minutes we walked into the most amazing department store on the 3rd floor. Honestly, nothing else needs to exist outside of that store, other than food. I actually found Candyland for my niece and nephew - how exciting is that? And it was really inexpensive. While we were browsing the children's section for presents, they had this amazing American kids songs CD playing that I really wanted to buy for them, so we asked the manager what CD it was and he told us where to get it - which we did.

This store is huge!!

The funny sales people at the CD store

The sales people at the department store were great, but the guys at the DIY store, where we bought the CDs were so completely awesome and hilarious. While marveling at their selection of country CDs (for real - we kept hearing country music all around Bangkok! Totally odd), a salesperson walked up to us to see if he could help, so we asked him about the CD. When he saw our camera was out, he started posing as if he were in a photo shoot (it was closed). He then called his friend over and they both said they wanted us to take a picture of them - so we did. Then they told us they were cute in the picture. They totally were.

After letting us listen to a selection from the CD to make sure it's what we wanted, the guy asked me where I was from. I said, "Texas." Then he said, "How did you get here? On your horse?" I was laughing so hard, I couldn't even come up with a smart answer. Even buying a CD in Bangkok is an experience.

Finally, literally over an hour after we reached the mall, we made it up to the cinema area. Oh my goodness, you don't understand. That place is gigantic. We saw the list of international movies that are playing while we're here, but couldnt' really find any we wanted to see on dates that we could attend, but we did see that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1) is playing in the IMAX when we get back, so we got tickets. They're cheaper than the ones in Israel and it's IMAX. Totally cool. So we'll be going to that on our last night in Thailand.

All in all, it took us 2 hours to get to and through China Town, and about 5 hours to get back. You know, when we had no energy to walk anymore. :-)

See more of our pics from today and yesterday here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=567114&id=906005363&l=0f03363831

Goodbye WFFT and Hello Bangkok

 Tommy the volunteer coordinator and Lucy the medical chief

A couple nights ago, we went out to dinner with Tommy, the volunteer coordinator who was actually a volunteer himself the first time that Rony was at the WFFT, and Lucy, the animal nurse who was also there before, and had the best time. They were tons of fun, we learned a lot about their lives and what it's like living so far away from everyone, and it's so awesome to see that they love those animals and the center so much, that it really doesn't phase them.

The highlight of the evening for me, I must say, was that I road on a motorbike for the first time in my life. It would have probably scared me more but 1) There weren't any other people on the the road and 2) I was in between Rony and Tommy (a Talia sandwich, if you will), and couldn't actually fall off.

Today was a bitter-sweet day. On the one hand, our traveling officially started and we are in Bangkok. On the other hand, we had to say goodbye to our friends, human and otherwise.

You wouldn't think that you can get attached to a bunch of random people (and animals) in one week, but indeed you can. Seeing as I (Talia) am overly sensitive, I already had tears in my eyes when I said goodbye to the elephants. I'm not sure I can correctly convey how connected you get to those animals, but you do.

June was like "whatever" when I said goodbye, Bua grabbed me a usual, and Pai Lin wrapped her trunk around my arm when I hugged her, and then pushed me away. She was all, "Fine, go!" And I'm like, "Are you a Polish elephant? Cause I was under the impression that you were an Asian elephant. Just sayin'."

We woke up "late" this morning, around 8 am (two hours later than usual, just to remind you) and cleaned the room, picked up our laundry, packed, and went around taking some last pictures. Then lunch time came, and it was time to say goodbye.

After a very teary goodbye (on my part), we set off for Bangkok. And next time we definitely should come back for a longer term.

As we arrived in Bangkok, we thought that we will finally have a quiet day/evening, but no such thing: Our friend, E.P., introduced us to a Thai friend of hers, Som, who had plans for us tonight and we barely had time to shower and book our flight to Chiang Mai before going out on a surprising evening.

But that's a whole other story that we'll tell you tomorrow :)

You can see the last photos from the center here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=566721&id=906005363&l=82d6005d4a (direct link as usual). We are still adding more, so give it like half an hour before you click :-)

Talk to you soon!

Oh, elephant, my elephant. Also: I am a slave who pays to be a slave

I hope you have already read Rony's latest post, but in case you haven't, read all about Cha'am, elephant safari, and the WFFT here. He talks a lot about how we feel, lots about his bears, and about what we do in the evenings.

I wanted to let you know a bit about our daily structure with the elephants. I have already basically introduced the elephants at the WFFT, and here's how we've been working.

At 6:30, we have the pre-morning feed. I'm not sure if that's what it's called, but it might as well be at that G-d-forsaken hour. June needs the most care, so whoever is on her watch (along with the sweet Bua) needs to make her these special pallets or peel and cut her fruit and hand feed all of her food to her. This means you get very dirty. Both because of what you are preparing, and because June has to suck on the food, since she has no teeth, and sometimes she gets so excited that some of the juice splats all over you.

Sounds gross, and it is, but only the first time. Then you're so dirty, you don't even notice it anymore.

Bua the sweetheart

Anyway, so in the morning we feed the elephants and we clean their enclosures, which means we remove all of their poo (for real) and the leftover leaves from whatever plant food they were given (sugar canes, banana, or corn). We also drain their water hole and scrub it clean, and then refill it.
Then breakfast, which we make ourselves. It's the only meal we make ourselves, there are cooks who make lunch and dinner.

After breakfast, we have feeds for all the elephants - and Sam, the horse - several times during the day, we water them several times a day, bathe them (except for Somboon and Khan Kluey, the baby, since he's wild and we don't really get close to him), clean their enclosures again, and also challange them with food. This isn't mean, they actually enjoy it. What we try to do is give them as much challenge as possible so they won't be bored, like tying some fruit in a bag and having them somehow rip their way through it. Khan Kluey picks up the back and hits it on his back to open it, and when that fails, he stomps on it and tears it with his teeth. Totally hilarious.

Khan Kluey, the 5-year-old baby

Somboon

Once every couple of days we go harvesting, meaning the elephant volunteers (except for one who needs to continue to feed June and the other elephants) are taken on the back of a pick up truck to some field to chop the plants with machetes (for real) and then load them on a truck. But we load them so high, and it doesn't matter which ones you're dealing with, you will always get a rash. We are out in the hot sun, covered head to toe, and still turn out red.

Speaking of red, I have a tan. Not just red. For real. :-)

Harvesting

We also have all kinds of special assignments, such as transferring previously-collectected elephant poo (for real) to one of the trucks and transporting it to another part of the center in order to use as fertilizer. Before you get all grossed out, the poo doesn't smell at all and it dries up real fast, so it is just like picking up a hairy baseball.

I hope you enjoyed the explanation :-)

Poo :-)

The day doesn't sound as full as it probably should have, but when everyone goes on harvest and one person is left to take care of 5 elephants and a horse, things get interesting. June also has a 6 pm feed, so whoever is taking care of June (usually 2 people) actually has a 12-hour day.

June

But the truth is that, although you're running around like crazy all day, it is so much fun. You do have some breaks here and there, and the truth is that everyone is exhausted, so it's OK.

The people are, for the most part, absolutely incredible. You wouldn't think that you can make really great friends in one week, but you can. I really hope I don't cry and make a fool or myself when we leave tomorrow at lunch time, but I have been told that it happens a lot.

The funnest part is that I have made some friends in Australia who we will meet up with while we're visiting Australia, and a couple of our friends from England will be in Australia at the same time as us and we have a day in the same place so we're going to meet up, too.


Tomorrow we head off to Bangkok for a few days, and then we go up north for about 12 more days. We'll write more when we're there, but I have a feeling we'll be sharing more of our experiences from the WFFT first.