Orphanage Idear

Okayyyy.. so after feeling a little bit distressed, bummed, and at a loss to being able to help enough, I laid in bed one morning racking my brain for better ways to help. As throughout my life experiences and learning, as well as influence from my dad and Uncle Greg's wide perspective and experience, I've realized there are greater ways of helping more people on a grander scale sometimes than just using your own two hands. But I also accept that sometimes we need to just get down and dirty with our own two hands too. Right time and place for everything. I realized early on in this endeavor that my two hands and little wallet was really just not going to be enough to make a difference. After racking my brain, I came up with this really weird idea... that probably won't work.. but it doesnt hurt to dream, and ya never know what happens from there,, newer better ideas, etc. The concept is to create a larger impact... how could I get more people to understand and help too, as there are sooo many NGO's, help-centers, etc asking for money... and how many of them can we actually contribute too. Afterall I've only ever dontated to MADD (mother's against drunk drivers), fire/police calls when I can, Greg's house rebuilding project in Pakistan, Tsunami 2004, and maybe just a few other... but I can't save the world with just those contributions. I know the american public is hassled every day for money, and its not necessarily the most efficient route. There was a study about monkeys, where one monkey in a cage was electricuted everytime another monkey in an adjacent cage was given food. Eventually the adjacent monkey starved itself to death. The idea was that they cared empathetically, and that human nature reflects this as well. As I told this study to my bf one day... he made the comment that maybe that was only because they could see each other and indirectly feel the pain then.. but for most of the world this kind of analogical pain is "out of sight out of mind." I think this is really true, as it is soooo much harder to eat a full meal literally in front of a starving begger. While a picture with a donation card is easier to throw away. Also, we learn by experiences and by doing, by being here/there too. This made led me to think of ways to get people here/there (there being anywhere of need, namely in this example for sake of ease: Cambodia).
Now that I have over-elaborated on my train of thought... I don't have time to get to the point... very typical of me =) ... next blog standing by =)

Sleeper bus to Hannoi, Vietnam

So Lucy and I had a little pre-christmas shopping for each other... and splurged a little too much in someways... but overal we think it was okayyyy. The tailors are ridiculously cheap here.... so we just couldn't help passing such an opportunity up. That was really all Hoi An was about. Now we are much tooo overloaded which is really causing a bit of a travel problem lately. So if I don't come home soon I'm definitely going to have to send a package back again.

We rented bikes again,,, and just marveled again about how much we LOVE riding bikes here... it is just so dreamy, exciting, thrilling, and a good source of exercise. I found that I'm getting better at weaving and dodging through the crazy motorists when crossing through uncontrolled intersections.. but every so often I have to remind myself not to become too confident and always pay close attention as the unexpected is ALWAYS happening.

Oh- we also finally took a cooking class we've been promising ourselves forever. AND IT WAS AMAZING. We really can't tell if its just because we cooked it ourselves that it tasted sooo good, but it had to have been some of the best food we've eaten in Vietnam so far. And the instructors we're really good, nice, and most of all- patient-- becuase Lucy and I soon found out just HOW lame we are when it comes to cooking... We felt like really stupid westerners that obviously don't know how to do anything for themselves because we've always had stuff given to us like that... interesting lesson. Mostly just we cut really really slow ad sloppy.. but I guess we have to be a little easier on ourselves given we're not seasoned chefs or anything =)

Took a sleeper bus (with beds and all) to Hannoi... and that was quite an experience in itself... even though I'm deathly tired again from the lack of sleep again. While Lucy again took the cheaper bus. We had better luck connecting in our final destination this time though. The bus was a little trippy though... I felt like I was in an alien spacepod, it was pretty weird/crazy.
I got another peice of art to add to my collection now...effectively have one from every country I've been in now... so that's been fun.. and theyre' all so unique. Laos will maybe be next?

Lucy's blog also always has another good and different perspective on our combined adventures too: adventuresbylucy.blogspot.com

Orphanage spurred idea

I have been meaning to detail this great new idea I'd come up with a few weeks back while volunteering at the orphanage, but I just haven't had time. So I will come back to this, but I wanted to start it to serve as a reminder.

It starts with 5K, and a "pay it forward" pyramid kind of concept,

Health stuff

So a decent enough portion of the time, I'm okay... but it just strikes regularly throughout the day lasting usually between 10-30min at a time. So it's more disruptive than anything else. The hardest thing that I've noticed is that over time (a long time now), it has just made life more like a task than a blessing. Even touring which should overal be fun and somewhat enjoyable.. just feels like work. This makes the idea of work itself (at say, a real job) even more intimidating.. as its hard enough to drag myself out of bed everyday just to try to supposedly have fun. Many times even just going out dancing or to a bar... is such a task.. I do it because otherwise I will just rot away in my hotel room.. but in reality every time, its such a push.. I feel like I should be paid on the job... because its just not enjoyable.

Bicycle bicycle

Lucy and I have been continually excited about our 1$ a day bike rentals. I've always been partial to riding bikes, but in a whole other country it has taken on such an adventurous ride I don't know if it'll ever be the same back home. We had a lot of fun today.. but after we went so far as to leave the safety of pavement into the dirt backstretches, I couldn't help but ask Lucy if we'd even recognize a ghetto if we were in one. Houses of all shapes and sizes... but many are usually made of just some makeshift tin slopped together barely enough for a roof. You never can really tell what kind of neighborhood you're in here... so we decided to carefully find a better way home, esp as our butts aches from the hard seats of a long trip.
Oddly enough, Lucy and I are temporarily splitting ways as I take the train because of my sleeping/health issues as well as safety concerns, and she prefers to take the more backpacker route. Although I'm a bit jealous her entire ticket all the way to Hannoi is cheaper than just mine to Hoyan, I know I will rest even better with overall peice of mind. Meeting up the next day should be interesting, esp in our half awake grumpy states.

In Nha-Trang

Nha-trang has been alright...

We went on a boat tour today... that of course doesn't compare to Thailand as we suspected.... but was different enough in some funny ways that kept us entertained. For example-- the floating wine bar that we had to swim to in the rain.

Tonight I also had a very strange and unwelcome experience at a massage parlor. But I suppose that was all in due time after having been to so many during my stay. Maybe uncomfortably undesired, but still an experience I will probably never forget! Let's just say that I don't think I will be getting a massage in Vietnam ever again =)

We leave for Hoian next.

Health Tidbit

I just got off an overnight bus 6:30am from Saigon last night arriving here in Nha Trang. I really am opposed to overnight tranportation with all the assoicated sleep deprivation. Unless emergent, I really don't think its ever worth it. So you travel all night supposedly saving a day's worth of time.. but in reality your whole following day is shot, as well as the next couple days of repair. I've been feeling a bit of pressure the last few times to do it, to stay with the group. But after last night, and all the stress/frustration/worry-- I've decided I'm just not going to do it anymore! I really have to watch out for my health these days being so much more fragile than normal. ANd its hard because the people around you don't really seem to understand (even myself sometimes) because it does feel wimpy and un-roughing it... but I really just need to take care for my body here. I've always been an avid sleep nazi.. but now more than ever. Particularly worse is that my already ongoing issues actually get noticeabley more painful the day after. I had to make it perfectly clear to Lucy this morning that I would no longer be doing any trips like this whatever the circumstances... there will be absolutely no comprimise on my health here anymore. It's really odd to me that people will do this kind of trip to save time, yet sleep almost the whole rest of the day... either that or be zombies... you've saved nothing in the end.. at the cost of your health... however small or large of an affect it is for varying people.

Some things never change!

So although Vietnam is very different in so many ways… esp good ways, there are some definite funny things that pretty much stay consistent across the SE Asian penninsulas here.
Tuk tuk drivers, and their scam prices (got ripped off by a taxi driver for our first time from the dreaded meter on crack- as our friend calls it) One of the rigged meteres that jumps up wayyyy too fast. That was pretty annoying.. again more an insult to the well-traveled instincts we supposedly claim.
The walking shopping mall- as I call it. When you just want to simply sit alone and take in the beautiful views.. but instead there's a hoard of fakely friendly people walking by constantly trying to sell you something.

An evidential success!

Lucy and I were both sooo excited today because as we were visiting the orphanage again today, a stranger walked up! Yes, it really was someone that had seen our flier! We immediately made friends... and will be meeting later tonight after hanging out with the kids. Zach (his name)is also an extended traveler, so maybe we'll even have a new travle partner.

I also was excited because both the store managers I tried to recruit for donations seemed open-minded to my ideas. They will be speaking with their bosses today and hope to have a more concrete answer by tomorrow. We will be gone on a bus to Saigon tomorrow, but I already got the orphanage directors in the loop and I hope they can work on something feasible!

Vietnam!

Vietnam has exceeded both Lucy and my expectations. It is clean, fun, and most of all- friendly! We have been meeting so many people, foreign and local.
They drive on the right side of the road here.. so in some ways its been easier.. but its also been hard to get used to again. The name of their currency is a bit fun/funny... as I can't help but laugh everytime Lucy exclaims "I really need to get some dong."
Other things that are different-- Thousands and thousands of motorbikes everywhere.. its like a sea of moving heads. The beaches so far don't compare to Thailand.. but they're still nice.
Other odd tidbits:
Baby chairs and tables to eat. Seems to be the norm for most locals.. beats their normal squatting. It had to have started as just another cheap short cut.. money and efficiency for moving around. Quite a funny sight though.. we've only gotten stuck on them a few times.
Reading this amazing book called "When heaven and earth Changed places." As they not only copy fake DVD's and clothes, they also copy books. Today we even saw a fake Ipod.. not even close. I finally broke down and bought fake IPOD speakers though, 8$ later.

Hacked?

Well... my blogspot is all written in Vietnamese at the moment... so I'm not sure what's going to happen to this. I'm assuming its just some kind of automatic converter.. which is mildly annoying.. and hope that it does not sick from now on out. AND moreso, not hacked...? Anywaysss.. got on here to write about the amazing experiences we are having in Vietnam and hopefully post pix if I have time.

So far so good!

A more successful day!

Got up early to go to the orphanage again.. although not as early as I would have liked after having had a tick bite me in the back.... made for a somewhat restless night =)

This time we had something to show upon arrival... no food or money as they would prefer at times.. but a flier! Lucy and I spent a decent amount of time on trying to get it right. And we wanted them to check it and add a few cambodian peices before copying and distributing. They were pretty excited about it, as were we. I figured it would be a much better use of our time trying to promote this place that barely exists even in the eyes of the local cambodians, let alone not even on a map. This way long after our visits, more people can come. And as I explained to the director, even though we may not have a lot of money to give, the ones that follow may! At this stage in our lives, Lucy and I have more to offer from our heart/brain than our wallet. He was very happy and surprisingly understanding/appreciative!

We set off after lunch. Spent the whole day posting fliers and promoting. It was exciting, but at the same time much more tiresome than I think either of us expected. We had to take little AC/pastry breaks every so often to keep our energies up. We worked 'til night-fall... at which point we amazingly reaped some rewards right away! People had already started recogmizing us from the posters and were coming up to ask us about it! It was soooooooo perfrectly great! And more than I could have hoped for. Many people were actually very interested and were so happy to have someone readily deliver all the info to them. I as more than excited to help them along!

Tomorrow is our last day... and will be a little more of the same. However, I plan to dive in and become a little more interactive with my fellow foreign travelers instead of passively hopeing they see a flyer. I also plan on engaging a few of the local grocery marts to donate their leftover foods from the end of the day. I'm not sure how fruitful this may be, but its worth a final shot.

Another Emotional Day

Lucy and I have been increasingly becoming more upset... I won't say depressed, because that's a big word to just throw around. But every day being surrounded by extreme poverty and hopelessness has really just been taking it's toll.

I'm still overwhelmed by how much I'm learning. Not just about society, and culture, and poverty... but about myself. My interests, my reactions, my emotions, my philosophies, my trivialness, the list is endless. After resisting for about an hour, I couldn't help but finally break down in tears from all the suffering. But even selfishly. How could I ever have worried about my issues... even the seemingly bigger ones.. in the face of all this. I just prayed that I would never lose sight of my time in Cambodia.

Making flyers with hopes to have them hanging today. Played and sung and danced with the children until the sweat poured down my face so hard that it literally stung my eyes. I can't remember the last time Í've sweat so hard. Again, they have no electricity, as I continued to remind myself there would be no fans... let alone AC or a building to even put it in.

Another VERY difficult day

So Today.. we woke up early to get an early start on the day so we could volunteer our time at a local orphanage as much as possible. Although we got up very early, it didn't quite go as planned... as it never does.

After much help and sorting out a lot of BS, we finally made it after 5pm. I expected it to be a life-changing experience... I tried tp even expect the worst, but I could have never expected what I saw. Describing it here wouldn't even do it justice but I suppose I have to try... for memory sake and maybe fill in with pictures later?

We know from much experience here in Cambodia that this is an extremely impoverished country.. and we are literally walking wallets as some refer.. and this bothers us so much in so many ways. But we have to keep are spirits up as much as possible. Because Lucy and I aren't in a position in our lives right now to be offerring money. Many people have jobs, but no time. We don't have paying jobs, and a lot of time... so that is what we have to offer.. and we cannot feel bad about that.
Even though they really really just need so much, it kills us.

So many kids are sick, there is little to no electricity, barely a roof over their head (and what I mean by barely.. is that yes, there is one, but it is makde of makeshift tins with many holes for the rain to make life miserable ALWAYS). A 15-yr old basically runs the place, and a few cambodian volunteers help where they can. They have NO government funding. After taking a tour of the place, and seeing and learning and hearing about all the endless issues they have and things they need.. I was a bit overwhelmed. I had to take a few steps back to really ground myself.. as there was nothing super immediate Lucy or I could do to really help this place in the few days we have. I aksed them to start prioritizing their problems for me so I could start with the most important, and see there was anything I could do there.. and if not, we could move onto the 2nd one. Unfortunately, as i sort have suspected at that point-- their number one problem was shortage of food. They want us to buy them food at the local store... but with much time and explanation through broken English... I tried to help them understand that is not what we were here for. That's not to say we can't mooch up some money to buy them food... but that of course, we could.. but that only helps them for a few days.. whle we are here. Give a man a fish today, and he will still starve tomorrow. No, I know I cannot teach these people to fish necessarily so they can live tomorrow... but there HAS to be something we can do in the way of sustenance... because my 100 bannanas I could buy are just not going to do it for them. This whole thing has been an extremely troublesome and difficult thing to go through, and my stomach has literally been in knots for days now. I have some ideas, but I'm not super sure... I asked them for help in brainstorming.. but they just can't seem to understand the concept or the English.. I dont know.
My first idea was to create flyers with all the info necessary to attracting and helping those people/tourists here who can continue to help. Because after us, that's it. So if we can continue the chain of people, that would be so much more effective than that time volunteered for an hour teaching English.
The only other idea I had after having discussed with them, was to try and contact some farms. There are many many more poor farms here than rich ones, but I know and hope that there has to be at least SOME richer ones.. that we could setup small regular donations from. I just don't know where to begin with that one, and no one seems to be able to help. The third idea, was in addition to the flyers we print and hang in as many guesthouses as we can, we can go downtown to the partial tourist district and hand them out to people in person marketing and hopefully use our charm and skills to inform and inspire others to help continue our mission of helping.
I'm really overwhelmed right now, so I'm probably not thinking as clearly as I can.. so hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to come up with a few more better things. IN the meantime with so limited of time, I'm trying not to spend too much time planning (as I know this is an essential part to efficiency and maximizing the help we can offer) because I have a tendency to get so caught up in the planning and leave not enough time for the doing. So I have realized that sometimes i just have to force myself off the boat into the water prematurely to get things done at the cost of maybe the best solution. Time management I suppose is one of those things you have to work on your whole life.

Lucy and I have to also concern ourselves with safety... as this being such a poor country and in such a poor part of town, people are in dire straights. So although I can understand their needs to rob and do other horrible things, we have to do our very best to steer clear of this. We had a tuk tuk drop us off and pick us up, but when we were dropped off.. we literally did not understand where to go... it looked like a garbage dump (not joking) it was very unclear as there was no real building in site. As we got closer there was a signpost with the name of the orphanage. But what we found as we got closer and swollowed my instincts of fear of where we were, was a bunch of makeshift buildings in the ghetto.

These next few days are going to be very trialing, and one of the many challenges I will be facing alone, is keeping my stress levels within reason. Because although Lucy and I spent the hour an a half in very different ways for our first visit, we both walked away with very intense emotions and entirely overwhelmed.

CATCHUP:

Whole Month of August

I had the luxurious and wonderful and once in a lifetime opportunity to fly my bf out to see me and backpack with for a whole month! I say once in a lifetime.. because it will be rare that he or I ever share such a long segment of free time in our young lives together as he has finally finished and graduated from Law school, taken the bar exam, and just getting ready to become a real lawyer!!! It’s all so crazy.
We kept our own personal journal offline, but in short, we begun our journeys in Ko Tao where we both had adventures of getting there to share already. Ko Tao ironically ended up being our favorite place together… so much for saving the best for last. We island hopped our way to Ko Phangan (party central). Too bad I was a bit too sick to enjoy most of this, but we still managed. Then we boated back to mainland where I call my Thai birthplace, Suratthani (the place I first started my life in Thailand working and living)… so even as touristic lacking it may be, it has a lot of special memories I wanted to share. (My favorite coffee shop, my favorite massage parlor, eateries, and where I had to relearn the basics of such things as crossing the street, avoiding rabid dogs, and covering my shoulders). From Surat, we bussed our way down to my favorite place in all of Thailand—Krabi. Particularly, Reiley, for its majestic mountain peaks tearing out of the water, and caves, and mystifying beaches. We took a ferry from there to the famous/infamous Tsunami disaster zone- Ko Phi Phi. Still a very beautiful island in some respects. From Ko P P to Phuket, and Phuket back to the islands of Ko Samui to meet back up with my cousin and continue the rest the trip together North. Starting with a retched night train up to Bangkok with a day layover and the next night train up into Chang Mai (Northern exotic farmlands, and home of GOOODD coffee). After being shopped out there… back down to Bangkok with an even MORE retched night train but this time with no bunks! In our crappy seats we froze to death from an over abundant AC, into more mega shopping in Bangkok.. all highly unnecessary. But as we all found out, outside of the seedy nightlife—Bangkok really doesn’t have a whole lot more to offer.

The only reason to come to this scary place....

Sept 6- Ankor Wat! Wow

This place is incredible… as it is pretty much the stand alone reason why Cambodia is even on the tourist map.. And you pay the tourist prices to see it- yikes! As per lonely planet, seeing this in one day is a crime—so we opted for the 3day pass. Yes, you need a week to barely see most of it… but at the same time after only three’ish (haflish overheated/overexhausted) days, Lucy and I are both temple’d out! Big time.
I don’t really know how to describe it other than just incredible landscapes of ruins of what were once considered the most amazing temples of the world.

Sept 7-
Lucy had this great idea to bicycle around. So we rented bikes for a wopping 1.50usd for the day.. and had an incredible bike ride. I was loving her idea until I fell ill… really ill from the worst form of heat exhaustion I;ve ever had… I didn’t even know if I was going to make it back in one piece. I guess I didn’t really know what heat exhaustion was. Now I really do. Somehow its possible to get wayyy hotter than Thailand. And we were just not used to it. Thankfully a little rest, some AC, and my daily 6$ massage and hour later… I was sorta back on my feet. Just enough to go back for another massage… ha ha ha…Lucy says I’m excessive. Today maybe only. But I’ve found something I love so much and it costs so little that it would be a shame to not take advantage of such a good thing. Everyone has their little spluges.. this ones mine. Fortunately I had the opportunity to visit “Seeing Hands” a massage parlor that consists of only the skilled blind. It’s a great way to give to a huge community here in need, AND a great massage as its such a refined sense for them.

Sept 8-
The day we truly became temple’d out! We actually got our butts up at 4:30am… whew to do the mother of all temples at sunrise. It was worth it for sure… but it definitely made for only a half day. We were home and pooped out by the time for an early lunch at the ONLY seemingly real AC café in town.


To say that this was the only reason to come to this scary place isn't all that entirely true. As there is a serious serious history to be learned here, in so many ways, for past present and future. It's come a long a way, but it still has a longgg way to go.


Up Next: Another 5hr bus ride from hell the to capitol: Pnom Phen. With 3 days, just enough time to get our Vietnam visas and see where all the craziness went down. Cambodia has already significantly changed me for life, and I have a strong feeling this next stop will more so in ways I'll wish I could forget.

Cambodia, whoa

Whoa! (Sept 4th)

I guess I knew this was a 3rd world country, and I knew it was going to be a bit scary, and I dind't know what to expect... but whoa.. it still was beyond what both Lucy and I could have imagined. Scary? Yes.

We even knew about the scam bus, and we USUally have our wits about us... but somehow got suckered in like the rest. Its a really soar subject and neither of us like to bring it up anymore because not only did we lose a LOT of money, we also lost a lot of pride in our stupidity after being such seasoned travelers now. So it rests here.

It is crazy dirty here... and we have forgotten what it's like to be out of our comfort zone having lived in Thailand so long and accustomed.

Dust everywhere, beggers, cripples from mines, orphan children running rampant, the american dollar-- I think quite possibly the only other country that uses the american dollar as their currency. How unusually annoying... as we don't even carry that anymore. And more so-- they barely except their own currency-- the riel-- of which we have a whole crapload now for an extremely poor exchange rate.. major bummer. As we were told at the border there were no ATMS and they would not accept Thai baht in country... a total scam. Along with the fact that they took 1300baht for an only 20usd visa requirement. They stole money from us left and right. Now we feel a bit at a loss as our accounts are drying up and we have less money to give to the actual people who need it here... the destitude poor.

We finally nestled our way into another place after fighting with our busdrivers and hotel people that dropped us off conveniently at their payoff hotel just far enough to not walk elsewhere. Lucy and I planned not to be out at night in this country... but we've ended up there a few times more than liking, albeit safely, but after dark.

Sept 5- Spent the day just trying to get our barings. Cambodia is more expensive than budgeted.. as we were very used to living like locals in THailand... now we're having to play the tourist game much more than desired.

I'm Back! ...from outer space

And now I'm back..from outer space, I just walked into find this here with its sad look upon its face!

So, yeah... its been a loonnnggg longgg time... of which I hope with the most idealistic dreams to recover, but for now just keep up with the presence.. oh,say, maybe at least once a month from now on?

The problems is somewhat classic... you get so backlogged that the burden becomes greater and greater... to the point where the mere thought of trying to catch up is frightening.. to the point that the guilt overwhelms you, and you just decide to stop thinking about writing altogether.

Now I have found that there are just tooo many amazing things going in and out and on in my life, that I forget and lost sight of just too much of what I've gained. I sent my physical jounrnal home along with my computer, and now have found that to be a bit of a mistake. Good thing in some ways though, because here I am again TRYing to write. I intend to just keep this for myself as a personal journal and to stop trying so hard to update it with picutres that can be a gruesome task from 3rd world countries and ultimately leads to no updates at all.

LETS start with Cambodia...

My First Motorbike Experience!!!

After suffocatoing Brent with the deathgrip for the first hour to seeminly save my life, I realized the whole motorbike they is really not all that bad. We got an extremely late start, but was so well worth the money and time spent as was the perfect way to see the real deal! I'm going to include an excerpt here from my best friend's travlelogue who explains the whole thing so much better than I have time for right now in my sweaty bits of time in the computer room:

"After a breakfast of fruit (fresh cut pineapple, mango, & oranges), we explore the large island on which we are located (Samosir) via rented moped. They are called ‘motorbikes’ here, but I am reminded of a childhood bicycle with a banana seat and a lawnmower engine rather than my 750 cc behemoth back home. For two tourists, it suffices. I have seen families of up to 6 people (2 adults and 4 children) crowded onto a single moped throughout SE Asia, and laugh at the thought of western families struggling to get 3 kids into a minivan.

We follow the shoreline road that encircles Samosir island (same size as Singapore) in the middle of Lake Toba. It is a breath-taking road, but not because of my driving. There are multi-tiered rice paddies, each patch a different shade of green, and makeshift scarecrows with tattered work shirts and Chinese straw hats, scattered throughout the fields. We stop to photograph a lakeside scene of floating huts, cows with bells, a woman washing clothes in the lake, and a young child playing in the water. The landscape changes intermittently between rice paddies, forests, grassy hills, and rows of Batak houses with the apex of their roof culminating in a point that curves upward at each end. Children and even many adults, smile and wave to us, seemingly amused by the Asian man with his white woman. Or is it a white woman with her Asian man? Even though Faren wears a helmet, they know she’s not a local. But they’re not so sure about me.

The pothole-laden road winds along the lake for an hour, then turns upwards towards the hot springs, where Faren gets serenaded by 4 teenage boys singing and playing guitar. We decide against soaking in the springs as it is getting windy and cool and with no towels, we also have no bathing suits. We’re elevated high above the lake with a great vista of the surrounding landscape and the hot springs below. The boys are laughing and singing the whole time, at that last age where innocence becomes muddled in the transition to adulthood. We eventually bid adieu to our new friends and start making our way back. The sun is starting to set and with it, bugs take flight around the lake. I have no helmet & visor, so I pull my Buff headwear up to cover my mouth and nose and the flip the back up to cover my forehead, using my sunglasses to protect me from bug splatter in my eyes. Anywhere else in Islamic-dominated Sumatra, having my head completely covered would not be overly surprising. But Lake Toba is the only Christian pocket in Sumatra, and it confuses people to see what appears to be a Muslim (or a terrorist) riding a moped wearing shorts with a woman on the back with long blonde hair flapping in the wind from under a helmet. Children turn and stop halfway through a hand wave, their smile turning into a look of deep confusion."

Lake Toba!

So, we stayed in the suite of this hotel (again after much debating)- because we're cheap! I know it sounds nothing to you all--- it only cost us 9usd each!) to stay lake front, view with balcony, in the suite! Yah- it was a great deal!!!
This was the last bit of our Sumatran trip! So yes! I am finally wrapping that segment up, and I can move back into Thailand now! (and the last bit of real luxury for a while!) Second pic taken of our balcony!!!

Sumatran Sunrise

After complaining to my travel partner how sunrise and sunset pictures can be overated... We really had a lot of fun with these!

I'm a dork

..but you already knew that.

Okay- so I love to dance..... but I can't quite say I have the hang of sumatran style yet. Not really my thing... the tempo was too relaxing... can you tell how lost I am in my lesson!? =)

although a bit blurry... a real experience!

...a real bad one! This image will forever be in my heart. We took the most horrible bus ride of our lives out of the village.. but along the way, they had the most magnificent glimpses of coconut farms... I can't begin to describe what this picture fails to capture... but it was so magical.... The ride was nausseating.. literally.. but every few seconds i could get a moment of happiness as I imagined myself frollicking through the trees swaying in a red dress. More on the buses later... but in case you ever find yourself in the middle of a jungle in Sumatra-- DON"T EVER TAKE THE PUBLIC TRANSIT... not even to save your life! Because, it can kill you.. and i'm not even exaggerating. We heard horror stories... luckily our ride was only obnoxious at worst. One old fellow we met going into Buket Lewang by bus said they brought on the equivalent of 2000gallons of gas... the fumes were so bad the people on the streets were holding their nose! Better yet, there are no smoking laws here... guess what everyone on the bus was doing! Yah- a moving time bomb as he put it! He was freaking out!!! But that's how they do everything here... public buses are literally just another mode of transportation for everything else.. people are just a bonus income. Apparently cows, pigs, and chickes are common place in the seat next to you!

Rickety old bridge

As cutely artistic it may seem, it's actually one of the only real ways to get across the river... yep- this aint just a looking bridge... its probably one of the scarriest walking bridges I can ever regret upon. I wouldn't mind it, except that around here, something you learn very quickly- they don't fix it if it aint broken! You could be that lucky time! Especially since we arrived near midnight the first night in, no light, with our heavy packs having NO freaking clue where we were or where we were going... on its sister rickety bridge nearby. I seriously contemplated what kinds of things I would break if I fell... because it wasn't quite far enough to kill you on impact nice and easily... it would be slow painful haul out.

Buket Lewang- village by sunrise!

These were some of the images I hoped on capturing while the Monkey desperately tried to stop me!

Bad Monkey!

We got up at the crack of dawn much to our disinterest but on our last day to take beautiful picturs of a our beautiful village we could never forget. Well! So did this monkey (and many others).. but not like this monkey. THis monkey decided to throw coconuts at me while I was trying to capture the essence of sunrise! Can you see all the flying debris from the mess of a tree he just tore apart above me!?

Buket Lewang- still in Sumatra

I don't know if you can tell amongst the greenery, but down there at the very bottom is an orange spec of our hotel room. In the middle of nowhere.. I mean... in the middle of everywhere! It is soo green and beautiful here. This was on a killer hike the second day after the first killer hike had me soar from the first day. But I had to go because we had special accompaniment by one of the villages oldest locals who knew all the medicinal purposes of the land... quite a treat. Just another long exhausting one as well.

back in the game!

Okayyyy... after hours of deleting and combining... I THink I barely have the energy to start reposting! I can't wait to catch up to the present tense... as there seem to be so many stories flying by everyday that will be long forgotten by the time I get there! Anywayssss.... this picture shows the all the energy I could muster up in excitement for what was to come and what had already come!!! Bascially we took an extremely long exhausting, but out of this world trekking adventure to see the Orangutans... we were all a bit nausseated and passing out from the heat and exhaustion... BUT thankfully some brilliant company thought up the idea of tubing the trek back. So basically you hike your ass off, and then you get to relax and chill ou in the water watching the amazing scenery go by. Well, not quite relax.. as there were some big and somewhat scarry rapids ahead of us... but it was all in good fun! My pose should show just HOW excited I was given how incredibly tired I was!!!!!

EEX

Somehow this got posted without any text-- but basically it said that blogger stopped allowing me to post pix... possibly I ran out of space. So for now I have deleted many of the pix after printing it all out-- but not the text-- since text doesn't take up much space. I will continue to post now (still a TON of catchup) but also continue to take down my older posts to do so. I will also downsize as much as possible. I have two-years worth so I gatta make it last! =)

Sumatran Falls

Another gorgeous waterfall on our jungle journey in Sumatra!

Soft-shelled Turtle

This thing was sooo cute!

No, I'm not peeing!

My travel partner Brent took this lovely shot of me cooling off. I don't know if I've ever hiked so hard in my life, mind you I was still recovering from all the dreadful infections! BUt it was all so worth it! This is actually wear I ate lunch. And then we saw a creature I didn't even know existed come lurking out of the water of where I was sitting- A soft-shelled turtle!!!

The babies!!!

Can you see the baby!!?? They are soo cute.. just like mini humans!

The orangutans were sooo close it was actually kind of uncomfortable at times, as they seemed not too happy about us invading their family. I would have thought they'd killed us... but the guides were very keen on monkey language and kept reassuring us their lunging behaviors were merely annoyance at us and not actually agression. The orangutan named Mena was a whole other story.

They had to feed Mena bananna to keep her from attacking us, or biting the guide. EEX.

I have one incredibly film of Mena chasing all the others away.... and they were SO scared... the mother and baby were screaming out of terror and actually fell.... it was all really kind of tramatic to watch!

To prove I was there!

A totally ugly mugshot.... but just to prove I was really there =)

Person of the Jungle!

"PERSON of the jungle" is the literal translation of "orangutan" in Indonesian. These orangutans were absolutely amazing. We owe it to our guides for showing us the right way. Some people spend days in the Jungle and never see one! We spent half a day and saw at least 5 with babies UP CLOSE! (maybe a little too close for comfort sometimes) It was unbelievable.

I think this one is playing Charades with us =)

Harder than you'll ever work for less money than you'll ever make

The rubber tree! Ever wonder where you got your tires? Good chance it came from Sumatra! Did you know rubber is actually white before its processed? They cut the tree and leave these little cups of collection.. its pretty interesting..

Hill of survivors

Buket Lewang is this incredible little villiage in the North side of Sumatra. Incredible in SO many ways. Starting, it was an incredibly LONG journey to get there... Next time I will bring my four wheeler.... I think it would have been a little faster arrival and more fun! The roads are pretty much inexistent.

The villiage is incredible because of its serene beauty out in the middle of nowhere. It is incredible because it is the last Orangutan reserve in the world. And it is incredible because it was completely flooded a few years back in the middle of the night, and so many were wiped out among their livelihoods, yet they can still smile and flurish in the river today. I cried when I read the stories. I called this picture the hill of survivors... because this is where they climbed from the building below to survive... those who were awake at midnight... In some ways this incredible city was actually very haunting for me.

Sumatra!!!! and the fruit plate

Several days later of traveling, we made it to Buket Lewang, and absolutely amazing village that I will continue to detail over the next few posts. But to start off,,,, you can see I'm feeling a little better. I ordered a fruit plate, and I think they picked the whole jungle for me! It was pretty impressive!

Path forward

At this point, I had already held my best friend up from traveling to Sumatra, the ultimate destination he'd been targetting forever. So

I was really contemplating just staying in Krabi to recover and let him go one without me. The night before I supposed day of leaving, I constructed a smiley chart of how I would feel and what kind of choice I should make based on that. Smiley face, med face, and unsmiley face if I was still feeling the same crappy way. I know, I'm a dork. But I was sick, and it was easier to think in pictures at that point.

Could I really be cold?

I was never feeling a 100%, but quite manageable.... AND THEN, I fell horribly ill. It started out as what seemed a simple cold... then my stomach started turning, and then over the next few days I started getting extremely bad cramps but some how maintaining to still barely keep up with my Travel partner Brent. Then just after an extremely heat exhausting day, all of a sudden I just needed to lay down, super faint and icky feeling. And THEN I got cold.... really really cold..... shivering and shaking cold.... so cold I bundled up in my zero degree weather sleeping bag. The funny thing was 5 min before that, I was sweating in the extreme heat of the day as I normally did. Being this cold didn't make sense to me, but I couldn't help how I was feeling. Apparently to the touch I was a furnace... Brent tried to force me into a cold shower... but I was soo cold already there was just no having it! This continued for about three hours... until I got really hot again. Feverishly Ill all night... and mind you were in the middle of the jungle... with the nearest doctor at least 4hrs aways. The next morning we took the quickest minibus to Krabi to the local emergency room. Sadly, I had really wanted to spend some time in Krabi.... but not this way. By the time we arrived I started to cry... and i'm still not sure if it was out of fear or relief of finally being with help. The doctor tried to tell me it was tonsilitus which really didn't make sense.. that had gotten so severe it had moved into the rest of my body. Who knows... but antibiotics worked! It took at least 3 days until I was feeling even 50% better.

Oh yah- the pic is some NASTY stuff Brent made to rehydrate and re-electrolyze me. Oh, the stuff was so bad.... it smelled like vomit, and made me want to half the time.

Last two of Kao Sok, before....

....before I got sick!!!! UGH

Just some more beautiful colors... and then a small glimpse of sunset colors..

Khao Sok, pretty river

Okayyy.. only a couple more, promise.. This one was just before sunset... really nice colors

Yes, a few more of Kao Sok

Just another tranquil pic of the national park we hiked through...

Jungle Climbing

It's not all "a walk in the park" figuratively and literally. We did a little offtrailing and had to climb and crawl a bit through the bamboo!

Koa Sok National Park

So the whole reason we were at this beautiful resort was to go this park. Which was pretty amazing and all... but I think I actually fell more in love with the resort than the jungle park. I think the river really made the difference. Here is a nice artistic picture on our hike through this national park.

Resort Restaraunt View

This is a view from the restaraunt of the resort hotel detailed earlier. These are the monkeys that come out every evening just before sunset to play and eat. You can literally get so close you can touch them,,, although you shouldn't =) But they are incredible to just watch... all their humanlike behaviors keep me observing for hours sometimes. The other picture has monkeys in it too although you may not be able to see them, you get a fuller view of the limestone cliff. THis is all right from our table while we were eating. COME to Thailand and I will take you hear for sure! I have so much exploring left to do myself (this is the trip I got sick and was mostly bed-ridden).

Yah, more of our sweet little bungalow

Pic on the top is my favorite princess bed in this hotel! I don't know why it double posted I couldn't get the other one to go away.... so I guess its just for emphasis now!

Porch and view... still 12.50$ a day

This was our front porch for like three days, and the view from it...... it was sooooo nice!!!!!! If you come here, this will be the first place I take you!!!! YOu can't really tell how nice it is from the pix.... seeya soon!?

It's funny how after living here for a bit, you really seem to think 12.50$ is a lot.... we actually had to really analyze whether that was too much money for our budget. Ridiculous!!

Resort I guess

JUst before I got deathly ill, Brent (my travel Partner) and I decided to make a quick day trip over to Khao Sok National park on our way down to Sumatra. Wow, what an incredible stop.... our 1-day trip ended up being 3. And then I got horribly ill the day before we were going to leave... so I had a pretty miserable trip to the nearest hospital 4hrs away!

Regarless, back to this paradise. We decided to splurge on an expensive place (resort I guess as they call'em). A whole 12.50$ later (yes, that's an expensive nice place here), we were in paradise right in the middle of the jungle along side a river boasting a beautiful limestone cliff and mountainous thing out our front window...... it was just incredible, I can't really explain it in words.

The bungalows were pretty fun.... simple yet elegant. THis upper floor one had this super cool outdoor shower (pic)

Smallest I've seen

Smallest Gecko I've ever seen AND SMALLEST frog..... I swear tadpoles are bigger than this thing... I didn't know they could start that small.
They're so cute when the waddle too.

Would you expect anything less from me!?

THis one was in Bangkok! Can you see the look of guilt on my face.

I'll post the others I found, on this blog too later =)

And yeah, they taste a bit different here of course.

Catch up, I promised

MANGO STICKY RICE.... the best thing EVER!

So I have a bit of catchup to play... bare with all my trips prior to now... I will be putting those through first before I get to the now... if that's even possible. The other pic was just more examples of yummy Thai food, ehmmmm and lets not forget the unbelievable Fresh coconut shakes!

Yay, I'm Back!!!! Kinda sorta

Okayyyy.... I'm sorry for not updating my blog more regularly and I promise to be better about it.... Most of you know though, it's just been a long long journey of illness, sickness, and now dog bites.... =) Despite all of this, I can still say I'm happy to be here.... truly. And when it all passes, I'll probably be even more extatic!!! For now it's just a push to get through the next day.

YES, I'm officially a teacher teaching now!!! Check out my new pix, sporting the ware. Thai people are even more caught up and careful about "appearance" than Americans. And especially compared to me. I don't think I've ever worn a collared shirt in my life. But here, it is the rule.

Left pic: Posing as a teacher... that's actually my adopted room temporarily

Right pic: My new temp school

I say temp for everything... because I'm still working on getting out to the islands to teach... but at this point we don't know how possible that will be... For now I still have 3 day weekends, wahoo. But even better than that I only work a total of 16hrs/week, beat that! Actually, there's a bit more prep involved than that since I'm teaching some extremely high level classes (governers, CEO's, etc) so its great experience, but a bit more serious than my usual fun n games in the classroom.

Camera Battery Dead =(

So, I just tried to charge my dead camara battery. And well, the charger seemed to fry after about a minute. I guess I won't be posting my own pictures for a while until hopefully I can find a new camera charger, ugh. In the meantime I may be able to post my travel partner's pix.

New updates...
Not too much... Brent went to a Thai-boxing show... but I opted out as I don't really want to pay money to feel sqeemish. He's an advanced martial artist, so that kind of thing appeal to him. Standby for pix, perhaps later I can post some from his if they're not too bloody. Instead, I'll use the time to find a new charger.

The weather is still extremely extrememly perfect. It just does not get any better than this... about 75F with humidity feels about 80, and it stays the same all through the night. Emmm.. warm summer nights, my absolute favorite.

And of course the food is still incredible!!!! Oh- the best is this FRESH (and I mean the cut it open right in front of you) Mango on coconut milk sticky rice. It is one of the best things I've ever tasted!!! SOOOOO good... But really everything here is sooo good and so fresh, as they make it all right in front of you!

Tonight- we plan on going Salsa again (hopefully I feel a little better) and then onto another crazy night in a diff part of town. There's supposed to be this club made of windows dim lit in the seedier part of town where you can go and watch the craziness that goes on outside while sitting safely in your little tourist seat. Sounds a bit cheezy.. but slightly interesting too, we'll see....
Love,
Faren

Priveledged Living

Just a quick snapshot on a walk around town across the river. This standard of living is actually not that shabby compared to how most live around here... pretty average. But in reality is actually considered even quite priveledged in reference to the way the rest of Thailand lives.

Hotel View

View from our 3rd hotel. This is actually a small upgrade from the last place, as my travel partner Brent thought it would be a good idea to budget last time and not get AC or hot water... yah, guess how much that saved? -2.50$USD.

REALLY not worth it. I guess 150Baht sounded like a lot at the time, but I think we learned our lesson. We ARE on a budget... but when it comes to differences of less than 5USD I really don't think it matters.

This hotel cost us 500B.. which comes to about 8USD$ each... not bad eh? And this is considered expensive tourist City prices!

Male or Female?

Male or female- your guess?

"number 1 sexy" became my new nickname shouted at me throughout the night.... very funny, I guess there weren't used to seeing western women around those parts.

Salsa Night?

Salsa night? .. so we thought. This is a picture of us before out night out to Salsa. Supposedly they have salsa nights at this place every Fri night and Sat night, but apparently people only Salsa on Saturdays... so it was pretty dead. We danced on a deserted floor once, and I wasn't feeling great anyway. However, the night was still young. We went a few more blocks down to a place called Nana Plaza, and never again. A bit on the seedier side, but VERY interesting... and I guess repulsive is a better word... as older men walked out of a mini mall of "those" kind of clubs with girls labled with numbers around their wasteline. Don't ask me how we know this (jk jk) but to have one of these girls more than sit next to you in these clubs, costs 150 baht. To take them in the room upstairs for two hours is 600Baht, and to take them home for the night was 1500Baht. There's 35baht to the 1USD, you can do the math. But basically that equals = sad if you ask me. As it is- most of this is bonded labour... and you can tell the girls aren't happy, barely even fake smile most of the time. On the flipside, we checked out something Bangkok is even more famous for. The tranny scene. AND WOW... they guys, I mean, gals, are very impressive. Oddly enough they liked me more than my guy travel partner... which I thought was a bit ironic... but I guess they could feel the straight vibe coming off him. Sorry, no pix aloud in the clubs... but seriously, you would never be able to tell the difference. I mean literally on the flip-side, these "lady-boys" as they call them, are way more excited about what they're doing for a living. I think this really could be a product of them doing what they love, as opposed to what the other women in the industry often are forced to.

Day 2- Still in BKK! 02-02-07

02-02-07

Okay- as soon as I remember to bring my camera adapter to the internet cafe- I will post pictures I promise!!!

Quick update:
We're staying in the tourist district tonight. Weather is still beyond perfect.... I wish my health was... after the plane ride, my issues came back, ugh. BUt I'm still managing to make the best of it and have an incredible time. We're going to tour downtown today (as soon as we got off the internet here) and observe some of what Thailand's famous for, the seedier districts. I figure while I'm here with my best friend, Brent, its a safe time to see the other side of Thailand too!
We're also going to check out the Salsa scene later tonight (or the lack thereof).
Jetlag is not great, but not bad either. And of course the food is wonderful! (For those of you who don't know, THAI is my favorite kind of food.) So as you can imagine, ... I'm in paradise!
Our flight to Suratthani (where I'll be teaching) is Sunday. From there, we'll be heading down the coast of beautiful Thailand into the new world of Coffee (Sumatra).
Love, Faren
(Stay tuned, as I'll be reporting back on the scene from tonight)

First Day, Arrived in Bangkok 02-01-07

Wow! I'm here, I really made it. It's all so crazy! ..and surreal.. For now I have pasted my previous post below, but I found a new program I hope to use that may better suit what I'm trying to do here with keeping a journal/posting with pix: blogger.com. It's not setup yet, but will be asap.. I only have 5 more min here until the massage parlor downstairs from my hotel closes... and yes, this is a real massage parlor (not the "other" kind), hence why it closes early. And because I'm so jetlagged, massages take precedence over journal writing today =) In short- I had a great flight, no issues... Bangkok is amazing!!!! The weather is perfect, depsite my eyes literally burning from all the polution. Write more later, promise! Love, Faren

First Note from Myspace (initially)

Previous Post: 01-19-07 I hope to use this as a travel/blog/picture journal to keep some of my closest family and friends up to date with my latest adventures. Of course that will all depend on internet access, but for now I can start with the preview: PACKING nightmare and a race against the clock! I leave Jan 30th, arriving Feb 1 stepping onto new soil in Asia! Yes that's two days... effectively I will have lost a day of my life that will be kept safe in an international airway for me to retrieve only upon return. But in reality my flight time from departure to arrival only lasts 23.45hrs.. almost a whole day! That may seem nauseating to some, but I'm actually quite excited about the flight(s)... it will be the first time I can stop for a second, nap, take a breather from my constant race to the airport. I will finally be able to read some of the travel books purchased years ago, in preparation of the people and places I may encounter. Pre to the preview: Just got back from a trip to AK visiting my family, those will be the first pix demo'd on my new myspace. I don't know anything about myspace, so bare with my lack of abilities for the moment =) In general I'd like to be able to post my pictures with small blurbs around them..?