we've been busy.... we've gotten a bit behind again.
the rest of our time spent in cambodia was good. it was unrushed and thanks to carrie, it felt like we experienced the country in a much more genuine way. after a couple more days in siem reap we were back to phnom penh. some highlights included getting what we termed 'cambodian princess' pictures taken. basically we walked into a little photo shop where cambodian women put tons of make up on us. used lots of hairspray and fake hair to give us fancy up-dos. and put us in lots of jewelry and very shiny, brightly colored cambodian dresses. we looked fairly similar to vegas showgirls only not quite so scantily clad.
during our time in phnom penh we also visited toul sleng or s21 as it was also termed. it was a high school that had been converted to a prison during the khmer rouge. before this trip neither of us had known much about the genocide that took place here not all that long ago. it's hard to imagine all of phnom penh being evacuated and 1.7 million people being killed as recently as the late '70s. toul sleng was a hard place to visit. it's set in a fairly quiet residential neighborhood which makes what happened within hard to fathom. thousands of men, women, and children who were thought to be enemies of the regime were brought there. only 7 ever made it out alive. all the prisoners were photographed when they arrived. many of the photographs are on display today. it's hard to comprehend how children young enough to barely sit on their own can be viewed as dangerous enemies. it was an educational but depressing day. soon after we left cambodia we saw a news blurb that the head of toul sleng is now on trial. we're not sure why it's taken as long as it has but we're anxious to hear the results.
on a lighter note.... here's a list of things we like and think are interesting about cambodia:
-babies here can balance on a bicycle or motor bike as their parents drive. seriously... they can barely walk but they can hang on at 50km an hour.
- moles with lots of hair growing out of them are considered beautiful here. the longer the hair the prettier they are. if you should cut or pluck the hair bad luck will surely strike you.
- long nails on men are also quite attractive. usually it's just the pinky nail but sometimes it's all of them.
- traffic can come at any direction at any time, including on a sidewalk. pedestrian right of way means less here than it did in thailand. even if the light is red and you are crossing in a crosswalk at an intersection... you could die and you are at fault.
- we'll miss seeing carrie put a "man flock" of tuk tuk drivers in their place. she can barter with the best of them and she knows what a fair price is. they don't often expect that from a white woman.
- celine dion music will pop up at the most interesting times. we've not heard "my heart will go on" this frequently in a long long time.
- kareoke videos are endlessly entertaining.
thanks again to carrie and her roommate rachel for being such wonderful hostesses for us. we had a fabulous time and it's mostly thanks to you!
Friday, April 3, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
so long thailand, hello cambodia!
we've fallen a bit behind again due to really slow internet connections and just plain being busy. we won't say a ton about our last week in thailand 'cause there was quite a bit we didn't like about it, but there were some highlights.
we headed down to phuket which turned into just a stopping over point for us, mostly because we hated it there. i'm sure there are very nice places in the phuket area... all the guidebooks say so. we just didn't see them. we did see lots of prostitutes and men who looked like our grandpa partaking in such services. it was basically just a seedy tourist trap where we felt like walking dollar signs. 'nuf said.
from phuket we caught a boat to phi phi island (pronounced and sometimes spelled pee pee). aside from being pretty touristy and often mysteriously smelling of poo, it was great. the highlight of our 3 days there was the full day snorkeling trip we took. we signed up for a speed boat tour which can have from 15-20 people on it. we were lucky enough to share our boat with only 2 other girls.... for only half the day. the other half we had the run of the boat. and as you may have gathered from other posts.... any time we're on a boat in a tropical location we're generally pretty happy. having a speed boat all to ourselves while jetting through around the islands of thailand pretty much takes the cake. the snorkeling was the best we've seen. sometimes there were other boats of snorkelers. sometimes we were completely on our own. and if any of you have seen that not so good movie 'the beach' with leonardo dicaprio... we went to that beach. it really is that pretty.
after phi phi we went to krabi province and spent a day in ao nang. we then headed back to phuket and caught our flight to phnom penh.
cambodia was like a breath of fresh air after crazy crazy phuket. i wouldn't exactly describe phnom penh as a sleepy little town... it's a city of nearly 2 million people.... but we immediately felt more relaxed once we got there. our friend carrie lives here and she is a rockstar. she's been a volunteer for mcc for over a year and a half now. she can speak khmei, can tell us all the best places to go, and can put any tuk tuk driver in his place. we are amazed by her on a daily basis.
our first few days in phnom penh we spent exploring the temple which is the city's namesake, browsing markets and picking out fabric to have dresses made. we got a tour of the organizations carrie's been working with. we met up with some other goshen college kids who are here as well and had some good karaoke fun. then anna and i got sick. it was bound to happen and frankly we're surprised we've been as healthy as we have been for this long. let's just say we spent some quality time with our hotel bathroom and were very thankful to have a 'western' toilet. as anna says, cambodia may be the best diet ever. it will make up for all those french fries we ate in australia.
once we were both able to hold down some solid food we got our bus ticket to siem reap. the first day here we met the tuk tuk driver and the guide we had hired for the day at 5:30 and headed to angkor wat for sunrise. it was pretty amazing... as were a lot of the things we saw that day. we all the 'big' temples that first day and we were very happy to have a guide along. he was able to explain what the intricate carvings meant. and he could explain the shift between hinduism and buddhism depending on which king was in power at the time. if a temple had been built by a buddhist king and was followed by a hindu king all the statues and images of buddha would be removed, destroyed, or changed to look like a hindu god. or the temple would simply be abandoned. there were a lot of headless statues laying around.
one of our favorite temples was ta prahm, otherwise known as the temple 'tomb raider' was shot in. it's a temple that has only been partially cleared from the jungle that reclaimed it after it went out of use. there are huge spung trees that are growing on and through the roof and walls. it gives it a very ancient, jungly, mysterious feel.
today was our second day of temple visiting. we decided to go without a guide this time since the temples we were visiting were smaller and less significant historically. because all of the temples on today's tour were much more spread out we got to spend a lot of time on a tuk tuk driving through the cambodian countryside. the drive was just as good, sometimes better, than the temples themselves. lots of naked babies. lots of little kids riding adult size bikes and managing pretty well. lots of families with stands selling fruit, baskets, and other crafts to tourists. our driver told us how the company that sells the tickets to the temples (which is not even a cambodian company) is changing things. soon transportation will be included in the price of the ticket which will put hundreds of tuk tuk drivers essentially out of work. they are also building new roads to the temples.... roads that do not go through the small villages we drove through today. all the people who make a living selling baskets and fruit to the tourists passing through will also be out of a lively hood. and the government is ok with all of it. no one knows how much the company pays the government each year but it must be a sizable amount. we are beginning to see the ways in which cambodia has earned it's place in the top 20 of the world's most corrupt countries.
tomorrow we're heading to a floating village which we've heard good things about. we'll have a couple more days up north here and then we'll head back for some more fun times with our good friend carrie. we passed our 2 month mark on the trip a few days ago. it's both hard to believe we've been gone that long and hard to believe it's only been that long. so much has happened and we've seen so much. hopefully the next month treats us as well as the first two did.
we headed down to phuket which turned into just a stopping over point for us, mostly because we hated it there. i'm sure there are very nice places in the phuket area... all the guidebooks say so. we just didn't see them. we did see lots of prostitutes and men who looked like our grandpa partaking in such services. it was basically just a seedy tourist trap where we felt like walking dollar signs. 'nuf said.
from phuket we caught a boat to phi phi island (pronounced and sometimes spelled pee pee). aside from being pretty touristy and often mysteriously smelling of poo, it was great. the highlight of our 3 days there was the full day snorkeling trip we took. we signed up for a speed boat tour which can have from 15-20 people on it. we were lucky enough to share our boat with only 2 other girls.... for only half the day. the other half we had the run of the boat. and as you may have gathered from other posts.... any time we're on a boat in a tropical location we're generally pretty happy. having a speed boat all to ourselves while jetting through around the islands of thailand pretty much takes the cake. the snorkeling was the best we've seen. sometimes there were other boats of snorkelers. sometimes we were completely on our own. and if any of you have seen that not so good movie 'the beach' with leonardo dicaprio... we went to that beach. it really is that pretty.
after phi phi we went to krabi province and spent a day in ao nang. we then headed back to phuket and caught our flight to phnom penh.
cambodia was like a breath of fresh air after crazy crazy phuket. i wouldn't exactly describe phnom penh as a sleepy little town... it's a city of nearly 2 million people.... but we immediately felt more relaxed once we got there. our friend carrie lives here and she is a rockstar. she's been a volunteer for mcc for over a year and a half now. she can speak khmei, can tell us all the best places to go, and can put any tuk tuk driver in his place. we are amazed by her on a daily basis.
our first few days in phnom penh we spent exploring the temple which is the city's namesake, browsing markets and picking out fabric to have dresses made. we got a tour of the organizations carrie's been working with. we met up with some other goshen college kids who are here as well and had some good karaoke fun. then anna and i got sick. it was bound to happen and frankly we're surprised we've been as healthy as we have been for this long. let's just say we spent some quality time with our hotel bathroom and were very thankful to have a 'western' toilet. as anna says, cambodia may be the best diet ever. it will make up for all those french fries we ate in australia.
once we were both able to hold down some solid food we got our bus ticket to siem reap. the first day here we met the tuk tuk driver and the guide we had hired for the day at 5:30 and headed to angkor wat for sunrise. it was pretty amazing... as were a lot of the things we saw that day. we all the 'big' temples that first day and we were very happy to have a guide along. he was able to explain what the intricate carvings meant. and he could explain the shift between hinduism and buddhism depending on which king was in power at the time. if a temple had been built by a buddhist king and was followed by a hindu king all the statues and images of buddha would be removed, destroyed, or changed to look like a hindu god. or the temple would simply be abandoned. there were a lot of headless statues laying around.
one of our favorite temples was ta prahm, otherwise known as the temple 'tomb raider' was shot in. it's a temple that has only been partially cleared from the jungle that reclaimed it after it went out of use. there are huge spung trees that are growing on and through the roof and walls. it gives it a very ancient, jungly, mysterious feel.
today was our second day of temple visiting. we decided to go without a guide this time since the temples we were visiting were smaller and less significant historically. because all of the temples on today's tour were much more spread out we got to spend a lot of time on a tuk tuk driving through the cambodian countryside. the drive was just as good, sometimes better, than the temples themselves. lots of naked babies. lots of little kids riding adult size bikes and managing pretty well. lots of families with stands selling fruit, baskets, and other crafts to tourists. our driver told us how the company that sells the tickets to the temples (which is not even a cambodian company) is changing things. soon transportation will be included in the price of the ticket which will put hundreds of tuk tuk drivers essentially out of work. they are also building new roads to the temples.... roads that do not go through the small villages we drove through today. all the people who make a living selling baskets and fruit to the tourists passing through will also be out of a lively hood. and the government is ok with all of it. no one knows how much the company pays the government each year but it must be a sizable amount. we are beginning to see the ways in which cambodia has earned it's place in the top 20 of the world's most corrupt countries.
tomorrow we're heading to a floating village which we've heard good things about. we'll have a couple more days up north here and then we'll head back for some more fun times with our good friend carrie. we passed our 2 month mark on the trip a few days ago. it's both hard to believe we've been gone that long and hard to believe it's only been that long. so much has happened and we've seen so much. hopefully the next month treats us as well as the first two did.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
bangkok and ban kruit...about as different as can be.
bangkok is a city of dichotomies. we arrived after dark to the biggest, newest airport we've seen yet. everything was well organized, modern, and clean. we breezed through customs and got a cab to our hostel. the highways were also new and big. drivers even stayed in their own lanes and followed most of the traffic laws. leaving the airport (which we learned from our driver was only built two years ago) we could see how big it really was. it was kind of like a city all it's own with large hotels and multi-lane highways in every direction. it's hard to imagine it being completely blocked off by protesters only a short while ago. we're happy that so far, people are more happy with the current prime minister.
our driver was kind enough to put on music for our drive. we got our first views of the glittering city to the tune of brittney spears "not yet a woman." as hard as we may try we really can't get away from bad american pop.
the city really was beautiful at night. and once we got off the freeway, we began to see how bustling it really is. the six lane road outside our hotel was bumper to bumper. the elevated train and subway stations were busy, even at 10 p.m. we don't know what the actual population of the city is but it's a pretty big contrast to sleepy little bali.
since we only had two days in the city we decided to hit the ground running. we got an early start and headed out to the grand palace the next morning. the public transportation was incredibly easy to navigate... at least the sky train and the river taxis were.
the river is in the center of the city and is used as a main thoroughfare. there were barges and long boats. poverty and wealth live among each other. we passed the most expensive condo building in the city which had tiny corrugated tin homes on either side.
we made it to our stop and found our way to wat po, home of the reclining buddha. he is giant. he's covered in gold. his feet are inlaid with mother of pearl. he's impressive.
next we found the grand palace itself. we had known there were dress codes associated with the palace but they were a bit stricter than we had anticipated. gina was wearing a skirt that came below her knees and a tee-shirt. anna was wearing capri pants and a tee-shirt that came a little low in the back. we walked in the gate and up ahead was a tiny old thai woman with a megaphone yelling at people as they walked in. "excuse me! excuse me! no short pant!" or "stop, you! no tank top!" if you were white, she yelled in english. if you weren't, she yelled in thai. it was kind of like watching 'what not to wear' thai style. since anna didn't conform to the code she got to borrow some clothes for the day. they consisted of a sarong skirt over her pants and a men's button down shirt. it was a really good look for her. and she wasn't hot at all.
the grand palace is big and shiny and impressive. there are several temples on the grounds. and every building is gilded and covered in colored glass and tiny mirrors. it's kind of like looking at disco balls all day long. we found the temple with the emerald buddha. it's actually made of jade. our favorite part were his outfits. he is apparently important enough to have three.... one for each season. they're all made of gold and the king personally gets to dress him. currently it's the "cool" season, or at least that's the outfit he was in. it doesn't feel too cool to us.
after regrouping with ice cream and a coke we made it back to our water taxi. the taxi we had taken in the morning had said round trip was an hour. so we figured we'd get on the first boat that came along, even if it was going the wrong way. that way we'd get a nice tour of the city and we wouldn't have to sit on the stinky boat dock. after we got to stop #25 and we were the only white kids on the boat filled with people carrying briefcases we figured we had maybe misunderstood. we got off at the next stop and waited for a boat going in the right direction. whoops. we did get a nice tour of the city though. and the all day boat pass we had bought that morning took care of us nicely.
that evening walking home from the sky train terminal along our six lane road, we were waiting at a crosswalk. then, there across the street waiting at the crosswalk as well, was a man with an elephant. huh. we also learned that when an elephant starts peeing you should stand well clear. there's gonna be a lot. bangkok really is an interesting mix of old and new.
the next day our goals were to make it to chinatown and to the flower market. we took our trusty water taxi to the flower market first. and even though we followed the directions on our tourist brochure, we somehow ended up in the back warehouse of the vegetable/fish market. people gave us some pretty funny looks. they must not see a lot of white girls back there. but they pointed us in the right direction and eventually we came upon baskets and baskets of orchids and marigolds and knew that we had gotten to the right place. we've never seen so many flowers in our lives. it puts pike's place to shame. you could buy them by the stem, by the kilo, or made up into flower garlands used to adorn a shrine.
using our map of bangkok, we figured we could find chinatown from the flower market on foot rather than backtracking to the water taxi. we meandered and found a nice little bakery. when they saw us walk in they yelled to the high school age girl in the back. she must have been the only one who knew a few words of english. they served us our cokes in a plastic bag full of ice with a straw. it was a pretty perfect way to drink a soda on the go.
with a few wrong turns and a few close encounters with buses in the middle of the road (pedestrians do not have the right of way even in a crosswalk) we finally made it to chinatown. we walked through what must have been the "wedding" district and the "gold" district. we also saw lots of food stalls right on the sidewalk. some of the smells coming from them smelled good. some made us gag.
after exploring chinatown for a while we made it to the water taxi dock we were looking for. this time we chose a boat heading in the right direction.
on the way home we stopped at a busy shopping mall complex. you can go to the aquarium, see an imax movie, and buy a ferrari all under one roof. as we were walking in some girls handed us samples of auntie ann's pretzels. then they took pictures with us. we're not sure what those pictures are for. maybe we'll end up on some sort of thai commercial. we just smiled and didn't ask questions.
the next day we left bangkok on the "express" train to ban kruit. it was only an hour delayed which seems pretty good. we were the only tourists getting off at ban kruit. three different train personnel came up to us to make sure we knew it was our stop. we must have looked a bit nervous or something.
we were the only ones at the train station other than a couple tuk tuk drivers. luckily one knew where our hostel was. before we left home we had found this hostel on the internet. it was a yha hostel and the photos made it look like utopia. we were happy to find that the photos were actually accurate. the hostel is more like a resort. it's right on the beach. there's a pool. the cabanas are private and air conditioned. we have our own bathroom. these are all things that we like quite a bit. the funny thing about it is... it's off the beaten track enough that we're practically the only ones here. we were all alone last night. another guy checked in this afternoon so now there are three of us.
it's been a pretty relaxing few days. our days go something like this: breakfast, beach, lunch, pool, nap, shower, dinner, bed. we've mixed it up with a couple of bike rides. a visit to the temple on the mountain overlooking the ocean. this afternoon our big project was getting our bus ticket to phuket for tomorrow. we had to go to the bus station to buy it. that involved taking a tuk tuk 30 km to the main highway. it was a nice breezy ride through pineapple plantations and palm forests. and we never get tired of seeing entire families (including grandma and new born baby) on motor bikes.
we thought spending five days in the same place would be nice since we haven't actually spent that long without packing up and moving since we left home. it has been nice but we're getting antsy. we seem to have developed ADD. now three days in one place and we're about ready to move on. we'll see how this affects our life once we're back home.
tomorrow we leave our little utopia. as much as we like each other, it will be nice to see people other than the hostel staff again. we're headed south to more beaches. we're getting close to being so tan that we just look dirty. we'll see how much tanner we can get.
before we left we had wondered whether we would get tired of being at the beach or of sleeping in hotels. would we feel unproductive without going to work. nope. we love it. we love the beach. we love not cleaning our own rooms. we love not working. it's pretty great when the biggest decision of your day is "which swimsuit should i wear today?" or "what kind of ice cream cone should i have this afternoon?" we'll see how this affects our life back home. we've been trying to come up with ways people will pay us to keep doing this. we haven't come up with anything yet. if anyone has any ideas for us...
our driver was kind enough to put on music for our drive. we got our first views of the glittering city to the tune of brittney spears "not yet a woman." as hard as we may try we really can't get away from bad american pop.
the city really was beautiful at night. and once we got off the freeway, we began to see how bustling it really is. the six lane road outside our hotel was bumper to bumper. the elevated train and subway stations were busy, even at 10 p.m. we don't know what the actual population of the city is but it's a pretty big contrast to sleepy little bali.
since we only had two days in the city we decided to hit the ground running. we got an early start and headed out to the grand palace the next morning. the public transportation was incredibly easy to navigate... at least the sky train and the river taxis were.
the river is in the center of the city and is used as a main thoroughfare. there were barges and long boats. poverty and wealth live among each other. we passed the most expensive condo building in the city which had tiny corrugated tin homes on either side.
we made it to our stop and found our way to wat po, home of the reclining buddha. he is giant. he's covered in gold. his feet are inlaid with mother of pearl. he's impressive.
next we found the grand palace itself. we had known there were dress codes associated with the palace but they were a bit stricter than we had anticipated. gina was wearing a skirt that came below her knees and a tee-shirt. anna was wearing capri pants and a tee-shirt that came a little low in the back. we walked in the gate and up ahead was a tiny old thai woman with a megaphone yelling at people as they walked in. "excuse me! excuse me! no short pant!" or "stop, you! no tank top!" if you were white, she yelled in english. if you weren't, she yelled in thai. it was kind of like watching 'what not to wear' thai style. since anna didn't conform to the code she got to borrow some clothes for the day. they consisted of a sarong skirt over her pants and a men's button down shirt. it was a really good look for her. and she wasn't hot at all.
the grand palace is big and shiny and impressive. there are several temples on the grounds. and every building is gilded and covered in colored glass and tiny mirrors. it's kind of like looking at disco balls all day long. we found the temple with the emerald buddha. it's actually made of jade. our favorite part were his outfits. he is apparently important enough to have three.... one for each season. they're all made of gold and the king personally gets to dress him. currently it's the "cool" season, or at least that's the outfit he was in. it doesn't feel too cool to us.
after regrouping with ice cream and a coke we made it back to our water taxi. the taxi we had taken in the morning had said round trip was an hour. so we figured we'd get on the first boat that came along, even if it was going the wrong way. that way we'd get a nice tour of the city and we wouldn't have to sit on the stinky boat dock. after we got to stop #25 and we were the only white kids on the boat filled with people carrying briefcases we figured we had maybe misunderstood. we got off at the next stop and waited for a boat going in the right direction. whoops. we did get a nice tour of the city though. and the all day boat pass we had bought that morning took care of us nicely.
that evening walking home from the sky train terminal along our six lane road, we were waiting at a crosswalk. then, there across the street waiting at the crosswalk as well, was a man with an elephant. huh. we also learned that when an elephant starts peeing you should stand well clear. there's gonna be a lot. bangkok really is an interesting mix of old and new.
the next day our goals were to make it to chinatown and to the flower market. we took our trusty water taxi to the flower market first. and even though we followed the directions on our tourist brochure, we somehow ended up in the back warehouse of the vegetable/fish market. people gave us some pretty funny looks. they must not see a lot of white girls back there. but they pointed us in the right direction and eventually we came upon baskets and baskets of orchids and marigolds and knew that we had gotten to the right place. we've never seen so many flowers in our lives. it puts pike's place to shame. you could buy them by the stem, by the kilo, or made up into flower garlands used to adorn a shrine.
using our map of bangkok, we figured we could find chinatown from the flower market on foot rather than backtracking to the water taxi. we meandered and found a nice little bakery. when they saw us walk in they yelled to the high school age girl in the back. she must have been the only one who knew a few words of english. they served us our cokes in a plastic bag full of ice with a straw. it was a pretty perfect way to drink a soda on the go.
with a few wrong turns and a few close encounters with buses in the middle of the road (pedestrians do not have the right of way even in a crosswalk) we finally made it to chinatown. we walked through what must have been the "wedding" district and the "gold" district. we also saw lots of food stalls right on the sidewalk. some of the smells coming from them smelled good. some made us gag.
after exploring chinatown for a while we made it to the water taxi dock we were looking for. this time we chose a boat heading in the right direction.
on the way home we stopped at a busy shopping mall complex. you can go to the aquarium, see an imax movie, and buy a ferrari all under one roof. as we were walking in some girls handed us samples of auntie ann's pretzels. then they took pictures with us. we're not sure what those pictures are for. maybe we'll end up on some sort of thai commercial. we just smiled and didn't ask questions.
the next day we left bangkok on the "express" train to ban kruit. it was only an hour delayed which seems pretty good. we were the only tourists getting off at ban kruit. three different train personnel came up to us to make sure we knew it was our stop. we must have looked a bit nervous or something.
we were the only ones at the train station other than a couple tuk tuk drivers. luckily one knew where our hostel was. before we left home we had found this hostel on the internet. it was a yha hostel and the photos made it look like utopia. we were happy to find that the photos were actually accurate. the hostel is more like a resort. it's right on the beach. there's a pool. the cabanas are private and air conditioned. we have our own bathroom. these are all things that we like quite a bit. the funny thing about it is... it's off the beaten track enough that we're practically the only ones here. we were all alone last night. another guy checked in this afternoon so now there are three of us.
it's been a pretty relaxing few days. our days go something like this: breakfast, beach, lunch, pool, nap, shower, dinner, bed. we've mixed it up with a couple of bike rides. a visit to the temple on the mountain overlooking the ocean. this afternoon our big project was getting our bus ticket to phuket for tomorrow. we had to go to the bus station to buy it. that involved taking a tuk tuk 30 km to the main highway. it was a nice breezy ride through pineapple plantations and palm forests. and we never get tired of seeing entire families (including grandma and new born baby) on motor bikes.
we thought spending five days in the same place would be nice since we haven't actually spent that long without packing up and moving since we left home. it has been nice but we're getting antsy. we seem to have developed ADD. now three days in one place and we're about ready to move on. we'll see how this affects our life once we're back home.
tomorrow we leave our little utopia. as much as we like each other, it will be nice to see people other than the hostel staff again. we're headed south to more beaches. we're getting close to being so tan that we just look dirty. we'll see how much tanner we can get.
before we left we had wondered whether we would get tired of being at the beach or of sleeping in hotels. would we feel unproductive without going to work. nope. we love it. we love the beach. we love not cleaning our own rooms. we love not working. it's pretty great when the biggest decision of your day is "which swimsuit should i wear today?" or "what kind of ice cream cone should i have this afternoon?" we'll see how this affects our life back home. we've been trying to come up with ways people will pay us to keep doing this. we haven't come up with anything yet. if anyone has any ideas for us...
Thursday, February 19, 2009
"kuta, it's like disneyland"
yes, bali really may be the happiest place on earth. and as "roy" our tour guide said, kuta is kind of crazy like disneyland in comparison to the rest of the island.
we made it out of australia without being affected by the wildfires or the floods. we barely made our flight since it had been moved up by an hour and we hadn't realized. but besides having our bags searched and getting frisked at multiple security checks, the flight went well.
we got to our hotel in bali and had a note from "our STA travel representative in bali." we weren't expecting a balinese travel representative but it sounded like a pretty ok thing. "roy" (his nickname) turned out to be awesome. we met with him the next morning. in about 20 minutes he had booked a hotel for the remainder of our stay as well as all the tours, spa treatments, and transportation we would need. what does all this cost you ask.... for about 2,200,000 rupia you can have 5 nights hotel, 3 hours worth of spa treatments, a day spent sailing to an island off the coast, a full day private personally guided tour around the island, and a trip to a temple at sunset. that turns out to be roughly $188. we love bali.
day #1
after meeting with roy we hit the streets of kuta, browsing the shops and stalls full of balinese selling things to tourists. after being in new zealand and australia, bali was quite the change, one that we were happy to finally encounter. everything was a little more chaotic. amidst cries of "darling, darling, i give you good price!" and "transport, you need transport?" we found an oasis for lunch. balinese style is lovely. very indoor/outdoor, with fountains and ponds and plants that we have in our living rooms growing on a much bigger scale. it was serene and lovely.
day #2
we were excited about spa day. we weren't sure what exactly we were in for but it was gonna be relaxing. our transport picked us up and drove us the 30 minutes to a spa on a different part of the island. this was our first real taste of balinese driving. traffic laws are pretty much just general guidelines. for instance, our driver preferred to take his half of the road directly in the middle. much easier than choosing a lane. when traffic got a bit heavy, he sometimes just made his own lane on the right or left hand side of the road. if it was flat enough to drive on, it was fair game. we also really liked the gas stations. there were your run of the mill service stations but there were also tiny "petrol stations." basically just a little shop with a shelf out front full of 1 liter bottles of gasoline. there was a funnel there for convenience as well.
we got to the spa and our driver ushered us in to the right place and told us he'd be waiting for us when we were done. then two tiny balinese women ushered anna and i into our room, gave us things to change into and told us to get on the massage tables. during the next three hours we were massaged, scrubbed, slathered with yogurt, showered, soaked in a bath full of flower petals, and then our hair was deep conditioned. anna and i hadn't really been expecting to take our flower petal bath together that day, but hey, we had our paper panties on and we're pretty sure they wouldn't have liked it if we said we needed separate tubs. it was a big tub and there were lots of flower petals and we know each other pretty well by now anyway.
day #3
sailboat day! we were pretty excited about our trip to lembongan island off the southeast coast of bali. it was a two hour trip to and from the island. turns out the swell gets pretty big on the indian ocean and gina gets a little seasick. luckily she wasn't one of the people who ended up puking over the side of the boat but there were a few.
after we got to the island we spent the day snorkeling, lunching, and lounging on the beach and by the pool. snorkeling was awesome. we were in water 40ish feet deep but clear enough that we could see everything below us. we saw tons of colorful fish and some huge coral formations. we kept feeling tiny stings every once in a while even though we couldn't see anything around us at the time. when we asked our guides about it they said they were jellyfish and that they were probably small enough that we wouldn't be able to see them. we're glad we didn't get stung by any jellyfish we would have been able to see.
the afternoon was sunny, warm, and relaxing, and with gina armed with her anti-seasickness pill we were ready for the trip back to the mainland. the sea was a bit calmer on the way back and that pill was magic. the trip home was perfect. it happened to be valentine's day and we both agreed that it was the best valentine's day we'd ever had. and there's not much that tops sitting on a boat in the indian ocean sailing from one tropical island to another. we are lucky girls.
day #4
tour day. roy and his driver mohammed met us bright and early for our day of fun. we were armed and ready with tons of questions for roy. luckily his english was good enough to handle all of them. he told us all about balinese culture and religion. our first stop was a traditional balinese dance which symbolizes the battle between good and evil in the world. the costumes were beautiful. the dance was elaborate and even with our english programs it was a little hard to follow sometimes. roy helped fill in the gaps for us later.
then we were off to see the artisan crafts of bali. batik, weaving, silver jewelry making, and wood carving. all were beautiful. all seemed like a bargain. we may have gotten just a bit carried away.
after shopping we got to tour what a traditional balinese family compound is like. everything had it's place... from the grandparents' bedroom to the kitchen to each of the three shrines each family would have. all was contained within an exterior wall. the town would be comprised of many of these family compounds all of which would be positioned around a central community center and community temples. bali is called the island of temples and now we know why.
lunch was had overlooking a volcano. then we stopped at an "agro-tourism" center where they showed us what kind of plants things like coffee and coco beans come from. for all you coffee aficionados out there... they specialized in luwak coffee. it's the most expensive coffee in the world apparently. why? because before they are roasted the coffee beans are eaten by a luwak, passed by a luwak, and then picked out of the poo by a balinese worker. we tried it. it didn't taste that good.
our drive home took us past beautiful rice terraces and through torrential rain. australia's cyclone weather has been affecting bali as well apparently. at least in bali it rains buckets for about 30 minutes and then it's sunny again.
day #5
rest. pool side. sunshine. milkshakes. once again, we love bali.
day #6
it was a lovely sunny morning so after breakfast we again spent some time in the pool. it's a good way to start a day. after that we set out to ship all of the treasures we had purchased home since there's not a lot of extra room in our backpacks. turns out dhl-ing stuff from bali is not cheap. we maybe should have checked on that fact before we bought nearly 10 kilos worth of stuff. now our bargains are a bit less of a bargain. expensive lesson learned.
that evening roy and mohammed picked us up again and we headed to uluwatu which means temple on the cliff. they ain't lyin'. it's a temple on a sheer 350 foot cliff overlooking the indian ocean. the temple is "protected" by monkeys. we don't really like monkeys. they're cute and all but they grab you and steal your stuff. we saw one tourist almost lose his glasses forever. i don't think he'll be feeding monkeys again any time soon.
then it was on to seafood dinner on the beach. we sat, literally, at a table on the beach. the seafood was fresh. the sand was warm. the beach was a little dirty but the sunset was great. we got to watch a thunderstorm come in off the sea. luckily we didn't get rained on until we were safely in the van on our way home. once again... torrential rains and this time no power in our hotel for a bit. so we sat on our balcony and watched the puddles turn into lakes on the lawn.
day #7
good-bye bali. after a quick morning swim and a good-bye to our beloved pool we headed off to the airport. it was a wonderful week. and really felt like a vacation from our vacation. everything was taken care of for us. we didn't even have to wear shower shoes once.
now we're on to adventures in thailand. we can't quite believe our trip is half over already. we're getting a bit tired of our clothes but we aren't tired of traveling or of each other. we're excited for all of the adventures yet to be had.
we made it out of australia without being affected by the wildfires or the floods. we barely made our flight since it had been moved up by an hour and we hadn't realized. but besides having our bags searched and getting frisked at multiple security checks, the flight went well.
we got to our hotel in bali and had a note from "our STA travel representative in bali." we weren't expecting a balinese travel representative but it sounded like a pretty ok thing. "roy" (his nickname) turned out to be awesome. we met with him the next morning. in about 20 minutes he had booked a hotel for the remainder of our stay as well as all the tours, spa treatments, and transportation we would need. what does all this cost you ask.... for about 2,200,000 rupia you can have 5 nights hotel, 3 hours worth of spa treatments, a day spent sailing to an island off the coast, a full day private personally guided tour around the island, and a trip to a temple at sunset. that turns out to be roughly $188. we love bali.
day #1
after meeting with roy we hit the streets of kuta, browsing the shops and stalls full of balinese selling things to tourists. after being in new zealand and australia, bali was quite the change, one that we were happy to finally encounter. everything was a little more chaotic. amidst cries of "darling, darling, i give you good price!" and "transport, you need transport?" we found an oasis for lunch. balinese style is lovely. very indoor/outdoor, with fountains and ponds and plants that we have in our living rooms growing on a much bigger scale. it was serene and lovely.
day #2
we were excited about spa day. we weren't sure what exactly we were in for but it was gonna be relaxing. our transport picked us up and drove us the 30 minutes to a spa on a different part of the island. this was our first real taste of balinese driving. traffic laws are pretty much just general guidelines. for instance, our driver preferred to take his half of the road directly in the middle. much easier than choosing a lane. when traffic got a bit heavy, he sometimes just made his own lane on the right or left hand side of the road. if it was flat enough to drive on, it was fair game. we also really liked the gas stations. there were your run of the mill service stations but there were also tiny "petrol stations." basically just a little shop with a shelf out front full of 1 liter bottles of gasoline. there was a funnel there for convenience as well.
we got to the spa and our driver ushered us in to the right place and told us he'd be waiting for us when we were done. then two tiny balinese women ushered anna and i into our room, gave us things to change into and told us to get on the massage tables. during the next three hours we were massaged, scrubbed, slathered with yogurt, showered, soaked in a bath full of flower petals, and then our hair was deep conditioned. anna and i hadn't really been expecting to take our flower petal bath together that day, but hey, we had our paper panties on and we're pretty sure they wouldn't have liked it if we said we needed separate tubs. it was a big tub and there were lots of flower petals and we know each other pretty well by now anyway.
day #3
sailboat day! we were pretty excited about our trip to lembongan island off the southeast coast of bali. it was a two hour trip to and from the island. turns out the swell gets pretty big on the indian ocean and gina gets a little seasick. luckily she wasn't one of the people who ended up puking over the side of the boat but there were a few.
after we got to the island we spent the day snorkeling, lunching, and lounging on the beach and by the pool. snorkeling was awesome. we were in water 40ish feet deep but clear enough that we could see everything below us. we saw tons of colorful fish and some huge coral formations. we kept feeling tiny stings every once in a while even though we couldn't see anything around us at the time. when we asked our guides about it they said they were jellyfish and that they were probably small enough that we wouldn't be able to see them. we're glad we didn't get stung by any jellyfish we would have been able to see.
the afternoon was sunny, warm, and relaxing, and with gina armed with her anti-seasickness pill we were ready for the trip back to the mainland. the sea was a bit calmer on the way back and that pill was magic. the trip home was perfect. it happened to be valentine's day and we both agreed that it was the best valentine's day we'd ever had. and there's not much that tops sitting on a boat in the indian ocean sailing from one tropical island to another. we are lucky girls.
day #4
tour day. roy and his driver mohammed met us bright and early for our day of fun. we were armed and ready with tons of questions for roy. luckily his english was good enough to handle all of them. he told us all about balinese culture and religion. our first stop was a traditional balinese dance which symbolizes the battle between good and evil in the world. the costumes were beautiful. the dance was elaborate and even with our english programs it was a little hard to follow sometimes. roy helped fill in the gaps for us later.
then we were off to see the artisan crafts of bali. batik, weaving, silver jewelry making, and wood carving. all were beautiful. all seemed like a bargain. we may have gotten just a bit carried away.
after shopping we got to tour what a traditional balinese family compound is like. everything had it's place... from the grandparents' bedroom to the kitchen to each of the three shrines each family would have. all was contained within an exterior wall. the town would be comprised of many of these family compounds all of which would be positioned around a central community center and community temples. bali is called the island of temples and now we know why.
lunch was had overlooking a volcano. then we stopped at an "agro-tourism" center where they showed us what kind of plants things like coffee and coco beans come from. for all you coffee aficionados out there... they specialized in luwak coffee. it's the most expensive coffee in the world apparently. why? because before they are roasted the coffee beans are eaten by a luwak, passed by a luwak, and then picked out of the poo by a balinese worker. we tried it. it didn't taste that good.
our drive home took us past beautiful rice terraces and through torrential rain. australia's cyclone weather has been affecting bali as well apparently. at least in bali it rains buckets for about 30 minutes and then it's sunny again.
day #5
rest. pool side. sunshine. milkshakes. once again, we love bali.
day #6
it was a lovely sunny morning so after breakfast we again spent some time in the pool. it's a good way to start a day. after that we set out to ship all of the treasures we had purchased home since there's not a lot of extra room in our backpacks. turns out dhl-ing stuff from bali is not cheap. we maybe should have checked on that fact before we bought nearly 10 kilos worth of stuff. now our bargains are a bit less of a bargain. expensive lesson learned.
that evening roy and mohammed picked us up again and we headed to uluwatu which means temple on the cliff. they ain't lyin'. it's a temple on a sheer 350 foot cliff overlooking the indian ocean. the temple is "protected" by monkeys. we don't really like monkeys. they're cute and all but they grab you and steal your stuff. we saw one tourist almost lose his glasses forever. i don't think he'll be feeding monkeys again any time soon.
then it was on to seafood dinner on the beach. we sat, literally, at a table on the beach. the seafood was fresh. the sand was warm. the beach was a little dirty but the sunset was great. we got to watch a thunderstorm come in off the sea. luckily we didn't get rained on until we were safely in the van on our way home. once again... torrential rains and this time no power in our hotel for a bit. so we sat on our balcony and watched the puddles turn into lakes on the lawn.
day #7
good-bye bali. after a quick morning swim and a good-bye to our beloved pool we headed off to the airport. it was a wonderful week. and really felt like a vacation from our vacation. everything was taken care of for us. we didn't even have to wear shower shoes once.
now we're on to adventures in thailand. we can't quite believe our trip is half over already. we're getting a bit tired of our clothes but we aren't tired of traveling or of each other. we're excited for all of the adventures yet to be had.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
it was the best of times, it was the worst of times
well, maybe not the worst, but we've had some ups and downs in the past week.
we left off with cyclone ellie... she turned out not to be too bad. magnetic island re-opened the next day and said all was well. we had postponed our trip up there by a few days just to wait for the rain to pass. in the meantime we were heading to an island just off the coast a bit south of brisbane. stradbroke island is known for its undeveloped beaches and abundant sea life. we were not disappointed. the beach was all we wanted in a tropical island beach. white sand, crystal clear turquoise water, and lots of sun, all shared with only a handful of people. the first morning we were up and in the water by 9 am. we were pretty excited. we were kind of like 4 year olds at christmas and anna's enthrallment with the water was never-ending. after we noticed tan lines within 30 minutes of hitting the beach we thought maybe that travel specialist nurse wendy knew what she was talking about when she told us to wear sunscreen. we were pretty diligent with it for the rest of the day but still managed to look pretty sun kissed by the end of the day. actually a bit more on the sun-slapped side but we were ok with that.
that night we sat on the beach and watched the stars come out and thought again how lucky we are to be here. we did not jump into the water at that time because there are warnings posted for tourists. don't swim at dawn or dusk because that's when sharks are most likely to eat you. also, don't go swimming while bleeding. we follow directions well.
our second full day on the island we set out to explore a bit more and made our way up to the north gorge cliff walk. we happened upon a junior pro surf competition which had drawn 15 year old surfers from all over the world. we watched for a bit but then made our way on toward the cliff walk. all our tourist brochures had promised that we'd see dolphins, sea turtles, and rays from the cliffs. we weren't holding our breath. but low and behold, we got to a rocky outcropping and there were a couple sea turtles swimming below. then we turned around and anna yelled "dolphins!" and actually meant it. there was a pod of dolphins swimming and playing in the waves. they were kind of surfing as well, riding each wave for a distance and then jumping and flipping out of it. it was like being at sea world without the annoying trainers. we continued walking and saw more sea turtles and then finally saw a ray. we thought it was just a shadow at first but the water cleared and it was definitely a ray. awesome.
we made our way to get lunch. one of our favorite things about australia so far (aside from the prettiness and the great accents) are what these people do to french fries. seasoned wedges dipped in sour cream and sweet chili sauce. almost as awesome as seeing dolphins. you kids should try it at home, seriously. and they have them on pretty much every menu we see. needless to say, we haven't gotten super skinny yet.
we got back to the hostel (which always mysteriously smelled strongly of urine and was really more of a dive shop with a few rooms to rent above it than an actual hostel) late that afternoon. we had a few hours of sunlight left so we hit the beach one last time. regina got crabs.... on her beach blanket. we have pictures. they were cute little guys who didn't like the fact that we had mistakenly put our beach blankets over their hidey holes. they gave us a stern warning.
the next day we were heading to magnetic island which we had pre-emptively decided would be our hostel utopia and our favorite place in all of australia. after all, we would get to hold koalas there. and we'd have our own bungalow, a pool, and the beach just a few minutes walk away. the island is quite a bit north from brisbane so it was going to take some doing to get from stradbroke island to magnetic island. but we, and australian public transit were up to the challenge. our day went something like this: bus to ferry terminal, ferry to mainland, bus to train station, train to brisbane, different train to airport, plane to townsville, taxi to ferry terminal, ferry to island, and finally bus to hostel. whew. it all went without a hitch though. and generally buses were timed to coincide with ferries perfectly. these island people are pretty smart like that.
our first sign that this might not be the three days of utopia that we were looking forward to was the extensive flooding we could see from the airplane in townsville. upon landing we saw several military helicopters on the runways and realized there were quite a few emergency and red cross personnel on the plane with us. hmmm. turns out, according to our chatty cab driver this is the worst rain they've had in the last 30 years. they're giving seattle a run for her money. its rained here for 42 days straight. and not misty wussy rain. here, it rains like it means it. maybe marcie from sta travel should have told us february was a bad time to hit the north east coast of australia.
upon arrival at bungalow bay "resort" our utopia image was once again shaken. our private bungalow was pretty rustic. but at least it had air conditioning and was close to the bathroom. it also looked like it was sealed up pretty tight... a towel might have been sealing one of the cracks, but still, it looked pretty solid. that night we walked into "town" and found the one bar/restaurant that was open. turns out february is always really slow for them here and so far this one has been worse than usual. the waitress told us they'd probably just close up after we were done. it was 6:30. we didn't want to hold them there so after we were done eating we just went back to our hostel. the bar there was still open so we got a beer and sat down. since there were only about 8 people staying there it was pretty easy to make friends. we got chatting to an english kid named andy. he's already been traveling for 7 months and is thinking he won't be done until sometime mid 2010. we're pretty sure we're not cut out for traveling for that long. he's hard core.
at 9:30 when they shut the lights off to subtly tell us it was time for bed we went back to our bungalow and met a couple of new friends. the lizard we named bernard and the roach that dropped onto anna's back, well, we just killed him. we quickly got into bed and tucked the blankets around us as tightly as we could. our theory was, we'd turn up the air conditioner as high as it would go. we'd be cold so we could stay covered up all night and the bugs would be too cold so they'd leave. seemed like a solid theory at the time. we didn't sleep all that well that first night. turns out once you're paranoid about feeling bugs crawl on you, it's pretty easy to feel them even if they're not there. at least we didn't find a snake crawling into our room like one girl here did. the snakes don't like the rain either and are trying to find places that are dry just like we are.
the next morning we woke up to rain. it's two days later and it hasn't stopped yet. despite these challenges, we have made the best of a very very wet situation. there are still koalas here after all. our second day we did the little "wildlife tour" with our new friends english andy and german timo. we held a crocodile, snake, cockatoo, and a koala! his name was dexter. he was really really cute, soft, cuddly, and smelled a bit like cheese. we loved him. we have pictures. he's our new friend on facebook.
we spent the rest of the day watching the rain and hanging out with our new friends. they've had it a bit rougher than we have. they've been stuck in this general part of the country for a while. turns out all the roads in all directions going out of townsville are closed due to the flooding. when we found this out we quickly bought a plane ticket to cairns before we got stuck here too. it was not cheap but it will be worth it.
according to the weather forecast the rain was supposed to let up a bit the next day. they were wrong. during a period of lighter rain we ventured out in our stylish blue ponchos to find some nearby waterfalls. we made it till we couldn't cross the road for all the flooding. too bad, i'm sure the waterfalls were nice. on the plus side we saw lots of kangaroos hanging out in the fields on the side of the roads. these are the first we've seen since being in australia. we stopped to watch them and were rewarded when a cute little joey poked its head out from its mamma's pouch. pretty darn cute.
we made it back to the hostel, dried off as well as we could and then made some lunch. the rain never stopped for the rest of the day. and it was impressive rain. just when we thought it couldn't rain any harder, it did. but we've decided we can be easily contented with beer, nutella, and the trivial pursuit cards we brought along for times such as these.
today we're on our way to cairns. we'll head to the ferry to get to the airport in an hour or so. we had booked a hotel for 3 nights before we started the trip. we're really excited about having 3 glorious nights with a bathroom all to ourselves, and beds with clean sheets, and clean towels everyday, and no "friends" to visit us in our room at night, and maybe even a hairdryer!
andy the englishman called us "posh travelers." we tried to deny it but turns out, we do have a decent amount of posh in us. we have proven to ourselves we can rise to the challenge when we need to, but we're ready to embrace our poshness a bit. magnetic island has been our first real challenge of the trip and probably won't be our last, but we've weathered the storm. It wasn't the utopia we pictured it to be but there really have been some wonderfully memorable moments that we wouldn't trade being dry for.
we left off with cyclone ellie... she turned out not to be too bad. magnetic island re-opened the next day and said all was well. we had postponed our trip up there by a few days just to wait for the rain to pass. in the meantime we were heading to an island just off the coast a bit south of brisbane. stradbroke island is known for its undeveloped beaches and abundant sea life. we were not disappointed. the beach was all we wanted in a tropical island beach. white sand, crystal clear turquoise water, and lots of sun, all shared with only a handful of people. the first morning we were up and in the water by 9 am. we were pretty excited. we were kind of like 4 year olds at christmas and anna's enthrallment with the water was never-ending. after we noticed tan lines within 30 minutes of hitting the beach we thought maybe that travel specialist nurse wendy knew what she was talking about when she told us to wear sunscreen. we were pretty diligent with it for the rest of the day but still managed to look pretty sun kissed by the end of the day. actually a bit more on the sun-slapped side but we were ok with that.
that night we sat on the beach and watched the stars come out and thought again how lucky we are to be here. we did not jump into the water at that time because there are warnings posted for tourists. don't swim at dawn or dusk because that's when sharks are most likely to eat you. also, don't go swimming while bleeding. we follow directions well.
our second full day on the island we set out to explore a bit more and made our way up to the north gorge cliff walk. we happened upon a junior pro surf competition which had drawn 15 year old surfers from all over the world. we watched for a bit but then made our way on toward the cliff walk. all our tourist brochures had promised that we'd see dolphins, sea turtles, and rays from the cliffs. we weren't holding our breath. but low and behold, we got to a rocky outcropping and there were a couple sea turtles swimming below. then we turned around and anna yelled "dolphins!" and actually meant it. there was a pod of dolphins swimming and playing in the waves. they were kind of surfing as well, riding each wave for a distance and then jumping and flipping out of it. it was like being at sea world without the annoying trainers. we continued walking and saw more sea turtles and then finally saw a ray. we thought it was just a shadow at first but the water cleared and it was definitely a ray. awesome.
we made our way to get lunch. one of our favorite things about australia so far (aside from the prettiness and the great accents) are what these people do to french fries. seasoned wedges dipped in sour cream and sweet chili sauce. almost as awesome as seeing dolphins. you kids should try it at home, seriously. and they have them on pretty much every menu we see. needless to say, we haven't gotten super skinny yet.
we got back to the hostel (which always mysteriously smelled strongly of urine and was really more of a dive shop with a few rooms to rent above it than an actual hostel) late that afternoon. we had a few hours of sunlight left so we hit the beach one last time. regina got crabs.... on her beach blanket. we have pictures. they were cute little guys who didn't like the fact that we had mistakenly put our beach blankets over their hidey holes. they gave us a stern warning.
the next day we were heading to magnetic island which we had pre-emptively decided would be our hostel utopia and our favorite place in all of australia. after all, we would get to hold koalas there. and we'd have our own bungalow, a pool, and the beach just a few minutes walk away. the island is quite a bit north from brisbane so it was going to take some doing to get from stradbroke island to magnetic island. but we, and australian public transit were up to the challenge. our day went something like this: bus to ferry terminal, ferry to mainland, bus to train station, train to brisbane, different train to airport, plane to townsville, taxi to ferry terminal, ferry to island, and finally bus to hostel. whew. it all went without a hitch though. and generally buses were timed to coincide with ferries perfectly. these island people are pretty smart like that.
our first sign that this might not be the three days of utopia that we were looking forward to was the extensive flooding we could see from the airplane in townsville. upon landing we saw several military helicopters on the runways and realized there were quite a few emergency and red cross personnel on the plane with us. hmmm. turns out, according to our chatty cab driver this is the worst rain they've had in the last 30 years. they're giving seattle a run for her money. its rained here for 42 days straight. and not misty wussy rain. here, it rains like it means it. maybe marcie from sta travel should have told us february was a bad time to hit the north east coast of australia.
upon arrival at bungalow bay "resort" our utopia image was once again shaken. our private bungalow was pretty rustic. but at least it had air conditioning and was close to the bathroom. it also looked like it was sealed up pretty tight... a towel might have been sealing one of the cracks, but still, it looked pretty solid. that night we walked into "town" and found the one bar/restaurant that was open. turns out february is always really slow for them here and so far this one has been worse than usual. the waitress told us they'd probably just close up after we were done. it was 6:30. we didn't want to hold them there so after we were done eating we just went back to our hostel. the bar there was still open so we got a beer and sat down. since there were only about 8 people staying there it was pretty easy to make friends. we got chatting to an english kid named andy. he's already been traveling for 7 months and is thinking he won't be done until sometime mid 2010. we're pretty sure we're not cut out for traveling for that long. he's hard core.
at 9:30 when they shut the lights off to subtly tell us it was time for bed we went back to our bungalow and met a couple of new friends. the lizard we named bernard and the roach that dropped onto anna's back, well, we just killed him. we quickly got into bed and tucked the blankets around us as tightly as we could. our theory was, we'd turn up the air conditioner as high as it would go. we'd be cold so we could stay covered up all night and the bugs would be too cold so they'd leave. seemed like a solid theory at the time. we didn't sleep all that well that first night. turns out once you're paranoid about feeling bugs crawl on you, it's pretty easy to feel them even if they're not there. at least we didn't find a snake crawling into our room like one girl here did. the snakes don't like the rain either and are trying to find places that are dry just like we are.
the next morning we woke up to rain. it's two days later and it hasn't stopped yet. despite these challenges, we have made the best of a very very wet situation. there are still koalas here after all. our second day we did the little "wildlife tour" with our new friends english andy and german timo. we held a crocodile, snake, cockatoo, and a koala! his name was dexter. he was really really cute, soft, cuddly, and smelled a bit like cheese. we loved him. we have pictures. he's our new friend on facebook.
we spent the rest of the day watching the rain and hanging out with our new friends. they've had it a bit rougher than we have. they've been stuck in this general part of the country for a while. turns out all the roads in all directions going out of townsville are closed due to the flooding. when we found this out we quickly bought a plane ticket to cairns before we got stuck here too. it was not cheap but it will be worth it.
according to the weather forecast the rain was supposed to let up a bit the next day. they were wrong. during a period of lighter rain we ventured out in our stylish blue ponchos to find some nearby waterfalls. we made it till we couldn't cross the road for all the flooding. too bad, i'm sure the waterfalls were nice. on the plus side we saw lots of kangaroos hanging out in the fields on the side of the roads. these are the first we've seen since being in australia. we stopped to watch them and were rewarded when a cute little joey poked its head out from its mamma's pouch. pretty darn cute.
we made it back to the hostel, dried off as well as we could and then made some lunch. the rain never stopped for the rest of the day. and it was impressive rain. just when we thought it couldn't rain any harder, it did. but we've decided we can be easily contented with beer, nutella, and the trivial pursuit cards we brought along for times such as these.
today we're on our way to cairns. we'll head to the ferry to get to the airport in an hour or so. we had booked a hotel for 3 nights before we started the trip. we're really excited about having 3 glorious nights with a bathroom all to ourselves, and beds with clean sheets, and clean towels everyday, and no "friends" to visit us in our room at night, and maybe even a hairdryer!
andy the englishman called us "posh travelers." we tried to deny it but turns out, we do have a decent amount of posh in us. we have proven to ourselves we can rise to the challenge when we need to, but we're ready to embrace our poshness a bit. magnetic island has been our first real challenge of the trip and probably won't be our last, but we've weathered the storm. It wasn't the utopia we pictured it to be but there really have been some wonderfully memorable moments that we wouldn't trade being dry for.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
the blue mountains were lovely
we've fallen a bit behind... sorry 'bout that. on the 28th of january we left sydney and caught a train to katoomba in the blue mountains just west of sydney. we were really happy to find that the train ticket only cost $12.20 for a 2 hour ride. this was in comparison to the $14.80 we paid to get from the airport to the city... about a 7 minute ride. we were pretty impressed with the train service as a whole. trains were frequent, on time, clean, and all on electric lines even to a town as small as katoomba.
on arrival we were also really happy with the yha. we keep saying that, but this one was especially good. it was originally built as a guesthouse and was "the place to be" in its heyday. it still had all the old art deco style in the ballroom and grand dining room. the kitchen was big and cleaner than most. there was a koi pond and fountain on the balcony. we could go on...
the impressive thing about the blue mountains is the sheer vastness of them. cliffs, and deep valleys covered in eucalyptus trees for as far as the eye can see. we did some hiking on well traveled trails and saw our first big spiders. they weren't just 'wussy girl big.' they were big enough to eat your house cat if they wanted to..... or at least a small bird. yeah, big. and hairy. anna almost touched one by accident and it took a while to calm her down after that.
the next day we did some of the touristy stuff in the area.... went to scenic world and took the world's steepest passenger railway. it used to be a line used only to transport coal out of the mine. it has an incline of 52 degrees. it was kind of like riding a roller coaster in slow motion. once we got to the bottom we did some more hiking around on the valley floor. then took the gondola back to the top. yep, we love ourselves some gondola rides.
before leaving on the 30th we woke up at sunrise and walked back to the lookout point and watched the sun rise. the valleys were filled with fog and from above it just looked like a few peaks and plateaus sticking up out of a sea of clouds. it was a good way to start the day.
we took the train back to sydney and then went straight to the airport to catch our flight to brisbane. we were pretty happy to be boarding a plane for $79 rather than spending the next 17 hours on a bus or train. the flight was good... security everywhere outside the u.s. is a breeze. they have the same rule about liquids but they laughed at us when we asked if we should take our shoes off. they also never actually checked our i.d.s at all. we still felt safe. also, not one of our flights has been delayed or cancelled since we've left america. (knock on wood)
brisbane has been nice. yesterday we did the river walk loop and went to the gallery of modern art and the brisbane art museum. both were free. way to go australia! the river walk also included a man-made beach, a market, and some cafes and malls. we're impressed with how family friendly everything seems to be. maybe we're just seeing people on vacation but we've noticed how whole families seem to spend a lot of time together... and like it.
last night, being a saturday, we thought we'd go out on the town, so to speak. we put on our pretty new dresses and went in the direction that seemed the most fun. we found a street of bars that were actually filled with aussies rather than backpackers. in our first bar we met quite the pair. mark and brian were maybe their names. mid 40's, australian, and really really drunk. one told us a story about how he'd gone from vancouver through seattle on his way to barbados and the nurse he met on the bus who was sure immunizations were a government conspiracy.... three times. the other told us about how he spent australia day. he put on a green toga and got really smashed. smashed enough not to realize when the green toga fell off. they were great for a laugh but we decided we needed a bathroom break and escaped through the back door. sorry mark and brian. we went to a couple other places and chatted with a few more aussies and a few irish lads and then turned in.
today is a bit of a dithering day as we call it. we slept in and are now trying to figure out our next steps. we were planning to head north tomorrow to get some quality beach time. turns out there's a tropical cyclone named ellie that has some other ideas for us. we had made reservations at the magnetic island yha for the 3rd-8th. the whole island is closed as the cyclone is supposed to hit it pretty directly tonight sometime. we'll see how that goes. maybe holding koalas on a tropical island is not in the cards for us. we still have high hopes though. we're thinking we'll stay around brisbane and try to find a beach where it won't be raining. we're almost a month into our trip and we've yet to put on our bathing suits or feel sand between our toes. we're getting a bit itchy to get sun burnt again. tomorrow is our day. it may just not be where we had planned on.
cheers.
on arrival we were also really happy with the yha. we keep saying that, but this one was especially good. it was originally built as a guesthouse and was "the place to be" in its heyday. it still had all the old art deco style in the ballroom and grand dining room. the kitchen was big and cleaner than most. there was a koi pond and fountain on the balcony. we could go on...
the impressive thing about the blue mountains is the sheer vastness of them. cliffs, and deep valleys covered in eucalyptus trees for as far as the eye can see. we did some hiking on well traveled trails and saw our first big spiders. they weren't just 'wussy girl big.' they were big enough to eat your house cat if they wanted to..... or at least a small bird. yeah, big. and hairy. anna almost touched one by accident and it took a while to calm her down after that.
the next day we did some of the touristy stuff in the area.... went to scenic world and took the world's steepest passenger railway. it used to be a line used only to transport coal out of the mine. it has an incline of 52 degrees. it was kind of like riding a roller coaster in slow motion. once we got to the bottom we did some more hiking around on the valley floor. then took the gondola back to the top. yep, we love ourselves some gondola rides.
before leaving on the 30th we woke up at sunrise and walked back to the lookout point and watched the sun rise. the valleys were filled with fog and from above it just looked like a few peaks and plateaus sticking up out of a sea of clouds. it was a good way to start the day.
we took the train back to sydney and then went straight to the airport to catch our flight to brisbane. we were pretty happy to be boarding a plane for $79 rather than spending the next 17 hours on a bus or train. the flight was good... security everywhere outside the u.s. is a breeze. they have the same rule about liquids but they laughed at us when we asked if we should take our shoes off. they also never actually checked our i.d.s at all. we still felt safe. also, not one of our flights has been delayed or cancelled since we've left america. (knock on wood)
brisbane has been nice. yesterday we did the river walk loop and went to the gallery of modern art and the brisbane art museum. both were free. way to go australia! the river walk also included a man-made beach, a market, and some cafes and malls. we're impressed with how family friendly everything seems to be. maybe we're just seeing people on vacation but we've noticed how whole families seem to spend a lot of time together... and like it.
last night, being a saturday, we thought we'd go out on the town, so to speak. we put on our pretty new dresses and went in the direction that seemed the most fun. we found a street of bars that were actually filled with aussies rather than backpackers. in our first bar we met quite the pair. mark and brian were maybe their names. mid 40's, australian, and really really drunk. one told us a story about how he'd gone from vancouver through seattle on his way to barbados and the nurse he met on the bus who was sure immunizations were a government conspiracy.... three times. the other told us about how he spent australia day. he put on a green toga and got really smashed. smashed enough not to realize when the green toga fell off. they were great for a laugh but we decided we needed a bathroom break and escaped through the back door. sorry mark and brian. we went to a couple other places and chatted with a few more aussies and a few irish lads and then turned in.
today is a bit of a dithering day as we call it. we slept in and are now trying to figure out our next steps. we were planning to head north tomorrow to get some quality beach time. turns out there's a tropical cyclone named ellie that has some other ideas for us. we had made reservations at the magnetic island yha for the 3rd-8th. the whole island is closed as the cyclone is supposed to hit it pretty directly tonight sometime. we'll see how that goes. maybe holding koalas on a tropical island is not in the cards for us. we still have high hopes though. we're thinking we'll stay around brisbane and try to find a beach where it won't be raining. we're almost a month into our trip and we've yet to put on our bathing suits or feel sand between our toes. we're getting a bit itchy to get sun burnt again. tomorrow is our day. it may just not be where we had planned on.
cheers.
Monday, January 26, 2009
aussie, aussie, aussie! oy, oy, oy!
today is our third full day in sydney and despite our initial skepticism, we really like it here. the temp made it to 105 our first day but we had a lovely time inside at the aquarium and wandering around darling harbor. that evening a thunderstorm came through and cooled things off quite a bit. the last couple days have been upper 70s and great.
we spent sunday walking around town, visiting the rocks and the market there, perusing the modern art museum and aboriginal art galleries. we got up to the sydney harbor and took lots of photos of the harbor bridge and the opera house. we may have also snuck inside the opera house to pee.... other tourists told us the toilets were an "experience." and they were right. we would have taken pictures but it must have been intermission in one of the shows 'cause the bathrooms were a bit crowded. we tried to get tickets to a show but everything was sold out. guess we should have planned some things ahead.
sunday evening we met up with an old high school friend who is living here. it really is a small world. it was great to see her and she gave us lot of great tips about sydney and the rest of the country. thanks angie!
yesterday was australia day. the 26th of january is not their actual independence day but they celebrate the day captain cook planted a flag here. aussies party pretty hard on a normal day but on national holidays it's taken to another level. us little americans didn't even try to keep up. our livers are thanking us today. we spent the day at darling harbor with most of the population of sydney. unfortunately it started raining in the afternoon and didn't stop. we saw the boat parade from the comfort of a harbor side cafe while we were being consoled by fish and chips and beer. on the cab ride home our comedian cabbie told us how great obama is and how "mr. hillary" should help him out. we liked him. his english was a little hard to understand though.
today we were going to head to bondi beach but it's still raining. maybe we'll do some laundry and hope that it gets sunny this afternoon. tomorrow we're heading west of the city to the blue mountains for a couple days. anna has gotten really excited about hiking. she really is a changed woman. i'm doing my best to keep up.
we spent sunday walking around town, visiting the rocks and the market there, perusing the modern art museum and aboriginal art galleries. we got up to the sydney harbor and took lots of photos of the harbor bridge and the opera house. we may have also snuck inside the opera house to pee.... other tourists told us the toilets were an "experience." and they were right. we would have taken pictures but it must have been intermission in one of the shows 'cause the bathrooms were a bit crowded. we tried to get tickets to a show but everything was sold out. guess we should have planned some things ahead.
sunday evening we met up with an old high school friend who is living here. it really is a small world. it was great to see her and she gave us lot of great tips about sydney and the rest of the country. thanks angie!
yesterday was australia day. the 26th of january is not their actual independence day but they celebrate the day captain cook planted a flag here. aussies party pretty hard on a normal day but on national holidays it's taken to another level. us little americans didn't even try to keep up. our livers are thanking us today. we spent the day at darling harbor with most of the population of sydney. unfortunately it started raining in the afternoon and didn't stop. we saw the boat parade from the comfort of a harbor side cafe while we were being consoled by fish and chips and beer. on the cab ride home our comedian cabbie told us how great obama is and how "mr. hillary" should help him out. we liked him. his english was a little hard to understand though.
today we were going to head to bondi beach but it's still raining. maybe we'll do some laundry and hope that it gets sunny this afternoon. tomorrow we're heading west of the city to the blue mountains for a couple days. anna has gotten really excited about hiking. she really is a changed woman. i'm doing my best to keep up.
Friday, January 23, 2009
so long new zealand. we'll miss you...
our time in new zealand has come to an end. we're a bit sad but excited for all the fun places to come. our last couple days here have been good ones. our day in greymouth was fairly quiet and uneventful but nice. we took the tranz alpine train across the southern alps back to christchurch. it was nice to be back in a familiar city for a bit. and we got to revisit our favorite hostel thus far... stonehurst. we still love it there. we had a good day in christchurch revisiting our favorite coffee shop and buying souvenirs. these are some of the notable things about new zealand that we've not yet mentioned in other posts:
-new zealand has lots and lots of crazy potato chip flavors. things we have tried include lamb and mint (bad), honey soy chicken (less bad), and cucumber and tzatziki (quite good).
-there are 6 possums for every kiwi (human) on these islands. they're apparently quite the pest thus the possum fur souvenirs.
- the roads all over the country are really well maintained. much better than roads in the u.s. but even on fairly high traffic highways most of the bridges are only one lane wide. there are traffic signs posting which direction gets the right of way but it got a bit dicey a couple times with people who apparently were unaware of the rules.
- the people here are amazingly friendly and helpful... even to tourists.... however, they are really aggressive drivers and pedestrians do not necessarily have the right of way.
-anna is now a lover of hiking. new zealand has changed her life forever.
- trees here mature four times faster than they do in the u.s. a pine tree here reaches maturity in 20-25 years. in the u.s. it takes 80. we have no idea how this happens but it is apparently quite good for the forestry industry.
- n.z. loves american music... especially ben harper. we have heard 'sexual healing' more times than we can count.
- we have finally gotten used to looking to the right before we start across the street. the idea of actually driving on the 'wrong' side of the road still baffles us a bit.
- as much as we've missed being in the u.s. for the inauguration, it's been good to experience the rest of the world's excitment. everywhere we've gone the last couple days people have talked to us about it. they're just as excited about obama as we are!
so that's about it. we really enjoyed our time in n.z. and both agree that we would love to come back again.
this morning we caught an early flight to sydney. it's seeming big and busy so far in comparison to the sleepy towns we've been in. also it's hot. 102 degrees today. no more jackets for cool nights for us!
oh, and i almost forgot. we may have gotten tattoos before we left n.z. yeah, we did. (note to dean, bek, sandy and stan: don't worry. we got them at a place that did not give us any type of blood born pathogen. they are respectable and in respectable places. just remember, we're adults now and you love us.) :)
-new zealand has lots and lots of crazy potato chip flavors. things we have tried include lamb and mint (bad), honey soy chicken (less bad), and cucumber and tzatziki (quite good).
-there are 6 possums for every kiwi (human) on these islands. they're apparently quite the pest thus the possum fur souvenirs.
- the roads all over the country are really well maintained. much better than roads in the u.s. but even on fairly high traffic highways most of the bridges are only one lane wide. there are traffic signs posting which direction gets the right of way but it got a bit dicey a couple times with people who apparently were unaware of the rules.
- the people here are amazingly friendly and helpful... even to tourists.... however, they are really aggressive drivers and pedestrians do not necessarily have the right of way.
-anna is now a lover of hiking. new zealand has changed her life forever.
- trees here mature four times faster than they do in the u.s. a pine tree here reaches maturity in 20-25 years. in the u.s. it takes 80. we have no idea how this happens but it is apparently quite good for the forestry industry.
- n.z. loves american music... especially ben harper. we have heard 'sexual healing' more times than we can count.
- we have finally gotten used to looking to the right before we start across the street. the idea of actually driving on the 'wrong' side of the road still baffles us a bit.
- as much as we've missed being in the u.s. for the inauguration, it's been good to experience the rest of the world's excitment. everywhere we've gone the last couple days people have talked to us about it. they're just as excited about obama as we are!
so that's about it. we really enjoyed our time in n.z. and both agree that we would love to come back again.
this morning we caught an early flight to sydney. it's seeming big and busy so far in comparison to the sleepy towns we've been in. also it's hot. 102 degrees today. no more jackets for cool nights for us!
oh, and i almost forgot. we may have gotten tattoos before we left n.z. yeah, we did. (note to dean, bek, sandy and stan: don't worry. we got them at a place that did not give us any type of blood born pathogen. they are respectable and in respectable places. just remember, we're adults now and you love us.) :)
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
our friends fox and franz
so the days have gotten a bit confusing... it was maybe 5 days ago-ish that we left queenstown and headed to the "wild" west coast of the island. our first stop was the tiny town of fox glacier. our hostel was a nice step up from bungi backpackers... including such amenities as a bedside table, sinks with the toilets, and sheet that didn't make us itch inexplicably. we were happy. we spent an afternoon getting settled in and exploring the one street town. the next day we booked a half day glacier trek. they outfitted us with boots, cramp-ons, rain coats, and pokey walking sticks for the ice (regina was particularly fond of these, she may start carrying a big stick with her all the time). we started off hiking up the valley wall up ~650 steps so that we could reach a stable area of the glacier. the terminal face, as the front is called, is quite dangerous. during our hike we heard/saw two really big pieces of ice fall off and two australian tourists were crushed a couple weeks ago when they ignored signs and went past the barriers. we were good tourists and stuck with our guides. they taught us lots of interesting stuff about glaciers, like....
-the glaciers on the west coast of new zealand are some of the only glaciers in the world that are advancing rather than retreating. (we could explain why this is but it would take a while... and we want to go get ice cream)
-fox glacier is moving at a rate of up to 8 meters in 20 days. this is apparently quite impressive for a glacier. it sounded like a lot to us too.
it was really pretty cool being on the ice. our guides had to chip steps into the ice to make steps for us... something they have to do every day because of melt. they let us carry the pick axes too... made us feel like arctic explorers or something. and we have some cool photos to prove it. we're still working on those photos by the way. some may be up without captions today.
after fox we headed about 35 kilometers up the coast to franz josef glacier. a slightly bigger town... this one had at lease 4 side roads off the one main road. however the address where we were to catch our bus upon leaving was listed as "bus stop, main road." quite helpful, but we found it.
in franz we stayed at a yha (youth hostel accommodation) which really turned out to be lovely. we met some nice people who gave us lots of tips on australia... seems as though everyone else started there and then came to n.z. we decided not to pay for another glacier trek and thought we'd just do a bit of tramping on our own. we found a map and got a recommendation of a trail from the kid at the reception desk. and then headed out into the rain forest. the trail was well maintained and marked... at least for most of the way. sometimes we were just wandering through a river bed, scrambling over rocks till we saw the next orange triangle. we got to see some frolicking red deer and some pretty scenery. and then we got to a really big glacier. we didn't venture too close... kinda figured you've seen one glacier, you've seen 'em all, right? and we were kinda tired. so we hitched back to town with a 39 year old american trust fund baby. apparently if your grandfather invents corn syrup, you don't ever have to work. must be nice...
this morning we had been planning on waking up at 5:30 to watch the inauguration but 5:30 came awfully early. we caught our bus on the bus stop, main road, to greymouth. tomorrow we'll take the alpine train back to christchurch, our favorite city so far. and then it will be off to sydney. hooray!
here's the link for the photos... http://groups.msn.com/2girlsandnewzealand/shoebox.msnw?Page=1
our apologies if it doesn't work or if the photos get repetitive etc. we'll try to get them labeled sometime soon.
-the glaciers on the west coast of new zealand are some of the only glaciers in the world that are advancing rather than retreating. (we could explain why this is but it would take a while... and we want to go get ice cream)
-fox glacier is moving at a rate of up to 8 meters in 20 days. this is apparently quite impressive for a glacier. it sounded like a lot to us too.
it was really pretty cool being on the ice. our guides had to chip steps into the ice to make steps for us... something they have to do every day because of melt. they let us carry the pick axes too... made us feel like arctic explorers or something. and we have some cool photos to prove it. we're still working on those photos by the way. some may be up without captions today.
after fox we headed about 35 kilometers up the coast to franz josef glacier. a slightly bigger town... this one had at lease 4 side roads off the one main road. however the address where we were to catch our bus upon leaving was listed as "bus stop, main road." quite helpful, but we found it.
in franz we stayed at a yha (youth hostel accommodation) which really turned out to be lovely. we met some nice people who gave us lots of tips on australia... seems as though everyone else started there and then came to n.z. we decided not to pay for another glacier trek and thought we'd just do a bit of tramping on our own. we found a map and got a recommendation of a trail from the kid at the reception desk. and then headed out into the rain forest. the trail was well maintained and marked... at least for most of the way. sometimes we were just wandering through a river bed, scrambling over rocks till we saw the next orange triangle. we got to see some frolicking red deer and some pretty scenery. and then we got to a really big glacier. we didn't venture too close... kinda figured you've seen one glacier, you've seen 'em all, right? and we were kinda tired. so we hitched back to town with a 39 year old american trust fund baby. apparently if your grandfather invents corn syrup, you don't ever have to work. must be nice...
this morning we had been planning on waking up at 5:30 to watch the inauguration but 5:30 came awfully early. we caught our bus on the bus stop, main road, to greymouth. tomorrow we'll take the alpine train back to christchurch, our favorite city so far. and then it will be off to sydney. hooray!
here's the link for the photos... http://groups.msn.com/2girlsandnewzealand/shoebox.msnw?Page=1
our apologies if it doesn't work or if the photos get repetitive etc. we'll try to get them labeled sometime soon.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
queenstown has been redeemed...
we're happy to say that since our last post we're feeling much better about queenstown. it's still a bit of a tourist trap but we've had quite a bit of fun, and to tell the truth, it is really beautiful.
last night we took the gondola up to the lookout on bob's peak. it was really very pretty. the remarkables (mountain range behind the city) are quite aptly named. once at the top we took another ski lift to the luge run, donned our helmets (anna couldn't quite find one large enough, but it was close enough), and took our turn at the luge. it was fun. not quite as death-defying as we'd like to be able to tell you it was, but it was a good time. it was so fun we did it again.... this time on the advanced course. (yeah, we're dangerous like that).
today we took a bus to milford sound and then boarded a boat for a "nature cruise." despite only seeing several seals and one dolphin (the penguins were in hiding) and being rained on all day it was easily the most spectacular day of the trip so far. we've been trying to think of a more beautiful place in the world and we haven't come up with anything yet. the pictures we took don't do it justice and i'm not sure i can find suitable words either. although we were a little soggy, the bonus of the rain was that it created hundreds of waterfalls that cascaded down the sheer 3000 foot cliffs into the dark water. it's amazing what ice and water can do to rock given millions of years. the woman behind us (picture a 50-something, overweight american, who's been smoking for 40 years) was pretty orgasmic with each sight. we'd come around a bend in the road and see yet another waterfall and each time she'd exclaim "oh my god!" loudly to herself. once we got to the valley of 1000 waterfalls it was a little like the movie, when harry met sally. you get the idea. once we got to the boat we avoided her for a while.
we've yet to figure out how to actually upload our photos. we're working on it. we promise. in the meantime you can google milford sound. it'll be worth it.
tomorrow we're on to fox glacier for a couple days and then to franz joseph glacier. should be lots more prettiness.
last night we took the gondola up to the lookout on bob's peak. it was really very pretty. the remarkables (mountain range behind the city) are quite aptly named. once at the top we took another ski lift to the luge run, donned our helmets (anna couldn't quite find one large enough, but it was close enough), and took our turn at the luge. it was fun. not quite as death-defying as we'd like to be able to tell you it was, but it was a good time. it was so fun we did it again.... this time on the advanced course. (yeah, we're dangerous like that).
today we took a bus to milford sound and then boarded a boat for a "nature cruise." despite only seeing several seals and one dolphin (the penguins were in hiding) and being rained on all day it was easily the most spectacular day of the trip so far. we've been trying to think of a more beautiful place in the world and we haven't come up with anything yet. the pictures we took don't do it justice and i'm not sure i can find suitable words either. although we were a little soggy, the bonus of the rain was that it created hundreds of waterfalls that cascaded down the sheer 3000 foot cliffs into the dark water. it's amazing what ice and water can do to rock given millions of years. the woman behind us (picture a 50-something, overweight american, who's been smoking for 40 years) was pretty orgasmic with each sight. we'd come around a bend in the road and see yet another waterfall and each time she'd exclaim "oh my god!" loudly to herself. once we got to the valley of 1000 waterfalls it was a little like the movie, when harry met sally. you get the idea. once we got to the boat we avoided her for a while.
we've yet to figure out how to actually upload our photos. we're working on it. we promise. in the meantime you can google milford sound. it'll be worth it.
tomorrow we're on to fox glacier for a couple days and then to franz joseph glacier. should be lots more prettiness.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
yesterday was a sad day...
yesterday we took a bus from christchurch to queenstown. including stops it was about an 8 hour trip but we got to ride through some beautiful countryside. parts of n.z. look quite a bit like colorado or even indiana but most of it is much prettier. the southern alps are quite impressive.
we arrived in the center of town and were happy to find the hostel we had booked to be not too far away. unfortunately after walking inside we got our first taste of what shady hostels can actually be like. i should say that our hostel in christchurch may have spoiled us a bit. there was a full room of very private, clean showers. there were safety codes to get into the building. our room had a fridge, tv, and a safe. there was even a happy hour. it was hostel heaven. bungy backpackers is a bit different. shady is a good word for it. we got to break out our sleep sacks last night. the bathrooms have a toilet but no sink. for those of you that know us well, this presents a problem since both of us are pretty big sticklers for good bathroom hygiene. i also learned a very helpful trait about anna.... she's not afraid to kill bugs with her bare hands. she's gonna be a good one to have around.
despite the disappointing hostel, we were bound and determined to make the best of it and have a great time. i mean, all hostels can't be that nice, right? and we should just be happy to have a roof over our head. and after all, the zorbing is here and that will be so much fun we'll forget about how mangy our hostel may be. one problem.... turns out there is no zorbing in queenstown. the place that was touted to be the "adventure sport capital of the world" doesn't actually have zorbing (even though i'm positive i saw websites and travel books listing it as an activity readily available here). that kinda took the wind out of our sails for a bit. luckily new zealand has some really good beer. and beer does do a good job of cheering us up.
today we slept in. and have found a new game plan.... another gondola ride up to a lovely lookout point and either a fancy dinner at the top or a luge ride down the mountain. then tomorrow we're headed to milford sound for a nature cruise. hopefully we'll see seals, dolphins, and penguins as well as some lovely scenery.
and hopefully we won't get bed bugs in the next two nights.
we arrived in the center of town and were happy to find the hostel we had booked to be not too far away. unfortunately after walking inside we got our first taste of what shady hostels can actually be like. i should say that our hostel in christchurch may have spoiled us a bit. there was a full room of very private, clean showers. there were safety codes to get into the building. our room had a fridge, tv, and a safe. there was even a happy hour. it was hostel heaven. bungy backpackers is a bit different. shady is a good word for it. we got to break out our sleep sacks last night. the bathrooms have a toilet but no sink. for those of you that know us well, this presents a problem since both of us are pretty big sticklers for good bathroom hygiene. i also learned a very helpful trait about anna.... she's not afraid to kill bugs with her bare hands. she's gonna be a good one to have around.
despite the disappointing hostel, we were bound and determined to make the best of it and have a great time. i mean, all hostels can't be that nice, right? and we should just be happy to have a roof over our head. and after all, the zorbing is here and that will be so much fun we'll forget about how mangy our hostel may be. one problem.... turns out there is no zorbing in queenstown. the place that was touted to be the "adventure sport capital of the world" doesn't actually have zorbing (even though i'm positive i saw websites and travel books listing it as an activity readily available here). that kinda took the wind out of our sails for a bit. luckily new zealand has some really good beer. and beer does do a good job of cheering us up.
today we slept in. and have found a new game plan.... another gondola ride up to a lovely lookout point and either a fancy dinner at the top or a luge ride down the mountain. then tomorrow we're headed to milford sound for a nature cruise. hopefully we'll see seals, dolphins, and penguins as well as some lovely scenery.
and hopefully we won't get bed bugs in the next two nights.
Monday, January 12, 2009
we made it!
after 25 hours and 4 flights we're in new zealand. today is our second full day here and so far it's been absolutely delightful! we heart kiwis (as in the people, not the fruit or the bird although those seem nice as well). yesterday we shopped, ate, toured cathedrals, meandered about the city, and were amazed at the uses these people find for possum fur. seriously.... sweaters, gloves, nipple warmers, you name it. then in the evening we took a gondola up to a lookout over the city. today was a bit more exotic.... we went to the wildlife park and went on the lion encounter that many of you may have heard us talking about for a while now. for an idea of what this is check out this link: http://www.oranawildlifepark.co.nz/lions.htm . yeah, we were inside the truck. lions were on top. and hanging off the side. it was awesome! we have pictures and video snippets that will make it up here at some point. anna's a brave one. i got a bit nervous..... mostly about getting peed on but all was well.
tomorrow we're headed to queenstown in search of zorbing adventures. queenstown is one of the centers for adventure sports in the world so should we feel the need to jump off a bridge, white water raft without a raft or ice climb, we'll be in the right place.
quote of the day: "if one of these guys gets out of here, i don't want to be around. this mesh keeps me alive." the lion trainer leading our tour. (makes one feel very secure.)
we're happy. we're sun kissed. and we still like each other. all is well.
tomorrow we're headed to queenstown in search of zorbing adventures. queenstown is one of the centers for adventure sports in the world so should we feel the need to jump off a bridge, white water raft without a raft or ice climb, we'll be in the right place.
quote of the day: "if one of these guys gets out of here, i don't want to be around. this mesh keeps me alive." the lion trainer leading our tour. (makes one feel very secure.)
we're happy. we're sun kissed. and we still like each other. all is well.
Friday, January 9, 2009
off we go...
anna and i are going on a trip. more than a trip really.... we're going on a three month adventure that will take us through new zealand, australia, bali, thailand, cambodia, vietnam, and japan. we've been planning this for a year... since last new year's eve to be exact. that means we've had a lot of time to think about every aspect of the trip. we're feeling pretty prepared. despite our long preparation the last week has been busy with packing, cleaning, last minute errands, last days of work etc etc. and now we're ready and excited to go. we're talking unbridled joy that has verged on mania on more than one occasion. when we're together, strangers tend to comment. so yeah, we're excited.
we've got big plans for this trip... some of which include, lions, elephants, giant alligators, river dolphins, zorbing, snorkeling, sea kayaking, and getting really good tans. we hope to be able to post fairly frequently but we'll see how it goes. our preemptive apologies if we aren't able to post as often as we'd like. we may have crappy internet service or we may just be having too much fun. :)
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