That's not a sunset, that's a bird on fire.

Nha Trang

amy_smith — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 16:42:00 GMT

We have absolutely horrible timing! We had spent some time with a British couple who had told us how beautiful and fun Nha Trang is, with it's huge stretch of white sandy beach, blue water, and tons of fun islands to visit and water sports to partake in... but alas, our good times were ruined by that damn typhoon. The water was brown and wavy, the beach was covered (covered!) with debris that will take a month to clear off. Plus, it remained rainy and cloudy the whole 4 days we were there.

This is a city that is usually protected from the weather inland via mountains and protected asea via the islands and they haven't had a storm in 25 years! The weather is usually so temperate in Nha Trang that when the typhoon's approach was broadcasted, the residents grabbed their umbrellas and headed to the beach to watch for it. Seriously, while the rest of the country battened down, the silly fools in Nha Trang were excited to see what all the fuss was about.

Fortunately, the only thing there that was destroyed was the dive industry... and that's only temporary until the waters clear! Not everyone was so lucky, the last I heard, over 55 people died from the various disasters caused by the typhoon. We were witness to a few catastrophes during a trip down, such as a bus whose whole front end was crushed in by rocks from a landslide and another bus that had flipped over. We were very lucky indeed.

Nha Trang turned out to be a bust and we set our sights on Mui Ne (Pronounced Moy-Nay) which has the lowest average annual rainfall of all cities in Vietnam! We arrived two days ago and are already happily sunburnt and enjoying the 50 cent beer.

Our hotel is a bit over priced at $13, but the attached restaurant is incredibly cheap. There's hardly a meal over $2 and it's all decently tasting Vietnamese grub. Western food is always a bit more expensive because the locals don't really eat things like cheese or potatoes, not that the Western food here is ever that good anyways... though, we did find some decent pizza in Nha Trang. It just makes me crave all sorts of stuff back home, like, I will go to town on the first barbeque pulled pork sandwhich I see! And my mom's brownies ;) as chocolate is not SE Asia's strong suit.

We will probably be spending a week and a few days here as the weather is perfect, the beach is pretty nice, and we have a sweet pool with loungers. So, just working on the tans until the Canadian winter beckons. I actually do have a tan if you can believe it... but, if you look at my bikini lines I'm almost bi-racial.

Other than Brock's wicked sandal tan, we are completely healthy so no need to worry. Haven't come across any sick people either... unless you count the poor shmuck who lost a few pints of blood on the street out front due to a moto accident. These guys drive way too fast and often without helmets. Though, Vietnam is a bit more stringent with those laws than the other countries we've been in.

Only a week and a half to go now and I will actually be quite relieved to be home again. Four and a half months have felt like a year and I miss my family. We'll be leaving from Saigon (officially called Ho Chi Minh City but I've yet to hear anyone refer to is as that, I don't even think a Vietnamese person would know what you were talking about if you called it Ho Chi Minh City!) at a brutal 6 am on the 19th and arriving at about noon on the 20th... so if anyone was interested in making chocolate brownies to be ready for my arrival, why, that would be swell!

I think we'll try to spend about 4 days in Saigon to get all the shopping done and I am so excited I'm almost itchy! Other than a pair of $2 flip flips I've hardly done ANY shopping which is bound to be a record, and everything is ridiculously cheap in HCMC so I will be having a ball.

Not too sure what else we'll be doing here in Mui Ne other than laying about, but I'll try to update this before I head home. There are some crazy sand dune thingies that you can sled down and have fun with in a buggy of some sort so I'm sure we'll check into that.

Also, it's my dad's birthday this wednesday so say hi. He likes Gibsons ;)

Hoi An

amy_smith — Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:15:00 GMT

Hoi An was so lovely! It's a small town with a little river running through it and a cute bridge to connect the two sides with colourful little boats and all the surrounding buildings are lit with colourful lanterns! So cute!

I'm also not exaggerating when I say that there are about 500 tailors in the city. It's pretty much the only industry in town, just shop after shop after shop all next to eachother filled with fabrics and beautiful clothes and peppy little Vietnamese women politely asking you to take a look at their stuff. I actually got one, JUST one, dress made and it turned out really nice.

Brock, on the other hand, went to town. After trying to take him shopping for 2 years it turns out this was the best way to get him new stuff. With stacks of catologues and half a dozen cute ladies flattering him to no end, he came out with a bunch of shirts, pants, and two winter jackets that all look amazing and cost about 10 times less than it all would back home. And they made everything in less than 3 days, haha really it's so funny because less than 24 hours after we ordered we were in for a fitting... and for some reason when Brock was trying his stuff on, it took all the ladies to poke and touch and feel that it all fit him, hmm.

Funny story: when we were in Vinh Brock had gone out to get some waters and while he was standing in the shop these three men came up behind him all creepy like, but when he turned around they were just measuring themselves against him. They were clapping him on the back and were so excited to meet such a tall man.

So Hoi An was good times until our very last day when the typhoon decided to make its first appearance. Our bus left at 6pm and was meant to be about 12 hours long.... though at midnight it stopped and the driver said, "30 minute break, go back to sleep." Well, that 30 minute break lasted for EIGHTEEN HOURS!

I suppose I should add that before we stopped we had driven through a town that was a metre and a half under water. Flood waters were pouring in and out of houses, cars were almost floating haphazardly... and our bus drove through it all! We passed people in boats, it was surreal and awful to see that kind of damage.

So, back to the stopover. Apparently a landslide had destroyed part of a bridge and absolutely no one was moving North or South until it was fixed. There were 3 busloads of foreigners at this rest-stop, which fortunately was a restaurant, and after about 9 hours the people started getting restless. A group of them took it upon themselves to conspire that there was no broken bridge, that the storm had passed, and that the only reason we were "stranded" is because the drivers were getting a commission to keep us there so we'd continue spending money.

Another group went in search of other drivers who would tell them what was really going, others went in search of a hotel or phone, another group just complained loudly and abusively. Then there was a group of Irish content to drink beer, laugh, and play cards... we decided to fall in with this group and had a grand old time. Particularly since one of the crazy people had hitched a ride on a motorbike and promptly came back a half hour later to inform us that the bridge really was out and there was the longest line of vehicles waiting behind it that she'd ever seen and we should be so lucky that we were stranded in a place that had food and toilets. So HA, a natural disaster struck and all we lost was time, we should be so lucky.

And now we are in Nha Trang where we are meant to be beaching it up and doing all sorts of fun water activities, but it's still cloudy and rainy here so we're holed up in our room with a box (yes, a box) of wine, snacks, and the HBO movie channel until it clears up or until we decide to leave.

Only 2 weeks left!

Hanoi & Hue

amy_smith — Mon, 2 Nov 2009 17:45:00 GMT

I've written a huge blob of information twice now and haven't been able to save them because the computers keep crappin' out at the last minute. Otherwise, internet in Vietnam is pretty fast, cheap, and actually free most places!

It has been a long week that started with a 24 hour bus ride from Luang Prabang to Vinh in which everyone (westerner) on the bus was told a different ETA (we were told 18 hours) and of course none of the bus employees could speak English. Nor were any of them even remotely friendly unless they were being too friendly, if you know what I mean. This was actually a first, in that Southeast Asians hold the concept of "saving face" as a high value so they never get mad or lose their patience because that would make them look bad, so coming across jackasses was a bit harsh. AND they all smoked on the bus and spit on the floor and sang Karaoke loudly and terribly. It was a fun 24 hours! More so because the bus was so (*sarcasm alert) comfortable... I'm 5'2" and my knees were crunched into the seat in front of me so to say that poor Brock didn't fit is not an exaggeration! He had his legs splayed out into the aisle, it was awful.

At about the halfway mark we arrived at the border, though none of us knew it because the drivers just yelled at us in Vietnamese and gestured violently. It was there that we met a Super Traveler. He was a tall gangly Russian in mini Hawaiian shorts with black socks and he had hitchhiked there from some unmapped village and has spent the last 6 months or so traveling willy nilly through SE Asia by hitchhiking to wherever the driver is going and staying wherever a family would welcome him! He even arrived at the border without a visa or even knowing he would need one, but didn't seem concerned in the least. So, I suppose it was no surprise to see him on the Vietnam side after determining that Russians don't need visas for Vietnam as the two countries have good (old school commie) relations! Anyways, someone like that is a Super Traveler. Most people don't have the desire or the cajones to travel like that so they're a rare breed.

We then spent one night in Vinh where not a single person could speak English. After repeatedly saying, miming, and drawing "train" our taxi driver cheerfully dropped us off at the bus station. Though, it worked out nicely because it's cheaper, faster, and more comfortable than the train!

So... Hanoi! The first day it seemed absolutely crazy as there is a constant (CONSTANT) stream of traffic on every street, lane, alley, and sidewalk, but by the end of our time there it became quite fun. There are no recognized crosswalks, nor is there ever a lull in traffic so pedestrians have to actually inch their way across the street. If I was back home in the middle of a 4 lane (-ish, because no one chooses to recognize lanes here) road with cars and motorcycles zipping past me in all directions I'd probably freak out! You just have to walk slow enough and they'll figure out whether to pass in front of you or behind.

It was pretty fun there, we discovered Vietnamese wine which is a bit hit and miss in that you can buy 3 bottles of exactly the same wine and they'll all taste different... but it's only $2 a bottle so I can't complain... sometimes it really is delicious!

We then took a 13 hour overnight bus ride to Hue, though it wasn't so bad because it was a sleeper bus so instead of having seats their are three rows of skinny little beds on the floor and then above. Very comfy and pretty cheap, it was $7! Hue was a cute place and we went on the DMZ Tour. The DeMilitarized Zone which is on the 17th parallel or no-mans-land during the American/Vietnam war, and which, ironically, became the most militarized zone in the world.

Our tour went to Khe San which was the battle that made the decisions for the Americans to end their participation in the war. It was fascinating in that the battleground was hell at the time and yet is now a beautiful and peaceful coffee plantation with a little museum and a few war relics like American helicopters and a gutted tank. There's also a few touts trying to sell "real" medals, dog tags and shrapnel that they've found in the area with metal detectors.

We also went to see the Vinh Moc tunnel system that the Viet Cong dug and OH MY GOD! I spent 7 minutes down there and felt awful... people lived down there for over 6 years all the while being bombed on. It was pretty elaborate though and shockingly impressive. I'm not sure quite how many families lived down there, though 64 babies were born there! The tour also went to various bomb craters and mass cemeteries. We were fortunate in that our guide spoke incredible English and was a flood of information regarding history, the war, and even the current situation in Vietnam pertaining to the differences that still exist between the North and the South. I'm assuming most of you have a basic foundation of knowledge about the war... if you don't, you should learn, it's fascinating!

Luang Prabang

amy_smith — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:20:00 GMT

Sawbadee! We are now in Luang Prabang (Lew-Ong Pra-Bong) and Brock has finally shaved so I don't recognize him anymore.

This is undoubtedly the most charming city I've seen in over two month! It's the perfect partnership between Asian and French colonial architecture (or so I'm told).

We've been here about a week and haven't gotten up to too much. I suppose I should discuss Laos a little bit seeing as how I figured we'd be here about a week and have now spent over 3 weeks here! The people are incredibly different from Thais and Cambodians without regard to how laid back they are.

Where, in those two countries, you can't walk half a block without someone trying to sell you something, but here everyone's pretty blase about entrepreneurial endeavours. Tuk tuk drivers even have hammocks hanging in their tuk tuks! When they see you walk by they'll slowly lift their hides and say, "tuk.... tuk" in a mildly interrogative manner that only half suggests they're actually interested in acquiring your business.

It's a nice relief. Even the child peddlers just hold out their baskets of crap and immediately leave you alone if you shake your head. In Cambodia they would follow you for a half hour and rap off their sales pitches 37 times before they'd surrender.

Anywho, it is lovely here and we went to visit one of the large waterfalls yesterday which turned into a huge ordeal because we were given the most dodgy tuk tuk the city has to offer and it stalled all of 6 times on the twenty minute journey turning it into an hour long journey. Brock had to get out and push, haha and when we were finally going good a truck careened into our lane and our driver had to slam on the brakes which really wasn't good for the vehichle so it took Brock and 6 little boys to push and push and until we found a downward hill to get the damn thing going again!

When we finally got there it was certainly worth it as the Kuang Si waterfall is gorgeous. And like every "trek" we make, there's always some indefinable path that Brock thinks will take us somewhere cool (which, to be fair, it does half the time) though we have to mountain climb for a good 40 minutes to get to the top. It did have a fantastic view of the top of the waterfall, but I had already slipped into a foot of mud by then so I hardly felt it was worth it. And there was a leech on me. Yuk.

Oh I forgot to mention, (with the exception of New Zealand) the 6 hour ride from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang provided some of the most spectacular landscape/scenery I have ever seen. I'm surprised more movies aren't filmed here.

Tomorrow evening we leave for Vietnam for a hellish 24 hour bus ride! Fun times to be sure. I believe we're going to be ending in Vinh which is a bit central and then we'll be heading North for a bit and then working our way south back through Vinh again. I know it seems silly, but it's actually one of the better ways of getting to Hanoi via bus from Luang Prabang. It's been a huge pain in the ass trying to work out routes and border crossings due to these not being really developed countries and all.

Still trying to sort out Vietnam though as that typhoon or hurricane Ketsana completely flooded most of central Vietnam so I'm not sure if we're even going to get to see some of the good things there like Hue or Danang (which has the beautiful China Beach) but is now all flooded. I think it's really rude of that storm to impede on my traveling, what a bitch.

Well, I'll talk to you next from 'Nam!

Vientiane & Vang Vieng

amy_smith — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:09:00 GMT

It was so wonderful to be in the capital and it seemed so beautiful in the centre at night... mostly because it was the first industrialized city we'd seen in over 3 weeks and I really really wanted a cheeseburger!

Food was really the only noteworthy aspect of Vientiane. It was nice to have access to (good) Western food again because one really does get sick of rice and noodles when it's all that's available! We also found the very popular Scandinavian Bakery full of tourists and pastries and chocolate and baked goods and actual coffee. Pretty much all coffee you get is instant so Brock was pleased to have real brewed coffee for only the third time this whole trip!

We stayed in Vientiane for 4 days and it was alright except that it was ridiculously expensive compared to everywhere else we'd been so when you're used to paying $4 a night for accommodation and most places demand about $12, it hurts a little. But I did get my fill of chocolate and cheeseburgers so all is right with the world again!

We then found ourselves in a delightful town called Vang Vieng and found a great little bungalow with a river view. The only stupid thing is that our place was on the opposite side of the river than the town and you have to pay a toll everytime you cross the bridge. Now, I full support tolls, but come on, it was a dubious looking suspension bridge made of bamboo and twine and every plank was loose, so why the hell should I pay for the upkeep and maintenance of something that won't receive any upkeep or maintenance and will probably actually be the cause of my untimely and, undoubtedly, tragic death?

The silly fees really annoy me, only because I know that nothing is being done with the money other than feeding government coffers. It's gotten so that you can't even climb a hill without paying a flippin' dollar. Again, I'm more than happy to pay for something that I benefit from or at least to pay to prevent the locals from suffering or being exploited in the name of tourism... but nobody really benefits because none of the "parkland" is maintained and I've seen zero evidence of environmental protection policies. So it's really frusterating to pay to see natural wonders that are filled with garbage.

My theory is that most people come from small villages or secluded communities and either moved to the cities or cities were built around them and they never made any real transitions. In the jungle, it's okay to toss things wherever you want because everything is organic and the attitude is: "from the Earth - to the Earth," but they don't understand that they can't use that attitude with plastic, tin, and styrofoam. Some places are so ugly because there is just garbage everywhere and no initiative to educate people on ecology or environmental degradation. Pisses me off.

Vang Vieng was fun though! There's a large river that runs aside it called the Nam Song and the biggest attraction it holds is tubing! You just sit in an inner tube and float down the river. We had heard a lot of horror stories about how it's always packed with young travelers that get hammered and do stupid crazy things, but we were lucky and it was completely quiet when we went. The first stretch is loaded with bars on the river banks and the employees whistle to you and try to reel you into their bars by tossing empty Sprite bottles tied with rope at you.

All the bars also offer death traps for free! There are slides and swings and zip lines to play on... but I didn't even consider it. You see a business called the Tubing Company Ltd. was given a government sponsored monopoly on the use of the river... that's right. It means no one else is allowed to make money by providing entertainment on the river, one couldn't even bring their own tube to use, you have to go through the Tubing Company.

Private bars are allowed though, and like all groups of uneducated, untrained entrepreneurs... there comes an overabundance of one business type: bars. How, you ask, are all the clubs/pubs supposed to attract customers amidst a sea of like businesses? They let you use all their crazy apparatus's in the hopes that you'll stick around and buy liquor. AND since they don't charge for the use of their playground equipment, they don't have to abide by any standards of service or safety. Hence, deathtrap.

Someone actually did die a few weeks ago. We, however, had a swell time and only stopped in one bar for a small beer and then continued on our merry way.

A strange thing about Vang Vieng is the outrageous amount of video restaurants. I think 1 in 4 restaurants had tv's set up to play back to back episodes of the Friends or Family Guy. It was cool at first because we haven't watched much TV, but when you've finished your meal and realize you've been staring at the tv for an extra hour it freaks you out a bit. Haha funny to see all these catatonic tourists gazing at televisions for hours.

What else? We rented a small scooter to go check out the other sights, but halfway into it I stupidly got heatstroke and effectively ended the day. I say "stupidly" because I was fully hydrated (I'd had an Oreo milkshake, that counts) and I've been in over +35 degree weather for 14 weeks now. I shouldn't get heatstroke, but I did and it sucked and later that day Brock's hammock broke and he bruised his tailbone and it was not a good day.

Haha who gets greviously injured by a hammock? Brock, that's who. Poor thing, but I don't think he was really hurt, though he never complains so I can't be sure... he just had an extra glass of whiskey and that was that.

Don Khon & Savannahket

amy_smith — Wed, 7 Oct 2009 13:50:00 GMT

Welcome to Laos! The most heavily bombed country per capita in the world!

The Americans dropped about 2.2 million (MILLION!) tonnes of explosives on this itty bitty country in the 60's and 70's, and if you think that's bad... well about 30% of those never actually exploded on impact. So poor little Laos is littered with Unexploded Ordinance (UXO's for short) which have killed approximately 10,000 people since the Vietnam/American War ended.

There's your fun fact of the day. We bussed from Stung Treng past the border to Laos (not Louse or Lay-Os, it actually rhymes with cow) and boated through the 4000 Island range along the Mekong and stopped at a little gem of an island called Don Khon. It's one of those little paradises where you're lying in your hammock watching the palm trees sway over the river and every half hour someone says, "this is the life then isn't it?"

We spent 4 days there, though it feels like one and we didn't even do anything! Took another super long (9 hours) bus ride to Laos' third largest city, Savannahket. Nothing too noteworthy here, we've just been running errands as this is the first actual city we've been in for two weeks so it's time to stock up on cash and goodies.

As for me, I think it's important that everyone know I've gone 13 days without eating chocolate. Not by choice, certainly not by choice. It's just hot here and not a single person sells chocolate because of it's high melting point and there are about zero air conditioned shops or markets that are in a position to offer them. BUT tomorrow we are heading to Vientianne (the Capital) where there are French inspired bakeries and, at the very least, a supermarket!

Kratie & Ban Lung

amy_smith — Wed, 7 Oct 2009 13:05:00 GMT

We took a super long bus ride from Siem Reap to Kratie (Kratchey) and it turned out there was so little to do there that even a tour guide said, "I can get you on the first bus out of here tomorrow morning!" We stayed an extra day though and decided to rent some bicycles. It was a lovely ride along a country road where every single person waved as we went by and all the children ran to high five us or practice saying "hello how are you what's your name goodbye" in English.

Rode for a good hour until we arrived at a place called Kampi where we got into a small wooden boat to go in search of the rare Irrawaddy dolphin on the Mekong River. Sounds more exciting if you whisper it with an enthusiastic Australian accent. Much to my surprise and delight we saw about 10 of them. Funny looking things, who, unlike their bottle-nosed counterparts, have faces as wide as their bodies.

Right before we were about to cycle back it started to pour. I was on a one-size-fits-all (too big) bike wearing flip flops and one of those silly garbage bag rain ponchos that had a hole in it. So now I'm off biking. Haha all part of the adventure then eh?

I know that when traveling it's necessary to forgo certain amounts of comfort for the sake of adventurism, but not to the point where it stresses you out. I grew up in, what I can now view as, luxury and with that comes a high regard for cleanliness. So yeah.. cockroaches stress me out.

I've seen some in our rooms the size of my fingers (I made Brock hunt them down, killing bugs is a distinctly blue job) that repulsed me, but not as much as the ones I dont see! I know, I just know, that there are some the size of my hand lurking about. How do I know this? Because I've been to the markets and seen baskets full of dead ones. For sale. To eat.

*shudder*

Sometimes you can't just paste a happy face sticker on things, sometimes you just have a shit time of it! Like our ride from Kratie to Ban Lung on a "mini bus" (read: van) that was dirty, falling apart and smelled like hockey equipment in which they crammed 16 of us because hey, why have a seat all to yourself when you can share it with 2 other people? So there's that, and then there's the roads which only fantasize about being made of gravel. They're just mud and most of it is flooded (in some parts 2 feet high, as it is the rainy season) full of huge divets and potholes and the occasional cow. The whole 9 hours was spent going up and down and zigzagging.

First time I've ever felt carsick, though I was able to keep a grip on things... unlike the dude in front of me who kept vomitting into little bags and tossing them out the window.

There are certainly days when I feel a bit homesick for the ease and comfort of my country. Though, I'd settle for 2 bottles of wine and a barrel of M&M's!

We arrived in Ban Lung expecting to do all sorts of fun trekking and visiting neat things, but we have been advized to stay indoors. It's been the worst weather all year, been raining for 8 days straight and violently windy. Think it must be coming from the tyhoons and what not that hit the Philipines and eastern Vietnam.

We ended up being stuck in Ban Lung for 5 days because there were no buses leaving due to the flooded roads. Fortunately we were staying in a real cute place at the top of a hill that overlooked a stunning jungly valley. The power also went out about 3 times a day... luckily Cambodian rice wiskey is only about a dollar a litre!

It's almost nice we were forced to stay because on the last day the wind died, the rains ceased, and the clouds parted to reveal the start of a beautiful day.

We (stupidly) decided to walk to this volcanic crater/turned lake and our expert navigator, yes-I'm-certain-this-is-the-way-stop-pestering-me-I-know-where-I'm-going-Brock, lead us ten (TEN!) kilometres in the wrong direction. Oh, did I mention it's +35 degrees (45 with the humidity)?

Fortunately (for him) on our way back, this sweet man stopped to offer us a ride back to town. He turned out to be a government coordinator of urban development (or other such nonsense) and had just returned from assessing the storm damage in NW Cambodia. Lots of lost homes and crops, but no lives at least. Anyways, he was very interested in hearing what we thought about his country and to insist that we tell all Canadians to learn about and visit Cambodia. Consider yourselves told.

[Sidebar: The number one rule of travel is this: don't get trafficked. So ordinarily if someone stopped to offer us a free ride we'd be all, "git outta my faces you trafficking swine!" but he had an official vehicle and I was pretty certain that in my rage at having walked so far in the wrong direction I'd have killed anyone that tried any funny business. So all was safe, no need to worry mothers.]

After he dropped us off we wisely rented a scooter to visit the dazzling volcano lake and three waterfalls. The waterfalls might make my top twenty, but wouldn't even crack the top ten so they're not that noteworthy. Still, the drive was heaps of fun because of all the country folks and how sweet they are. I bet I've said "hello" more times in the last 3 weeks than at all other times in my life combined!

Then we had an even worse bus ride from Ban Lung to Stung Treng which was the most disgusting place I've even been and won't even get into.

Next!

Siem Reap

amy_smith — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:00:00 GMT

This country is so beautiful. When even the 6 hour ride North from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap on a non-air-conditioned dirty cramped bus can be enjoyable if you spend the whole time staring out the window. I think the most apt word would be 'enchanting.' The landscape, the people, the way of life. Enchanting.

We looked on in awe at the sprawled rural communities with their faded gray huts of twig, bamboo, and palm fronds nestled high on stilts as this rainy season turns the countryside into wetlands. Their front yards are huge ponds that don't look deep until you catch someone wading in up to their necks to bathe. Their backyards are rice paddies and beyond that is endless stretches of jungle. It's also not been uncommon to see skinny all-white cows laying about on the elevated walkways that connect the properties.

There's actually a lot to do here in Siem Reap, but it's mostly used as the gateway for the [UNESCO] World Heritage Site and Wonder of the World: Angkor Wat. We bought a 3 day pass which is a good thing because there is soooOOOOO much to see! For those that don't know, Angkor is a massive (really massive) area filled with old (really old) temples. Angkor was once the capital city of Cambodia (800-1100AD) back when all kings' seemed to do was built giant things.

The religion of the day (late 1100's) was Hinduism and King Sarvayarman II (or according to Brock: King Sorrywhatshisname Number 2) erected some spectacular monuments, most notably Angkor Wat ('wat' meaning temple). Then there was some fighting, the kingdom changed hands yada yada and the new religion became Buddhism. The new king, Jayarvarman VII (or Jobovurasomething Numero Seven) built a few hundred more monuments and now some 800 years later we have heaps upon heaps of super large ruis to look at!

They really are quite astonishing to see and it's fun because they actually let us all walk up in 'em and explore. There is a lot of restoration going on because, hey, they're old, and the Thai's destroyed a lot of them as well.

We are seeing it all via our delightful tuk tuk driver, Bunta, who, like most drivers, makes deals with hotels to deliver guests for free in order to solicit their services during the length of our stays. He speaks (what I like to call) achievable English and has acted us our unofficial guide. Unofficial because guides are supposed to be trained and certified, thereby allowing them to charge $25USD a day. So Bunton guides us unofficially and we unofficially tip him a lot more than we would if he was just our driver.

[sidebar: We've noticed things like that in Thailand as well. For instance, when we went on our elephant trek they didn't really give us the chance to take pictures of eachother because they take one and try to sell it to you for 500 Baht (about $15!! One photo, yeah right). Once we are away from the main centre though, the elephant guide said, "if you pass me your camera I'll take as many pictures as you want for 50 Baht, just don't tell them." So the moral of the story is that even in South East Asia people will take any opportunity to screw The Man.]

I love riding in tuk tuks as it offers unobstructed views on all sides of the scenery to enjoy, even if it's just fat pregnant monkeys on the side of the road for us to laugh at. The breeze is wonderful as well.I particularly enjoyed stopping for gas and a 7 year old girl waddled out with a funnel and a 2 litre bottle of Johnny Walker Red now containing gasoline, she then filled us up! That's nothing compared to when we stayed in Phangan and the manager's 8 year old son was the resident bar keep. It's good to see kids expertly popping the tops of beers, keeps 'em honest.

On our 2nd day we had a big hike up a mountain, well not big, 1.5 kms, but it's bloody hot so I double the distance in my head. So hot that we sweat like the proverbial whore. Though, to be honest, I'm not so wrung out by the sweating as the urination station situation is a bit questionable so it's more convenient to expell the ocean's amount of water we drink via perspiration. Sometimes peeing in S.E. Asia is a traumatic ordeal.

The climb itself was enjoyable because we're literally walking through jungle and all the trees and greenery are so picturesque that I almost find myself expecting a pack of velociraptors to jump out of a clearing. On a completely unrelated note, I don't believe there is any substance to the claim that television has altered my generation's perception of reality.

Alas, no dino attacks. Just harrassed by butterflies.

It's important to stay on marked trails here because there is an estimated 4-6 million landmines scattered throughout Cambodia. It's not recommended (reccommended?) to Robert Frost it. I gladly stick to the road most well beaten down thank you very much!

Other than the explosive countryside, I am very much in love with Cambodia! Especially all its mind-blowing eccentricities. If, in Canada, a parent had even one helmet-less child on their lap while driving a motorbike, they would probably never see their kid again! Here it's a family of 6 on a scooter, no biggie. I saw 3 women on a bike and the driver was a super old little granny with a baby on her lap and an industrial sized package of toilet paper tucked under her arm.. while driving! Haha and when she spotted my open-mouthed and agape she just smiled with a look that said, "this is how we do."

They do love Canadians though, always incredibly sweet to us and excited to learn about our country. So I think it's important to reciprocate their kindness considering most people here will never get the chance to leave and travel. We (tourists in general) are the only Canada they'll know, so we represent!

Even when they get overly aggressive with their sales tactics. About 15 times a day we have to run a gauntlet of child peddlers. I would love to be able to help all of them, but it's impossible, we get approached by hundreds of people every day trying to sell us their junk.

I've already bought a few (what I've agreed to call) silk scarves as they are very pretty, soft, cheap, and yes, what all you ladies are going to get as gifts.

Whew, I'm monopolizing the computer so I'll write in a few days. We're heading to Kratie (Kratchay) tomorrow morning for a few days, then a few days in Ban Lung, then North to the Laos border!!

Take care

Phnom Penh

amy_smith — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:37:00 GMT

FYI Phuket is pronounced Pooket. Thai's don't recognize 'ph' as the 'f' sound. Lol.

So Phnom Penh eh? Not a particularly nice city, though the food was good and dirt cheap. Cheap as in we've yet to spend over $10 total for two huge meals and 4 beers. It is American Dollars though. Also, they absolutely will NOT accept your American bills if there is even the slightest hairline tear in it. Not sure why, but it's really annoying.

I'll just get it over with and describe the Killing Fields now. I suppose a little background is in order: the Khmer (pronounced Keh-my) Rouge came to power in 1976 and proceeded to impose a strict agrarian Marxism on the country. In order to understand how these vicious turds gained power it's probably helpful to know more about French colonialism in Indochina and the Vietnam/American war, but you'll have to do that on your own time.

Anywho, the Khmer Rouge was lead by a vindictive son of a bitch known infamously as Pol Pol. Pol Pot's aims for Cambodia centred on starting from scratch... as in no cities, no money, no markets, no class systems, NOTHING. He wanted the country to be entirely communistic in nature by means of agricultural production. Every city was forcibly abandoned and the people of Cambodia were sentenced to either head to the countryside and begin their hard labour (for the good of the whole, of course), or sent to 're-education camps' if they seemed hesitant to spend their life in a rice paddy, or they were terminated as they were deemed immediate threats to the national policy.

'Threats' were doctors, teachers, architects, nurses, businessmen, landowners, basically anyone with an education, money, or who resided in the city was bad news bears for Pol Pot. As time progressed and large amounts of people died from overwork, starvation, and disease, Pol Pot did as all murderous tyrants do when they can't admit their failure... they blame everyone else. Tens of thousands of people were taken to prisons, most notably the S21 which was home to over 20,000 people during a span of less than 4 years. In prison they were interrogated, tortured, starved, and then killed. For the good of the whole.

This continued until 1979 and then joy of all joys Vietnam invaded them! That's another story though. We visited S21 (now a museum), which was once a high school but was converted into a prison where they threw together brick and mortar and barbed wire cells (maybe 2 feet by 4 feet if you're lucky). There were about 7 different types of torture devices that had been left there and were on display along with photos that the Khmer Rouge had taken of people succumbing to the devices. There are still many visible traces of blood on the floors.

The Khmer Rouge had also taken mugshots of all the prisoners, which were on display in one of the buildings. Some of the prisoners couldn't have been more than 3 years old (real threats to national security). You could become a prisoner simply because your husband had worked in a library, that made you a traitorous bourgeoisie pig. There was more than one mug shot of a women holding a baby.

After a person was thoroughly interrogated and tortured, they were taken to a killing site (of which there were hundreds all across the country). Again, most notably was the Killing Field just outside Phnom Penh where approximately 125 mass graves (one of those graves contained over 900 people) have been discovered, though they have only excavated 89 of the mass graves.

The area only seems to about the size of a school field as well. Today it's quite lovely looking with trees and grass, a lovely lei but with large circular ditches carved into them. There's a particular space where about 30 ditches (appr. 9x9 feet) are only about 2 feet from eachother. Looks like it's been cratered by small blasts, but those are just the unearthed graves. Doesn't feel like much when you're walking through there until you go into the small museum and you see the excavation photos and those ditches are piled high with bones.

They've labeled it all quite specifically as well. There's a tree where they would hang a loudspeaker which played music to drown out the sounds of people moaning and screaming, there's another tree named the Smashing Tree which is the manner and location of how the Khmer Rouge prevented babies from ever getting the opportunity to avenge their parents.

An estimated 1,700,000 people died in those 4 years.

I had even read books about this genocide years ago and it was still shocking to be there. So yeah, it's a bit of a cry fest. Mostly because it wasn't even that long ago. Apparently a significant percentage of the population suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Well no kidding, anyone over 45 would remember Pol Pot.

Phuket & Phnom Penh

amy_smith — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:05:00 GMT

I actually really liked the city of Patong in Phuket for the first day, but then it started to get really irritating with all the market people demanding you look into their shops. The unfortunate thing is that most of the aggressive annoying people aren't even Thai, they appeared to be Indian or Pakistani imports. There also seemed to be an indiscriminate amount of old fat bald white men with lithe young Thai women. Not that I judge or anything, but ew. Then it was on to Bangkok for one more night where our travel agent had written the wrong date when booking our hotel stay so they upgraded us to a room called "Superior Deluxe" and it certainly was. It actually had a bathtub. I haven't seen one of those in two months! I'm really going to miss Thailand. Don't know how a whole month has gone by. I forgot to mention that all the women here love Brock. Love him! Little girls stare at him, older women refer to him openly as "tall and handsome" haha they're wonderful. It also made me realize that since coming to Southeast Asia I haven't been leered at, ogled, hit on, or experienced anything remotely suggestive. Compared to Greece and Istanbul, the men here are absolute gents! Astoundingly polite and respectful. It's refreshing. Super early flight brought us to Cambodia! Arrived in the capital Phnom Penh (some people say it 'Penom Pen', I say 'Nom Pain') it's a decent city... we pretty much expected it to be in a lot worse shape than Thailand and apparently the rest of Indochine and it is. Lots of garbage too, actually say a naked baby rifting through rubbish yesterday. That's nice. What's funny is that in Thailand that record we spotted of amount of people on one scooter was 4. Now I think even 3 people is pushing it and would not ride with more than even 2! So right away here we saw tons of 4 people on and made a bet of a beer for whoever would be the first to spot a fiver. We're thinking it's just a joke and would be waiting a long time if ever to see one... well not one hour later Brock spotted the first, then I spotted the second and now it's unalarming to see 5 people (5 people!) on one little scooter. Until of course today, this the second day, when we saw a family of 6 (SIX!) on one scooter. Crazy Kampucheans! The currency here is off the wall. Everywhere takes American money and advertises prices as such. Though they seem to accept anything. We paid for breakfast (all you can eat buffet, good too, for $2.75 USD) with Thai Baht and received our change in American dollars and Cambodian Riels. Beer here is also cheaper than water. Which isn't saying much because the pub next to our hotel is selling pints for 50 American cents. Love it! We deserve some beer tonight in that we spent the day at the Killing Fields and the Genocide Museum (aka the Khmer prison/torture centre). It will take a hundred paragraphs to describe the reaction we had to it and I'd really rather not think about it anymore today so I will write about it in a few days. But, it was so horrifying that even my cold black heart couldn't contain the tears. Spend some time learning the history of Cambodia circa 1976-79 and you'll be a bit more prepared for my account.

Phi Phi

amy_smith — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:19:00 GMT

I was right, Krabi is a province.. of which Thailand has approximately 700 it seems. Anywho, after our rafting adventures, that following day we went canoeing (though we didn't canoe, a little Thai man did all the rowing and we just enjoyed the sights) then a quick long tail boat ride to James Bond Island (so named because it was used as a location for the 1974 film "The Man With The Golden Gun") and it poured poured poured rain the entire day, but it was still a pretty cool little island.

They then took us to the monkey temple, which is exactly what it sounds like... a temple filled with monkeys. Hundreds and hundreds of little monkeys! I loved it because I can watch those things all day. They behave pretty well too because they're overfed by excited tourists, so not dangerous at all. Brock was not a huge fan as he thinks they look like hairy little fetuses and gets creeped out by being near them. I thought they were friggin cute though, got heaps of photos of ickle baby ones too.

The next day we did a tour of the "Four Islands" (whose names I can't recall) and that was probably my favourite tour because the islands were all gorgeous and swimming on the beaches was amazing. Again, it rained all day, but it was still a fun day. One of the islands even had, no word of a lie, a penis shrine.

Just let that sink in a little. It was in a small cave, had what looked like the typical Buddhist mini temple thing and was surrounded... surrounded by penis's. Probably almost a thousand of them. Portraits. Wood carvings. Plastic ones. Marble ones. Here a penis. There a penis. Everywhere a penis penis. Apparently, some people believe that if you pray and make offerings to the shrine you will have good fertility or you can request to have a male or female baby.

There was even one as tall as me.

Then we finally had a day of nothing planned so it was spent laying out by the pool and achieving the noble task of working on our tans.

After that it was on to Phi Phi (or Pepe, or Pipi, or P.P.) which turned out to be our favourite place so far. Stunning island with a fantastic beach and lush jungle. We also spent the day kayaking which lead me to realize that I'm more of an outdoors person than I originally had surmised. I mean, I know I've had a minor genetic predisposition to athleticism and I like camping... but I don't really like having dirty fingernails so I never really thought I was drawn to the wilderness.

However, rock climbing and rafting and kayaking have somewhat changed my mind. It'd be nice to live in a place where one could do that stuff all the time.

I even like hiking! Well, I like Canadian hiking where it's only about 20 degrees. Brock insisted on hiking to the top of Phi Phi so we could get a good view... sure yes the view was unbelievable... but the actual hiking part that is ALL uphill where it's 35 degrees and the humidity is so thick and envelopes you so intently that you're pretty certain it should have bought you dinner first... yeah that's not exactly fun. I'd say it more closely resembles an activity called: being in hell.

I didn't complain though, honest. I just scowled a lot. Certainly earned my beer that day!

So spent 4 days in Phi Phi, and we just got to Patang in the province/island of Phuket. I quite like it here as well. Nice thriving city where one can do all sorts of shopping. Seriously, the background noise on busy Thai streets is this: "massaaaaaage madame manicure massage massage hello boss suit for you how about a suit sir you want a suit nice shirt then huh dress madame taxi where you going tuk tuk taxi sir lady you want a taxi welcome see menu just looking shopping lady..." constantly.

Oh well, only a few more days here then Bangkok then Cambodia!

Krabe

amy_smith — Tue, 8 Sep 2009 22:02:00 GMT

I'm not actually sure where we are anymore. I thought Krabe was a city but it seems to be a county or province, we're more specifically in Au Nang (have to pronounce it like there's peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth) and it is beautiful here.

It's so jungly and tree-luscious with way high up cliffs. The beach is pretty neat too even though it's not very desirable for suntan layabouts or swimming, it's just really nice to walk on because it's muddy and gooshy and feels wonderful on the feet. Plus there are tons of sea shells and little crab and actual sand dollars, which I've never seen before.

Yesterday we went rock climbing in Railay (pronounced Riley). I moved about ten feet in ten minutes and said, "okay this was fun I'm done thanks," but then there were some British girls next to us with long nails and zero affinity for climbing so I felt better. There's no shame in gaining confidence via other's failures.

It was actually a lot of fun until I cut my hand all up... that put me in a real stabby mood, but after I had lunch and stopped being a baby I was able to keep going. Not that I got much sympathy anyways from Mister Moir who was riding high after impressing the heck out of everyone by being Spiderman and scaling all sorts of mountain faces.

All these tours are supposed to include tranfer to and from the hotels, though the level of transfer leaves much to be desired. For instance, on the way back from rock-climbing, the boat anchored about 500 metres from the dock because it was low tide. So sure we could walk, as the water only went up to our knees, but it's full of sharp jagged rocks, the water was that indescernible colour of murk, and I know, I just know we were walking on filthy bottom dwelling sea creatures.

Come on Thailand! I know money's tight, but you can't build a dock halfway, that's just lazy.

You can probably surmise that I'm not a big fan of sea creatures. Or the sea for that matter. Of course I think it's beautiful and I love to gaze at it and hear it's crashing waves, but I prefer a more platonic relationship with the ocean. I like to walk in up to my knees, and that's about as close to first base as I'll allow.

Today was rafting and elephant riding. The former was a blast and I would do it every day if I could. The latter I'm a bit hesitant to rave about. It just felt uncomfortable, like I wasn't sure I should allow it to continue. Not that I know anything about the way the elephants are treated or what their quality of life is like... it's just, they're so beautiful and amazing that to see them wearing a saddle bench and a big stupid flag seems wrong. I felt contempt on its behalf. Then there was a show in which the elephants did silly tricks and everyone clapped at how they could stand on their hind legs...

Then some monkeys on leashes did some tricks and that felt awkward too. How are you supposed to feel about a monkey riding a tricycle? Awkward. That's how.

Oh well, I still love it here and the food, oh the food, is fan-taste-tic. (See what I did there? What a clever bird, I'm college educated you know) We've had cashew chicken from about 8 different places and they've all tasted completely different and have all been scandalously delicious.

Tomorrow we are going to some place called James Bond Island, not too certain what that's all about. I'm also looking to actually go to a spa and get a nice massage, they're bloody everywhere. You can even get a Fish Massage where you stick your feet in a bowl and fish eat your dead skin. Haha ew. Brock's not too keen, but I would let those little fishes nibble my toes and then I'd go to a fancy restaurant, eat one of their brethren and feel really good about myself. While Elton John sings about circles of life and other such nonsense.

Well, it's late and I'm rambling. See ya!

Phangan

amy_smith — Sat, 5 Sep 2009 12:56:00 GMT

So far Koh Pha Ngan is not my favourite place to be - in that our accommodations are not all that accommodating, the beach next to our place is rocky and the beautiful "5 minute away" beach is actually a good half hour drive away haha. Nothing like honest advertising! I've had another migraine day and we were both afflicted with ailments whose naming borders on too much information.

Last night was the infamous Full Moon Party.

What. The. F.

It really was the biggest party I've ever been to. Allegedly attracts about 20-30,000 people (don't doubt it). I believe the party (which was conceived in the 80's as a way to thank tourists and now used as a way to gouge tourists) is the only reason anyone comes here, minus the fabulous beach it is hosted on... whose sloppiness this morning I can only imagine. Bottles and buckets (they sell little buckets and fill 'em with a mickey of liquor, a can of pop, and stick a straw in it) everywhere.

I do believe I've never seen more drunk (etc.) people in one area in my life. The water in that bay is beautiful too... except that my night-time view of it was constantly obscured by the backs of no less than a dozen men at any given time donating their fluids to the ocean. Nice.

I'll have to backstep a little and say that our accommodations have one thing going for it: its hostel-like common area. It's pretty much just a restaurant/bar but you take your shoes off at the door and there aren't any chairs, just cushions on the floor. It has created a great atmosphere for meeting people. For instance, we all left together for the party and our tuk tuk bore us (Brock and I, duh), an Italian, a Finn, a Brit, a french girl, a 6'7" Swedish adonis (seriously the dude towered over our 6'2" Brock), heaps of Irish, and 4 guys from Calgary who didn't even know eachother prior.

The tuk tuk in Bangkok are really quite small and made for about 2 people, whereas the Tuk tuk on the islands are basically just pick-up trucks with benches put in along the sides. And of course they cram as many people as they can and cannot fit into them! They'll even pile 30 pieces of luggage on the roof seeing as how I doubt there are load-bearing restrictions or maximum capacities... or any kind of safety standards whatsoever.

We've seen welders without masks, road construction crews wearing crocs and sandals, even a lot of the taxis haven't had seatbelts. I am not very confident in the structural integrity of most buildings in this country, except for the proud monuments of western franchises who do seem intent on abiding by safety codes despite this inherent lack of laws enforcing it. My anxiety ebbs when I see the quiet honesty santity of a Starbucks. That's when I know that the Gods of Capitalism smile down upon me.

I am oddly absent of any fear in that regards though, I'm more worried about the scary mofo that is dengue fever. Incurable and prowling like a B in H along the northern jungles of Laos.

Tomorrow we leave for Krabe (Pronounced Crabby)... yes dad, it must have been named for me ha ha. There we'll be doing all the typical Thai tourist stuff (elephant riding, rock climbing, canoeing, visiting the beach from the movie "The Beach.")

Samui

amy_smith — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:47:00 GMT

After a 12 hour train ride, a two hour bus ride, and a two hour ferry ride we arrived on the island of Samui! [sidebar: sleeping trains are not what they appear to be in olden day movies, there is nothing glamourous about it at all]

We are staying in a beach bungalow at the Crystal Bay resort and it is bee-a-utiful! It's nestled right in this little cove where the sand is white and soft and the water is almost warm and clear. The only non-perfect thing is the sky, which, other than yesterday when it was blue, has been pure white. Only seems to rain at night as well which is lucky.

Haven't been up to too much craziness yet. Mostly swimming and eating and drinking, a very productive group of activities if you ask me! We rented a scooter for the whopping price of $6 for a 24 hour period and went on a tour of the island. Saw some waterfalls, saw some more giant Buddhas (they like their Buddhas large here), went to a movie (Taking Pelham.. somthing or another with Denzel Washingtoon, decent flick, but interesting in that before the movie started everyone stood up so we could listen to the national anthem...) They seem to very monarchical and patriotic here, long live the king and queen.

The people here are still profoundly lovely and helpful. Everytime we pore over a map someone rushes over to offer us directions or recommend a place to visit (even after we've informed them we don't need a taxi, tuk tuk, or tickets).

Had a migraine yesterday, but fortunately those suckers have been less frequent and less severe so I was only out half the day. Other than that I seem to be pretty healthy even after accidental doses of tap water. Apparently, just because you see locals drinking the water, doesn't mean you can. Their immune systems have adapted or other such nonsense.

The food is beyond delicious, which makes this the second country that isn't doing much to ensure a skinny body on my return. Cashew chicken is so far the best thing to eat anywhere, and you can also drink a bag of cola... an actual mini grocery bag with the same little handles but filled with coke and ice and a straw.. haha a bag of soda. Fun. Of course Brock wouldn't let me get one because "the ice is probably tap water." Pffft..

I believe we are here for another 4 days, but who can be certain, I'm not even sure what day it is half the time. Still can't quite sort out the pay phone situation here as it seems to be shockingly expensive to make local calls, and mobiles are cheaper than land lines... get your act together Thai telecommunications industry! Was nice to speak to my mom though this morning, hope all you ladies had a fun night (Auntie Bean if you really want I can wrassle you up some pygmy balls)!

Anywho, I'm going to go work on my burn and try to procure me that bag of pop.

Bangkok

amy_smith — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:07:00 GMT

I want to take every Thai person we've met, fold them up and put them in my pocket. I love it here!

So, I had about 13 hours of travel time between Athens and Bangkok, with a quick stopover in Bahrain, which actually looks like a really cool place, minus the oven-opening heat (as in: when you open the oven too fast and the heat rushes onto your face.. that's Bahrain).

Now I am in Bangkok with Brock, who arrived the day before me, and it's wonderful so far! Our first day in the city was yesterday and all we intended to do was head to McDonalds (because I have this thing about wanting to try one in every country) and we were being confused looking tourists poring over a map when this sweet little gentleman from the army stopped to chat with us and tell us about what to see in the city and that we were lucky because since they celebrate the queen's birthday for weeks, certain things were available to tourists for free that normally they wouldn't be allowed to see.

He then wrote out all the places to see and hailed us a tuk tuk driver, told him the terms of payment and sent us on our way! The tuk tuk is a wierd little 3 wheeled open-air taxi and it cost us 20 baht (maybe about 80 cents?) for the entire day of driving around! We saw the 50 foot golden Buddha, the laughing Buddha, the sitting Buddha, and some other Buddhist temples... yes, they're Buddhist here, go figure!

We also visited the Thai factory (and some other places the drivers always take you to so they can get a gas coupon from the vendors) and a tourist information centre where we booked our entire month in Thailand with a hilarious, and slightly pervy, agent named Max. We spend three more days in Bangkok, take an overnight train (which we're excited for because neither of us have ever been on a train before) to.. some place... where we take a quick boat to the island of Samui where we have a beach Bungalow!

The whole thing is a shockingly inexpensive experience compared to my 5 weeks in Greece with their damn Euro! For instance, at a restaurant beside the gigantic golden Buddha we each had soup and a huge plate of fried rice and (what I'm going to call) duck, plus a water and I think it came to less than a dollar each. So meals here are pretty darn reasonable!

Today we're just going to wander around, maybe purchase a very necessary umbrella. The day was beautiful and clear and hot, and then last night when we were walking back to the hostel it started absolutely pouring. Couldn't really see that far in front of me because it was coming down so fast, and we were probably only outside for 5 minutes but were completely drenched. It is the rainy season, next month is monsoon season though so we came at just the right interval!

So far it's great and everyone is amazingly sweet and helpful. It just smells a bit like fart.

Heraklion & Chania

amy_smith — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:38:00 GMT

I've gotten so used to interpreting Greek letters that I don't even know what's English anymore. Heraklion (Iraklio) and Chania (or Xania, pronounced Han-eeya) are the two cities I visited on the island of Crete.

Now, the travel agent that spent over an hour and half with me (and poor Curtis having to suffer through it all with a terrible sun burn) sorting out my 3 weeks on the islands did a fantastic job, what with all the different hotels and ferries and transfers and whatnot he had to book. Unfortunately he made the wrong call when he was all, "spend 5 days in Iraklio and 3 days in Hania," I wish it had been the other way around.

Heraklion was just another big city all smunched together into a small city, though it was very vibrant with a relaxed vibe and everything was closed between about 2 and 6pm... which is probably good because that's about the hottest time of the day I find.

Nothing to write home about there. Umm I did have a really nice 2 and half hour bus trip along the coast of northern Crete to Hania... some sweet mountains on the left and the beautiful ocean to the right. I wondered what they could possibly produce there though because there doesn't some to be a lot of agricultural prospects. Too much mountain, too little anything else.

Which brings me to a point I discovered: the next time someone attempts to insult the prairie provinces by mentioning their vast flatness, I might take it personally. Really though, when building a city it's more practical and preferable to find some flatlands than to carve a city out of a mountain!

Anyways, I loved Hania! It was adorable and super vibrant, but one does wonder how the permanent residents deal with the off season, I'm sure the population more than halves. Hania did have a sorry excuse for a beach, but I'm from the middle of Canada so a beach is a beach and I'll worship it accordingly! The sea here has dozens of giant protruding rocks so I imagine it's a task to boat around.

My 9 hour ferry ride back to Athens (sans cabin) was even longer than I had anticipated as I was inundated by a group of young Pakistani-turned-Greek men who assumed it should be my task to assist them with their English. Some were funny enough to pass the time and they were very informative and truthful about the shitehole that is their native country.

Though, I had a trying time dealing with one avid gentlemen who couldn't accept my aversion to religion. (FYI they're all Muslim) He proceeded to claim that the only thing preventing the ship from spilling into the ocean was the will of God (and his consistent prayers to Mecca). "No," I said, "it's man's ability to use the awesome powers of his mind to produce." But as theists are prone to do, he hit me with the 'no, God did it' reasoning. This is an irrelevent story, only that it stretched through the span of 2 hours because I'm too tolerant of annoying people. Damn my super swell upbringing that instilled in me a stubborn propriety to grant the courtesy of manners to even the most undeserving of specimens.

So, I still haven't slept in about 30 hours, forgive my likely incoherence.

Back in delightful Athens now where my hostel seems to only serve young Canadian backpackers, but does have an irresistable view of the Acropolis. Oh, you should just see it at night when they have it all lit it up. Beauteous.

Thirassia & Oia

amy_smith — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:53:00 GMT

Yesterday, I enjoyed a 12 hour day tour of Santorini. 'Enjoyed' is probably a strong word though, as there was a lot of sitting around waiting for things to happen. I did get some very cool pictures of typical island style churches (white with the blue domed roof) and of an old fortified community (built to protect the inhabitants from pirates) though it looks pretty much the exact same as newer Greek neighbourhoods! All buildings on the island are white and cubic with lego blue trimmings (doors, shingles, gates, etc.), they're actually really nice looking and appear strong enough to be able to withstand anything as they're made out of foot-thick concrete. No pansy wood or drywall for these Greeks!

I said previously that I'd be visiting volcanoes, but the whole of Santorini actually is a big volcano that had a monster eruption (allegedly one of the biggest that we know of) 3600 years ago. Now it consists of the main island and about 4 other smaller ones.

The most modern eruption on the smaller island (Neo Kameni) was 50 years ago and it is supposed to be this wonderous geological monument that is meant to be admired and preserved... well I'll admit that the idea is neat, but in reality it's just a big pile of rocks and dust. That's it. Maybe my expectation of the word 'wonderous' is too high?

After that we boated around a bit more exploring some small inlets and checking out the beaches and restaurants of Thirassia where I got to eat some more delicious stuffed tomatoes. I implore someone back home to learn how to make them... please?

We then dropped port (is that the term?) at Oia (pronounced ee-a) where I think I climbed up 8000 stairs after foregoing the use of a smelly donkey to get to the top of the mountain. I then proceeded to sit for approximately 3 hours, with 2000 other people, to wait for the damn sun to set!

Apparently Santorini sunsets are spectacular. Though, it was pretty average as far as I'm concerned. The main attraction wasn't so much this daily event of nature, but the fact that all these people turned up to marvel at it ('s mediocrity) as if it would never occur again! Honestly I think there were more snapshots taken of the crowds than of the horizon. As if we all stumbled upon something plain but felt inclined to stick around because everyone else was, therefore more people stayed to see what all the fuss was about.

In the end, the sun did set, as per usual and some jackasses kicked off a frenzy of clapping and cheering to which the whole crowd burst off of as if it was some spectacular event. As if it occurred by conscious design. As if the sun deserved that sort of attention. As if the Earth revolves around it or something...

I don't intend to complain, it was just a long and somewhat disappointing day. Tomorrow morning I will be heading off to spend the week on Crete. First in Heraklion and then to Hania.

But today, I will hang by the fabulous pool!

Ios & Santorini

amy_smith — Sat, 8 Aug 2009 21:59:00 GMT

On Curtis' last day in Greece we went to a teeny island called Antiparos which was just a five minute boat ride from Paros. I much prefer it to Paros as the sand was softer, lighter and the water was perfect with no weeds or rocks or ugly little sea creatures. One could walk a mile without the water level rising about one's head. Very nice!

We then celebrated with a 1.5 litre bottle of 5 euro wine (which was quite obviously bad) cigars (which were surprisingly pleasant) and Gyros (always good). Gyros (pronounced like the dollar: euro) are similar to donairs, but they put on tzatziki sauce (ugh) instead of sweet sauce and they put french fries in 'em. Very yummy!

So now I'm all by my lonesome. Actually feels wonderful to travel on my own again. Even though it will only be for a couple of weeks, it's nice to only have to rely on myself and do whatever I want.

I just left the island of Ios, the place where dad's cousin, Bruce, met his Australian wife, Lisa! There is a shocking amount of Australians here, and if the English speaking people aren't Australian, they're Canadian. Ios also appears to more popular for young people, as in 90% of tourists seem to be under 30.

I am now in Santorini and it is as beautiful as they (everyone) says it is! Tomorrow I am going to check out some volcano stuff and beaches, so I will tell more later.

For now, I figure that I've been in this country for over 3 weeks now so I'm entitled to reveal my observations, which are as follows:

1.) I've so far only encountered ONE mounted wall shower. There are showers to be sure, but you have to hold them the whole time or mount them by the tap. None hanging above in a convenient location. Odd.

2.) Greek plumbers made a dubious error back in the day when they went about deciding the size of pipes to be used nationwide. They are too small, you can't even flush anything down the toilet. Seriously.

3.) Time change. I don't mean the geographical time change, but the fact that Greeks run on a completely different time frame than us. The busiest time of day seems to be midnight. Most people don't even venture out for dinner until about 10:30 pm! I'm assuming this is because of the tremendous heat during the morning and afternoon, but I'll have to come back in the winter to confirm!

4.) Don't even get my started on the driving. I don't get it. There are no traffic rules or guidelines. Haha and when I think there is no where left on a street for a car to park.. they'll find a place to park. Also, if math is correct, and it probably isn't, then they pay almost $2 a litre for gas here.

Anyways, it's lovely and beautiful and I want to live here. Take care

Mykonos & Paros

amy_smith — Sun, 2 Aug 2009 21:51:00 GMT

I am very happy to be back in Greece. Istanbul just didn't hold a lot of appeal to me. It takes a lot to build a city that big, it should have more to offer. Though, to be fair, the service is phenomenal. There were even busboys in McDonalds!

Leaving Istanbul was great fun (*sarcasm*) as it was a 10 hour bus ride that got stopped for an hour and a half at the border and everyone's luggage was tediously gone through. Then 6 hours back to Athens from Thessaloniki. Long day of travel.

Just spent one night in Athens and booked my whole next 3 weeks which I will spend on various islands. So now I feel really good that everything is paid for and all I have to do is show up at the ferry ports!

First stop was Mykonos where we spent just 2 days. It's apparently the "party island" and certainly there were a lot of club goers, though Curtis and I wandered around trying to find a fun one and ended up finding 8 gay bars! The only other good one was full of British tourists on drugs so dibbs out on that. Can't say I'm a huge club fan anyways so it wasn't a total wash. Spend the next morning in the pool that looked out onto the ocean. Then an hour long ferry (which was an hour late) to Paros where I am right now. It's definitely nicer than the other one and I counted about 43 restaurants during the 15 minute walk from the hotel to this internet cafe so one can assume that is the main industry during this tourist season!

Tomorrow spending the day at a smaller island called Antiparos.

Hope everyone is well. I am! Take care

Later That Day In Istanbul

amy_smith — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:48:00 GMT

So a few hours after my prevıous post I was thınkıng that the worst part of my day would be starıng down pervies and avoıdıng roving bands of a-hole chıldren. I was wrong.

We went down to the beach (whıch ıs just a rocky bluff) to hang out and enjoy the sun. There were probably around two dozen people (men, because I dont thınk women are allowed to swım here, haha) swımmıng and drınkıng and chıllıng out. I notıced somethıng ın the water (thıs ıs the Aegean Sea) and I realızed ıt was a person. I thought to myself, 'wow, that guy can sure hold hıs breath for a long tıme.' About a mınute goes by and I'm thınkıng I was mıstaken and ıt's not a person... and then I realızed that ıt defınıtely was a person. And by 'was a person' I mean WAS a person.

That's rıght. My fırst day ın Istanbul and I spot a dead body floatıng ın the ocean. Rıght after I realızed ıt, some other guys dıd and went ın to retrıeve hım, called the polıce, yadda yadda yadda. (sıdebar: no one even gave a damn) They just pulled hım... whıle hıs legs stıll dangled ın the ocean and they stood around hım talkıng, some even makıng jokes about hım. Even the cops dıdn't seem to phased. So note to self: dont get ınjured ın Istanbul.

Anyways, today was a much better day! We vısıted some pretty fancy lookıng mosques, went to the Hagıa (Aya) Sofıa, took a tour around a palace. An actual palace. Thıs thıng ıs probably larger than the entıre cıty of Red Deer. Took 13 years to buıld ın the mıd 1800's for the Sultan of the Ottoman Empıre at the tıme. I'm not even sure ıf I can descrıbe ıt properly ın words: It's 'opulent' and 'luxurıous' havıng a baby word and that baby word havıng another baby wıth the baby of 'obscenely fancy' and 'extravagant.' That's how crazy nıce ıt was.

Stıll havent really formed an opınıon on thıs cıty because ıt's too damn bıg. I defınıtely thınk that the Asıan sıde ıs nıcer than the European sıde. Also, I prevıously saıd the populatıon was 13 mıllıon (thanks Wıkıpedıa), but ıts actually about 17 mıllıon.

Sorry agaın for the bad grammar and mıssıng punctuatıon. Everythıng ıs ın the wrong spot and I can be asked.

Mıss you