Bun and Boots

Down But Not Out on Fraser Island

bunnyrall — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:38:00 GMT

And then there was rain, lots and lots of it.

Oh, as well as lots and heaps and loads of nonstop rain. As it turns out Fraser Island has nothing to do with the sitcom or the sun. Our first clue should have been taking the ferry over early in the morning from Pervy/Scurvy/Hervey (Harvey)Bay when the sky was filled with dark threatening clouds foreshadowing the next 3 days. We have been told by numerous Aussies that the winter is some of the most desirable weather in Northern Queensland. Turns out, we are experiencing the worst winter Fraser Island has seen in years. However, the saving grace of the trip was our Cool Dingo tour group and amazing tour guide, Hayden. Great guy... obnoxious laugh.

We arrived at Fraser Island and boarded a stinky 4x4 tour bus that immediately felt like we were on the Star Tours ride at Disneyland. Imagine Star Tours for 10 hours straight for 3 days. Buckle up and get ready to pee your pants laughing over each sand dune. We knew Hayden was a gem when he introduced himself as an idiot and used the phrase "alrighty-o". Not to mention his incredible taste in music that he blared for all to enjoy (3 Doors Down, Matchbox 20, Creed....you know our faves). Our base camp was pretty luxurious with dorm rooms, hot showers, cooked meals, a lovely lounge area, and a Cool Dingo bar. This is key as most tourists coming to the island camp in tents, get attacked by dingoes, and have to cook all their own meals. Imagine doing that during a 3 day downpour. NO THANK YOU.

Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island with rainforest and fresh lakes on the island. It is a UNESCO site and an outdoor person's paradise. Our 3 days on the island consisted of crystal clear blue freshwater lakes, rainforest walks, a fake snake planted to scare Bunny (nice one Hayden!), sand dunes, off roading 40 miles up and down the beach to visit a shipwreck, spot some whales and dingoes, dip our toes in the Champagne pools, and be caked in sand 24/7. In case we did not mention it there was also sand and rain and sandy rain and NO SUN FOR 3 days. It was still a gorgeous and breathtaking island and well worth the trip, but it was hard for us to get super excited when we knew the potential beauty had the sun been shining for even 1 moment. We are still covered in sand.

The highlight was definitely our new Cool Dingo crew. Everyone was in great spirits minus the weather setback and we all enjoyed Hayden's ceaseless island commentary (self proclaimed Mr. fun facts 5,000) and terrible, corny jokes. Things picked up on day 3 when Bunny sat shotgun next to Hayden and played her ipod... let this also be known this was the last time the ipod would work. The final song of the tour was Milli Vanilli's "Blame It On the Rain". PRICELESS!!!

Although the weather was crappy, it was impossible not to see the natural beauty and wonder of Fraser Island. It also did not keep us crazy Cool Dingoes from having an all night dance party at the Cool Dingo bar and finally experiencing the legendary Goon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plonk_(wine)). It was sad to bid a Cool Dingoes farewell as we all felt we had survived the longest Star Tours adventure ride ever, but we needed to thaw out.

Ironically, the day before Fraser Island and the day after we returned were SUNNY without a cloud in the sky. We could not believe our luck, but we were heading north to follow the sun to a town that is literally called 1770. 1770 was BAD TO THE BONE. Picture this: Willie Nelson headbands, fake tats, red lipstick, killer shades, flamed leather jackets, and the wind in our hair as we cruise along the highway in scooters that resemble Harleys. We were born to be wild as you all know and we could finally live it out on the open road. And also on the wrong side of the road. It is surprising we survived with these factors, especially since neither of us had ever ridden a motorbike before and were pretty nervous at first. Those bikes are beasts, but we mandhandled them with mad style. Bun and Boots started at the back of the pack dead last in a group of 50+ riders (few females) and when given the green light to pass other bikers we cruised straight to the front. It was especially fun passing all of the "bad ass" dudes and giving them the death stare. WE LOVED IT--PICS TO COME!!

Good kharma was back in our lives as we approached 1770. We were immediately greeted with glorious sunshine, long relaxing days at the beach and pool, and best of all an incredible night of stargazing the milky way in all it's glory (we have NEVER in our lives seen the galaxy with our bare eyes up close and personal like this). It took our breath away and was a truly magical moment.

We are now in Airlie Beach (prnounced EARLY) via an overnight Greyhound Bus consisting of a terrible British film, oodles of snores, two Brits in front of us eating tuna casserole at all ours of the night--great dinner choice, guys! Airlie beach is even warmer than 1770 and has the best night life and mix of people we have come across thus far. We are ecstatic to set sail tomorrow on the Whitsundays aboard the Summertime ship for 3 days/2 nights. We hope this sailing group will be as fab as our Fraser fiasco friends--which will be stiff competition--and that this trip brings us plenty more fun in the sun as well.

Off we go with our matching sailor hats...

AHOY MATES!

Bun n' Boots

Off Into The Sunshine Coast

bunnyrall — Fri, 9 Jul 2010 19:33:00 GMT

Hello from the (Somewhat) Sunshine Coast of Australia, Friends & Family!

From where we last left off, we had a splendid "family outing" day trip with Mum and Pop (Ren & Lee) to Maleny on the Sunshine Coast's hinterland. On our way, we took a brief pit stop outside the Australia Zoo to pay our respects to the late and great Crocodile Hunter Steve Erwin (CRIKEY!). Then it was onward and upward to a scenic viewpoint of the unique looking Glasshouse Mountains. Our very first stop was Maleny's Winery where we sampled some delicious champagne (or as they call it--Maleny bubbles) followed by a lovely lunch in the cute and quaint town of Maleny. We had a fab time doing a stroll/photo shoot through a nearby rainforest where we saw some Pademelons (look them up if you aren't familiar, but they are basically a hybrid of a bunny and a kangaroo). Our wildlife luck remains in full force as not many people are fortunate enough to see these unique looking animals in the wild. Not to mention how insanely difficult it was to be quiet long enough to cross paths with them.

We then toured the Maleny Cheese Factory filled with bored Oompa Loopma looking factory workers (no offense guys--but the resemblance was uncanny). We were thrilled to try 10+ so gourmet cheeses ranging from wasabi to tuscan and everything brie and blue cheese in between--SCRUMDIDDLYUMPTIOUS! We ended the day in nearby Montville, a town that we quickly realized was enduring a severe identity crisis: are we Denmark? or Ireland? or Germany? Not sure, but utterly charming nonetheless.

It was difficult to leave our precious hosts and Brisbane after 2 weeks of sheer fun, but we decided to rip off our backpacker's bandaid from SE Asia and hit the road on Sat--Noosa bound. We booked 2 nights at Noosa Flashpackers, which we assumed would be a great way to ease back into our former backpacker's lifestyle... but found the transition to be a bit challenging. This was primarily due to the fact that this particular Flashpacker's hostel had a "all ages welcomed" policy and as a result, 3 generations of kiwis checked in to the dorms next to us and the youngest generation had diffulty going "pee pee in the potty" in our communal facilities. Um... UNACCEPTABLE.

We had a smashing 2 days in Noosa regardless with an epic 5 kilometer hike along the coastline on the 4th of July in our red, white and blue apparel and a boombox in tow blaring THE BOSS--we know how to represent, yo! The half day hike included a picnic on the sands of Alexandria Bay, an incredible rainforest trek listening to birds and stellar viewpoints and ended with a real bang as we spotting our first ever koala in the wild! You won't believe this, but this koala was also chillin' HARD. So hard that it made us laugh (just picture this: a koala nestled way up in a tree, clinging to the branches and completely stoned out of his mind from overdosing on toxic eucalyptus leaves--the official Koala chronic). IT WAS EPIC!!!

We spent an evening at Noosa's Surf Club that provided an interested concoction of people: from yuppies to youngsters visiting on school holiday, a few drunk cougars getting sloppy on the dance floor and a middle-aged cheeseball DJ rockin' the casio harder than we ever could have hoped for. We felt like we were crashing a wedding and celebrating a b-day at Chuck E Cheeses simultaneously... not sure how we feel about all of that still.

We have now moved north to the town of Pervy/Scurvy/Hervey Bay (pronounced HARVEY Bay) and are about to embark on a 3 day, 2 night guided camping expedition to Frasier Island. Frasier Island boasts the largest sandy beaches, crystal clear lakes, incredible rainforests and natural hot spring Champagne Pools to dip our toes in. We can't wait to experience it all first-hand and report back with all the juicy details.

Just slappin' da Goon & chasin' da dingos!

XOXO from OZ,

Bun n' Boots

Photos: Brisbane and Lone Pine

bunnyrall — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:36:00 GMT

You down with B & B? Yeah you know me!

bunnyrall — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 10:07:00 GMT

Greetings from the Land Down Under!

It's Monday morning and our lovely hosts, Renee and Lee, are at work while we sip chai tea, munch on muesli and write to you. What an amazing first 10 days here in a land where water swirls the opposite way down the drain. We arrived delirious at 7 am after losing an entire day in the sky, to Renee holding a heart-shaped sign that read "OH MY BUDDHA!! IT'S THE BUN N BOOTS' FUN EXPRESS 2010." Together we drove on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car to her lovely Queenslander style home in Brisbane (more specifically Auchenflower) which is better known in Australia as Brissy or BrisVEGAS (still trying to figure that one out).

Our first few days were spent getting acquainted with the city on foot: walks along the beautiful river to see countless beautiful bridges, the modern city skyline, a beautiful botanic garden, a ferris wheel like the eye in London, and the various unique and lively districts within the city. Brisbane has a great live music scene with lots of venues and also many great cafes serving up killer Flat Whites (also known as a latte).

We kicked off the week with a trip out to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary to check off numbers 1 and 2 on our To-Do list for this OZ adventure. It was a beautiful open sanctuary in the hills over Brissy in the shade of Eucalyptus trees. We were overwhelmed with over 100 koalas to cuddle and we decided that the koala might actually beat out the lemur for coolest animal ever (that's right... take a moment for that statement). Koalas chill HARD--harder than anything or anyone. That includes you, Snoop. They couldn't be bothered to save their lives...all they do is sleep and eat some leaves in total silence. THAT IS ALL. If only we were that cool. Lone Pine allows you to "cuddle" a koala and take pictures and the money goes to conservation projects for the animals. Since this was number 1 on our list, we were all over this. We took a picture family style with our very own adopted koala child named Bentley. He smelled WEIRD and as soon as Bun put him in her arms he took a poo on her shoe followed by a burp. And we are still obsessed with him. It was an absolute highlight because Bentley was quite the poser. He looks fake in the pictures and we got lucky as not everyone else's koalas were as photogenic! Even Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs didn't have a cooperative koala. TRUE STORY. We also went to a huge field with over 100 kangaroos and wallabies and frolicked with them. We even had a staring contest with a Roo, but he definitely won as they are a bit intimidating. All in all, Lone Pine ROCKED!

Bun and Boots babysitting duties were split between Renee and Lee. Our first part of the visit was with Renee and she showed us the lay of the land and where we could grab some tasty beers. By Wednesday it was Lee's turn to show us how he really gets down with a spontaneous jam session with his pals in the living room. We offered to play the tambo and the didgeridoo but they said they had it covered. The following night Chef Lee put Thomas Keller to shame with a 5 star, 4 course meal to knock our socks off. Can you say rhubarb delight???

WE ARE BEING SPOILED!!!!!

This past weekend we set off for Byron Bay to visit Renee's hometown and meet her lovely "Mum". BB is STUNNING little beach town and the most Eastern point of Australia. This little town has everything from a dormant volcano, Mt. Warning, in the distance to a charming lighthouse on the edge of the town, and breathtaking hinterlands full of rainforest and rolling hills. People talk of how fertile the soil is in this area and say it is because of the special crystals?!? More on that later...we hope.

Within hours of being in BB, we took a walk up to the cape and lighthouse and had the surprise of our lives at the very top. HUMPBACK WHALES having a tea party in the sea below us! It takes a lot for us to be speechless, but trust us we were. There was a group of them and we were able to watch them for quite some time as well as get a video (coming soon). There was also a straggler whale left behind who decided to give us a great show with some tail flukes. A-MAYO-NAZING. These whales made the dolphins and wallaby we saw hopping by seem like flies on the wall. We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset, explained by Boots to Bun, and headed back to the beach for a silly photo session at dusk.

The night could have ended there with the whale sighting highlight (but we wouldn't be the Bun and Boots Fun Express if that were the case). Instead we decided to stay out until 4 am at a place called LA LA's which is nothing like LA. It was a sweaty, sloppy dance party but a story nonetheless. The rest of the weekend was spent checking out the shops, dining at delicious cafes, hitting the Bangalow markets, and taking in some live music at The Beach Hotel. EPIC WEEKEND and we heart Byron Bay - we are definitely going back.

We are headed up the coast this week to check out some more beaches and islands along the Queensland coast. Stay tuned for more from these two Waltzing Matildas (wikipedia it).

As the Good Dr. Lee would say: Hope life is G to the O to the L to the D back home.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX,

Bungalow n' Boot Scoot

Here We Go Again

bunnyrall — Wed, 12 May 2010 17:42:00 GMT

We are off again! I guess you could say we have the travel bug bad and we are taking off to the Land Down Under and beyond. Not sure where this trip will take us but we will do a better job of blogging this time!!!!!!

We leave June 16th and will be starting in Brisbane, Australia visiting Lee and Renee. We cannot wait! Lots to do and lots to figure out in a month but if you have any recommendations or advice, please let us know!

Photos: Bali

bunnyrall — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:32:00 GMT

Who Are We?!

bunnyrall — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:15:00 GMT

So we know that we are WAY behind and owe everyone a lot of details about our adventures the last 3 weeks or so. Let's just say that we have been having a wonderful time, extended our trip 2 weeks, and will be coming home in 4 days :(. We have gone from boat to island to boat to island from the islands of Southern Thailand to Malaysia (which was a pleasant surprise) and now we are in Bali where our hearts currently are. Tomorrow we are off to Singapore for a sling or two and to smooch a lemur and then home on the 16th.

We have 1000's of pictures and stories to share with all of you but please be patient with us as we want to soak up every last minute while we are here. We will share countless pictures, stories, and laughs with you very soon.

For now here are a few highlights:

- Lady Boy cabarets in Phuket Island, Thailand

- Saw where they filmed "The Beach" and decided it really is the most beautiful beach we have ever seen. Too bad Leo was not there.

- All night dance party on Phi Phi Island, Thailand and Sara feeding the fish with her "sea sickness" while snorkeling on a long boat.

- Rented a Suzuki Sport CARIBIAN that broke down on us at an elephant farm and we were stranded for hours but saw the most amazing sunrise ever with monks chanting in the distance in Koh Lanta, Thailand.

- Had the most romantic honeymoon in the remote island of Koh Lipe, Thailand with our Norweigan friends and woke up to sounds of waves crashing every day and walked through the moonlight every night. It was like paradise on earth! Sara proposed to Megan. She said yes.

- Made an unexpected trip to Langkawi, Malaysia via speedboat (think P.Diddy gone wild) and took a helicopter around the island. It was like a roller coaster ride!!! We were so scared we almost peed our pants.

- Touchdown in Baliwood and fell in love with Ubud...Eat, Pray, Love style! Spent a few days shopping, culturing, massaging, and chillaxing before we headed to Padang Bai to our eco friendly mansion on a hill: Bloo Lagoon village. Ultra secluded beach, stunning ocean views from our 3 bedroom house, and only 1 hiccup....bunny lost an eye (not really)! Yes, the doctor came and all is well now. Words cannot describe our house in Bloo Lagoon Village so we will show you pics later, but just know MTV cribs missed out!!!

We are sunkissed, relaxed, and still smiling after all this time but very excited to see each of you when we get home.

xooxoxoxooxoxox,

Bun n Boots

Photos: Langkawi

bunnyrall — Mon, 1 Mar 2010 18:15:00 GMT

Photos: Islands of Thailand

bunnyrall — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:45:00 GMT

Photos: Angkor Wat / Siem Reap

bunnyrall — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:34:00 GMT

Photos: Vietnam

bunnyrall — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:14:00 GMT

Ankle Wat

bunnyrall — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:32:00 GMT

Another quick post on our quick but wonderful trip through Cambodia. First we need to add to our Vietnam post... Our last day in Vietnam had one hiccup when Bunny twisted her ankle walking down the street. Typical. The Vietnamese Police were very nice in helping, icing her ankle, and keeping the crowds away. Sara had no idea what was going on as she was inside a store shopping away and came out to find Bunny nursing a swollen cankle! It was a minor set back as we stilled enjoyed our last night there after a few hours of intense icing.

We arrived in Cambodia and the people were SO refreshingly nice! They just laugh at everything and make you feel very comfortable. We had to take a grueling 16 hour bus ride to Cambodia complete with 2 crying babies and someone puking on the bus. It was pretty miserable.

None of that mattered as we woke up on the first day in Siem Reap and set off with our Tuk Tuk driver, Kosal, for Angkor (Ankle) Wat. We were not sure what to expect, but knew these ruins date as far back as the 7th or 8th century Khmer people and are one of the 7 Man-made Wonders of the World. We also knew Tomb Raider had been filmed in one of the 100 temples and Angelina Jolie is a legend in the area! We were a bit concerned about climbing up steep staircases of ancient stone ruins with Megan's ankle, but we conquered the ruins swifter than Lara Croft herself (eat it, Angie!).

Our first look at Angkor Wat (the biggest temple) as we drove by took our breath away. It was so massive and hard to put into words. We had a full day visiting quite a few of the older and some smaller temples and were just amazed at some of the intricacies of carvings and design of the temples. We really hope the pictures come out well because unless you see this in person it is hard to describe the majesty, size, and grandeur of these ruins. We ended our first day with the sunset on top of one of the mountain temples, Pre Kup. Bunny asked how a sunset works and Sara explained, "The sun goes down, then we all leave."

The next day we set off again with Kosal to bang out some of the big temples of Angor Thom, Ta Phrom (the Tomb Raider temple), and the grand finale at Angkor Wat. All were impressive and again we can't wait for the 1,000 pictures we took. We walked all the way up to the top of Angkor Wat, which is said to be the holiest place in the world (according to people here) and were told we could not go in because our shorts were too short! LOVELY. Thanks Kosal for informing us we were not properly dressed. This is a huge complex! I mean HUMONGOUS, not to mention it was 100 degrees and we were covered in dirt and sweat for the second day of tomb raiding. We hiked all the way down and instead of going home to change into more appropriate clothing, we bought some amazing outfits from the street vendors. Megan was rocking hippie pants complete with jingle bells, so Sara could always find her in the temple. Sara had on a Cambodian T-shirt and a proper sarong (NOT a tourist). CLASSIC. At least it got us to the holiest part at the top by sunset... it was totally worth it.

SIDE NOTE: the first morning in Siem Reap, Sara went up and down the 5 flights of stairs at our hotel since Bunny was injured. On the way, she discoved there was a surprise in the backyard of the hotel and wanted to share it with Bunny. Out the back window was a pool full of................................................................................... 50 CROCODILES?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! They were sunbathing and super smelly. Why they were in our backyard--no idea--but we had no clue they were there when we checked in late the night before!

Angkor Wat was insanely impressive and probably one of the most incredible things we have seen with our own eyes. If you ever have the opportunity to visit, you must!

Now we are back in Bangkok and off to the beaches of Southern Thailand tomorrow. We cannot wait for some much needed sun and R&R.

Until we blog again,

Bunny and Boots

Chuc Mung Nam Moi, Happy New Year!

bunnyrall — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 03:32:00 GMT

Good Morning Vietnam!

Sorry it has been WAY too long since our last post, but we have many good excuses for not writing sooner... primarily that we have been having too much fun to sit ourselves down at a computer and reflect. Here is a quick taste from Vietnam:

Since we last left you, we traveled from Vientiane, Laos into Hanoi, Vietnam in the north. We immediately experienced culture shock with more motorbikes than the eye can handle and even more interesting things on the back of these motorbikes: such as 5 people, 4 chickens, 2 pigs, a small farm, and a partridge in a pear tree (for reals, people actually carry trees). Laos had 6 million people in the whole country and Vietnam has 86 million, so we were beyond overwhelmed with Hanoi when we first arrived. We immediately booked a 3 day trip out to the marvelous Halong Bay for more tranquility.

Bright and early the following day, we boarded a minibus and met our 2 new best friends, a lovely couple named Lee and Renee, from Australia. It was love at almost first sight with them and we chatted the whole ride out there until Megan and Sara got car sick and had to relocate to the front of the bus--WE ARE SO COOL! We boarded our Junk (large boat) and set sail into the bay amidst the jutting limestone islands (2,000 of them) of Halong Bay. This is a world UNESCO site and quite magnificant, but extremely touristy as well. We toured "Surprise Cave" which was huge and thankfully no crawling was needed unlike our cave experience in Laos. Our tour guide, Lucky, was very good at showing us rock formations that resembled animals and even more that resembled the male genital area. Interesting. In fact, there were so many suggestive formations in the rocks that we wanted to take Lucky's laser pointer away from him (come on, there were children around). After that, we kayaked around the bay. There was a Russian guy with our tour group who though he was an Olympic kayaker and was trying to race us to every single island. He also wore a speedo and truly should not have. America defeated Russia in the end by out-karaoking him that night on our Junk. Bunny sang "Ice Ice Baby", while Boots channeled Alanis. Lee and Renee also had some amazing talent on the mic and it was good clean fun had by all. There were many other characters with us on the Junk as well, but we will have to explain them in more detail later for sake of eye strain. ;)

The following day was the most physically challenging day we have had so far. HANDS DOWN. It did not help that we had 4 hours of sleep and a few beverages the night before. We got off our Junk at Cat Ba Island and sadly said goodbye to Lee and Renee and made our way to the highest peak on the island. Little did we know that tennis shoes and being a stunt double were requirements because this was no ordinary hike. We soon realized we were in over our heads half way up and it was too late to turn back. We ditched our flip flops and scaled the mountain and rocks on our hands and feet through mud, rocks, rusty ladders, and plenty of blood, sweat and tears. Fortunately we made several male friends who were stunt doubles and guided us safely off the mountain one sloppy step at a time. By the time we reached the bottom again, there was not a spot of flesh on either of our bodies without mud on it. Sara spent the remainder of the day clinging to Bunny saying over and over "I can't believe we are alive right now." After this hike, 1 pulled groin (Boots) and 2 showers, we visited Monkey Island and saw some VERY cheeky monkeys, but skipped out on the hike on that island.

We went back to Hanoi the following day and saw a Water Puppet show which is a huge part of Northern Vietnam's culture. We are very glad we saw it, but a one time showing is enough.

We then traveled down to central Vietnam to the LOVELY city of Hoi An (our fave!). The city's Old Quarter dates back to the 15th or 16th century and it is was so charming we spent way more time than we expected there. This is the city with over 200 custom tailor shops where you can walk in and have anything you want made or recreated. We did some major damage in this city and our newly purchased suitcase is proof. We met up with our Aussie soulmates Lee and Renee again and enjoyed late night bike rides all over town and all-day lounging at the beach. We also met two lovely Kiwis at the beach, Clare and Nat, who have been living in Saigon for the past 3 months and they were nice enough to travel with us to Saigon and show us the ropes around the city for a few days.

We arrived in Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City) for NYE and watched a spectacular fireworks show over the river with thousands of excited and cheerful Vietnamese.

The following day was extremely powerful for both of us. First we accompanied Clare to the orphanage she has been working at for 3 months with over 600 mentally and physically challenged orphans. We felt very fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet so many of these orphans and both of us made special connections with several of them--human touch is something they rarely have the opportunity to experience, so we tried our best to feed, play with, and make human contact with as many of them as possible while we were there. THANK YOU, CLARE!!!

We then made a bee-line for the War Remnants Museum before it closed which was equally as emotionally exhausting and extremely powerful... beyond words, really. The following morning we got up and visited the Cu Chi tunnels, which is an underground town built by Vietnamese Guerrila fighters during the War. We crawled through the underground tunnels for as long as we could before we couldn't take how small and dark they were anymore and went up to ground level for air. FEAR FACTOR 2010!!!

Saigon was an extremely powerful place for us in many ways and we will never forget what we saw and experienced here.

Next up... off to Cambodia: the land of Angkor Wat, the sensational location for the movie Tomb Raider, and birth place of Angelina's first child--MADDOX, HERE WE COME!

Dat Biet for now...

Bunny & Boots

Photos: Vientiane, Laos

bunnyrall — Thu, 4 Feb 2010 16:24:00 GMT

Photos: Spring Break in Vang Vieng, Laos

bunnyrall — Mon, 1 Feb 2010 16:09:00 GMT

O My Buddha!

bunnyrall — Mon, 1 Feb 2010 00:14:00 GMT

WOOOOWWWWW. So much to write in the last week. Laos has been amazing and crazy all in good ways. We are doing and seeing things we never thought we would.

We started our Laos adventure with a short ferry trip across the Mekong River to Laos where we had to get our visas and experience a passport clusterfuck to say the least. It was a madhouse and after an hour and a few tuk tuk rides we made it to another boat dock where we boarded the legendary slowboat. Let's just call this Real World SlowBoat Mekong River because you are stuck on a boat for 2 days with 40 people, sitting on top of each other, drinking, smoking and straight river boating, as well as, GETTING REAL! The toilet is even the confessional. Fortunately we made good friends with some great people to make this one of the best experiences of our lives. Waterproof Uno, plus Would You Rather, oh yea and BEAUTIFUL scenery made the time go very quickly. We became good friends with a Scottish couple, Daryl (or as we say DAHHHRRYYL) and Amanda, and a Norweigan couple, Siggy and Julie. It's amazing how close you become to people when you are sitting on their laps on the Mekong River doing REAL talk. Our first night in Laos we stopped overnight in Pakbang which solely exists for people traveling down the Mekong River. We met Marco Polo who runs the gross guesthouse we stayed at and served us dinner and looked like a Lao version of James Dean with a Michael Jackson jacket. He bumped LCD Soundsystem while blowing fire from drinking Lao Moonshine. Very entertaining and said "OHH, HELLO" over and over again which made us snort quite a bit. The best thing about Marco Polo is that he taught us a new phrase that we have been using non stop "O My Buddha" instead of "O My God" GENIUS!

The next morning we boarded the slowboat again for an even longer day on the river. We are starting to learn there are no exact timetables here so we thought we had plenty of time. Turns out, we didn't and ended up laying on the floor for 10 hours that day. It was actually quite fun and we all survived. Again the time went really fast.

We got to Luang Prabang by sunset and quickly fell in love with the city. It was a nice change of pace to be in a smaller quaint town with tons of charm. The city has a French Colonial feel with friendly people, beautiful mountains surrounding it, and many orange robbed monks strolling around. In the heart of the city is a tall hill with a temple on the top which we hiked up to with breath taking views. The night market was great and we bought too much stuff as usual. We can't resist! We tried street food and spicy papaya salad which made for an interesting experience when we were stuck at the top of the hill and started to feel our stomachs turn! We also learned that most bars in Luang Prabang close early and everyone heads to the bowling alley for all you can bowl until the wee hours of the morning. It was a very strange place and kind of felt like a high school dance. It was Australia Day and all the Aussies were enjoying the day with some intense drinking. It was also around this time when we realized we were prob the oldest ones at the bowling alley! Cougar time!

We also took a tuk tuk out to the Kuang Xii Waterfall with our Norweigan friends. We walked up to the bottom pool and were stunned at how blue the water was! Also, that's when Megan had her first of MANY (too many to count) falls into the mud and water. Quick sidenote, Megan is learning that Sara really likes to use her hands when she talks especially with people who don't speak English - must be the Italian in her or the Helen Keller in her, and Sara is learning that Megan is really good at accidentally hurting herself and currently looks like she surrived the battlefield of Laos with cuts, bruises, and scrapes all over her but still has a good attitude. Good times!!!! The waterfalls got better and better the more you hiked up the mountain. It was a HUGE waterfall with a huge drop and gorgeous jungle and blue lagoon water. We heard from some pals that there was a secret pool under the highest fall that you could swin in and was very remote. We searched long and hard for this but the payout was amazing when we found it. We were so high up and alone with water falling all around us and it was like a jacuzzi in paradise! Very romantic for Megan and Sara :).

We left LP after 3 days and were very sad because we could have easily stayed for 3 months or years. It's been our favorite place so far. We have noticed that everywhere we travel to in Laos we run into the same people from the SlowBoat. The good, the bad, and the super annoying. We took a grueling minibus drive down to Vang Vieng through a huge mountain range with a small windy road that was not wide enough for traffic both ways. The mountains were stunning the higher we got into the range and you saw many ethnic villagers farming and hanging out in huts on the side of the road. It was the windiest road we both have ever been on. Our minibus driver loved Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, and Mother Lover (80s German Rock Band) and played the same cd over and over again and we were all singing along. Whenever we pulled over he would roll the windows down and turn up the music so everyone knew how badass he was! Why we always end up with the awesomest people, we are not sure, but we love it!

Vang Vieng was not much to look at when we first arrived and we were a little worried it would not be anywhere near as great as LP, but our hotel and river view were worth the trip here! We met up with our Scottish friends for an epic day of inner tubing down the river. You don't do much tubing, but a lot of drinking, dancing, rope swinging, zip lining, and sliding into the water. From the start, everyone did the highest and scariest rope swing (30 feet plus) but Sara was deathly afraid to do it. After a lot of peer pressure and Megan promising to be her life guard, Sara did it and was shaking for 2 hours afterward. Nothing a little BeerLao can't solve. We are all sore today and had a blast minus the 100 injuries Megan suffered of course. Pictures cannot do this justice but everyone is safe, more or less.

Instead of tubing today, we thought it would be a good idea to rent bikes and ride across the bamboo bridge to explore a cave we heard about. The roads were all dirt and full of rocks. Sun, rocks, and hangovers on a bike are not the best combo. We found the cave where a gang of 10 year old boys were charging an entrance fee. They guided us to this cool cave where there was a Buddha inside and we had to crawl under rocks to get to different rooms of the cave. We were not prepared for this and Megan even had a dress on that is now covered in mud. Ooopps. The boys wore head lamps and gave us flashlights and we were very happy we had them along because it was pretty much like Fear Factor in that cave with huge spiders and holes to nowhere!

Tonight is our last night in Vang Vieng, where they all watch Friends in every restaurant, all they listen to is Euro trance music (same songs over and over again) and the night life consists of drinking out of buckets, dancing around fires down by the river, and basically more drunk people than Vegas. It's a great town that you can walk through in 10 minutes but our livers can't hang too much longer and we feel like Golden Girls to these kiddos. We really think that MTV should consider doing Spring Break here, Lao style!!! Cancun has NOTHING on this RAVE.

We will check in again when we get to Vientiane and see if we can add pictures because we know you all want to see. Especially Sara terrified on the rope swing and Megan crawling military style through a hole in a cave.

We are laughing our way through Laos!

Love to all.

xoxoxo,

Bunny and Boots

Photos: Luang Prabang, Laos

bunnyrall — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:49:00 GMT

Photos: SlowBoating Down the Mekong Into Laos

bunnyrall — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:39:00 GMT

Photos: Chiang Mai and Trekking

bunnyrall — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:02:00 GMT

My Oh My We love Chiang Mai!

bunnyrall — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 22:20:00 GMT

We are now in Chiang Khong and we have experienced so much since our last entry: a Thai dinner and dance show in Chiang Mai, trekking into the jungle with a quirky group, elephant rides, bamboo rafting and so much more! We were happy to get out of the chaos of Bangkok and head north to Chiang Mai--which was a uniquely beautiful and charming city, but far less hectic. The center of the city is walled and surrounded by a moat with several bars and restaurants lining it. Our first day we went up to a temple (wat) on the top of a mountain overlooking the city and walked up 1,000 stairs in the heat--TONS O FUN! That night we went to the cultural center for an authentic Thai meal and dance show that felt kinda like a Thai luau.

The next morning we were picked up by a tour guide who thought we were going on the 2 night, 3 day trek, but one night in the wilderness is more than enough (and what we signed up for). Soooo... the Thai tour guides called us "city girls" over and over and laughed until we were finally put in the right trek group. We LOVED our trek group: a 40 something complaining German man named Joe, a hilarious dutch couple, 3 Chinese girls (only one spoke a bit of English) and a 4 foot nothing guide named Ray. We were an assortment of mixed nuts to say the least. We hiked for about 4 hours and stopped to swim in waterfalls and meet local tribes people along the way before we arrived at sunset in our beautiful village, tucked against a hillside. It was as if we were on the set of Tropic Thunder arriving in our camp... rice fields, bungalows, a makeshift bar made out of tree stumps, and all the Chang beer you can drink by the campfire. Aeound 10 pm, after all of us were tired from the day and had a good Chang buzz going--the WEIRDEST THING HAPPENED. A guy named Boo showed up out of the dark of night on a motorcycle with a bottle of moonshine and a buffalo hat on his head(yep, horns and all). It was completely surreal why he was there and dressed that way. He was one of the most interesting and outright insane people we have ever met in our entire lives and we will save the rest for the pictures.

SIDE NOTE: every single dog in Thailand looks like a coyote with rabbies and huge nipples and they follow you everywhere. SO GROSS!!!!!!!

The next morning we all woke up to the ULTRA annoying sound of roosters cockadoodle-doodling into our hungover ears. That day we went bamboo rafting down a river and then became one with the elephants (chang). Megan was brave enough to ride one on its neck instead on the seat and got slobbered on quite a bit. Our elephant also had indigestion.

Once the trek was over, we toured the night markets and shopped in Chiang Mai and topped the night off with another Thai massage (much needed).

If you ever decide to tour Thailand, you will find that every single white male there has a little Thai woman on his arm (or ladyboy). It is pretty amazing.

We took an all day bus to the little northern border town of Chiang Khong on the Mekong river and will be boarding our 2 day slow boat tomorrow that will take us into the heart of Laos. Just when we started to really master some Thai language, we will be learning a new one. We will do another post after we "slow boat it" and have a bazillion pictures to share as well.

Off to dinner at the guesthouse now...

Chandra koon! (WE LOVE YOU!),

Bunny & Boots