24 hours of no sleep, 16 hours of plane flights, 1 almost missed connection in tokyo, 7 movies, 1 pair of compression socks, 30 minutes of customs, and 3 very bad airplane meals, and I'm home. My mom brought tito's to the airport, even though it was only 10:30am. She thought I was getting in at 10:30pm, so it was lucky that I called her when I got out of the airport.
I'm completely disoriented as to time zone, day of the week, date, or season. it's currently 75 degrees in LA. Same weather as when I left it in October. My dad suggested I take my nap on the beach. But I'm very much looking forward to my nice soft bed that won't make my limbs fall asleep when I put any weight on them.
Good night.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
And so it ends...
Every great adventure must come to an end. It ends so another adventure can begin.
I've been gone for 3 months, slept in 29 beds (30 including tonight's), and logged some 50 hours of driving on the opposite side of the road. I've met people from all over the world. I've ridden an elephant. My bus broke down in Laos. I played pub trivia in Australia. I saw a rugby game, then made friends with the rugby players, and then saw the sights of Timaru. I watched grown men race each other while dressed in horse suits. I laughed, I cried, I sweat in a hundred degree heat, and I even tried out a Laos hospital. I rode a slow boat for 2 days. I slept in an airport. I trekked through the jungles of Thailand. I rode bicycles home from bars past beautiful temples. I stayed out late, I slept in, I talked my way out of two Australian tickets. I threw a Halloween party in a country that doesn't celebrate Halloween. I rode sand dunes in the north of New Zealand and traveled further south than most people will ever travel.
It was an adventure that must come to an end. I'm happy. I'm sad. I'm a lot of emotions that I cannot explain. I'm thankful. I learned a lot about people but mostly myself.
I've been gone for 3 months, slept in 29 beds (30 including tonight's), and logged some 50 hours of driving on the opposite side of the road. I've met people from all over the world. I've ridden an elephant. My bus broke down in Laos. I played pub trivia in Australia. I saw a rugby game, then made friends with the rugby players, and then saw the sights of Timaru. I watched grown men race each other while dressed in horse suits. I laughed, I cried, I sweat in a hundred degree heat, and I even tried out a Laos hospital. I rode a slow boat for 2 days. I slept in an airport. I trekked through the jungles of Thailand. I rode bicycles home from bars past beautiful temples. I stayed out late, I slept in, I talked my way out of two Australian tickets. I threw a Halloween party in a country that doesn't celebrate Halloween. I rode sand dunes in the north of New Zealand and traveled further south than most people will ever travel.
It was an adventure that must come to an end. I'm happy. I'm sad. I'm a lot of emotions that I cannot explain. I'm thankful. I learned a lot about people but mostly myself.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
A Very Thai New Year
Happy New Year from Bangkok!
Last night was a very interesting way to ring in 2010. We spent most of the day by the pool in our hotel. It was an awesome way to beat the 90 degree and 90% Bangkok heat. And work on my tan before I head back to cold, wintery California.
Next on the agenda- New Year's Eve plans/Shaun's birthday. It's shocking how many Berkeley people you run into on the road. For instance, our friends from Berkeley/TKE were in town. So we made plans to meet up. I was stoked to see familiar faces after 3 months with strangers. We caught a cab across town to their hotel. After much haggling with the receptionist (who mistook us for hookers because we were trying to get up into our friends' room), we gathered our friends and tagged along with them to dinner.
Upon their hotel concierge's recommendation, we ate at a concept restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms. It's a restaurant that brings awareness to HIV, AIDs, and sexual awareness in general. Really good food and entertaining decor. Like condom santa. I won't go into any more details but I will say that I had trouble finding my money in my purse the rest of the night because of the free condoms floating around.
After dinner is when the chaos began. NYE always ends up being some sort of adventure, no matter where I am. There were 7 of us in total so we had to split up to take cabs to RCA, a district/street with a fairly large NYE party. Kevin, Shin, Shaun and I got into one cab, and the others said they would follow after dropping some stuff back at their hotel. However, by the time we got to RCA, we realized that a lack of cell phones and organization was going to be a problem. RCA is not a centralized area, there were multiple entrances into the outside music venue, and cabs were dropping people off at various locations around RCA. We waited for the other 3 guys for about an hour before giving up and trying to head to a club called Funky.
Funky, or so we thought, was located in Patpong aka the red light district of Bangkok. It was just about the last place we expected to end up at for NYE. But we only had about an hour til midnight so we gave up on finding Funky and hunkered down at a bar with live music, some go go dancers, and ample dance space. It was fun! Definitely a very Bangkok kind of new year. It was completely unplanned and included a lot of twists and turns but if there is one thing that I've learned in the last 3 months, it is that plans change and you just have to go with it. Less stress=more fun.
And lastly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAUN!!!
Last night was a very interesting way to ring in 2010. We spent most of the day by the pool in our hotel. It was an awesome way to beat the 90 degree and 90% Bangkok heat. And work on my tan before I head back to cold, wintery California.
Next on the agenda- New Year's Eve plans/Shaun's birthday. It's shocking how many Berkeley people you run into on the road. For instance, our friends from Berkeley/TKE were in town. So we made plans to meet up. I was stoked to see familiar faces after 3 months with strangers. We caught a cab across town to their hotel. After much haggling with the receptionist (who mistook us for hookers because we were trying to get up into our friends' room), we gathered our friends and tagged along with them to dinner.
Upon their hotel concierge's recommendation, we ate at a concept restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms. It's a restaurant that brings awareness to HIV, AIDs, and sexual awareness in general. Really good food and entertaining decor. Like condom santa. I won't go into any more details but I will say that I had trouble finding my money in my purse the rest of the night because of the free condoms floating around.
After dinner is when the chaos began. NYE always ends up being some sort of adventure, no matter where I am. There were 7 of us in total so we had to split up to take cabs to RCA, a district/street with a fairly large NYE party. Kevin, Shin, Shaun and I got into one cab, and the others said they would follow after dropping some stuff back at their hotel. However, by the time we got to RCA, we realized that a lack of cell phones and organization was going to be a problem. RCA is not a centralized area, there were multiple entrances into the outside music venue, and cabs were dropping people off at various locations around RCA. We waited for the other 3 guys for about an hour before giving up and trying to head to a club called Funky.
Funky, or so we thought, was located in Patpong aka the red light district of Bangkok. It was just about the last place we expected to end up at for NYE. But we only had about an hour til midnight so we gave up on finding Funky and hunkered down at a bar with live music, some go go dancers, and ample dance space. It was fun! Definitely a very Bangkok kind of new year. It was completely unplanned and included a lot of twists and turns but if there is one thing that I've learned in the last 3 months, it is that plans change and you just have to go with it. Less stress=more fun.
And lastly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAUN!!!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Quick Recap
Ok so I realized that I haven't updated this in a few days. So here's what happened.
I woke up to rain on the tree house in Vang Vieng a few days ago. I must say, it was one of the coolest experiences ever. All you could hear was pounding rain on the roof and there I was, in a tree house, on a bunk under a mosquito net in Laos. It was awesome.
We left Vang Vieng on a "VIP" bus headed towards the capital, Vientiane. I use the term VIP loosely because, well, it was one of the jankiest buses I've ever been on. The ceilings were caving in, there was no ventilation, and it was just kinda gross. Didn't work properly either because about an hour into it, the bus blew a tire and 50 tourists were caught sitting on the side of the road next to a remote village. It was kind of entertaining actually. Shaun and I have had a ridiculous amount of luck with our transportation so it was only time before something went wrong.
To entertain ourselves while we waited 2 hours for another bus, Shaun, Pedro, Danny and I (our friends that we met on the slow boat and stayed with in Vang Vieng), bought some "Latino color" chips. I had no idea what Latino chips tasted like or why there was a picture of a Mexican with a blue tongue but we soon found out. Only in Laos would they sell potato chips that turn your tongue blue. Being the 10 year olds that we are, this kept us entertained until the next bus came. We'll call the next bus "The Mosquito Trap". It not only caught the mosquitos within the bus, but it trapped us with about 100 new friends. The next 2 hours were spent swatting mosquitos against the window or listening to the thumping on the windows as everyone else smacked them. My window was covered with the buggers by the time we got to Vientiane. It was a trophy of sorts.
Finding a suitable guesthouse at 8pm in Vientiane in high season isn't exactly a walk in the park. Most of the places recommended were full and we ended up at a questionable guesthouse in the boonies. Our bathroom had no sink or windows. Case and point. Needless to say, Shaun and I got out of there at 7am the next morning to make other arrangements. We had originally planned on staying in Vientiane through the New Year, but Shaun suggested we go back to Bangkok for a few days. The beauty of not having plans...you can always change your plans. We then booked an overnight train to Bangkok and spent the rest of the day eating in a wonderful French Vientiane bakery. It was glorious and expensive but a great little splurge.
Overnight train- Getting to the train was a bit of an adventure in itself. First we had to tuk tuk to the train station. Then take a 15 minute train ride over the Laos/Thai border, then board the train. Shaun had never done a train ride before so she was like a kid on Christmas. No, she was happier than we were on Christmas. That doesn't say much though as we were both sick on Christmas.
Anywho, the train cars were pretty cool and much more comfortable than my last overnight train experience in Europe. Sans the bathroom. The bathroom was gross. My last train experience involved 8 people in a tiny cabin and beds the size of coffins. There were various coping mechanisms involved in that trip, but I will say, there were no tears shed on my train last night. We got into Bangkok around 6am this morning. It's only noon now, but I feel like I've been up forever.
I'm pretty relieved that that was the last long leg of transportation of my trip. Those legs can be somewhat stressful. The next few days will be spent relaxing and enjoying the city before I head home on the 3rd.
I woke up to rain on the tree house in Vang Vieng a few days ago. I must say, it was one of the coolest experiences ever. All you could hear was pounding rain on the roof and there I was, in a tree house, on a bunk under a mosquito net in Laos. It was awesome.
We left Vang Vieng on a "VIP" bus headed towards the capital, Vientiane. I use the term VIP loosely because, well, it was one of the jankiest buses I've ever been on. The ceilings were caving in, there was no ventilation, and it was just kinda gross. Didn't work properly either because about an hour into it, the bus blew a tire and 50 tourists were caught sitting on the side of the road next to a remote village. It was kind of entertaining actually. Shaun and I have had a ridiculous amount of luck with our transportation so it was only time before something went wrong.
To entertain ourselves while we waited 2 hours for another bus, Shaun, Pedro, Danny and I (our friends that we met on the slow boat and stayed with in Vang Vieng), bought some "Latino color" chips. I had no idea what Latino chips tasted like or why there was a picture of a Mexican with a blue tongue but we soon found out. Only in Laos would they sell potato chips that turn your tongue blue. Being the 10 year olds that we are, this kept us entertained until the next bus came. We'll call the next bus "The Mosquito Trap". It not only caught the mosquitos within the bus, but it trapped us with about 100 new friends. The next 2 hours were spent swatting mosquitos against the window or listening to the thumping on the windows as everyone else smacked them. My window was covered with the buggers by the time we got to Vientiane. It was a trophy of sorts.
Finding a suitable guesthouse at 8pm in Vientiane in high season isn't exactly a walk in the park. Most of the places recommended were full and we ended up at a questionable guesthouse in the boonies. Our bathroom had no sink or windows. Case and point. Needless to say, Shaun and I got out of there at 7am the next morning to make other arrangements. We had originally planned on staying in Vientiane through the New Year, but Shaun suggested we go back to Bangkok for a few days. The beauty of not having plans...you can always change your plans. We then booked an overnight train to Bangkok and spent the rest of the day eating in a wonderful French Vientiane bakery. It was glorious and expensive but a great little splurge.
Overnight train- Getting to the train was a bit of an adventure in itself. First we had to tuk tuk to the train station. Then take a 15 minute train ride over the Laos/Thai border, then board the train. Shaun had never done a train ride before so she was like a kid on Christmas. No, she was happier than we were on Christmas. That doesn't say much though as we were both sick on Christmas.
Anywho, the train cars were pretty cool and much more comfortable than my last overnight train experience in Europe. Sans the bathroom. The bathroom was gross. My last train experience involved 8 people in a tiny cabin and beds the size of coffins. There were various coping mechanisms involved in that trip, but I will say, there were no tears shed on my train last night. We got into Bangkok around 6am this morning. It's only noon now, but I feel like I've been up forever.
I'm pretty relieved that that was the last long leg of transportation of my trip. Those legs can be somewhat stressful. The next few days will be spent relaxing and enjoying the city before I head home on the 3rd.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
A revelation of sorts
When I left LA in October, I was searching for a lot of things. I was looking for a passion in life, a career, a sense of adventure, independence, for culture, for people, for something that I don't even know how to describe. I was searching for something.
In the past week, I met a guy named Gary. Gary is 23 and from England. He left home at 17, studied mechanical engineering for two years and then decided to sell all his belongings and leave the country. He has been on the road for 2 years and has never been homesick. When I asked Gary if it was strange to pick up and move all the time, he shrugged and said "Same life, different place".
I could never do what Gary does. Because it seems that he jumps from country to country searching for something that he might never find. He has no ties to home. He owns only the things on his back. He isn't grounded at all. But the backpacking world is full of Garys. And I don't think I'm a Gary.
The point of my story is this: When I left LA three months ago, I was looking for something that I couldn't find. The things that I was searching for, I already have. I already had the sense of adventure, a passion for life, a love for my family and friends, and the tools to figure out a career when I am ready. I have seen so many cool things in the East and in the Pacific, but I miss the sunsets of the West. The salty ocean breezes of the Pacific and eucalyptus trees of the Santa Monica Canyon. I left my heart in California with my family and my friends. And so i think it is time to close this chapter of my traveling life. Time to pack my backpack and head back to the West, leaving behind the tuk tuks, the slow boats, the temples, and the monks. And the bug spray.
I'll be back in LA a little earlier than expected. But I'm very excited to come home and sleep in my fluffy bed. And eat tacos!!!!!!
In the past week, I met a guy named Gary. Gary is 23 and from England. He left home at 17, studied mechanical engineering for two years and then decided to sell all his belongings and leave the country. He has been on the road for 2 years and has never been homesick. When I asked Gary if it was strange to pick up and move all the time, he shrugged and said "Same life, different place".
I could never do what Gary does. Because it seems that he jumps from country to country searching for something that he might never find. He has no ties to home. He owns only the things on his back. He isn't grounded at all. But the backpacking world is full of Garys. And I don't think I'm a Gary.
The point of my story is this: When I left LA three months ago, I was looking for something that I couldn't find. The things that I was searching for, I already have. I already had the sense of adventure, a passion for life, a love for my family and friends, and the tools to figure out a career when I am ready. I have seen so many cool things in the East and in the Pacific, but I miss the sunsets of the West. The salty ocean breezes of the Pacific and eucalyptus trees of the Santa Monica Canyon. I left my heart in California with my family and my friends. And so i think it is time to close this chapter of my traveling life. Time to pack my backpack and head back to the West, leaving behind the tuk tuks, the slow boats, the temples, and the monks. And the bug spray.
I'll be back in LA a little earlier than expected. But I'm very excited to come home and sleep in my fluffy bed. And eat tacos!!!!!!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Happy Boxing Day
Happy Boxing Day! Not that anyone does anything for Boxing Day. Especially in Laos. But Shaun and I took our first adventure "tubing".
Vang Vieng is known for its tubing. People go to the river and along the sides of the banks are rope swings, zip lines, decks, and bars. And you take an intertube and float down the river all day long. It makes for a super lazy day but ridiculously fun. Can't say much other than....ridiculously fun.
I'm really enjoying the hostel I'm staying at. Most of the places to stay in Laos are guesthouses with single rooms but I'm staying in a tree house with 20 other people. The people are from everywhere and all looking to make friends. Instant group to hang out with. Shaun and I have another few days here til we head to Vientiane for the New Year and then her birthday! Yay!
Vang Vieng is known for its tubing. People go to the river and along the sides of the banks are rope swings, zip lines, decks, and bars. And you take an intertube and float down the river all day long. It makes for a super lazy day but ridiculously fun. Can't say much other than....ridiculously fun.
I'm really enjoying the hostel I'm staying at. Most of the places to stay in Laos are guesthouses with single rooms but I'm staying in a tree house with 20 other people. The people are from everywhere and all looking to make friends. Instant group to hang out with. Shaun and I have another few days here til we head to Vientiane for the New Year and then her birthday! Yay!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone. I haven't written in a few days because, well, I felt like I was in bed for most of it. You didn't miss much. I checked out the Laos health care system. Not too shabby. The doctors were nice, service was 5 times faster than Alta Bates in Berkeley (which doesn't say much), and I got lots of medications with Lao written all over it, all of which I cannot read and identify only by their colored packets.
We were put onto a very bumpy bus ride yesterday for Vang Vieng. A smaller town known for its tubing. Shaun wasn''t feeling very well so I went out with the rest of my hostel to their Christmas Eve dinner. Everyone else was really drunk for their day out on the river, so that was an interesting experience being sober. I made friends with a group of 4 Aussie boys so it was ok.
I woke up this morning to..yup...roosters. For the 20th day in a row. Each morning when I get woken up, I wish that I could go outside and punt the rooster so I can have another couple hours of sleep. That requires me getting out of bed first. Too much work. So I got myself out of my mosquito net and bunk. Oh yeah, my new hostel is a tree house. A full blown, 3 story tree house. the patio area has hammocks and looks out onto Lao mountains and the river. It's beautiful.
So I skyped my family, became horribly jealous of all the wonderful food they were about to sit down to, and am now sitting around on Christmas writing this entry. i think that we're going tubing down the river today.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. Christmas always makes me all mushy so I will say that I love all my family and friends and I have a wonderful new appreciation for all the things i have at home. Merry Christmas.
We were put onto a very bumpy bus ride yesterday for Vang Vieng. A smaller town known for its tubing. Shaun wasn''t feeling very well so I went out with the rest of my hostel to their Christmas Eve dinner. Everyone else was really drunk for their day out on the river, so that was an interesting experience being sober. I made friends with a group of 4 Aussie boys so it was ok.
I woke up this morning to..yup...roosters. For the 20th day in a row. Each morning when I get woken up, I wish that I could go outside and punt the rooster so I can have another couple hours of sleep. That requires me getting out of bed first. Too much work. So I got myself out of my mosquito net and bunk. Oh yeah, my new hostel is a tree house. A full blown, 3 story tree house. the patio area has hammocks and looks out onto Lao mountains and the river. It's beautiful.
So I skyped my family, became horribly jealous of all the wonderful food they were about to sit down to, and am now sitting around on Christmas writing this entry. i think that we're going tubing down the river today.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. Christmas always makes me all mushy so I will say that I love all my family and friends and I have a wonderful new appreciation for all the things i have at home. Merry Christmas.
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