Week 1 in Thailand

Happy Easter everyone! It's so bizzare to be in Thailand during Easter; everyone is Buddhist and there are no bunnies or egg hunts anywhere! Booo. I can't remember the last time I wasn't with my family for Easter and it's making me a bit homesick, buch such is the life of a traveller...

I've been in Thailand for a little over a week now, but it feels like it's been forever! In the past 9 days we've celebrated Songkran (Thai new year), taken 2 overnight trains and 1 overnight bus, had an all-nighter beach party at Full Moon in Ko Phangan, and basically just haven't gotten a lot of sleep.

The Full Moon Party was so much fun, we stayed in a pretty cramped dorm but got to know all of our roommates and had a blast hanging with them and meeting people from all over the world. People go a bit crazy with neon day-glo paint which does NOT come out of clothing I have discovered (oh well, lasting memories). The beach the party was on was actually gorgeous; I expected something dirty after being on the trash-laden Kuta Beach in Bali. But it was very pretty and the water was warm and clear and shallow and perfect to lay around in during the day time. We were there for 2 days, then on to another island nearby, Ko Samui, where we stayed at a nicer hotel and had a couple days of relaxing by the pool. I wish we had explored the island a bit more, but we were more than happy to lay around, and everything on the island was insanely expensive (by Thailand's standards, that is) so we figured we would save up for more adventures in the North.

After Ko Samui, we basically spent 2 days and 2 nights travelling up to Chiang Mai, with a day in between in Bangkok. Bangkok is a cool city, as I've said before, but being there for about 10 hours in between train rides isn't ideal, so we just explored a bit and then saw Scream 4. Yes, we saw Scream 4... I know it may seem a shame to some people to use that time seeing a movie, but what is better than a cold movie theatre on a hot day? Especially when you don't have a room to go back and relax in?

It's taken me a while to really get the full message of how much Thai people love their King. He is the longest reigning current king or queen in the world, and his face is everywhere: on every piece of currency (don't you dare step on a coin, or you are insulting the King), in shopping malls, billboards, on random buildings... Anyway, in the middle of the movie previews everyone around us stood up as a montage of the king with the national anthem of Thailand came on for about 3 minutes. I guess they do this before every movie in theatres. Then we were in the train station waiting for the train and at 5 o'clock a bell rang, everyone got silent and stood up, and the national anthem played again. Pretty sure it happens in the morning as well. In the states we can't even say the Pledge of Allegiance at public schools or someone will sue the school system for making their child say the "G" word. Things like this would not fly in the states, that's for sure.

We got to Chiang Mai yesterday morning after a 14 hour train ride, where we made friends with some Irish lads who we continue to run into about 12 times a day... anyway, Chiang Mai is amazinnng! It's the second biggest city in Thailand with a whopping population of 150,000 people (following Bangkok with over 9 million), has gorgeous temples everywhere including right across from our hotel, and has so much to do. The last 2 days we have wandered around a bit, and last night we met up with Katrina, our housemate from junior year who is living around here teaching English for a year. What a small world! It was great to see her and have her show us some cool places, and hear adorable and hilarious stories about the Thai kids she teaches.

Tomorrow we are taking a Thai cooking class all day, which is out of the city and we get to go to the market in the morning and pick out all the ingredients, and then make some 7 or so dishes. I can't wait! The day after that I think we are going to an elephant sanctuary, where you bathe and play with the elephants for the entire day, and they limit the number of people who go so everyone gets their own elephant to pal around with for the day. We are also going to do a trek, which is huge in Chiang Mai, and is basically like a hike in the mountains and then staying overnight (or 2 or 3 nights if you want) with a Thai hill tribe. I've heard from several people that it was their favorite thing they've done in Thailand, and a good workout to boot. Sounds good to me!

It's starting to hit me how soon I will be home... less than 3 weeks. I really don't feel like I've been gone for going on 8 months, and I know it will be a very bizzare and probably somewhat depressing transition back into the states. It's not like going abroad for a semester, where you jump right back into university for another year and a half. People keep asking what I'm going to do when I get home, and I just shrug... I know what I WANT to do, but looking for a job, a real-life CAREER job, and living at home for who knows how long(no offense mom and dad) is going to be veryyy different and probably not the most fun thing ever. I am ready to be home in many ways, but I've got the travel bug, and I've got it bad. The idea of settling into a 9-5 job that I could possibly have for years to come literally makes me sick to my stomach. But we've all got to grow up sometime, eh?

Okay, enough with the self-pity. I'm going to head to the night markets now, because I'm in Thailand and when the heck am I ever going to be in Thailand again?!?!

Cheers,
Maggie

Waterfights and clay masks: welcome to Bangkok

Yesterday morning we said goodbye to Bali and took off for Bangkok. Though I did enjoy Bali and had a great time, Kuta was a bit of a dump, and I wish we had rented a car or taken a tour to see other parts of the island like the huge rice fields and isolated temples... it's hard to get out of the touristy stuff when you're just there for a bit.

We arrived in the Bangkok airport early afternoon and while waiting for a bus into the city noticed the bus company employees were running around with squirt guns and had white sunscreen looking stuff smeared across their faces. Odd, I though, but hey, this is Thailand, who am I to judge. Then we got in the bus that was covered with handprints of the white stuff, really everywhere. Hmmm... something weird is going on here. As our bus tried to make its way through the jam packed traffic of the central city we noticed more and more people running around with squirt guns, throwing buckets of water at unassuming tourists in tuk-tuks (open air taxis) and smearing what we finally figured out to be clay on each other.

We finally found out that it was the last day of the Thai new years celebrations, which last 3 days and are basically a free for all water party with food stalls everywhere and music, everything a major festival has. What an amazing time to arrive in the heart of Thailand! We were planning on catching an overnight train or bus down to Surat Thani, where we could take a ferry to Ko Pha Ngan, where the full moon party is. However, they were all full by the time we got there so we booked a cheap hostel, threw our valuables in plastic bags to bring with us and went to find the heart of the celebrations. We ended up in hordes of hundred of thousands (I've been trying to google the exact number, because I have never been surrounded by so many people in my life) of people soaking each other. As we passed people with clay in their buckets, they would gently put some on our cheeks and say "happy new year" in Thai. Thanks to my blonde hair and our dead-giveaway tourist excitement, we ended up probably the most squirt-gunned and clay painted people on the street. All was fun and games until I got clay in my contacts and had to blindly duck behind Montana to make our way out of the hoardes, who continued to party for the better part of the night (I know this because our hostel walls were made of cinderblocks with empty centers... awesome). Anyway, we were giddy from being thrown face first into one of the biggest Thai celebrations of the year--what an awesome thing to be a part of, without even planning to!!

Today we are wandering around Bangkok looking at some temples and whatnot, and then embark on a 12-14 hour overnight bus ride that we have heard is quite a pain in the behind, but hey, it's all part of the experience right??? Soon enough I will be covered in day glo celebrating another holiday, the full moon party (though not so much a Thai holiday as an enticement for party-hardy and gullable tourists such as myself to pay double the price for accommodation, food and drinks).

I have wanted to come to Thailand for everrrrrr, and now that I'm finally here I can't wait to see and do everyyything!

Bali: Australia's mexico (but better)

If Bali is Australia's Mexico (where Aussies come for beaches, scenery, cheap souveneirs, and a party atmosphere) then Kuta is Cabo. Same shopkeepers beckoning, same amazing cheap food on the street (though bali takes the cake on this one: Montana had arguably the best tacos of her life in our hotel restaurant in kuta), same skinny kids running around trying to sell you bracelets, same 18-25 year olds sipping fruity drinks out of enormous souveneir cups at bars... These things you find in any touristy developing country, but Bali does the amazing job of maintaining a culture and beauty that few other places do.

Everywhere you walk their are beautiful, moss-covered stone entryways and statues of animals, where the Balinese place daily offerings of incense and flowers-not sure if this is a Balinese tradition or specific to Buddhism, I will have to find out. The ocean is the absolute perfect temperature, and I am itching to rent a surfboard when we get back to Kuta. Yesterday Montana and I got hour-long Balinese massages in Kuta for under 5$... competition is fierce in the streets and massage places are everywhere. Now I have a high threshold for pain, and I suppose maybe I should have told her to not put so much pressure on me when I started wincing, but I figured I wanted a REAL Balinese massage, and besides, it would be worth it after, right? Well, my body did feel like jelly and I was incredibly relaxed, but started to worry when bruises started to form on my lower back last night, and to my horor were dark purple when I woke up this morning. Of course I'm sure they weren't helped by my fall in the rain last night, but yeah... I guess maybe next time I should tell her to restrain her freakishly strong little hands.

Today we took a shuttle to Ubud, which is about an hour drive north of Kuta. Or 2 hours if you count the amount of time you spent holding your breath thinking you were going to run over someone on a scooter, and the driver's munchie stop. Ubud is beautiiiiful! It's so relaxing, and a nice break after the busy streets of Kuta. I'm sure those of you who have read Eat Pray Love already have an appreciation for Ubud, but being here is really amazing. There are cute shops everywhere, not nearly as many tourists in Bintang tanks, beautiful rice fields... tomorrow we are going to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary to see some temples and some fiesty monkeys.

We've got a day and a half left in Ubud, then back to Kuta for a night, then we fly off to Bangkok on Friday. Part 1 of Southeast Asia has been everything I hoped for, and I know it's goign to fly by so am doing my best to take it all in and do as much as I can. Can't wait for what's to come!

This is my next destination...

BALI, HERE WE COME!!

3$ hour long massages, 1$ beers, markets, temples, beaches, beaches, and beaches.... 5 days of bliss to come

Farewell, Oz

Well it's my last few hours in Australia before I head to the Darwin airport for Bali... I'm trying not to think about leaving this amazing country but I didn't sleep last night just thinking about how amazing this whole experience has been. For fear of getting too emotional, I am going to wait until I am back in the states to get sentimental and whatnot. For now, I have BALI, THAILAND, AND VIETNAM to look forward to!! Hard to be down in the dumps with a month of adventure awaiting me. Soooo... here's to Australia, my home of the last 7 months, and everyone who has made this adventure some of the best times of my life... cheers to you and see you again soon!!! Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!!!

Dream come true! This was in January but just now was able to upload it

WA: Wild Wild West

Wow, so much to update on! It's been a while since New Zealand, but we have definitely slowed the pace down. After we flew out of NZ, we went to Melbourne for a few days. I don't know if it was because we had just left the quiet of the country or because we were anxious to get to Perth and be settled somewhere for a while, but Melbourne was a bit... well, i don't really know how to describe it. Our 700-person hostel may not have been cleaned since the millenium; we saw several couples screaming, and I mean screaming, at each other in the street, which was quite odd; and every time we tried to go to a restaurant or bar we had read about it was literally impossible to find.

Don't get me wrong, it was a beautiful city (the highlight for sure being Captain Cook's cottage, an aunthentic 19th century experience involving dressing up as the captain and his wife themselves... photos to come soon!) and I'm sure if I had been there for more than a few days it would have been more impressive and we would have been able to see a great deal more sites and get to know the city more. I do hope to go back someday, especially when I am not a starving backpacker and can afford to sample all of the famous Melbourne cuisine (and not stay in a hostel with 700 other backpackers).

We have now been in Perth for about a month, and it's a really great city. It's somewhere that the majority of Australian East-coasters, especially the young ones I know, have never been to, and when I told people I was going to live in Perth for a bit the common reaction seemed to be a blank look, followed by a "whyyyyyy would you go THERE?"

Well what do they know!!! I have loved my experience here!

Perth is really a well-rounded city: It's got a beautiful river, the Swan, plenty of beaches with bath-warm Indian Ocean water, a huge university, and a laid-back feel that you can't find many places on the East Coast. AND the people are wonderful!!!

The initial reason we decided to get off the well-beaten backpacker route of the east coast and head over to Perth is because Montana's stepdad has family here, a few of whom Montana had met before. Her cousins (second cousins, third, whatever, they are family to me now as well!) came to stay with her family in Venice Beach a few years back, so we were welcome to stay with the family in Perth.

I can't explain how wonderful it is to be welcomed into a foreign city with open arms, homemade meals, and a proper bed. Tony's (Montana's step-dad) aunt, three cousins, and most of their children have stayed in the area, and are all extremely close. Maria, the aunt, is a 90-year old firecracker with a sharper memory than I have. She hosts weekly meals at her house for her granddaughters and was more than eager to tell us their family history and how "we" (yes, I include myself as a Mathews now) all fit in.

Anyway, it has been such a pleasant experience having a support network here and people eager to show us around and make sure we are getting on alright. Montana and I did not end up working in Perth since we'll only be here a month in total, but having places to stay with her family has made it alright that we've got no cash flowing in... Hopefully I've still got enough for Asia! But seriously, I am going to miss all of Montana's family so much, already had to say goodbye to a few of them and it was quite sad!

I spent a weekend in Sydney a few weeks ago, and realized how much I miss it!!! It was so wonderful to stay with Jill, see everyone from Coogee, and wander the city. Despite the rain, it was as lively as ever, and I love the hustle and bustle. I would looooove to move back there for graduate school for a few years or something, I don't think I will be able to stay away for long! But no Australian husband as many had feared, so no worries, I will not be moving here for good!

Out for a family picnic by the beach, and going to enjoy these last few days in sunny Perth before off to Darwin for a few days and then ASIA for a month! I can't explain how excited I am for that, but the fact that I am only going to be in Australia for less than a week is actually breaking my heart. Not quite ready to face it yet :/