wandering around aimlessly. by far, the best thing to do.
except for a couple of other things. sean and i have something of a plan for the next few days:
tomorrow we're set up to be at an organic farm from 9am to 4pm, learning how to cook and taking a trip to the market. six meals in seven hours? we can deal with that! i think sean is the happiest person who's ever lived. he's been talking about these cooking classes in chiang mai for a while now. here's hoping it's as awesome as it sounds!!
when we get back into town, unless we're dead, we're gonna check out this place just west of the city walls (btw: chiang mai has a fucking moat. and city walls.) called the Night Bazaar. which i'm expecting to be absoulutely insane, considering how ridiculous the area was in the daytime today.
the day after that is the 31st for which we have no plans yet, except jumping on a bus at 7pm and spending new years on the bus to some city on the way to Ko Chang. all other ways to get there are booked until jan4th, which is four days before we fly out of bangkok. so we figured, fuck that, i want to spend more than a couple of days on the island, so we sucked it up and decided to have a bussy new years, and maybe celebrate on solid ground on jan1st. ahhh, such is life :S
alright, we're off to find something to eat, and i'm gonna see if htere are couch surfers in... rayon! that's the city! right, the CS search.
btw, our host in chiang mai is AWESOME.
12.29.2009
12.28.2009
Chiang Mai
after having spent all of twelve hours in Bangkok (three of which actually sleeping - note to other travellers: it's probably a bad idea to stay at a hostel if it's on the floor directly above a bar that's open until 5am every night)... we decided to take a 12-hour overnight sleeper train north to Chiang Mai.
City known for the culture, the one thing i noticed most was the sheer number of vegetarian restaurants. and temples.
after a good 6 hours of walking around the city today, and seeing all sorts of great things - the people, the streets, the traffic on the streets (so many motorcycles!!!), the architecture...
it's pretty neat, this city entirely makes me think of south-east asia as the most amazing way in which asia and africa could have possibly been combined. everything is colourful, the people are beautiful, the street food is plentiful and smells fantastic, and everything seems to be running smoothly.
this is truly the place to be overwhelmed with eye candy withing three minutes of stepping out the front door.
heh, and sean and i have realized that, although we are almost always standing directly beside each other, we're always perceiving two entirely different places. he keeps pointing out everyone's tattoos, and random little bits of eyc candy all over the place, and i point out other things entirely... neither of us ever taking note of the same thing. i feel like sean's version of the world includes far more people than mine, and my version perhaps more neat trees and old buildings. yet somehow we agree on what places are the most picture-perfect.
also, this place makes me think that i'd love to come here with either ainslie or nadine, there's a certain laid-back air to the streets. i also get the feeling that jjess would enjoy all the pretty colours and body-mods. :D
we're having tons of fun over here, but we miss everyone - and the bunnies
hope everyone is enjoying their winter breaks!!! unless you're in korea and working through it, in which case i hope your break in february is ridiculously amazing :)
City known for the culture, the one thing i noticed most was the sheer number of vegetarian restaurants. and temples.
after a good 6 hours of walking around the city today, and seeing all sorts of great things - the people, the streets, the traffic on the streets (so many motorcycles!!!), the architecture...
it's pretty neat, this city entirely makes me think of south-east asia as the most amazing way in which asia and africa could have possibly been combined. everything is colourful, the people are beautiful, the street food is plentiful and smells fantastic, and everything seems to be running smoothly.
this is truly the place to be overwhelmed with eye candy withing three minutes of stepping out the front door.
heh, and sean and i have realized that, although we are almost always standing directly beside each other, we're always perceiving two entirely different places. he keeps pointing out everyone's tattoos, and random little bits of eyc candy all over the place, and i point out other things entirely... neither of us ever taking note of the same thing. i feel like sean's version of the world includes far more people than mine, and my version perhaps more neat trees and old buildings. yet somehow we agree on what places are the most picture-perfect.
also, this place makes me think that i'd love to come here with either ainslie or nadine, there's a certain laid-back air to the streets. i also get the feeling that jjess would enjoy all the pretty colours and body-mods. :D
we're having tons of fun over here, but we miss everyone - and the bunnies
hope everyone is enjoying their winter breaks!!! unless you're in korea and working through it, in which case i hope your break in february is ridiculously amazing :)
12.26.2009
two weeks in Thailand
sitting int he airport... thinking of how fun this is going to be.
we haven't planned our trip too much, which i figure means that it's bound to end up being a hell of a good time :)
i'll try to keep this trip updated.. i'm pretty bad at these things, though
i wonder if we'll bump into any of the other gazillion wonju-ites who are in thailand at the exact same time as us. sounds like most of them are spending most of their time in the far south. who knows, though, erin+nick might find us!
signing off!
we haven't planned our trip too much, which i figure means that it's bound to end up being a hell of a good time :)
i'll try to keep this trip updated.. i'm pretty bad at these things, though
i wonder if we'll bump into any of the other gazillion wonju-ites who are in thailand at the exact same time as us. sounds like most of them are spending most of their time in the far south. who knows, though, erin+nick might find us!
signing off!
7.10.2009
tokyo? TOKYO!!!!!!
our trip is nice and fresh, so i might actually blog regularly for a few days.
our flight made it in, which is always a surprise to me. stupid airplanes. the trip was just as exhausting as i thought it would be, until we got into the subway system. the thing requires so damn much attention the first time around that you just kinda have to wake up. so four hours of bopping around looking lost in subway stations, and we somehow made it to rich+joan's place. four hours, btw, of having our first glance of japan. the trains we took happened to all be JR trains - all above ground. so i soaked in all the eye candy, from tokyo's far west to far east, past downtown, past all the solar panel-covered rooftops in the suburbs, intersperced with rice paddies and busy streets. past the jam-packed beast that is downtown tokyo, past the bright lights and all the things that draw everyone to big cities.
anyways! it was love at first sight. i wanted to take billions of pictures, but decided instead to just stare (it wasn't really a decision; i couldn't take my eyes off the city, i didn't have a chance to take the camera out).
today was good times. we had six hours of walking around and checking out shinjuku and shibuyu. saw a shrine. neat stuff. i was too bright-eyed and star-struck to be able to come up with any sort of plan for the day, so i stared and was awed for six hours straight. beautiful! mum and are are slowly figuring out how to travel together, maybe by the time we part ways, we'll have it all under control. *fingers crossed*
oh! and our hosts are absolutely choice! beautiful, fantastic couple, i don't even know how to begin describing how thankful i am to have met such amazing people here. what are the chances!?
it's only 8pm now, and i'm heading to bed - we're totally whiped.
maybe you'll hear from me tomorrow!!
7.08.2009
the day before
tomorrow, mum and i leave for japan. 730am wake-up to shove food in our faces and bust our asses to the ferry. our last few hours in canada are going to be a mad dash to the airport from the ferry terminal in vancouver, then the typical getting to the airport early enough to sit around and catch our breath.
a twelve hour flight, then touchdown in Narita international airport, an hour east of Tokyo. if i'm expecting the dash to the airport in vancouver to be stressful, which i am, i'm thinking we have something entirely different in store for the train/subway ride to our couchsurfer's house. he's 45mins west of Tokyo.
i'm expecting to get slapped in the face with the realization that HOLY SHIT WE'RE IN JAPAN, and then another huge slap in the face while we try to figure out how on earth to get train tickets to get anywhere. everyone's been pshyching me up for the impossibility in finding someone who's willing to speak english, so we'll be on the search for a such person and any english signage to make our way to Ueno station - stop one along the way.
the most exciting thing about day one in japan: we'll be riding the subway during rush hour, with suitcases. there was no chance of packing a light bag for me, since this is my big move to korea... so i've got all of my worldly possessions in a big fat suitcase. hot damn.
and i'm sure everyone has seen those utube videos of those guys who work in the japanese subway... the guys whose job it is to shove hundreds of people onto the trains. i'm definitely expecting that!!! fuck yeah!!
anyways, i'm finishing up my work with Louisa (last minute, as anticipated), spending my last day with dad isolated in my bedroom. as is life.
i'll try to find the internet as often as possible to keep you and myself updated on what i'm up to during this trip, and trips to come.
the plan so far is:
touchdown in Japan on July9th. check that awfully gigantic city out before heading to shinosaka on the 12th to hang out with Jamie during the festival for the dead (the one where a gazillion lanterns are put into rivers, streams, and the ocean). then we've got a little while in Kyoto, which is the place i'm looking forward to the most, before i embark on the adventure to Fukuoka to catch my Beetle-ferry to Korea and be reunited at last with beautiful ssebs. FINALLY!!! sixteen days from now, we'll be together again, minus a day because we're crossing the date-line. awwwwwww yeahhhhhhhhh.
EXCITED!!!!!!!!
i'm gonna have to figure out how to put pictures on this blog. otherwise, facecrack will do the trick. i suppose that's it's only function: pictures.
a twelve hour flight, then touchdown in Narita international airport, an hour east of Tokyo. if i'm expecting the dash to the airport in vancouver to be stressful, which i am, i'm thinking we have something entirely different in store for the train/subway ride to our couchsurfer's house. he's 45mins west of Tokyo.
i'm expecting to get slapped in the face with the realization that HOLY SHIT WE'RE IN JAPAN, and then another huge slap in the face while we try to figure out how on earth to get train tickets to get anywhere. everyone's been pshyching me up for the impossibility in finding someone who's willing to speak english, so we'll be on the search for a such person and any english signage to make our way to Ueno station - stop one along the way.
the most exciting thing about day one in japan: we'll be riding the subway during rush hour, with suitcases. there was no chance of packing a light bag for me, since this is my big move to korea... so i've got all of my worldly possessions in a big fat suitcase. hot damn.
and i'm sure everyone has seen those utube videos of those guys who work in the japanese subway... the guys whose job it is to shove hundreds of people onto the trains. i'm definitely expecting that!!! fuck yeah!!
anyways, i'm finishing up my work with Louisa (last minute, as anticipated), spending my last day with dad isolated in my bedroom. as is life.
i'll try to find the internet as often as possible to keep you and myself updated on what i'm up to during this trip, and trips to come.
the plan so far is:
touchdown in Japan on July9th. check that awfully gigantic city out before heading to shinosaka on the 12th to hang out with Jamie during the festival for the dead (the one where a gazillion lanterns are put into rivers, streams, and the ocean). then we've got a little while in Kyoto, which is the place i'm looking forward to the most, before i embark on the adventure to Fukuoka to catch my Beetle-ferry to Korea and be reunited at last with beautiful ssebs. FINALLY!!! sixteen days from now, we'll be together again, minus a day because we're crossing the date-line. awwwwwww yeahhhhhhhhh.
EXCITED!!!!!!!!
i'm gonna have to figure out how to put pictures on this blog. otherwise, facecrack will do the trick. i suppose that's it's only function: pictures.
1.04.2009
ZIMBABWE :(
hahaha, we found out that the BBC called it a "non country" while we were gone.
if you can imagine what it would be like to travel to a country that is in entire economic collapse, you probably don't need to read this. but it's really something. some travelers go to places like this for the thrill of it; we were there because we planned to go through it and Mozambique to get to Malawi. after a few days of learning through and through that we cannot afford to eat if a loaf of bread is $2 and a little bottle of water goes for about the same. and we'd probably end up stuck in each town for a few days before we acquire the social networks necessary to find out when the next bus comes to the next town. and that it's impossible to walk five minutes without being hassled to purchase anything for anything. and it's not just the difficulty of traveling that would have been a pain in the ass, but finding food and accommodation, and a proper bank.
funny story
the actual exchange rate for the USD to the ZimDollar is about 1:100billion, and the rate increases exponencially. they dropped 14 zeroes before we got there, and 19 zeroes a few months before that.
the deal, though, is that all ATM's have a fixed rate of $Zim40,000 to the USD.
Our friend Mark used to run overland trucks from Nairobi to Capetown. standard trip, but back then they went through Zimbabwe - now they avoid it because it's too much of a hassle.
anyways, one of his buddies with the same job had a couple on one of his trips who wanted to check out zimbabwe. so the guy told them explicitly, "don't do anything while you're there. walk in, look around, and get out."
so these idiots go in, look around, and spot an ATM. now the max zim$ you can get out is 400,000. so they dropped USD1000 and got their pretty zim dollars.
and went to a restaurant. where they found out that their zim dollars weren't even worth one coca cola.
imagine how much their hearts sank. and there's nothing they could do about it. and there are tons of stories of idiot tourists who've done this. 1000pounds, couple hundred dollars.
if only someone would have told them that zimbabwe doesn't use zim dollars anymore --- they use USdollars.
idiots
if you can imagine what it would be like to travel to a country that is in entire economic collapse, you probably don't need to read this. but it's really something. some travelers go to places like this for the thrill of it; we were there because we planned to go through it and Mozambique to get to Malawi. after a few days of learning through and through that we cannot afford to eat if a loaf of bread is $2 and a little bottle of water goes for about the same. and we'd probably end up stuck in each town for a few days before we acquire the social networks necessary to find out when the next bus comes to the next town. and that it's impossible to walk five minutes without being hassled to purchase anything for anything. and it's not just the difficulty of traveling that would have been a pain in the ass, but finding food and accommodation, and a proper bank.
funny story
the actual exchange rate for the USD to the ZimDollar is about 1:100billion, and the rate increases exponencially. they dropped 14 zeroes before we got there, and 19 zeroes a few months before that.
the deal, though, is that all ATM's have a fixed rate of $Zim40,000 to the USD.
Our friend Mark used to run overland trucks from Nairobi to Capetown. standard trip, but back then they went through Zimbabwe - now they avoid it because it's too much of a hassle.
anyways, one of his buddies with the same job had a couple on one of his trips who wanted to check out zimbabwe. so the guy told them explicitly, "don't do anything while you're there. walk in, look around, and get out."
so these idiots go in, look around, and spot an ATM. now the max zim$ you can get out is 400,000. so they dropped USD1000 and got their pretty zim dollars.
and went to a restaurant. where they found out that their zim dollars weren't even worth one coca cola.
imagine how much their hearts sank. and there's nothing they could do about it. and there are tons of stories of idiot tourists who've done this. 1000pounds, couple hundred dollars.
if only someone would have told them that zimbabwe doesn't use zim dollars anymore --- they use USdollars.
idiots
1.02.2009
ps
these posts are quite long, and i'm sure that by now nobody gives a shit, and gave up on consulting a map to figure out where the fuck tanginyika, mpulungu and ... where all these goddamn countries are.
but, i've got to keep my memories down. because they'll be gone soon enough. :S
so before we move onto zimbabwe, i forgot about the whole reason we went to livingston. victoria falls. wikipedia it, it's -damn- cool. the zambezi is a hella long river that at victoria falls drops into a 120m deep meandering valley. we were there in the dry season, so the falls themselves were practically absent, but the crater was damn cool. on the zambian side there's a stretch of 1.7km where the river above stretches wide and drops into this monstrous hole in the world. along the top of the zambian side, there are few (if no) rules, and b,g,s+i all walked around up there, dangling our feet off the top of this 120m drop (this was before we did the bungee, btw, and probably why we were inspired to do it). the four of us wandered up there for hours, on this moon-like landscape of very eroded rocks and rivulets and ponds and puddles, testing our agility by jumping around at the edge of the crater.
this was probably the highlight of our trip. even though the froot loop tea in nyakanazi was good, and the ferry was scenic, vic falls (even in the dry season) is absolutely breathtaking. and our free range up there is choice. capital. ;)
but alas, it's the kind of thing that's difficult to put into words, so i'll assume that my brain can remember how cool it was up there.
btw, we did vic falls in the morning, the bungee jump at 3pm ish, and went to the "boiling pot" in the late afternoon. little winding rivulets at the bottom of the crater where you can swim, and where the rafting co's start their trips.
but, i've got to keep my memories down. because they'll be gone soon enough. :S
so before we move onto zimbabwe, i forgot about the whole reason we went to livingston. victoria falls. wikipedia it, it's -damn- cool. the zambezi is a hella long river that at victoria falls drops into a 120m deep meandering valley. we were there in the dry season, so the falls themselves were practically absent, but the crater was damn cool. on the zambian side there's a stretch of 1.7km where the river above stretches wide and drops into this monstrous hole in the world. along the top of the zambian side, there are few (if no) rules, and b,g,s+i all walked around up there, dangling our feet off the top of this 120m drop (this was before we did the bungee, btw, and probably why we were inspired to do it). the four of us wandered up there for hours, on this moon-like landscape of very eroded rocks and rivulets and ponds and puddles, testing our agility by jumping around at the edge of the crater.
this was probably the highlight of our trip. even though the froot loop tea in nyakanazi was good, and the ferry was scenic, vic falls (even in the dry season) is absolutely breathtaking. and our free range up there is choice. capital. ;)
but alas, it's the kind of thing that's difficult to put into words, so i'll assume that my brain can remember how cool it was up there.
btw, we did vic falls in the morning, the bungee jump at 3pm ish, and went to the "boiling pot" in the late afternoon. little winding rivulets at the bottom of the crater where you can swim, and where the rafting co's start their trips.
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