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I returned from Europe on May 2, 2006 and promised myself that I would explore a place more exotic, in more depth and for a much more extended period of time, within two years. Sure enough, the restlessness hit and as of May 1, 2008, a new journey will begin. I'll start off in Phuket, Thailand, where I will be taught how to teach, and will then move to Bangkok where I will teach English through the end of September. At that point I will join my boyfriend and favorite travel partner for months of untold adventure as we explore SE Asia and the freedom that only comes with having few possessions and limitless time. Though words and photos are incapable of replacing experience, I hope that you enjoy following along as I find out what awaits on the other side of the world! "Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." -Miriam Beard

Clean slates

April 7th, 2009

Not enough hours in the day. It’s a commonly heard refrain in the US, and it’s amazing how quickly I’ve chimed in! The first week was a whirlwind of friends, family, reunions and readjusting to the strangeness of being back. We of course lucked out and found an incredible house via craigslist before we’d headed down to Austin – instead of crashing on couches like we’d expected, we were able to retrieve a key from under the mat and move right in to what has proven to be the perfect little house for us!

At the end of that first week we were both feeling less than enthusiastic about being back – after spending a year in aplace where there was somewhere new to go every day and something we’d never seen before around each corner, things in America just felt so sterile, so monotonous. Don’t get me wrong, it was wonderful to be back among the people I love and I have to admit that the big, clean bathrooms still amaze me, but overall the question of “what’s next?” wasn’t sounding so good.

We headed down to Austin on Sunday the 15th, and after a mind-numbing drive down I35 started to perk up at the sight of the skyline. Excitement set in once we got to see our house with our own eyes, and by the end of a beautiful Austin evening we were drinking Mexican beer with a group of friends and feeling much better about our return!

The crazed productivity began the next day and has continued ever since. Step one was getting the kitchen together, as we weren’t interested in the price or portion sizes of restaurant food (it turns out that food isn’t actually that much more expensive here, it’s just that the portions are four times as big!). After that it was a frenzy of purchasing, moving and refinishing furniture (thanks, craigslist!), hanging frames, paying bills, getting cellphones, planting herbs, finding a mechanic to revive my good-for-nothing scooter and searching for a place to put all of the things that have no place. After a year of carrying my world in a backpack, I am still in awe of the amount of stuff that I own (not to mention what Gabe owns ;). And I guarantee that it’s not much by your standards!

So it’s been good. Our house feels completely like home, the weather is gorgeous and we ride bicycles pretty much everywhere. Each day we’re reminded of what an awesome city this is, and it’s made that much better now that we can incorporate all of the little things and habits that we brought back with us. We’ve made several trips to the Asian groceries, bought a rice cooker, planted basil, kaffir lime and chiles – after a year of no cooking we were both anxious to get back to it and have been cooking three meals a day, most of them Thai (with lots of chips/salsa thrown in). The best of both worlds!

Probably the strangest thing about the return is time. To me, the past year was intense, packed with an incredible number of new sights, sounds, smells and experiences. So many things changed for me over the course of that year, and I felt that I grew so much. Coming home, however, is bizarre, because it seems that nothing has changed. A year isn’t so long in day-to-day life, and people are generally doing the exact same things they were doing when I left. It messes with my head and often makes me wonder if I did in fact leave at all!

That said, the biggest change for me was realizing what makes me happy and how I can incorporate that into what I do each day, how I support myself. I’m not planning to jump into the first job that comes along and I’m not willing to spend 40 hours staring at a computer screen again – it just doesn’t make me happy or healthy and life is too short to spend any other way!

I’m biding my time with a variety of small jobs, everything from freelance design (I’m available!) to wine promos to helping a woman decorate a church for Easter. I had a few interviews today and while I’m not going to expand on them right now (can’t jinx this!), I think that I’m about to end up exactly where I want to be. Gabe, meanwhile, has been busy with a number of impressive carpentry projects (he’s the reason our house looks good) and stumbled upon the investment deal of a lifetime (in the form of a Chevy truck), which is helping to cover his income needs for a bit.

All in all, we’re settling in quite well and while there are those “why did come back?!?” moments (three days on hold to get a cellphone?), overall we are happy to be here.  I’m so thankful to have a clean slate like this and the chance to fill it with whatever I want – I’ll keep everyone updated as to what that is!

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Rejoining society, for now.

March 11th, 2009

We have a house! Perfect 78704 location, low rent (relatively speaking), easy-going landlord, immediate move-in…this one was meant to be.

Now…jobs?

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There’s no question about it…

March 10th, 2009

 …we are back.

We were ready after several days in Bangkok, most of which was spent lost, sweaty and frantically trying to check all of the to-do’s off of our list. We did, however, get to spend time with great friends and eventually got most everything done (the key was giving up on thriftiness and resigning ourselves to taking taxis); by the time Tuesday rolled around, we were all set.

Unfortunately we had separate flights, as we’d bought them at different times and I’d ended up changing mine (I can’t even imagine having come home in January as originally planned!), so Gabe was headed to the airport at 3a.m. on Wednesday morning whereas I had the luxury of a more humane 3p.m. departure time.

It was bizarre. I left Bangkok at 7p on Wednesday, arriving in Hong Kong at 11p. I left at midnight, then arrived in LA, 13 hours later, at 8p on Wednesday. Luckily I was on Cathay Pacific, quite possibly one of the most impressive airlines out there – personal screen with every movie and television show you could dream of, really good Asian food and free alcohol – so sleeping was no problem.

I knew that I was back in America as soon as I left the international terminal and headed for my domestic flight at LAX. People (they looked so big!) spaced themselves out as much as humanly possible in the waiting areas (back in the land of personal bubbles!), the dining options included Starbucks, Chilis and another Starbucks, and there was a $6.95 fee to change money (I’ll keep that 300 baht, thank you). I had to be careful when ordering from the aforementioned coffee retailer (hey, I was freezing!) and remind myself that these people actually speak  English, that I don’t need to use 2-year old vocabulary to get my point across. “Have coffee? No want milk” would’ve gotten me some straaaange looks…

There was no free anything on my AA flight to DFW, but luckily it was short. We landed at 5:45a on Thursday (?) and before I knew it I was being reunited with my family, which was absolutely wonderful! After lots of greetings and stories and whatnot, my parents took me out for breakfast where I was presented with a water glass big enough to bathe in and an omelette the size of a football. Yep, I was back…

The past few days have been a whirlwind of family, friends, FOOD and trying to ease back into things, culturally and otherwise. I had Gabe back a few hours after I’d arrived, and it was nice to have someone else be as taken aback as I was at the sheer size of things here – houses, roads, food, drinks, people, prices – just incredible. We were taken out for Mexican food and decided to share a dish – between the two of us we couldn’t even finish the grilled veggies, much less touch the tortillas or beans! We were marvelling at everything; some of it disgusted us, and other things (like big, clean bathrooms!) delighted us!

It’s great to have the people that we love within reach once more, and we are excited about getting back down to our beloved city of Austin, but overall I’ve got to say that we’re both a bit bored. There are no surprises when you walk into a store, nothing to look at when you drive down the road, nothing to make you think “Wow, I’ve never seen that before!”

We’re slowly easing our way in; we’ve both done our taxes, have been scouring rental house ads, I’m back to checking my cellphone every five minutes to see if someone called and within a few days we will have forced ourselves to start thinking about… jobs. There are a lot of great things about being back and it’s fun to bring home what we’ve learned (I’ve been in Asian groceries three times already), but it’s looking like the next adventure will be much sooner than later!

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The End

March 3rd, 2009

The best of, worst of and many things in between…

 Guesthouses:

Hands down, the worst guesthouse was a no-name hotel in Samut Songkran (Thailand) that we ended up in after a fiasco of a day trying to reach an obscure floating market. Between the handprints on the walls, the thick goo sliding down the bathroom wall and the furniture that appeared to have been attacked with a sledgehammer, it was the sort of place where you wear long pants to bed and don’t touch anything. The jungle in Cambodia was a bit rough at times as well…

Vietnam had the best places to sleep overall; $8 was the going rate for a clean room, real bedcovers, hot shower and typically a television. The best room award, however, has to go to Rainbow Chalets on Tioman Island in Malaysia – there is a post not too far back that’ll tell you all about it!

Transport:

We’ve had an uncountable number of hellacious, never-ending travel days, slews of breakdowns and blown tires and traffic jams and buses full of animals and carsick Asians, but the one that stands out from them all was our bus ride from Sam Neua to Nong Khiaw in Laos. It was 14 hours of sharp mountain switchbacks in a contraption that was more or less held together with duct tape. The hilltribe women were vomiting out the windows, the engine croaked, the rearview mirror was ripped off by a passing truck, there were no food stops (the toilet stops were useless for us female passengers, as it involved the side of the road  you can’t actually step off of the side of the road for fear of unexploded bombs) and by the 12th hour the center aisle was filled with occupied plastic stools. The guy next to us was drunk, breathing down Gabe’s neck and occasionally stroking his arm – we had never been so relieved to reach a destination!

The fishing boat full of live ducks that broke down three times (and was repaired by draining oil from the motorbikes onboard) on the way to Phu Quoc was a memorable one as well.

The best transport? Every single motorbike that we’ve rented ourselves.

 Phrases:

In Thailand, the two most useful phrases out there were mai ow, meaning “I don’t want” (think moto drivers, souvenir sellers and the obscene amount of plastic bags that are shoved at you for the most minute purchases) and phet mahk mahk, meaning “make it very spicy!”

In Cambodia, it was simply “hello,” the greeting that is screamed at you by adorable, ecstatic barefoot children everywhere that you go.

The most important phrase in Vietnam was bow niew tien, meaning “how much?” If you don’t ask this before touching, looking or eating, you will be charged five times what you expected.

In Laos, sabai dee served the same purpose as “hello” in Cambodia. The cutest kids on earth, no question about it!

 Purchases:

There is so, so much to buy in Asia, but a few items have been especially useful. One is the blue silk blanket that we used as a bedcover in Bangkok and then brought along on our travels, unaware of just how many filthy beds it was going to protect us from!

Another are the spoons that we picked up at a market in Laos for about 10 cents – no more fashioning utensils out of paper for takeaway food!

 Surprises and Disappointments:

The best surprises of the trip included our intense Cambodian jungle trek in Ratanakiri Province, the beautiful, vineyard covered mountains of Dalat in Vietnam, Juara Beach in Malaysia and the entire country of Laos.

Biggest disappointments? Koh Phi Phi in Thailand and Sapa in Vietnam. Two “must see” destinations that we would never encourage anyone to visit. Both are exploited, over-touristed zoos.

 Foods:

Eating has been one of the greatest pleasures of SE Asia, but there have certainly been a few slipups! One in particular was the spicy-looking dish that we pointed at one night in Bangsue – it turned out to be small, bony fish with the distinct taste of Bangkok canal sludge.

Gabe was pretty put off by the grilled chicken skewers he bought one night that ended up being grilled chicken livers, and the interesting-looking noodle soup that we spotted in a Laos market proved to be a cringe-worthy bowl of cold noodles and gooey tapioca mass in vinegar. In Cambodia we just stayed away from the street stalls, as nearly all of the dishes included innards or insects – we’re adventurous, but we have limits!

I couldn’t even begin to name the best of, nearly every meal has been a delight. A few standouts include pad kaprow (fried basil, chilies and meat on rice), anything at a Thai point-place, som tam (papaya salad), Indian anything (but especially Kashmir naan and masala tosai), laab (cold herb and meat salad), khao soi (best noodle soup on the planet) and bun cha. Just refer back to the food blogs (or visit our kitchen, once we have one) for more!

Drinks:

All Thai beer is terrible, and the local specialty of Sangsom (rice whiskey) and Red Bull is especially horrendous.

Beer Lao is wonderful and bia hoi is 25 cents per mug, thus making it equally great. Chai yen, or Thai tea, is a tooth-rotting delight of 4 parts sweet condensed milk, 3 parts sugar and one part tea, usually served in a bag full of ice.

Memorable Experiences:

No worst-of here, these are simply a few encounters that will remain foremost in our memories.

The jungle trek in Cambodia, especially the final night, after we’d hiked 35km in 8 hours, sitting in the village learning rice wine drinking games with all of the Brau men.

The lunch we had our last day in Vietnam. We were sick and tired of the country, ready to get out, but were able to leave on a good note after sitting down to a meal in a family’s living room. As the wife and daughter cooked up plate after plate of meats and veggies, the husband treated us to beer and whiskey shots and photos of his military days and smiles.

The ceremony and dinner that we experienced after being invited in the chief’s hut at an Akha New Year celebration in Laos.

The internet café in Sam Neua, Laos, whose owner had just had his first child and invited us to celebrate with his friends and Beer Lao, then several days later had us back for dinner and toasts with his family.

And, of course, the diving trip.

Glossary

Frequently used phrases, terms and their true meanings…

Where are you from? – I want to sell you something.

Hello my friend! – I want to sell you something.

Special price for you! – I want to sell you something for 5x what it should be.

Is very far! Walk not possible! (coming from any sort of driver or friend of a driver) – It’s just around the corner.

Full moon party – Payday for the ladyboys, expensive for those with wallets.

Thai toe – The grimy, blackened effect that you get on the soles of your feet after a day of trudging around Bangkok.

Building juice – The liquid that inevitable falls onto your head from above in any Thai city. Air conditioners? Drains? Something worse?

Let’s go explore! (coming from Allison) – Let’s go walk at least 20 miles, just for the hell of it.

Let’s see where this goes! (coming from Gabe) – Get your climbing shoes on…this will involve mountains, rivers, heavy brush and/or caves.

I’m ready when you are. (in an internet cafe) – I’ve checked Facebook 15 times, my photos are uploaded, no one has replied to my emails yet, Skype is broken and I can’t take any more video game explosions. Please, let’s go now.

Let’s keep looking (when shown a room) – This is a shithole.

I’m thirsty (coming from Gabe) – I want a 7-11 fountain drink, must be Sprite and MUST have ice.

I need a snack (coming from Allison) – I want a Milo bar or an icecream cone.

My stomach isn’t cooperating… – Don’t touch me, I need a toilet. Now.

Let’s eat spicy food! – I’m constipated.

Gabe, are you awake? – It’s 6:30 a.m., I’m done running and I want breakfast right now!

This is far from exhaustive, but hopefully a small taste of what the past year has encompassed for us. We head home tomorrow, ready to take all we’ve seen, heard, tasted and learned and apply it to whatever adventure awaits us next – I’ve got no plans to abandon this blog, so keep on checking back. It won’t be Asia (for now), but I’d like to keep life, and thus this blog, as interesting as possible (let me know if it isn’t)!

Also, the last of our photos have been posted, so make a stop on our Flickr sites!

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And what a finale it was!

February 27th, 2009

What an amazing experience. After months of anticipation of our “grand finale,” we finally embarked on the four day, four night liveaboard scuba diving trip with Phuket Divers, based in Khao Lak. It had all the elements of the perfect trip: idyllic tropical waters, clear skies, sea breezes, a phenomenal boat crew, delicious food (lots of it), lots to do (four dives a day, come on!) and an unbeatable group of fellow divers. Oh, and sunsets accompanied by the bottle of JW Red Label that we’ve been hoarding since Tioman Island, enjoyed on the top deck with views of an endless expanse of ocean. What else do you need?

It started off a bit overwhelming for me, the sole open water student, to be honest. I had one day of “theory” spent watching mind-numbing instructional DVDs and then a quick two hour introduction to the basics in a pool the day of departure. Despite the standard requirement of four pool dives, I found myself jumping into the open sea for dive number two at 7:30 a.m., surrounded by people who had been diving for years. I wasn’t nervous, really…

The first dive wasn’t so great, personally. Everyone else seemed thrilled, but I hadn’t noticed much of anything (fish? coral? what’s that?) as I was entirely preoccupied with remembering by-the-book steps and gear operation and just praying that I’d make it out alive – I did, and had to take some time alone to calm my nerves and convince myself that I was supposed to be overwhelmed in a situation like that. The worst was surely over!

I was correct on both counts. Most of the people onboard were surprised that I’d handled a first dive in such a situation so well, and certainly sympathized with my shakiness. After a pep talk from Gabe and a great breakfast (more on that in a moment), I sucked it up and suited up for the next dive at 11:00, forcing a smile onto my face.

What a turnaround! I started this one off correctly, remembering to equalize my ears, not to get flustered, to go slowly, and to look around. The result? I had fun! I can’t say that I was 100% comfortable at that point, but I was quite calm, relaxed and finally noticed what an incredible hidden world there is underneath the water, it is truly amazing. By the next morning I was exploring 35 meters below the surface (though officially, it was 18m, as I wasn’t even “certified” at this point) and having a ball. There were a total of fourteen dives over the course of these four days, an infinite world to explore full of technicolor fish, cartoonish moray eels, octapus, sharks and intricate coral beds that I didn’t realize actually existed on this planet. We explored coral gardens, walls, a ship wreck – I was told repeatedly to be aware of how absolutely spoiled I was becoming by having the Similan Islands as the location for my diving introduction!

 So what did we do when we weren’t diving? I’d expected to go a bit crazy onboard, as I didn’t forsee diving being too terribly taxing of an activity, and of course there would be no place to walk, much less run while living on a boat. As it turned out, there was never a moment of boredom, and diving wiped me out. We’d be up by 6:30 as the first dive was at 7:30, then it would be time for breakfast and some rest before the next dive, at 11:00. We’d emerge from the water to find lunch awaiting us, which we’d eat as we read, napped and warmed in the sun. Dive number three was typically around 2:30, and a sunset dive would be scheduled for 5:00. After group showers with the spray hose on the back of the boat, changing clothes, making a few drinks and photographing the brilliant sunset, it would be 7:00 and time for dinner. Everyone (the trip began with 16 passengers, though 6 of them were only onboard for two days) would then relax, have a few beverages, chat about anything and everything before realizing at 9:30 that your body was begging for sleep. These sort of days did not get old, especially with such a wonderful group of divers and such a well-run trip.

There were unlimited free drinks, everything from tea to coffee to hot chocolate to sport drinks to sodas to fruit juice, and there were always platters of pineapple and watermelon out for munching on. There literally was nothing to complain about, not one thing.

 And the food. Wow. Gabe and I knew as soon as we came aboard that the cook, Da, would be our most important new friend, and we sought her out immediately. Her face lit up at the mention of “Thai breakfast,” and she conspiratorily whispered to us to come by the kitchen in the morning, that she would cook Thai breakfast, very spicy, for us every single day.

After that first dive we took one look at the platters of fried eggs and toast that had appeared and beelined it for the kitchen on the bottom deck. Da was there, wok-ing up a fiery concoction that turned out to be one of the best padkaprow (fried basil with chicken and chilis) dishes we’ve had yet. We brought it upstairs with a big bowl of rice and dug in – score!

We didn’t push our luck at lunch, but a bowl of chilis and fish sauce appeared next to the food and it was rumored that it was especially for us. The Thai boat crew got a kick out of it and would always make sure that we were called downstairs when something extra tasty and spicy was being prepared. Dinner were incredible, hands down some of the best Thai food we’ve had, and there was no need for special priveleges. From big prawns fried with chilis to chicken green curry to red curried pork to fiery cashew chicken to fresh crab brought right out of the ocean around us, we were fed well. Too well – our growing excitement about going home started to be pushed away by food lamentations again!

All in all, there wasn’t a single thing that either of us would change about this trip. The price was unreal, the crew was top-notch (crazy, goofy Thai guys that seemed to be having a perpetual party, yet knew exactly when to be serious and get the job done – plus Da, of course), the divemasters and instructors were wonderful people. It was incredibly well-organized, but never crossed that line of being too structured, the atmosphere was completely relaxed, all of the time. We made a handful of new friends that we will stay in touch with and most likely cross paths with again one day – in short, I can’t imagine a better way to finish out this adventure.

Coming back to land was bittersweet. Despite the fun, I was starting to itch for a run and a day wearing something other than a wet swimsuit. On the other hand, now that this far-in-the-distance excursion has come and gone, it finally seems as though going home is a real thing, and my feelings are more mixed than ever! We’re eagerly anticipating the actual going home, the reunions and the parties and the family and the friends, and reminding ourselves that ending one journey simply opens up the door for the next one, of which I’m sure we’ll have many!

*Note: give me  day or so for photos – they’re coming!

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A grand finale!

February 21st, 2009

Yesterday I had eight hours of dive theory (ie video-watching and test-taking), today I have pool instruction. At 7:00 tonight we will board the boat that will be our home for the next four days and by the time we get off, I will be a certified open-water diver and Gabe will be advanced.

Oh yeah, and we will have experienced the legendary Similan and Surin Islands!

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Travel days

February 19th, 2009

Exquisite Thai culture!

We’ve entered Thailand for the fourth and final time after a wonderful, originally unplanned month in peninsular Malaysia. As you may remember, we began that month in a bit of a slump that came from general “nomad-fatigue” combined with increasingly mixed feelings about the impending return to the US.

I’m happy to say that the slump didn’t last, and that we departed Malaysia as reinvigorated, satisfied travellers. The big turnaround of course came with our discovery of Juara Beach (see below), and progressed with a stay at Taman Negara (a 130 million year old rainforest that, although not as memorable as Tioman due to the number of tourists and lack of visible monkeys, was still an awe-inspiring place) and peaked at the Cameron Highlands, a former colonial British hill station with chilly temperatures, endless tangles of lush forested hiking trails and no shortage of strawberry farms, tea plantations and the best Indian restaurant yet (we ate 10 of our 12 meals at the same table).

By the time that we made it full circle and arrived back in Penang, we were about as street-wise as it gets: we were buying Indian music, ordering “teh o ais” with confidence (leave out the “o” and your “iced tea” becomes a glass of condensed milk and sugar with a hint of tea), eating nasi lemak for breakfast, nasi campur for lunch and tandoori for dinner (tandoori’s don’t do lunch!), judging the time of day with the calls of the muezzin from the local mosque and shoveling sloppy piles of rice and curry into our mouths with our right hands.

Street-wise or not, yesterday was a reminder that there are always more lessons to be learned! We decided to “treat” ourselves and book a minibus straight from Penang to Krabi in Thailand, saving ourselves the hassle of a walk to the ferry, ferry to the bus station, bus to Hat Yai then another bus to Krabi. It would cost a few dollars more, but would be much quicker and, come on, we deserve to take the easy road sometimes!

We were told to be ready to go “before 8:00.” I ran at 5:45, we were eating masala tosai by 7 and waiting with our bags packed by 8. Around 8:50 the minibus pulled up and we climbed in before being taken around the island to pick up other passengers.

There are two way to get off of Penang: the ferry, which takes you directly to the bus station in Butterworth, and the bridge, located on the other side of the island. Being in a minibus, of course the plan was to take the bridge. Something happened (our driver’s explanation had too few English words in it to be decipherable) and traffic was horrendous; not stop-and-go, just stopped.

It was past 11:30 before we even got off of the island, the time that we’d expected to be making our way through immigration. Once we finally broke away onto open roads, our driver high-tailed it to Hat Yai, where one couple was dropped at the bus station for a connection while we were taken to the travel agent’s office.

The connecting minibus to Krabi had left at one; it was now 2:15. The girl at the desk told us “30 minute!” so we scampered off for a quick bowl of soup, our first bite since the light-ish 7 a.m. tosai. We made it back quickly, only to discover that 30 minutes actually meant an hour. We gritted our teeth and tried to laugh at how we used to be charmed by the laidback nature of the Thais, the lack of urgency with anything.

Eventually a tuktuk pulled up, and the girl gestured at it, saying “Krabi!” Surely there was no way we were taking a tuktuk; the long leg of the trip hadn’t even begun yet!

We piled in and were taken to a gas station, then to yet another bus station where we were quickly herded into a minibus blaring Thai pop music at ear-splitting levels. Once it was full we got to see the same gas station yet again, then were finally on the road. It was now the time that we’d expected to be arriving in Krabi.

We kept our sense of humor about it all pretty well, dreaming of the (affordable!) beer that we’d be buying upon arrival. After an hour on the road we’d relaxed, knowing it was the last leg…or was it?

There was a strange sound and we had a horrible thought – flat tire! That’ll take awhile! The driver pulled over, the assortment of passengers (including an old Chinese woman, a young couple with a newborn and two leopard-printed twenty-somethings straight out of a Phuket go-go bar) piled out and surveyed the damage. It wasn’t the tire, it was the fan blade, which had shattered, tearing a hole in a radiator hose. Awesome.

An hour later, our rescue minibus came and we were squeezed in with its original passengers. Finally, finally at nearly 9:00 we were dropped in Krabi town, too exhausted to even care about that beer anymore.

Lesson? The Krabi-Penang route is not our friend, in either direction. This supposedly single leg/7 hour journey was a 7-leg, 15 hour trip on the way down, a 4-leg, 13 hour trip on the way back. Someday, in our next life, when we traverse that route again, we will know to fly (or even walk)!

Today we are recovered and refreshed, ready to head to Khao Lak for our grand finale, a four day liveaboard diving trip to the Surin/Similan islands. After that we will go straight to Bangkok and depart Asia on March 4th.

Though there is plenty of apprehension and anxiety on both our parts about jobs/culture adjustment/what will we eat?, we’re eagerly anticipating  the reunions with family/friends, the thought of a clean bed, a bathroom that we don’t have to wear shoes into and, of course, the ability to get from point A to point B without going through ten points in between!

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A day to love!

February 15th, 2009

Valentine’s Day began with a clear, chilly morning, high up in the Cameron Highlands, at a guesthouse located on top of an immaculately landscaped and flower-adorned hill. After a long solitary run on quiet, winding mountain roads, we headed down the hill for a breakfast of spicy, piping hot masala tosai along with fresh coffee and tea.

After a relaxing morning spent writing in the Tanah Rata gardens, we decided it was time for a little activity. We had a snack of fresh potato samosas and rich cups of cendol, then headed to “Trail 4,” one of the many wooded trails that weave through the hills in the area. It was sunny but nice and cool, with no humidity, and we had a great little hike through beautiful cloud forest to the next town of Brinchang, passing a waterfall on the way.

Once in Brinchang it was a short walk up a shady hill to a strawberry farm, where we took a look around the greenhouses  full of all sorts of neat plants amidst the juicy red fruits. It didn’t take long to find our way to the “snack bar,” where we enjoyed a big basket of sweet strawberries absolutely smothered with mounds of fresh whipped cream and a bit of sugar.

After we’d savoured enough to warrant hiking back to Tanah Rata, we did so. Upon arrival we went back to our Indian spot for a dinner of tandoori chicken, hot naan bread with mint chutney and a refreshing plate of raita, a yogurt and vegetable dish.

Later in the evening we relaxed in the gorgeous guesthouse gardens with our bottle of whiskey and enjoyed the cool weather and wonderful conversation before retiring for the evening.

Best part? It didn’t even dawn on us that it was Valentine’s day, it was simply another day in Asia!

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Happy meals

February 13th, 2009

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We have only a few short days left in Malaysia and I believe that the time has come to pay tribute to this country in the form of yet another food blog. We’ve pretty much given up on the Chinese options; they’re all excellent, but just not our thing. We need spice in our lives! The following are all Indian, Malay or something that blurs the line between…

*Nasi Lemak – This classic and super-cheap Malay breakfast consists of a mound of rice soaked in coconut cream then steamed, served with a scoop of spicy sambal (see below), a handful of peanuts, a sprinkling of dried anchovies and typically topped with a fried egg, sometimes chicken. The best versions are done hot and fresh, though this a common takeaway food as well, prepackaged into a banana leaf pyramid for easy transport.

*Cendol/ ABC – These are two shaved ice desserts that can be found everywhere. Cendol contains green, sweetened pea flour “strings” underneath a heaping mound of shaved ice, doused in coconut milk and palm sugar syrup. ABC is similar, though more of a layered concoction, often including beans, corn, tapioca sweets and sometimes icecream mixed into the cherry syrup-laced shaved ice. These may sound odd, but they’re fantastic!

*Roti Canai – Another typical breakfast or snack, a roti is basically a piece of flaky layered dough fried on a hot griddle. They stuff them with all sorts of things, but your basic roti canai is just a piping hot square of bread served with a bowl of dipping curry. Simply, delicious, and oh-so-unhealthy!

*Asam Pedas – This is a tamarind-curry fish, native to the city of Melaka. The spicy red bowl of curry is served with a delicious tender fish (that you picked out) and typically some pineapple, along with the obligatory plate of rice.

* Sambal – Though the word technically means “sauce,” it is used to refer to the spicy red accompaniment to nasi lemak and multiple fried meats. Sambal is made up of chilies, onions, garlic, lemongrass, tamarind and tumeric and is especially delicious when big chunks of white-meat chicken are fried in it – this was a Juara Beach specialty!

* Peanut Sauce – I don’t know what all goes into this decadent sauce that is served with satay and grilled meats alike, but all I really need is a spoon!

*Tosai Sayur – I mentioned tosai before (dosa in India) – it’s the massive but light rice/lentil crepe that is wrapped around all sorts of intriguing fillings (or just served plain, but who wants that?) and then served with three different curries or chutneys. A new favorite is tosai sayur, which came stuffed with a colorful array of vegetables, big chilies and tons of chopped roast chicken.

*Sesame balls – Here is my one tribute to Chinese food (snack, really), that I finally tried in Singapore, though I’ve seen it on vendor carts all over Asia. This looks like a bit donut hole, a ball of fried dough covered in sesame seeds. Upon actually eating one, however, it wasn’t oily and it wasn’t all dough; the inside contained a huge chunk of what tasted exactly like honey-laced chunky peanut butter. Thank goodness I’m just now finding this out!

*Beehoon curry – Nothing more special than a rice noodle soup, full of roast chicken and a variety of vegetables, but the curry that it comes soaked in is phenomenal, a whole new twist on noodle soup for us!

*Murtabak Ayam – These have to be shared…sort of like a roti, but heavier and better! The best way to describe a murtabak is to call it a thick chicken and vegetable omelett, wrapped in a thin layer of dough and quickly fried on a griddle before being served with an array of curries for dipping. Wow, wow, wow.

*Banana Leaf meals – A traditional way to eat Indian food, a banana leaf meal is just that. You pick your main dish, whether it be rich mutton masala(our personal choice), chicken tikka or something else, then the fun begins! A giant banana leaf is placed in front of you, then the guy comes around with a four-sectioned container of various veggie curries and yogurt chutneys. He puts a scoop of each one on your leaf, adds a small piece of flatbread and maybe a vadla (fried chickpea cake), then a bowl or two of dhal and dipping curry. Your meat comes in a side bowl, then an ungodly amount of rice is piled onto your banana leaf, signaling go time! Your food get mixed together, sopped up and shovelled in, preferably without any utensils – Gabe and I are painfully stuffed after sharing one of these, but the veggies, rice and sauces are bottomless for those with second stomaches! The cost? Less than $2.

On that note, we need to go hike some of this off and make room for more – time is slipping away!

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Beyond expectations

February 8th, 2009

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We’re less than a month from our return to the US, and we can’t deny that the nomadic lifestyle is starting to wear on us a bit. While we still have a handful of really neat places to go, and are still making great discoveries every day, travel days have become a nuisance, our bags get packed sloppier every day and we find ourselves making excuses to stay put just a bit longer…

It was in this spirit that we headed for Tioman Island located 30 miles off the coast of eastern peninsular Malaysia in the South China Sea. Having spent the first half of the month in city after city, we figured that an island might be just what we needed, a break from the motorbike traffic and 24 hour everything. We were both tired of sightseeing and ready for outdoor activity, though we anticipated Tioman, which opened only two weeks ago (it remains closed during the monsoon season), to offer little aside from lounging on the beach as there are few roads (thick jungle covers most of the island) and boat transport is unjustifiably expensive.

We boarded the once-a-day ferry and two hours later were deposited, along with a handful of other foreigners, on “ABC,” a beach that reportedly had the majority of the ‘budget’ accomadation. The place was nearly deserted but very pretty with plenty of wooden bungalows and cafes along the single path, surrounded by palm trees, blooming flowers and views of beautiful blue water with a backdrop of rugged tropical rainforest.

We spent the afternoon indulging in one of Tioman’s greatest draws – the duty free shop! Alcohol is incredibly expensive in Malaysia due to high taxes that the Islamic government places on it (Muslims do not drink), but the small airport on Tioman and a half mile stretch of road have been designated tax-free, and beer is sold cheaper than water while good liquor can be bought for next to nothing. After several weeks of near-abstinence, it was a welcome sight and we stocked up!

The next day was hiking. Gabe rented snorkelling gear and we headed off to Monkey Bay, which was an hour hike through thick rainforest, devoid of people but full of monkeys, massive monitor lizards, ants the size of cockroaches, vines the diameter of telephone poles that strangled anything they touched – amazing! The sapphire blue water and absolutely empty stretch of white sand at Monkey Bay was wonderful after the sweaty climb. What we originally thought were a couple of people snorkeling turned out, with a closer look, to be black tipped reef sharks! Gabe couldn’t get his mask and snorkel on quick enough before diving in! We were beyond hungry by that point and had another hour until we reached an inhabited beach, so we pushed on.

We staggered onto Salang, a well-groomed northern beach that was also nearly tourist-free and stuffed ourselves at an eatery with spicy chicken sambal, rice and samosas. The snorkelling was incredible here! Giant parrot fish, schools of barracuda, clown fish, and many other colorful fish make their home in the shallow coral reefs just offshore. The highlight was a sea turtle Gabe had the chance to swim along with until it ventured out in the deep…amazing! It hit 4:00 and we knew that we had to turn back in order to make it ‘home’ before dark – the jungle is not a place for people, especially not at night and certainly not while wearing flip flops and swimming attire. The bugs would eat us alive! We were both drained but managed to make it, taking frequent monkey-watching breaks when the mountain got too steep. We thought that we had found a great island, but we had no idea what lay ahead…

We’d heard rumors of a place called Juara, the only beach on the eastern side of the island and one that could only be reached by boat taxi (for a very steep price), an expensive 4×4 taxi on a crude road, or a two hour jungle hike up and over the mountain. It was said to be, hands down, the most beautiful place on Tioman, and of course there was no stopping us then – we love things that are hard to get to!

The next morning we silenced our aching legs, left our big bags behind and headed to Juara with one change of clothes, books and cameras. The rainforest in this direction was like something out of a fairy tale – gorgeous butterflies, unbelievably tall trees, monkeys and exotic birds everywhere, palm leaves 12 feet wide, vines growing around anything and everything, really an entirely different world. We took it easy and soaked it all in, marvelling at this magical place that, again, was completely devoid of any human life.

Around lunchtime we caught a glimpse of the sea. We passed an Australian couple huffing up the hill who confirmed that we were close, and that it was well worth the work. We got a second wind and finished out the hike, arriving on the most pristine stretch of sand I’ve ever seen, backed with jungle-covered mountains, facing crashing turquoise waves (the sea is rough on this side of the island) and lined with palm trees, brightly colored flowers and cute bungalows. The only thing missing was people – it was empty!

We found a place called Rainbow Chalets and knew that we wanted to stay there – multicolored bungalows with great porches spilling right onto the sand and windows opening to the sound of the waves. Reception was deserted, so we decided to eat. Bushman’s Cafe was right next door, and there were two people eating, the first sign of life! Sitting on their deck facing the sea we ordered food and struck up a conversation with the great couple from Portland, Oregon who were finding it hard to leave Juara. We had an excellent meal, found a sweet old lady to rent a bungalow out to us and moved right in.

The days that followed consisted mainly of waking up early to either run or watch the sunrise, strolling down to “our” restaurant for an incredible breakfast and real! coffee, reading on the porch, taking a nap with the window and door open to the sea breeze, strolling down to our “other” restaurant for an even better lunch, then reading on the even more secluded next beach over. As the tide came in late afternoon the waves formed nicely on sandy beach break which is ideal for surfing. Gabe rented a board for next to nothing and played in the water. After that we would head to the cendol stand(a heaping bowl of shaved ice covered in sweet coconut milk and palm sugar syrup) for an afternoon snack then shower and spend the remaining daylight hours taking photos or reading/writing on the porch. Dinner would usually be social, as the five Rainbow Chalet residents who made up the populace of the beach were all extremely cool people and the affordable alcohol made things even better – after we’d exhausted ourselves, we’d fall asleep to the sound of the surf right outside our window.

In short, this place was paradise. The beach was flawless, the water crystal clear. The residents were impossibly friendly (Gabe was loaned a guy’s personal fishing pole, given a bag of bait and then offered free use of the school’s computers by the headmaster, since it was the weekend and no one was using them), and someone seems to have forgotten to tell the restaurants and guesthouses that they’re supposed to double the prices of everything on islands. We were eating fresh seafood every night for less than $2 a plate and sleeping, beachfront, for $4 each!

There was no shortage of activity – surfing, fishing, and excellent hiking were all at our doorstep. One of the locals even showed us where there are quality bolted climbing routes that offer spectacular views of the bay. Reading on the porch with views of the sea could never get old! There was no traffic, really not even a road, and we didn’t put shoes on for three days straight. The tiny group of fellow travellers were all wonderful, and all finding it impossible to leave. There was really no concern for time, or anything at all – our biggest decision of the day was whether we wanted fish or crab for dinner!

We stretched it as much as we could, but the time came to leave. We will be back on that incredible island someday, and we will make sure to go in that tiny slice of February between the monsoon season and high season when it can be our own little piece of heaven. A surprise like this was enough to reinvigorate the traveller in each of us, and we will finish out this trip with the enthusiasm that it deserves!

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