Farewells and Flashbacks
The last 5 weeks of traveling together have been a blur of banana trees, noodles, tuk tuks, history lessons, smiling faces, and playgrounds of the most unusual sorts. Sadly, Kristin hops a plane tomorrow to head home to chilly Alaska (unless, of course, her alarm mysteriously doesn’t go off). There’s no way to summarize our trip completely. We’ve packed it full yet lazed away many days as well; spent time on the “tourist conveyor belt” and as the only pale faces on busfulls of locals; found activities to make our heart race and others that made our hearts hurt.
Last night over what we voted to be the best ice cream of Southeast Asia (included crumbled cookies, strawberry sauce, and, of course, a sparkler!), we devised some lists that I’ll type into a less sticky form here. : )
TRIP DUTIES:
Kristin’s:
–navigator, whether to find our way through a city or just to turn the right direction when we exited a shop
–keeper of the key
–scam spotter
–locator of hidden ice cream shops
–animal tamer
Cindy’s:
–supplier of any obscure toiletry or first aid item
–blogger and photo uploader
–mental entertainer: lists, rhyming games, scavenger hunts
–time-keeper (the irony, huh? it’s only because I wore a watch)
TRIP’S 10 BIGGEST CHALLENGES:
Kristin’s:
1. Finding surfable waves (absent; the elephant head had to suffice)
2. Trying to speak Lao
3. Self-entertainment on long busrides
4. Picking cucumbers out of every meal served, every country visited.
5. Convincing herself to put on slimy, stinky, sandy and otherwise disgusting Birkenstock’s each morning.
6. Leaving Cindy in Cambodia.
7. Exorcising the demons from her new camera.
8. Making sure that buses/groups didn’t leave without Cindy.
9. Stepping off the ledge on the river trapeze swing.
10. Packing her backpack the morning after her Happy Birthday celebration. : )
Cindy’s:
1. Sticking to my fantasy $20/day budget.
2. Waking up before 6am for multiple bus, plane, and sunrise trips.
3. Hiking 3 hours/day, 3 consecutive days with a fresh knee injury.
4. Figuring out the complicated system for getting hot water out of the shower (usually gave up and took cold ones).
5. Not getting lost in every/any town we visited, large or small.
6. Finding sufficient sweet AND salty snacks to satisfy PMS cravings.
7. Keeping body parts free from injury (only about 4 survived unscathed)
8. Convincing Kristin that my malaria med hallucinations were real—i.e., monkeys on the roof, rats on the floor, monks praying in the waves
9. Driving a motorbike on a very unroadlike road (boulders, ruts, gravel, dirt) with Kristin on the back.
10. Taking off /putting on shoes with straps and buckles at every doorstep (and often while wearing the world’s heaviest backpack).
Guess that shows we’re either both a mess or a pretty good traveling balance. : )
La Kohn, Kristin! Until our next world adventure!!!
“Travel is the frivolous part of serious lives, and the serious part of frivolous ones.” Anne Sophie Swetchine
Tags: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Travel
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