I'm sitting here with 12 minutes left on my break between classes and thought I would write a little diddy!
Right now it is January and that means the students get a month off from school, otherwise known as Winter Break. They get one in the summer too, during July and that is their Summer Break. You may be thinking, 'Wow, I cannot believe the kids get a break. After hearing everything Kelly and Ian told me, I thought they would never get a chance to be kids!' Well, you are still right. The kids do not have their normal elementary or middle school, but they still have their academies to attend. You'd better believe there is no break from us! Whatever academy the children go to, there is an opportunity for them to take extra classes for the month they have off to improve whatever subject they are taking.
So, for example, at our school we have two tiers. One is simply called 'intensives' and they attended the academy 3 days a week for intense studying and learning. Ian is teaching that at another branch of our school, in Chang-dong. Our school administrators told him his students were going to be about 10-12 years old, and they definitely are not. He has to teach them for two hours a day and they don't know much English at all because they are super little, and the youngest class level our school offers.
The second tier is called "SPARTA." I teach this. This is an even MORE intense program and the students attend the academy 5 days a week and get mountains of homework and tests. I also teach it at the Chang-dong branch. I teach Beginner writers, intermediate writers and advanced writers. The books we have to get through (and finish!) are extremely dense and simply too long for the amount of times we see each class, so things can get a little stressful. It is also extremely bothersome to me when the kids don't do their work, or sit at their desks and stare instead of doing their work. I usually would pity them, because, growing up in Canada we didn't have such a system. However, their parents work so hard for them to be able to attend these extra, super-expensive Academy classes, just so their child has the chance to level-up. And that isn't even guaranteed!
Anyway, it is mid-January, so thankfully for everyone, we are almost through with SPARTA and intensives!!! I mean, the extra pay will be awesome, but thank goodness it is only a month! ;)
Friday, January 18, 2008
Sunday, January 6, 2008
We're so popular!
I was just writing an email to a man I simply call 'Gramps' and I mentioned how great our group of friends here in Korea is. I'm going to expand on it a little bit, and I'll only mention select names because I don't want to leave anybody off.
Our school has 3 different branches, with a total of 15 foreign teachers. Of these, we hang out regularly with 12 of them. The other 2 are an older couple who are big gamers, and the last one just left to be replaced by a friend of a coworker. So it will grow to 13 soon I suppose.
Our branch in Junggye-Dong is us, Andy & Leah (were here before us, we hang with them several times/week), Jenn & Jeremy (arrived in July, see them maybe once/week outside school), and Melissa (who Kelly knew from university, and Kelly sees her maybe twice a week).
The branch in Chang-Dong is Iowans Dylan & Naomi, here since July and we often see on the weekends.
Gireum is the 3rd branch and it has Jess & Mark (Jess is Leah's cousin, we see them most weekends), Beth (from the northeast, here since July, see her most weekends), and soon to be Sam (another friend of Leah). These 12 all live close together, only 7 subway stops seperates everybody so it's easy to get people together without much planning.
We also have many university friends, with the newly arrived Poly, Flem, Grace, and Justin a ways away from us. Adam Taylor also arrived recently, but lives in a different city a few hours away. There are a few high schools friends here as well, all of whom give us a terrific social core.
Of course, this doesn't include other people we've met here in Korea.
I'll give you an example of how lucky we've been to have cool people around. We met a dude named Ian on our snowboarding trip in December and his birthday party was Saturday. In the afternoon before the party, Kelly, Mark, Jess, and I made plans to go see the Van Gogh exhibit that's visiting Seoul. We got there too late, so the line was too long to be able to get in and see everything, so we called Andy & Leah who we knew to be in the area also. They were a 5 minute cab ride down the road, about to explore a lights show Seoul puts up every year. We met them, toured the lights for about 1.5 hours, then Kelly and I had to go to a different part of Seoul to meet Beth, Naomi, and Melissa before Ian's birthday. The 5 of us went to a great Greek place we know in a cool university district, then went to Ian's birthday and met all his friends. I'm sure we'll run into some of these people again, that tends to happen when there are limited foreigner-friendly areas in the city. Now that people have been here for a while, oriented themselves for a bit, become familiar with the subway, it really isn't socially different from Toronto for us.
We aren't limited to a select few friends, or even a few groups at this point. It's fantastically lucky that we've been able to get to know so many cool people, and they are a huge part of what makes the experience so worthwhile.
Our school has 3 different branches, with a total of 15 foreign teachers. Of these, we hang out regularly with 12 of them. The other 2 are an older couple who are big gamers, and the last one just left to be replaced by a friend of a coworker. So it will grow to 13 soon I suppose.
Our branch in Junggye-Dong is us, Andy & Leah (were here before us, we hang with them several times/week), Jenn & Jeremy (arrived in July, see them maybe once/week outside school), and Melissa (who Kelly knew from university, and Kelly sees her maybe twice a week).
The branch in Chang-Dong is Iowans Dylan & Naomi, here since July and we often see on the weekends.
Gireum is the 3rd branch and it has Jess & Mark (Jess is Leah's cousin, we see them most weekends), Beth (from the northeast, here since July, see her most weekends), and soon to be Sam (another friend of Leah). These 12 all live close together, only 7 subway stops seperates everybody so it's easy to get people together without much planning.
We also have many university friends, with the newly arrived Poly, Flem, Grace, and Justin a ways away from us. Adam Taylor also arrived recently, but lives in a different city a few hours away. There are a few high schools friends here as well, all of whom give us a terrific social core.
Of course, this doesn't include other people we've met here in Korea.
I'll give you an example of how lucky we've been to have cool people around. We met a dude named Ian on our snowboarding trip in December and his birthday party was Saturday. In the afternoon before the party, Kelly, Mark, Jess, and I made plans to go see the Van Gogh exhibit that's visiting Seoul. We got there too late, so the line was too long to be able to get in and see everything, so we called Andy & Leah who we knew to be in the area also. They were a 5 minute cab ride down the road, about to explore a lights show Seoul puts up every year. We met them, toured the lights for about 1.5 hours, then Kelly and I had to go to a different part of Seoul to meet Beth, Naomi, and Melissa before Ian's birthday. The 5 of us went to a great Greek place we know in a cool university district, then went to Ian's birthday and met all his friends. I'm sure we'll run into some of these people again, that tends to happen when there are limited foreigner-friendly areas in the city. Now that people have been here for a while, oriented themselves for a bit, become familiar with the subway, it really isn't socially different from Toronto for us.
We aren't limited to a select few friends, or even a few groups at this point. It's fantastically lucky that we've been able to get to know so many cool people, and they are a huge part of what makes the experience so worthwhile.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Snowboarding Trip
On the weekend of December 15th, we went on another "Adventure Korea" trip. If you have read past posts about some of the trips we have taken like Mud Festival and White Water Rafting/Bungee Jumping, then you may remember us mentioning the tour company we went with, Adventure Korea. They run trips to various mountains, festivals, events, and tourist spots in and mostly outside of Seoul. The trips are for foreigners in Korea and are usually a reasonable price. This weekend we went about 2.5/3 hours outside of Seoul to a ski and snowboarding resort called Phoenix Park. It was a really impressive resort, complete with an indoor/outdoor hot springs spa, pools, a bowling alley, lots of food selections (yeah, North American goodness!) and restaurants and pubs. We slept in a room with 6 other people, and we all had our own bunk beds!
We rented our equipment first and then headed to the hills. Ian, Melissa and I all got afternoon and night passes, along with a bunch of other people we met. I didn't go boarding last winter, so I was a little nervous about my skill level, but overall I was actually surprised with myself! It was super fun and the hills were a lot bigger than we expected. The scenery was beautiful, with loads of mountains in the distance and a nice bright sun. For the afternoon, it was pretty much Ian, Melissa, a friend named Sarah and me. We met a really cool guy from South Africa named Louis, for those of you who know our friend Pat Davis from Laurier, he actually looks a bit like him, except his blond hair is a bit longer. It was his first time seeing snow, and he was so excited to hear that we have had the opportunity to make snowmen every winter for our entire lives! It was funny. Really nice guy though.
After our afternoon of snowboarding, we had a two hour break before night skiing, so we went into the lobby of the hostel and asked people around us if they wanted to help us make a room of eight. Our room ended up consisting of Ian and I, 2 Korean girls, Sarah, Melissa, a girl named Susan and another guy named Ian, who we found out lives really close to us. We hung out there for a while, and then the group of us who bought the night pass peeled our tired bodies off the bunk beds where we had been lounging and had to the slopes, stopping for some nasty microwaved hamburgers on the way. (I couldn't' bring myself to eat it.... I tried, and failed. Ian, on the other hand, ate two.)
Night boarding was a lot of fun, and it ended up me me, Ian, Melissa and our new friend Ian. The slopes were a lot icier and faster at night, even though our rented boards were not waxed!!! It was probably a good thing! The one thing that was a downer was that I lost my camera. My baby :( However I did buy the exact same model at a Canon store right before Christmas for A LOT cheaper than I bought it in Canada for! And I got a whole bunch of extra stuff with it.
Anyway, the next morning some of our group when to the Hot Springs spa and other lounged. We packed up, grabbed our bags, some grub (Popeye's Chicken?! Haha) and got back on the back. Ian and I prepared ourselves for the long ride by taking out our Nintendo DS (we each bought one in Tokyo) and kicking off our shoes. The ride home was the best and shortest yet! *(Usually traffic in Korea on Sunday heading back into Seoul is RIDICULOUS!)
So that was a really fun weekend! Hopefully you guys have had some good boarding/skiing experiences this winter too! Hope you guys are all enjoying the holidays! Miss you!
P.S. Alright, so Meaghan wanted me to mention the Beavertails, because she saw my pictures and thought they were worth mentioning. The truth is 1- I wrote this blog on two different dates and didn't re-read all of what I wrote before, and didn't want to repeat myself, thinking I had already written about it. 2- I had some awesome pictures of the Beavertails on my camera, which I lost later that night. I don't want to even think about it because it makes me sick :( Some maybe that is why I didn't mention it... Oh, who cares! But anyway, new camera is bought (exact same) so all is well.
So here you are Megs :)
Anyway, there was a "True Canadian Beavertails" vendor at the slopes. Melissa, Ian and I, being the only Canadians other than Sarah who we lost that afternoon, were extremely excited. We immediately charged up to the vendor and demanded some freshly made Beavertails. The man who worked there went on to tell us in broken English how he went to Ottawa after he heard his Beavertails weren't good to get the right formula down. So he improved his Beavertail potion and brought it back to Korea with him. (Or so the story goes) Turns out, as he handed us the "Beavertails" that they were warmed up buns with no top, drizzled in warm chocolate. (You could also get nuts, blueberry sauce and some other kind. Strange!) They were fine, but DEFINITELY not a true Beaver Tail! We laughed as the chocolate froze on Melissa's "Beavertail" because it was so cold out, and also because it was pretty much chocolate freezing onto a bun.
To check out the pictures from Snowboarding, Christmas and School, check out: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2131547&l=0dd3c&id=187905622
XOXO- Miss Ya'll!
P.P.S... Did I mention that there were big screen tv's on the main hills?! Welcome to Korea! The town the resort was in is where they actually wanted to have the Olympics, so it was pretty nice!! Apparently they are trying again! See the picture at the top to see the big screens!
Friday, December 7, 2007
I'm really ambitious
I am being super ambitious and blogging two days in a row... can you believe it?
I just emailed my old roomie Rexy and told her a little about my day today, so I thought I would give you guys a similar summary incase you are interested!
I had a great day with my classes today. We are doing Christmas Carols this week, and Christmas cards next week. We made cds and printed our lyrics to all the typical Christmas tunes, and the students loved it. BUT, I also printed out a Britney Spears Christmas song worksheet (fill in the blank type thing) for when I played the song in class and the kids LOVED it!!! (You may or may not know her Christmas song! It is really cute, I recommend it... "Santa can you hear me? I have been so good this year..." blablabla) So, my classes made me play that song on repeat about 13 times in each class or something. Haha, it was so ridiculous. They were also requesting Mariah's "All I want for Christmas" classic, but I dodn't have time to make my own cd and used other teachers, so that song didn't make an appearance in my classes today. next week fr sure though! I am also going to add some Hilary Duff to the mix, you know, to spice things up!
Ian and our friend Andy said their students weren't really into it. I was surprised to hear that, because even my oldest students were loving it! They were shouting out requests and be-bopping along to the beat! Leah mentioned that her students are depressed, so I am assuming tomorrow may be a better day for Christmas caroling with her classes! Haha. Maybe my classes tomorrow will react opposite of the way my Thursday classes acted.
They love bubblegum pop so it shouldn't have surprised me!!! It was too funny. Once they filled in the blanks from the songs I gave out "Shrimp chips." They are nasty! They are this Korean snack, similar potato chips but they are shaped more like more like long, skinny (kinda) Cheetos with ridges and are SHRIMP flavoured! So grossss!
I love doing stuff like this in the classes, it makes teaching so much more fun and the kids are actually having a good time too. The day goes by a lot faster too. Anyway, that is another little update, if anyone is still even reading this! ;) I will be uploading pictures soon from December in Korea and I will upload the videos onto facebook from the Students singing along to Britney Spears's Christmas.
Hope all is well....Cheers!
Happy "Holla"days!
I just emailed my old roomie Rexy and told her a little about my day today, so I thought I would give you guys a similar summary incase you are interested!
I had a great day with my classes today. We are doing Christmas Carols this week, and Christmas cards next week. We made cds and printed our lyrics to all the typical Christmas tunes, and the students loved it. BUT, I also printed out a Britney Spears Christmas song worksheet (fill in the blank type thing) for when I played the song in class and the kids LOVED it!!! (You may or may not know her Christmas song! It is really cute, I recommend it... "Santa can you hear me? I have been so good this year..." blablabla) So, my classes made me play that song on repeat about 13 times in each class or something. Haha, it was so ridiculous. They were also requesting Mariah's "All I want for Christmas" classic, but I dodn't have time to make my own cd and used other teachers, so that song didn't make an appearance in my classes today. next week fr sure though! I am also going to add some Hilary Duff to the mix, you know, to spice things up!
Ian and our friend Andy said their students weren't really into it. I was surprised to hear that, because even my oldest students were loving it! They were shouting out requests and be-bopping along to the beat! Leah mentioned that her students are depressed, so I am assuming tomorrow may be a better day for Christmas caroling with her classes! Haha. Maybe my classes tomorrow will react opposite of the way my Thursday classes acted.
They love bubblegum pop so it shouldn't have surprised me!!! It was too funny. Once they filled in the blanks from the songs I gave out "Shrimp chips." They are nasty! They are this Korean snack, similar potato chips but they are shaped more like more like long, skinny (kinda) Cheetos with ridges and are SHRIMP flavoured! So grossss!
I love doing stuff like this in the classes, it makes teaching so much more fun and the kids are actually having a good time too. The day goes by a lot faster too. Anyway, that is another little update, if anyone is still even reading this! ;) I will be uploading pictures soon from December in Korea and I will upload the videos onto facebook from the Students singing along to Britney Spears's Christmas.
Hope all is well....Cheers!
Happy "Holla"days!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
It's Been A While...
Helloie Ya'll!
It has been a super long time since we have written and kept you in the loop via blog. BUT, you must know that we have also been super busy. We still haven't written about Vietnam yet, and since then we have had a lot happen. We have been to Tokyo and back, our parents have come and gone, Hallowe'en happened, we climbed one of the most famous mountains in So-Ko, and my Uncle Scott just left this morning! Also, last week was my birthday and this weekend we had a little birthday shindig which was super fun!
Christmas is quickly approaching and this week we are singing Christmas Carols with all our students! The semester is coming to an end, thank goodness, because 6 months is just too long for a semester. Many of the kids are sick of us and vice versa! Also, last week was my birthday and this weekend we had a little birthday shindig which was super fun! There is just so much going on! Next weekend we are going on an organized snowboarding trip too, so it should be fun! :)
I sent out a little update email to some family members and a few others, so I am just going to blog it here as well. We will start updating the blog more, we promise.
Ian and I went to Tokyo and it was incredible. You MUST go there at some point in your life. I had such an amazing time, just people watching and exploring. It was a total switchup from iur Southeast Asia trip but it was cool to have a trip where it was less sightseeing and more just experiencing the life in Japan. We went to some really cool pleaces and we both ended up buying Nintendo DS!! We have been having a blast with it because we bought the Super Mario Brothers game too, but we are still trying to decifer the Japanese owners manual!!
Harajuku was definitly my favourite part if Tokyo and the shopping was amazing! The girls dress up there like it is Hallowe'en everyday and the individuality was so refreshing as Korea can be very rigid. Girls in Harajuku dress in goth, Little Bo Peep, Alice in Wonderland... the list goes on... it has the vibe of acceptance and uniqueness. You'll have to check out the pics on facebook if you ever have a chance!The pictures can be found on the following links for those of you who don't have Facebook:
1- http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2122781&l=7b6f0&id=187905622
2- http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123095&l=2dc48&id=187905622
We found the people in Tokyo to be very friendly and courteous. Tokyo was very clean and cabs were veryyyy expensive! We took the subway for the entire time except once, but the subway is more expensive then Korea's subway system.
Hallowe'en was really fun to do with out students because they don't really celebrate Hallowe'en here, so the kids loved it when we brought in our Jack O' Lanterns and treats. I made masks with my students, and taught the older students how to write scary stories. It was a tiring, but incredibly fun week! I have attached a few pictures from that as well!The following weekend, Ian, me and some friends (including Waterbuffalo Josh- he is organzing it) went on a hiking trip to the most famous mountain in South Korea. It is apparently beautiful this time of year.
The Hiking Pictures:
1- http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124789&l=3ac15&id=187905622
2- http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124999&l=4aad7&id=187905622
We also had American Thanksgiving with our fellow foreign teachers. Check out the pics here: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2125775&l=f7be7&id=187905622
Then, after that, my dad and stepmom along with Ian's parents came to visit! I will send pictures from that soon! It was a super fun, tiring week. It was so great that they were able to come visit us! And my uncle Scottcame yesterday on his way home from a business trip for a day!!!
Pictures with the parents:
1- http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2126955&l=09f1c&id=187905622
2- http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2127094&l=31cc8&id=187905622
Then last week it was my birthday and we celebrated this weekend in one of the bar districts. Other then that, time is flying by here! We have been here for almost 7 MONTHS !!!
Anyway, there is a little update from us. Cheers... You'll be hearing from us again soon!
It has been a super long time since we have written and kept you in the loop via blog. BUT, you must know that we have also been super busy. We still haven't written about Vietnam yet, and since then we have had a lot happen. We have been to Tokyo and back, our parents have come and gone, Hallowe'en happened, we climbed one of the most famous mountains in So-Ko, and my Uncle Scott just left this morning! Also, last week was my birthday and this weekend we had a little birthday shindig which was super fun!
Christmas is quickly approaching and this week we are singing Christmas Carols with all our students! The semester is coming to an end, thank goodness, because 6 months is just too long for a semester. Many of the kids are sick of us and vice versa! Also, last week was my birthday and this weekend we had a little birthday shindig which was super fun! There is just so much going on! Next weekend we are going on an organized snowboarding trip too, so it should be fun! :)
I sent out a little update email to some family members and a few others, so I am just going to blog it here as well. We will start updating the blog more, we promise.
Ian and I went to Tokyo and it was incredible. You MUST go there at some point in your life. I had such an amazing time, just people watching and exploring. It was a total switchup from iur Southeast Asia trip but it was cool to have a trip where it was less sightseeing and more just experiencing the life in Japan. We went to some really cool pleaces and we both ended up buying Nintendo DS!! We have been having a blast with it because we bought the Super Mario Brothers game too, but we are still trying to decifer the Japanese owners manual!!
Harajuku was definitly my favourite part if Tokyo and the shopping was amazing! The girls dress up there like it is Hallowe'en everyday and the individuality was so refreshing as Korea can be very rigid. Girls in Harajuku dress in goth, Little Bo Peep, Alice in Wonderland... the list goes on... it has the vibe of acceptance and uniqueness. You'll have to check out the pics on facebook if you ever have a chance!The pictures can be found on the following links for those of you who don't have Facebook:
1- http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2122781&l=7b6f0&id=187905622
2- http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123095&l=2dc48&id=187905622
We found the people in Tokyo to be very friendly and courteous. Tokyo was very clean and cabs were veryyyy expensive! We took the subway for the entire time except once, but the subway is more expensive then Korea's subway system.
Hallowe'en was really fun to do with out students because they don't really celebrate Hallowe'en here, so the kids loved it when we brought in our Jack O' Lanterns and treats. I made masks with my students, and taught the older students how to write scary stories. It was a tiring, but incredibly fun week! I have attached a few pictures from that as well!The following weekend, Ian, me and some friends (including Waterbuffalo Josh- he is organzing it) went on a hiking trip to the most famous mountain in South Korea. It is apparently beautiful this time of year.
The Hiking Pictures:
1- http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124789&l=3ac15&id=187905622
2- http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124999&l=4aad7&id=187905622
We also had American Thanksgiving with our fellow foreign teachers. Check out the pics here: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2125775&l=f7be7&id=187905622
Then, after that, my dad and stepmom along with Ian's parents came to visit! I will send pictures from that soon! It was a super fun, tiring week. It was so great that they were able to come visit us! And my uncle Scottcame yesterday on his way home from a business trip for a day!!!
Pictures with the parents:
1- http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2126955&l=09f1c&id=187905622
2- http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2127094&l=31cc8&id=187905622
Then last week it was my birthday and we celebrated this weekend in one of the bar districts. Other then that, time is flying by here! We have been here for almost 7 MONTHS !!!
Anyway, there is a little update from us. Cheers... You'll be hearing from us again soon!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Monkeys, & Elephants and TIGERS--- OH MY!
Kanchanaburi, Thailand was an amazing daytrip from Bangkok. Our trip to Thailand would not have been complete without visiting the incredible tigers and seeing a countryside setting of the country we have wanted to visit for so long.
So, before going on our big adventure, we debated what daytrip to take from Bangkok. My friend Meaghan's boyfriend, Devin, had told us about this amazing tiger sanctuary, where monks find hurt, abandoned baby tigers and nurse them to health.
Obviously Ian and I were extremely blown away by the sound of this. Touching full grown and baby tigers? We had to see it to believe it. Devin had never been there, so we had to do some research. Only one of our Thailand travel guides even mentioned it because the Lonely Planet authors don't seem to think it is safe.
The other option was Pattaya. We heard Pattaya was dirty and the “red light district” of Thailand, but they have a crocodile farm there and you can take pictures with tigers and ride elephants. Needless to say, Ian didn’t think it would be the best choice to go there. So once we got to Bangkok we searched different travel agencies to find the best deal. We ended up finding an amazing day trip that offered so many different things!
Kanchanaburi is a small town about 2 and a half hours outside of Thailand. The population is 61,800. It is most famous for the Kwai River and the Death Railway, The World War Two museum, as well as the site for the World War Two prisoner-of-war camp. The tiger sanctuary is a common destination as well. First, we went to the Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetery. Most of the buried soldiers here are British and Dutch and the cemetery is a gift from the Thai people to the families of the soldiers who died on their soil.
Next we went to the Kwai River Bridge, otherwise known as the Death Railway bridge and the World War Two Museum, also known as the “Jeath War Museum.” It was an interesting insight to the Second World War and offers a beautiful view of the River Kwai Bridge. The River Kwai “Death Railway” bridge was incredibly eerie. We stood on the bridge thinking ‘So many people died to make this tiny bridge.’ There is a movie that we have yet to see that made the bridge famous, called “The Bridge on the River Kwai”. The bridge was a very small (it is roughly 3 km long) but was a strategic part of the Death Railway to Burma. It was estimated at the time that the railway would take 5 years to build properly, but the human laborers were forced to have the railway completed in 16 MONTHS.
We then ate a quick lunch of rice, stir fried chicken and vegetables and headed to the old rickety train. It was good to travel along the countryside and see a part of Thailand we would have never seen. The only drawback was that the train was over capacity so we were standing for most of the ride! We met a really cool traveler named Tanya, who is a lifecoach back in England, time flew by as we chatted with her about all of her travels. After Thailand, she was planning on heading to India.
Next, they took Ian and I to KAEW Elephant Camp. It was a very cool experience to ride an elephant through the forest. It was even cooler to feed the cuties plantains! But Ian and I both said we would never do it again, unless we were sure the animals were not being mistreated. Animal rights aren’t important in the Thai culture, and it is very unfortunate. Our guide was carrying this huge blade/hammer and I was hoping that he wouldn’t use it.
After our elephant ride, we went to a beautiful waterfall, took some pictures, saw a monkey chained to a tree (terrible) and said goodbye to Tanya. We began our journey to the Tiger Temple, which is actually a little outside of Kanchanaburi. It was incredible. Horses and other animals were roaming freely as we set down to the tigers. It was quite the site, with all the tigers lying down in front of a small canyon. A monk takes your hand and leads you to each tiger to pet them and get a picture with them. At first I was really nervous, but the tigers didn’t mind, so I eased up a bit. You can see it in my pictures too. I am gradually getting more and more comfortable. Anyway, then we went up and played with the baby tigers. Our main guide for the day said she came a few weeks ago, was playing with a baby tiger and….. she showed us the scar on her hand. The tiger had bit her! We sat with a monk and a baby tiger and took pictures, and then followed a little boy monk and 2 more baby tigers around, as they were jumping on each other and playing like kittens. Cows and bulls were standing nearby, surveying our experience, clearly jealous at all the attention the tigers were getting. Sorry guys, but we have you back in North America to play with!
An incredible trip that I recommend to anyone planning on going to Bangkok!
So, before going on our big adventure, we debated what daytrip to take from Bangkok. My friend Meaghan's boyfriend, Devin, had told us about this amazing tiger sanctuary, where monks find hurt, abandoned baby tigers and nurse them to health.
Obviously Ian and I were extremely blown away by the sound of this. Touching full grown and baby tigers? We had to see it to believe it. Devin had never been there, so we had to do some research. Only one of our Thailand travel guides even mentioned it because the Lonely Planet authors don't seem to think it is safe.
The other option was Pattaya. We heard Pattaya was dirty and the “red light district” of Thailand, but they have a crocodile farm there and you can take pictures with tigers and ride elephants. Needless to say, Ian didn’t think it would be the best choice to go there. So once we got to Bangkok we searched different travel agencies to find the best deal. We ended up finding an amazing day trip that offered so many different things!
Kanchanaburi is a small town about 2 and a half hours outside of Thailand. The population is 61,800. It is most famous for the Kwai River and the Death Railway, The World War Two museum, as well as the site for the World War Two prisoner-of-war camp. The tiger sanctuary is a common destination as well. First, we went to the Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetery. Most of the buried soldiers here are British and Dutch and the cemetery is a gift from the Thai people to the families of the soldiers who died on their soil.
Next we went to the Kwai River Bridge, otherwise known as the Death Railway bridge and the World War Two Museum, also known as the “Jeath War Museum.” It was an interesting insight to the Second World War and offers a beautiful view of the River Kwai Bridge. The River Kwai “Death Railway” bridge was incredibly eerie. We stood on the bridge thinking ‘So many people died to make this tiny bridge.’ There is a movie that we have yet to see that made the bridge famous, called “The Bridge on the River Kwai”. The bridge was a very small (it is roughly 3 km long) but was a strategic part of the Death Railway to Burma. It was estimated at the time that the railway would take 5 years to build properly, but the human laborers were forced to have the railway completed in 16 MONTHS.
We then ate a quick lunch of rice, stir fried chicken and vegetables and headed to the old rickety train. It was good to travel along the countryside and see a part of Thailand we would have never seen. The only drawback was that the train was over capacity so we were standing for most of the ride! We met a really cool traveler named Tanya, who is a lifecoach back in England, time flew by as we chatted with her about all of her travels. After Thailand, she was planning on heading to India.
Next, they took Ian and I to KAEW Elephant Camp. It was a very cool experience to ride an elephant through the forest. It was even cooler to feed the cuties plantains! But Ian and I both said we would never do it again, unless we were sure the animals were not being mistreated. Animal rights aren’t important in the Thai culture, and it is very unfortunate. Our guide was carrying this huge blade/hammer and I was hoping that he wouldn’t use it.
After our elephant ride, we went to a beautiful waterfall, took some pictures, saw a monkey chained to a tree (terrible) and said goodbye to Tanya. We began our journey to the Tiger Temple, which is actually a little outside of Kanchanaburi. It was incredible. Horses and other animals were roaming freely as we set down to the tigers. It was quite the site, with all the tigers lying down in front of a small canyon. A monk takes your hand and leads you to each tiger to pet them and get a picture with them. At first I was really nervous, but the tigers didn’t mind, so I eased up a bit. You can see it in my pictures too. I am gradually getting more and more comfortable. Anyway, then we went up and played with the baby tigers. Our main guide for the day said she came a few weeks ago, was playing with a baby tiger and….. she showed us the scar on her hand. The tiger had bit her! We sat with a monk and a baby tiger and took pictures, and then followed a little boy monk and 2 more baby tigers around, as they were jumping on each other and playing like kittens. Cows and bulls were standing nearby, surveying our experience, clearly jealous at all the attention the tigers were getting. Sorry guys, but we have you back in North America to play with!
An incredible trip that I recommend to anyone planning on going to Bangkok!
Monday, October 22, 2007
It's a holiday in Cambodia
The song by Dead Kennedys never got old when we were travelling through Cambodia. I still like it as a blog post-title as well.
First things first. Cambodia is a country that is between the southern part of Vietnam and southeast Thailand. Thailand borders the west/north, Laos is north as well, and Vietnam is east. The population today stands around 15 million, and 40% of those are under 15. Not sure if it has any natural resources or exports, but its infrastructure has rapidly improved from awful to inconvenient in the past 10 years. There are 2 main cities, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. From what I read the rest is pretty undeveloped. They were very prosperous from the dawning of the common era, but their resources were streched a little thin when they tried to do too much in the 15th century. The French came in to help in the mid 1800s and their influence is still apparent. Pol Pot orchestrated one of the worst genocides in history, with an estimated 1.5 of the country's 8 million people dying as a direct result of his Kmher Rouge's policies. On with the stories...
Kelly and I flew from Bangkok to Siem Reap aboard Bangkok Airways (a wonderful airline that could not have been improved the 3 times we used it) and had arranged a pickup from the airport with our guesthouse before we left. Our tuk-tuk for the next 2 days greeted us with a sign for Kellg Furgal (a step up from Kelly Furgag, as the confirmation e-mail addressed her) and 2 bottles of water. We went to the Golden Villa guesthouse, which came equipped with more water in the bar fridge, bananas, TV with BBC and CNN Asian centres, and flower petals on the bed. All this, and the airport transport for only $15! That first night we got some food from the attached restaurant, which was cheap and delicious with fantastic staff, and went straight to bed.
The main attraction of Siem Reap, and arguably the main attraction of southeast Asia, are the Temples of Angkor. The temples were constructed between the 9th and 13th centuries mainly and really show the dominance of Cambodia at the time. They are magnificent. They seem excessive for the time, with their size and the number of temples, and it is shocking how they have held up through wars and weather. I could go on forever about the temples, but I'll try to keep it to the highlights.
The first day we did the 'small tour' for $10. It started at Angkor Wat, which to this day is the largest religious structure in the world. Interesting to see at the beginning, because the gate you walk through before the main temple has 3 God statues all given equal status. It started as a Hindu temple, so there's Vishnu, later converted to Buddhist so there's a Buddha, and a 3rd I can't remember. The main temple is huge, 3 levels representing hell, earth, and heaven. The hell layer was huge, maybe 400mx400m square with remarkable carvings on the walls the entire way (called bas-reliefs). The hell-earth-heaven theme is repeated often in the reliefs as well.
After that we went to Bayon, which has over 200 indentical-looking faces - although varying in size - looking in every direction atop numerous pillars stick up seemingly at random. (Bigger and less symetrical than pillars, but I can't find the word). The faces are said to resemble King Jayavarman VII to help him keep an eye on everything and everyone. This was one of the most interesting because most of it was roofless and it probably has the most fallen/damaged rocks lining the outside of all the temples we saw. Yet it was still in what seemed to be remarkable shape, with all the bas-reliefs looking crisp and impressive.
We then saw a few more smaller ones before we met Bas and Susanne and were caught in the rain. Bas is Dutch and he just got a job with Vodofone so he and his German girlfriend Susanne took some time before he started and travelled Southeast Asia. We tried hiding under a tree for shelter, but it wasn't long before we sucked it up and ran under something with a roof. We were hesitant to do that in the first place, because the Cambodian kids are absolutely relentless trying you get you to buy their crap. Bracelets, postcards, clothing, books, water, and many other items of varying uselessness are offered and every 'No' is ignored. Needless to say, with a captive audience they bombarded us with their stuff. The problem is that Kelly and Susanne actually bought some shirts, so they knew we had at least some interest. After we had the shirts, we thanked them for their help and took our chances with the rain.
The rain didn't let up much, we seperated from Bas and Susanne with dinner plans for that night and saw a few more temples (Thommanon and Banteay Kdei) which were nondescript compared to the others we'd seen.
We met Bas and Susanne for dinner at Amok (also the name of the most popular traditional Khmer (Cambodian) dish) and headed from drinks at Angkor What!? bar, where 2 pitchers for $10 gets you a free t-shirt! We obviously took advantage of the offer, with Bas and I proudly displaying our new threads for the rest of the night.
The next day we did the 'grand tour' with hopes taking a hot air balloon over the temples. Unfortunately it was too windy for the balloon to go out, so we settled on more temples. Most memorable were Pre Rup and Ta Prohm. Pre Rup was interesting because it was made of smaller bricks, like you see used for houses. The others are mostly huge blocks, bigger than cinder blocks. The smaller ones were cool because the wear is so different that it actually starts to look symetrical again. cylinders are worn into cones, edges are rounded off squares, and it all comes together to look somehow planned.
Ta Prohm is the one temple of the area that has been left to age naturally. Trees, plants, and rocks are all left in the place nature decided they should reside (unless dangerous of course). There are many fantastic scenes with trees absolutely taking over a wall, with roots weaving through the temple like thread through cotton. Very impressive how trees can adapt to their surroundings, with some literally growing on top of a wall of rock.
The only disappointing thing about the temples was that the price of admission ($20/day, or 3 days for $40) went to a private company. I imagine that this decision was made in haste following the destruction of the country through the genocide to make some quick cash, but that's only my theory.
We flew from Siem Reap to the Phnom Penh that night, and met some really cool people as we were getting off the plane. Kris recognized my bag as Mountain Equipment Co-op and the ex-Winnipegger was happy to mention it. He's been in London for about 10 years now, and his girlfriend Myra hit the scene after leaving Pakistan 5 years ago. They have travelled more than anyone I've ever met and were giving us some good tips. Great company to have around for food and drinks.
We were only in Phnom Penh for 1 full day so we had to make the most of it. We had a tuk-tuk driver named Lucky who took great care of us and we hit the S21 torture prison (a very chilling ex-school, where 7 of its 2000 inmates survived), the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek (where nearly 10,000 were executed), the Russian market (where Polo shirts were $4), the Royal Palace & Silver Pagoda (impressive buildings, nothing too special inside of them), and finally visited Cambodia Light Children's Association orphanage. We brought them so towels and Canada pencils, but the kids were happier just to see us. It was very moralizing to see these kids who were so happy, playing in the raining street with no shoes or shirts and loving it. They saw it as lucky to have food and shelter, and visitors like us were a luxury they weren't going to take for granted. They wanted to show us their rooms (5 to a room, sleeping on the floor), art, boxing moves, dances, books, everything. They were thrilled that we would be interested in them. My troubles had never been less important as they were when we left.
We had dinner with Myra and Kris and took Lucky out for a drink. We asked Lucky why he was so named, and he was thrilled to tell us his story. When Pol Pot's men came for his family, his mother was pregnant with Lucky, her 11th child. The cronies saw all the children and let Mr. & Mrs. Lucky live because of all the care they needed to give. Because her kids saved her life, she named him Lucky. He was even happier to tell us that of all his family members, 10 brothers & sisters and 2 parents, only 1 was killed in the genocide. Lucky felt just that way, that his family go through the whole thing practically unscathed.
Cambodia is a wonderful place that will make you appreciate everything your life has given you. The people are friendly, the food is delicious, and the history is fascinating. After everything they have been through, with all the uncertainty regarding the future, the people are still gracious and warm. Unforgetable.
First things first. Cambodia is a country that is between the southern part of Vietnam and southeast Thailand. Thailand borders the west/north, Laos is north as well, and Vietnam is east. The population today stands around 15 million, and 40% of those are under 15. Not sure if it has any natural resources or exports, but its infrastructure has rapidly improved from awful to inconvenient in the past 10 years. There are 2 main cities, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. From what I read the rest is pretty undeveloped. They were very prosperous from the dawning of the common era, but their resources were streched a little thin when they tried to do too much in the 15th century. The French came in to help in the mid 1800s and their influence is still apparent. Pol Pot orchestrated one of the worst genocides in history, with an estimated 1.5 of the country's 8 million people dying as a direct result of his Kmher Rouge's policies. On with the stories...
Kelly and I flew from Bangkok to Siem Reap aboard Bangkok Airways (a wonderful airline that could not have been improved the 3 times we used it) and had arranged a pickup from the airport with our guesthouse before we left. Our tuk-tuk for the next 2 days greeted us with a sign for Kellg Furgal (a step up from Kelly Furgag, as the confirmation e-mail addressed her) and 2 bottles of water. We went to the Golden Villa guesthouse, which came equipped with more water in the bar fridge, bananas, TV with BBC and CNN Asian centres, and flower petals on the bed. All this, and the airport transport for only $15! That first night we got some food from the attached restaurant, which was cheap and delicious with fantastic staff, and went straight to bed.
The main attraction of Siem Reap, and arguably the main attraction of southeast Asia, are the Temples of Angkor. The temples were constructed between the 9th and 13th centuries mainly and really show the dominance of Cambodia at the time. They are magnificent. They seem excessive for the time, with their size and the number of temples, and it is shocking how they have held up through wars and weather. I could go on forever about the temples, but I'll try to keep it to the highlights.
The first day we did the 'small tour' for $10. It started at Angkor Wat, which to this day is the largest religious structure in the world. Interesting to see at the beginning, because the gate you walk through before the main temple has 3 God statues all given equal status. It started as a Hindu temple, so there's Vishnu, later converted to Buddhist so there's a Buddha, and a 3rd I can't remember. The main temple is huge, 3 levels representing hell, earth, and heaven. The hell layer was huge, maybe 400mx400m square with remarkable carvings on the walls the entire way (called bas-reliefs). The hell-earth-heaven theme is repeated often in the reliefs as well.
After that we went to Bayon, which has over 200 indentical-looking faces - although varying in size - looking in every direction atop numerous pillars stick up seemingly at random. (Bigger and less symetrical than pillars, but I can't find the word). The faces are said to resemble King Jayavarman VII to help him keep an eye on everything and everyone. This was one of the most interesting because most of it was roofless and it probably has the most fallen/damaged rocks lining the outside of all the temples we saw. Yet it was still in what seemed to be remarkable shape, with all the bas-reliefs looking crisp and impressive.
We then saw a few more smaller ones before we met Bas and Susanne and were caught in the rain. Bas is Dutch and he just got a job with Vodofone so he and his German girlfriend Susanne took some time before he started and travelled Southeast Asia. We tried hiding under a tree for shelter, but it wasn't long before we sucked it up and ran under something with a roof. We were hesitant to do that in the first place, because the Cambodian kids are absolutely relentless trying you get you to buy their crap. Bracelets, postcards, clothing, books, water, and many other items of varying uselessness are offered and every 'No' is ignored. Needless to say, with a captive audience they bombarded us with their stuff. The problem is that Kelly and Susanne actually bought some shirts, so they knew we had at least some interest. After we had the shirts, we thanked them for their help and took our chances with the rain.
The rain didn't let up much, we seperated from Bas and Susanne with dinner plans for that night and saw a few more temples (Thommanon and Banteay Kdei) which were nondescript compared to the others we'd seen.
We met Bas and Susanne for dinner at Amok (also the name of the most popular traditional Khmer (Cambodian) dish) and headed from drinks at Angkor What!? bar, where 2 pitchers for $10 gets you a free t-shirt! We obviously took advantage of the offer, with Bas and I proudly displaying our new threads for the rest of the night.
The next day we did the 'grand tour' with hopes taking a hot air balloon over the temples. Unfortunately it was too windy for the balloon to go out, so we settled on more temples. Most memorable were Pre Rup and Ta Prohm. Pre Rup was interesting because it was made of smaller bricks, like you see used for houses. The others are mostly huge blocks, bigger than cinder blocks. The smaller ones were cool because the wear is so different that it actually starts to look symetrical again. cylinders are worn into cones, edges are rounded off squares, and it all comes together to look somehow planned.
Ta Prohm is the one temple of the area that has been left to age naturally. Trees, plants, and rocks are all left in the place nature decided they should reside (unless dangerous of course). There are many fantastic scenes with trees absolutely taking over a wall, with roots weaving through the temple like thread through cotton. Very impressive how trees can adapt to their surroundings, with some literally growing on top of a wall of rock.
The only disappointing thing about the temples was that the price of admission ($20/day, or 3 days for $40) went to a private company. I imagine that this decision was made in haste following the destruction of the country through the genocide to make some quick cash, but that's only my theory.
We flew from Siem Reap to the Phnom Penh that night, and met some really cool people as we were getting off the plane. Kris recognized my bag as Mountain Equipment Co-op and the ex-Winnipegger was happy to mention it. He's been in London for about 10 years now, and his girlfriend Myra hit the scene after leaving Pakistan 5 years ago. They have travelled more than anyone I've ever met and were giving us some good tips. Great company to have around for food and drinks.
We were only in Phnom Penh for 1 full day so we had to make the most of it. We had a tuk-tuk driver named Lucky who took great care of us and we hit the S21 torture prison (a very chilling ex-school, where 7 of its 2000 inmates survived), the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek (where nearly 10,000 were executed), the Russian market (where Polo shirts were $4), the Royal Palace & Silver Pagoda (impressive buildings, nothing too special inside of them), and finally visited Cambodia Light Children's Association orphanage. We brought them so towels and Canada pencils, but the kids were happier just to see us. It was very moralizing to see these kids who were so happy, playing in the raining street with no shoes or shirts and loving it. They saw it as lucky to have food and shelter, and visitors like us were a luxury they weren't going to take for granted. They wanted to show us their rooms (5 to a room, sleeping on the floor), art, boxing moves, dances, books, everything. They were thrilled that we would be interested in them. My troubles had never been less important as they were when we left.
We had dinner with Myra and Kris and took Lucky out for a drink. We asked Lucky why he was so named, and he was thrilled to tell us his story. When Pol Pot's men came for his family, his mother was pregnant with Lucky, her 11th child. The cronies saw all the children and let Mr. & Mrs. Lucky live because of all the care they needed to give. Because her kids saved her life, she named him Lucky. He was even happier to tell us that of all his family members, 10 brothers & sisters and 2 parents, only 1 was killed in the genocide. Lucky felt just that way, that his family go through the whole thing practically unscathed.
Cambodia is a wonderful place that will make you appreciate everything your life has given you. The people are friendly, the food is delicious, and the history is fascinating. After everything they have been through, with all the uncertainty regarding the future, the people are still gracious and warm. Unforgetable.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Bangkok, Thailand
Well, we are back in full force and are finally writing about our trip. I thought I would take some of what I wrote in my travel journal and add it into the blog when need be. So whenever I put something ins italics and quotes, it is from my travel journal!
* Note: "Th" is an abbreviated version of the word Thanon, which means street. *
We started in Thailand. We flew in to Bangkok after a brief stopover in the Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam airport. Soon, we arrived at Khoasan Road, Bangkok late at night on September 23rd. as late as it was, the night was just beginning for Thailand tourists and dwellers. It was like what I picture a mini-Las Vegas to look like. We were so tired, so it almost felt as though we were in the Twilight Zone! We ended up staying at one of the nicer Guesthouses that cost a bit more then the rest because it had a good reputation, free breakfast and was one of the first ones we saw. We just wanted to throw our bags down and go grab our first Thai meal! So that we did. We went to a restaurant called "O Hungry" (clever, eh?) and wolfed down on some awesome, pricey Thai food.
"Last night when we got in, we were both so tired and totally overwhelmed by Th Khoasan. The street is closed off at night and houses many backpackers, not to mention several bars and a full out night market. Girls are getting their hair braided in ever direction, stray dogs and cats are more than common, and Tuktuk drivers are harassing you to go for a ride. (Tonight they were trying to get us to go to a "Ping Pong Show," which is a Sex Show, yuck.)" - September 25th
The food was great however I saw something that disturbed me.
"We sat down and ordered two dishes; one which was an amazing spicy noodle dish. Luckily, for me, I watched an ugly rat scramble underneath a table a few feet away to the one closest to us.... " -September 25th
There were rats everywhere on the street, amongst the stray cats and dogs. I even joked that one rat was saw looked as big as the Toye family cat Joey!
I quickly became immune to the rats, knowing since this was my first backpacking trip, I would have to get used to things like that. I lived on a dirt floor in the Dominican--- I can handle a few rats!!!
Anyway, our first "real" day in Thailand was jam-packed and awesome! We saw so much and it was awesome to see Bangkok in the daylight- a lot less intimidating! We took a water taxi to the "Wat Pho" which is the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, rode around in a Tuktuk to a lookout point over Bangkok, went to the Temple of the Happy Buddha (which is apparently rarely open) and some markets. Ian was a bit skeptical because our Tuktuk driver wanted to take us to his 'friends' stores, and we were warned about Tutuk drivers doing that in our Lonely Planet book. But luckily the stores were decent and in the end, our Tuktuk driver didn't wait around for us, so we didn't even have to pay him! Ian and I decided to walk back to in the super hot heat, and explore.
We didn't really have any idea where we were going, but on our way we bought a cool Thai cookbook and stumbled upon the impressive Democracy Monument, on a island in the middle of a busy intersection.
First Link to pictures: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2115554&l=1d200&id=187905622
That night we went to an awesome restaurant called "Cabbages and Condoms" and also took the Sky train! The restaurant is located off of Th Sukhumvit, as classier district.
"It was hilarious. They give you condoms with your bill when you leave. Sounds trashy, eh? Well, it was quite the opposite, actually! Cabbages and Condoms is actually a resort and the restaurant is a beautiful mostly-outdoor Thai restaurant with "Bali curtains" hanging over a waterfall, long, droopy trees and branches, white Christmas lights everywhere, a Thai woman playing her Thai instrument and two floors of cleanliness and wood. We set upstairs on the top floor, overlooking the first floor and it was beautiful! A lot of the decorations were bright and colourful, all made tastefully out of condoms! There were also a few mannequins and statues made out of birth control packages and condoms.
"But there is a reason to the rhyme (or is it vice versa?) That is, a portion of what your bill comes to goes to Aids awareness and sexual education on Thailand. Pretty cool!" - September 25th
We took the Sky train back to the backpackers area. The Sky train is like an outdoor subway, overlooking parts of Bangkok. It is really neat to travel on, and everyone who goes to Bangkok should try to take a ride! It is alot smaller in size then the subway system in Korea, but it doesn't cover nearly as much area, or cater to nearly as much people. We ended up wandering around Chinatown and meeting some interesting characters.
In another post Ian or myself will write about our trip to Kanchanaburi, and visiting the elephants, Death Railway and tigers. When we arrived back from Kanchanaburi though, we were so tired, but still wanted to go out since it was our last night in Bangkok. We went to a really cool night market.After some shopping, we headed back to our lovely backpackers area. We decided on an awesome hot pink bus that was turned into a bar, serving as many drinks as you can imagine! Tables were set up beside the bar, and we quickly made friends with a group of girls and one guy who had rented a hookah from the pink bus, and were smoking strawberry tobacco. They group was made up of Thai people who all knew intermediate level English, and we ended up sharing some "bucket" (what cocktails are commonly served in in Southeast Asia) and some laughs with them. It was really cool to meet Thai people or age and converse with them! We had a blast that night!
Second Link to Pictures: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2115563&l=4832c&id=187905622
The next morning/early afternoon, we had our last hurrah in Bangkok because we flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia that night. We went to the Grand Palace, "Wat Phra Kaew" otherwise known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and shopped on Th Khoasan. The Grand Palace is still sued today for the King only on special occasions.
Before we knew it, we were off on a plane to Cambodia to see one of the seven Wonders of the World!
PICTURES:
First Link to pictures: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2115554&l=1d200&id=187905622
Second Link to Pictures: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2115563&l=4832c&id=187905622
Monday, October 8, 2007
Back from Southeast Asia!!
Helloie everybody!
We just wanted to write a quick post to let everyone know that we are back safe and sound from our trip! Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam were all phenomenal and amazing.... we suggest all three countries to anyone who is considering travelling! The trip was so much fun, so educational and totally exhausting! Both Ian and I are feeling a bit under the weather since we have been back, but it was definitely worth it!
We both kept travel journals (shout out to Erin and Rex for giving me journals as going-away gifts!) during our expedition, so once we have a minute we will sit down and write about our trip and take excerpts from our journals! Also, I have already started posting pictures and videos onto Facebook, so make sure you check them out when you can :)
We'll write more within the next few days, drop us a line and give us an update! Hope all is well:)
Cheers!
xoxo
kel and ian
We just wanted to write a quick post to let everyone know that we are back safe and sound from our trip! Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam were all phenomenal and amazing.... we suggest all three countries to anyone who is considering travelling! The trip was so much fun, so educational and totally exhausting! Both Ian and I are feeling a bit under the weather since we have been back, but it was definitely worth it!
We both kept travel journals (shout out to Erin and Rex for giving me journals as going-away gifts!) during our expedition, so once we have a minute we will sit down and write about our trip and take excerpts from our journals! Also, I have already started posting pictures and videos onto Facebook, so make sure you check them out when you can :)
We'll write more within the next few days, drop us a line and give us an update! Hope all is well:)
Cheers!
xoxo
kel and ian
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