New Pictures!

Here are the pictures from my visits with Aileen and Megan. I spent the last month in Indonesia and now I'm in Malaysia on Borneo Island. Next, I'll travel to Singapore then penisular Malaysia before heading back to Thailand to meet a friend for some more island hopping. Eventually, I may go home :)
Hope you're all doing well, I sure am!

Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Mekong Delta)

Thailand (Bangkok, Koh Samui, Kanchanburi, Ayutthaya)

Indonesia (Bali, Lombok)

Pictures!

I know, I know. I've been really bad about keeping this up, but when you see the pictures you'll understand I've been busy. Here are some albums to keep you occupied.

Vietnam - Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=135263&l=05d1f&id=798630540

Vietnam - Scuba Diving
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=135257&l=e645f&id=798630540

Laos - Huay Xai, Luang Prabang, Phonsavanh
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=127788&l=6f98d&id=798630540

Enjoy!

The Second Week: Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and the Golden Triangle

The second week was a bit of an adventure. I spend the first part of the week relaxing in Chiang Mai, spending many afternoons relaxing by the pool. Of course, you can't relax all the time so I took a Thai cooking course. The teacher was Charlie's friend, Boom, who is an excellent chef. The morning started off with a trip to the local market where she told us all about the different veggies and such and we bought ingredients for our recipes. Then we drove to the cooking school, located in the country. We got our aprons and chef's hats on and started cooking! The first dish was Pad Thai: noodles with chicken, egg and other veggies, one of my favorites.

Next, we made Tom Yum: a spicy soup with prawns.

Then we had a choice of red or green curry. I chose red, my favorite, with chicken.

Then we made mangoes and sticky rice with palm sugar.

Next was chicken stir-fry with cashew nuts.

Finally, we made Thai green papaya salad, very spicy. When I eventually get home I'll host a fabulous Thai dinner party.

At the end of the week Charlie, Naz and I took the bus north to Chiang Rai. We did a day trip to the Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar (Burma) meet. Getting there was really easy. We followed the info office's advice and took a bus to Chiang Sean, then a minibus to the Golden Triangle. We got there find, walked around, saw a giant buddha, ate lunch. We then walked to the Hall of Opium, recommended by some guy to be much better than the House of Opium. The entrance is a long tunnel with colored lights and strange people-like creatures coming out of the walls. Apparently, its supposed to be like an opium experience. The rest of the Hall is 3 floors of video presentations, dioramas, and artifacts going from the history of opium to the addiction and victims. Very informative, but I was sick of reading by the end of it.

Now, is where the adventure got interesting. We thought we could just go back the way we came. We walked back to the busy part of the Golden Triangle and looked for a minibus to take us back to the bus. Unfortunately, there were no minibuses going back. Every way we could get back wanted a lot of money which we didn't want to part with so we started asking people if they were going to Chiang Sean. We found a really nice young couple going and they offered to take us all the way back to Chiang Rai. On the way they took us to some interesting temples and showed us around the University where she worked. When we got back they refused to take any money or let us buy them dinner. Very nice people.

The next day, Charlie and Naz headed back to Chiang Mai. I was going to wait until the next day to leave, but I met a German girl going the same way I was so I left with her. We took the bus to Chiang Khong and crossed the Mekong into Laos.

Facebook is giving me problems today, sorry I'll try to post more pictures in a few days.

The First Week: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pai - Thailand

Its been almost a week since I left Korea to start my adventure. I arrived in Bangkok at 3am in pouring rain. The next day I woke to sunshine and tropical temperatures. I only stayed there 1 night, I had planned to take the train to Chiang Mai, but found a cheap air ticket so flew instead. My friend, Charlie, who I met in Cambodia has been staying here for a few months so I met up with her and met her friends. I've visited Doi Suthep, a temple with 300 stairs and Bhuping Palace, the winter home of the King and Queen. There were lots of amazing flowers there. Then we went off-roading and I got to drive a 4x4 standard on the wrong side of the road in the jungle. Very fun! We visited a tiger farm and played with 4, 2 month old baby tigers. They didn't play much, they were very sleepy, nap time I guess. On Thursday I went with some friends of Charlie's to Pai, a small village in the mountains near the Burmese border. It was really nice, reminded me off Banff and Jasper, but with jungle. The road to get there was crazy! 1864 curves in the road, all switch-backs. Apparently, its in the Guinness record book. We stayed at a fantastic resort with a great view and a swimming pool for only $15/night (between 2 of us). The next day was a bit of a write-off because of car problems, but eventually got it fixed and went back to Chiang Mai. Now its time to do some laundry.

Its difficult for me to post pics because I'm using shared computers so all my pics are on facebook. Click the link to see.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=121998&l=777e2&id=798630540

The Plan

Later today I'll be leaving on my dream vacation. A 3-4 month tour of SE Asia. I'll be updating the blog with photos and stories of all my adventures. My plan is to start out in Bangkok then take the train to ChangMai where I'll be meeting a girl I met in Cambodia last summer. I'll spend some time exploring northern Thailand then head to Laos on a boat. I'll spend about 2 weeks in Laos before heading to Hanoi, Vietnam. My friend will meet me there and we'll take our time and travel down the coast, where I hope to learn to scuba dive. In Ho Chi Minh City my friend, Aileen, from Canada, will meet me. She has a few weeks vacation so she's decided to come travel with me for it. We'll see the sight around HCMC and then head to the Thai peninsula and relax on the beaches of Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan. We'll spend her last few days together in Bangkok then I'll fly to Bali, Indonesia to meet Megan, my sister. We'll spend a few weeks island hopping and then she'll leave any my last few weeks will be spend on the islands of Java and Sumatra. Then I'll head to Singapore, the last stop on my trip. Then its back to Canada, but I'm not sure I'll be able to leave my backpacker lifestyle behind. I'm really excited!! Bye!

I'll still be keeping in touch by e-mail, facebook and skype.