A Warm Welcome - Back in the States

I'm back! And I guess you have to come home sometime, so here I am, back in the States and the sorrow I feel for having my trip end is real and all my many experiences are now just memories.

Once landed, it was a perfect surprise to be greeted by my favorite sister and closest friends at the airport. The flight was quite long, launching from Bangkok to Japan, through San Francisco and finally a trails end in SLC - it was roughly 22 hours in transport. I can't say I slept much at all, and also left on no sleep, trying to enjoy my final moments in Thailand - with a massage, 11:30 pm pedicure, and all my last minute shopping. The worst thing about the flight is that the movies were rotten and I only wished I could've slept through them. I was quite tired once we touched down. But having the girls there to welcome me home was fabulous. They'd bought matching "Hello Kitty" t-shirts in honor of Asia, and I was lucky enough to get one too.

It was an incredible journey over the last 4 months. I was able to visit Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar/Burma and Malaysia. Words can't quite describe how I've felt and what I experienced. It opened my eyes to new cultures and a history lesson everywhere I went. I have an overwhelming love for the people and admire their strengths and the hope in their eyes. I saw a whole new level of poverty in several of the countries and I will forever ask the question why I was so lucky to be born here and have so much opportunity, choice and freedom?

Wrapping Up 2 Weeks With the 'Rents

Well, after 5 rain-filled and windy days in Ko Samui on the east side, we tripped it over to the west coast of Thailand to Phuket, in hopes of finding sunshine. However, the same weather pattern seemed to be hitting all of southern Thailand and ruining every tourists search for some beachtime.

However, you have to make the most of the hand that's dealt to you, so while in Phuket, we found a lovely place to stay up on the hill with a beach view and a covered porch. This meant that we could sit outside playing cards, writing postcards or reading books and not be pelted with raindrops. Prior to our arrival in Kata Beach, we had a small argument with our minivan driver, who dropped us off on the curb and told us to walk. Haha! So we recruited a taxi driver, with a fellow Nepalese couple, and were carted to Kata. This beach was a little more remote than Patong Beach - which is where all the craziness, lady-boys, the couples of old white men with young Thai girls, cabaret shows and flashy neon street lights thrive and tourists flock. This is not so much our scene but we did head there one night for the experience and to eat an overpriced seafood meal. My dad was grateful to be strolling the streets with 2 ladies, to avoid the overly agressive women loitering at the bars. Besides the experience of walking down BangLa Road in Patong Beach, there were a few moments of sunshine. We spent a couple hours down on the beach, splashing in the waves and soaking up the sun when it occasionally peaked through the clouds. But then the rains began to fall again and with the nightly downpours, water filled the streets.



We looked at the weather report for the week and it looked like rains were in the forecast for the next 6 days, so we only spent 2 days in Phuket before booking our flight out to Bangkok.

Our time in Bangkok was short. I'm not a huge fan, although it gets better each time I go back...that's 5 times now. The highlights were shopping at the large weekend market, Chatuchak. Where my dad was such a good sport and waited around patiently while my mom and I bargained and bought silks, purses and jewelery.



Then the folks set off for a boatride up the Chao Praya River and sight seeing at Wat Pho (the reclining buddha). I met up with them later at Lumpini Park, for a little bit of greenery in our lives. We also had a delightful Thai bbq dinner, where we were waited on by a ladyboy...the he/she was quite cute!


This is where there was also an elephant parading down the street that my mom got to feed bamboo to. She was scared to get too close, but the elephant had no problem extending his trunk as far as he had to in order to slurp up the bamboo shoots.


The days with my 'rents ended on the sunny beaches of Ko Samet. This is an island just 3.5 hours south of Bangkok. It's frequented by the local Thai folk on the weekend. So we conveniently arrived on a Sunday evening to avoid the crowds. It was a lovely way to end our time together and wrap up my travel adventure as well. We stayed south on the island at Ao Thien Beach, where the ladies working at the bungalows just fell in love with my dad. They called my parents "Papa" and "Mama" and in daily convo to my father I heard "Oh, Papa...you so strong. Papa...you so handsome." My mom and I just stood by and rolled our eyes. The Thai women loved to stroke his ego and he soaked it right up.

All and all, it was a good couple weeks with the 'rentals. It's too bad the weather didn't cooperate. I had really wanted my mom to ride an elephant and for us to do a couple day tours by boat or up to waterfalls. But you can't do it all and we definitely couldn't control the weather. So we'll just have to come back, and be sure to get the 7-day forecast before we leave!

Where's the sunshine??

People rave about the sun and sandy beaches of southern Thailand, so what better place for a reunion with my folks, right?! Well, unfortunately for us, the weather did not want to cooperate this time around. Our first afternoon in Ko Samui, we were able to enjoy our beach front and sip cocktails on the patio furniture. However, after that, we were pretty much indoors. Good thing we got ourselves a nice and clean beach bungalow so that we could sit on our porch and watch the rain pour down and the hellacious winds blow for the next 4 days. Who wants fun in the sun when you can play cards all day, walk the beach in your raincoat and splash in the puddles?

Check out the palms blowing below (the picture is hazy from the rain that was falling) and the rain -filled streets of Ko Samui.

We got over the hopes for sun and ended up being grateful for the moments when we just had cloudy skies and sheets of rain weren't coming down. We rented a car and toured around the island. It was an experience! The car was a piece of junk and with the rains, the water would actually splash up through the floor boards. White knuckled at the wheel, my dad battled the pools of water on the road and the fellow Thai drivers in order for us to explore the island and get out for a bit.

After 5 nights and 4 full days of enduring the rain, we decided to try our luck on the west side, where we'd heard weather was supposed to be better. So we packed our bags, said good-bye to the lovely Home Bay Resort on Mae Nam beach and caught ourselves a ferry and then a minivan to cart us over to Phuket.

Yay for the Fat Kid Treats!

Oh yum! Every time I've talked to family at home, I've expressed my strong wants of a warm, gooey, chocolate chip cookie. Who'd a thunk that in Thailand my wish would come true. Not only was it a delight to have my 'rents arrive, but with them, they brought me specially packaged fat kid treats!! My cute cousin Katie carefully wrapped cookies from CA (serious love behind these things - wrapped in bubble wrap even), sent them to my parents before they flew out, and were successfully delivered in one piece and ready for me to devour. On top of that, my sweet little sis threw together a Halloween package with my favorite candies and I got to munch away on those as well. So even though I've been digging the noodles and rice over here, it was a special treat to get my favorite sweeties to tide me over until my return to the States.

From KL to Ko Samui: Finally Meeting up with my Folks

It's been a long time traveling south from Malaysia all the way to Surat Thani, on the eastern coast of Thailand. I took a 14 hour train ride in a sleeper train that was quite clean and comfortable and exceeded any expectations I had. You eventually learn in SE Asia to go in with low expectations, and then you might end up pleasantly surprised! :)

After the 14 hour train ride, passing through immigration, and hopping off at Hat Yai, I'd come to the conclusion that I wasn't going to make it to the island today. I would just plan to meet my parents in Surat Thani and we would head out to Ko Samui together. In Hat Yai, I bought another train ticket, without doing much research, and ended up on a 7 hour ride to Surat Thani (the busses and minivans are both much faster). The woman at information told me it was only 4-5 hours, and I believed her. My bad! The train ride was cheap and it was public transport and we all herded on the cars like cattle, battling for a seat. I scored myself a slab of hard, wooden bench and the A/C consisted of a large open window behind my head that not only kept the wind blowing through my hair, but also let the water spray in during the few rain showers we had on the travels north. It was a lovely ride though - the scenery out the large open windows was beautiful, hilly and green. Besides a slightly sore butt, I couldn't much complain about the travels so far.

Once landed in Surat Thani train station, turns out I was not yet in Surat Thani. So I was headed for yet another mode of transport and took a 30 min. bus ride into town. Finally arriving at my destination at 7:30 pm, after taking off the night before at 8:40 pm. I was well traveled, ready for a shower and hungry for a decent meal. Scoped out a place to stay (where my bed that night actually felt as though I was sleeping on a cement floor), found some dinner at the local food stalls and then went and talked to my buddy, Lek, who I'd arranged to pickup my parents at the airport. I was supposed to be in Ko Samui, so I told him I wanted to be a surprise for my parents in the morning. And sure enough,when he picked them up and brought them back to the office, he had played right along and they were quite surprised! It was a joyful reunion with my parents and I was happy to see them. They had traveled safely and we were looking forward to some beach time together. Unfortunately, heading out to the island by ferry that day, we were only greeted with rain showers.

The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur

It's been an interesting adventure trying to navigate around this country with the Malaysian holidays in full force. Although I planned for a 10:00 a.m. bus to Kuala Lumpur from the Highlands, I was stuck on the 4:30 and due to traffic on the roads with the whole country migrating to family and friends for Hari Raya, I didn't get to KL until 10:30 pm. I was really glad that Fletch, an English boy, decided to accompany me on the journey - as I was the only white girl on the bus, and 1 of 3 females. An overcrowded bus of Malay men gawking at you isn't always the most comfortable situation for 6 hours. Once in KL, we had to find ourselves a place to rest our heads. Options were limited and after scoping out 4 sketchy places, we ended up at a crazy little place called Wheeler's just a block off Chinatown. The one thing it had going for it was a rooftop bar with a view, to add a sliver of ambiance to the less than appealing accomodations thrown at us for the night. It was definitely a evening to snuggle close to my sleep sheet and protect me from the questionable sheets below me.

A main draw in KL are the Petronas Towers, which allow only a limited number of people up them per day. So Fletch and I were up at 6:15, on a train at 6:45 and standing in line with all the other tourists at 7:15. Turns out, they don't actually issue the tickets till 9:00, so it was a long 1 hour and 45 minute wait for us. Luckily, we had a couple of chatty Malay tour guides in front of us who were happy to tell us all about their country and the sites to see in KL. Eventually, we got our tickets and rode the elevator to the 41st floor of the towers and walked the sky bridge that connects the two towers. It gave us quite a view of the city - slightly smoggy I do believe.

After the tours, I had to get down to business and find myself some transportation north. I talked to several travel agents who weren't willing to help me because I was too late to book a flight (procrastination is my middle name) and they didn't arrange bus or train travel. So I went straight to the source and figured an overnight train would be my best bet. Once at the train station, I totally lucked out and got the last seat in an A/C sleeper train. Phew! It would have been a long 14 hour ride on a hard bench seat and the warm air blowing in through the open windows on the car. It did not take me all the way to Surat Thani, but it got me to Hat Yai - the border town in Thailand, and then I'd have to figure out next steps from there.

So really, it was just a brief 24 hours in KL and I'd like to go back to Malaysia. Before heading off to my train, the Dutchies arrived (they'd stayed an extra day in Cameron Highlands). We grabbed a drink together on the Wheeler's rooftop and said farewell. They were so great! I was nearing the end of my adventure and they were just beginning, so I gave them some tips on the hot spots...which mainly consisted of recommendations on places to eat in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos!

Strolling through the Cameron Highlands

With the interesting travel delays and disruptions due to Ramadan and Hari Raya, the group that I've met up with convinced me to head over to the Cameron Highlands with them. Actually, this was my only option, because the company would only take us on their holiday because there were enough of us to fill a minivan and make it a worthwhile trip for them moneywise, to haul all 8 of us to the highlands. It was actually kindof nice...like we had our own public transportation. So we said good-bye to our tropical paradise and headed out, by boat first, to the mainland and loaded up the minivan.

Well, because of the traffic on the roads from the holiday and the rain that was pouring down, our trip took longer than anticipated. We rolled into Tanah Rata (one of the towns among the Cameron Highlands) and were taken straight to the Daniel Lodge, which only had dorm rooms available. I haven't done the dorm thing yet, because I like knowing my valuables are locked up in a room, but since this was our only option, I had to say go for it. So, there was a row of like 10 beds and we all just picked one and called it home for the next 2 nights. Even though I was indoors, I felt as though I was camping, given the mattress was thinner than my thermarest I use when sleeping in a tent, and above us was a large blue and white plastic tarp to catch any rain that came through the cracks in the wooden roof. Plus, the guy that checked us in said to be sure and throw away any food we had because the mice would be sure to come and get it if we left it in our bags. Haha! This was quite the switch from my princess days at Railay Beach with Lani.

Basically, when you come to the Cameron Highlands, it's green and hilly and people are interested in seeing the tea plantations, strawberry farms and doing some mountain hikes. It's a cooler climate and it was beautiful! We spent the next day on quite the adventure. We decided to take a public bus up the road near the strawberry farm and tea plantation. Well, we thought we were on the 11:30 bus, but we just sat, and sat, and sat some more. At about 12:30, all of a sudden another bus pulled up and we had to switch over. Well, it was already overcrowded, and we didn't get seats, so we were stuck standing in the back as we weaved through the traffic up the road. And actually, the traffic jam was horrendous! Again, the craziness of everywhere we were traveling to was all a result of the holiday. The people were traveling to and from to visit family, friends, and have a few days off of work. Our bus driver would not tolerate waiting in line, so he was pulling off road and into the other lane with oncoming traffic to pass it all up. It was a crazy experience. Had anything like this happened in the States, quite literally risking each of the passengers lives, his license would've been yanked in a second! Only in SE Asia I tell you!

Anyway, we ended up hopping off the bus and doing a hike into the Boh Tea Plantation. The green terraced hills were lovely and once we got to the tea shop, we all sipped on some tea as well. It was a little bit like Starbucks, the line was out the door, but it was still a tasty little treat to enjoy, harvested right off the lands surrounding us. To the right is part of the crew, Fletch, Ed, Jeroen, Lonneca, Randy and myself.

After tea, we tried to take a shortcut to the road and got lost. We had to turn around and hike back out the way we'd come. When we finally reached the main road, it was beginning to get dark, but the area is famous for strawberries as well and I had to see the strawberry farm. Luckily, it was right off the main road. We wandered around briefly and then to make the trip complete, I purchased a 100% strawberry ice lolly (that's what the English call a popsicle). Quite delish! And rather than catching the crazy bus back into town, we opted to walk. However, somewhere along the way it started to pour down rain, and we were still 6 km from town. We flagged a cab and the 6 of us piled in (see below). The cabby really didn't have a problem with an overcrowded taxi, just as long as we all payed our way. It was quite a crazy day of transportation issues and wandering through the tea trees.