Posted By Nicki.
That’s the grand total folks for what it took to get me around the world and back. So I’ve been home for just about a month now, and I’m finally getting to writing this sum up blog…wow, talk about a slacker. Props to those of you who actually read this, you’re awesome.
In any case, I figured to sum things up, I should make a list of sorts, a la let’s go picks. So, here we go.
Best Place to get Orange Juice for under 40 cents: Marrakech, Morroco, and it’s the best stuff you’ve ever tasted.
Most comfortable train ride: Bangkok to Chang Mai, Thailand.
Favorite Country on the Whole: Thailand. (But Spain will always have a special place in my heart.)
Best Hot Dog: Prague, Czech Republic
Best places to buy a million things for under a buck: Sunday night market, Chang Mai, Thailand.
Best place to freak out Emily by making her ride on a motor bike: Thailand!
Most Impressive Landscapes: New Zealand
Best place to drink sangria by the gallon in a stein: Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain.
Best Sangria: Toledo, Spain, Bar La Boveda
Coldest place for my feet: Fox Glacier, New Zealand
Favorite small town charm: Cesky Kromlov, Czech Republic
Best place to get harassed by slimy men: El Jadida, Morocco
Most amazing sunrise: Merzuga Dunes, Morocco
My favorite view: On the bluffs overlooking Toledo, Spain
Favorite Tourist Site: Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Bangkok, Thailand
Best Food Market: Djema el Fna, Central Medina Foodstalls, Marrakech, Morocco
Best place to eat the most amazing shrimp with your feet in sand overlooking the ocean: Ndor (sp?) Island, Senegal
Best Wine: Eger, Hungary
Best place to spot a mullet: Spain! It’s all about the fashion.
That’s all I can come up with for now. On a whole, this trip was the experience of a lifetime, and to date one of the most incredible things I’ve had the opportunity to do. I already feel like planning my next trip…on the list: Southeast Asia or South and Central America. And if I get my way, much more of Africa. Travel is something that has become a huge part of my heart and soul and has helped me figure out the person I am today. The people I have met and the incredible landscapes I have seen, from towering mountain tops and frozen glaciers to endless deserts and tropical beaches, never cease to inspire me.
A special thanks to Em for her endless patience with my indecisiveness and for being the best travel buddy a girl could ask for. You will always be my travel B.F.F.!! And another thanks to Alex for joining our little journey, all my love, thank you for always making me smile.
”Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain
“Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” — Frank Herber
Persue your daydreams.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
The Golden Chopsticks
Posted by Emily
We left Ellen's town on Sunday and headed to Kanazawa, a much larger town to the SW of Murakami. We arrived there a bit too late in the afternoon to check out the tourist sights so we did a lot of aimless walking around, part of which involved looking for a decent place to eat. We thought that we were following the directions in the guide book, but anyone who has ever traveled with a guide book knows that they aren't always correct or easy to follow. We found a restaurant that was supposed to be near the one that we were looking for but never the one we wanted. It was also pouring rain so that didn't really help the search. We finally found a place that was open (it was also about 4:30 pm so it was not the ideal time to be looking for a restaurant).
After dinner we walked randomly around the streets near downtown, coming across a park near the famous garden in the city, the contemporary art museum (closed but still cool to look in through the giant glass windows), the mall (I never thought I would see so many designer stores in one spot....I don't think that was abnormal) and finally back to our hotel.
We got up quite early the next day in order to make it to a gold leaf shop early enough in the morning so that we would be able to make our own gold leaf chop sticks. It ended up being pretty long and hot walk but we successfully found the store that we were looking for and got to sit in the air-conditioning once we arrived. Gold leaf is 1/10 mm thick gold. It is created by repeatedly pounding the gold into thinner and thinner sheets over several days and using several different processes. The result is sheet of gold so thin that it is transparent. The store connected to the little shop where you can make the chopsticks is full of many different crafts created using the golf leaf: chopsticks, plates, pottery, golf balls, beads, etc. Most items are only covered partially. The largest and most expensive items were the large screens (the kind that you would put on the floor in the corner of a room as a decoration) decorated with intricate gold designs. Some cost as much as $22,000,
There were other more unusual items as well, such as tea, soap, lotion and candy with gold leaf flecks in them. We were served the tea as we were browsing around the shop. I think it is supposed to be good for rheumatism.
The bathroom also deserves a mention. The walls were also covered in the gold leaf, giving the appearance that the room was created from gold bricks. The door, door knob, decorations and even the air freshener were gold leaf. After using the bathroom, we washed our hands with a bar of gold leaf soap. I think it was right up there on the list of fanciest bathrooms I have ever been in. It might sound gaudy, but it was actually quite beautiful, and I'm not usually a big fan of gold.
The actual process of making the chopsticks was not as complicated as I expected. We each chose 2 chopsticks - either red or black. Sarah chose red and I chose black. The next stuff was to place something like masking tape over the parts of the chopstick that we didn't want gold leaf on. A Japanese couple came in after us and finished a little before us. Because we were so good at it. Once the tape designs were done, the end of the chopstick with the tape on it (the upper part) was dipped in a very thin glue and let to dry for a bit. Then the chopstick was rolled slowly over the gold leaf until it had covered the circumference of the chopstick. This used about half the sheet. The same thing was done with the other chopstick. They were then rubbed/dusted with a paintbrush to remove the excess gold leaf and ensure that the gold leaf would adhere properly to the places without the tape. We were encouraged to taste the flakes of gold that came off. It didn't taste like anything but would be a really cool thing to get stuck in your teeth: "What's that in your teeth?" "Oh, that's just a flake of gold." Then the tape was peeled off and a final coating of lacquer or some such sealant was applied.
They turned out pretty well, though I liked Sarah's better. She had a spiral design with tiny leaves on it. Mine was kind of random curvy lines, which was cool in theory, but it used kind of a lot of tape and I didn't press it down hard enough so the edges weren't distinct enough for my taste. It was a very good activity to do even though there was a language barrier because things could be demonstrated that couldn't be explained to us in English.
We spent the rest of the day at the famous Kenroku-en Gardens, one of Japan's top three gardens (they really like to rank things here). It is a very beautiful, quiet (except for areas crowded with tourists) oasis in the middle of the city. There are several lakes, cherry and plum trees (weren't in bloom), pines, stone pathways and bridges. Sarah's guide book (Let's Go) says, "The garden's name evokes the six features of perfection - antiquity, artifice, seclusion, spaciousness, abundant water, and sweeping views - necessary to any true Japanese garden."
Then it was off to the train station and on to Takefu, the small town where Dan, a good friend of Ellen and Sarah from college, in living and teaching English with JET. It's kind of in the middle of Japan near the coast and about 2 hours north of Kyoto. I wouldn't know where that was without looking at a map so don't feel bad if you have to. I didn't even know where Tokyo was when I landed here.
We left Ellen's town on Sunday and headed to Kanazawa, a much larger town to the SW of Murakami. We arrived there a bit too late in the afternoon to check out the tourist sights so we did a lot of aimless walking around, part of which involved looking for a decent place to eat. We thought that we were following the directions in the guide book, but anyone who has ever traveled with a guide book knows that they aren't always correct or easy to follow. We found a restaurant that was supposed to be near the one that we were looking for but never the one we wanted. It was also pouring rain so that didn't really help the search. We finally found a place that was open (it was also about 4:30 pm so it was not the ideal time to be looking for a restaurant).
After dinner we walked randomly around the streets near downtown, coming across a park near the famous garden in the city, the contemporary art museum (closed but still cool to look in through the giant glass windows), the mall (I never thought I would see so many designer stores in one spot....I don't think that was abnormal) and finally back to our hotel.
We got up quite early the next day in order to make it to a gold leaf shop early enough in the morning so that we would be able to make our own gold leaf chop sticks. It ended up being pretty long and hot walk but we successfully found the store that we were looking for and got to sit in the air-conditioning once we arrived. Gold leaf is 1/10 mm thick gold. It is created by repeatedly pounding the gold into thinner and thinner sheets over several days and using several different processes. The result is sheet of gold so thin that it is transparent. The store connected to the little shop where you can make the chopsticks is full of many different crafts created using the golf leaf: chopsticks, plates, pottery, golf balls, beads, etc. Most items are only covered partially. The largest and most expensive items were the large screens (the kind that you would put on the floor in the corner of a room as a decoration) decorated with intricate gold designs. Some cost as much as $22,000,
There were other more unusual items as well, such as tea, soap, lotion and candy with gold leaf flecks in them. We were served the tea as we were browsing around the shop. I think it is supposed to be good for rheumatism.
The bathroom also deserves a mention. The walls were also covered in the gold leaf, giving the appearance that the room was created from gold bricks. The door, door knob, decorations and even the air freshener were gold leaf. After using the bathroom, we washed our hands with a bar of gold leaf soap. I think it was right up there on the list of fanciest bathrooms I have ever been in. It might sound gaudy, but it was actually quite beautiful, and I'm not usually a big fan of gold.
The actual process of making the chopsticks was not as complicated as I expected. We each chose 2 chopsticks - either red or black. Sarah chose red and I chose black. The next stuff was to place something like masking tape over the parts of the chopstick that we didn't want gold leaf on. A Japanese couple came in after us and finished a little before us. Because we were so good at it. Once the tape designs were done, the end of the chopstick with the tape on it (the upper part) was dipped in a very thin glue and let to dry for a bit. Then the chopstick was rolled slowly over the gold leaf until it had covered the circumference of the chopstick. This used about half the sheet. The same thing was done with the other chopstick. They were then rubbed/dusted with a paintbrush to remove the excess gold leaf and ensure that the gold leaf would adhere properly to the places without the tape. We were encouraged to taste the flakes of gold that came off. It didn't taste like anything but would be a really cool thing to get stuck in your teeth: "What's that in your teeth?" "Oh, that's just a flake of gold." Then the tape was peeled off and a final coating of lacquer or some such sealant was applied.
They turned out pretty well, though I liked Sarah's better. She had a spiral design with tiny leaves on it. Mine was kind of random curvy lines, which was cool in theory, but it used kind of a lot of tape and I didn't press it down hard enough so the edges weren't distinct enough for my taste. It was a very good activity to do even though there was a language barrier because things could be demonstrated that couldn't be explained to us in English.
We spent the rest of the day at the famous Kenroku-en Gardens, one of Japan's top three gardens (they really like to rank things here). It is a very beautiful, quiet (except for areas crowded with tourists) oasis in the middle of the city. There are several lakes, cherry and plum trees (weren't in bloom), pines, stone pathways and bridges. Sarah's guide book (Let's Go) says, "The garden's name evokes the six features of perfection - antiquity, artifice, seclusion, spaciousness, abundant water, and sweeping views - necessary to any true Japanese garden."
Then it was off to the train station and on to Takefu, the small town where Dan, a good friend of Ellen and Sarah from college, in living and teaching English with JET. It's kind of in the middle of Japan near the coast and about 2 hours north of Kyoto. I wouldn't know where that was without looking at a map so don't feel bad if you have to. I didn't even know where Tokyo was when I landed here.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Eating, Singing, Festivale
Posted by Emily
I guess it's about time for another update. I've been slacking a little. I'm getting a little tired of blogging about everything that I have been up to but I know it's could for people who want to know what I'm doing and it will be good to look at later. So I'll power through. I have surprisingly little time left on this trip (I got back to MN on July 23).
The day after we wandered around Murakami, Ellen had the day off from work because of the large festival that was taking place in her town. We headed over to it during the middle of the day for lunch, walked around a bit and had some Japanese festival food (nothing too interesting during the first trip...some fried chicken balls, fruit flavored slush stuff and some crappy crepe-wannabe thing). There were booths set up on several blocked off streets, some with games, some selling things and some with foods. Overall, it didn't look too out of the ordinary. I think that my favorite item of sale was the inflatable "bottles" that little girls wore as on their backs. Imagine a large replica of a pop bottle, but inflatable and strapped to the back on a little Japanese girl. Very strange and very amusing. I don't really understand the appeal.
Not much was going on during the afternoon we basically lounged around for the day and then went back to the festival in the evening. We had dinner there, this time much more interesting than lunch. We started with octopus balls, random items mixed together with mini octopi, covered with a batter and cooked in circular molds, making a ball. A brown sauce is put over the top and they are eaten with a skewer stick. I was pretty excited to try them but didn't end up liking them all that much. Next it was on to okonomiyaki, a Japanese pancake type deal that involved more random ingredients all jumbled together and cooked. What was in ours? Ummm....lettuce, egg, corn, bacon-type meat, fish flakes, more brown sauce. Probably more things that I couldn't identify. Again, I had higher hopes. It pretty much all took on this strange fishy taste. I like fish was this was the negative fishy taste that many people hate about "fishier" tasting fish. Does that make any sense?
After eating, we went to look at the shrines of all of the in Murakami. Each neighborhood had a 2 story shrine on wheels, many of which are over 200 years old (I think?). They are pulled through the streets by men holding long ropes attached to the shrine, sometimes straight and sometimes back and forth across the road. They are lit by paper lanterns hanging from both levels. Children sit in the bottom level playing instruments. I think drunk men sit in the top (there's lots of sake drinking going on).
After having our fill of the shrines, we gathered together a group of Ellen's friends who are also English teachers, and went to do karaoke. Japanese karaoke is not like American karaoke where you to a bar and sing in front of all the people in the establishment. Here, a party room is rented for a group of people for a certain amount of time. I think we may have had about 12 people. It's nicer than just being in a bar because you have full control of the songs and don't have to deal with the embarrassment of singing in front of people that you don't know. It also allows you to sing and dance on the chairs. That's probably not encouraged but we did it. It was a very good time.
I guess it's about time for another update. I've been slacking a little. I'm getting a little tired of blogging about everything that I have been up to but I know it's could for people who want to know what I'm doing and it will be good to look at later. So I'll power through. I have surprisingly little time left on this trip (I got back to MN on July 23).
The day after we wandered around Murakami, Ellen had the day off from work because of the large festival that was taking place in her town. We headed over to it during the middle of the day for lunch, walked around a bit and had some Japanese festival food (nothing too interesting during the first trip...some fried chicken balls, fruit flavored slush stuff and some crappy crepe-wannabe thing). There were booths set up on several blocked off streets, some with games, some selling things and some with foods. Overall, it didn't look too out of the ordinary. I think that my favorite item of sale was the inflatable "bottles" that little girls wore as on their backs. Imagine a large replica of a pop bottle, but inflatable and strapped to the back on a little Japanese girl. Very strange and very amusing. I don't really understand the appeal.
Not much was going on during the afternoon we basically lounged around for the day and then went back to the festival in the evening. We had dinner there, this time much more interesting than lunch. We started with octopus balls, random items mixed together with mini octopi, covered with a batter and cooked in circular molds, making a ball. A brown sauce is put over the top and they are eaten with a skewer stick. I was pretty excited to try them but didn't end up liking them all that much. Next it was on to okonomiyaki, a Japanese pancake type deal that involved more random ingredients all jumbled together and cooked. What was in ours? Ummm....lettuce, egg, corn, bacon-type meat, fish flakes, more brown sauce. Probably more things that I couldn't identify. Again, I had higher hopes. It pretty much all took on this strange fishy taste. I like fish was this was the negative fishy taste that many people hate about "fishier" tasting fish. Does that make any sense?
After eating, we went to look at the shrines of all of the in Murakami. Each neighborhood had a 2 story shrine on wheels, many of which are over 200 years old (I think?). They are pulled through the streets by men holding long ropes attached to the shrine, sometimes straight and sometimes back and forth across the road. They are lit by paper lanterns hanging from both levels. Children sit in the bottom level playing instruments. I think drunk men sit in the top (there's lots of sake drinking going on).
After having our fill of the shrines, we gathered together a group of Ellen's friends who are also English teachers, and went to do karaoke. Japanese karaoke is not like American karaoke where you to a bar and sing in front of all the people in the establishment. Here, a party room is rented for a group of people for a certain amount of time. I think we may have had about 12 people. It's nicer than just being in a bar because you have full control of the songs and don't have to deal with the embarrassment of singing in front of people that you don't know. It also allows you to sing and dance on the chairs. That's probably not encouraged but we did it. It was a very good time.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Murakami For Beginners
Posted by Emily
Wednesday Ellen had to work so Sarah and I were left to our own devices. We drove Ellen to the school where she was working for the day, watching closely the whole way there to make sure that we could correctly find our way back. Getting lost was not a very good option because there are not really any street signs and I doubt anyone would be able to point us in the right direction in English if we stopped to ask. We made it back just fine and since it was still early in the morning, we decided to hang out at Ellen's for a while and plan the rest of our time in Japan. We got that partially accomplished and have an idea of where we are going. There are a few more people that we are going to visit who are teaching English on that same program (JET - Japan Exchange Teaching) as Ellen. This is quite a good thing because there aren't really any budget accommodations here. A dorm bed costs about $30 if you are a member of Hosteling International. We aren't so we would have to pay $40 for a night in a dorm bed. That is a bad deal. For our first stop, Kanazawa, we will be staying in a business hotel. It was cheaper than the hostel for a double. Does that make any sense?
We did have access to Ellen's car for the day but we decided to walk around because it would be easier to stay oriented and have a better chance to look around. We started by visiting a house that used to belong to a samurai. There were no signs in English and the woman at the front desk kept trying to talk to us in Japanese, which didn't exactly work. Needless to say, we weren't quite sure of the significance of the things that we were looking at the whole time but it was interesting to see anyway. It was a traditional Japanese style house if nothing else, with tatami mats (tightly woven straw-type mats), very little furniture and sliding papers doors.
Next we walked around town looking for temples to visit but they seemed to be closed so we didn't go in. We could see into one of them because of the glass windows in the doors but there was a sign that couldn't read on the front steps so we didn't go in, assuming that the sign probably said something about not entering. I did see a Buddhist shrine inside. The shrine itself was similar to what I saw in Thailand but the surroundings themselves were more Japanese, obviously, with tatami mats and the like.
From there we walked a ways to the Salmon House and Museum. I think I said it before but this area is very famous for its salmon. We went to the Salmon House first and looked around at the very wide arrays of salmon products. I didn't sample any thins time. I think last time I managed to eat an organ. Or should I say, bite into and then immediately spit out an organ. It kind of smelled like a high school dissection project. Not something I want in my mouth! There were also other random merchandise and plenty of Hello Kitty paraphenalia. It really is everywhere here and people are crazy about Hello Kitty phone charms. Many of them reflect a certain region of Japan and what they are famous for. I bought Rice Farmer Kitty, Leaf-Wrapped Famous-Dessert-Of-The-Area Kitty and Pink-Bird-Sitting-In-Cracked-Egg-Shell Kitty. Very funny. We didn't actually end up going into the Salmon Museum because there was nothing in English.
By this time in the afternoon we were getting very hungry but hadn't managed to find a place to eat. We walked back into the center of town and found a shop that we had been to with Ellen's Japanese teacher a few days before. We went in because I wanted to by another of the really sure post cards that they have there. We ended up using our Japanese phrasebook to ask them where we could find a restaurant. Since we couldn't understand the answer, the guy ended up walking us there. Then the only thing that we knew how to order were soba noodles, so that's what we got. Maybe this doesn't sound very funny in retelling but the language barrier is pretty funny sometimes and it's quite funny to communicate with people by reading phrases out of a book.
That's about it for the day. We checked out another park and then headed back to Ellen's. We managed to not get lost, which I thought was a very good accomplishment. Although, I think getting lost might have been a funny communication situation. I'm sure we'll be getting ourselves into a lot of those in the coming days when we are no longer with Ellen!
Wednesday Ellen had to work so Sarah and I were left to our own devices. We drove Ellen to the school where she was working for the day, watching closely the whole way there to make sure that we could correctly find our way back. Getting lost was not a very good option because there are not really any street signs and I doubt anyone would be able to point us in the right direction in English if we stopped to ask. We made it back just fine and since it was still early in the morning, we decided to hang out at Ellen's for a while and plan the rest of our time in Japan. We got that partially accomplished and have an idea of where we are going. There are a few more people that we are going to visit who are teaching English on that same program (JET - Japan Exchange Teaching) as Ellen. This is quite a good thing because there aren't really any budget accommodations here. A dorm bed costs about $30 if you are a member of Hosteling International. We aren't so we would have to pay $40 for a night in a dorm bed. That is a bad deal. For our first stop, Kanazawa, we will be staying in a business hotel. It was cheaper than the hostel for a double. Does that make any sense?
We did have access to Ellen's car for the day but we decided to walk around because it would be easier to stay oriented and have a better chance to look around. We started by visiting a house that used to belong to a samurai. There were no signs in English and the woman at the front desk kept trying to talk to us in Japanese, which didn't exactly work. Needless to say, we weren't quite sure of the significance of the things that we were looking at the whole time but it was interesting to see anyway. It was a traditional Japanese style house if nothing else, with tatami mats (tightly woven straw-type mats), very little furniture and sliding papers doors.
Next we walked around town looking for temples to visit but they seemed to be closed so we didn't go in. We could see into one of them because of the glass windows in the doors but there was a sign that couldn't read on the front steps so we didn't go in, assuming that the sign probably said something about not entering. I did see a Buddhist shrine inside. The shrine itself was similar to what I saw in Thailand but the surroundings themselves were more Japanese, obviously, with tatami mats and the like.
From there we walked a ways to the Salmon House and Museum. I think I said it before but this area is very famous for its salmon. We went to the Salmon House first and looked around at the very wide arrays of salmon products. I didn't sample any thins time. I think last time I managed to eat an organ. Or should I say, bite into and then immediately spit out an organ. It kind of smelled like a high school dissection project. Not something I want in my mouth! There were also other random merchandise and plenty of Hello Kitty paraphenalia. It really is everywhere here and people are crazy about Hello Kitty phone charms. Many of them reflect a certain region of Japan and what they are famous for. I bought Rice Farmer Kitty, Leaf-Wrapped Famous-Dessert-Of-The-Area Kitty and Pink-Bird-Sitting-In-Cracked-Egg-Shell Kitty. Very funny. We didn't actually end up going into the Salmon Museum because there was nothing in English.
By this time in the afternoon we were getting very hungry but hadn't managed to find a place to eat. We walked back into the center of town and found a shop that we had been to with Ellen's Japanese teacher a few days before. We went in because I wanted to by another of the really sure post cards that they have there. We ended up using our Japanese phrasebook to ask them where we could find a restaurant. Since we couldn't understand the answer, the guy ended up walking us there. Then the only thing that we knew how to order were soba noodles, so that's what we got. Maybe this doesn't sound very funny in retelling but the language barrier is pretty funny sometimes and it's quite funny to communicate with people by reading phrases out of a book.
That's about it for the day. We checked out another park and then headed back to Ellen's. We managed to not get lost, which I thought was a very good accomplishment. Although, I think getting lost might have been a funny communication situation. I'm sure we'll be getting ourselves into a lot of those in the coming days when we are no longer with Ellen!
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Guest Starring Sarah
Posted by Sarah
MURAKAMI, JP, 22:45:00
I think I've got some dried, salted salmon in my nose.
MURAKAMI, JP, 22:45:00
I think I've got some dried, salted salmon in my nose.
Back To School
Posted by Emily
Yesterday we spent the day at one of Ellen's schools where we were entertained by cute Japanese first and second graders while Ellen taught them English. The lesson for the day was singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", learning the names of school supplies, and then playing school supply bingo. There was lots of yelling involved. I am always amazed at the amount of energy that young children have. There is a morning and an afternoon recess and children were running around playing basketball and the like and even riding around on unicycles. It was very interesting to watch. There was also a Japanese calisthenics time (yes, we participated) and a cleaning time where all the students cleaned there assigned portion of the school. I was amazed.
Other than observing Ellen's classes, we were also invited to eat lunch with different fifth and sixth grade classes. We were split up for this because the students eat lunch in their own classrooms (hot lunch is served in each of the rooms by the students themselves....I don't think that would pass sanitary standards in the US). This made for awkward conversation because most of the students didn't speak much English and I obviously don't speak that much Japanese, though we have managed to pick up a few basic phrases. The teacher even made me give a little speech, but that was really no big deal because I don't think they could understand me anyway.
Overall the day was very interesting but tiring because of all the screaming children and lack of ability to communicate without help. We did get lots of cute pictures of the kids playing and sitting in class. I hope to share those eventually.
Yesterday we spent the day at one of Ellen's schools where we were entertained by cute Japanese first and second graders while Ellen taught them English. The lesson for the day was singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", learning the names of school supplies, and then playing school supply bingo. There was lots of yelling involved. I am always amazed at the amount of energy that young children have. There is a morning and an afternoon recess and children were running around playing basketball and the like and even riding around on unicycles. It was very interesting to watch. There was also a Japanese calisthenics time (yes, we participated) and a cleaning time where all the students cleaned there assigned portion of the school. I was amazed.
Other than observing Ellen's classes, we were also invited to eat lunch with different fifth and sixth grade classes. We were split up for this because the students eat lunch in their own classrooms (hot lunch is served in each of the rooms by the students themselves....I don't think that would pass sanitary standards in the US). This made for awkward conversation because most of the students didn't speak much English and I obviously don't speak that much Japanese, though we have managed to pick up a few basic phrases. The teacher even made me give a little speech, but that was really no big deal because I don't think they could understand me anyway.
Overall the day was very interesting but tiring because of all the screaming children and lack of ability to communicate without help. We did get lots of cute pictures of the kids playing and sitting in class. I hope to share those eventually.
Land Of The Rising Sun
Posted by Emily
I landed in Japan at about 6:30 am and then proceeded to wander around the airport to look for the Starbucks where I was to meet Ellen. I figured it would be in the restaurant portion of the airport, on the 4th floor where there are no luggage carts allowed. So I ditched my luggage on the 3rd floor and took the escalator up to look. It was quite a long area and when I didn't find it, I headed back to the 3rd floor thinking that Ellen must have been mistaken. Well, finally I found it after dragging my crap all over the place and working up a sweat. I couldn't get the ATM I tried to work so I didn't have money so I sat outside the entrance and waited on my comfortable luggage cart.
Once she arrived, we headed down to the airport train station and into Tokyo to a hotel where Ellen and her friends had been staying over the weekend. The train ride was quite long and once we got into the city, they decided to have lunch at a place that was back along the train line from where we had just come. We walked back to the train station, went back in the same direction, got off and ate hamburgers (great first meal for Japan right, but oh well, they were good at least), went back to the airport to get Sarah, and got back on a train to Ellen's town. That was about it for the day since we got in to Ellen's town, Murakami, at about 9 pm. FYI, Tokyo was just as crowded and bustling as I expected it to be. The metro system is the most confusing I have ever seen and it will certainly be interesting to try to figure it out when Sarah and I are navigating on our own!
Since then, we have just been hanging out here with Ellen and seeing her town. It's not even in our guide books and there's not really all that much going on, but it's been nice and quiet to be in for a bit. Plus, it's quality Ellen time! We have hiked the small mountain behind her house (there are castle ruins there); eaten sushi (even the cheap stuff is amazing!); had dinner at the house of Ellen's Japanese teacher; was taken around the town by her the next day to see a laquerware museum/shop, a salmon house (lots of dried salmon hanging from the ceiling....the area is famous for its salmon), and green tea shop; and set off fireworks on the beach on the Fourth of July.
More details to come in the following posts.
I landed in Japan at about 6:30 am and then proceeded to wander around the airport to look for the Starbucks where I was to meet Ellen. I figured it would be in the restaurant portion of the airport, on the 4th floor where there are no luggage carts allowed. So I ditched my luggage on the 3rd floor and took the escalator up to look. It was quite a long area and when I didn't find it, I headed back to the 3rd floor thinking that Ellen must have been mistaken. Well, finally I found it after dragging my crap all over the place and working up a sweat. I couldn't get the ATM I tried to work so I didn't have money so I sat outside the entrance and waited on my comfortable luggage cart.
Once she arrived, we headed down to the airport train station and into Tokyo to a hotel where Ellen and her friends had been staying over the weekend. The train ride was quite long and once we got into the city, they decided to have lunch at a place that was back along the train line from where we had just come. We walked back to the train station, went back in the same direction, got off and ate hamburgers (great first meal for Japan right, but oh well, they were good at least), went back to the airport to get Sarah, and got back on a train to Ellen's town. That was about it for the day since we got in to Ellen's town, Murakami, at about 9 pm. FYI, Tokyo was just as crowded and bustling as I expected it to be. The metro system is the most confusing I have ever seen and it will certainly be interesting to try to figure it out when Sarah and I are navigating on our own!
Since then, we have just been hanging out here with Ellen and seeing her town. It's not even in our guide books and there's not really all that much going on, but it's been nice and quiet to be in for a bit. Plus, it's quality Ellen time! We have hiked the small mountain behind her house (there are castle ruins there); eaten sushi (even the cheap stuff is amazing!); had dinner at the house of Ellen's Japanese teacher; was taken around the town by her the next day to see a laquerware museum/shop, a salmon house (lots of dried salmon hanging from the ceiling....the area is famous for its salmon), and green tea shop; and set off fireworks on the beach on the Fourth of July.
More details to come in the following posts.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Good Bye Winter
Posted by Emily
In Japan, where it is summer at last. It's been a bit rainy but it's warm and I like it. Ellen tells me it gets cold in the houses here like it gets in New Zealand but here they have heated toilet seats. Boy oh boy! What an invention. They seem to even have them on in the summer.
The last few days in Auckland were not overly exciting but it was sunny and warm and beautiful. It's amazing the difference it makes when you travel to the north of a country (the equivalent of the south on the other side of the world, just in case you were in fact, confused). I spent one afternoon at the Auckland Museum, but it turns out that I was NOT in the mood to visit a museum, like more than the usual amount. Also, it was pretty much a less interesting version of the museum Nicki and I had seen in Wellington. I literally stayed for about an hour and then went to sit outside in the sunshine.
The next day I bummed around by the harbor, there was more sunshine, and I had more really good ice cream. Later in the afternoon, it was off to the airport and on to Japan. We were very spoiled on our previous flights on Qatar Airways and Emirates because I'm sure the flights I was on were nice, but I was disgusted by the food and annoyed by the fact that I couldn't choose what movie I wanted to watch when I wanted. They only had certain movies on and they were on a loop that repeated every 2.5 hours. Okay, I don't want that to sound snobby, it's just the truth. But I better get used to not being so spoiled because I doubt I will ever be able to afford flights on those airlines again.
In Japan, where it is summer at last. It's been a bit rainy but it's warm and I like it. Ellen tells me it gets cold in the houses here like it gets in New Zealand but here they have heated toilet seats. Boy oh boy! What an invention. They seem to even have them on in the summer.
The last few days in Auckland were not overly exciting but it was sunny and warm and beautiful. It's amazing the difference it makes when you travel to the north of a country (the equivalent of the south on the other side of the world, just in case you were in fact, confused). I spent one afternoon at the Auckland Museum, but it turns out that I was NOT in the mood to visit a museum, like more than the usual amount. Also, it was pretty much a less interesting version of the museum Nicki and I had seen in Wellington. I literally stayed for about an hour and then went to sit outside in the sunshine.
The next day I bummed around by the harbor, there was more sunshine, and I had more really good ice cream. Later in the afternoon, it was off to the airport and on to Japan. We were very spoiled on our previous flights on Qatar Airways and Emirates because I'm sure the flights I was on were nice, but I was disgusted by the food and annoyed by the fact that I couldn't choose what movie I wanted to watch when I wanted. They only had certain movies on and they were on a loop that repeated every 2.5 hours. Okay, I don't want that to sound snobby, it's just the truth. But I better get used to not being so spoiled because I doubt I will ever be able to afford flights on those airlines again.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Mulled Wine, Chocolate, Beautiful Scenery - All In A Day's Work In Queenstown
Posted by Emily
After Wanaka, it was on to Queenstown, which is apparently the adventure capital of the world. Not too much craziness for us though. It's really expensive! We arrived a few hours before the Winterfest Mardi Gras parade, so after resting up a bit, we headed out into the cold to check out the festivities. They started with a small parade featuring paper masks on sticks, people in colorful costumes on stilts and many children with paper lanterns. It was a far cry from the antics that take place during the real Mardi Gras parade! After this, it was a night of drinking mulled wine (to stay warm of course) and listening/dancing to various bands that were featured on the stage. Some of them were a little cheesy, but it was really fun. Dancing also helps to stay warm!
The next day we wandered around the town for a bit, checked out the beautiful lake at the center of town (see Nicki's blog for its name....) and took a gondola up to the top of the hill overlooking the city. Luckily, we had a beautiful clear day and could see the city, lake and surrounding mountains perfectly. Another feature at the top of the gondola is a luge course, and for $7, we couldn't pass it up. It involved sitting in plastic sled-like things on wheels with handlebars that acted as breaks when pulled back. It was a good time but there were too many curves and in order to stay in control, we couldn't go too fast. We also discovered an awesome chocolate shop that also served ice cream and hot chocolate in very unique flavors. I sampled the Mexican chili hot chocolate and the lavender hot chocolate. Both excellent. Who's seen the movie Chocolat? I've wanted to try chocolate and chili every since I saw that movie but had never actually seen it in a shop before
The next day we took a hike on the Queenstown Hill Walkway, which was beautiful but very icy at places. That made the hike a little less enjoyable. It was also a very cloudy day and so most of the view we could have had at the top of the view was cloaked in clouds. There was a kind of eerie looking clearing over the lake so at least we could see something. Then it was off to the airport in the afternoon for a flight back up to Auckland for our flights. Nicki just left for her flight back to the US and I will be leaving tomorrow for my flight to Tokyo. So! I better get off this computer and go entertain myself somewhere more interesting than this hostel.
After Wanaka, it was on to Queenstown, which is apparently the adventure capital of the world. Not too much craziness for us though. It's really expensive! We arrived a few hours before the Winterfest Mardi Gras parade, so after resting up a bit, we headed out into the cold to check out the festivities. They started with a small parade featuring paper masks on sticks, people in colorful costumes on stilts and many children with paper lanterns. It was a far cry from the antics that take place during the real Mardi Gras parade! After this, it was a night of drinking mulled wine (to stay warm of course) and listening/dancing to various bands that were featured on the stage. Some of them were a little cheesy, but it was really fun. Dancing also helps to stay warm!
The next day we wandered around the town for a bit, checked out the beautiful lake at the center of town (see Nicki's blog for its name....) and took a gondola up to the top of the hill overlooking the city. Luckily, we had a beautiful clear day and could see the city, lake and surrounding mountains perfectly. Another feature at the top of the gondola is a luge course, and for $7, we couldn't pass it up. It involved sitting in plastic sled-like things on wheels with handlebars that acted as breaks when pulled back. It was a good time but there were too many curves and in order to stay in control, we couldn't go too fast. We also discovered an awesome chocolate shop that also served ice cream and hot chocolate in very unique flavors. I sampled the Mexican chili hot chocolate and the lavender hot chocolate. Both excellent. Who's seen the movie Chocolat? I've wanted to try chocolate and chili every since I saw that movie but had never actually seen it in a shop before
The next day we took a hike on the Queenstown Hill Walkway, which was beautiful but very icy at places. That made the hike a little less enjoyable. It was also a very cloudy day and so most of the view we could have had at the top of the view was cloaked in clouds. There was a kind of eerie looking clearing over the lake so at least we could see something. Then it was off to the airport in the afternoon for a flight back up to Auckland for our flights. Nicki just left for her flight back to the US and I will be leaving tomorrow for my flight to Tokyo. So! I better get off this computer and go entertain myself somewhere more interesting than this hostel.
Winterfest in June?
Posted by Nicki
That’s right folks, good old southern hemisphere for you. Winter in June. And the Kiwi’s know how to have a blast in the snow…in fact they seem to love the cold as everytime we go into a backpackers we find the windows open, along with no heat. Crazy people.
Anyhow, Em and I spent the last few days in Queenstown and had a great time. The city seems to be like the Aspen of New Zealand. Ski town with lots of fancy places to stay, definitely it’s fair share of fine dining to go with them, but luckily for us, also a few good cheapies and affordable hostels. The city is nestled in the mountains a looks out upon Lake Wakitupo, just beautiful.
The first night we got in was their mardi gras celebration. The evening started off with a more family oriented version of a mardi gras parade with people in masks, big puppet type things, colorful characters on stilts and the like. Lots of kids carrying little hand made lanterns as well. Then everyone met up in the center square where there was a huge bandstand set up with free live music all evening. There was also tons of food and drink stalls set up down the street. Lots of cheap yummy food, everything from beef bomber sandwiches to pumpkin soup, to waffles to thai and indian food. They also had mulled wine by the truckload. Something I’d never had before but have taken a liking too. Hot red wine with some spices, tastes kind of like cider. Works wonders for keeping warm outdoors in a freezing cold winter night. Although I ended up dragging Emily in as I was shivering, we had a great night for the most part.
The next day had more festival stuff, including crazy races and relays, a slip and slide, a drag queen obstacle course race, and lots of races involving guys dressed up in snickers bar costumes. All super fun to watch. We also took a gondola up to the top of a mountain overlooking the town. Gorgeous views. We also LUGED! Really good time, not quite on ice like the olympics, but on a concrete track around the mountain on a kind of laid back sled on wheels kind of thing. It reminded me of those sit and skate orange scooter things from the 80’s, not sure if anyone else knows what I’m talking about. Anyhow, it was great fun.
Today we wandered around and went for a hike up in the hills. A lot of the hike was through super dense forest, kind creepy, I expected some sort of creature from lord of the rings to jump out at me. But it was fun, and although the clouds were to low to see much from the top, what we could see was cool. Only problem was the ice, a lot of the track was icy, and I managed to slip quite a few times, once majorly biting the dust for a nice muddy bum, shoot. So much for my one pair of clean pants. Opps.
Anyhow, I am headed to the states tomorrow! I’ll probably post one last blog once I’m back. I’ll have plenty of time on my million hours of planes to think of something clever I hope. But I’m excited to see you all soon! Have a wonderful day!
That’s right folks, good old southern hemisphere for you. Winter in June. And the Kiwi’s know how to have a blast in the snow…in fact they seem to love the cold as everytime we go into a backpackers we find the windows open, along with no heat. Crazy people.
Anyhow, Em and I spent the last few days in Queenstown and had a great time. The city seems to be like the Aspen of New Zealand. Ski town with lots of fancy places to stay, definitely it’s fair share of fine dining to go with them, but luckily for us, also a few good cheapies and affordable hostels. The city is nestled in the mountains a looks out upon Lake Wakitupo, just beautiful.
The first night we got in was their mardi gras celebration. The evening started off with a more family oriented version of a mardi gras parade with people in masks, big puppet type things, colorful characters on stilts and the like. Lots of kids carrying little hand made lanterns as well. Then everyone met up in the center square where there was a huge bandstand set up with free live music all evening. There was also tons of food and drink stalls set up down the street. Lots of cheap yummy food, everything from beef bomber sandwiches to pumpkin soup, to waffles to thai and indian food. They also had mulled wine by the truckload. Something I’d never had before but have taken a liking too. Hot red wine with some spices, tastes kind of like cider. Works wonders for keeping warm outdoors in a freezing cold winter night. Although I ended up dragging Emily in as I was shivering, we had a great night for the most part.
The next day had more festival stuff, including crazy races and relays, a slip and slide, a drag queen obstacle course race, and lots of races involving guys dressed up in snickers bar costumes. All super fun to watch. We also took a gondola up to the top of a mountain overlooking the town. Gorgeous views. We also LUGED! Really good time, not quite on ice like the olympics, but on a concrete track around the mountain on a kind of laid back sled on wheels kind of thing. It reminded me of those sit and skate orange scooter things from the 80’s, not sure if anyone else knows what I’m talking about. Anyhow, it was great fun.
Today we wandered around and went for a hike up in the hills. A lot of the hike was through super dense forest, kind creepy, I expected some sort of creature from lord of the rings to jump out at me. But it was fun, and although the clouds were to low to see much from the top, what we could see was cool. Only problem was the ice, a lot of the track was icy, and I managed to slip quite a few times, once majorly biting the dust for a nice muddy bum, shoot. So much for my one pair of clean pants. Opps.
Anyhow, I am headed to the states tomorrow! I’ll probably post one last blog once I’m back. I’ll have plenty of time on my million hours of planes to think of something clever I hope. But I’m excited to see you all soon! Have a wonderful day!
On Top Of The World
Posted by Nicki
First off, edit…in the last post I mentioned that the south island was a world heritage site, I meant the west coast of the south island, not the whole south island. Just fyi.
So, I have officially decided that I want to move to Wanaka (rhymes with Monica) and be a ski bum. How much fun would that be? Em and I had a wonderful time in the little ski town and an even better time on the mountain. The first night we were in town we went to this old little movie theatre. Although the film we saw was extremely bizarre and didn’t make any sense, the movie theatre was great. You sit on old comfy couches and arm chairs, there was even an old vintage vw bug you could relax in. Then, they have an intermission with fresh baked still warm from the oven cookies and homemade ice cream! Yum! It was great.
The next day we hit the slopes. We went to a place called Cardrona, and it was fantastic. We were acutally on a mountain, none of this silly Minnesota hill stuff. Seriously, we were above the clouds, it was incredible. At the top of the run I felt like I practically had to pinch myself to realize I actually was in this awesome place, skiing in New Zealand. As you go down the mountain you look out on what I believe were the southern alps, if not, still just spectacular snow capped mountains, majestic as any I have ever seen. I was breathless everytime I saw them. The day was perfect for skiing as well. Blue skies and sunshine, mid thirties, not cold at all. It was wonderful. The only complaint I would have is that Cardrona doesn’t like to label their runs…you’d go over a ledge not really knowing whether it was a green, blue, or black dimond. Not exactly the best way to do things, but hey, it made for an adventure…or something like that.
At night we even found a bar that was playing Desperate Housewives! A little dose of home, only they shut it off when Grey’s Anatomy came on! Boo! Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.
For now we are in Queenstown, a great little town surrounded again by beautiful mountains and Lake Wakitupu (sp?). Winterfest is on and we’re having a great time. Hard to believe we’ll be back in summer weather in just a few days!!
First off, edit…in the last post I mentioned that the south island was a world heritage site, I meant the west coast of the south island, not the whole south island. Just fyi.
So, I have officially decided that I want to move to Wanaka (rhymes with Monica) and be a ski bum. How much fun would that be? Em and I had a wonderful time in the little ski town and an even better time on the mountain. The first night we were in town we went to this old little movie theatre. Although the film we saw was extremely bizarre and didn’t make any sense, the movie theatre was great. You sit on old comfy couches and arm chairs, there was even an old vintage vw bug you could relax in. Then, they have an intermission with fresh baked still warm from the oven cookies and homemade ice cream! Yum! It was great.
The next day we hit the slopes. We went to a place called Cardrona, and it was fantastic. We were acutally on a mountain, none of this silly Minnesota hill stuff. Seriously, we were above the clouds, it was incredible. At the top of the run I felt like I practically had to pinch myself to realize I actually was in this awesome place, skiing in New Zealand. As you go down the mountain you look out on what I believe were the southern alps, if not, still just spectacular snow capped mountains, majestic as any I have ever seen. I was breathless everytime I saw them. The day was perfect for skiing as well. Blue skies and sunshine, mid thirties, not cold at all. It was wonderful. The only complaint I would have is that Cardrona doesn’t like to label their runs…you’d go over a ledge not really knowing whether it was a green, blue, or black dimond. Not exactly the best way to do things, but hey, it made for an adventure…or something like that.
At night we even found a bar that was playing Desperate Housewives! A little dose of home, only they shut it off when Grey’s Anatomy came on! Boo! Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.
For now we are in Queenstown, a great little town surrounded again by beautiful mountains and Lake Wakitupu (sp?). Winterfest is on and we’re having a great time. Hard to believe we’ll be back in summer weather in just a few days!!
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Hitting The Slopes In June???!?!
Posted by Emily
That's right, it's the end of June and time for the ski opener in New Zealand. From Fox Glacier, we took a bus to Wanaka, a very beautiful little ski town at the foot of the Southern Alps (I think....). The was a lovely, and very cold, lake near the center of town and surrounding the entire town are beautiful snow-capped mountains. The clouds were so low at times that it wasn't even possible to see the snow at the top. It was interesting to see the clouds so low but that also meant a cloudy, cold day for us.
The first night in Wanaka we went out to a very quirky movie theater with recliners, couches and even a vintage car instead of proper theater seating. There is an intermission during the movie during which they serve fresh baked cookies and homemade ice cream. The theater itself was amazing but the movie was a bit of a disappointment. It was called Hidden, Cache in French. The reviews of it were so good and it won an award at the Cannes Film Festival, so naturally we thought the movie would be brilliant as advertised. Well, it was certainly one of the strangest films I have ever seen, mostly because there is no real resolution. It reminded me of all those times, while writing the conclusion to a paper in college, that I thought to myself "Why do I really need a conclusion? It will be understandable without one." This is apparently what the writers thought to themselves, "The audience will be intelligent. We don't need a conclusion or a resolution. They will be able to figure it out for themselves." Oh well. To make up for this I suppose, the stars were beautiful on the way home. In case there were any doubts, they do really look different in the southern hemisphere. They seem to be more bunched up and there is line of stars (a galaxy I think) that extends in a large arch through a good portion of the sky. Too bad it was so colder we would have stayed out longer to enjoy them!
They next day we got up before the sunrise (stupid winter) and prepared ourselves for a day of skiing. We got picked up by a shuttle bus and taken to a ski area called Cardrona about 40 minutes away. I slept for most of the way there so I didn't see the scenery change but the views were quite amazing when we got there. The slopes are at the top of a mountain, and because of this, we were well above the clouds. It was beautiful and sunny and a perfect day for skiing. We got our lift passes, rented our skis and were off. Having taken ski school and having been skiing far more times that me, Nicki was the winner for ski skill. I managed to fall down every single time I went down a steep hill. I even took 3 tumbles down one hill. I swear, I've never been this bad at skiing before! It didn't help that they seem to have decided that labeling the runs was a waste of time. They were vaguely marked at the top, but get down the hill and get to a fork in the run, you just have to take a guess as to what you are going to encounter on the other side of the ledge (that you usually couldn't see over....). Oh well, it was still a good time and the day was filled with stunning views of the mountains and lots of sunshine.
That's right, it's the end of June and time for the ski opener in New Zealand. From Fox Glacier, we took a bus to Wanaka, a very beautiful little ski town at the foot of the Southern Alps (I think....). The was a lovely, and very cold, lake near the center of town and surrounding the entire town are beautiful snow-capped mountains. The clouds were so low at times that it wasn't even possible to see the snow at the top. It was interesting to see the clouds so low but that also meant a cloudy, cold day for us.
The first night in Wanaka we went out to a very quirky movie theater with recliners, couches and even a vintage car instead of proper theater seating. There is an intermission during the movie during which they serve fresh baked cookies and homemade ice cream. The theater itself was amazing but the movie was a bit of a disappointment. It was called Hidden, Cache in French. The reviews of it were so good and it won an award at the Cannes Film Festival, so naturally we thought the movie would be brilliant as advertised. Well, it was certainly one of the strangest films I have ever seen, mostly because there is no real resolution. It reminded me of all those times, while writing the conclusion to a paper in college, that I thought to myself "Why do I really need a conclusion? It will be understandable without one." This is apparently what the writers thought to themselves, "The audience will be intelligent. We don't need a conclusion or a resolution. They will be able to figure it out for themselves." Oh well. To make up for this I suppose, the stars were beautiful on the way home. In case there were any doubts, they do really look different in the southern hemisphere. They seem to be more bunched up and there is line of stars (a galaxy I think) that extends in a large arch through a good portion of the sky. Too bad it was so colder we would have stayed out longer to enjoy them!
They next day we got up before the sunrise (stupid winter) and prepared ourselves for a day of skiing. We got picked up by a shuttle bus and taken to a ski area called Cardrona about 40 minutes away. I slept for most of the way there so I didn't see the scenery change but the views were quite amazing when we got there. The slopes are at the top of a mountain, and because of this, we were well above the clouds. It was beautiful and sunny and a perfect day for skiing. We got our lift passes, rented our skis and were off. Having taken ski school and having been skiing far more times that me, Nicki was the winner for ski skill. I managed to fall down every single time I went down a steep hill. I even took 3 tumbles down one hill. I swear, I've never been this bad at skiing before! It didn't help that they seem to have decided that labeling the runs was a waste of time. They were vaguely marked at the top, but get down the hill and get to a fork in the run, you just have to take a guess as to what you are going to encounter on the other side of the ledge (that you usually couldn't see over....). Oh well, it was still a good time and the day was filled with stunning views of the mountains and lots of sunshine.
What's Cooler Than Bein' Cool? ICE COLD!: Hiking On Fox Glacier
Posted by Emily
As Nicki said, our trip to the glacier was amazing. It's definitely an experience unlike any other I have ever had. I may be from Minnesota, but I have never hiked around on such a large chunk of ice. When I was little I had some sort of educational book series that had a section about exploring Antarctica. I don't remember too much about it but I do recall there being info about hiking through snow and ice and sometimes people falling through the ice/snow into crevasses. Now, I never had the fear that I would fall into a hole, but it did make me think of an Antarctica-like landscape. Mountains and mountains of ice. At times when I stopped to think about and look at what we were actually doing, it was pretty crazy and would have been very dangerous had we not been wearing our crampons (the metal spikes). At times we were walking over very narrow ice ledges and down steep stairs where one wrong step could have sent you falling onto the hard-as-concrete ice. However, the crampons dug into the ice and kept us safe so we could enjoy the hike without being scared the whole time.
Before heading to the tiny glacier town, we headed to another small town called Hokitika, known for it's jade because of the close proximity of a mine. We were hoping that the jade there would be cheaper because of its nearness to a mine, but no such luck. We had originally planned to go to the town because it is possible to do your own jade carvings there, but when we looked into it more, the price wasn't exactly right. I for one decided that I didn't want to spend 8 hours sanding down a carving that would might actually end up costing more than one I could buy in the store and possibly look worse. Nicki still kind of wanted to do it I think but we ended up not really having enough time anyway.
Although there wasn't too much to do in the town, there was a beautiful beach to walk on. We walked on it a bit the night we got there but then the sun went down and it got entirely too cold. We went back the next day when the sun was out and walked for quite a while. I liked this beach because it wasn't the generic pretty palm tree, perfect turquoise water type of beach. It was more rugged with lots of driftwood, sea-smoothed rocks and crashing waves. Sometimes I like this kind of beach more because it's more unique I guess. In a way, it has more personality that the post card perfect beaches.
As Nicki said, our trip to the glacier was amazing. It's definitely an experience unlike any other I have ever had. I may be from Minnesota, but I have never hiked around on such a large chunk of ice. When I was little I had some sort of educational book series that had a section about exploring Antarctica. I don't remember too much about it but I do recall there being info about hiking through snow and ice and sometimes people falling through the ice/snow into crevasses. Now, I never had the fear that I would fall into a hole, but it did make me think of an Antarctica-like landscape. Mountains and mountains of ice. At times when I stopped to think about and look at what we were actually doing, it was pretty crazy and would have been very dangerous had we not been wearing our crampons (the metal spikes). At times we were walking over very narrow ice ledges and down steep stairs where one wrong step could have sent you falling onto the hard-as-concrete ice. However, the crampons dug into the ice and kept us safe so we could enjoy the hike without being scared the whole time.
Before heading to the tiny glacier town, we headed to another small town called Hokitika, known for it's jade because of the close proximity of a mine. We were hoping that the jade there would be cheaper because of its nearness to a mine, but no such luck. We had originally planned to go to the town because it is possible to do your own jade carvings there, but when we looked into it more, the price wasn't exactly right. I for one decided that I didn't want to spend 8 hours sanding down a carving that would might actually end up costing more than one I could buy in the store and possibly look worse. Nicki still kind of wanted to do it I think but we ended up not really having enough time anyway.
Although there wasn't too much to do in the town, there was a beautiful beach to walk on. We walked on it a bit the night we got there but then the sun went down and it got entirely too cold. We went back the next day when the sun was out and walked for quite a while. I liked this beach because it wasn't the generic pretty palm tree, perfect turquoise water type of beach. It was more rugged with lots of driftwood, sea-smoothed rocks and crashing waves. Sometimes I like this kind of beach more because it's more unique I guess. In a way, it has more personality that the post card perfect beaches.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
The Fox.
Posted By Nicki.
After our wine tour Em and I have made our way down the west coast of New Zealands south island. Apparently the entire West Coast of the South Island has been declared a world heritage site by UNESCO, and for good reason. The scenary is beautiful. Towering, majestic mountains on one side, go around the corner, powerful surf crashing into the beaches. It was nothing short of incredible. I enjoyed the long bus ride just watching the landscapes pass us by.
On our way south we spent one night in the little crafts town of Hokitika. Nothing too exciting, pretty deserted hostel, but lots and lots of jade…most of it unfortunately out of our budget. Who knew a little sculpture of greenstone could retail for 5-11,000 dollars? There was a lovely beach to stroll down though, and a delicious fudge shop. Always room for chocolate.
After Hokitika, we made our way further south along the coast to the little village of Fox. The township exists we are told, for one reason, the Fox Glacier, the reason we came. There are two main glaciers that tourists come to see in New Zealand, one is the Franz Joseph, and the other is Fox. Fox is the bigger of the two and by far cheaper to explore, so we went with that one.
We signed on for a full day walking tour with Alpine Guides and set out around 9:30 yesterday morning. The gave us boots, full crampons (metal spikes that you attatch to the bottom of your boots, and yes there are half crampons), and extra wool socks. Even with two pairs of wool socks, my feet still froze though, shoot. Anyhow, they drove us out about 15 minutes to the front of the glacier area. It starts way up in the mountains, but then curves a river of ice down into the valley below. The landscape is gorgeous. Snowcapped mountains falling into temperate rainforest below. A powder blue glacial river runs from the head of the glacier out into the valley.
We hiked uphill through the rainforest area and then came onto the glacier a little past the front. There we stopped to attach our crampons, and onto the ice we went. The glacier itself is enormous. The people we could see walking around on it looked miniscule. There were steps carved into the ice for the most part, but in other places our guides hacked away with ice axes to make out a track. We had about 3 hours on the ice, and it was amazing. For sure an experience like none other. The glacier was beautiful, something you might not always expect I suppose from a big hunk of ice. The curves of the crevasses and towering peaks were really magnificent. Lots of great pictures. We hiked up and down and around and through crevasses, some so narrow girly hips don’t exactly easily fit! Also, the ice is actually blue! Something I never expected. Apparently, according to our guide, the ice of the glacier is under so much pressure that it squeezes out all the air, the causes it to be super dense and actually refract the light differently turning it a shade of powder blue.
For now we have made our way to Wanaka, a cute little ski town. We’ll be hitting the slopes tomorrow, then it’s off to Queenstown where we apparently will be making it just in time for the annual winterfest mardi gras parade! This could be trouble….We’ll keep you posted!
After our wine tour Em and I have made our way down the west coast of New Zealands south island. Apparently the entire West Coast of the South Island has been declared a world heritage site by UNESCO, and for good reason. The scenary is beautiful. Towering, majestic mountains on one side, go around the corner, powerful surf crashing into the beaches. It was nothing short of incredible. I enjoyed the long bus ride just watching the landscapes pass us by.
On our way south we spent one night in the little crafts town of Hokitika. Nothing too exciting, pretty deserted hostel, but lots and lots of jade…most of it unfortunately out of our budget. Who knew a little sculpture of greenstone could retail for 5-11,000 dollars? There was a lovely beach to stroll down though, and a delicious fudge shop. Always room for chocolate.
After Hokitika, we made our way further south along the coast to the little village of Fox. The township exists we are told, for one reason, the Fox Glacier, the reason we came. There are two main glaciers that tourists come to see in New Zealand, one is the Franz Joseph, and the other is Fox. Fox is the bigger of the two and by far cheaper to explore, so we went with that one.
We signed on for a full day walking tour with Alpine Guides and set out around 9:30 yesterday morning. The gave us boots, full crampons (metal spikes that you attatch to the bottom of your boots, and yes there are half crampons), and extra wool socks. Even with two pairs of wool socks, my feet still froze though, shoot. Anyhow, they drove us out about 15 minutes to the front of the glacier area. It starts way up in the mountains, but then curves a river of ice down into the valley below. The landscape is gorgeous. Snowcapped mountains falling into temperate rainforest below. A powder blue glacial river runs from the head of the glacier out into the valley.
We hiked uphill through the rainforest area and then came onto the glacier a little past the front. There we stopped to attach our crampons, and onto the ice we went. The glacier itself is enormous. The people we could see walking around on it looked miniscule. There were steps carved into the ice for the most part, but in other places our guides hacked away with ice axes to make out a track. We had about 3 hours on the ice, and it was amazing. For sure an experience like none other. The glacier was beautiful, something you might not always expect I suppose from a big hunk of ice. The curves of the crevasses and towering peaks were really magnificent. Lots of great pictures. We hiked up and down and around and through crevasses, some so narrow girly hips don’t exactly easily fit! Also, the ice is actually blue! Something I never expected. Apparently, according to our guide, the ice of the glacier is under so much pressure that it squeezes out all the air, the causes it to be super dense and actually refract the light differently turning it a shade of powder blue.
For now we have made our way to Wanaka, a cute little ski town. We’ll be hitting the slopes tomorrow, then it’s off to Queenstown where we apparently will be making it just in time for the annual winterfest mardi gras parade! This could be trouble….We’ll keep you posted!
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Wine By Bike
Posted by Emily
Yesterday Nicki and I headed from the little town of Picton to the slightly larger town of Blenheim in a very popular winery area. We got picked up in town by one of the owners of Wine By Bike, a little outfit that rents bikes to those adventurous enough to drink wine and then pedal along the roads. Apparently, they have recently been featured in an article in The New York Times. And for the even more adventurous, they are open in the winter. That was us. We decided to get over the cold weather and bike around the area and do a little wine tasting. A good thing about going in the winter is that there is pretty much no one else out. We got bikes easily (I guess they actually have to turn some people away in the summer) and were usually the only people at the wineries.
Actually, wine tasting and riding a bike isn't as bad as it sounds, so no worries about that. Although the wine samples do add up surprisingly quickly, we were nowhere near drunk and we were still driving in a straight line by the end! Plus, there was very little traffic on the roads.
Anyway, we started out at the wineries that were closest to were we got our bikes (that were even equipped with a wine rack on the back to carry purchases) and worked our way out. Another advantage of being the only people around is that you can ask a lot of questions and learn quite a bit. We learned from the very chatty woman at the first winery we visited that the area around Blenheim is known for its white wines because the weather is cooler. Red grapes do better in a warmer climate. There are a few reds around, but I didn't like them so much. Many of them were quite bitter, in my opinion anyway, and smoky flavored.
I don't know about many of you, but I have never been able to taste the flavors that are listed in the descriptions of wine. Like, "Fruity mixed berry flavor with a tobacco and chocolate finish." I always thought that was a bunch of crap but I could actually taste flavors. I was amazed. Many of the white wines had pear, apricot, passion fruit and guava flavors, though not all at once of course. We had a lot of fun just trying the different wines that the different places had to offer.
Although it would have been nice to be able to buy several of the wines that we tasted, it wouldn't have been very economical for us and the bottles also would have been very hard to carry because there was no way we were paying to have them shipped home. We did buy one bottle each though, a dessert wine that was amazing, and I usually hate dessert wine. I think we bought it because it was very unique and the winery itself doesn't even know when they will be making it again. The wine is made from grapes that are partially spoiled by a fungus but I guess they can still make wine from the grapes. Since the fungus dehydrates the grapes, it causes the wine to be sweeter. Mmmm....sounds appetizing, huh? But really, the wine was amazing!
We had time to see several wineries and make it back to the Wine By Bike place just in time to miss the rain. That would not have been a fun bike ride! From Blenheim, we got on another bus headed for Nelson, about 2 hours away. We had to stay there for the night to catch our bus to the little town that we are in right now called Hokitika. It's primarily known because of the nearby jade mines. We only have one night here as well and we are hoping to be able to entertain ourselves until tomorrow afternoon when we get on another bus to Fox Glacier, where we are going to do a full-day glacier hike.
Yesterday Nicki and I headed from the little town of Picton to the slightly larger town of Blenheim in a very popular winery area. We got picked up in town by one of the owners of Wine By Bike, a little outfit that rents bikes to those adventurous enough to drink wine and then pedal along the roads. Apparently, they have recently been featured in an article in The New York Times. And for the even more adventurous, they are open in the winter. That was us. We decided to get over the cold weather and bike around the area and do a little wine tasting. A good thing about going in the winter is that there is pretty much no one else out. We got bikes easily (I guess they actually have to turn some people away in the summer) and were usually the only people at the wineries.
Actually, wine tasting and riding a bike isn't as bad as it sounds, so no worries about that. Although the wine samples do add up surprisingly quickly, we were nowhere near drunk and we were still driving in a straight line by the end! Plus, there was very little traffic on the roads.
Anyway, we started out at the wineries that were closest to were we got our bikes (that were even equipped with a wine rack on the back to carry purchases) and worked our way out. Another advantage of being the only people around is that you can ask a lot of questions and learn quite a bit. We learned from the very chatty woman at the first winery we visited that the area around Blenheim is known for its white wines because the weather is cooler. Red grapes do better in a warmer climate. There are a few reds around, but I didn't like them so much. Many of them were quite bitter, in my opinion anyway, and smoky flavored.
I don't know about many of you, but I have never been able to taste the flavors that are listed in the descriptions of wine. Like, "Fruity mixed berry flavor with a tobacco and chocolate finish." I always thought that was a bunch of crap but I could actually taste flavors. I was amazed. Many of the white wines had pear, apricot, passion fruit and guava flavors, though not all at once of course. We had a lot of fun just trying the different wines that the different places had to offer.
Although it would have been nice to be able to buy several of the wines that we tasted, it wouldn't have been very economical for us and the bottles also would have been very hard to carry because there was no way we were paying to have them shipped home. We did buy one bottle each though, a dessert wine that was amazing, and I usually hate dessert wine. I think we bought it because it was very unique and the winery itself doesn't even know when they will be making it again. The wine is made from grapes that are partially spoiled by a fungus but I guess they can still make wine from the grapes. Since the fungus dehydrates the grapes, it causes the wine to be sweeter. Mmmm....sounds appetizing, huh? But really, the wine was amazing!
We had time to see several wineries and make it back to the Wine By Bike place just in time to miss the rain. That would not have been a fun bike ride! From Blenheim, we got on another bus headed for Nelson, about 2 hours away. We had to stay there for the night to catch our bus to the little town that we are in right now called Hokitika. It's primarily known because of the nearby jade mines. We only have one night here as well and we are hoping to be able to entertain ourselves until tomorrow afternoon when we get on another bus to Fox Glacier, where we are going to do a full-day glacier hike.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Wild in the Wilderness
Posted by Nicki
Well, so I lied, not really wild. But we were in the wilderness! Our trip to the south island was a sleepy one, Em and I both were passed out cold for most all the trip. But upon arriving in Picton, we found we’d stumbled upon some amazing scenary. The south island so far is incredibly beautiful.
Right away from Picton we got a boat into Marlborough Sounds. The Sounds are a collection of islands, bays, coves, and inlets at the top coast of the south island. Beautiful forested hills plunge into teal green waters. Serene and amazing. The area is filled with wildlife, in fact on the trip out to our hostel we saw seals and peguins! The seals were adorable. Apparently very smart as well. Our boat driver told us how it’s taken salmon farmers 10 years to figure out how to keep the seals out of their salmon. The peguins we only saw from a distance, but I can still say I saw them!
Our hostel was a wonderful little place tucked into Endeavor Inlet. We were the only ones there for most of the time, leading to a very quiet and relaxing few days. We also learned that heat is a real luxury in New Zealand. Apparently having heated rooms is a rarity on the south island. This is all well and good in the summer, but when there is snow in the forecast, not so good at all. We were FREEZING!!! We had two duvets on our beds, but ended up putting boiling water in our Nalgenes to snuggle with at night to keep warm. We kept a fire going in the living room which made things warmer the second day, but the nights were still very chilly. Going to make things interesting once we get to snow country. Luckily the second night the hostel brought us up some hot water bottles to keep in our beds.
Aside from relaxing in the hostel and attempting jigsaw puzzles, we also did some great hiking. Our backpacker (hostel in kiwi) was located right on the Queen Charlotte Track, as famous hiking trail. We went up one way one day and the other the next. A little mucky in places, but the views made it well worth it. The second day we could see a dusting of snow on the tops of the hills. Still an odd sight to see in mid June.
For now we are back in Picton for the night, our hostel has free apple crumble and ice cream, very excited for that. Tomorrow we are doing a wine tour by bike, should be a blast, we’ll see how many wineries we get to before walking the bikes might be necessary…:-)
Well, so I lied, not really wild. But we were in the wilderness! Our trip to the south island was a sleepy one, Em and I both were passed out cold for most all the trip. But upon arriving in Picton, we found we’d stumbled upon some amazing scenary. The south island so far is incredibly beautiful.
Right away from Picton we got a boat into Marlborough Sounds. The Sounds are a collection of islands, bays, coves, and inlets at the top coast of the south island. Beautiful forested hills plunge into teal green waters. Serene and amazing. The area is filled with wildlife, in fact on the trip out to our hostel we saw seals and peguins! The seals were adorable. Apparently very smart as well. Our boat driver told us how it’s taken salmon farmers 10 years to figure out how to keep the seals out of their salmon. The peguins we only saw from a distance, but I can still say I saw them!
Our hostel was a wonderful little place tucked into Endeavor Inlet. We were the only ones there for most of the time, leading to a very quiet and relaxing few days. We also learned that heat is a real luxury in New Zealand. Apparently having heated rooms is a rarity on the south island. This is all well and good in the summer, but when there is snow in the forecast, not so good at all. We were FREEZING!!! We had two duvets on our beds, but ended up putting boiling water in our Nalgenes to snuggle with at night to keep warm. We kept a fire going in the living room which made things warmer the second day, but the nights were still very chilly. Going to make things interesting once we get to snow country. Luckily the second night the hostel brought us up some hot water bottles to keep in our beds.
Aside from relaxing in the hostel and attempting jigsaw puzzles, we also did some great hiking. Our backpacker (hostel in kiwi) was located right on the Queen Charlotte Track, as famous hiking trail. We went up one way one day and the other the next. A little mucky in places, but the views made it well worth it. The second day we could see a dusting of snow on the tops of the hills. Still an odd sight to see in mid June.
For now we are back in Picton for the night, our hostel has free apple crumble and ice cream, very excited for that. Tomorrow we are doing a wine tour by bike, should be a blast, we’ll see how many wineries we get to before walking the bikes might be necessary…:-)
Kiwi Capital
Posted by Nicki
So after our adventures in Rotorua, it was time to begin our venture south. In order to catch a ferry over to the south island, we had to make a stopover for a night in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. We arrived at the bright and early time of 7am after having spent the night on a bus…not the greatest as my seatmate decided that playing heavy metal at 4am so loud that I could hear his headphones over my headphones was a brillant idea. I did not agree.
Although we only had a bit of time in Wellington, I really enjoyed the city and what it had to offer. I would have loved to have a few more days to explore. Wellington again, like most places in NZ is a seaside town. It has a great harbor area and lots of scenic hills overlooking the bay. We spent our day wandering Cuba Street, a really neat pedestrian avenue filled with artsy cafes, restaurants, and shops, and going to the Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand.
I was very impressed with Te Papa. It was not only free (yay, backpacker bonus!) but really interesting and hands on. The musuem included everything having to do with New Zealand from weather and tectonic plates and earthquakes, to plants and animals, to Maori culture. There was an earthquake simulation house, lots of computer games to play, and overall just very interesting and interactive exhibits. There was a memorial to extinct animals and plant life…something I’ve never seen before, and maybe should see more of. I also was interested in how well the Maori were represented. All of the musuem displays and descriptions were in both English and Maori. New Zealand seems to be doing quite a good job of promoting their heritage. In fact, while we were in Waitomo, we passed a primary school that was taught on ly in Maori. Our guide said the school only used to have 17 students. Now it has 70, some drive over an hour from the coast to attend.
In any case, our time in Wellington was much to short, but now we are in the South Island, which although is chilly, is worth the trip.
So after our adventures in Rotorua, it was time to begin our venture south. In order to catch a ferry over to the south island, we had to make a stopover for a night in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. We arrived at the bright and early time of 7am after having spent the night on a bus…not the greatest as my seatmate decided that playing heavy metal at 4am so loud that I could hear his headphones over my headphones was a brillant idea. I did not agree.
Although we only had a bit of time in Wellington, I really enjoyed the city and what it had to offer. I would have loved to have a few more days to explore. Wellington again, like most places in NZ is a seaside town. It has a great harbor area and lots of scenic hills overlooking the bay. We spent our day wandering Cuba Street, a really neat pedestrian avenue filled with artsy cafes, restaurants, and shops, and going to the Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand.
I was very impressed with Te Papa. It was not only free (yay, backpacker bonus!) but really interesting and hands on. The musuem included everything having to do with New Zealand from weather and tectonic plates and earthquakes, to plants and animals, to Maori culture. There was an earthquake simulation house, lots of computer games to play, and overall just very interesting and interactive exhibits. There was a memorial to extinct animals and plant life…something I’ve never seen before, and maybe should see more of. I also was interested in how well the Maori were represented. All of the musuem displays and descriptions were in both English and Maori. New Zealand seems to be doing quite a good job of promoting their heritage. In fact, while we were in Waitomo, we passed a primary school that was taught on ly in Maori. Our guide said the school only used to have 17 students. Now it has 70, some drive over an hour from the coast to attend.
In any case, our time in Wellington was much to short, but now we are in the South Island, which although is chilly, is worth the trip.
From White Water to Black Water
Posted by Nicki
So, upon deciding to come to New Zealand I knew I was going to have to go white water rafting. From previous experiences in Ecuador, I love rafting. However, it’s winter in NZ, this makes most rafting endevours rather difficult.
In Rotorua though, we did manage to find a river being run…it also happened to be the river with the worlds highest commercially rafted waterfall. Kaituna Cascades. All excited we called the rafting company right away, but we couldn’t go for a few days because the river was flooded.
Finally, a few days later, they let us on the river. We were picked up, and then they suited us up in fleeces, wetsuits, booties, helmets, and life-jackets. Then we headed out. We knew beforehand that it was going to be short, but I guess I didn’t realize it would be this short. The actual rafting part was probably about 40 minutes or so. Going over the waterfalls was really a good time, definitely exhilerating, but somehow they actually weren’t as big as I thought they would be. There also weren’t many rapids at all if you didn’t count the falls, I was a little dissppointed by that. I expected a little more from New Zealand!
Also, just fyi, it’s really freaking cold when you raft in the winter. Our guides thought it would be super fun to do what they called “river surfing”. This involved putting someone in the front of the boat and then paddling towards a fall\rapid so the front of the boat would get pulled by the water and a big wave would fall over the boat. This, when it’s 80 degrees might be fun, however, mostly it just made me really crabby when the weather is so cold you can almost see your breath. I don’t mind getting wet going over rapids, but just getting wet for the sake of being wet, not my idea of fun.
However, the black water experience was MUCH cooler! Although we originally wanted to go black water rafting, due to budget constraints, we opted just for a normal tour. So, black water you say? Yep, well sort of. In an area called Waitomo, about 2 hours southwest of Rotorua, there are heaps and heaps of caves. Lots of these caves involve glow worms, and that’s what we came to see.
We got on a bus from Rotorua early in the morning and they took us out to the little village. A quirky woman named Katie picked us up for our tour the “spellbound”. Good times. It was about a half hour drive through beautiful New Zealand countryside. We arrived at the first cave and it was all a walking tour. The cave is called “Cave of the Spirit” due to the cold winds that are known to blow through it. Not as exciting as the caves we saw in Hungary, but cool nonetheless. Then came the black water.
After some tea and biscuits (cookies for non-kiwis), we walked to the wet cave. We followed a bridge over a river into the cave and then walked down a bit to observe the glow-worms in the light. Basically, just like little tiny worms. The glow worms craft these elegant silk strings that waft down from the ceiling of the caves which they use to catch their food. After getting our fill of glow worms in the light, time to hit the lights.
We crowded onto a river rafting boat, and our guide flicked the switch to bring the cave to pitch black. Using a rope to guide our little craft she brought us down the river. What we saw above our heads was amazing. Thousands and thousands of glow worms, each with it’s own little blue-green light. It was as if another galaxy of stars was shining down from inside the cave. I have never seen anything like it. Although there were no rapids, it was a relaxing ride, I was left very impressed and amazed. Sometimes you don’t always need the adrenaline.
So, upon deciding to come to New Zealand I knew I was going to have to go white water rafting. From previous experiences in Ecuador, I love rafting. However, it’s winter in NZ, this makes most rafting endevours rather difficult.
In Rotorua though, we did manage to find a river being run…it also happened to be the river with the worlds highest commercially rafted waterfall. Kaituna Cascades. All excited we called the rafting company right away, but we couldn’t go for a few days because the river was flooded.
Finally, a few days later, they let us on the river. We were picked up, and then they suited us up in fleeces, wetsuits, booties, helmets, and life-jackets. Then we headed out. We knew beforehand that it was going to be short, but I guess I didn’t realize it would be this short. The actual rafting part was probably about 40 minutes or so. Going over the waterfalls was really a good time, definitely exhilerating, but somehow they actually weren’t as big as I thought they would be. There also weren’t many rapids at all if you didn’t count the falls, I was a little dissppointed by that. I expected a little more from New Zealand!
Also, just fyi, it’s really freaking cold when you raft in the winter. Our guides thought it would be super fun to do what they called “river surfing”. This involved putting someone in the front of the boat and then paddling towards a fall\rapid so the front of the boat would get pulled by the water and a big wave would fall over the boat. This, when it’s 80 degrees might be fun, however, mostly it just made me really crabby when the weather is so cold you can almost see your breath. I don’t mind getting wet going over rapids, but just getting wet for the sake of being wet, not my idea of fun.
However, the black water experience was MUCH cooler! Although we originally wanted to go black water rafting, due to budget constraints, we opted just for a normal tour. So, black water you say? Yep, well sort of. In an area called Waitomo, about 2 hours southwest of Rotorua, there are heaps and heaps of caves. Lots of these caves involve glow worms, and that’s what we came to see.
We got on a bus from Rotorua early in the morning and they took us out to the little village. A quirky woman named Katie picked us up for our tour the “spellbound”. Good times. It was about a half hour drive through beautiful New Zealand countryside. We arrived at the first cave and it was all a walking tour. The cave is called “Cave of the Spirit” due to the cold winds that are known to blow through it. Not as exciting as the caves we saw in Hungary, but cool nonetheless. Then came the black water.
After some tea and biscuits (cookies for non-kiwis), we walked to the wet cave. We followed a bridge over a river into the cave and then walked down a bit to observe the glow-worms in the light. Basically, just like little tiny worms. The glow worms craft these elegant silk strings that waft down from the ceiling of the caves which they use to catch their food. After getting our fill of glow worms in the light, time to hit the lights.
We crowded onto a river rafting boat, and our guide flicked the switch to bring the cave to pitch black. Using a rope to guide our little craft she brought us down the river. What we saw above our heads was amazing. Thousands and thousands of glow worms, each with it’s own little blue-green light. It was as if another galaxy of stars was shining down from inside the cave. I have never seen anything like it. Although there were no rapids, it was a relaxing ride, I was left very impressed and amazed. Sometimes you don’t always need the adrenaline.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Heaps of Lollies and Gumboots
Posted by Emily
If you speak kiwi, that title means "Lots of candies and galoshes". It has nothing to do with the subject of this post but I think those words are so cute that I had to use them somewhere.
I'm finally back from a little break from the modern world (more on that later) it's time for a little (i.e. hopefully not too long) update on what we have been up to over the past several days.
The day after we went rafting, we took a day trip to a little town (and I do mean little!) about 2 hours away from Rotorua called Waitomo to see the famous glow worm caves. There are many adventure options that can be done there, such as rappelling in the cave, rafting, caving, etc. etc., but we decided to just settle for a normal visit since we had already spent quite a bit of money on other adventure activities in the area.
First we visited a cave called "Cave of the Spirit", name by the Maori people that used to live in the area. No glow worms but the cave formations were interesting. It wasn't nearly as big as the cave I visited in Slovenia, but it was still nice to see. The second cave that we visited was the glow worm cave. This visit involved walking into a very damp cave with a hard hat/head lamp on. This part wasn't too interesting. Eventually we reached a raft (more boat-like really) that would float us down the small river part of the cave where most of the glow worms were. Once we turned of our headlamps it was completely dark except for the little green-blue light from the glow worms. It's just a little part of their tale that glows and in the darkness it gives the appearance of a little galaxy up there on the cave ceiling. As our eyes adjusted we became able to see more and more of these little lights and it was quite amazing. Our guide pulled us down the river for a bit and then back up and all we could hear was the rushing water.
After coming back to Rotorua, we hung around for the evening because we had decided to take the night bus to Wellington instead of wasting a day taking the 8 hour trip. Unfortunately for us, the bus was packed by the time we boarded and I had to sit next to a very broad man (not much room for me!) and Nicki had to sit next to a guy who snored and listed to loud rock music on his earphones. Needless to say, I slept better than her.
We arrived in Wellington at around 7 am, hung out at the train station, where we were dropped off, until the reception at our hostel opened, took a taxi there and then took a nap to make up for the restless bus sleep that we had gotten the night before. We got up, had some lunch at a very good Malaysian restaurant, and then went to see the Museum of New Zealand (I think that's what it was called....). It was a very cool museum and made we think of the Science Museum of Minnesota in the way that it was set up. The displays were very interactive and well presented and that made the whole experience much more interesting. We started the visit with a trip to the "Time Warp" area, which is really just a little virtual reality area where you can try out different activities. I decided to try the virtual sheep shearing and let me tell you, I was not good at it! It scores you for the amount of time you take, knicks and cuts to the animal, etc. The point is to have a low score. I score 82. Anything above 40 is "You sheer like a townie" so I think that means I sheer like a townie with 1 arm. And more poor little virtual sheep got all cut up! Sad. I think I will stick to public health.
The rest of the museum had exhibits on people and the impact that they have had on the lands of New Zealand (lots about imported species), geological history and characteristics of NZ, including lots of info about earthquakes and an aftershock simulation, Lord of the Rings (it was filmed here), which we didn't go to because it cost extra, Pacific Islander immigration and heaps of others that I can't remember. Also, admission was free! You can't beat that.
That's pretty much all we got to do in Wellington because we only had a day there before we hopped on the ferry to the south island early the next morning. It was a very nice ferry, very smooth and had a "reclining lounge" (think airplane seating) where we slept for pretty much the entire 3 hour trip. Quite nice really. We arrived in Picton, the very small town where the ferry comes in, at about noon and had to wait a little over an hour to take the water taxi to take us to the little lodge where we had reserved a place for 3 nights. It didn't take us too long to see the town but we did have time for a stop at the local bakery for some good stuff to eat.
At about 1:15 pm, we hopped on the water taxi with our driver, his little daughter and her friend, and headed to a Mahana Lodge, located on Endeavor Bay in the Marlborough Sounds area near Picton. The lodge is right near the Queen Charlotte Trail, a 3-5 day hike (depending on how fast you go) along the ridges and near the inlets that make up the Sounds area. There are lodges all along the trail and a boat service that will bring your packs from one lodge to the next, so it could be the easiest backpacking trip you ever took! On the way to where we were staying, our driver took us to a floating salmon farm where seals like to hang out. They used to get in and eat the fish, but after several years and about 8 modifications to the facilities, they seem to have figured out a way to keep them out. However, they still like to come there I guess. Good for us because they are very cute. I'm sure most of you have seen seals in zoos, but they kind of look like big rolly poley dogs with stretched back faces and big sad eyes. Very girlie of me to say but really, they are so cute! Nicki got some pretty good pictures. Next, the driver and his daughter spotted some penguins but we only caught a glimpse of their heads. Oh well.
We arrived at Mahana and since then, have pretty much been taking it easy. There was no internet, telephone, TV or radio there so we have been out of touch for the past 4 days. It was a lovely place to stay though and not much to update about there because we pretty much read, did puzzle and hiked. Oh, and kept the fire going in the fire place because there was no central heating. It got quite cold! We slept with hot water bottles at night to warm up the beds.
The scenery consisted of turquoise water with green, tree-covered fingers sticking out into it making many little inlets and bays. The land was very hilly....the hills were very large but not quite mountains and there has been snow at the top of them for the past few days. Thank goodness it isn't that cold down where we are quite yet, although we will probably run into snow as we head further south in a few days. Not really looking forward to the snow in June! We saw lots (or HEAPS) or little birds along the paths, walked through quite a lot of mud (which may be why they call hiking "tramping" in NZ) and saw lots of trees and ferns. Very lovely. The sky was even blue some of the time!
We are now back in Picton for the night staying at a hostel that serves free apple crisp and ice cream in the evenings. I am not ashamed to say that that is the reason why we chose that particular hostel. It feels like fall here so we might as well get a free fall-like treat. Tomorrow we are planning on taking another day trip to a small town called Blenheim where there are HEAPS of local wineries and opportunities for wine tasting. Also, places to rent bikes. Yep, we're doing a "wine by bike" tour. Sounds like a great idea, right? We'll let you know how it goes!
If you speak kiwi, that title means "Lots of candies and galoshes". It has nothing to do with the subject of this post but I think those words are so cute that I had to use them somewhere.
I'm finally back from a little break from the modern world (more on that later) it's time for a little (i.e. hopefully not too long) update on what we have been up to over the past several days.
The day after we went rafting, we took a day trip to a little town (and I do mean little!) about 2 hours away from Rotorua called Waitomo to see the famous glow worm caves. There are many adventure options that can be done there, such as rappelling in the cave, rafting, caving, etc. etc., but we decided to just settle for a normal visit since we had already spent quite a bit of money on other adventure activities in the area.
First we visited a cave called "Cave of the Spirit", name by the Maori people that used to live in the area. No glow worms but the cave formations were interesting. It wasn't nearly as big as the cave I visited in Slovenia, but it was still nice to see. The second cave that we visited was the glow worm cave. This visit involved walking into a very damp cave with a hard hat/head lamp on. This part wasn't too interesting. Eventually we reached a raft (more boat-like really) that would float us down the small river part of the cave where most of the glow worms were. Once we turned of our headlamps it was completely dark except for the little green-blue light from the glow worms. It's just a little part of their tale that glows and in the darkness it gives the appearance of a little galaxy up there on the cave ceiling. As our eyes adjusted we became able to see more and more of these little lights and it was quite amazing. Our guide pulled us down the river for a bit and then back up and all we could hear was the rushing water.
After coming back to Rotorua, we hung around for the evening because we had decided to take the night bus to Wellington instead of wasting a day taking the 8 hour trip. Unfortunately for us, the bus was packed by the time we boarded and I had to sit next to a very broad man (not much room for me!) and Nicki had to sit next to a guy who snored and listed to loud rock music on his earphones. Needless to say, I slept better than her.
We arrived in Wellington at around 7 am, hung out at the train station, where we were dropped off, until the reception at our hostel opened, took a taxi there and then took a nap to make up for the restless bus sleep that we had gotten the night before. We got up, had some lunch at a very good Malaysian restaurant, and then went to see the Museum of New Zealand (I think that's what it was called....). It was a very cool museum and made we think of the Science Museum of Minnesota in the way that it was set up. The displays were very interactive and well presented and that made the whole experience much more interesting. We started the visit with a trip to the "Time Warp" area, which is really just a little virtual reality area where you can try out different activities. I decided to try the virtual sheep shearing and let me tell you, I was not good at it! It scores you for the amount of time you take, knicks and cuts to the animal, etc. The point is to have a low score. I score 82. Anything above 40 is "You sheer like a townie" so I think that means I sheer like a townie with 1 arm. And more poor little virtual sheep got all cut up! Sad. I think I will stick to public health.
The rest of the museum had exhibits on people and the impact that they have had on the lands of New Zealand (lots about imported species), geological history and characteristics of NZ, including lots of info about earthquakes and an aftershock simulation, Lord of the Rings (it was filmed here), which we didn't go to because it cost extra, Pacific Islander immigration and heaps of others that I can't remember. Also, admission was free! You can't beat that.
That's pretty much all we got to do in Wellington because we only had a day there before we hopped on the ferry to the south island early the next morning. It was a very nice ferry, very smooth and had a "reclining lounge" (think airplane seating) where we slept for pretty much the entire 3 hour trip. Quite nice really. We arrived in Picton, the very small town where the ferry comes in, at about noon and had to wait a little over an hour to take the water taxi to take us to the little lodge where we had reserved a place for 3 nights. It didn't take us too long to see the town but we did have time for a stop at the local bakery for some good stuff to eat.
At about 1:15 pm, we hopped on the water taxi with our driver, his little daughter and her friend, and headed to a Mahana Lodge, located on Endeavor Bay in the Marlborough Sounds area near Picton. The lodge is right near the Queen Charlotte Trail, a 3-5 day hike (depending on how fast you go) along the ridges and near the inlets that make up the Sounds area. There are lodges all along the trail and a boat service that will bring your packs from one lodge to the next, so it could be the easiest backpacking trip you ever took! On the way to where we were staying, our driver took us to a floating salmon farm where seals like to hang out. They used to get in and eat the fish, but after several years and about 8 modifications to the facilities, they seem to have figured out a way to keep them out. However, they still like to come there I guess. Good for us because they are very cute. I'm sure most of you have seen seals in zoos, but they kind of look like big rolly poley dogs with stretched back faces and big sad eyes. Very girlie of me to say but really, they are so cute! Nicki got some pretty good pictures. Next, the driver and his daughter spotted some penguins but we only caught a glimpse of their heads. Oh well.
We arrived at Mahana and since then, have pretty much been taking it easy. There was no internet, telephone, TV or radio there so we have been out of touch for the past 4 days. It was a lovely place to stay though and not much to update about there because we pretty much read, did puzzle and hiked. Oh, and kept the fire going in the fire place because there was no central heating. It got quite cold! We slept with hot water bottles at night to warm up the beds.
The scenery consisted of turquoise water with green, tree-covered fingers sticking out into it making many little inlets and bays. The land was very hilly....the hills were very large but not quite mountains and there has been snow at the top of them for the past few days. Thank goodness it isn't that cold down where we are quite yet, although we will probably run into snow as we head further south in a few days. Not really looking forward to the snow in June! We saw lots (or HEAPS) or little birds along the paths, walked through quite a lot of mud (which may be why they call hiking "tramping" in NZ) and saw lots of trees and ferns. Very lovely. The sky was even blue some of the time!
We are now back in Picton for the night staying at a hostel that serves free apple crisp and ice cream in the evenings. I am not ashamed to say that that is the reason why we chose that particular hostel. It feels like fall here so we might as well get a free fall-like treat. Tomorrow we are planning on taking another day trip to a small town called Blenheim where there are HEAPS of local wineries and opportunities for wine tasting. Also, places to rent bikes. Yep, we're doing a "wine by bike" tour. Sounds like a great idea, right? We'll let you know how it goes!
Thursday, June 15, 2006
The World's Largest Commercially Rafted Waterfall
Posted by Emily
And we went down it! Yes, that's right. The kiwis are so crazy for an adrenaline rush that they even run their water sports in the winter (well, some of them anyway). Yesterday afternoon we were the crazy tourists who squeezed into wet suits and fleeces (also booties, life jackets and helmets, parents!), had a short paddling lesson, and took off down the Kaituna River in rafts.
The river itself was quite beautiful surrounded all around by trees, ferns and other such green plants. The water either reflected these colors or was naturally the emerald green color of the surrounding vegetation. We went over a few rapids that were quite wild, but the highlight, and the purpose I think, of the rafting trip was to experience going down the waterfalls. They aren't as scary or as dangerous as they sound because one of the moves we learned during our paddling lesson was "get down", which means hold onto the ropes, squat down in front of your bench and duck your head. This keeps you from getting seriously hurt on the waterfalls, at least in theory. We first went down a 3 meter (I think a meter is about as long as a yard?) waterfall, during which I got SOAKED because I was in front, and let me tell you, the stream we were on is not fed by a hot spring!. The second was one meter, and we paddled right through that one. Then it was time for the 7 meter waterfall! Not as scary as I thought it would be but very very wet! There is a photographer that follows the boat and got completely submerged, but luckily didn't flip or lose anyone over the side as the boat after us did.
After this there were a few more rapids and right before the end, our guide decided to take us river surfing, which pretty much meant that a few people gathered in the front, everyone else paddled back into the rapids and the front of the raft got dunked under water. Kind of funny to watch and not very fun when you are the one being dunked in the water! There were also pictures of this taken, but sadly they wanted to sell us a CD of all the pictures from NZ$40, which turns out to be 2/3 of that in US$. We thought that was pretty ridiculous so we didn't buy one.
We were obviously quite chilled after this so after making dinner, we headed to the nearby Polynesian Spa, which has a variety of outdoor thermal pools ranging from 28-42 C. We got a free pass for buying our tickets to the hangi so we decided to take advantage. It was so nice to be submerged in water that was warm instead of cold and a very nice way to thaw out. We had a nice view of the lake from the steaming pools, and would have had a nice view of the sky if it hadn't been so cloudy. I have yet to get a clear look at the Southern Hemisphere's sky. Soon we will be heading south to the less populated (and snowy!) South Island, so I have high hopes for good views of the sky there.
And we went down it! Yes, that's right. The kiwis are so crazy for an adrenaline rush that they even run their water sports in the winter (well, some of them anyway). Yesterday afternoon we were the crazy tourists who squeezed into wet suits and fleeces (also booties, life jackets and helmets, parents!), had a short paddling lesson, and took off down the Kaituna River in rafts.
The river itself was quite beautiful surrounded all around by trees, ferns and other such green plants. The water either reflected these colors or was naturally the emerald green color of the surrounding vegetation. We went over a few rapids that were quite wild, but the highlight, and the purpose I think, of the rafting trip was to experience going down the waterfalls. They aren't as scary or as dangerous as they sound because one of the moves we learned during our paddling lesson was "get down", which means hold onto the ropes, squat down in front of your bench and duck your head. This keeps you from getting seriously hurt on the waterfalls, at least in theory. We first went down a 3 meter (I think a meter is about as long as a yard?) waterfall, during which I got SOAKED because I was in front, and let me tell you, the stream we were on is not fed by a hot spring!. The second was one meter, and we paddled right through that one. Then it was time for the 7 meter waterfall! Not as scary as I thought it would be but very very wet! There is a photographer that follows the boat and got completely submerged, but luckily didn't flip or lose anyone over the side as the boat after us did.
After this there were a few more rapids and right before the end, our guide decided to take us river surfing, which pretty much meant that a few people gathered in the front, everyone else paddled back into the rapids and the front of the raft got dunked under water. Kind of funny to watch and not very fun when you are the one being dunked in the water! There were also pictures of this taken, but sadly they wanted to sell us a CD of all the pictures from NZ$40, which turns out to be 2/3 of that in US$. We thought that was pretty ridiculous so we didn't buy one.
We were obviously quite chilled after this so after making dinner, we headed to the nearby Polynesian Spa, which has a variety of outdoor thermal pools ranging from 28-42 C. We got a free pass for buying our tickets to the hangi so we decided to take advantage. It was so nice to be submerged in water that was warm instead of cold and a very nice way to thaw out. We had a nice view of the lake from the steaming pools, and would have had a nice view of the sky if it hadn't been so cloudy. I have yet to get a clear look at the Southern Hemisphere's sky. Soon we will be heading south to the less populated (and snowy!) South Island, so I have high hopes for good views of the sky there.
Mitai: The Feast
Posted by Nicki
We have packed our days in Rotorua full of activities, and we were told the Maori Hangi was something that couldn’t be missed. Therefore last night we packed ourselves onto a touristy bus and went out to see what the fuss was all about.
The Maori are the native people of New Zealand, although their culture was once falling out of existence there has been a push lately to rejuvinate the heritage so it doesn’t disappear forever. Our tour driver on a previous day informed us that students have to take Mauri language until they are 13 in school, and at least in Rotorua, although in a touristy manner, the culture seems to be alive and well.
So, onto the Hangi, or Maori feast. Our Hangi was put on by the Mitai family. We arrived at the place not quite sure what to expect. They gathered us in a large dining area and we were seated at numbered tables kind of like a wedding. Then a man came and spoke to us, had us elect a “chief” to represent us and make a speech at the welcoming ceremony. Turns out only men can be cheifs in Mauri culture. However their reasoning was interesting. They say that if they lose a man in battle, it is only one life, but if a female is lost, then they lose a whole family and all those generations to come.
So, after our cheif, an older gentleman from Austrailia, was elected, they took us out back to view our dinner. Hangi feasts are cooked below the ground in a big hole with steam from hot rocks and coal. It was all in a big heap more or less, but I must say it looked and smelled delicious. After seeing what would soon be in our bellies they took us out to see the evenings entertainment.
We walked through forested land to a stream, all the while men in full costume running through on paths above us with fire lit torches. Then the men posing as Mauri warriors rowed up in a canoe and performed a dance along the stream. We were then led back to a stage sort of area where they had re-created a Maori village. Think sort of Native American almost. Huts and open fires and such. The men performed various dances, and they made a show of offering a piece of branch as a “peace offering” to our selected chief. He accepted and then made a speech thanking the tribe for having us this evening. The man posing as the Mauri cheif then came forward. He spoke fluent English, as do all the Mauri people these days, and beame the commentator of the evening.
Basically for the next hour or so the performed various dances, musical numbers, introduced us to all the traditional instruments and weapons of Maori culture, and basically just were out to entertain. It was cool to see and interesting as well. Even though it was touristy, it felt like we learned a little bit about the people and their culture. The costumes and the tatoos were probably the most interesting to those who have never seen it before. The men have their faces completely tatooed (although here it was just paint) and the women were a tatoo of an owl on their chin. The men’s costume is nothing more then a loin cloth basically, the women have sort of a wrap dress.
After the performance we were taken in for the feast. And wow, seriously, it was a feast. Almost like Thanksgiving. Heaps and heaps (to speak like a kiwi) of food. Potatoes, and kumara (native sweet potato, super good), chicken, lamb, more potato, salads, breads, chocolate logs, cakes, stuffing, it was awesome. Our bellies were very, very full.
After the dinner they took us out to see the grounds at night and view a few glowworms, nothing too impressive. Although we did see the closest thing to a snake in New Zealand, a freshwater eel, kinda spooky.
But overall, my belly was happy, the feast was a success.
We have packed our days in Rotorua full of activities, and we were told the Maori Hangi was something that couldn’t be missed. Therefore last night we packed ourselves onto a touristy bus and went out to see what the fuss was all about.
The Maori are the native people of New Zealand, although their culture was once falling out of existence there has been a push lately to rejuvinate the heritage so it doesn’t disappear forever. Our tour driver on a previous day informed us that students have to take Mauri language until they are 13 in school, and at least in Rotorua, although in a touristy manner, the culture seems to be alive and well.
So, onto the Hangi, or Maori feast. Our Hangi was put on by the Mitai family. We arrived at the place not quite sure what to expect. They gathered us in a large dining area and we were seated at numbered tables kind of like a wedding. Then a man came and spoke to us, had us elect a “chief” to represent us and make a speech at the welcoming ceremony. Turns out only men can be cheifs in Mauri culture. However their reasoning was interesting. They say that if they lose a man in battle, it is only one life, but if a female is lost, then they lose a whole family and all those generations to come.
So, after our cheif, an older gentleman from Austrailia, was elected, they took us out back to view our dinner. Hangi feasts are cooked below the ground in a big hole with steam from hot rocks and coal. It was all in a big heap more or less, but I must say it looked and smelled delicious. After seeing what would soon be in our bellies they took us out to see the evenings entertainment.
We walked through forested land to a stream, all the while men in full costume running through on paths above us with fire lit torches. Then the men posing as Mauri warriors rowed up in a canoe and performed a dance along the stream. We were then led back to a stage sort of area where they had re-created a Maori village. Think sort of Native American almost. Huts and open fires and such. The men performed various dances, and they made a show of offering a piece of branch as a “peace offering” to our selected chief. He accepted and then made a speech thanking the tribe for having us this evening. The man posing as the Mauri cheif then came forward. He spoke fluent English, as do all the Mauri people these days, and beame the commentator of the evening.
Basically for the next hour or so the performed various dances, musical numbers, introduced us to all the traditional instruments and weapons of Maori culture, and basically just were out to entertain. It was cool to see and interesting as well. Even though it was touristy, it felt like we learned a little bit about the people and their culture. The costumes and the tatoos were probably the most interesting to those who have never seen it before. The men have their faces completely tatooed (although here it was just paint) and the women were a tatoo of an owl on their chin. The men’s costume is nothing more then a loin cloth basically, the women have sort of a wrap dress.
After the performance we were taken in for the feast. And wow, seriously, it was a feast. Almost like Thanksgiving. Heaps and heaps (to speak like a kiwi) of food. Potatoes, and kumara (native sweet potato, super good), chicken, lamb, more potato, salads, breads, chocolate logs, cakes, stuffing, it was awesome. Our bellies were very, very full.
After the dinner they took us out to see the grounds at night and view a few glowworms, nothing too impressive. Although we did see the closest thing to a snake in New Zealand, a freshwater eel, kinda spooky.
But overall, my belly was happy, the feast was a success.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Volcanic Valley
Posted by Emily
During our trip to the thermal wonderland, we were also supposed to visit an area called Waiamangu (?) Volcanic Valley, but our shuttle driver advised us to try to sell our ticket because the weather was so bad and the visit involved walking downhill through native bush. We tried to sell our tickets but the weather was so bad that there were hardly any people to try to sell it too! Since we did really want to go to the volcanic valley, he said that if the weather was better the next day he would pick us up again and bring us to the park. We woke up to another gray sky, but since it wasn't raining, we decided to go.
The volcanic valley was also very interesting but this time, instead of feeling that we were walking around on another planet, we felt as if we were walking around in prehistoric times (in "The Land Before Time" to be more specific, if you remember that movie, and also reminisced about the plastic puppets Pizza Hut gave out with Book-It and the personal pan pizzas. Anyone else rememeber that?) because there are hot spring pools all over, causing steam to rise into the air all over, and there are many fern trees (think fern on a tree trunk) that just look like they belong with the dinosaurs. Some of the areas looked like a huge brontosaurus would fit right in.
The area we visited is a preserved park because of its past volcanic activity and it aqpparently the only area that has As mentioned before, the hike through the area was a gravel path that lead down through native bush, following the interesting sigts of course. The entire thing took us about an hour and a half, with a little running at the end to catch our bus back up the the visitor's center. We passed the world's hot spring, a huge steaming lake really, but it's quite impressive to see and looks very mystical and acient. Also, the water can get very acidic so no bathing in that hot pool! I'm having a lot of trouble remembering all of the things that we pased a long the way (I took pictures though!) but think steaming swamps and bogs, rocks colered bright green and orange from minerals, steaming springs, oh and a steaming turquoise lake. That was very amazing. it lloked like the ocean in a tiny lake form.
Yes, very amazing and if I was a geologist (Sarah!), I'm sure I would have loved it even more!
During our trip to the thermal wonderland, we were also supposed to visit an area called Waiamangu (?) Volcanic Valley, but our shuttle driver advised us to try to sell our ticket because the weather was so bad and the visit involved walking downhill through native bush. We tried to sell our tickets but the weather was so bad that there were hardly any people to try to sell it too! Since we did really want to go to the volcanic valley, he said that if the weather was better the next day he would pick us up again and bring us to the park. We woke up to another gray sky, but since it wasn't raining, we decided to go.
The volcanic valley was also very interesting but this time, instead of feeling that we were walking around on another planet, we felt as if we were walking around in prehistoric times (in "The Land Before Time" to be more specific, if you remember that movie, and also reminisced about the plastic puppets Pizza Hut gave out with Book-It and the personal pan pizzas. Anyone else rememeber that?) because there are hot spring pools all over, causing steam to rise into the air all over, and there are many fern trees (think fern on a tree trunk) that just look like they belong with the dinosaurs. Some of the areas looked like a huge brontosaurus would fit right in.
The area we visited is a preserved park because of its past volcanic activity and it aqpparently the only area that has As mentioned before, the hike through the area was a gravel path that lead down through native bush, following the interesting sigts of course. The entire thing took us about an hour and a half, with a little running at the end to catch our bus back up the the visitor's center. We passed the world's hot spring, a huge steaming lake really, but it's quite impressive to see and looks very mystical and acient. Also, the water can get very acidic so no bathing in that hot pool! I'm having a lot of trouble remembering all of the things that we pased a long the way (I took pictures though!) but think steaming swamps and bogs, rocks colered bright green and orange from minerals, steaming springs, oh and a steaming turquoise lake. That was very amazing. it lloked like the ocean in a tiny lake form.
Yes, very amazing and if I was a geologist (Sarah!), I'm sure I would have loved it even more!
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Walking In A Thermal Wonderland
Posted by Emily
The next morning we left for Rotorua, a smaller town about 4 hours SE of Auckland. This is a very geothermically active part of the country so there are many unique outdoor areas to explore. The only downside is that it is going to cost us a lot of money to do all the activities that we are interested in. Shoot.
This morning we checked out Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland (that's actually want it's called....I love it), about 30 km from Rotorua. Very amazing place, only problem was that it was pouring cold rain and there were very high winds. That didn't stop us from going but it did get us very wet! We started the morning by visiting Lady Knox Geyser, a geyser that erupts every morning at 10:15 am, but mostly just because they use a biodegradable substance like soap (they used to actually use soap) to break the surface tension of the water and allow the steam and heated water from below to shoot out the surface. Apparently this little trick was discovered by prisoners who were doing laundry in the geyser. Even though it was a man-made eruption, it was still very cool. The eruptions can be as high as 21 m and since I have never seen any other geyser, I was pretty impressed with this one.
The rest of the visit involved walking around an area where there were many craters colored by different minerals, making the rocks yellow, orange, brown, purple and red. Some were dry and some were filled with hot water. There was a small lake-type area called the "Artist's Palette" where the water's surface was colored yellow and orange with some blue water peeking through. With some imagination it really did give the appearance of paint blended together. Another main highlight of the park is the "Champagne Pool", which is a large hot pool ringed with orange that bubbles like a glass of bubbly. There was also waterfalls colored yellow with sulfur, a water and lake colored bright green and a pool of neon green water. Walking past all these bubbling pools, strangely colored pools and desolate landscapes, it almost seemed that we were on the surface of another plant.
The next morning we left for Rotorua, a smaller town about 4 hours SE of Auckland. This is a very geothermically active part of the country so there are many unique outdoor areas to explore. The only downside is that it is going to cost us a lot of money to do all the activities that we are interested in. Shoot.
This morning we checked out Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland (that's actually want it's called....I love it), about 30 km from Rotorua. Very amazing place, only problem was that it was pouring cold rain and there were very high winds. That didn't stop us from going but it did get us very wet! We started the morning by visiting Lady Knox Geyser, a geyser that erupts every morning at 10:15 am, but mostly just because they use a biodegradable substance like soap (they used to actually use soap) to break the surface tension of the water and allow the steam and heated water from below to shoot out the surface. Apparently this little trick was discovered by prisoners who were doing laundry in the geyser. Even though it was a man-made eruption, it was still very cool. The eruptions can be as high as 21 m and since I have never seen any other geyser, I was pretty impressed with this one.
The rest of the visit involved walking around an area where there were many craters colored by different minerals, making the rocks yellow, orange, brown, purple and red. Some were dry and some were filled with hot water. There was a small lake-type area called the "Artist's Palette" where the water's surface was colored yellow and orange with some blue water peeking through. With some imagination it really did give the appearance of paint blended together. Another main highlight of the park is the "Champagne Pool", which is a large hot pool ringed with orange that bubbles like a glass of bubbly. There was also waterfalls colored yellow with sulfur, a water and lake colored bright green and a pool of neon green water. Walking past all these bubbling pools, strangely colored pools and desolate landscapes, it almost seemed that we were on the surface of another plant.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
We Come From A Land Down Under
Posted by Emily
Well, we have successfully made it to New Zealand and so far are having a very nice time. After almost 28 hours of travel (including a flight from the south of Thailand to Bangkok, on which I puked and I'm not even a puker, and almost 8 hours in the Bangkok airport waiting for our next flight to depart), we arrived in Auckland, took a shuttle to our hostel and proceed to sleep for about 25 hours. We were very exciting people that day!
The rest of the time we spent walking around the city and speaking English, because we can here! It's amazing how much easier that makes thing! We visited the Sky Tower, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere I believe (you can even bungee jump off of it!), the Victoria Market, which turned out to be just a bunch of shops (there are flea markets on the weekend) and attempted a walking tour of the city. Although they claimed that the walking tour was easy to follow, I think we proved them wrong! The map was hard to read at places and the roads were supposed to be marked ever kilometer, but weren't. BUT we did get to go up a road called "Emily Place" and take my picture by some signs that said Emily on them. The part of the walking tour that we did do was quite nice. It led us from the harbor downtown into some older neighborhoods and through the university campus (very lovely!). It would have led us across the city through parks and the luck but we were getting crabby after quite a long day and decided to go home.
Yesterday we decided to take a day trip out of Auckland to a suburb across the bay (12 min ferry ride) called Devenport, a very lovely city that from what I can tell, must also be pretty wealthy! Lots of beautiful seaside property. We did another walking tour there but this one was much easier to follow and led us up 2 old volcanoes (just grass-covered hills now) that offered beautiful views of the city and surrounding sea despite the cold wind that was blowing on top. We warmed up with some tea and chai at a cafe and then headed back. The wind was picking up and rain was starting to fall. Not very ideal weather for exploring a little town but it was a nice day none the less.
Well, we have successfully made it to New Zealand and so far are having a very nice time. After almost 28 hours of travel (including a flight from the south of Thailand to Bangkok, on which I puked and I'm not even a puker, and almost 8 hours in the Bangkok airport waiting for our next flight to depart), we arrived in Auckland, took a shuttle to our hostel and proceed to sleep for about 25 hours. We were very exciting people that day!
The rest of the time we spent walking around the city and speaking English, because we can here! It's amazing how much easier that makes thing! We visited the Sky Tower, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere I believe (you can even bungee jump off of it!), the Victoria Market, which turned out to be just a bunch of shops (there are flea markets on the weekend) and attempted a walking tour of the city. Although they claimed that the walking tour was easy to follow, I think we proved them wrong! The map was hard to read at places and the roads were supposed to be marked ever kilometer, but weren't. BUT we did get to go up a road called "Emily Place" and take my picture by some signs that said Emily on them. The part of the walking tour that we did do was quite nice. It led us from the harbor downtown into some older neighborhoods and through the university campus (very lovely!). It would have led us across the city through parks and the luck but we were getting crabby after quite a long day and decided to go home.
Yesterday we decided to take a day trip out of Auckland to a suburb across the bay (12 min ferry ride) called Devenport, a very lovely city that from what I can tell, must also be pretty wealthy! Lots of beautiful seaside property. We did another walking tour there but this one was much easier to follow and led us up 2 old volcanoes (just grass-covered hills now) that offered beautiful views of the city and surrounding sea despite the cold wind that was blowing on top. We warmed up with some tea and chai at a cafe and then headed back. The wind was picking up and rain was starting to fall. Not very ideal weather for exploring a little town but it was a nice day none the less.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Swimming With Sharks!
Posted by Nicki
That’s right folks, it’s said you’re supposed to do something everyday that scares you, so for a day in Ko Tao, I did exactly that. Swam with the sharks!
As I said in the previous post, Ko Tao is known for having some of the best diving in all south east asia, and Em and I decided to experience what it had to offer. Since neither of us have our PADI certification, we were only able to snorkle, but it was well worth it. (PS, if you ever want to get certified, and have a few days, I’d recommend Ko Tao. The island has mountains upon moutains of scuba certification schools, apparently dirt cheap compared to what they are in the states. If we had had more time, I might have done it.)
We booked ourselves for a day long snorkle trip through a store around the block from our hostel. It picked us up in the morning and we didn’t get back until late afternoon. In the trip we got to see all around the island, and were dropped off to snorkel in about 6 or 7 different bays, it was awesome. The fish and the coral were absolutely breathtaking. So many millions of colors, shapes and sized. The water was crystal clear, it was almost as if you were floating on top of an aquarium…which I suppose in a way you really are. You could reach out and almost touch them. Bright yellow, electric neon colors, some that one girl described as rainbow sherbert, all sorts of different colors mixed together. Big ones, small ones, thousands of little ones in a school forming all sorts of shapes as they moved, I swear it looked to be right out of a movie like Finding Nemo. Little shiny ones that looked like a downpour of silver confettii. I was endlessly impressed. At the end of the day we also visited a little collection of three islets, now used primarily as a dive resort. Also really stunning.
And, yes, in one of the bays, black tip reef sharks! I was pretty scared to jump in, but once I actually saw one, I found myself wanting to follow it all through the reef. The bay the sharks were in was quite deep, the sharks swimming down on the bottom and snorkelers floating on the top. The sharks didn’t even pay us any notice. Oh, and just so you all don’t think I’m really super brave…they were little ones, of the three I saw, the biggest might have been about 3 feet, but hey, they’re still sharks!
That’s right folks, it’s said you’re supposed to do something everyday that scares you, so for a day in Ko Tao, I did exactly that. Swam with the sharks!
As I said in the previous post, Ko Tao is known for having some of the best diving in all south east asia, and Em and I decided to experience what it had to offer. Since neither of us have our PADI certification, we were only able to snorkle, but it was well worth it. (PS, if you ever want to get certified, and have a few days, I’d recommend Ko Tao. The island has mountains upon moutains of scuba certification schools, apparently dirt cheap compared to what they are in the states. If we had had more time, I might have done it.)
We booked ourselves for a day long snorkle trip through a store around the block from our hostel. It picked us up in the morning and we didn’t get back until late afternoon. In the trip we got to see all around the island, and were dropped off to snorkel in about 6 or 7 different bays, it was awesome. The fish and the coral were absolutely breathtaking. So many millions of colors, shapes and sized. The water was crystal clear, it was almost as if you were floating on top of an aquarium…which I suppose in a way you really are. You could reach out and almost touch them. Bright yellow, electric neon colors, some that one girl described as rainbow sherbert, all sorts of different colors mixed together. Big ones, small ones, thousands of little ones in a school forming all sorts of shapes as they moved, I swear it looked to be right out of a movie like Finding Nemo. Little shiny ones that looked like a downpour of silver confettii. I was endlessly impressed. At the end of the day we also visited a little collection of three islets, now used primarily as a dive resort. Also really stunning.
And, yes, in one of the bays, black tip reef sharks! I was pretty scared to jump in, but once I actually saw one, I found myself wanting to follow it all through the reef. The bay the sharks were in was quite deep, the sharks swimming down on the bottom and snorkelers floating on the top. The sharks didn’t even pay us any notice. Oh, and just so you all don’t think I’m really super brave…they were little ones, of the three I saw, the biggest might have been about 3 feet, but hey, they’re still sharks!
Paradise
Posted by Nicki
Sorry it’s been quite awhile since I’ve checked in to update the blog…but now that internet is free, I’ve got a bit of a chance to catch things up.
Anyhow, our time in the south of Thailand is fantastic. We had contemplated not even heading to the islands as we had it heard the weather would be bad, but we were blessed with sunshine and blue skies for our entire week, it was awesome. The only day it was semi cloudy we were snorkeling, so it was probably for the best that we didn’t get completely baked.
After our week on two different islands, I’ve one piece of advice for anyone planning a trip to Hawaii, spend the extra few hundred on airfare and book your trip to thailand! What you spend extra on the plane you will make up in amazing beaches that you will have almost entirely to yourself and beachside private bungalows for around 4-8 dollars a night. Your toilet may not be of the flushing variety and your bungalow might come with mosquito net and there likely won’t be a hot shower…but do you need one when it’s a million degrees outside and you’re sunburned?
Em and I first made our way to Ko Phan-Ngan, the middle of the three islands on the Gulf Coast. Yes, it is the infamous island that hosts full moon parties, but we were far, far on the opposite side of the island from Hat Rin, where those parties are. (And there was no full moon when we were there.) Our beach, on of a couple of twin beaches, was called Thong Nai Pan Yai. It was gorgeous. It required an hour long bumpy ride through dirt roads in the back of a pickup to get there, but it was well worth it. Very secluded and undeveloped…no high rise concrete here, (in fact there was no high rise beach resorts anywhere on either island we were on, thank goodness), it was just beachside bungalows, a few hamocs, and white sand beach. We were probably about two out of 20-30 or so that were staying there. During the afternoon just a handful of people were out. The beaches go back into green hillsides covered in palm trees. Rocky outcropping jut into the sea. It was beautiful. The only downfall was our beach faced neither sunrise or sunset.
Thong Nai Pan beaches (Yai and Noi) are both located in little bays, so the water was completely still, just a small tide rolling in. It was wonderful for swimming, but lacked the sound of crashing sea that I love about the ocean. It was also great to run along in the evening once the heat broke.
The second part of our beach trip brought us to the island of Ko Tao, the smallest island of the trio, farthest north. Again, the weather held out and was great. Ko Tao has a few better roads then Phan-Ngan, so it made it easier for Em and I to walk around. We stayed on a beach that was a bit busier, but a 10 minute walk up the road led to a beautiful secluded beach called Ao Thian. A little odd to get to as the sign in front says private property (we first got there by mistake going up the road to far then climbing over a bunch of rocks to get back), but then as you turn the corner there is another sign that says private, directly behind which is a sign that says vistors welcome! this way to the beach. Hmm, ok. So we went, as we didn’t discover it was private until we had climbed over the rocks anyhow. The beach was full of gorgeous white sand, lots of swaying palm trees, bushes for shade, and crystal clear blue water. Still in a bay, so calm like the other beach, but coral formations fairly close to the shore kept us from doing much swimming. Ko Tao is known as one of South East Asia’s best dive sites, so in the next entry, I’ll tell you all about our experiences with that. But when we weren’t diving, lots of relaxing, reading, and just enjoying the amazing scenary were our agenda for the day.
Sorry it’s been quite awhile since I’ve checked in to update the blog…but now that internet is free, I’ve got a bit of a chance to catch things up.
Anyhow, our time in the south of Thailand is fantastic. We had contemplated not even heading to the islands as we had it heard the weather would be bad, but we were blessed with sunshine and blue skies for our entire week, it was awesome. The only day it was semi cloudy we were snorkeling, so it was probably for the best that we didn’t get completely baked.
After our week on two different islands, I’ve one piece of advice for anyone planning a trip to Hawaii, spend the extra few hundred on airfare and book your trip to thailand! What you spend extra on the plane you will make up in amazing beaches that you will have almost entirely to yourself and beachside private bungalows for around 4-8 dollars a night. Your toilet may not be of the flushing variety and your bungalow might come with mosquito net and there likely won’t be a hot shower…but do you need one when it’s a million degrees outside and you’re sunburned?
Em and I first made our way to Ko Phan-Ngan, the middle of the three islands on the Gulf Coast. Yes, it is the infamous island that hosts full moon parties, but we were far, far on the opposite side of the island from Hat Rin, where those parties are. (And there was no full moon when we were there.) Our beach, on of a couple of twin beaches, was called Thong Nai Pan Yai. It was gorgeous. It required an hour long bumpy ride through dirt roads in the back of a pickup to get there, but it was well worth it. Very secluded and undeveloped…no high rise concrete here, (in fact there was no high rise beach resorts anywhere on either island we were on, thank goodness), it was just beachside bungalows, a few hamocs, and white sand beach. We were probably about two out of 20-30 or so that were staying there. During the afternoon just a handful of people were out. The beaches go back into green hillsides covered in palm trees. Rocky outcropping jut into the sea. It was beautiful. The only downfall was our beach faced neither sunrise or sunset.
Thong Nai Pan beaches (Yai and Noi) are both located in little bays, so the water was completely still, just a small tide rolling in. It was wonderful for swimming, but lacked the sound of crashing sea that I love about the ocean. It was also great to run along in the evening once the heat broke.
The second part of our beach trip brought us to the island of Ko Tao, the smallest island of the trio, farthest north. Again, the weather held out and was great. Ko Tao has a few better roads then Phan-Ngan, so it made it easier for Em and I to walk around. We stayed on a beach that was a bit busier, but a 10 minute walk up the road led to a beautiful secluded beach called Ao Thian. A little odd to get to as the sign in front says private property (we first got there by mistake going up the road to far then climbing over a bunch of rocks to get back), but then as you turn the corner there is another sign that says private, directly behind which is a sign that says vistors welcome! this way to the beach. Hmm, ok. So we went, as we didn’t discover it was private until we had climbed over the rocks anyhow. The beach was full of gorgeous white sand, lots of swaying palm trees, bushes for shade, and crystal clear blue water. Still in a bay, so calm like the other beach, but coral formations fairly close to the shore kept us from doing much swimming. Ko Tao is known as one of South East Asia’s best dive sites, so in the next entry, I’ll tell you all about our experiences with that. But when we weren’t diving, lots of relaxing, reading, and just enjoying the amazing scenary were our agenda for the day.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Just Another Day For You And Me In Paradise
Posted by Emily
Hello from the lovely islands of Thailand! We have been greatly enjoying ourselves here and now to back track to the beginning....
On the 31st, we boarded a plane headed to Bangkok and then one headed to Surat Thani, the city where all the ferries to the islands leave. The flights took us about 2 hours total and we were very happy that we had purchased the tickets, even though they weren't as cheap as we would have liked, because it greatly reduced what would have been a traveling time of over 24 hours (we were pretty far north).
We arrived at the Surat Thani airport around noon and while waiting in line to get bus tickets into the city, we ran into 2 other guys going to the same island as us. We ended up splitting a taxi and catching a ferry together, getting there much earlier than we had expected. We thought we'd have to wait until the next morning for a ferry. I guess I'm not surprised that they had an earlier ferry that coincided with the arrival of the flight from Bangkok. Things here are set up very nicely for tourists.
The ferry ride was uneventful. Just a big long and way too hot. We arrived at the port, found a taxi going to the beach we wanted and hopped in. Well, I should say hopped ON. Taking a taxi on the islands involves sitting on a bench seat in the back of a pickup truck. You really have to hold over the bumps! They're not so bad once you get used to them and they're really not that scary because there's not that much traffic.
There's not that much to report for the next few days because pretty much what we did was lay on the beach, swim and kayak a little. There was also a lot of reading and lying in hammocks. It's pretty much too hot to wear any clothes during the day so we would get up at about 8:30 am and just put our suits on. Lovely. The sun is super brutal if there are no clouds out and the first 2 days Nicki and I both got burned, I while wearing SPF 25 and reapplying. I have been in some pretty hot places, but nothing like this. The second it was even too hot to lay on the each so we borrowed some rafts and floated around (there is very little surf here it seems and I am enjoying the swimming without the waves!).
The beach we stayed in Ko Phangan was beautiful. Quite short, maybe about half a mile long, with perfect white sand, bath water warm turquoise water. We were surrounded by palm trees and green hills. Very very beautiful. I've been to a lot of beautiful beaches but I was still impressed with this one.
Hello from the lovely islands of Thailand! We have been greatly enjoying ourselves here and now to back track to the beginning....
On the 31st, we boarded a plane headed to Bangkok and then one headed to Surat Thani, the city where all the ferries to the islands leave. The flights took us about 2 hours total and we were very happy that we had purchased the tickets, even though they weren't as cheap as we would have liked, because it greatly reduced what would have been a traveling time of over 24 hours (we were pretty far north).
We arrived at the Surat Thani airport around noon and while waiting in line to get bus tickets into the city, we ran into 2 other guys going to the same island as us. We ended up splitting a taxi and catching a ferry together, getting there much earlier than we had expected. We thought we'd have to wait until the next morning for a ferry. I guess I'm not surprised that they had an earlier ferry that coincided with the arrival of the flight from Bangkok. Things here are set up very nicely for tourists.
The ferry ride was uneventful. Just a big long and way too hot. We arrived at the port, found a taxi going to the beach we wanted and hopped in. Well, I should say hopped ON. Taking a taxi on the islands involves sitting on a bench seat in the back of a pickup truck. You really have to hold over the bumps! They're not so bad once you get used to them and they're really not that scary because there's not that much traffic.
There's not that much to report for the next few days because pretty much what we did was lay on the beach, swim and kayak a little. There was also a lot of reading and lying in hammocks. It's pretty much too hot to wear any clothes during the day so we would get up at about 8:30 am and just put our suits on. Lovely. The sun is super brutal if there are no clouds out and the first 2 days Nicki and I both got burned, I while wearing SPF 25 and reapplying. I have been in some pretty hot places, but nothing like this. The second it was even too hot to lay on the each so we borrowed some rafts and floated around (there is very little surf here it seems and I am enjoying the swimming without the waves!).
The beach we stayed in Ko Phangan was beautiful. Quite short, maybe about half a mile long, with perfect white sand, bath water warm turquoise water. We were surrounded by palm trees and green hills. Very very beautiful. I've been to a lot of beautiful beaches but I was still impressed with this one.
Pai In The Sky
Posted by Nicki
Yes, I know. Cheezy title. Just back from a little ways north we are getting excited to head south tomorrow.
But for now…
Our last day in Chang Mai before Pai went well. It was a recovery day for us involving lots of stress …taking our laundry to get done at the super cute laundry lady ($3 for 4 kilos), getting the most wonderful Aromatherapy Oil Massage ($7) and then laying in hamocs reading, and then shopping at the sunday market. A good day. We actually even ventured out in the bar scene later that evening with the two kids we met trekking.
Off to Pai the next morning, a little too early perhaps. But we made it. The ride to Pai was absolutely awful as it was in a packed minibus and involved the most curvy moutain roads possible. Barf.
Once we recovered from the bus ride though, Pai was a great town. I can see how people get stuck there for awhile. It’s almost like a beach town in the mountains if that makes any sense. Extremely laid back, almost a hippy atmosphere in places. The surrounding scenery is gorgous, lots of green everywhere and a nice little river running around the back. We basically spent our time walking around and relaxing, very much needed. We also hiked up to a temple overlooking Pai that was very pleasant. On the first night we went to this really cool little movie house. You pick out a dvd from a big selection and then they’ve got these little living room things with couches and everything set up for movie watching, it was great.
Anyhow, the ride back to Chang Mai was much better. Only a few of us on it, plus we took some dramamene. Tomorrow we are off to the south, hopefully we’ll find some great sun and surf.
Yes, I know. Cheezy title. Just back from a little ways north we are getting excited to head south tomorrow.
But for now…
Our last day in Chang Mai before Pai went well. It was a recovery day for us involving lots of stress …taking our laundry to get done at the super cute laundry lady ($3 for 4 kilos), getting the most wonderful Aromatherapy Oil Massage ($7) and then laying in hamocs reading, and then shopping at the sunday market. A good day. We actually even ventured out in the bar scene later that evening with the two kids we met trekking.
Off to Pai the next morning, a little too early perhaps. But we made it. The ride to Pai was absolutely awful as it was in a packed minibus and involved the most curvy moutain roads possible. Barf.
Once we recovered from the bus ride though, Pai was a great town. I can see how people get stuck there for awhile. It’s almost like a beach town in the mountains if that makes any sense. Extremely laid back, almost a hippy atmosphere in places. The surrounding scenery is gorgous, lots of green everywhere and a nice little river running around the back. We basically spent our time walking around and relaxing, very much needed. We also hiked up to a temple overlooking Pai that was very pleasant. On the first night we went to this really cool little movie house. You pick out a dvd from a big selection and then they’ve got these little living room things with couches and everything set up for movie watching, it was great.
Anyhow, the ride back to Chang Mai was much better. Only a few of us on it, plus we took some dramamene. Tomorrow we are off to the south, hopefully we’ll find some great sun and surf.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Pai-ridise
Posted by Emily
Back in Chiang Mai after a short trip 3 hours north of here to a small town called Pai (pronounced "pie"). It's sad that we couldn't spend more time there but we have a flight to catch tomorrow morning down to the south of Thailand.
We left for Pai at about 9 am yesterday morning in a minibus and I must say, I think those were the curviest roads I have ever been on! It was tight curve after tight curve and I had to hang on to the seat in front of me in order to avoid smashing into the girl sitting next to me. I think Nicki and I are both lucky that we didn't get sick (we are both very prone to motion sickness, especially when it involves curvy mountain roads).
Get to Pai in the early afternoon and basically just explored the city, even though it is really tiny. It's a very relaxed place with a beach town feel. Dogs plop down right in the middle of the road to take a nap because there is so little traffic. There also seems to be a lot of art going on, with little art shops all over the place and many people making jewelry to sell. We tried to walk out of town into the countryside a bit but it was way too hot yesterday. Instead we sat down near the river and admired the scenery and were jealous of the girls floating a long in inner tubes.
This morning we got up semi-early to check out the temple on the hill before it got too hot to move. However, it was very cloudy and rainy today so that wasn't a problem. It was a nice walk to the temple, I think about 2 km. The temple itself was nothing spectacular but it gave a very nice view of the town. We spent the afternoon reading, hopped on another minibus back to Chiang Mai and here I sit now.
Tomorrow morning we fly to Bangkok and then to Surat Thani, which is basically just a transit hub city. We will stay there for the night and then catch a morning ferry to Ko Phagnan, an island known for its huge party scene. We, however, will be heading to the quieter side of the island and hoping to find a beachside bungalow to spend a few days in. After that we hope to spent a few days on Ko Tao, an island known for its spectacular snorkeling and diving. After that, we fly back to Bangkok and then on to New Zealand. Don't know if we'll have internet access on the islands, so that's your update for the moment!
Back in Chiang Mai after a short trip 3 hours north of here to a small town called Pai (pronounced "pie"). It's sad that we couldn't spend more time there but we have a flight to catch tomorrow morning down to the south of Thailand.
We left for Pai at about 9 am yesterday morning in a minibus and I must say, I think those were the curviest roads I have ever been on! It was tight curve after tight curve and I had to hang on to the seat in front of me in order to avoid smashing into the girl sitting next to me. I think Nicki and I are both lucky that we didn't get sick (we are both very prone to motion sickness, especially when it involves curvy mountain roads).
Get to Pai in the early afternoon and basically just explored the city, even though it is really tiny. It's a very relaxed place with a beach town feel. Dogs plop down right in the middle of the road to take a nap because there is so little traffic. There also seems to be a lot of art going on, with little art shops all over the place and many people making jewelry to sell. We tried to walk out of town into the countryside a bit but it was way too hot yesterday. Instead we sat down near the river and admired the scenery and were jealous of the girls floating a long in inner tubes.
This morning we got up semi-early to check out the temple on the hill before it got too hot to move. However, it was very cloudy and rainy today so that wasn't a problem. It was a nice walk to the temple, I think about 2 km. The temple itself was nothing spectacular but it gave a very nice view of the town. We spent the afternoon reading, hopped on another minibus back to Chiang Mai and here I sit now.
Tomorrow morning we fly to Bangkok and then to Surat Thani, which is basically just a transit hub city. We will stay there for the night and then catch a morning ferry to Ko Phagnan, an island known for its huge party scene. We, however, will be heading to the quieter side of the island and hoping to find a beachside bungalow to spend a few days in. After that we hope to spent a few days on Ko Tao, an island known for its spectacular snorkeling and diving. After that, we fly back to Bangkok and then on to New Zealand. Don't know if we'll have internet access on the islands, so that's your update for the moment!
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Over the River and Through the Woods
Posted By Nicki
Back from a trek in the Thai jungle…and all in one piece! Just one very, very achy piece.
We just got back today from our 3 day 2 night adventure into the wilderness of northern thailand, and it was quite an experience. But a good time overall.
The first day we set out, 13 of us in all, all crammed in the back of a songthaew (large pickup truck with benches on both sides of the back part). Please note: there is not really room for 13 people in the back of a songthaew, especially 13 people with 13 packs. But, it worked, I suppose. In any case, all excited to be in the middle of nowhere in some peaceful jungle, after a brief stop at a market for food, we end up at this little hut and what do we hear…? Loud, pulsating KAROKE! In the middle of the jungle! What? Yes, I’m not really sure about that one either. This kind of put me off at first, what did I get myself into? However, after that, we luckily were not forced to endure anymore thai pop.
On to the trekking. When Em and I signed up for the trek we figured ourselves decently inshape girls. I realize now I, at least, am not in that category. It was HARD! Although we started on decent road, our guide suddenly turned up some crazy hill, and didn’t stop going uphill for the next three hours. Now, for those of you who know me, you know how much I love hills…or really how much they are the bane of my existence. I seriously thought I was going to fall over and cry. Add to this the fact that it began to pour down rain, and now we are soaked and climbed through little tiny sort of paths that aren’t really paths that are straight up and now completely mud. Awesome. Im going to cry some more. Plus, I’m slow, and in the back…they wait for me to catch up, and then go again, I don’t get a break! Oh man.
But, eventually we made it to camp, I was needless to say, extremely excited about this. At the end of the day though, it was worth it. Once I managed to catch my breath, I could see the view, and it was fantastic. Lush green hillsides towering up the clouds, beautiful valleys, the trees along the top of the hills made for amazing sillouettes at dusk. And luckily, no more karoke.
The second day was probably my favorite of the three. Although I was frustrated at first at the pace our guide took, we only hiked with the group for about an hour…then those of us staying on for three days split off, making only four of us. I have found I MUCH prefer small groups. It ended up being em and I plus a girl from australia and a guy from ireland. Very fun people who were really enjoyable to hang out with, and were willing to go slower and enjoy the views. We had a good time talking, and the hike the second day was much less strenuous. We got to stop at some waterfalls and swim, and the falls felt fantastic on a sore back. After the falls we made it to our second camp, much smaller then the first, but pleasant with a river rushing below. We had dinner and enjoyed playing cards and a version of scattegories well into the night. The night of our second day almost deserves an entry on its own, as it was one of the most beautiful I have seen in some time. Unlike the first night, there were absolutely no clouds, and being in the middle of the jungle made for incredible stars. It seemed as though the whole sky was lit up. Add to that the fire flies. Thousands of them. It was almost as if there was some sort of fireworks show going on for us in our little jungle hut. If you can picture a darkened stadium when some great superstar walks in and all the flashbulbs that go off at once, you would have about what it seemed to be.
Our third day involves all the tourist gimics of the trek, but it was still a good time. We rode elephants, which I was hesistant about at first, but was ok with after I saw they seemed to be treated well. They were much nicer then camels in morocco, and we got to feed them bananas as we rode, which was really entertaining as the animals reach behind with their trunk to nab the fruit out of your hand. After the elephants we did a bit of white water rafting, although there really wasn’t any white water, maybe one rapid total. Then they put us on bamboo rafts for a bit in some really grungy river water, and then we were done. Lunch was had, and then back to chang mai.
I’m very glad to be back, and very excited to spend the next couple days letting my body recover. We will be off to Pai, further north, on monday, and then hopefully catching a flight south after that to have fun on some beaches. I hope you all are doing well!
Back from a trek in the Thai jungle…and all in one piece! Just one very, very achy piece.
We just got back today from our 3 day 2 night adventure into the wilderness of northern thailand, and it was quite an experience. But a good time overall.
The first day we set out, 13 of us in all, all crammed in the back of a songthaew (large pickup truck with benches on both sides of the back part). Please note: there is not really room for 13 people in the back of a songthaew, especially 13 people with 13 packs. But, it worked, I suppose. In any case, all excited to be in the middle of nowhere in some peaceful jungle, after a brief stop at a market for food, we end up at this little hut and what do we hear…? Loud, pulsating KAROKE! In the middle of the jungle! What? Yes, I’m not really sure about that one either. This kind of put me off at first, what did I get myself into? However, after that, we luckily were not forced to endure anymore thai pop.
On to the trekking. When Em and I signed up for the trek we figured ourselves decently inshape girls. I realize now I, at least, am not in that category. It was HARD! Although we started on decent road, our guide suddenly turned up some crazy hill, and didn’t stop going uphill for the next three hours. Now, for those of you who know me, you know how much I love hills…or really how much they are the bane of my existence. I seriously thought I was going to fall over and cry. Add to this the fact that it began to pour down rain, and now we are soaked and climbed through little tiny sort of paths that aren’t really paths that are straight up and now completely mud. Awesome. Im going to cry some more. Plus, I’m slow, and in the back…they wait for me to catch up, and then go again, I don’t get a break! Oh man.
But, eventually we made it to camp, I was needless to say, extremely excited about this. At the end of the day though, it was worth it. Once I managed to catch my breath, I could see the view, and it was fantastic. Lush green hillsides towering up the clouds, beautiful valleys, the trees along the top of the hills made for amazing sillouettes at dusk. And luckily, no more karoke.
The second day was probably my favorite of the three. Although I was frustrated at first at the pace our guide took, we only hiked with the group for about an hour…then those of us staying on for three days split off, making only four of us. I have found I MUCH prefer small groups. It ended up being em and I plus a girl from australia and a guy from ireland. Very fun people who were really enjoyable to hang out with, and were willing to go slower and enjoy the views. We had a good time talking, and the hike the second day was much less strenuous. We got to stop at some waterfalls and swim, and the falls felt fantastic on a sore back. After the falls we made it to our second camp, much smaller then the first, but pleasant with a river rushing below. We had dinner and enjoyed playing cards and a version of scattegories well into the night. The night of our second day almost deserves an entry on its own, as it was one of the most beautiful I have seen in some time. Unlike the first night, there were absolutely no clouds, and being in the middle of the jungle made for incredible stars. It seemed as though the whole sky was lit up. Add to that the fire flies. Thousands of them. It was almost as if there was some sort of fireworks show going on for us in our little jungle hut. If you can picture a darkened stadium when some great superstar walks in and all the flashbulbs that go off at once, you would have about what it seemed to be.
Our third day involves all the tourist gimics of the trek, but it was still a good time. We rode elephants, which I was hesistant about at first, but was ok with after I saw they seemed to be treated well. They were much nicer then camels in morocco, and we got to feed them bananas as we rode, which was really entertaining as the animals reach behind with their trunk to nab the fruit out of your hand. After the elephants we did a bit of white water rafting, although there really wasn’t any white water, maybe one rapid total. Then they put us on bamboo rafts for a bit in some really grungy river water, and then we were done. Lunch was had, and then back to chang mai.
I’m very glad to be back, and very excited to spend the next couple days letting my body recover. We will be off to Pai, further north, on monday, and then hopefully catching a flight south after that to have fun on some beaches. I hope you all are doing well!
Jungle Adventures
Posted by Emily
Back from our trek! It was so much fun but I'm glad to be back in a city where we can take showers and do laundry. Trekking in Thailand involves lots of rain, sweat and mud, none of which combine to make a very good smell. As much as I would have liked to continue hiking for more than 3 days, I think it might have gotten pretty disgusting!
We started out from Chiang Mai at about 9:30 am on Thursday morning. We were picked up in a truck and taken to the company's main office to meet up with the rest of our group. They originally told us that there were going to be a total of 6 people in the group but there turned out to be 13. I guess some people changed groups at the last minute. We drove for about an hour to a market, which I think might exist mainly to cater to foreigners going on treks. Then drove about 40 minutes to a little hut in the woods where we had lunch while listening to people sing karaoke. Yes, there was a karaoke machine in the middle of nowhere. So strange.
We set off for the trek after having lunch. It started to rain soon after we started, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing because at least it kept us cool. The day was very grueling because it involved A LOT of uphill walking, and we're talking steep uphill. Plus it was muddy and therefore slippery. We also had some steep downhills, one of which I slipped on, ripping my pants and allowing me to add to my collections of scratches and bruises on my legs. The hiking was a mixture of paths through the woods and gravel roads.
All the time we were surrounded by beautiful greenery - all types of trees, lots of bamboo. When we came to a clearing we could see far off into the distance across the valleys to the other mountains. I think the forests (or jungle?) we were hiking in could have been considered cloud forests because clouds descended onto the tops of most of the mountains. It kind of makes the entire place look mystical. After about 3.5 hours of huffing and puffing, we came to the village where we would spend the night. The village visit wasn't as intrusive as I thought it might be, which made me very glad. We pretty much just stayed in a large bamboo hut on the edge of the village and didn't disturb the everyday life.
The second day made up for the difficulty of first day. We started out with the large group, but since most of them had signed up for only 2 days of trekking, we slit off after about an hour into a group of four. Two others who had signed up for a 4 day trek joined us - Katie from Australia and Camilus from Ireland. The hiking was a lot easier so we could actually enjoy the scenery, and the group was a lot smaller and more enjoyable to be around. We saw more beautiful forests and swam in 2 waterfalls (at the bottom so no chance of falling off!), one before lunch and one just before arriving at our second camp. It was quite hot and sunny so this was perfect. Also helped to wash our clothes out a little bit!!
We stayed at another small village last night and had a lot of time to relax. We were really enjoying the laid back nature of the day and the beautiful beautiful weather. The night was also lovely as the clouds cleared and we could see the stars for once. There were also hundreds of lightening bugs in the forest around us giving us a light show that looked like many camera flashes.
This morning we slept in and only had a short hike to where we went elephant riding. I was a little unsure about this at first because I know many animals used for these things are abused. I felt better when I saw that they were treated nicely. Nicki and I sat together on the back of one elephant but unfortunately Katie has those photos on her camera. I really hope she sends them like she said she would! Being the marketing geniuses as they are, there was a place where you could buy bananas to feed to the elephants. They knew it was coming and kept putting their trunks back to be fed. We of course bought some bananas and had a very good time feeding our elephant. Nicki has those pictures.
Next was whitewater rafter, which was actually quite tame since the water isn't very strong at the moment. There were a few good rapids though and we had fun going down those. Otherwise it was just fun to float along and see the pretty scenery go by. Last, we went on a bamboo raft, which is a bunch of bamboo tied together. We all sat down and were pushed along by our leader using a long bamboo pole (looks like the same way gondolas are rowed). Sadly, the river seemed pretty dirty so I wasn't too sad to get out.
It was a lovely time! I'm a little sad to be back in the city but as I said, we are happy to be clean again!
Back from our trek! It was so much fun but I'm glad to be back in a city where we can take showers and do laundry. Trekking in Thailand involves lots of rain, sweat and mud, none of which combine to make a very good smell. As much as I would have liked to continue hiking for more than 3 days, I think it might have gotten pretty disgusting!
We started out from Chiang Mai at about 9:30 am on Thursday morning. We were picked up in a truck and taken to the company's main office to meet up with the rest of our group. They originally told us that there were going to be a total of 6 people in the group but there turned out to be 13. I guess some people changed groups at the last minute. We drove for about an hour to a market, which I think might exist mainly to cater to foreigners going on treks. Then drove about 40 minutes to a little hut in the woods where we had lunch while listening to people sing karaoke. Yes, there was a karaoke machine in the middle of nowhere. So strange.
We set off for the trek after having lunch. It started to rain soon after we started, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing because at least it kept us cool. The day was very grueling because it involved A LOT of uphill walking, and we're talking steep uphill. Plus it was muddy and therefore slippery. We also had some steep downhills, one of which I slipped on, ripping my pants and allowing me to add to my collections of scratches and bruises on my legs. The hiking was a mixture of paths through the woods and gravel roads.
All the time we were surrounded by beautiful greenery - all types of trees, lots of bamboo. When we came to a clearing we could see far off into the distance across the valleys to the other mountains. I think the forests (or jungle?) we were hiking in could have been considered cloud forests because clouds descended onto the tops of most of the mountains. It kind of makes the entire place look mystical. After about 3.5 hours of huffing and puffing, we came to the village where we would spend the night. The village visit wasn't as intrusive as I thought it might be, which made me very glad. We pretty much just stayed in a large bamboo hut on the edge of the village and didn't disturb the everyday life.
The second day made up for the difficulty of first day. We started out with the large group, but since most of them had signed up for only 2 days of trekking, we slit off after about an hour into a group of four. Two others who had signed up for a 4 day trek joined us - Katie from Australia and Camilus from Ireland. The hiking was a lot easier so we could actually enjoy the scenery, and the group was a lot smaller and more enjoyable to be around. We saw more beautiful forests and swam in 2 waterfalls (at the bottom so no chance of falling off!), one before lunch and one just before arriving at our second camp. It was quite hot and sunny so this was perfect. Also helped to wash our clothes out a little bit!!
We stayed at another small village last night and had a lot of time to relax. We were really enjoying the laid back nature of the day and the beautiful beautiful weather. The night was also lovely as the clouds cleared and we could see the stars for once. There were also hundreds of lightening bugs in the forest around us giving us a light show that looked like many camera flashes.
This morning we slept in and only had a short hike to where we went elephant riding. I was a little unsure about this at first because I know many animals used for these things are abused. I felt better when I saw that they were treated nicely. Nicki and I sat together on the back of one elephant but unfortunately Katie has those photos on her camera. I really hope she sends them like she said she would! Being the marketing geniuses as they are, there was a place where you could buy bananas to feed to the elephants. They knew it was coming and kept putting their trunks back to be fed. We of course bought some bananas and had a very good time feeding our elephant. Nicki has those pictures.
Next was whitewater rafter, which was actually quite tame since the water isn't very strong at the moment. There were a few good rapids though and we had fun going down those. Otherwise it was just fun to float along and see the pretty scenery go by. Last, we went on a bamboo raft, which is a bunch of bamboo tied together. We all sat down and were pushed along by our leader using a long bamboo pole (looks like the same way gondolas are rowed). Sadly, the river seemed pretty dirty so I wasn't too sad to get out.
It was a lovely time! I'm a little sad to be back in the city but as I said, we are happy to be clean again!
Some Photos
Cabbages and Condoms
Alex and Nicki at Cabbages and Condoms
A not very exciting picture of the Grand Palace....Nicki has most of the good ones
Reclining Buddha
Trekking!
View while trekking
View from first night's accomodations
Second night's accomodations
We were the coolest people on the trip!!
We went elephant riding....this is Katie and Cam on their elephant
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Emily and the Motor Bike: Together At Last
Posted by Emily
Well, yesterday was quite the exciting day as it involved renting motor bikes and finally finding a use for my gauze and bandage scissors! Just kidding Mom! Well, at least partially. See story below....
Near Chiang Mai, there is a lovely temple on a mountain with very little public transit that goes there. Both our guide book and the hostel where we are staying suggested that the best way to get there was to rent motor bikes. That way you can take your time and pull off the road whenever you want to check out waterfalls or other sites. I was very apprehensive about this at first, for very obvious safety reasons, but also because motor bikes just really scare me a lot because they are crazy, all over the road and seem to narrowly miss hitting me quite frequently. Nicki was also apprehensive at first, but since Alex was SO excited about the idea, we both agreed to try it. I with the least enthusiasm.
We rented the bikes through our hostel in the morning and the guys drove them right over for us and gave Alex a quick lesson on how to work them, which he then gave to us. We had automatic bikes so it was pretty simple. After getting all of our stuff together, we put on our helmets (there was no way I was getting one without a helmet!) and set off. It was pretty simple, but oops, after not too long we were in traffic. Pretty exciting. I think we did very well for having only 2 minutes of experience. We were somehow able to maneuver between lanes and find our way to the main road that we needed to be on.
Then it was a climb up the mountain, but luckily it wasn't too steep or too curvy, just a little. Once we got out of town there was much less traffic, which made the driving a lot easier. Our first stop was by a rocky, foresty river that turned into a small waterfall. There was also a nice view of the city. Very beautiful. Next stop was a little more troublesome as it involved driving down a large curb to get off the road and then driving over gravel that sloped down and then up. Nicki almost had a little trouble when she gunned it over the curve and went flying much too fast onto the gravel. This spot was further up the river and had a flatter rock area that Alex decided to climb onto. I walked onto it a little ways but not as far as him. He took quite a fall, not too surprisingly, because he was wearing flip flops and walking on slippery rock. (Interjection - a monk just sat down at the computer next to me. That seems quite strange!) I, on the other hand, was wearing shoes and still managed to slip, giving myself quite the scrape up the front of my shin (hence the gauze that I used to cover it for a little while last night. It was not a motor bike injury!)
The really fun part was trying to get the bikes back over the sloping gravel and the large curve. Nicki and I both managed to drop our bikes on their sides, but I won the grand prize for genius motor bike moves when I accidentally gunned the engine and the bike went flying forward, without me on it, and landing in the road on its side. It also managed to give me a nasty bruise on the back of my leg. I almost turned around at this point because I was quite shaken up but I decided to keep going.
We stopped to see another waterfall. Quite pretty and the stop was uneventful. Continued up the mountain to the temple. Saw the temple and got more lovely views of the city. Continued up the mountain to see a place but discovered that it closed at 3:30 pm so we couldn't visit. Took funny pictures on our bikes and then headed down the mountain. Also very uneventful except for the fact that EVERYONE was passing us because we were quite slow. Oh well.
The real fun began when we got back into the city and entered into rush hour traffic. Now, this wasn't just any rush hour traffic, this was crazy traffic as many of you would have experienced in the larger cities of developing countries. Lanes are kind of arbitrary and motor bikes zig back and forth between cars. Also, I didn't really know where we were going and Nicki and Alex were quite a ways in front of me. This resulted in me missing a turn and getting lost. Not the end of the world. I decided that I would pull over, park the bike and take a taxi back to the hostel. However, I was right on the edge of the old city where we were staying and this part of the city is surrounded by a canal, hence there was nowhere to pull over because there was water. I finally found a curved in lane, stopping and thinking that I would be able to drive across the road to park when the traffic thinned. Wrong. It was rush hour and traffic never thinned. I ended up having to restart my bike, merge back into traffic and take the next right turn that I could. I saw another bike parked on the sidewalk over there. I successfully merged and turned the corner, but still need to get my bike up onto the curb to park it. I guess I thought I had turned the bike off because I used to handle bars to try to life the bike over the curve, resulting in me gunning the gas again worse than the first time I did this on the mountain. This caused the bike to shoot forward again, knocking over a huge potted plant, spraying dirt everywhere and missing falling into the canal by about 3 feet. Woah. This pretty much did me in. I was about to start crying right there. I locked the bike up, took a taxi back to the hostel and forced Alex to go get the bike for me later because there was no way I was getting back on it!
So friends and family, there is no need to worry, I will not be getting on another one of those stupid things again. In fact, this experience has only served to reinforce my hatred of the little machines. I passed a very lovely day today thinking about how I wasn't on a motor bike! Also, I think that I was very lucky to only get a few bruises!
Alex just left on a bus headed for Bangkok to catch his flight tomorrow morning. Tomorrow Nicki and I head out for a 3 day trek through the jungle. Not quite sure what to expect but I'll give a full report when we return.
Well, yesterday was quite the exciting day as it involved renting motor bikes and finally finding a use for my gauze and bandage scissors! Just kidding Mom! Well, at least partially. See story below....
Near Chiang Mai, there is a lovely temple on a mountain with very little public transit that goes there. Both our guide book and the hostel where we are staying suggested that the best way to get there was to rent motor bikes. That way you can take your time and pull off the road whenever you want to check out waterfalls or other sites. I was very apprehensive about this at first, for very obvious safety reasons, but also because motor bikes just really scare me a lot because they are crazy, all over the road and seem to narrowly miss hitting me quite frequently. Nicki was also apprehensive at first, but since Alex was SO excited about the idea, we both agreed to try it. I with the least enthusiasm.
We rented the bikes through our hostel in the morning and the guys drove them right over for us and gave Alex a quick lesson on how to work them, which he then gave to us. We had automatic bikes so it was pretty simple. After getting all of our stuff together, we put on our helmets (there was no way I was getting one without a helmet!) and set off. It was pretty simple, but oops, after not too long we were in traffic. Pretty exciting. I think we did very well for having only 2 minutes of experience. We were somehow able to maneuver between lanes and find our way to the main road that we needed to be on.
Then it was a climb up the mountain, but luckily it wasn't too steep or too curvy, just a little. Once we got out of town there was much less traffic, which made the driving a lot easier. Our first stop was by a rocky, foresty river that turned into a small waterfall. There was also a nice view of the city. Very beautiful. Next stop was a little more troublesome as it involved driving down a large curb to get off the road and then driving over gravel that sloped down and then up. Nicki almost had a little trouble when she gunned it over the curve and went flying much too fast onto the gravel. This spot was further up the river and had a flatter rock area that Alex decided to climb onto. I walked onto it a little ways but not as far as him. He took quite a fall, not too surprisingly, because he was wearing flip flops and walking on slippery rock. (Interjection - a monk just sat down at the computer next to me. That seems quite strange!) I, on the other hand, was wearing shoes and still managed to slip, giving myself quite the scrape up the front of my shin (hence the gauze that I used to cover it for a little while last night. It was not a motor bike injury!)
The really fun part was trying to get the bikes back over the sloping gravel and the large curve. Nicki and I both managed to drop our bikes on their sides, but I won the grand prize for genius motor bike moves when I accidentally gunned the engine and the bike went flying forward, without me on it, and landing in the road on its side. It also managed to give me a nasty bruise on the back of my leg. I almost turned around at this point because I was quite shaken up but I decided to keep going.
We stopped to see another waterfall. Quite pretty and the stop was uneventful. Continued up the mountain to the temple. Saw the temple and got more lovely views of the city. Continued up the mountain to see a place but discovered that it closed at 3:30 pm so we couldn't visit. Took funny pictures on our bikes and then headed down the mountain. Also very uneventful except for the fact that EVERYONE was passing us because we were quite slow. Oh well.
The real fun began when we got back into the city and entered into rush hour traffic. Now, this wasn't just any rush hour traffic, this was crazy traffic as many of you would have experienced in the larger cities of developing countries. Lanes are kind of arbitrary and motor bikes zig back and forth between cars. Also, I didn't really know where we were going and Nicki and Alex were quite a ways in front of me. This resulted in me missing a turn and getting lost. Not the end of the world. I decided that I would pull over, park the bike and take a taxi back to the hostel. However, I was right on the edge of the old city where we were staying and this part of the city is surrounded by a canal, hence there was nowhere to pull over because there was water. I finally found a curved in lane, stopping and thinking that I would be able to drive across the road to park when the traffic thinned. Wrong. It was rush hour and traffic never thinned. I ended up having to restart my bike, merge back into traffic and take the next right turn that I could. I saw another bike parked on the sidewalk over there. I successfully merged and turned the corner, but still need to get my bike up onto the curb to park it. I guess I thought I had turned the bike off because I used to handle bars to try to life the bike over the curve, resulting in me gunning the gas again worse than the first time I did this on the mountain. This caused the bike to shoot forward again, knocking over a huge potted plant, spraying dirt everywhere and missing falling into the canal by about 3 feet. Woah. This pretty much did me in. I was about to start crying right there. I locked the bike up, took a taxi back to the hostel and forced Alex to go get the bike for me later because there was no way I was getting back on it!
So friends and family, there is no need to worry, I will not be getting on another one of those stupid things again. In fact, this experience has only served to reinforce my hatred of the little machines. I passed a very lovely day today thinking about how I wasn't on a motor bike! Also, I think that I was very lucky to only get a few bruises!
Alex just left on a bus headed for Bangkok to catch his flight tomorrow morning. Tomorrow Nicki and I head out for a 3 day trek through the jungle. Not quite sure what to expect but I'll give a full report when we return.
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