Wow! Where to start! Our stay in Bali has come and gone like the wind on your back! So unbelievable! I last told you about our stay in Sanur and partial stay in Kuta, which I will add were both amazing. Friday we took a fast boat out to the Gili Islands, we stayed on Trawanagan. Unfortunately, for most of our stay it rained. And there isn't too much you can do on an island, population 800. In general most people go to the Gili's to dive, snorkel or lay out in the sun. So I am sure you can feel some of our devastation. The last day of our stay, Tuesday, it was sunny and hot, so we were thankful for that. On the flip side, we did a home stay while we were there and our room had a TV and millions of DVDs. So most of our time was spent doing that! Tuesday night I awoke at approximately 10:45pm, so literally directly after I had fallen asleep, to Nicole telling me there is a fire outside. I have never gotten out of bed so quickly in my life. Sure enough, through the curtains I saw orange flames and heard the owner of our room yelling, "Fire, help" over and over again. Tons of people were yelling and I heard some kids crying. I have never felt panic so deep. As fast as I could I grabbed my backpack and threw in my money belt, my purse, and my water bottle. My mind was blank and my nerves were shot. I finally had the sense to quickly open the door in case we ended up getting trapped and once that happened, we saw that the fire was in the neighbouring yard. So we sat on our stairs until it was put out. It very well could have leaped across, considering everything is made out of straw, but thankfully it did not. I have never felt so afraid in my life. I actually thought we were in serious danger, not to mention the roof is made completely of tin, so when the water hit it, it sounded as if a bomb was going off. That was my first thought when Nicole had woken me up. Regardless, we sauntered back into the room, we pulled ourselves together and went back to sleep. Or should I say layed there. I was literally buzzing or shaking all night. I just couldn't believe that happened. The next morning it felt like a bad dream. I guess the fire had started because a few men who lived there had lit a candle after dark and then decided to go fishing and didn't blow it out. So sure enough the candle melted and caught on fire when there was no wax left. I don't know who decides to go fishing around 9pm at night.. but that's what happened. We were happy we left Wednesday. So we had two final days in Kuta before leaving Saturday to fly back to Bangkok, where we currently are.
It's so mind blowing that we're at the end leg of our journey. Incredible how fast time really does fly. Tuesday evening we will be heading to the airport around 9pm. And that's it. Wednesday evening I will fly back into Canada, Vancouver to be precise. Nicole flies into Rome where she'll meet her parents and travel a bit more. I never thought I would say this, but I am so excited to return home. Living among other cultures is hard. It requires so much patience. You don't really ever know how good you have it until your placed among some of the poorest people and observe how they live. I talked to one man on the Gili's who was trying to sell me a bracelet and he told me he had never been anywhere except his small village near Lombak and then the Gili Islands, where he goes to make money for tourists. His wife stays home with his son and she makes the jewelry, he sells it. We got talking about schooling and education and he only gets free education until he is in grade 3. Then he has to pay until he is 13 when school ends. Then you have to continue paying.. He made it til he was 13. He can read and write well, but nothing enough to give him a decent job, which is why he sells jewelry. You never know how good you have it until you put yourself in someone elses shoes. I've learnt a lot this trip. About other cultures, but mainly about myself. I have been so challenged and stretched, I feel like a completely new a different person. My outlook and perspective of life is renewed, fresh, and so different than ever before. I am thankful the Lord led me down this path, for still some unknown reasons that I have yet to figure out. This trip is going to mould my future in great ways. Whether I figure it out today, tomorrow, or in 10 years, it's all according to His plan for my life, and I couldn't be more grateful. "The world is a book, and those who never travel only read a page." That's all she wrote!!
Saturday 19 May 2012
Tuesday 8 May 2012
Best for last !
We have reached out final destination and I can say confidently on behalf of both Nicole and myself, WE LOVE IT HERE!! Yep! We flew in late Wednesday night and drove to Sanur, where we booked a hotel for the first 5 nights of our stay. We were a bit anxious on the topic of weather after we had read reports of clouds, rain, and lightning. However, those weathermen have proved to be just as bad here as they are back home because we have had nothing but sun, sun, and more sun! The heat is much more tolerable here too because of the constant ocean breeze. So our stay in Sanur consisted mostly of lounging by the pool, reading, listening to music, and napping. We did go to the beach on our first day, but it wasn't a very clean one( if you can believe it! ). That fateful beach day, we happened to stumble upon some awesome lounge chairs from a fancy beach front resort. So, without looking to conspicuous, we snagged some for ourselves. We were able to take in close to 31/2 hours of sun before a employee from their hotel came over to ask if we were guests. An awkward no came out of our mouths and we were asked to leave. Let's just say we haven't been back. So from Thursday to Sunday the pool was our home. And we loved it. We want nothing else to take up our time but complete relaxation! Sunday morning we met with my Aunty Louise and my mother's mutual friend Laurie for breakfast. Laurie moved to Bali close to a year ago to teach English. So it was a nice refreshing time to connect and she gave us lots of information and advice for the remainder of our time in Bali. Her daughter Nicole, and boyfriend Ben also joined us, they just arrived in Bali too. Monday morning we checked out and drove to a different area of Bali called Kuta. It's much more mainstream then Sanur and known for awesome surfing. Quickly after we checked into our new hotel we hit up the beach. I have never been to a beach like this one. So incredible. The beachfront is huge! And when the tide is out you could say the width of a soccer field if not bigger! I have also never seen waves so crazy! There are 4 different tides coming in at once, it's nuts. We rented some lounge chairs-open to the public-and stayed until after the sun set, which may I also add was extraordinary! This morning Nicole and I took a cooking course. A little old woman by the name of Maria picked us up at 10am and we taxied over to her house! In a gated courtyard, her one bedroom house is where we took the class. It was just the 2 of us who were there too! We made 4 different meals: Beef Rendang (Beef, potatoes, (we added tofu), and a paste of various spices), Fish Petes (fish with a paste of spices smeared throughout and wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed), a vegetable soup (I forget the name), a sweet chicken dish (I also forget the name), and a homemade peanut sauce. Everything was super tasty and delicious, although some of the dishes were super spicy! I think I will attempt to make them at home, minus the chilli! The day filled with cooking lasted almost all day, 6 hours! We definitely got our money out of the course. Our stay will continue in Kuta until Friday, when we will take ferry over to the Gili Islands! The part of our stay I am most excited about. The Island has a mere population of 800, has no cars, no motorcycles, the only method of transportation is by a horse carriage or by bicycle ! There is no wind, so the water is completely calm and crystal clear! So I am thinking some snorkeling will be in order to get a good look! The duration of our stay will be 5 nights before heading back to the mainland! I can't wait! :)
Tuesday 1 May 2012
Bali Bound Baby!
Tomorrow night (Weds May 2nd) at approximately 8:25pm (Malaysian time), Nicole and I are heading to our last big adventure : Bali ! Tonight, over dinner, we fed off of each others excitement and discussed our joy. To put it straight, we cannot wait! Bali has been one place both of us have wanted to go the most! We'll fly in late, around 11:30pm, and then before proceeding through immigration, will have to stand in the 'visa upon arrival' line. Predictions are that we won't hit the sack until 1am. For the first bit of our trip we will be staying in Sanur, Indonesia. We have booked, what looks like and what we're hoping to be, a beautiful hotel (with hostel prices) 2 minutes from the beach ! We will also be meeting up with both mine and Nicole's mom's mutual friend, Laurie, to give us advice, show us around, and to steer us in the right and general direction to having a sweet time!
Although our time in Malaysia was only 12 days, it was long.. We didn't do an ounce of research before heading here and I think it showed. The country does have a lot to offer, we just didn't have the time to really discover much, plus a lot didn't really grab our whole attention without wanting to grab every last dime we had too. Highlights of the country include: a visit to the petronas twin towers, browsing the KLCC & the Pavilion malls, seeing The Avenger's (Awesome movie), bubble tea, Nicole had the best gelato ever, hanging out in a cool city centre park, free breakfast at every accommodation, the bird park, and this awesome street food stand we found where there are tons of food on skewers! To touch base on the last point, this stand had every type of meat and vegetable on skewers. After you pick which you want, you can barbecue (usually with the meat) or steam the food. It was awesome! Another cool point, was today, it literally down poured from 4:00pm-10:00pm (it may still be raining). But neither Nicole nor I have ever heard thunder so loud. Nicole actually screamed when one hit, ha ha. But it was freaky. I have some videos, which I will try to upload at some point. As Nicole and I have discussed, the worst part of our experience in Malaysia, are the men. With the country being mostly Islamic, a good number of the women dress very modestly with head coverings. However, many do not. Regardless, we dressed quite modestly during our time here, yet were always uncomfortable. The men, to be quite frank, stare hard. At first, being a westerner and standing out was the first thought that came to mind. It happens almost everywhere. But, when you really look, it's quite grotesque. It's almost as if they are undressing you with their eyes, it's very perverted. It's weird too, because we are in a capital city, with over 2 million people, where tourists are everywhere. It's to the point though, that I never feel comfortable. So with great joy I will say, I am so excited to leave this country and not return! Take me to the beach please!
Please pray for our flight tomorrow, that everything will go smoothly and as planned. That we will make the flight fine and have no problems! Love you guys! I'll report back from paradise! :)
Although our time in Malaysia was only 12 days, it was long.. We didn't do an ounce of research before heading here and I think it showed. The country does have a lot to offer, we just didn't have the time to really discover much, plus a lot didn't really grab our whole attention without wanting to grab every last dime we had too. Highlights of the country include: a visit to the petronas twin towers, browsing the KLCC & the Pavilion malls, seeing The Avenger's (Awesome movie), bubble tea, Nicole had the best gelato ever, hanging out in a cool city centre park, free breakfast at every accommodation, the bird park, and this awesome street food stand we found where there are tons of food on skewers! To touch base on the last point, this stand had every type of meat and vegetable on skewers. After you pick which you want, you can barbecue (usually with the meat) or steam the food. It was awesome! Another cool point, was today, it literally down poured from 4:00pm-10:00pm (it may still be raining). But neither Nicole nor I have ever heard thunder so loud. Nicole actually screamed when one hit, ha ha. But it was freaky. I have some videos, which I will try to upload at some point. As Nicole and I have discussed, the worst part of our experience in Malaysia, are the men. With the country being mostly Islamic, a good number of the women dress very modestly with head coverings. However, many do not. Regardless, we dressed quite modestly during our time here, yet were always uncomfortable. The men, to be quite frank, stare hard. At first, being a westerner and standing out was the first thought that came to mind. It happens almost everywhere. But, when you really look, it's quite grotesque. It's almost as if they are undressing you with their eyes, it's very perverted. It's weird too, because we are in a capital city, with over 2 million people, where tourists are everywhere. It's to the point though, that I never feel comfortable. So with great joy I will say, I am so excited to leave this country and not return! Take me to the beach please!
Please pray for our flight tomorrow, that everything will go smoothly and as planned. That we will make the flight fine and have no problems! Love you guys! I'll report back from paradise! :)
Friday 27 April 2012
Monkeying Around !
Hey all!
After a quick 4ish days, we are back in the capital city, Kuala Lumpur. Monday we traveled up north to the province of Penang, where we stayed in the city of Georgetown. Georgetown is located on an island, yet still connected to the mainland by a 13.5 km long bridge! Tuesday we spent most of our day at a beach called batu ferringhi. It was nice to recline in the sun/shade after quite a bit of travel. The following day we went to go to the Penang National Park. The park is the world's smallest national park, with 1181 hectares of forest and 1381 hectares of wetlands. We were stopped on our way in by a tourist company trying to sell us a ticket for a speed boat. We told him we wanted to hike, duh! He said it would take an 1 hour, 15 mins to get to the beach we wanted to go to. I think Nicole and I both laughed in our heads.. "buddy, I think we can handle a hike, we just did a 2 day trek of hiking and we live in a country where we hike all the time." We probably should have bought a ticket for the speed boat back, ha ha! The hike in wasn't bad, quite fun actually. The path had us going up and down, jumping over rocks, crossing bridges, winding down staircases. It had rope tied to different trees to use as a railing or to pull yourself up. It felt like an adventure course someone had set up, and it was through a jungle-type setting. We finally got to the beach, called "monkey beach", where we read and took a nap in the sun. At first, the name of the beach didn't say too much for itself. Until I was just waking up from a nice cat nap, when Nicole said to me, "Sara, don't freak out but.. there are monkeys all around us." As I slowly got up, there was a monkey, I kid you not, a foot away from my right. My heart suddenly took itself into high gear. Just before we set off to the park, I had read on the Internet about what to do if you encounter one of the species. Basically, they can be quite aggressive and it's hard to read them! A set of rules such as: do not look them in the eye because they may be threatened, do not show your teeth because they may be threatened, do not feed them, do not pet them, do not even take a photo because the flash could set them off. Okay, let's just say when I sat up to see that monkey literally in my reach, I freaked out a little inside. No more then 30 seconds after I had sat up, a monkey ran in from behind me and stole my half-eaten granola bar. When I had looked back, there were about 10 monkeys staring me right in the eye. As fast as I could, without being too alarming, I grabbed my stuff and got out of there as quick as possible. It did indeed take awhile for my heart to settle down. I don't know if I was paranoid that the monkeys were following us from behind, or maybe it was the terrifying jungle sounds, but the hike out wasn't as fun! Thursday, we took a bus back to the city, which was a perfect travel day because it stormed all day! Now that we are back in the city, we are a little unsure of what to make of our itinerary. We don't fly out and into Bali until the evening of Wed May 2. That gives us 4 full days and a half if you don't count today. This morning we went to a bird park, which was super cool. Tons of beautiful and funny looking birds, all of which I can't quite remember what their names are called - very complex, except for the simple ones: peacock, hawk, eagle, stork, pelican, flamingo, owl, parrots, and ostriches. We did try to switch our flight to an earlier day, however it is quite costly to do so. Thus, we will be in the city awhile still, making things up as we go. Malaysia is an interesting country. Upon first arrival it did excite me. Lots of colour, history, and culture. But the more time I spend here it does fall short of what I had imagined. There isn't too much that really strikes my fancy, maybe because my mind is too consumed with everything to do with Bali and what we'll be enduring there. It's out of my control, so I will do my best to make the most of our days left here. I guess that's all for now. Also, I have ringworm and Nicole is a bit sick, so if you could pray for healing, we would be appreciative! And that we would continue to have hearts full of praise as we make the most of our time left in Malaysia. What an amazing opportunity that we have been blessed with, let us make the most of it !
After a quick 4ish days, we are back in the capital city, Kuala Lumpur. Monday we traveled up north to the province of Penang, where we stayed in the city of Georgetown. Georgetown is located on an island, yet still connected to the mainland by a 13.5 km long bridge! Tuesday we spent most of our day at a beach called batu ferringhi. It was nice to recline in the sun/shade after quite a bit of travel. The following day we went to go to the Penang National Park. The park is the world's smallest national park, with 1181 hectares of forest and 1381 hectares of wetlands. We were stopped on our way in by a tourist company trying to sell us a ticket for a speed boat. We told him we wanted to hike, duh! He said it would take an 1 hour, 15 mins to get to the beach we wanted to go to. I think Nicole and I both laughed in our heads.. "buddy, I think we can handle a hike, we just did a 2 day trek of hiking and we live in a country where we hike all the time." We probably should have bought a ticket for the speed boat back, ha ha! The hike in wasn't bad, quite fun actually. The path had us going up and down, jumping over rocks, crossing bridges, winding down staircases. It had rope tied to different trees to use as a railing or to pull yourself up. It felt like an adventure course someone had set up, and it was through a jungle-type setting. We finally got to the beach, called "monkey beach", where we read and took a nap in the sun. At first, the name of the beach didn't say too much for itself. Until I was just waking up from a nice cat nap, when Nicole said to me, "Sara, don't freak out but.. there are monkeys all around us." As I slowly got up, there was a monkey, I kid you not, a foot away from my right. My heart suddenly took itself into high gear. Just before we set off to the park, I had read on the Internet about what to do if you encounter one of the species. Basically, they can be quite aggressive and it's hard to read them! A set of rules such as: do not look them in the eye because they may be threatened, do not show your teeth because they may be threatened, do not feed them, do not pet them, do not even take a photo because the flash could set them off. Okay, let's just say when I sat up to see that monkey literally in my reach, I freaked out a little inside. No more then 30 seconds after I had sat up, a monkey ran in from behind me and stole my half-eaten granola bar. When I had looked back, there were about 10 monkeys staring me right in the eye. As fast as I could, without being too alarming, I grabbed my stuff and got out of there as quick as possible. It did indeed take awhile for my heart to settle down. I don't know if I was paranoid that the monkeys were following us from behind, or maybe it was the terrifying jungle sounds, but the hike out wasn't as fun! Thursday, we took a bus back to the city, which was a perfect travel day because it stormed all day! Now that we are back in the city, we are a little unsure of what to make of our itinerary. We don't fly out and into Bali until the evening of Wed May 2. That gives us 4 full days and a half if you don't count today. This morning we went to a bird park, which was super cool. Tons of beautiful and funny looking birds, all of which I can't quite remember what their names are called - very complex, except for the simple ones: peacock, hawk, eagle, stork, pelican, flamingo, owl, parrots, and ostriches. We did try to switch our flight to an earlier day, however it is quite costly to do so. Thus, we will be in the city awhile still, making things up as we go. Malaysia is an interesting country. Upon first arrival it did excite me. Lots of colour, history, and culture. But the more time I spend here it does fall short of what I had imagined. There isn't too much that really strikes my fancy, maybe because my mind is too consumed with everything to do with Bali and what we'll be enduring there. It's out of my control, so I will do my best to make the most of our days left here. I guess that's all for now. Also, I have ringworm and Nicole is a bit sick, so if you could pray for healing, we would be appreciative! And that we would continue to have hearts full of praise as we make the most of our time left in Malaysia. What an amazing opportunity that we have been blessed with, let us make the most of it !
Sunday 22 April 2012
The end of one country, the start of another..
Hello my friends!
A new update is in order. Our travel to the South of Thailand was indeed a bit of a trecherous, tiresome journey. On the Monday night, we took an over night bus to Bangkok. Leaving around 8:30pm and arriving in Bangkok around 5:30am, neither Nicole or I got much shut eye. Our plan was to hangout at a mall for the day, since that evening around 7pm, we were back on an overnight train down to the South. The mall unfortunately didn't open until 10am, so bumming around the city was hot and gruesome. Our train delayed upon arrival in Suri, did not actually arrive until 10:30am instead of 7 ! We finally got on a bus and got moving, heading to Krabi by 5. Unfortunately, the bungalow the tourism agency booked for us fell through because the agency was neglecting to pay them. We had to contact them back in Bangkok and tell them to book us another place as we were very reluctant to spend our own money once again. What a nightmere! Finally, things turned around, we found a place to stay and did thoroughly enjoy the time spent there, the 2 full days that it was! The days were filled with the beach, reading, walking throughout the town.. it was pretty low key, but we needed it.
We flew into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia yesterday (April 21) in the late evening. We managed to get ourselves the hour distance from the airport to the heart of chinatown, where our guesthouse is located. The evening was spent exploring the markets a few foot steps from our doorway. We were about to call it quits for the evening when some staff at our guesthouse told us there was a festival happening a few blocks from where we were staying. Hesitant, but eager to check it out, we went on our mary little way down the road. It was so incredible. Man were we stoked to have found it. Through the crowds we made our way, closest to the front as possible, as we watched over a hundred students, in full costume, dance their way to the music. The dancing took place on and off with singers, as well as joined together. It was rad to get to see some cultural dance so vibrant. This morning, we ventured to the city centre, wanting to purchase a ticket for the skybridge. Kuala currently holds the largest twin towers in the world, 88 stories, since the tragic incident in 2001. On the 45(?) floor is a skybridge connecting the two towers. It is open to tourists for a price, holding one of the best views in the city. It was amazing to get to see such a view. The ticket also enabled us to go to the 86th floor, which holds a panoramic 360 view of the city. Outrageous! The pictures do not do enough justice, and until I realized this, I stopped snapping my camera and took it all in! We also spent most of our day in the city centre at the coolest mall ever stepped foot in! With 6 floors, going all over the place, we browsed and wandered endlessly, watched a few fashion shows, and took part in a Tawainese food festival in a supermarket! It was a day full of events. It has been awhile since we have literally walked ALL DAY!
So far we mutally agree that Kuala Lumpur is a beautiful city. Rich in colour and culture, it is one of the cleanest cities thus far seen. It has so much history, it draws you in. We also love it because of the LRT transportion system. I don't know how to stress the fact that we love not having to negotiate with tuk-tuk drivers (most of Asia's form of taxi, other than a taxi!) ! We came to this country having absolutely no idea of what it holds. No plan, no schedule, literally no diea of what to expect. We have concluded after one and a half days to head up to Georgetown, in the province of Penam, tomorrow. Penam is a small province in the North-Western region of Malaysia. Georgetown is a city on an island located west. We aren't entirely sure of what to expect, other than some beaches, cool historical building and streets, and some awesome parks.. I guess we're once again kept guessing. I'll leave it at that until we arrive there and let you know myself! Peace!
A new update is in order. Our travel to the South of Thailand was indeed a bit of a trecherous, tiresome journey. On the Monday night, we took an over night bus to Bangkok. Leaving around 8:30pm and arriving in Bangkok around 5:30am, neither Nicole or I got much shut eye. Our plan was to hangout at a mall for the day, since that evening around 7pm, we were back on an overnight train down to the South. The mall unfortunately didn't open until 10am, so bumming around the city was hot and gruesome. Our train delayed upon arrival in Suri, did not actually arrive until 10:30am instead of 7 ! We finally got on a bus and got moving, heading to Krabi by 5. Unfortunately, the bungalow the tourism agency booked for us fell through because the agency was neglecting to pay them. We had to contact them back in Bangkok and tell them to book us another place as we were very reluctant to spend our own money once again. What a nightmere! Finally, things turned around, we found a place to stay and did thoroughly enjoy the time spent there, the 2 full days that it was! The days were filled with the beach, reading, walking throughout the town.. it was pretty low key, but we needed it.
We flew into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia yesterday (April 21) in the late evening. We managed to get ourselves the hour distance from the airport to the heart of chinatown, where our guesthouse is located. The evening was spent exploring the markets a few foot steps from our doorway. We were about to call it quits for the evening when some staff at our guesthouse told us there was a festival happening a few blocks from where we were staying. Hesitant, but eager to check it out, we went on our mary little way down the road. It was so incredible. Man were we stoked to have found it. Through the crowds we made our way, closest to the front as possible, as we watched over a hundred students, in full costume, dance their way to the music. The dancing took place on and off with singers, as well as joined together. It was rad to get to see some cultural dance so vibrant. This morning, we ventured to the city centre, wanting to purchase a ticket for the skybridge. Kuala currently holds the largest twin towers in the world, 88 stories, since the tragic incident in 2001. On the 45(?) floor is a skybridge connecting the two towers. It is open to tourists for a price, holding one of the best views in the city. It was amazing to get to see such a view. The ticket also enabled us to go to the 86th floor, which holds a panoramic 360 view of the city. Outrageous! The pictures do not do enough justice, and until I realized this, I stopped snapping my camera and took it all in! We also spent most of our day in the city centre at the coolest mall ever stepped foot in! With 6 floors, going all over the place, we browsed and wandered endlessly, watched a few fashion shows, and took part in a Tawainese food festival in a supermarket! It was a day full of events. It has been awhile since we have literally walked ALL DAY!
So far we mutally agree that Kuala Lumpur is a beautiful city. Rich in colour and culture, it is one of the cleanest cities thus far seen. It has so much history, it draws you in. We also love it because of the LRT transportion system. I don't know how to stress the fact that we love not having to negotiate with tuk-tuk drivers (most of Asia's form of taxi, other than a taxi!) ! We came to this country having absolutely no idea of what it holds. No plan, no schedule, literally no diea of what to expect. We have concluded after one and a half days to head up to Georgetown, in the province of Penam, tomorrow. Penam is a small province in the North-Western region of Malaysia. Georgetown is a city on an island located west. We aren't entirely sure of what to expect, other than some beaches, cool historical building and streets, and some awesome parks.. I guess we're once again kept guessing. I'll leave it at that until we arrive there and let you know myself! Peace!
Sunday 15 April 2012
Songkran Festival !!
SAWATDI PI MAI!!!! (Happy New Years in Thai!)
This past week has indeed been magical. We arrived back in Chiang Mai on the 10th. The following day led us to begin our 2 day 1 night trek! Our group consisted of 14 people: 3 Germans, 3 Dutch, 3 British, 2 Australians, 1 French, and us, 2 Canadians! We began by a quick stop at a market (for those who needed additional supplies) and then our pickup truck-which carried us all in the back-drove forth up the mountain! Our first adventure was rafting down the river. Now this was not quite the river rafting you'd expect. The rafts, which consisted of 5 super long bamboo sticks tied together, carried us down. About 3 to a raft with a guide, who had a long pole to push us from edges, took us down. I am pretty sure this activity would be dubbed illegal in Canada.. just chilling on this raft as it's going through mild rapids, half submerged at times in the water, no helmet or life jacket.. no big deal. I think it was one of the funnest things I have done yet! We just motored down, skimming rocks, getting knocked too a fro-what a jolly good time. We got to a certain point where I think it was too dangerous to be on the raft, so we all filed off to climb some rocks, where at the other side, maybe 20 ft up, we got to do some cliff jumping! Our trek continued after rafting with a lunch before we actually started our hiking. Just a further drive up the mountain, where we were dumped onto the side of the road and our 3 1/2 hour hike began. I must admit, it was quite a strenuous hike.. I have also been battling a super bad cold, so my lungs weren't very impressed.. but I made it through. We stopped along the way, visiting waterfalls, (which may I add were AMAZING!) visiting a village, and at last found camp. Situated right along a loud thundery river, it was amazing! Had some delicious dinner, enjoyed a campfire, and drank too much rice wine or socke (sp?). The next day began with breakfast and a hike out, which felt like it would never end. Our trek concluded with, might I add the best part, an elephant ride! Ah, it was so great. Nicole and I climbed into the basket held on the elephant's back, we had a guide who sat on the elephant's head, and off we went up and down hills. It was very bumpy, but so amazing! We felt the elephant purr several times, it was such an unforgettable experience! What amazing creatures!
Back in Chiang Mai, the 12-15 a Songkran Festival took place. Essentially, since the Thai New Year is held on the 13th of April, to symbolise the washing away of the previous year, ready to bring on the next, they hold a nation wide WATER FIGHT!!! Uh huh, you heard me. I think it was one the of most unreal experiences ever. Not really sure of what to expect, I have really never seen anything like it. Everyone, you name it, the young, the old, foreigners, locals... literally everyone comes together with either a water gun, a bucket.. they use ice water, warm water, dirty water.. some throw flour on you... its a gong show. The streets are packed with people, you can't move, drive.. your soaked ALL DAY! Yep, it never really ends. There is no point of ever changing your clothes into dry ones, because once your back into the streets, another bucket drenches you again. The only safe place there is to go, is the markets at night! Which is exactly where we hung out. Plus the markets have the most amazing street food, for very cheap prices.. I don't think I have ever eaten so much, but so worth it. We are very thankful that the water fight, while it was fun, is over. Let's just say the chafing can speak for itself. Plus, it's so nice to be dry, although you can really feel the effects of the heat now. Back to the inevitable perma-sweat. Yay!
In between all of this crazy water soaking fun, I spent a day ZIPLINNING!!! AHHHH!!! It was SO MUCH FUN!!!! .. As I ventured with another group of people up a scary mountain side, we prepared ourselves for the highest and longest zipling in all of Thailand! In total, there was 22 ziplines, which took about 3 hours to complete! It was AWESOME! As Nicole spent the day learning new cooking skills, I spent the day screaming(wooo)and laughing in the heart of the jungle! Not only did I zipline, I conquered spiral stairs, walked across swinging bridges(80 m high) and propelled, up to 40m, down ! By mistake, I had told one of our guides that I had been bungee jumping, so he basically propelled me "free fall" on the last 40m fall, but it was incredible!
Alas, the Chiang Mai adventure has come to a quick end, although close to a week was spent here. Were heading to the South next. With an overnight bus tonight bringing us to Bangkok.. a day spent back in the capital .. and another overnight train down to the South of Thailand.. our time will be spent on the beaches of Krabi !! A nice relaxing few days before we head to a new country!
Thanks for reading, talk to you soon!
Ps. Here is a video I found on youtube from previous years that sort of sums up the giant water fighting!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtEKvBI_4Ws
Monday 9 April 2012
A place called Pai.
Time sure flies when you are having fun .. I have found this cliche phrase to prove itself true over my past week of adventure throughout Northen-ish Thailand. We arrived in Bangkok last week(which is where I left off). We had decided to spend a few days in the city to await the arrival of two of Nicole's friends(Jess&Jill)before heading up to Chiang Mai and eventually Pai. During the few days spent in the capital, we managed to find our favourite Pad Thai dish, explore more of the endless markets, taste one of the most refreshing fruit smoothies ever, and explore the greatest and craziest mall ever! At this mall we went to a restaurant which held almost every cuisine you could think of! From Seafood to Greek food to Thai, Mediteranean, Western, Japanese, Vegetarian, Arabic.. Everything! We also saw the Hunger Games, which I was extremely disappointed in. To be fair, I had just finished reading the book, so almost every detail lingered in my mind, but I just couldn't get over how they left so many key and important things out that they very well could have added. One of the highlights while we were in the city was my "base-oil massage". One morning Nicole went to do a cooking class, so I thought I would get pampered, paying only $10 for just over an hour, my massage was definitely unlike any other I have ever had. Let's just say it was relaxing, yet awkward, painful, and strenuous.. however, the outcome left me feeling very loose and light.
After a long 14 hour over night train ride, and a nauseating 4 hour minibus ride, we had finally arrived at a place so unlike any other! A place called Pai. (Pronounced Pie). From the minute I stepped out of the bus, my heart felt at ease. I am not sure if it was do with the fact that the past few weeks has been in huge tourist cities, but the exclusivity of this town, surrounded by lush mountainside was exhilarating. I really wish we had more time to spend in this slightly hippie town, but alas, the time spent was embraced. We stayed just outside of town, in a bungalow! With 4 rooms upstairs, it was surrounded by a huge deck, full of lounge chair and hammocks-where I did happen to take a relaxing nap! Our first full day was spend exerting our poor bodies in order to see some waterfalls. I am not sure if we were just so hot and exhausted by the time we got there, as we did not anticipate the journey, but they fell short of our expectations. It very well could have been the fact that we visited some falls, which I failed to mention above, while we were in Bangkok. They were so spectacular and mind-blowing, the water so cool and refreshing, the 4 hours it took to get there and back, was worth it, even though we spent just short of 3 hours actually at the falls. Our second full day in Pai totally made up for our exhausting first day. We rented vespas-which may I add was SO RAD-and rode them maybe 40 minutes outside the town, venturing to some hot springs. Once again, we didn't entirely anticipate the road once we had turned off from the main one. Let's just say it was very vertical, making Jill and Nicole having to walk in areas, as Jess and myself drove them up and down. The condition of the roads was also very poor, a quad would have been safer. I'll just leave it at that. The hot springs however, made the stress and difficulty SO worth it. It felt like a hot tub, no exaggeration. As the stream-like-pond trickled water down the body, we dipped our toes in unsure of what the temperature would be. But once that steaming water touched our sun-kissed feet, a full plunge was in order. We floated until our fingers were pruney. The nights were filled with amazing street food and cheap cocktails and beer. Roaming and aimlessly wondering, let us to discover the most tasty burger ever! I also indulged in ice cream, waffle sandwiches filled with blueberry sauce, shishkabobs coated with sweet chilly sauce, and mango-sticky rice(essentially stick rice, with slices of mango, covered in coconut milk).. YUM!
We are heading back to Chiang Mai this afternoon for almost a week. Tomorrow we will take part in a 2 day 1 night elephant trek before returning for a nation-wide water fight for 5 days.. is that not unbelievable or what. I am not exactly sure what to expect for either of these activities, all I know is that words cannot express my excitement. I guess you will have to hold your curiosity for another week. Until next time!
After a long 14 hour over night train ride, and a nauseating 4 hour minibus ride, we had finally arrived at a place so unlike any other! A place called Pai. (Pronounced Pie). From the minute I stepped out of the bus, my heart felt at ease. I am not sure if it was do with the fact that the past few weeks has been in huge tourist cities, but the exclusivity of this town, surrounded by lush mountainside was exhilarating. I really wish we had more time to spend in this slightly hippie town, but alas, the time spent was embraced. We stayed just outside of town, in a bungalow! With 4 rooms upstairs, it was surrounded by a huge deck, full of lounge chair and hammocks-where I did happen to take a relaxing nap! Our first full day was spend exerting our poor bodies in order to see some waterfalls. I am not sure if we were just so hot and exhausted by the time we got there, as we did not anticipate the journey, but they fell short of our expectations. It very well could have been the fact that we visited some falls, which I failed to mention above, while we were in Bangkok. They were so spectacular and mind-blowing, the water so cool and refreshing, the 4 hours it took to get there and back, was worth it, even though we spent just short of 3 hours actually at the falls. Our second full day in Pai totally made up for our exhausting first day. We rented vespas-which may I add was SO RAD-and rode them maybe 40 minutes outside the town, venturing to some hot springs. Once again, we didn't entirely anticipate the road once we had turned off from the main one. Let's just say it was very vertical, making Jill and Nicole having to walk in areas, as Jess and myself drove them up and down. The condition of the roads was also very poor, a quad would have been safer. I'll just leave it at that. The hot springs however, made the stress and difficulty SO worth it. It felt like a hot tub, no exaggeration. As the stream-like-pond trickled water down the body, we dipped our toes in unsure of what the temperature would be. But once that steaming water touched our sun-kissed feet, a full plunge was in order. We floated until our fingers were pruney. The nights were filled with amazing street food and cheap cocktails and beer. Roaming and aimlessly wondering, let us to discover the most tasty burger ever! I also indulged in ice cream, waffle sandwiches filled with blueberry sauce, shishkabobs coated with sweet chilly sauce, and mango-sticky rice(essentially stick rice, with slices of mango, covered in coconut milk).. YUM!
We are heading back to Chiang Mai this afternoon for almost a week. Tomorrow we will take part in a 2 day 1 night elephant trek before returning for a nation-wide water fight for 5 days.. is that not unbelievable or what. I am not exactly sure what to expect for either of these activities, all I know is that words cannot express my excitement. I guess you will have to hold your curiosity for another week. Until next time!
Sunday 1 April 2012
A city called Hanoi
Loving friends and family!
It has been a week again, my apologies but our time here in Hanoi has been so full and busy, not a second to spare! The last thing I told you was we were heading to Halong Bay, one of the world's 7th wonders! It was a wonder to see for sure. The bay was filled with amazing little islands(rock-type chunks)that were super cool! We boarded a yacht in Halong City, among 17 other tourists, and set sail! We first went to one huge island(not sure of the name)but it was marvelous. We actually got to go inside, many are caves and have been transformed into tourist attractions. It was sooo cool! It felt like we should have been swimming through it. The entire inside looked like chunks of corral. After the cave tour, which took us to beautiful heights overlooking the whole bay, we got the opportunity to kayak through the bay and explore on our own. It was an overnight trip so we were able to sleep on the boat and were served meals. All in all it was a great experience. Unfortunately, we did have a handful of young people (Americans) who thought it would be awesome to get full out wasted and jump off the 3 floor of the boat, kind of ruining it for the rest of us because the next day we were promised to do some things that we didn't, in the end, get to do! Oh well.
Our past week in Hanoi has truly been an incredible experience. The city is so full of character. The people are so genuine and hospitable. Nicole and I were at the bus stop last night and some girls just started talking to us, being so kind. Seconds later this guy comes to join the conversation he heard as he was walking by. Once the girls got on their bus, he continued to stand and talk with us even though he wasn't even taking the bus! The old quarter, where we are staying, is full of colourful shops, weird sounds, and delicious smells. One day we went to Vietnam's notorious "water puppet show". Apparently if you go to Vietnam and don't see the show, it's like going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel tower - just something you do. It was quite comical, as music was played and these puppets danced around on water. It was a really good way to understand and grasp their culture more, despite the fact that it was all in Vietnamese. That night, we were invited over to hangout with Mary and some girls from her church. We made crosses out of palm branches, ate banana chocolate chip pancakes, and watched a movie. It was so great to have the opportunity to hangout with people who have the same faith values as you and be in a house, eating western homemade food, even if it was just pancakes! We also got the chance to go to a pottery village with Mary and her Vietnamese teacher, Huang and her friend. It was an hour from the area we are staying, so we rode on the back of each Mary and Huang's bike. It was super fun, despite it being a bit painfully long. At the village we made our own pottery on a hand spinning wheel. We then painted them and got to keep them. I think we got our pictures taken half a dozen times from Huang and her friend. They were so fun to hangout with and showed so much joy throughout the day. We proceeded to the night market later that evening. I have never been shoved, body slammed, rocked, elbowed, hair whipped, or touched that aggressively in my life! The market is jam-packed with SO many people who all revolve around themselves. It's like everyone feels invincible and that they are the only ones that matter shoving you to get what they want. It's crazy! Yesterday we were invited to Mary's international church for Palm Sunday. It was refreshing to be apart of something so familiar in a place so foreign. That afternoon we got to partake in something none of us had ever dreamt of, well I hadn't at least. Mary, Nicole, and I took part in a CHOCOLATE BUFFET!!! WHAT?!?!?! I KNOW!!!! .. We went to this incredible hotel that took us to another world. The hotel itself was astoundingly beautiful, you could feel how expensive it was the second you entered the lobby. I felt like I went back in time to the 70's and teleported to Europe. The ambiance and setting of the hotel was so exclusive and rustic, I can understand why people would stay there. So about the chocolate.. we thought we were in Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. Everything you could imagine was there : every kind of chocolate(pure), crepes, fruit you could dip in fondue, mousse, so many kinds of chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, and millions of these chocolate treats.. I went up 3 times to fill my plate full! We also were given these little finger sandwiches and coffee, which sort of balanced it out.. not really though. It was awesome. I am pretty sure we all had the worst gut aches after, literally stuffing our faces full until not one more thing could go down without coming up. But I think we got our moneys worth!
Alas, we have finished our time in this crazy, wonderful, city so full of life. This evening we are flying out, heading back to Bangkok. From there we will try and get on a train that will take us up north to Chiang Mai. We have a guesthouse booked for April 10th, so until then we will explore the surrounding cities, hoping to discover new and incredible creations that God has wonderfully made. Please continue to pray for safe travels as we put ourselves back in a new country. Health wise we are feeling great. We were able to skype both our families the other day, refreshing and renewing our spirits. So blessed. We also feel incredible grateful to have been able to spend most of this past week with Mary! She is an amazing, hospitable, generous, godly woman, whom we felt is so inspiring! From moving to an entirely new country all the way around the world, depending solely on the Lord, it's admirable. It was refreshing to be able to hangout with someone that knew this city so well. From showing us around, giving us advice, and just catching up, it will give us fond memories! Thank you Mary, we love you !
Talk to you in Thailand.
Nicole is once again updating her blog with some fascinating photos taken in the duration of this past week! Enjoy!
www.helloavocado.blogspot.com
It has been a week again, my apologies but our time here in Hanoi has been so full and busy, not a second to spare! The last thing I told you was we were heading to Halong Bay, one of the world's 7th wonders! It was a wonder to see for sure. The bay was filled with amazing little islands(rock-type chunks)that were super cool! We boarded a yacht in Halong City, among 17 other tourists, and set sail! We first went to one huge island(not sure of the name)but it was marvelous. We actually got to go inside, many are caves and have been transformed into tourist attractions. It was sooo cool! It felt like we should have been swimming through it. The entire inside looked like chunks of corral. After the cave tour, which took us to beautiful heights overlooking the whole bay, we got the opportunity to kayak through the bay and explore on our own. It was an overnight trip so we were able to sleep on the boat and were served meals. All in all it was a great experience. Unfortunately, we did have a handful of young people (Americans) who thought it would be awesome to get full out wasted and jump off the 3 floor of the boat, kind of ruining it for the rest of us because the next day we were promised to do some things that we didn't, in the end, get to do! Oh well.
Our past week in Hanoi has truly been an incredible experience. The city is so full of character. The people are so genuine and hospitable. Nicole and I were at the bus stop last night and some girls just started talking to us, being so kind. Seconds later this guy comes to join the conversation he heard as he was walking by. Once the girls got on their bus, he continued to stand and talk with us even though he wasn't even taking the bus! The old quarter, where we are staying, is full of colourful shops, weird sounds, and delicious smells. One day we went to Vietnam's notorious "water puppet show". Apparently if you go to Vietnam and don't see the show, it's like going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel tower - just something you do. It was quite comical, as music was played and these puppets danced around on water. It was a really good way to understand and grasp their culture more, despite the fact that it was all in Vietnamese. That night, we were invited over to hangout with Mary and some girls from her church. We made crosses out of palm branches, ate banana chocolate chip pancakes, and watched a movie. It was so great to have the opportunity to hangout with people who have the same faith values as you and be in a house, eating western homemade food, even if it was just pancakes! We also got the chance to go to a pottery village with Mary and her Vietnamese teacher, Huang and her friend. It was an hour from the area we are staying, so we rode on the back of each Mary and Huang's bike. It was super fun, despite it being a bit painfully long. At the village we made our own pottery on a hand spinning wheel. We then painted them and got to keep them. I think we got our pictures taken half a dozen times from Huang and her friend. They were so fun to hangout with and showed so much joy throughout the day. We proceeded to the night market later that evening. I have never been shoved, body slammed, rocked, elbowed, hair whipped, or touched that aggressively in my life! The market is jam-packed with SO many people who all revolve around themselves. It's like everyone feels invincible and that they are the only ones that matter shoving you to get what they want. It's crazy! Yesterday we were invited to Mary's international church for Palm Sunday. It was refreshing to be apart of something so familiar in a place so foreign. That afternoon we got to partake in something none of us had ever dreamt of, well I hadn't at least. Mary, Nicole, and I took part in a CHOCOLATE BUFFET!!! WHAT?!?!?! I KNOW!!!! .. We went to this incredible hotel that took us to another world. The hotel itself was astoundingly beautiful, you could feel how expensive it was the second you entered the lobby. I felt like I went back in time to the 70's and teleported to Europe. The ambiance and setting of the hotel was so exclusive and rustic, I can understand why people would stay there. So about the chocolate.. we thought we were in Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. Everything you could imagine was there : every kind of chocolate(pure), crepes, fruit you could dip in fondue, mousse, so many kinds of chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, and millions of these chocolate treats.. I went up 3 times to fill my plate full! We also were given these little finger sandwiches and coffee, which sort of balanced it out.. not really though. It was awesome. I am pretty sure we all had the worst gut aches after, literally stuffing our faces full until not one more thing could go down without coming up. But I think we got our moneys worth!
Alas, we have finished our time in this crazy, wonderful, city so full of life. This evening we are flying out, heading back to Bangkok. From there we will try and get on a train that will take us up north to Chiang Mai. We have a guesthouse booked for April 10th, so until then we will explore the surrounding cities, hoping to discover new and incredible creations that God has wonderfully made. Please continue to pray for safe travels as we put ourselves back in a new country. Health wise we are feeling great. We were able to skype both our families the other day, refreshing and renewing our spirits. So blessed. We also feel incredible grateful to have been able to spend most of this past week with Mary! She is an amazing, hospitable, generous, godly woman, whom we felt is so inspiring! From moving to an entirely new country all the way around the world, depending solely on the Lord, it's admirable. It was refreshing to be able to hangout with someone that knew this city so well. From showing us around, giving us advice, and just catching up, it will give us fond memories! Thank you Mary, we love you !
Talk to you in Thailand.
Nicole is once again updating her blog with some fascinating photos taken in the duration of this past week! Enjoy!
www.helloavocado.blogspot.com
Monday 26 March 2012
Photos!
If you are anxious and eager to see some photos from our trip, and cannot wait until we're back from Halong Bay, check out Nicole's blog, as she just posted a few ! Enjoy!
www.helloavocado.blogspot.com
www.helloavocado.blogspot.com
On the move !
Hello friends! This past week, I have done the most travelling I have ever done in such a short period of time! Last Thursday we left Phnom Penh, Cambodia, heading for Vietnam! When we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, where we decided that there wasn't much we wanted to do, so we headed to the train station and we booked an overnight ticket to Nha Trang, (along Vietnam's coast)! Arriving at 5am, groggy eyed and tired, we embraced our new location. Can you say paradise! Everything about Nha Trang reminded me of Kelowna, but nicer! With pom trees everywhere, close to 6 foot waves crashed the beach! For the day we explored the city by bicycles. The following day, we took a 15 min gondola ride, the highest in the world - 60 m - across the greeny-blue waters to Vin Pearl Land. They call it the Disneyland of Vietnam, full of amusement park rides, a full water slide park, arcade games, shops, 4D rides, an aquarium, and a night water/light show, this place was a kids dream! The beaches on this side of the water had some of the finest flour like sand I have ever come into contact with! A dream! We had fun! It was another early start for us Sunday, ( 4:30am ) where we had to catch a train by 5:30am to Hanoi (northern Vietnam). However, this was a 24 hour train ride - can you believe it! Thinking I would be as antsy as ever, I actually really enjoyed it, well the day time part of it. Throughout the ride, we were given the opportunity to see some of the most lush, green, and most beautiful mountains and country side I have ever seen, and hey, I live in the province which is home to the Rockies! The train went through some of the most remote and untouched areas of Vietnam, giving us spectacular views. At one point we were on the edge of the mountainside overlooking the Chine Sea! We could see the waves crashing against the rocks at the bottom, like something from a movie! The night portion of the train ride wasn't so great. Hearing the roar of the train against the tracks kept me up all night. Regardless, we arrived safely in Hanoi! We took a taxi to one of my long lost friend, Mary Ettner's apartment! For those of you who don't know, Mary and I attended CLBI together as first years. It just so happened that she moved to Hanoi, 6 months ago, to do an internship with LCMS. So here we are, reuniting after 3 years across the world! It was so refreshing to see a familiar face! She showed us around the city for a bit, introduced us to some new Vietnamese dishes, and helped us find a hostel and book an out trip for tomorrow! Tomorrow we are heading out to Halong Bay, 3ish hours from Hanoi. From there we will be setting sail on a boat, where we will be sleeping for a night and exploring caves, as well as kayaking through the bay! I apologise for the lack of pictures being shown to you all and am hoping I can upload some soon! Perhaps, when we are back from the Bay because we will be staying in Hanoi until Sunday and should have lots of time ! Thank you for you continuously praying for us! The Lord's blessing us richly and abundantly each and every day, showing us more and more of His creation and wonderful people. Vietnamese are some of the nicest people and show much hospitality. Although Hanoi is the most polluted city in South-East Asia, I really think I will enjoy our stay in this buzzing, busy city. The entire population rides a motorcycle, I have never seen anything like it. Like a pack of wolves howling in the moonlight, this city never sleeps! The Lord's love and peace to you all !
Wednesday 21 March 2012
A bit of a history lesson!
Tuesday our morning started early. We left Sihanoukville by 6am - well we were supposed to - you really have to have patience with the way time works here. Usually if a time is given to you, don't expect to leave exactly then. Regardless, we did manage to get away, and arrived safely in Phnom Penh. From a distance the city didn't really attract me all too much. But from a closer glance I can see why some people love it so much here. After we spent a long frustrating tuk tuk ride to our guesthouse (our driver didn't speak very good English and seemed like he didn't even know the city too well) we managed to check in and take a breather. We then visited the S21 ( Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum). What used to be a high school and elementary school here in Phnom Penh, was transferred and changed into a security office designed for detention, interrogation, inhuman torture, and killing after confession from the various detainees were received and documented. This all happened from 1975-1979 when Pol Pot led the Khmer Rouge Regime. When we arrived at the museum we hired a guide (who, I might add was a victim herself in the Killing Fields) and toured through the facility. What an eye opener! I really had no idea everything that had taken place at the S21, or really during the whole period Pol Pot took over the country. Astonished and wide-eyed, I tried to listen to every word this lady had to say. Only educated people were taken here : doctors, lawyers, teachers, political etc. The main goal here was to find out and information about different campaigns or people trying to take down Pol Pot. We saw all sorts of different torture methods used, one which included a gymnastics bar in the school yard, where guards would hang victims until they became almost unconscious. They would then lower them into these mass jars full of water, long enough to wake them up and repeat the process until information was given. They would also take victims into different room within the school and torture them anywhere from 1-6 months! In the middle of the school yard enclosed were the last 14 bodies tortured there. It is estimated that over 20, 000 people had gone and died there. Our tour guide told us that her whole family was killed during the regime. She, herself, worked in the field before fleeing to the country side and hid out. She also showed us her scars, where the guards beat her because they said she was too lazy! Ah! This morning we drove to the Killing Fields just outside of the city. You receive a tape-recorder style tour, which leads you around the fields. I had no idea what to expect. It was pretty unreal. In 1975 every three weeks or so 50-70 people were brought to the killing fields. By 1978, 300 were brought daily. As we toured the fields, I felt like I could almost imagine people everywhere as the guide told eerie stories of what went on there. Work would commence at midnight and they would work until 8 at night. Some would get no water and some would get no food. Those who did, would get a ration of 2-3 spoonfuls of rice. They would sleep for 3 hours and then start working again. Various methods of torture also took place here. They have a tower-type of building with 17 tiers. Each tier holding different bones of the bodies collected from the mass graves over the years. You could see fractions on each skull of how the victim had died. Most people that had families, the babies would die first. Guards would grab their legs and thrown them against trees or they would throw them into the air a fire bullets. Bullets were expensive, so most killings were done by slaughter via bamboo stick or farming tools. They would kill each member of the family for fear if they didn't, revenge would come later. During the regime, 3 million Cambodians died, most being the well educated. Today almost 60 % of the country is under the age of 21. Pol Pot wanted a self-sufficient society. One where there was no rich, no poor, all equal. He forced everyone from out of the cities to work in the country. He then destroyed almost all of the cities. So much information I have gained over the past 2 days. It blows my mind that this genocide took place. Innocent people that just wanted to live their lives and prosper, payed for it. I couldn't imagine. Even though our visit to the city was short, it is probably one of the best experiences I have had.
Despite the fact that pretty much all of Cambodia is ridiculously dusty (many locals where doctor's masks) is really has been an amazing country. Each and every place we have gone to is different than the one before. Tomorrow morning we're at it again, leaving by 6:30 for Ho Chi Min City, a place we really know nothing about. Excited for a new country, new food, and a new experience, we'd love your prayers for a safe border crossing and arrival. It's always a little nerve-racking stepping into the unknown, but the stories we've heard about Vietnam are endless and beautiful ! Cheers!
Despite the fact that pretty much all of Cambodia is ridiculously dusty (many locals where doctor's masks) is really has been an amazing country. Each and every place we have gone to is different than the one before. Tomorrow morning we're at it again, leaving by 6:30 for Ho Chi Min City, a place we really know nothing about. Excited for a new country, new food, and a new experience, we'd love your prayers for a safe border crossing and arrival. It's always a little nerve-racking stepping into the unknown, but the stories we've heard about Vietnam are endless and beautiful ! Cheers!
Sunday 18 March 2012
Bitter-sweet!
Wow, it's been a week since I have last updated you on our journey! Well, we arrived in Siem Reap safe and sound ! It's a wonderful and incredible city, full of so much excitement! We bought a 3 day pass to Angkor Wat and explored the ancient ruins! Angkor Wat is the most famous tourist attraction in the world!!!!! Generating, 7-8,000 people a day, that's 2 million people a year that visit the temples! They were a sight for sure! Exploring these took up most of our days, which allowed us to relax in the evenings of the infamous "pub street" - the touristy backpacker alley! $0.50 beers, need I say more! Most evening we would also treat ourselves to a foot massage for half n hour, costing $2 ! Spoiled or what! Friday, was an unfortunate night, which led to me catching a violent flu bug, let's just say the bathroom was where I slept all night! It was an awful 2 days because the next day we proceeded to ride on a bus for 12 hours!! But we made it, and are now in Sihanoukville, Cambodia's beautiful coast, filled with some of the nicest beaches I have ever seen. I have never felt the sun this hot before in my life, which ended up with me getting a nasty nasty burn. The ocean is also the temperature that I would run a bath in Kelowna in the winter ..crazy or what! Sorry for the short message, but I hope to update you all later when we arrive in Phenom Pen ! Lots of love !! Keep praying !! :)
Saturday 10 March 2012
Sour Sdey ! (Hello in Khmer-the Cambodian language.)
We're in Cambodia and can't believe how blessed we are! Despite an overwhelming, stressful, and bit of a confusing border crossing, we did manage to get a hold of Chomno-the director of CHO (Cambodia Hope Organization)-and get everything to do with our stay and what we will be doing organized. We're staying in a tiny town called Poipet, which is right beside the border crossing. Poipet has a population of 150, 000 people and is probably the size of Peachland (for all you Kelowna people) and the size of Bawlf (for all you Alberta people) ! Our day of arrival mostly consisted of relaxing, eating, seeing a bit of the town, we had to buy some modest clothing for our work, and dinner with Chomno and his wife! Thursday, we joined with a team of about 20 students from the UK. They're from a church called Soul Survivor, situated just outside of London. They run a leadership based program, where students take classes within the church. For the day we went to Safe Haven- which is place where children that have been at risk, through trafficking, are rescued and sent there to rehabilitate and restart their lives. We spent that day hauling brick, making bricks, and laying foundations for houses/buildings. Despite the heavy heat and the constant sweat, I thoroughly enjoyed the day. It's amazing to get an eye-opener of how they do work here. Their infrastructure is so poor, as you could imagine, it really makes you realize how blessed and grateful you are for where you live. Later that day we toured the site: saw the school, a place where the children learn to do woodwork, (WOW) and viewed the new water systems they recently built.
Having spoken to a lady, Yireh, who had spent some time doing work with the organization before, my heart is now broken for what trafficking is truly like over here. Most children use to be bought when they were 15-18, but now because desire for sex just among teens with boyfriends is so high, the age that is being bought has significantly dropped to 8-12. Lots of families that have many children will sacrifice a child, sell them for a week or two, and use the money earned to send their other children to school, as well as, to feed them. The child that was sold then comes back to the family and doesn't really understand what has happened. That's when CHO will rescue the child and place them into Safe Haven. For some of the older girls, they don't want to leave the industry, simply because the money is so good.
Friday, Nicole and I went to the school at Safe Haven for the day. There we went from classroom to classroom and taught the kids English. The first class aged from 5-6, where we taught them the letter W ! We showed them words that started with W so they could understand annunciations. The second class ranged from 8-11. There we played a spelling game for nearly the entire time. We would write words on the board in English, they would sound them out and say them in English - man are they ever smart ! Finally the last class aged 12-14. We played a similar spelling game, with harder words, and observed as they tried to have conversations in English! I just loved watching the amount of joy they have in absolutely everything. It's impossible to stop grinning from ear to ear. We also would walk around the class near the beginning to introduce ourselves to each child! It was so awesome to shake their hands, ask them their favorite color, and how old they are. There was a fairly long break after lunch, so we got the chance to hangout in the library with kids. There I read to many of the children and quizzed them in English of what was seen on each page. One girl would constantly repeat after me, per sentence, in English! They love to learn. Another observation with the children, is that they are so considerate and kind; they share and take turns, something I can't say about the children in Canada, ha! We played a game of "monkey in the middle" (which is the same as "piggy in the middle"), where the children's laughter was so contagious!
There is also a team staying at CHO from Kelowna! -SO CRAZY RIGHT!? They are from New Life church and a program run out of it is called, School of Supernatural Ministry. So they have been here since Monday. Some are leaving tomorrow and some are staying another week. They have been doing some really cool things in Cambodia! They went to the garbage dump Friday morning, where the Lord did some healing through prayer! He healed a woman with arthritis, and a blind man! Amazing! In the afternoon, some of them went to a Karaoke Bar, which is where most brothels are. So they rented a room and when the girls came in, they actually sung some karaoke! After that, they sat down with them and talked to them about the Lord! Some of them even accepted Jesus! Incredible or what! God is doing some amazing things here in Cambodia, through the open hearts of His people! Friday, a young boy, who was missing for a few months was also rescued and re-connected with his grandmother! It's one thing to hear about the ministry CHO does, but another thing that while we are here too! What a faith-building experience! God is so great! The Lord also set up a divine appointment for me last night. I talked to a woman from the Kelowna team named May. She is probably around the age of 50 and her heart is so huge for the Lord. She shared some of her testimony with me about how God called her to quit her job, sell a lot of her possessions and move from Ontario to Kelowna! She is living in such obedience to the Lord, it is so inspiring! Such a comfort to have familiarity and to share stories with those of similiar faith values! What a great bunch of godly people.
Saturday morning, Nicole and I went back to Safe Haven, where we sat down with about 25
children and taught them some bible stories!
We shared with them the story of Noah and the story of Moses. After that we attempted to teach them,
"The Lord told Noah, to build Him an arky arky..." (for you who know
that camp song about Noah's Ark!) And
then we taught them, "this little light of mine, I'm going to let it
shine" - which they caught onto a sung so well! Lastly, they already knew the song, "
Jesus loves me " , so we taught them the "we will rock you
version" -they loved it! Especially the "
na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-hey! (throw hands in the air)" part ! The
children sang for us, "Father Abraham" and they knew all the actions! They also sang, " I've got peace like a
river, I've got joy like a fountain, I've got love like an ocean in my
soul." I was so impressed! They love to sing!
Saturday afternoon, we went to the "Destiny Cafe" which is situated in the
building of CHO, and taught some of the staff to bake! We baked my momma's BEST
COOKIES(mom I did you proud :) )and we baked some chocolate cupcakes! The staff seemed to have a lot of fun, and
understood well. When we put all the
baked goods out in the cafe, most sold so fast - people loved them!
It's been
a great experience thus far serving and volunteering here at CHO, everyone is
so friendly and has such a heart to do God's work. Today, having been Sunday, is rest day so Nicole and I might get a manicure! We have decided to make tomorrow our last day, where I think we are going to teach more bible stories to children at Safe Haven and then get an in-depth tour of the rest of their projects going on! Tuesday, it's off to Siem Reap- woot woot!
Tuesday 6 March 2012
Hot, Humid, And Sticky !
Hello from Bangkok, population 10 million! Gah!
It truly is a different world over here, one that I never thought I could comprehend. We arrived safe and sound, with the smoothest of flights around 2 am (Bangkok time) Monday morning! I never imagined to get smacked so hard by the humidity-never felt anything like it before. It feels like you are stuck in a sauna that you can never get out of! As soon as you do enter some type of air conditioned room(Internet cafe, hostel) the second you are back out, instant soakage! Our first day, we ventured down to the infamous Khoa San Road (backpacker central) ! So nuts, and so busy! At night time it's packed with tourists buying things, locals doing some sort of break dancing, and everything else you can imagine from shops(that all sell the exact same thing!) to tons and tons of delicious street food. We did wander around other streets, and took our first "tuk tuk" -if you don't know what that is, you should probably google it! It's a whole other story.. the driving here is crazy and there is no such thing as walking across roads, highways in a orderly fashion. Nope, you just book it when you think it's safe. Today we tried to find Chinatown by ourselves, ha ha we got lost! -went the wrong direction. So once again took a "tuk tuk" with our amazing bartering skills, which I must say have improved tremendously from when we first got here! We explored Little India as well, which is filled with lots of crowds and many shops. Nicole tried her first ever bubble tea-which was very exciting! And we also got pistachio ice cream on a hot dog bun-weird right?!
Tomorrow, bright and early, we will head on to Cambodia to meet Chomno from Hope For The Nations, and see what adventures lie ahead of us as we serve our time for a week or so! Please pray for safe, speedy, and smooth connections as we cross the Cambodia border tomorrow and for safe travels! Maybe for the next week you could pray that we would be open to learn, and experience all that we can! Praise the Lord for this great opportunity He has layed before us! Bye for now!
It truly is a different world over here, one that I never thought I could comprehend. We arrived safe and sound, with the smoothest of flights around 2 am (Bangkok time) Monday morning! I never imagined to get smacked so hard by the humidity-never felt anything like it before. It feels like you are stuck in a sauna that you can never get out of! As soon as you do enter some type of air conditioned room(Internet cafe, hostel) the second you are back out, instant soakage! Our first day, we ventured down to the infamous Khoa San Road (backpacker central) ! So nuts, and so busy! At night time it's packed with tourists buying things, locals doing some sort of break dancing, and everything else you can imagine from shops(that all sell the exact same thing!) to tons and tons of delicious street food. We did wander around other streets, and took our first "tuk tuk" -if you don't know what that is, you should probably google it! It's a whole other story.. the driving here is crazy and there is no such thing as walking across roads, highways in a orderly fashion. Nope, you just book it when you think it's safe. Today we tried to find Chinatown by ourselves, ha ha we got lost! -went the wrong direction. So once again took a "tuk tuk" with our amazing bartering skills, which I must say have improved tremendously from when we first got here! We explored Little India as well, which is filled with lots of crowds and many shops. Nicole tried her first ever bubble tea-which was very exciting! And we also got pistachio ice cream on a hot dog bun-weird right?!
Tomorrow, bright and early, we will head on to Cambodia to meet Chomno from Hope For The Nations, and see what adventures lie ahead of us as we serve our time for a week or so! Please pray for safe, speedy, and smooth connections as we cross the Cambodia border tomorrow and for safe travels! Maybe for the next week you could pray that we would be open to learn, and experience all that we can! Praise the Lord for this great opportunity He has layed before us! Bye for now!
Thursday 1 March 2012
Truly blessed!
I cannot find an English word that can describe how grateful and blessed I feel for the amount of love shown, support given, and encouragement received. For everyone that is reading this : Thank you! The Lord has definitely poured a mass amount of love into my life from you guys! If anyone from the Army is reading this, you all rock! The journal filled with many notes and messages blessed my heart! It was so great working and getting know each of you over the past however many months! Thank you Sarah Parson's for the book (again) and Anne, I thank you for the mars chocolate bar, which I am sure will fill us with energy when needed!
It seems crazy that tomorrow we will be rising, fairly early, to start our journey to Vancouver. We will spend the night there and hop on the plane Saturday morning, arriving in Bangkok, after a short layover in Beijing, at 11:45 pm (Thai time.. not a clue what that is Canadian time.). To give you a heads up, we will have 2 full day in Bangkok, hopefully meeting up with a friend Lexie, who will just be ending her backpacking adventure, to share with us :tips, advice, and stories !! In the wee hours of March 7th, we'll be jumping on a train at 5 am , taking us to Cambodia, where we are volunteering our time with Hope For The Nations ! Nicole and I are beyond stoked for this opportunity to learn, teach, and have some fun! For those who are unaware, Cambodia's highest crime is trafficking woman and children. One of HFTN's main missions there is to rehabilitate these woman and children to get them back on their feet to live a joyful, hopeful life! We've been providing an amazing opportunity to get involved in whatever there is to do: childcare, labour work, or teaching skills/trades! We're not too sure what else they are setting us up with or doing, so we'll let you know once are feet are dirty!
I received a message from a friend with the reference 1 Thess 5:16-18, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks under all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." I had been praying that this would be the Lord's will for my life, that He would open and close the doors that were needed. What a confirmation from God through all of you! (And thanks Anne ;) ) God's taking us on an adventure, one where we will learn, grown, and be challenged together, and I praise Him every day for His faithfulness and His provision !
Thanks for reading! Thanks for praying! And thanks for your love!
Talk to you all in South-East Asia.. whatever country I may be in when I next blog !!
It seems crazy that tomorrow we will be rising, fairly early, to start our journey to Vancouver. We will spend the night there and hop on the plane Saturday morning, arriving in Bangkok, after a short layover in Beijing, at 11:45 pm (Thai time.. not a clue what that is Canadian time.). To give you a heads up, we will have 2 full day in Bangkok, hopefully meeting up with a friend Lexie, who will just be ending her backpacking adventure, to share with us :tips, advice, and stories !! In the wee hours of March 7th, we'll be jumping on a train at 5 am , taking us to Cambodia, where we are volunteering our time with Hope For The Nations ! Nicole and I are beyond stoked for this opportunity to learn, teach, and have some fun! For those who are unaware, Cambodia's highest crime is trafficking woman and children. One of HFTN's main missions there is to rehabilitate these woman and children to get them back on their feet to live a joyful, hopeful life! We've been providing an amazing opportunity to get involved in whatever there is to do: childcare, labour work, or teaching skills/trades! We're not too sure what else they are setting us up with or doing, so we'll let you know once are feet are dirty!
I received a message from a friend with the reference 1 Thess 5:16-18, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks under all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." I had been praying that this would be the Lord's will for my life, that He would open and close the doors that were needed. What a confirmation from God through all of you! (And thanks Anne ;) ) God's taking us on an adventure, one where we will learn, grown, and be challenged together, and I praise Him every day for His faithfulness and His provision !
Thanks for reading! Thanks for praying! And thanks for your love!
Talk to you all in South-East Asia.. whatever country I may be in when I next blog !!
Thursday 16 February 2012
Pinch me!
It seems like yesterday Nicole and I were day dreaming with idle talk about the continent of Asia and all it entailed. Conversation about what our big adventure would look like and man, did it ever get us excited. It wasn't until late November, these dreams became a reality. With our big plans setting into motion, no one in our family really believed the spontaneous crazy-filled journey we wanted to embark on would really happen. I guess I couldn't blame them. Hearing, over the years, things we wanted to do some day. It really did seem like our dreams were stuck in those thought bubbles above our heads. But without much funds and without much thought, we did the irresistable; went on air china's website and booked our flights. From that moment on, reality truly set in. I believe the evening unfolded with the two of us driving around screaming our heads off at the thought we were actually going. With no insurance with our tickets, there was no looking back. We have now come to the day, just shy of two weeks before we leave. A few thousand dollars later, our flights are book, our bodies have become immunized, our notebooks are scribbled on, and our hearts are jumping. I think I can speak for Nicole when I say, pinch me! "So pinch me." - (I had a little bit of The Barenaked Ladies flowing through my mind!)
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