Watch out Leo, there are some new Thai chef's in town!

After our few nights in Bangkok arranging for our Vietnam visas, we headed to Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is located in northern Thailand and perfectly located for when we decide to head to Laos. As expected Bangkok kept the senses on over drive with different and exciting sights, smells, and sounds. We visited some cool markets and ate some great food!





Speaking of food, Marilyn and I took a Thai cooking class during our time in change Mai. It was amazingly fun and delicious! We got to make 7 dishes each, and go on a tour of a local market to buy/learn about getting the best/fresh vegetables for the different meals we would be cooking later in the day.





It was amazing to see how a few simple ingredients when used together could produce such amazing flavors! Some of the dishes we cooked were fried rice, panang curry (curry paste was made from scratch), fried banana with coconut toffee, and spring rolls with dipping sauce. The instructors were all great and so were the rest people taking the class (except for the one westerner who thought she knew more about Thai recipes than the instructors...fail) overall a very fun and relaxing environment. Classes ended with a toast, a shot of rice whiskey, and a cook book so some epic Thai feasts may be in order when we get home.





Marilyn and I also spent a day pedaling around the town on some cruiser bikes. We are staying in the old quarters of town which is surrounded by a moat. It was used in the past to protect the villagers from attacks by the Burmese. The moat still remains today as tourist attraction with brick lookouts at each corner. Biking around the old city made for a fun afternoon of exploring.



I know what your all thinking, how could Chiang Mai get any better, its not like they have downhill mountain biking... or wait they do! And after 25 km of steep rocky jungle single track you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. The ride started on top of mount Doi Suthep and ended back in Chiang May with local food and cold drinks waiting at the bottom. Not even a broken chain on our guide Thew’s bike could put a damper on the day. Perdro, another rider, Thew, and myself hooted, hollered, and shredded our way down the mountain. Only stopping to session some fun lines Tew pointed out along the way down the trail.





It sure felt good being back on a DH bike. My last big bike ride ended with a torn rotator cuff and dysfunction thumb. The shoulder felt 100% which is a good sign. I think all the swimming we have been doing the last few months paid off as it was still slightly bothering me before we left. Put me in the game coach, I'm ready for biking season!

Don’t Let Your Guard Down in Thailand!

So the last 24hr hours of travel haven’t been the best… that’s for true! Upon arriving back in Bangkok at 6 a.m after hours of travel only to realized that you have been robbed is hard to accept when your sleep deprived. Yet, after catching up on sleep we had to accept it wasn’t just a some bad dream. The journey started off many hours before while hectically waiting to board a ferry in the pouring rain along with hundreds of other tourists leaving Ko Pha-Ngan. Along with most of my stuff we got soaked, and sitting in wet denim for the next 4 hours was less than enjoyable! Upon getting off the boat hundreds of tourist were being herded like sheep on to waiting buses. We witnesses one girl ask a question only to have an irrelevant reply yelled at her from a bull horn from less than 2 feet from away. Once on the bus our driver proceeded to drive erratically and make a pit stop to grab himself some a coke. He also didn’t mind keeping the stereo at full blast.



That is until he got pulled over by the cops, then the beats were turned off for the full hour we sat waiting on the side of the road. After seemingly nothing happening we were back on the road. A few more hours of waiting and confusion at another bus stop we finally got on a bus headed to Bangkok. With a nice and early 6 a.m arrival in Bangkok our fist order of business was to find a guesthouse to get some rest. With the kicker being it wasn’t until we went to pay for our room that we realized that some time during the over night bus ride Marilyn and I had all our money stolen. Its been the first time one the trip that I’ve just felt utterly helpless when faced with a situation. I can’t say that just wanting to be home at that moment didn’t cross our minds.

When looking back at it I guess we got to comfortable in Bali and let our guard down a little too much (although our bags were never more that 6 in away for us) for a Thailand bus journey. All in all, it could have been a lot worse as they only took cash. They were kind enough to leave passports, electronics, and a few 1 and 5 dollar US bills that I guess weren’t worth their time. As they say...



After getting that rant of my chest, I get write about the good times we had leading up to that terrible journey from Ko Pha-Ngan. Upon arriving in Phuket, from Bali, last week we managed to travel from the air port to Ko Pha-Ngan in a little over 24 hours. Although long, this trip was much better when you consider the lack of rain and theft involved. We were heading to Ko Pha-Ngan for the full moon party that took place on the 19th. It was definitely a wild few days! We were on the reserved plan and mostly just observed the ridiculously alcohol fueled circus that took place leading up to and during the party. The darwin award would have had to have gone to the guys trying to skip rope a flaming 20 ft span of rope… lots of people covered in bandages the next day… if they made if off the beach.





The moon did not disappoint and was full and beautiful. Alice brought to my attention the fact that it was a “super moon” larger than usual and very rare. Although not beautiful itself, dancing until dawn with thousands of other people was a fun time! What also made for a great time was catching up with Devin and Peter from home who are traveling around this part of the world and we managed to meet up with. Was great to see you boys and hope we get to meet up on the road again.



One last sad bit of news is that we parted ways with Rob and Kate as Marilyn and I needed to get our Visas for Vietnam. The crew has officially been split, although we hope to meet up for a day in Chain Mai. We just wanted to say that it was a pleasure to travel with you guys and we look forward to sharing these memories for a life time!

ps - I have been sucking with carrying my camera lately so all the images are borrowed from Peaty, Marilyn, Kate, and Rob.

till we meet again, Bali!

This is a sad post as it will be the last on Bali. We are currently on a plane heading back to Thailand. Since the last post we spent some time on the Gili Islands, as well as back in Kuta. The Gili Islands, there are three, are a small group of islands just of the coast of Bali’s neighbor Lombok. And, as seems to be tradition with any of the islands we have been (live on…) it was beautiful. Not as quiet as Nusa Lembongan, but the beaches were beautiful and plentiful. We stayed on Gili T which is the biggest… takes about a half hour to bike around the whole island. There are no cars or scooters which was a treat that wasn’t as apparent until we arrived back in Kuta where the side walk acts as scooter lane for drivers wanting to go the wrong way on one ways streets. Foot, horse, and the trusty bicycle are only form of transportation on these tiny islands. We took in some great snorkeling, became experts at avoiding drug dealers, “rent bicycle?” followed up with “smoke weed, magic mushrooms?”, and became fans of the free range beach goats.







After a bumpy boat ride back to Bali (think being on poox’s dingy on a wavy day for 2.5 hours), my first stop in Kuta was to hit up Warung Indonesia for some nasi goring (fried rice). I have eaten it daily during our month in Indo and although I enjoyed them all, Warung Indonesia was the tastiest by a long shot! While in Kuta we spent time working on our sunburns and I got in one great surf session in! I learned that duck diving a short board actually works. Although once out the back its much harder to surf in… may have done a face grind along the nose of the board on multiple occasions. We also got to brush up on our bartering skills doing some shopping, my bag is way to heavy at the moment filled with gifts for ya‘ll!



The highlight of recent times was the guided mountain bike trip that Rob and I signed up for. The day started with a 2 hour shuttle from our hotel up into the mountains. Followed by one of my strangest rides to date. Not that is wasn’t great, truly amazing, if I had to sum it up it would be half adventure race, with ¼ frogger style chicken, dogs, goats, and children dodging, and ¼ river dancing. Although the lead guide was a bit of a punter, he would slow down on some of the fun sections of trail or if couldn't ride a section he would just stop in the middle of the trail assuming on one else could ride it. The tail guide on the hand was sweet. He would just chill at the back of the group with a big smile, and on some of the pavement sections we got to chat. He has only been riding for about a year but you could tell that he was hooked on riding, which was awesome to see. Along on the ride with us was two other riders, Andrus from Germany and Matt from Australia.





Some of the terrain we covered in the 40 km ride is as follows: pavement, fireroads, sand, concrete single track, perfect single track, shoulder deep trenches, rocks, roots, streams, and some hike-a-bike thrown in for good measure. It down poured on and off during the ride and sections of the trail turned into rivers. Although not a fan of getting wet, once its over with riding in the rain is one of my favorites. All in all it was a great day on the bicycles and one I will never forget. When talking about the ride after rob and I both figured that Bill Duces would have loved it... a jungle version of the ride we did in north Conway where had to wade through a beaver pond.



One other highlight of the ride was all the children in the villages waving and shouting “hello, hello” as we passed by.



Lastly, our thoughts go out to all those affected by the ongoing tragedy unfolding in Japan!

Happy Nyepi Day, to you!

The last few days have been spent on the Island of Nusa Lembongan. This island has been the highlight of the trip for sure this far! Quiet and peaceful villages are located throughout the islands (there’s another tiny island attached by is bridge). We spent our days biking, scootering, swimming, and snorkeling around the beautiful white sand cove beaches of the islands.



Although not surf season there were still strong swell and currents pounding into the rocky coastline and reefs dotting the island.



After a foiled attempt to book a snorkeling tour with a local who had began hassling since dawn (tried to take us on a shady boat without lifejackets). We decided to take matters into our own hands and rented scooters to explore the islands. Marilyn and I headed to mangrove point and hired a boat to take us to the reef for a great snorkel. The tour driver also showed me a tip for keeping my goggles from fogging up. What is it you may ask, well it was Johnson & Johnson’s baby shampoo rubbed on the lens's.



After the snorkeling we headed over to the other island and while looking at our map were befriended by Donnie who as it was Sunday said he had nothing better to do and showed us some amazing view points of the islands beaches and neighboring islands. We ate lunch with our new friend then headed to dream beach for a swim and some sun. All in all a great day!



Another highlight of our time there was that we happened to be on the island for Nyepi (Hindu New Year). As Lembogan is considered part of Bali where Hinduism is the major religion, major celebrations were had. March 4th is celebrated with a parade of floats of demons and gods along with music and chanting. It was truly a sight to been seen and all the tourist were welcomed by the locals to watch and enjoy the festivities.





March the 5th on he other hand is a day of rest and tourists are not aloud to leave their hotel for the entire day. We had to stock up on food as our guest house didn't have a restaurant. A neighboring lady took pity on us and feed us some fried rice which was a nice change of pace from the oreos and chips we had stockpiled. What we didn’t know was that the power was also turned off for 24 hours. The hotel was nice enough to drop off some candles before dark. The parade was worth it, and it was nice to give our sun burnt bodies a rest from the sun for a day.



We are off to the Gili Islands next and have heard nothing but great things.

On the road again

We have discovered that the best way to travel around Bali is to hire a driver for a day trip to places around where we want to go next. Then get the driver to drop us off at that town at the end of the tour. It has been great and is usually almost the same price as just transportation to said town and you get to see a bunch of local temples or other great/not so great sights. The last few days have been around Ubud/Lovina and these are some of the highlights.



The rice terraces are absolutely amazing! They are everywhere and are the most gorges different shades of green. We spent some time getting to walk through one and it was like following a maze along each terrace. You had to be always looking ahead for the best line if you want to get anywhere.



One surprise stop was to a small coffee plantation. We got to see it grown, roasted, and grinded. They let us try a bunch of the different types. I’m no coffee person, but they were all great. I picked up some of to take back home with me, maybe some lucky readers will get to try some. This particular plantation specialized in Luwak coffee. Which is where an animal eats the beans then shits them out, then the poop is collected and its processed into what they say is the most expensive coffee on the market. Didn’t try any but did get to learn all about their poop.





We rented bikes one day and biked around Ubud. We found a designated monkey forest and saw monkeys doing all kinds of things! Ubud is also known for its artistic scene and there are galleries for all types of art and artists ever where you look. While they all seemed nice it was the Art Zoo that stood out. This place was mixture of modern art in all mediums. There were paintings, wood carvings, and metal works all mixed and matched and filled an entire warehouse/studio.





We traveled to Lovina with promises of dolphins and snorkeling... On the drive we stopped at a beautiful temple/garden at Lake Burtan. We made one more stop at a ancient hot springs. The volcano heated water flowed out from stone carved fountains. It was the perfect way to spend an afternoon.





Lovina itself was a nice quiet place. Not much going on, but a beautiful swimming pool all to ourselves and delicious fresh sea food with live music (a blink 182 cover was heard) more than made up for the lack of entertainment.



Another highlight was when rob and I found ourselves in the middle of a soccer match with a group of locals. This kind friendly group more than made up for the few hassling you at every moment to take a dolphin tour...



When we eventually relented and signed up for a trip, we were told to meet at the dock for 6 am. After sitting around for close to an hour we got on the boat. As we were making our way through the beach brake the engine kept cutting out, sending water from the breaking waves all over us and the boat. The drivers rutter was broken and he had to steer with a paddle I was instructed it was my job to bail water out the boat since he was busy steering. While seeing a few fins and jumps from the water was nice, baling water from the sketchiest boat I have ever been on is not an ideal way to start the day. The only thing that salvaged my morning was a delicious banana pancake and Ginger tea with coconut milk.

We are currently on our way to Sanur to catch a ferry to Nusa Lambogan. So far the driver hasn't spoken to us and has been smoking like a chimney. All while coughing up a lung and blasting the club beats. Although I can't judge him to much because I'm listening to Prety Lights... it's just that I like my taste in electronic music better.