Laung Prabang, Laos

Laos is apparently one of Southeast Asia's most relaxing destinations. I can see it! Lauren and I got to Luang Prabang the other afternoon and immediately I fell in love with this place. I don't know how to describe it but its a place I very much like.

So we found a guesthouse for 50,000kip...equivalent to about $6.00 USD. SICK I know. We decided to wonder a bit and stumbled upon the night market. DANGEROUS. I may or may not have bought quite a bit. I got a pretty decent Khmu massage (which combines palm strokes and thumb pressure to relieve muscle tension). I dig!

We went to Wat Xieng Thong which is Luang Prabang's most magnificent temple. There is this tree-of-life mosaic that was stunning. We took at slow boat down the Mekong River to a cave full of Buddha's. We also walked up the "unmissable landmark" Phu Si, climbing 248 stairs to the steep top we got to see panoramic views of the little town.

Also my vegetarianism didn't last very long. What 2-3 days. HA. Also I had to try the beer in Laos...even though I gave it up for Lent I absolutely had to try Beer LAO Dark. It was a must have. I mean I probably will not be in Laos again. So I had to try the beer...MMMM good.

Pai

Pai is a small remote town in the middle of nowhere - about 3 hours northeast of Chiang Mai. There are 762 curves through the mountains to get to Pai (no I didn't count...its like their trademark thing). Can we say winding road?? For a person who does not get motion sickness...lets just say thank goodness Lauren had some Dramamine! Pai is full of cheap bungalows, serene views, and hippies.
One day I rented a motorbike and set out for the hills. Yup, that's me on the bike!

The next day Jenn and I took a long walk around and out of town. Breathtaking sights.

After four days of relaxation and rest I figured it was time to start my 'out of Thailand' traveling. So I came back to Chiang Mai and today I am heading to Laos.

Oooh last night I looked out my guesthouse window to see a disturbing sight...a chicken killing farm. It was not a pretty sight...I saw the whole thing...alive chickens to defeathering. It was like a car crash, I didn't want to look but couldn't stop. I think I am going vegetarian for a while.

Offline...Summer Vacation

Here we go...the time has finally come...SUMMER VACATION and I am traveling Southeast Asia!!! Not like this entire time here in Thailand has not been one extended vacation or anything...

Right now I am in Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand)- I took a flight here at 6:30 this morning. I spent the day at a Thai cooking school learning to make some of my favorite dishes...Tom Yum Chicken Soup, Green Curry Soup, Pad Thai, Chicken with Cashews, Spring Rolls, Paypaya Salad, and Sticky Rice with Mangos. All delicious by the way....I am a very good cook!

Tomorrow I am heading to Pai, a small remote town northwest of Chiang Mai. It is known for its mountainous views and natural beauty. After relaxing and spending a few days there I am heading to Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

I have an entire month to travel. I just have to be back in Bangkok by April 27th (as that is when I am flying to Bali). But I plan on returning a day or two early so I can rest...just enough time to do some laundry and sleep in my own bed. Then I am off to Bali, Indonesia (WOOT, first time south of the equator). From Bali, heading to Singapore then Malaysia and finally some of the southern Thailand beaches. I have to be back in Bangkok on May 19th for a meeting. School starts June 1st.

These travel plans are really all tentative... as nothing with the exception of the Bali trip has been planned. We have a skeleton outline and thats about the extent of it...I, along with 3 other girls are winging it...if we like a place we stay longer if we are not impressed we leave. Simple as that!

Oh my goodness, I can not believe this is my life. How did I get so lucky? I am living a dream. Someone pinch me!

I promise to check in once in a while but probably wont be able to do much emailing, chatting, skyping, blog updating until I get back.

Miss you all!

OOooh and chances are when I get back in May I will be moving to the other campus. Once that all goes through I will give you the new mailing address.

Em and Liz

Having Emmett and Liz visit me in Thailand was amazing. We had some really good times together. We did so much in a very short amount of time. We got massages, met up with Emmett's friend Celeste, shopped at the worlds largest outdoor market, we took an overnight bus to Trat and took a ferry to Ko Chang island. We went elephant trekking (and bathed the elephants), snorkeled, and drank buckets. We celebrated St. Paddy's day -drinking buckets -no beer for me- I gave it up for Lent. Back in Bangkok we went to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. Liz and I went to the movies. We went to see ruins in Ayutthaya (the ancient capital). We went to the clubs and danced the night away. We did more shopping and sightseeing. We did a lot. Together we packed -them for home and me for my five weeks of traveling. We took a taxi together to the airport at 4am and said our goodbyes. The week went by too fast. I am so grateful they had the opportunity to come here (thanks Auntie Eileen and Uncle Michael). I hope they enjoyed the experience.

The night without a camera.

1. Dinner - me trying some sort of catfish and have a table of 10 laughing in fits with my facial expressions as I take a bite.
2. Nana Hotel - Disco bar, Go Go Dancers ... Need I say more?
3. Silom - Um, did I make a wrong turn? I don't think we are in Kansas anymore.
4. Cabaret show - Picture the Baton Club (in Chicago) but more dancing, funny songs, and back-up dancers.
5. Tunnel - 2:00am undercover afterbar. Looked like a cross between something out of the Flinstones movie and the Meatloaf video, I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That).

If only I had my camera.

Tree Top Adventure

After finals I took a quick trip east to Ko Chang island. AAAAH gorgeous! I had been there once before back in early December. I decided to travel solo for a change however I was going to meet up with my friend Josh from the HSC program (DePaul grad program we both just graduated from). And on the bus I met Walter (from South Africa) and Sveuja (from Germany) and together we headed straight to the beach for some late afternoon sun. When the time came we saw a beautiful sunset.
The next day we spent the day at the beach doing absolutely nothing. In the evening, we met up with Josh, Mango, and Naa and had a blast drinking buckets and dancing like fools...okay maybe that was just me. Then the next day, I headed for Tree Top Adventures while everyone else went snorkeling. Tree top adventures is a ropes/zip line/swinging from the trees course. It was 3 hours of sweaty fun. I completed the two courses with only one fall (thankfully I was harnessed in and only fell about 5 feet and not the 25 feet down to the ground). I had soooo much fun. One thing I learned about myself while acting a fool was that I have no upper body strength. I need to work on that. My arms are still sore 3 days later.

The rest of my time there I spent on the beach just chillin. AH! Up next EMMETT AND LIZ ARRIVE!!!!

Random Randomness

The past few days have been rather uneventful but somewhat interesting nonetheless. I went to the movies the other night. I have been to numerous shows before (they were American films in English with Thai subtitles) but this time Shannon, Jorge and I went to a Thai film...we saw 'A Moment in June' (http://amomentinjune.com/) GREAT FILM. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was all in Thai with English subtitles. Once again it was a great movie. I probably will buy it so don't you worry you can borrow it when I get home.

Besides the movies I finally went to the outdoor running track in HuaMak with Shannon. En route to the track the other day it started to rain (Oh yeah, the rain has begun- I'll get back to that in a second)...so since we were already getting wet on the walk there we decided to run in the rain. I liked it. After running a few laps I started having memories of high school track practice and meets...thoughts I have not had in years...I thought of our pathetic little gravel track behind school, I thought of Sylene and her looking like she was always praying when she ran, I thought of Ms. Micellii making us run stairs or run to the beach and do sprints in the sand...It was nice to reminisce.

Ok back to the rain...the other morning, I woke up early to the sounds of rain drumming against a metal awning. It hasn't rained in about 4 months, is this the start of a new season??? Yep, I bet..the cool season is officially over. I should have mentioned that the temperature has been rising...it is usually around 90 degrees and ridiculously humid. UGH. I am one sweaty hot mess 24/7 these days. Its quite the site and its only going to get HOTTER!!! April is the hottest month in Thailand (thank goodness I will be traveling).

So today after proctoring, Shannon and I decided we needed to go to the pool...several of our friends had ventured to the hotel down the block and have cooled off at the rooftop pool...so today we made our way to the hotel...we strolled in as if we were guests and headed straight for the roof. Perfect. What a nice way to cool off!

Not much going on right now, I am proctoring finals for about 3-6 hours a day and then the rest of the time trying not to be bored. Yup, I said it...bored. I know there is so much to do in the city BUT I am trying to save my money for my summer travel plans...so its been a lot of reading, sweating, movie watching, working out, sweating some more and computer surfing.