recipe for disaster

Imagine a long winding road...now times that by a million! Now imagine this winding road going up and down mountains with straight cliff drops on either side! To top it off...picture the bumping, pot hole filled winding road! This was our 3 hour (normally 4/5) trip from Chaing Mai to Pai! Now add in a speed hungry driver who thinks its safe to overtake large trucks on a turn, slamming on brakes when he realizes he can't overtake before crashing head on to  the oncoming cars! It was as if he thought he was in a real life video game! FUN! (Not)
We arrived in Pai just in time! I don't think our stomachs could have held off much longer :s BUT we made it! And in one piece! :)
Pai is a little hippie heaven! Reminds us a bit of Guelph in Thailand! Organic food, vegetarian food, even VEGAN options! We have settled in a bamboo bungalow (on the river of course) This will be our new paradise! Don't expect updates anytime soon! Brain (and technology) have been officially turned off!:)  

chiang mmmmmmmai!

Coming back to thailand feels like coming back home.  We are so comfortable here and happy to be back to things we know - like beng bengs, broad beans, and bahts!  Our first day here didnt start off so great.  We were still recovering from the craziness that is laos and we had to take it easy.  We decided to do a trek for some much needed exercise and a little cultural experience.  It started off with some activities like a trip to a butterfly/orchid farm followed by the most dangerous snake show we have ever seen!  The man made us hold a cobra, put a snake on emilys head, and threw snakes into the crowd.  It was quite an experience.  The trekking was a bit difficult, either we were going straight up or straight down.  The land was very dry and unsteady making this simple task a wee bit difficult.  We got to relax and refuel with some delicious food though and spent a night sleeping under the stars.  Our group unfortunately was a bit of a dud.  We were with 5 germans who all knew each other and one israeli who worked for the secret service so needless to say he wasn't so chatty.  We made the most of it though and enjoyed riding some extremely well trained elephants.  We are happy to inform you they didn't use any form of discipline and could control the elephants with just vocal commands.
Back in the city, after a much needed shower (not that showering in the river was much different than what we are used to) we explored the night market here which is HUGE.  A little overwhelming and we managed to get separated but despite the size of the place we managed to run into people we know, including our friend Mark who we met at the sketchy laos border crossing.
The next night, armed with a list of questions, we hit up the monk chat at a nearby temple.  It was very informative and eye opening to hear them talk about their life and religion.  Very different from the life we lead.  Following the chat we were invited to learn how to meditate for an hour and a half.  It was one of the hardest things we have ever had to do.  We learned how to meditate sitting, laying, and walking.  One lesson was good enough for us to know that we are not cut out to be buddhist monks.  'Walking, walking, walking, we thought, followed by 'sweating, sweating, sweating, itching, itching, itching, hungry, hungry, hungry, boring, boring, boring'.  We had to acknowledge and repeat everything we felt three times (in case you didn't catch on).  Altogether though we are glad we went.  
Today we head to Pai! We have heard to very good things about it and we are looking forward to see what it has in store.

Been there Don Det!

So first of all I apologize for lack of posts recently...but WE ARE IN LAOS!!! Time moves so much slower here and hence, we do too! After the sketchiest border crossing we have ever gone through we made it into south Laos and headed to the 4000 islands! Home to the rarest dolphins in the world and probably one of the most amazing places on earth! The air doesn't move here, so when it's hot, it is REALLY HOT! Sometimes you feel as though if you stop moving you will just evaporate! Luckily it is an island, so we have some escape from the heat! There is no air conditioning here, and electricity is sparce and infrequent. The island even managed to run out of ICE and money!?! (It's THAT small!)
We were supposed to be on Don Det for 3 days...but as with most of our plans, that changed! After a week we realized if we didn't start moving north we would probably never leave Don Det!
We booked our ticket to Vang Vieng and headed North on our longest journey yet. What was supposed to be a 17 hour bus ride was over 24 hours! That's to be expected here though...this is LAOS time we run on! Now we are in Vang Vieng, where we have already overstayed our intended time! Laos has a tendency to suck people in! I didn't believe it before I came here, but I get it now. HOPEFULLY we make it to the bus tomorrow to head back into Thailand, but who knows...we were supposed to leave yesterday and that never happened! haha 

Angkor What?!?!?

We went from our highest high to our lowest low.  From the Gili Islands, we arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  Straight off the plane with little sleep we went to the Killing Fields followed by the S21 Prison Genocide Museum.  It was a lot to take in.  The Killing Fields was one of the many sites in Cambodia where hundreds of Cambodians were viciously slaughtered each day from 1975-1979.  We couldn't believe how something this terrible could have gone on in such modern times.  The worst part was the "mug shots" of all the prisoners in the cells of the S21 prison.  Out of the 20,000 prisoners there, only 7 survived.  We were privileged enough to meet one of them, however we were at a loss of words.  What can you say to someone who has been through such suffering?  For the first time in our travels we were overwhelmed with sadness.  It was a well needed reality check.  We had been in paradise, living on islands for so long it was nice to learn more about the culture of the people here.  It was an especially touching experience. 
After a loooonnnggg day we took the night bus to Siem Reap.  Arriving at 7:30 in the morning we were off to the temples of Angkor.  Keep in mind it has now been two nights without a good nights rest.  These temples are HUGE.  There are soooooooooooooo many to see and so little time.  We rented a tuk-tuk to help us with this daunting task.  They are breathtaking, each temple unique and beautiful in its own way.  Our favourite one was Preah Khan Temple.  It had gigantic trees growing in and around the ruins.  It really signified how old these temples are.  The history that these temples represent is like nothing we have seen before.  Saturated with temples we headed back to Siem Reap for a night out on the town.  We thought it very suiting to go to the bar "Angkor What?".  We had an amazing, fun, and very cheap night.  It was a nice change from the sombre mood we had been in for the past couple days. 
The people of Cambodia are among the nicest we have met thus far.  Everyone is always smiling, even when you aren't buying what they are selling, they will still talk to you and help you out with whatever you need.  It was very refreshing after some of the pushy people we dealt with in Indonesia.  The staff of our hostel have become our new best friends.  Anyone who comes to Siem Reap we highly recommend staying at the Okay Villa Guesthouse (doesn't hurt that they have a pool on the ROOF). 
We have thoroughly enjoyed our time here in Cambodia but look forward to our next destination: the 4,000 islands in Laos.  Lets hope we make it through the border! (fingers crossed)

Dreaming of Gili...

We escaped the craziness of bali and found ourselves on the beautiful island of Gili Trawangan. It was the perfect place to kick back and have a good time.  There are NO motor vehicles of any kind and no paved roads for that matter. To get around the island (which takes less than 2 hours on foot) you can rent a bike or a horse drawn carriage.  A lot of the island is still undeveloped but not for long judging by the amount of construction happening. We got there at the right time.  Behind the bars and restaurants is a tiny village which is lovley to walk around but also eye opening to see how poverty can exist so close to westernized resorts.  We spent 4 wonderful days walking around, enjoying the beach, swminning in our amazing pool, and discovering the delicious food.  There was a night market and for only 3 or 4 dollars you could fill your plate with spring rolls, noodles, rice, and a whole bunch of delicious (but unnamed) combinations of vegetables.  After eating a plate our lips would be burning and our faces sweating but it was well worth it.  The people on the island were also super laid back and friendly.  We met some great people from all over and it was really hard to leave the friends we made on our days and nights exploring the island. Hardest of all was leaving our american friend, Alex.  
We have travelled for over a month with him, discovering 3 countries together.  He has taught us a lot not just about traveling but about life.  He is one of the most kind hearted, generous, funny and positive people we have met.  We wish him the best in his future travels and will miss him a lot.  
Next stop for us is Cambodia, stay tuned!