Homeward Bound

My last few days in Bangkok were a lot of fun. The
second time around in the city was much better for me.
I talked with people and figured out where to go and
what to do. The shopping was incredible! I was like
a kid in a candy store. A lot of the clothing and
jewelry styles were European and I found some cool stuff.

One night I was eating dinner outside and there was a
spider about the size of my fist was jumping towards
my table (this part wasn't so fun). The waiter saw me
pointing at it (I took a picuture of it) and came over
with a pair of chopsticks. I didn't want him to kill
it or anything, I just wanted it the hell away from
me! He had obviously done this before because he
slowly went towards it and grabbed it with the
chopsticks in a way that paralized it while he put it
in the street. Phew.

I had been staying away from the street vendor food,
but I realized that I could actually see what they
were doing and what they were cooking with, as opposed
to not knowing what goes on in the back kitchens. I
ended up eating a few Thai meals from them at 20 baht
each (about $0.50) and it was the best food I had in
Thailand. I stayed away from the roasted
grasshoppers, magot-looking things, and other mystery
items. In a park, they were selling snake blood and
bile, which supposedly wards off illnesses and bad
energy or something. I'll take my chances, thank you
very much.

The people watching in Bangkok was great. There were
backpackers, hippies with dreads, lady-boys, little
old Thai women, prostitutes, foreign families on
vacation, or "holiday" as they call it...basically
random people from all over the world gathered in this
one area of a few blocks.

I was really sad about leaving Thailand. I was really close to extending my trip, but I didn't want to miss my family camping trip! I was on the curb waiting for a cab to the airport with tears in my eyes and up drove a HOT PINK taxi! That cheared me up :)

I look back and wonder how I actually made it to each
destination. Traveling within the country was like a
whirl-wind of being shuffled from boat to bus to a
mini-bus to a train to another bus and just having
faith that the random Thai person telling you where to
go knows what he or she was talking about.

I'm at home now, safe and sound. Thanks for all of
your support and emails. Enjoy the rest of the
summer!

Love & Peace,
Nikki

Hey, little friends of the jungle, there's no fighting in paradise!

Hi! I hope you all are doing great. I spent a few more days in Koh Samui and had a lot of fun. I took a tour of the island, which included several different sights. One was the mummified monk. It was kind of creepy. The monk died in 1973 and his followers noticed that his body was not decaying, so they displayed it in a glass coffin, believing that this was a Buddhist miracle. He still has some hair, fingernails and very leathery skin! It looks kind of funny because they put sunglasses on him so people wouldn't be scared of his face with no eyes. He also predicted his own death, but I'm not sure how he died. Here I was given a string bracelet, tapped on the head with straw and water and told, "Good luck to you! Good luck to you! Good luck to you!" by an old monk.

Has anyone seen the email forward of the falic looking stones? One of a male and one of a female? I have seen the email before, but had know idea that the sight of the "Grandmother Rock and Grandfather Rock" would be that. It's funny that they include this in the tour because they really are very falic! It is believed that a couple died there and that's when the rocks formed.

Next, we went to a waterfall and then a monkey show. They have the monkeys trained to retrieve coconuts from the palm trees. They have them on ropes and keep them as "pets" who make them a whole lotta money.

That night, Jess and I went to a Caberet show. This was extremely entertaining. The show was many lady-boys doing their thing. They were all decked out and lip syncing and dancing to Whitney Houston and Cher. They were very talented!

I really enjoyed talking with the locals on this island. Jess and I spent time with some really cool, unique people.

Today is my third day on an island called Koh Phi Phi (Lis, thanks for the recommendation). Aside from the torrential down-pour today, this place is like paradise! The beaches so far have been beautiful, but nothing compares to this. One of the beaches is where part of the movie The Beach was filmed. The island is very small and no cars are permitted. The island was almost completely wiped out by the Tsunami, but from what I hear, is getting back to normal except for less tourist traffic. Their source of power was destroyed and the island now runs on a generator. We've had a few power outages so far. Supposedly, the day after the Tsunami, people of the island immediately got to work to restore things. Millions of dollars were donated from around the world, but the Thai people refused it and only used one charity source that works directly with the people of Phi Phi. The reason they refused the money is that many of houses and shops were washed away and if they take the money, the government will replace them with resorts. It's not clear what has happened to the rest of the money that was donated to the government. There seems to be a fear of the government on this island.

Yesterday I took a snorkeling/kayaking/island tour. I can't explain how amazing it was! We first stopped at Monkey Beach and got to see wild monkeys and feed them pieces of bananas. It's so cute...if the banana lands in the sand, they run to the water and wash it off and then peel it to eat it. I heard this awful noise and saw two monkeys fighting over a banana. I wanted to show them that I had more bananas and that they shouldn't fight. I ran over to them and the guide grabbed me and scolded me. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have tried to break up a wild monkey fight.

Next was kayaking and snorkeling. I kayaked into coves of crystal turquoise water and saw tons of cool fish and other weird ocean things. It was fanstastic! After that, we went to a different part of the island and had to swim to shore. It wasn't very deep water and the coral below got a bit scary. One of the guides put all of the cameras in a dry bag for us and took a small boat to shore, which I thought was nice of him. We climbed through a hole in the limestone rock and walked through a path in the jungle that opened up to The Beach. It was so beautfiul that it took my breath away! This poor couple was skinny dipping thinking they had the beach to themselves and in walks this boat load of people. I saw their bathing suits in the distance and grabbed them for them.

We spent a few hours at the beach and I didn't want to leave!!! They are trying to presevere it, though, so there are stipulations involved.

Tomorrow is my last day in Koh Phi Phi and I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't rain.

Take care!

love,
nikki

A Perfect Storm 2: Unsuspecting Snorkelers

I hope you are all well. I'm in Koh Samui now, which is an island off the mainland of Thailand. Getting here was not very pleasant, but it probably could have been worse. I flew to Bangkok and had about 5 hours to kill while waiting for my train. I went to a local shopping area. The air quality in Bangkok is absolutly awful. It's a very crowded and busy city. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had someone with me who knew where to go and what to do.

I boarded an overnight train around 7:30pm. The train itself was dirty, but my bunk was clean and cozy. I was bummed because I didn't get to see any of the country during the ride. I ended up falling asleep to the sound of 2 little girls chattering away in Dutch, which I thought sounded cute. I decided it wasn't so cute anymore when all 10 of the people in the family were yelling in Dutch at around 4:00am. Apparently, they get up a lot earlier than us Americans.

After the 12 hour ride I got on a bus. After the 30 minute bus ride, I got on a boat. Backstreet Boys and Ricky Martin were the music of choice. The boat ride was about 3 1/2 hours and I'll be okay if I never hear either one of them again. I met a girl on the boat who is also traveling alone, Jess, so now I have a compadre from England. I was originally suposed to go to Koh Samui first, but I changed my mind just before I got on the boat because I heard Koh Pha Nang was more my speed. It's kind of weird because the first thing she said when I met her was that she was thinking of getting off at Koh Pha Nang instead of Koh Samui.

Koh Pha Nang is famous for a full moon party every month. As many as 10,000 people from around the world gather on a small beach every month for this party and you have to walk into the ocean to get through the crowd. I was relieved that it wasn't happening while I was there. I think it would be a bit much. I read that the psychiatric hosptial near by has to double their staff during the party and on the day before and the day after because so many people freak out from drugs and such. Anyway, when it isn't the full moon, they have a more relaxed atmosphere with mats and candles on the beach with dancing and good music. I had heard that there were fire twirlers, but I just pictured a few hippies out there doing their thing. Not the case. There are a group of locals who are very dedicated to fire twirling and do it for their job. I was so amazed watching them. It was absolutely incredible!!! I watched them for hours. At one point I looked at Jess and said, "Wow, look how pretty the sky is. It's starting to lighten up or something". I had no idea that so much time had passed and that the sun was going to come up soon!

I really liked the atmosphere of Koh Pha Nang, but the beaches weren't that spectacular. My friends from Cambodia went straight to Koh Samui after Cambodia. They offered to pick up Jess and I on their way to the island Koh Tao for their snorkeling trip. Sounded like a great idea! Then we wouldn't have to take the ferry back to Koh Samui AND we would get to go snorkeling! Due to a family trip years ago, the thought crossed my mind about motion sickness on the snorkeling boat (Matt & Mama, you know exactly what I'm talking about), but I had my new friend, Ginger Gum, so I thought I'd be just fine. We set out on the boat and within half an hour I made friends with the side of the boat, if you know what I mean. The driver was smiling about it and said "no worries", so I was happy about that. But what got me through is that I kept thinking, Önce I get off this %*#@!& $#%#!&* boat, I'll feel better and I'll get to see some beautiful fish". I did actually snorkel for a few minutes, but I had to get out and get on land or I was going to be sick again. I just enjoyed the scenery and napped while they finished up. The area was so gorgeous with cliffs and turquoise water. Okay, so lots of self-talk and dramamine later, I was prepared to get on the boat for the ride back. First 20 minutes were just fine. I started out laying down this time and it was working well. I had my eyes closed and must have fallen a sleep for a minute. I opened my eyes because I started getting wet. I looked up and I actually thought that they had started to pull down dark gray covers from the roof to shield us from rain. Um, no. That was the sky. The driver looked at us and said, "You get ready". Okay then. How does one "get ready"? I was so scared that I actually started to belly laugh. We all were laughing so hard because there was not a thing we could do about the waves crashing in over the sides. This was not a very big boat. I would say it was twice the size of a speed boat. We were all soaking wet and freezing and bracing ourselves for each slam and wave. This went on for about 2 hours. At one point I could hardly hold on anymore. Kim tried to adjust himself and sat on my head. It was really intense for a while. I thought a few times that we were going to tip. But....I didn't get sick!!!

We arrived to Koh Samui and it is very beautiful. The beaches are fantastic! This island has more resorts and is more built up than Koh Pha Nang. At night near the bar area, there are women (or men who I swear look exactly like women) who try to get you into their bar or massage parlor. "Meeeeester! Laaaaaaady! You come in!" Getting hassled is very avoidable if you don't make eye contact or just say no.

There are many, many legitimate massage parlors and this morning I got a one hour massage on the beach for 5 bucks. Later I'm going to get some type of aloe vera massage. I really like Thailand a lot. The people here are very beautiful and kind. Jess and I are going to stay another night or two and then I'm headed to an island called Ko Phi Phi in the south-east part of Thailand in the Bay of Bengal.

Take Care!

Peace,
Nikki

You have a baby...on the roof.

I'm always a bit humbled when I visit a country and I don't speak their language. The people of Cambodia, however, have been very kind and patient with me. I feel very comfortable and welcomed here.

Today was a great day. I was on my way to a "floating village", which is about an hour ride south of Siem Reap, when I noticed a baby (about 2 years old) sitting on the roof of a grass hut all alone with a big grin on her face. There were a few people sitting below her inside the hut. I wonder at what point someone thought, "I know! Let's put little Susie up on the roof!"

During the ride to the lake where the floating village is, we passed through several smaller villages. I could have been on that tuk-tuk for hours just watching. I took a ton of pictures that will speak for themselves. I got to the lake and, what do you know, I have to use the restroom. I asked where to go knowing that it wasn't going to be pretty, but I didn't have much choice. I was led across some boards going over the water which led to the floating village and then was directed to a tiny shack over the water. It had a few boards that had a big space in between them. Yup. Right in the lake. This is the same water they use for everything...cooking, fishing, swimming. The smell at the lake was, at times, very rank. Their bodies are very immune to bacteria. They truly utilize their resources to the fullest because that's what they need to do to survive. During the dry season the lake totally disappears and the whole village moves to a near mountain for 2 months.

A guide took me to a boat and he told me about the schools and people there. He is 20 years old and has this job in order to pay for English classes for himself and for his sister. There were floating fruit markets and tea houses all in tiny boats. People use long skinny boats (can't think of the name of them) and even buckets to float around the village. I loved watching how they didn't waver a bit getting on and off the boats and things. It was so smooth and natural looking. Like I said before, the balance they have is amazing. I got to see crocodiles and hold a huge snake. They even let me drive the boat. I sure hope pigs don't get motion sickness like I do. There was a cage full of them tied to a "house" floating back and forth and back and forth in the water. By the way, I now swear by ginger gum to help with motion sickness.

After that I went back to the orphanage. I found out why there are so many older kids. The kids are orphans, but aren't up for adoption. They live at the center (Sunrise Village) until they are 18. The program is really comprehensive for these kids and it's run by part government funding and mostly donations. Here is the website if you are interested http://www.sunrisechildrensvillage.org/ssr.htm I'm really impressed by this place. There's definitely cohesion amongst all of the kids and staff. I played with the kids until the dance show. It was a rehersal, so they weren't in costumes, but it was really cool to watch. I was invited to dinner and I was a little nervous about what would be served (I declined lunch yesterday because I had to meet my driver and I was kind of relieved). For those of you who know my eating habits, you'll understand how hard this was for me. They said we were having bamboo soup and I thought that actually sounded really good. I sat down in front of a huge bowl and amongst the greens and bamboo were huge chunks of [i]something[/i]. I asked what it was and they said it was fish. Remember where I said they do their fishing? Um, yeah, at that moment I became an imposter vegetarian.

The city had a power outage this evening for a few hours and it was business as usual, but it came back on after a few hours. My dorky headlamp came in handy.

I probably won't be able to write for a while. I've had free 24 hour internet here and it's been really easy to email. I leave for Thailand in the morning and I'm not sure if I will have internet in the next guesthouse.

Take Care Everyone!

Peace,
Nikki

Did you know that you can fit 3 people and a huge pig all on one small motor scooter?

...Well, you can! I'm in Cambodia now and I've been having a great time. Aside from almost getting on the wrong plane, I got here just fine. I made friends with the guy sitting next to me, so that was cool. The humidity is intense. It's just accepted that everyone is going to be a sweaty mess! I was told to hire a tuk-tuk driver for $10 per day so I did and it has been well worth it. The city is very spread out and in order to get to the sites I wanted to see you have to drive. A tuk-tuk is a cart attached to a motor bike. I have closed my eyes and wondered if it was my time to go more than a few times. The driving here is crazy. People here really have a knack for balancing (most people drive motorbikes).

Siem Reap is the city in which I'm staying. It's very built up as far as Cambodian standards go. It has become very touristy due to the Temples of Angkor. When I say touristy, again, it's by Cambodian standards. I'd guess it's 10% tourists and the rest locals. The people here are extremely friendly and the country is extremely third world. My first day I found a cute, clean place to stay and then headed to the temple of Angkor Wat with my driver, Marom. This is the largest temple and is absolutely enormous and breath-taking. The temples date back to the year 820 and were built by different kings until about 1219. Apparently, they stopped building them when the country began to run out of resources and when the people began switching to Theravada Buddhism. The temples are amazing stone structures that you'll have to see pictures of because describing them will do them no justice. I'm not much of a history buff, but being there was fascinating!

After that I went to buy soccer balls for the kids at the orphanage (that was something they said the needed when I emailed). I was wondering where I was going to find soccer balls and Marom took me to a little shop off of the street and they had some in a back corner. You would have thought I gave those kids a million dollars. They were so cute and were pretending they were in the World Cup. Being there was pretty rough on the heart. There were way more elementary aged kids than I expected. Many of them followed me around and wanted to speak English. There were several infants and toddlers, but not as many as the older kids. It's strange seeing babies without diapers. They just don't have the means for them. As a result, kids are potty-trained much earlier than what is considered normal in the US. I was holding the babies without the diapers and it crossed my mind that I might get pooped on. I really didn't care, though (I didn't get pooped on). I can only imagine that the most difficult part of the adoption process would be choosing one child. It would be absolutely excrutiating. While there, I found out that they have a shortage of baby formula. I went to the market today and bought a bunch of it. I couldn't believe how expensive it is for these people to feed their babies. The average yearly income is under $300 and a can of formula costs $7.40. Crazy. I delivered it to them and they invited me to stay for lunch with them. I'm going back again to the orphanage tomorrow for a few hours. I guess the kids do some sort of a show every day at 3:00.

I went to another temple in the evening for sunset. There is a massive amount of stone and rubble "stairs" that you have to climb to get to the top. I don't think I knew the meaning of sweat until that moment, but it was very pretty up there so it was worth it. After I climbed down I had some pineapple on a stick.

Landmines are still a huge problem in Cambodia. Not so much in the touristy areas, but they don't recommend walking off the beaten path. I guess 2,000 minefields have been cleared, but many of the 10 million land mines that were laid in the 1980's haven't been found. I have seen a lot of amputees and I when I asked Marom about it, he told me most of them lost there limbs from stepping on the landmines. I'm stickin' to the pavement.

Last night I met up with my friend from the plane and his friend for dinner and drinks. They have a pool at their hotel and we made a date for the pool for today. The pool was like heaven after visiting more temples today. They have salt water in the pool, which I thought was odd.

I've been battling with trying to be respectful to the kids who beg or try to sell you their stuff. "Laaaaaady...2 for 1 dolla for you!" They often follow you closely and can be absolutely relentless. Last night when we were leaving the bar we were surrounded by tuk-tuk drivers trying to give us rides. There were kids around and that was bothersome because it was 2am, but I didn't think much of it. I was standing there talking and I felt my purse move and I looked down and saw a little hand in my purse. Respect went out the window at that point and I yelled, "get away from me you little shit"! Luckily, he was unsuccessful in taking anything. It's so sad what these kids learn to do at such a young age. He couldn't have been older than 6 or 7. Giving them money when they beg only perpetuates the fact that kids are sent out to beg while the parents or other family members hang back somewhere and observe and collect the money.

Anyway, the temple I went to today is called Ta Prohm. It is one of the most amazing works of nature that I've ever seen! The jungle has taken over the remains of a huge temple and massive trees and tree roots are intertwined throughout. Again, you'll have to see pictures. I was walking through some of the cave-like parts and at the time I didn't notice that there was an old lady squatting in the shadows. I jumped out of my skin and screached when she said something. She laughed at me and then lit some incense for me to do a prayer with her to a shrine of Buddha that was next to her. I was squatting across from her and had my water bottle between my legs and I must have squeezed it because the cap popped off and water soaked me. I didn't want to interrupt, so I just had to deal with it for a minute. Clothes don't dry quickly because of the humidity and I walked around for a while after that looking like I had an accident.

Sorry for the novel. I hope you are all doing well!

Peace,

Nikki