July,August, and Now

Well my writing has become scarcer and scarcer, but I'm starting to get back into the rhythm of it to prep for our travels. A quick recap for the months of July, August, and up until now. Work has been going by incredibly fast. Teaching is great. The kids are fun, the work is easy, and the days fly by. Our weekends alternate between Chiang mai and Pai. In Chiang Mai we do our usual Saturday basketball group and occasionally rent motorbikes to check out spots outside of the city, but our real adventures are in Pai. In Pai we rent motorbikes and explore. The nicely paved, non-crowded roads, and beautiful scenery make Pai the ultimate destination for spontaneous adventures. At the end of July my friend Jan came to visit for a week and we were able to take her to Pai. She loved it. We had so much fun. We went a long hike to a beautiful three tiered waterfall. I even rode a motorbike for the first time! It was a little daunting at first, but I got the hang of it, and ended up really enjoying it. After the waterfall we took her to our favorite spot; the land crack. Once again we were greeted by the friendly owner who generously fed us snacks and juice. We were happy to be sitting in his hammocks enjoying our treats at the time we were, because it began to pour down rain. It rained nonstop for over an hour, and I was just happy I wasn't riding the motorbike while it happened. After Jan left Ryan and I did another trip to Pai where we decided to venture out of our normal areas. We rode our motorbike about an hour and a half north to see the lod cave. The cave was amazing. We paid a small fee to get a guide to take us in and show us around, but it was worth it. The stalagmites were huge; some looked like something out of a scifi movie, and others resembled coral. On our ride back from the lod cave we came across a couple of other smaller caves that you could explore on your own. Those were smaller but equally as cool. They didnt have the stalagmites like the other cave, but the formations were just as interesting. The smaller caves were more clay looking, kind of like a Flintstones house. On our more recent trip to Pai Ryan and I went to Boy's property to go fishing. He lives on a very beautiful piece of property with bamboo huts, tipis, a house, and a very large lake for fishing. We spent the afternoon fishing and hanging out with Boy, it was the ultimate thai style relaxation. Aside from our Pai adventures, teaching, and our lazy weekends in Chiang Mai playing basketball and shopping at the night bazaar, not a whole lot has been going on. The reason for this is mostly because we are saving up for our next epic travel adventure. October 3rd is our last day of work, yipee! The few days after will be spend cleaning up our apartment and packing our things, because on the 6th of October we will be flying to Medan Indonesia, where we will spend three weeks exploring the Sumatran jungles, Hiking Volcanoes, and Staying at on an island inside the world's largest volcanic lake. Sounds too good to be true I know, I still pinch myself every time I think about it. After Sumatra we will make our way over to Malaysia where we will spend a little over a week on the Island of Penang, world famous for its street food. From Malaysia we will be flying back to the US, but excitedly enough our travels wont end there. We fly into Honolulu where we will be staying a week with Ryans family. Then just when the tan lines from our sandals become overwhelmingly dark, and our hair is bleached blonde from the sun we will return back home to Santa Rosa. Luckily the transition from vagabond lifestyle to so called "reality" wont be a dissapointment because we have so much to look forward to, like going to the property, seeing family and friends, christmas, snowboarding in Tahoe, and moving to Humboldt. AHHH, so many exciting things happening I dont know where to concentrate my excitement. But then I remeber all the valuable lessons I have learned from the life changing books I have read on our trip, and refocus my excitement on the present. Reality check, we are still living in Chiang Mai Thailand. We are teachers, We are explores, and I  am sharing the most incredible life experience with my soulmate. If there is one piece of wisdom I have learned on this trip it would definitley be the law of attraction. Everything that we are excited for is everything we have manifested through our desires. I could not be more proud of us for making all of dreams come true, and in the process finding peace within ourselves and connecting with each other on a spiritual level I never knew existed. Life is a true adventure, and I am begining to see that through desire, and the law of attraction you can make anything happen. I am so thankful for all of our experiences, Ryan and I have changed in ways I cant even begin to describe, but for that reason, I know the change that has happened is so powerful, because putting words to it would only devalue the authenticiy of the higher perspective, experience, and oneness we have attracted over these past ten months. Life is truly beautiful, and we can not wait to experience more, whether we are traveling, or  back at home in our daily routine ,every experience is a chance to gain wisdom, connect, and love.

June

Well it's been a few months since I have last written, and a lot has happened. The month of June was jam packed with family visiting. We had Willie and Aileen visiting for one week, Evie, Dave, Sue, and Katie for three weeks, and Heather and Rob for two and a half. Unfortunately we had to work while they were here, but that didnt stop us from making the most of our time with them. From 3:30pm when we clocked out to about midnight every night, we were busy showing them around Chiang Mai, and having lots of wolf pack adventures. Some highlights were; our trips to Pai, river rafting, secret waterfall exploring, playing with elephants, cooking class, getting wolf pack tattoos, and our spontaneous waterfall excursions outside of Chiang Mai. I will elaborate on my favorite experiences, since going into detail about it all would take way too long. I'll start with our trips to Pai. Ryan and I are in love with Pai, and we love taking people there too, because they also fall in love with it. The small hippy town lays in a valley, surrounded by jungle mountains, and has the most friendly people on earth. In the town itself there isnt much to do; bars, restaurants, and bamboo bungalows with hammocks line the river that run through the town. But a short ten minute ride on a scooter will get you to the outskirts of the town where there is so much to see. Our first time in Pai was with Willie and Aileen and because we were novices to the whole Pai scene we mistakenly paid way too much for a tour to drive us around to the attractions. The tour was 600 baht per person, when you can rent a motorbike for 100 baht (50 baht per person). Rookie mistake, but we still had fun. On the tour we went to a hot spring, that was so beautiful and relaxing. There were six different pools, and they all varied slightly in temperature, ranging from really hot, too really flippin hot. We then made our way to the Pai Grand Canyon, where we had an incredible view of the valley and all of the farms. The canyon had a very narrow path to walk on. Some of it involved steep rock climbing, and careful balance, but in the end it was worth it. The Canyon was a firey orange red, and the colors of the canyon wall looked majestic against the lush green jungle background. It was definitely one of the prettiest sights in Pai. After sweating bullets in the blistering sun on top of the canyon, we made our way to our first waterfall. It was a three tiered waterfall that had a swimming pond at the bottom. There were many tourists and locals there. The locals were jumping off the rocks into the water, and sliding down the slick walls of the waterfall and into the pond. Ryan, Willie, and I decided to join in. At first it was intimidating because the rocks were so slippery, and if you went down the wrong way you could hurt yourself, but we did it anyway, and it was a blast. After exploring the beautiful scenery in the day, we would retreat back to our bungalows and get ready for the night. The town of Pai comes to life at night. There is one main street in Pai that is lite up by the quaint wooden restaurants and outdoor bars. This street also has the best food vendors. We discovered our favorite one; a vegetarian Indian vendor. The food is delicious, the people working are so friendly, and the prices are great. Along this road are many souvenir shops selling all kids of goodies. Many of the clothes you find at the night bizarre can be found here, but there are also lots of handmade crafts, like moccasins, jewelry, hammocks, fun magnets, and t-shirts. The bars in pai are awesome. Our first time in Pai we found the Spirit Bar. This bar is a small little outdoor bar with a fun relaxed hippie vibe. Psychedelic paintings, firepit, wooden stumps with cushions, a handmade jewelry shop, bamboo walls , lanterns, and hippie bartenders really give the place a burningmanesque ambiance. Our first time at the Spirit Bar was with Willie and Aileen, and we wanted to smoke hooka. So I walked up to a guy at the bar and asked if he knew anywhere that we could get hooka. He was white and his English was good, but his heavy accent, and lack of recognition of the term hooka led to a comical misunderstanding.He looked at me with a puzzled expression and said "Hooka, You want a hook?".  Me- "Yes do you know where I can find some". Him- "Um, I dont know let me ask". He looks at the bartender, "Hey do you know where to get a hooker, this girl wants one?". My eyes popped, " no a hooka to smoke..... you know shesha".   "Oh shesha. Ok. I was gonna say, you don't look like the type to want a hooker."  
And that incident led us to a great friendship with the owner of the bar; Boy. The white guy that I asked a hooka for was a traveler from Poland, and we ended up making good friends with him. He asked Boy; the owner of the bar if he knew where we could get shesha, and Boy said he had one of his own that he would let us smoke. So Willie, Aileen, Ryan, the Polish man, and the Thai bar owner Boy, all sat down and smoked his hooka. We couldnt believe his generosity. Boy became our first friend in Pai, and we made sure to visit him every time we were there.
Our second time in Pai was with the wolfpack. We had a blast. Boy, his brother, and two of his friends took us on an incredible hike to a secret waterfall. The drive to the waterfall was a little sketchy since it has just rained. The dirt roads turned to mud, and there were trenches in some parts. Katie fell over  on the motorbike three times, the first time Sue was on it with her.The hike itself was breathtaking. It was the prettiest jungle I had ever seen. There were the most beautiful wild flowers and crazy insects. There is one type of beetle that makes this loud car alarm sound. If you were to hear the sound without seeing the bug, you would think that there were hundreds of them, but then you spot one on a tree and see its body vibrate and realize the obnoxious loud sound was coming from one tiny bug, it was incredible. There is also another bug that makes a sound like an electric saw, the first time I heard it I was convinced someone was in the jungle sawing wood, but Boy told us it was another type of bug. The jungle environment seemed so foreign to me at first, with all of its scary insects, and creepy sounds. But now that we have done many hikes in Pai, the jungle sounds are comforting and make me feel at home. The rest of our hike was long. It took about two hours to reach the waterfall. The waterfall was about 30 ft high, with two smaller tiers off to the right. The water was cold, but bearable. We all hopped in and swam. The pressure from the waterfall was outrageous! It almost hurt too much to put my hand under it, if you were to put your head, you would for sure get knocked out.

This Coup is not coo

 On Thursday night around 8pm we received a message on facebook from a friend in our basketball group, letting us know that there was a nationwide curfew in Thailand from 10pm - 5am. The Curfew would last for as long as the political conflicts continued. The Curfew applied to everyone; even tourists,and if you were caught breaking this rule, you could be imprisoned for two years or pay a 40,000 baht fine. This curfew came as a complete surprise. We knew that there had been protests in Bangkok from the moment we arrived in Thailand, but so far we had not seen any action in Chiang Mai. This was the first time that the political issue was really brought to our attention. All TV channels were temporarily banned, as well as outside news stations, and certain websites. The only thing on TV, was an automated message saying "peace and order", and every half hour or so, the picture would switch to a short clip of an army general reading a letter in Thai. Later that night around 10pm we received a call from Moz, letting us know that all public and private schools would be closed tomorrow and we would have the day off from work. When we got this call we were a little worried about the situation. And unfortunately for us, our information on the situation was limited. The only news was a short thirty second clip in Thai. Because of this we relied on our basketball friends, and a Chiang Mai group on facebook, for news updates. This was not a reliable or very accurate source. Rumors of the internet being shut off began to spread .People were talking about Thailand being on the brink of civil war, and others were saying that the situation wasn’t a big deal, that Thailand has had a coup every four years for the past fifty years, and that there was nothing to worry about. Naturally we were a little worried for our safety and were unsure what to do about the situation, but we decided to stay positive and make our own judgments based on how safe we felt. As the weekend passed and we read updates on facebook, and found a few reliable news articles online, our feelings were put to ease a bit. A website we found online called Asiancorrespondence, gives hourly updates about the political situation around the country. It was on that site as well as from people on facebook that we learned that there is a military presence in Chiang Mai now, as well as other places all over the country. Many people on facebook have been posting pictures of candle lit, peaceful protests by people in Chiang Mai. The military presence is mostly at Thapae gate as well as Chueng Gate. On Friday night there were two hundred posters and about a hundred military men at thapae gate. The military fired shots into the air to disperse the crowd,and arrested five, but no one was hurt. Besides the military presence around the moat and the nightly curfew, life in Chiang Mai seems to be calm. The conflicts in Thailand have hurt tourism in the last few months, but with the curfew added, many businesses are hurting even more. As far as school goes, it was back in session on Monday. I feel fortunate that the protests in Chiang Mai have remained on a small scale and have ended without anyone getting hurt. On the other hand Bangkok is a different story. Everyday thousands of protesters crowd the streets, and the military has made several arrests, including politicians. In fact a list of people who are suppose to report to the military is read almost daily on TV. Those who report are most likely arrested, and those who don’t, are in hiding. Because of the political unrest in Thailand many tourists have canceled their travel plans, and unfortunately for us all of this is happening at the time our families are scheduled to visit us. But like I stated before, life in Chiang Mai, from a tourists standpoint remains unchanged aside from the curfew. With that said my brother Willie and his girlfriend arrived on Monday. I am so excited to have family visiting, and so far we are having a wonderful visit. As far as work goes, Ryan and I are loving our jobs! My kids are adorable, and so much fun. The first graders are a challenge, every lesson incorporates dancing, music, and games. The older ones are easier because of the variety of activities I can do with them. Some new things I have learned while teaching in Thailand. The students are very honest.When we play a game, you never have anyone cheating, or complaining about getting tagged out, which came as a surprise to me since they are such a competitive group.They are very lazy when it comes to physical activity. Just asking them to walk to the front of the room, they groan and complain. They love using their rulers for everything, and are very finicky about perfection. My only complaint is that I dont get to form close bonds with the kids because I have 1,200 students, and only the same student every other week. 

First Day of Class 5/16/17

Our first day of work was on a Friday, an odd day to start the school year, but nice to have the weekend to assess the classes and create lesson plans. The workday began at 7:45am, we clocked in, I went to the staff room in the Prathom building (elementary), and Ryan went to the Mathom building (middle/high school). When I got to the staff room I immediately found the fellow foreign teachers. There were three guys, one from Canada and two from England. They had all been working there a few years or more, so they knew the system. I would be working with Daniel. We had the same schedule, except he taught social studies and I taught health. The way it worked, we would both walk to the homeroom of each class we had, and we would divide the class in half. I would take students 1-24 (group A), and he would take students 24-50 (group B). There are four classes to each grade level, and there are six grade levels, all of them which we split in half, which means I only see each class once every two weeks. As far as lesson planning goes, this makes it easy on me, since I only have to plan a lesson every two weeks, but for the students it doesn’t seem like a very good strategy. How are students suppose to remember what they are taught in a fifty minute lesson if they only see me once every two weeks? Some aspects of Thai teaching re very different from the United States. For example, because I work at a private school and parents pay for their children education, they expect their students to receive all passing grades. So it is against the rules of the administration to give any students below passing grades, even if the student refuses to do any work. The laid back life style of Thai culture is also very prevalent in the school system. It is so laid back that it can definitely be seen as unorganized and not prepared. On the first day my classroom changed three times. At first I was to move classrooms every time I taught, and then I was told I would be teaching in the staff office, and finally I was placed in my own room. I was so grateful for this. The room was large, with plenty of desks, an open area, and whiteboards. The only downside was there was no air conditioning, but I wasn’t going to complain because I had my own room, which was a lot more than most of the other foreign teachers got. The first Friday of teaching I was suppose to have taught five classes, but only ended up teaching one. Every class I went to to pick up my students their Thai teacher said that they were behind schedule with their class, and that they wouldn’t have time to make it to my class. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to teach, but was also happy for that time to clean up the classroom and perfect my lessons. One of the things that is definitely different about teaching in Thailand is the resources. I went to the office to ask for paper, and they were hesitant to give me any. Finally they gave me a small stack of white paper from the photocopy machine. I got the impression that if I needed any materials I would have to buy them myself. While I was in the office getting paper, the head of administration for Pathom greeted me. She looked at my outfit; a long blue skirt that went down to my ankles, and a white long sleeve button up blouse, and told me that my skirt was too long. I thought this was funny, because I wore the exact same outfit when I saw her a week ago in the interview, and she told me my outfit was fine. The school is an all girls catholic school, and I knew that they would be finicky about dress code, but I never thought they would have told me my skirt was too long. Almost all of the staff at the school don’t know a word of English, so communication is difficult and nearly impossible. For that reason, I am happy there are other foreign teachers who have been there a while who can answer some of my questions. When lunch time came around I made my way over to the Mathom building with the other teachers where we went to the staff cafeteria and were served a free lunch. The lunch was rice, chicken, and cucumbers. I found an open table and sat down. Ryan joined me shortly after and we told each other about our day. Like me, he hadn’t taught any classes yet. Earlier in the morning there was a school assembly that I didn’t know about, but Ryan went to. He said that in the assembly all of the new teachers got up on stage to introduce himself, and he was the only white person among a line of Thai people. One by one they passed the microphone, everyone spoke in Thai, and when Ryan got the microphone he introduced himself and said what grades he was teaching. When he did this, the girls in all of his grade levels, began to scream and cheer, like he was a celebrity. When he told me this I was so disappointed that I wasn't there to see, or to be on stage and introduce myself as well, but the foreign teachers in the prathom building didn’t go to the assembly, so I was unaware that there was one. When we finished lunch we washed our dishes. This is one aspect of Thai culture that I think should be in American culture. All of the students and teachers wash their own dishes after their meals. Outside the cafeteria there is a washing station where you wash, rinse, and leave your dishes on a rack to dry. When we finished I said bye to Ryan and made my way back to the Prathom building where I taught my first and only class of the day, fifth graders. They were a fun group, and because they were older they understood enough English where I could play games with them. We played musical chairs, four corners, and introduced ourselves. At 3:30pm we clocked out, and made the short walk back to our apartment. Although Ryan and I only taught one class each, we had a great day, and know we will enjoy our teaching experience. 

Trip to Laos 4/25/14-5/14/14

The last two weeks have been very mellow. We moved into our new apartment at Doi Ping Mansion, and couldnt be happier. For $300 a month we get a fully furnished one bedroom apartment with huge living room, kitchen, bathroom, and giant bedroom. We even have a small balcony with a great view of the ping river and a temple. The place felt huge compared to what we had been use to. More than anything we were grateful to have a place with a kitchen so we could cook again. We cooked up a storm. With two weeks in our new place with out any real obligations I spent a majority of my time shopping at the markets for new produce, researching how to make different things, cooking, and eating. I made tortillas, fried rice, pad thai, coconut milk and banana ice cream. We definitely filled our cooking needs. In between cooking and shopping we met up with our usual groups to play basketball, worked out in our apartment, and watched movies. A week before we started work we got a call from Aom letting us know that our paper work for our work visas came in. This meant that we would need to make our last and final trip across the border. The next day we caught a night bus from Chiang Mai to Vientiane Laos. The bus ride was a brutal twelve hours. When we got there we went straight to our hotel to nap and shower. We had three nights in Laos. The first day we leisurely checked out the city. Although Vientiane was the capital of Laos, it had a small town feel The streets were clean, the buildings were new, and everything was well kept. Because Laos use to be under the French rule, you can see the influence of french culture through architecture and food. At almost every restaurant and street food vendor you could find baguettes, where it was a baguette sandwich or a baguette with butter, they were everywhere. The people of Laos were not as friendly as Thai people. If you smiled at someone, they most likely didnt smile back, which is complete opposite of the people in Chiang Mai. The food was also on the pricier side. I'm not sure if it was because we were in the capital, but everything was at least fifty cents more. The one thing that was very different about Laos was their currency. One bottle of water was 13,000 kip. An average meal was 100,000 kip. It was so confusing. On our second day we woke up bright and early to go to the Thai embassy to turn in our paperwork to get our Thai visas. We arrived forty five minutes early trying to beat the crowds, but a long line had already formed. The doors opened at 8:30 am, and everyone went in and got a number. It felt like we were at the DMV, but worse. It was excruciatingly hot and humid outside, well over a hundred degrees, and we had to sit outside in the heat as people were called one by one to the counter. When it was our turn we went to the counter and turned in our paperwork that was given to us by the school, and then sent inside another building where we paid the fee for the visa and left them our passports. The passports are suppose to picked up the next business day, but because the next day was a Thai Buddhist holiday, we had to wait an extra day to pick it up. When we finished we went back to our hotel where we rested until late in the afternoon. We would have explored more during the day, but it was too hot to be outside. Around six we made our way to the park near our hotel where we caught the most beautiful sunset. The blood orange sun looked beautiful as it lowered in the sky, with its reflection sparkling over the winding river. We walked through the park and checked out the night market. For dinner we ate at an Indian restaurant where we had the most delicious food. One of our favorites was the Aloo Palak, which is an Indian style spinach and potato dish. It was to die for. While we were there it started storming. The sky lit up purple as huge white streaks of lightening crashed to the ground. It was the loudest thunder and biggest lightening bolts I had ever seen. We Sat there eating our delicious food, and enjoyed natures show. The next day we spent the hot afternoon in the room. When we came out later in the day, we decided to take advantage of the fact that Laos had a good variety of bread. So we went to the cafe near our hotel that sold croissants, baguettes, bagels, and bread rolls, things that we had been missing and couldn’t find much of in Thailand. The next day we went back to the Thai embassy and picked up our passports. This time we got there two hours early, and there was still a line outside, but this time it was less than a dozen. We left the embassy around three o’clock. From their we walked to the bus stop where we bought a ticket to Udon Thani in Thailand. When the bus arrived an hour later it took us to the Laos border, where we had to get off the bus and get our visas checked and stamped. Once everyone on the bus passed through we got back on and drove to the Thai border patrol, where we got off and repeated the same routine. From there we were taken to Udon Thani, where we took a tuk tuk to the second bus station and caught a ten hour bus to Chiang Mai. We arrived the next day at 7am. We were exhausted. When we got back to our apartment we immediately went to take a nap, so we could be ready and prepared for our first day of work the next day. 

Songrak (Thai New Year) 4/11/14-4/16/14

Connie and her friend Kristen arrived two days prior to Songkran .It was my first friend from home visiting, and I was more than excited to see a familiar face. We began their visit with a fun cooking class. Our cooking instructor took us, along with five others to the market where he pointed out the different ingredients used in common Thai dishes. After a fun and informational tour we were brought to a small cooking school. Each of us were given a piece of paper with different meal  options. I chose green curry, mango sticky rice, cashew chicken, and coconut soup. We all gathered around a large table with a set of cutting boards, knives, and ingredients. Our instructor talked us through each recipe. We cut, chopped, fried, stirred, and prepared all of the meals individually. After every dish, we sat down at the dining table and ate together. When the meal was finished we returned to the cooking table to make our next dish. By the end of class we were so full we could barley eat our last two dishes. The instructor ended the class by giving everyone a cookbook with the  recipes of the dishes we made, along with a few others. We left feeling happy, full, and eager to use our new cookbooks.
The next day the Songkran festivities began. Although Thai new year is officially the 13-16 of April, it begins a day early in Chiang Mai. We realized this when we woke up the next morning to the sound of music blasting, water splashing, and kids screaming with laughter. The new year was traditionally celebrated in temples where water would be sprinkled on peoples foreheads as a cleansing for the new year. But more recently, in the last decade it turned into a country wide water fight. Chiang Mai is said to have the second biggest celebration of the Thai new year. Although it is celebrated through out the city, the most concentrated part of the celebration,as well as the craziest, is along the moat where we live. We were told that Songkran was a crazy celebration, this is an understatement. We were completely blown away by its insanity. For four straight days we were soaking wet from the moment we walked out of our apartment, until the moment we walked back inside. We participated in the mayhem by buying cheap water guns and buckets, soaking anyone and everyone; kids, adults, elderly, people in taxis, no one was forgotten. This same rule was followed by everyone else. If you were outside, you were guaranteed to get drenched. No one had immunity from the festivities. The outside road bordering the moat was the craziest. Thousands of people lined the side walk with tubs of ice water, filling up their buckets and water guns to splash anyone walking or driving by. The roads were jam packed with pickup trucks. In the bed of every truck was a group of thai kids and adults crammed together with trash bins filled with ice water. With buckets and guns they would drench everyone they passed. The people who didnt have access to the bins of ice water, like us, were throwing  buckets into the moat,filling them with water, and pulling them up with a string. In the center of the moat food vendors lined the streets. They key was finding a vendor that was a bit more hidden so your food wouldnt get soaked as you were eating. The options for food were endless. There were vendors selling pad thai, coconut icecream, fried tempura, you name it. Near the food, was a large stage with a dj and dancers. This was the craziest area of them all. Thousands of people gathered in front of the stage dancing and screaming with laughter.And as if the celebration couldn't get any crazier,on both sides of the stage were bubble machines. This was my favorite part! Every hour for fifteen minutes ,the machines would go off, filling the street with bubbles. The madness never stopped. Around 6pm when the sun would set, we would seek shelter at a nearby restaraunt. Dinner time was the only time we had dry clothes; as we stepped back on the streets we were drenched. It wasnt until we were back in our apartment that we were safe. 
The first few days we had a great  time walking through the streets and wandering through the massive crowds of people, but on the last day of Songkran we spent most of our time hanging outside the THC Rooftop Bar. The owner of the bar put a large garbage bin out front and kept it filled with ice water. When the ice would melt, someone would come out with a fresh block. The bar also had a DJ playing reggae and EDM. Everyone at the bar stood out front filling their buckets and water guns, and attacking anyone who walked by. At one point a group of people across the street counted down from five, ran over, and soaked everyone outside the bar. From that moment it was an all out war between both sides of the street. We would fill up with ice water, they would fill up with ice water, someone would count down, and we would all charge to the middle of the street. When our guns were empty and our pales were light, we would return to our sides of the street and repeat. This went on all day! The amount of people who partook in this event blew my mind. There were hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the street and on the sidewalks splashing, spraying, and soaking everyone with water. The best part was everyone was filled with joy. I have never in my life seen so many smiling faces all together. It was a beautiful experience being around so many smiling faces and happy people Without a doubt Thai people have the best New Year's celebration in the world, and I am so grateful that we were able to experience it.

The sleeping Illegal Aliens 4/10/14

The next day we woke up at 5am to take care of our visa issue. Our first stop was to the atm where we depleted our savings, by withdrawing $1,300  to pay for our costly mistake. It was a tough lesson to learn, but one we would never make again. From there we hopped in a tuk tuk, and went to the bus station. The tickets for the first bus to Mesiah was sold out, and the next one wouldnt depart until 4pm, but that  would be too late since it is a 3.5 hr bus ride to mesiah, and immigration closes at five. We didnt want to stay the night in a hotel in Mesaih for a few reasons, for one we didnt have the extra money to spare, secondly we needed to take care of the issue immediately, and lastly my friend Connie would be flying in the next morning to Chiang Mai, and I wanted to see her. After talking to the sales woman we learned that our only other option was to purchase a bus ticket to Chiang Rai which was departing at 11am, and from there book a bus to Mesiah, which leaves every half hour. So we did it, we bought our tickets to Chiang Rai, and went to a nearby coffee shop to kill three hours.At the coffee shop we started to research buses to Chiang Rai, and Mesiah. In our search we read many comments from fellow riders who said that because the buses ride along the route of the "golden triangle", the most natorious opium drug trade in the world, that buses are frequently stopped by police to search for drugs and check ids. These comments sent us in a panic. If the bus is pulled over and we are asked for ids, we will without a doubt be taken to jail and deported. Even if we tell them we are on our way to the border to take care of the issue, the police have no mercy on overstayed visas. After contemplating what to do, we decided to lose out on the money we spent buying our bus tickets and book a mini van ride to Mesiah. We left the coffee shop, hopped in a tuk tuk, went back to our apartment, and started to call minivan companies who do daily visa run trips. After calling a few companies we learned that they were all closed for the next week because of the upcoming Songkran holiday. We looked at our watches. If we got a ride back to the bus station we could still catch our bus to Chiang Rai. We caught our third tuk tuk ride of the day, and went back to the bus station where we caught our bus, and took our chances with the police. On the way the bus drove past three police check points. The first two check points the police officer waved the bus past with out coming on board, but the third time we werent so lucky. My first instinct was to pretend like I was asleep. Luckily Ryan and I were at the very back of the bus, which bought us a few extra seconds to think on our feet. I quickly tapped Ryan and told him to pretend like we were sleeping. We shut our eyes, slumped over, and I even cocked my head back and opened my mouth a bit for authenticity. When the officer came to the back of the bus I could feel his presence next to me. "Passports", he said. "Passports", he repeated. We pretended like we were sleeping, and after what felt like an eternity, he finally gave up and left the bus. We waited until we felt the bus in motion for a few minutes before opening our eyes, and when we did we looked at eachother is disbelief. I couldnt believe we got away with that. I turned my head to the seats across from us and a thai man and his wife, saw what we did, and they smiled and laughed. An hour later we were in Chiang Rai. From there we caught a mini van to mesiah, which was another hour. In Mesiah we caught a ten minute sangtao ride to the border where we would meet our fate.We took a deep breath, and walked up to the border patrol window and handed over our passports. The whole process was a lot easier than I expected. They looked at our passports, called over an official officer, he translated to us, telling us that we had overstayed our visas, and said we needed to pay our fines. We nodded in agreement, handed over the cash, signed a few papers, recieved a stamp in our passport, and were pointed in the direction of Burma. From there, we walked a hundred feet over a bridge to the Burma border patrol. The patrol officers at the Burma entrance saw the stamp in our passports that indicated we over stayed our visa, and saw that we paid a twenty thousand baht fine. When they saw that we had paid that much, their faces lit up with excitement. They tried to charge us a thousand baht each to enter Burma, because they knew we had money. Luckily before making the trip to the border we had done research online, and knew that we would each have to pay 500 baht to enter Burma.We told them no, that we would only pay 500 baht. They tried to hassle us into paying more, but we finally got them to agree on 500 baht. They gave us the stamp we needed, and we  immediately walked out of the office and back over the bridge to Thailand.At the Thai border we filled out an immigration card, received another stamp in our passports, and were allowed back into the country. We were so relieved that everything worked out, it felt good to legal again. After our experience, we could say that we felt a new understanding and compassion for people in the U.S who are illegal immigrants. We made our way back to the bus station and hoped to find a drect bus to Chiang Mai. The woman working the ticket booth told us that the last bus to Chiang Mai had just departed, so we bought a bus to Chaing Rai  with hope that we could catch a bus from there to Chiang Mai. On the Ride to Chaing Rai our bus was stopped twice by police officers checking ids, and this time we confidently handed over our passports.When we got to Chaing Rai, we were lucky enough to buy the last two tickets available for the last bus to Chiang Mai. Once again everything worked out perfectly. We arrived back at our apartment in Chiang Mai around 11pm.

Post travels and Job hunt 4/1/14-4/9/14

After a month and a half of traveling we were back home in Chiang Mai. Going back to Chiang Mai was a strange reminder that we were actually living in Thailand, not just on vacation. It was fun to be back in a place of familiarity. Within the short time we were gone, we noticed many changes;new construction, more businesses, changes in whether and a decrease in the number of tourists. Our main focus now was finding a job. I must admit I thought I would feel sad that our travels were over, but I was even more excited to do what I love; teaching. That's the beauty of loving what you do, it doesn't feel like work.The transition from traveling to moving back to Chiang Mai was an easy one. We decided to keep things simple, by renting an apartment at our old place. The move was temporary, since we didn't know what school we would be working at or what part of town. Once we were settled in to our room, we made our first stop to text and talk. At school we received our teaching degrees from Moz and talked to him about possible jobs. He gave us valuable advice for applying to jobs, and told us that he might have a few available for us, but wouldn't know for another week. We thanked him for his help and headed back to our apartment to update our resumes and search for online job postings.For the next few days we walked around the city dropping off our resumes at as many schools we could find. It was hit and miss; some schools told us they weren't hiring, while others had us fill out applications, and told us they would contact us. Although we heard from a few people that getting a teaching job in Chiang Mai was difficult due to the competitiveness, we weren't worried. After a few days of job searching we received a call from Moz telling us that there were two jobs available at Regina, the all girls catholic school that we substituted for in January. He said the positions were ours if we wanted them.We gratefully accepted. I would be teaching health to students in first through sixth grade, and Ryan would be teaching English to first, second, third and sixth graders. We were overjoyed by the news. The next day we went to school to sign some paperwork and get our passports photocopied to start the work visa application process. Moz said that it would take a few weeks to hear back from the board of education, and once we got the letter of approval we would need to make a trip to Laos to get our work permits.We were about to leave when Moz told us that if the paperwork didn't come back within the next two weeks we would have to make sure we didn't over stay our tourist visa. We told him that we weren't worried because we had six month tourists visas and they weren't up until July. He looked at us with confusion and asked to see our passports again. With a worried tone of voice and a look of shock, he pointed to our passport stamps and told us we were suppose to leave Thailand on March 1st. My heart sunk. What do you mean we were suppose to leave the country March first? It was now April 9th, what do we do? What are the consequences of staying past our due date? A million questions raced through our minds. Moz could sense our panic and told us to take a seat. He said that we needed to take care of the issue immediately. If we came in contact with the police at all and they found out we had an overstayed visa we would be taken to jail and deported back to the US.  He called Aom who use to work at the immigration center, and had her talk to the office asking what we should do. When he got off the phone he told us that we would need to pay a fine of 500 baht a day, for each day that our visa was over due. We were over due by 40 days, which meant that each of us would have to pay 20,000 baht ( $625). In order to pay this fine we would need to take a bus to the town of Mesiah, on the border of Thailand and Burma, and bring 40,000 baht in cash with us. Once there we would need to go to the border crossing and pay our fine, cross the border into Burma, get our passports stamped, and walk back into Thailand. I took a deep breath and sat in silence for a minute processing the information. All of this was so sudden. I couldn't believe we had been walking around illegally for the past forty days. We were so lucky that we didn't have a run in with the police, otherwise we would be in jail. Looking  back we had a few close encounters, like the motorbike incident, or when we were on the bus to Khao Sok and  a police officer came on board to check everyone's id, but decided to bypass us. My heart skipped a beat at the thought of how close we were to being deported. Here in Thailand if you are past your visa by one day, and a police officer finds out, you can go to jail and be deported. On the other hand, if you voluntarily go to immigration office and admit to overstaying your visa, you will most likely be charged a fine, and not taken to jail, unfortunately, it all depends on the mood of the person working at border, and tomorrow that someone will determine our fate.....

Sukothai 3/28/14-3/30/14

When we got to Sukothai we were a bit exhausted from all of our bus rides, so we walked to the nearest guesthouse. Luckily, we only had to walk a few hundred feet. We checked in, freshened up, and made our way out the door in search for food. After consuming a diet of dried fruit and nuts for our  twenty five hour of bus ride, we were craving real food. About a mile from our guesthouse we came across a restaurant packed with Thai people. With hungry curiosity we walked inside. There were two large buffet tables filled with food. On one table were fruits, vegetables, and meats, and on the other table was already prepared dishes; pasta salad, fried rice, and gelatin desserts. We looked around at the tables and saw that every table had a small charcoal burner, and on this burner people were cooking their meats and veggies. As we stood there in amusement watching people cook their own food, a man approached us asking in Thai if we would like to eat. We nodded yes and he led us to an open table. Unable to communicate because of the language barrier we were unsure of the price and how it worked. We sat at our table for a moment and watched others. After a few minutes I walked to the buffet tables and repeated similar steps to what others were doing. I filled a basket of veggies; cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, and brought it back to the table. I returned to the buffet table and filled a plate with watermelon and pineapple and another with shrimp and chicken shish kabobs. When i returned to the table our waiter brought us a small charcoal BBQ that he placed in the center of the table along with a metal shallow pan. He filled the pan with water and pointed to the vegetables showing me that it was for you cooking veggies. We sat there in excitement for the experiencing of cooking our own food; something we had been greatly missing since being in Thailand. We ate our delicious meat, veggies, and fruit. Through out our meal a few employees would walk over to us with a plate of food; fried rice, meat, or noodles. They would put it on the table, give us a thumbs up sign, and smile. We noticed that they were only doing this for our table. After looking around and noticing we were the only white faces among a hundred Thais in the restaurant, they must not get many foreigners. Because of this they were treating us like royalty, making sure we tried everything. After about an hour of nonstop eating, I couldn't eat any more. As Ryan paid the bill I sat stuffed to my gills at the table counting 22 empty plates on our table. It was by far the most fun and most satisfying eating experience I've ever had.When we left the restaurant I was glad we  walked so we could help digest some of  our food. The next day we rented a motorbike from our guesthouse and road three miles to the ruins of Sukothai, which is known as the "Angkor Wat" of Thailand. Just outside of the entrance to the ruins we rented bicycles. With our bicycles we rode around the ruins and took pictures of the amazing sites. There were old buddha statues, pagodas, and ancient structures. Riding our bikes through the area was a lot of fun. Although it was fascinating to see, a lot of the structures looked the same, and after an hour we had seen it all. After returning our bikes we hopped on our motorbike and road into town and got dinner. The next day we hopped on a five hour bus ride to Chiang Mai.

Khao Sok National Park 3/24/14-3/28/14

Khao Sok
The day we left Surin we were brought by speedboat back to the one horse town of Kuraburi. At the pier we were picked up by the Woman from the Am and Tom company. In the car we asked her what time the next bus to Takua pa was. She told us that the last one departed at 4. I looked at my watch; it was was 3:50. Once again time was on our side. We hurried to the bus station, bought our ticket, and hopped on the bus with out a minute to spare. The ride to Takuapa was a short one. As soon as we hopped off the bus ,we saw a minivan preparing to depart to  Khao Sok. With our luggage we ran to the van, and made our way to the last two empty eats in the back. Forty five minutes later we arrived at Khao Sok national park, where we were greeted by a crew of men,all of whom competitively tried to get our business. They all offered the same service, a night stay at a bungalow, tours of the park, and transportation. We picked a random one, and lucky for us it was a great choice. We were taken by car to a small guesthouse about a mile from where the minivan dropped us off. For 250 baht we were given a bungalow with the basics; a bed and toilet. Our's came with a familiar roommate. At the top of our wall, under the ceiling, we spotted a Tokay gecko. It was a little bit smaller than the one we had in our apartment in Chiang Mai, but had the same coloring and made the same tokay sounds.In the lobby of our guesthouse, we were able to  purchase a two day,one night organized trip to the lake. Although the lake is part of the national park, it is about an hour drive past the park headquarters and hotels, making it a bit of a challenge to visit. For this reason it is less often visited by tourists. This being said it is by far the prettiest part of the national park, and definitely worth the extra money and time to get there. The next morning we arrived with our tour group at the pier around ten am. From there our tour guide, lead our group into a long tail boat, that we then took to the floating houses. The ride over was beautiful. Limestone cliffs topped with lush green jungle popped out of the crystal clear turquoise water. The topography was unlike anything I had seen before. The place was majestic and mysterious in all its natural beauty,and aside from the six floating houses, the lake was practically uninhabited by people. But the true inhabitants of the park were the thousands of species of birds, snakes, reptiles, and mammals that roamed the ground and glided through the canopies. After a quick hour boat ride we arrived at the floating houses;a series of simple wooden shacks strung together by loosely nailed wooden planks, connected to a floating dining area with five picnic tables.In each room there was a mattress and a mosquito net. It was as simple as it could get. The only electricity was in the dining area between the hours of 6pm-10pm. It was basic, but met all of our needs. In addition, meals and  access to kayaks were included in our stay. Our first day at the lake we participated in all of the tour group activities. We swam, hiked, explored a cave, and went on a night safari. The lake was great for swimming, it was clean, and the water was warm. The land surrounding the lake was dense jungle with few hiking trails, because of this the area can only be explored with a tour guide. Our guide was a riot, he was a young thai guy with a great sense of humor. Through out our hike he would hide in bushes and jump out to scare people. He would laugh and sing, and always made sure everyone had a good time. The highlight of our hike was exploring the cave. I have been in some pretty amazing caves in my life, but nothing compared to this experience. This was the real deal,no special lighting, and informational plaques, just raw untouched darkness.The ceiling of the cave was covered with thousands of bats, along with the most beautiful stalagmites.The floor was moistened with water,and in some spots there were small pools with  fish and toads. At one point in our cave hike our tour guide pulled a great prank. He grabbed a very large toad ,and  asked one of the guys in the group if he would hold his camera, then handed the guy the toad. His scream echoed through the cave as he grabbed what he thought was the camera.It was hilarious. About half way through the cave our walking path became very narrow. At one point the water was so deep that only our heads were above the surface. There were a few points where I had to tiptoe to keep my head above the water, and walk side ways to fit between the huge boulders.It was a thrilling and incredibly adventurous experience. After an hour of climbing over slippery boulders in water up to our necks, we finally saw sunlight which guided us out of the cave and back into the jungle. Everyone in the group had their preconceived notions of what the cave would be like, but it was unanimous , we were all blown away by the intensity of our cave exploration. After the cave we were taken back to the floating houses where we were served an amazing dinner of  fish, curry, rice, watermelon, pineapple, stir fry chicken and veggies, and omelets. Everyone enjoyed the food. In between bites of rice, we introduces ourselves and made conversation. There was a family of four from Marin County, a couple from San Francisco, six people from Holland, and a couple from Estonia. Everyone's gregarious nature made it easy to socialize. We talked about where we were from, our impressions of Thailand, and of our traveling experiences. We told everyone about Ko Rok, and of all the interesting things we saw. When we mentioned monitor Lizards, no one had heard of them, so we took out or camera and showed them pictures. Everyone was amazed. It was nice being able to share our experiences and stories with others, as well as hear theirs. For this reason, I love being part of tour groups, not only do you get to do fun activities, but you get to meet people from around the world and  in turn learn about their home country. After we stuffed our tummies with delicious food, our guide took us on a night safari. We all piled into the long tail boat, and road out into the lake. He stopped the boat near the shore and shone a large spot light into the trees. There were many nocturnal animals at the lake and the night safari was the perfect opportunity to spot some of them. Because our tour guide was constantly telling jokes and pulling pranks, none of us believed him when he pointed to the trees and yelled bear. Everyone laughed in disbelief. He responded in a very convincing tone ," no, I don't joke. Its really a bear." It wasn't until someone in the group said they saw it too, that we believed him. Sure enough, we saw a small furry black thing hanging from the tree eating fruit. It was a cat bear. After the night safari, the boat brought us back to the floating houses where we spent the rest of our night socializing in great company. The next morning we woke up to the echoing sounds of gibbons and hornbills. At seven am, everyone in our tour met at the longboat for our morning ride. With our coffee cups in hand we lazily climbed on board and enjoyed the slow ride around the shores of the lake. Early morning was the best time to spot gibbons.After a few minutes of scanning the tops of the canopies we saw gibbons, pig tailed macaques, and hornbills. My favorite was the gibbon. As the sun began to rise higher in the sky the animal sightings became fewer, and we made our way back to the floating house for a pancake breakfast. After breakfast, everyone in the tour packed their things and left the floating houses. Ryan and I stayed behind. We had arranged with the tour guide to stay an extra night at the floating houses, and depart back to town with a different group the next day. After the tour left, we had the place to ourselves.  Ryan and I took this opportunity to do some exploring of our own. We kayaked for over three hours. There was so much to see! The lake was massive, fingering off into side coves and islands. After hours of exploring we kayaked back to the floating houses, exhausted and hungry. For dinner we were served a gourmet six course meal. The food was delicious. We ate to our hearts content. With happy tummies we made our way back to our floating house and finished our night viewing all the amazing pictures and videos we had taken earlier that day. The next morning our alarm went off at 5:45am, signaling that it was time to jump in the kayaks and look for wildlife. The lake looked exceptionally beautiful. The water was a dark  blue, and the jungle capped limestone cliffs  were illuminated orange from the rays of the emerging sun. We rode through the coves stopping along shore to listen to the echoing sounds of gibbons in the trees. We spotted a few hornbills flying overhead, but the most incredible wildlife sighting we had was a small ringtailed macaque. He was high up in the canopy watching Ryan and I as we approached shore in our kayaks. As we got closer he became aggressive and territorial , jumping up and down, breaking large tree limbs, and making crazy sounds. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen from a wild animal. We watched in amusement from our kayaks, enjoying the jungle show this monkey was putting on for us. I felt like it was something straight out of national geographic. We watched for a while, and then made our way back to the floating houses where we packed our things, ate breakfast, and left with the morning tour group.Before going back to the pier the tour guide stopped at one of the beautiful limestone cliffs in the middle of the lake. It was absolutely stunning. The cliff was nested in a small cove surrounded by other tall limestone cliffs,each capped with luscious green jungle terrain.The sky looked extra blue and beautiful with soft white clouds drifting by. The crystal clear water  was even more spectacular with the reflection of the limestone cliffs and jungle tops cascading over its surface . When the boat pulled up to shore we all got out, and continued by foot on a hiking trail. Ryan and I led the group through the jungle, over boulders, and around bushes until we came to a clearing. At this point we had been hiking for an hour and were more than happy to be  greeted by a few Thai men who set up a lunch of fried rice, watermelon, and pineapple for everyone. We sat in the warm sun, eating our lunch, and taking in our beautiful surroundings. After lunch we had thirty minutes to swim before we journeyed back to the pier. Ryan and I took this time to take one last dip in the refreshing water, and capture a few more pictures, to add to the already hundreds of pictures and videos we had from our journey. When the thirty minutes was up, we all piled back in the long tail and made our way back to the pier.When we arrived, twenty of us, plus massive amounts of luggage, were crammed into a twelve person van.Luckily Ryan and I were the first to be dropped off. The tour guide took us to the bus stop in Takuapa. From there we caught an hour long minivan ride to Sathani where we were dropped off at the bus station. A few hours later we were on a night bus from Sathani to Bangkok. The ride was 17 hours long, but went by surprisingly quick. I was happy we paid the extra hundred baht for the nicer bus. The chairs were cushioned and reclined, water and snacks were provided, and they even stopped and fed us dinner. Why dont people ride more buses in Thailand? When our bus got to Bangkok I was immediately happy that we were only there to switch buses. The smog, the traffic, the pollution, it was enough for me to feel insane from inside the bus. When we got to the bus station, we meandered through the crowd and aimlessly walked around looking for a ticket booth. The bus terminal was huge, and not as easy to navigate as the last bus stops, luckily Thai people are very friendly, and if you show any sign of being lost, you will be approached and asked if you need help. With the guidance of a friendly employee we were pointed to the right direction. At the ticket booth we bought a ticket to the next bus to Sukothai. Fortunately, we only had to wait an hour. The ride to Sukothai was five hours, and felt longer than our 17 hour ride to Bangkok, partially because we were awake for the whole ride, and partially because it looked like we were driving through the Midwest. Flat grasslands and rundown houses were all we saw for hours. Around 3pm we reached our destination.

Day 78- 84 Surin Islands 3/18/14-3/23/14

After an hour long speedboat ride from kuraburi we arrived at the surin islands. Surin is made up of two main islands; on one lives a small clan of Burmese villagers called "Moken", the second consists of two campgrounds, the national park headquarters, and a restaurant. There were about a hundred people camping on the island; half Thai and half foreigners. Everyone camping used the tents provided by the national park. We were happy that we had our own; this allowed us the freedom to camp further away from the crowd. We set up camp at the end of the beach in a selcuded cove surrounded by jungle. Every morning we would wake up to the sounds of wild jungle animals. The calls of horn billed birds and macaques would echo through our campsite. At night we could hear hermit crabs crawling over leaves, and  the sounds of flying foxes taking flight. Before coming to Surin we were told by our friend Mark, who we met on Ko Rok, that we should buy a plastic container to store our food, to keep safe from monkeys and rats. With his advice we arrived on Surin prepared, and were happy we did. Our first morning we could see that the rats had chewed through the most absurd of things, like empty foil wrappers, and sandals. Getting advice from other people before traveling is always a good idea, but sometimes there are things you learn on your own, like never leaving your tent open in the jungle. Our first night at Surin, Ryan and I were lying on our sleeping bags in the tent when he reached for the flashlight to shine it on a fly that was pestering him. When he did this I noticed a huge centipede a couple of inches from his head. We read before coming to Thailand that there were Centipedes, and if you were bitten by one you would swell up severly and be bed ridden for a week. Luckily we saw it before it bit us and we turned into umpalumpas. From that point on we made sure to never leave our tent open. Surin had some crazy insects and spiders, but it was also home to one of the coolest mamals ive ever seen; flying lemurs. Unfortunately we didnt see them while they were flying , but we did see a mama lemur in a tree holding a baby under its stomach. They were fascinating creatures. Like Ko Rok Surin also had water monitor lizards, although they were much smaller than the ones on Ko Rok, they were still fascinating to watch. The island also had cobras and pythons, neither of which we saw. The wildlife on surin was abundant, and even more so in the water.Two of our six days on Surin we joined a snorkeling group on a long tail boat and went further out to sea where we encountered, jellyfish, white and black tip reef sharks, sea turtles, and hundreds of different fish. The snorkeling was good, but in comparison Ko Rok had better visibility and a healthy coral reef. Surin use to be the best place in Thailand for snorkeling, unfortunately the tsunami in 2004 changed that. When we werent snorkeling or capturing centipedes in the tent, we were swimming, exploring the mangroves, hiking the jungle,and playing games. No longer novices to the island camping lifestyle we became pretty good at island life. Not that its a hard task to accomplish, but I will take pride in our innovative island games ,like coconut ski ball. A game we created by drawing circles in the sand, giving each circle a different point value. Then using coconuts that had fallen off the trees, we would roll them into the circles.The first person to reach 21 would win. We played this game everyday, along with our usual Frisbee. At night we would lay on our bamboo mat under the stars and play "would you rather"; taking turns asking each other a variety of thought provoking questions as well as some ridiculous ones, like; would you rather have spaghetti for hair or olives for fingers and toes? For two of our daily meals we kept it simple;dried fruit, nuts, or peanut butter and bread. The third meal we would buy from the restaurant. The restaurant reminded me of a large cafeteria.They offered a few convenient amenities such as free water, both hot and cold, and a few power strips for people to charge their electronics. With a hundred people on the island,using the power got pretty competitive. There were times when Ryan and I sat for an hour, waiting for an open outlet to charge the gopro. The hour wait was worth it; considering how many amazing memories we were to capture because of it. Like the rest of our vacations in Thailand our time on Surin was unforgettably amazing.

Day 74-78 Phuket and Kuraburi 3/13/14- 3/17/14

From Koh Lanta we took a three hour ferry to phuket. Learning from past experiences we didnt book a hotel in advance. When we arrived at the ferry port in phucket we hopped in a taxi van and told the driver to take us to a cheap hotel. Within minutes we were dropped off in old phuket town at a cute boutique guesthouse. The price was reasonable $17 a night with free coffee and toast in the morning. I was happy to be in phuket town as opposed to other parts of the city; from what we've  been told it can get very dirty, dangerous, and overall not very pleasant. Phuket town was different;the architecture had a portuguese influence, and the streets were decorated with Chinese style lanterns and colors. It was clean, quaint, and inviting. Our main goals while in phuket were; buy a cell phone, get food for surin island, and figure out how to get to surin by public transportation. To help us accomplish our tasks we rented a motorbike. We had become accustomed to the easy riding on Koh Lanta, that riding in Phuket was a bit intimidating. The streets were busy, the lights were confusing, and no one followed the rules. Our first attempt at navigating the city was successful. We took out a tourist map provided by our guesthouse, and found a tesco lotus supermarket. We memorized our Path; left on the main street, take a right after a gas station, four turns after a temple, etc. The thing about navigating in Thailand, is that even if there are street names on a map, that doesn't mean there will be street signs on the road. The easiest way to navigate is to look for other landmarks. The drive was nerve racking, and I had to close my eyes a few times. When we got to tesco lotus I was relieved. We were able to find about half of the things we needed; instant coffee, tea, pasta, and dried fruit. From here we road to Big C's supermarket where we found the rest of our things. While in phuket we ate the most amazing Thai dish. It was by far our favorite meal in Thailand. We had tempura morning glory topped with fresh squid, shrimp, and a spicy sauce. It was so delicious that we went back two days in a row and ordered the same thing. Near the restaurant we came across a cell phone shop and bought a prepaid thai phone for 1000 baht. We were happy to find out that international calls home would only be 3 baht a minute. Having a cell phone was necessary for planning the rest of our trip. The information we couldnt find online, we were able to find out by calling phone numbers. One of those numbers was for surin. Through conversation we learned that you couldn't cook your own food on surin. Unfortunately we learned this after we bought cans of chili and bags of pasta. We ended up returning most of our food at big C's and keeping a few items like dried fruit and nuts. On our last day in Phuket we decided to take a ride to find the bus station that we would be leaving from the next day. We looked at the map and memorized the route to the best of our ability. Our navigation skills were a little off and we ended up taking a leisure drive. During our ride it began to rain. The rain turned into a down pour, at which point we pulled over until it subsided. Almost everyone on a motorbike did the same. We pulled over in front of a large outdoor market. We decided to use this opportunity to look around a buy some snacks. We ordered delicious fried shrimp and pineapple. When the rain stopped we decided it was best to head back to our hotel while we still remembered the route. The rain stopped but the roads were wet. This was our first time experiencing rain in Thailand, and unfortunately it was while we were riding a motorbike.  On the small road parallel to the market traffic came to a stop, and we slowed down to stop at the light, when the motorbike slid out from under us and we skidded across the lane. Luckily there was no damage to the bike, and besides a few scrapes on our bottoms, we were untouched. A little shaken up, we got back on the bike and road extra cautiously back to our hotel. Once at our hotel we did some last minute research tying up loose ends for our trip. The next morning we checked out and walked with all of our gear to the city bus station. Like most things with us, we got lucky and arrived when the bus was ready to take off. We hopped on,road through town for 15 minutes, and arrived at the main bus station. From here we walked up to the counter and asked the woman for two bus tickets to Kuraburi. Once again our timing was perfect, the bus was to depart in five minutes. We bought our tickets, hopped on the bus, and three hours later we were in Kuraburi. The no reservation, go with the flow, loose plan thing, seemed to be working out for us, so we decided to stick with it. I was glad we did. When we got off the bus in Kuraburi there were two men standing at the station asking where we wanted to go, we told them that we were going to Surin to camp. They couldn't speak English very well, and weren't able to answer my questions, but within minutes a woman in an suv arrived at the station. The Men had called her and told her where we wanted to go. Her English was good, and she told us that we could stay in a bungalow in kuraburi for the night and catch a speedboat to surin the next morning. We accepted her offer, put our bags in her car, and hopped in. She took us to a run down building with a hand painted sign that read "Am and Tom tour", where she answered all of our questions and gave us specific information on Surin Islands. She drove us across the street to a small field with a wooden hut. The accommodation was as basic as it comes; a bed, mosquito net, toilet, and cold shower, but it was only 280 baht a night, so we couldnt complain. She told us that we would be picked up at 8am to have breakfast and then be taken to the ferry where a speed boat would take us to Surin. The rest of the day Ryan and I spent exploring the town. Considering the town only consisted of two streets  this only took about twenty minutes. There was a seven eleven, a small bus station, and  a few small hole in the wall places where you could buy the most random of objects. Fortunately we did most of our shopping in Phuket. The town didnt have much options for buying food but we were able to buy some bananas and oranges at a tiny outdoor market, as well as bread and nuts at seven eleven. Back at our bungalow we packed up and went to sleep to get rest for our new adventure tomorrow.

Day 68 -73 Lanta Round two 3/8/14- 3/13/14

After our amazing week on Ko Rok we returned to the island of  Koh lanta. Leaving Ko Rok wasnt as difficult knowing that we were heading back to Lanta, another beautiful island. This time around our accommodation on koh Lanta would be the budget travelers way.The pattaysia speedboat drop us off at Klong nin beach, a five minute walk from the mong bar. Still in our swim suits, with a weeks worth of sand in our hair, and all of our camping gear strapped to our backpacks, we made the half mile trek in the blistering heat to the mong bar. When we arrived at the sandy little shack , we spotted Mong in the side yard painting his handmade advertisements which read "Mong Bar, In Bud We Trust" and  "Mong Bar, Your Ticket to the Moon".  Mong greeted us with a smile, and led us to a small little field behind his bar, where we set up our tent. Camping at the Mong bar was a funny experience. To the left of the mong bar was a farm with a cow that had the most disturbing mooing sound. Every morning we would be woken up by the sound of this cow that sounded like a baby crying. In addition to the natural calls of nature were the sounds of two of mongs ducks. One of them was a normal duck, that did normal duck things, and the second one was an aggressive and overly horny duck. The second one would chase the other around and step on its neck, causing a disturbing screeching sound. Aside from the ducks and cow, the only other crazy creatures at the mong bar were the customers. There was one regular named Carl. He was a middle aged British man that reminded me of a sloppy version of Vince Vaughn. Every night you could find carl sitting at the end of the bar with three or more empty beer cans, a joint, and talking someones ear off. Carl was a nice guy, but definitely one of those people you start to tune out after 30 minutes of conversation. Our days on Koh Lanta were spent at the beach, and coffee shops with wifi since the mong bar didnt have internet; not a surprise since they didnt even have a shower. joints. At the coffee shops we skyped with family and did our research for planning our next adventures. One of our days on Lanta, Ryan and I went to a cave and waterfall. The hike was short. The first trail brought us to the waterfall. There wasnt much water since it had been four months since the last rain, but it was still a beautiful sight. Close to the waterfall was a small cave where we could see hundreds of bats. This little adventure was a nice break from our hours spent planning our next trip. The second night we were in Lanta we went to the 13th annual Lanta Lanta Festival. This was a lot of fun. We rented a motorbike and road to old koh lanta town where the festival was held. For 5 hours we walked around and ate delicious street vendor food, saw various performances of traditional thai dances, fire shows, and a concert by our new favorite Thai reggae band ; Job to Do. The festival was decorated with brightly colored lanterns and art decorations. Most of the people at the festival were Thai, and to top it off there was no admission fee. Lucky for us we were accidentally in Koh lanta for the festival. This is one of the many things that happen to fall into place and work out for us on our trip. Another very strange coincidence happened while staying at the mong bar. I was sitting on a lounge chair by the fire at the mong bar,Ryan was in the bathroom, and the bar was empty when two motorbikes pulled up. Two couples got off of the motorbike and walked up to the bar. As they were approaching I recognized one of them. It was an old friend from Santa Rosa that I hadnt seen in a couple of years. At first I was skeptical, thinking that the chances of it being him were so slim that it couldnt be possible. I stared at him wanting to make sure that I wasnt mistaken. When they sat at the bar, I got up and followed them; sitting adjacent to where they were. We made eye contact, and instantly he said my name in disbelief, getting up and hugging me. Neither of us could believe it; here we were,half way across the world, on a small island in thailand, at an empty little bar shack, and we run into each other. I was in shock by this completely serendipitous moment. Elijah and his friends hung out with Ryan and I by the fire for the rest of the night. They told us of their traveling experience through out South east asia, and we did some reminiscing of the past, with a few interjections to talk about the strange coincidence of running into each other. Early that day Ryan and I bought bananas and chocolate to cook on the fire. I wrapped up six, and cooked them on the fire to share with everyone. I didnt think that the moment could have been any more ironic or comical, until Elijah told us that they were at the mong bar earlier in the day and met Carl, who told them that there were two Californians camping in the back of the bar. He said they are "Amber and Ryan from California, maybe you know them?" He jokingly laughed and said "yeah, because everyone in California knows eachother". Come to find out, we did know each other. It's situations like these, that make you realize how small the world is, and how connected we all are. Our five days on Lanta were full of unexpected and unplanned adventures and coincidences. Although we only spent ten days total on Koh Lanta, we felt like that place began home. We got to know the island very well, made a few new friends, ran into old ones, went to a festival, drove around the entire island, saw two concerts, and created a life time of memories.

Day 60-67 Koh Rok Island 3/2/14- 3/8/14

The Ride to Ko Rok was a smooth one. We hopped on the Pattaysia boat,next to our hotel at 8am. We were the first passengers on board. From there we picked up twenty more at various stops on Koh Lanta. Around 10am we arrived at Ko Rok. The boat dropped us off at the ranger station, and then took the rest of the passengers out to snorkel. At this time Ryan and I found ourselves a spot to set up our tent. There were about 40 tents already assembled; for 100 baht a night you could rent one from  the ranger station. It was a good deal, and the few people that camped took advantage of this offer, but we didn't need it since we brought our backpacking tent from home. Within 30 minutes we set up our tent, hammocks, and unpacked our things. Around lunch time the Pattaysia boat along with six other boat companies came rolling back to the island with loads of tourists. Each company provided the same lunch; chicken and potato curry, veggies, rice, watermelon, pineapple, and water. We joined the Pattasysia group and ate our free lunch. The men working for the company were very generous; they invited us to join them every day for a free lunch. By 1:30pm all the  tour boats left the island, leaving the Rangers, a few campers, and Ryan and I to have the island to ourselves. We spent the rest of our day exploring. The island was a true paradise. The water was warm and relaxing. The color was beautiful; baby blue and turquoise, with perfect clarity. I felt like I was swimming in a heated swimming pool;It was an incredible spot for snorkeling as well. The serene calm water, made it easy to swim. The view under the ocean was even more exquisite than above. Colorful coral, black tip reef sharks, Angel fish, Clown fish, sword fish, sting rays, sea horses, sea cucumbers, and bioluminescence, were just a few of the many creatures we discovered.With so many amazing things to see and explore, the days went by fast.At times we would unknowingly swim the entire length of the island,completely immersed in our  exploration of the Andaman Sea; for this we were glad we had the gopro, to capture some of our amazing footage.In addition to the incredible sea life, the island was home to the second largest lizard in the world; the monitor lizard. These fascinating prehistoric creatures are around 6 feet long. Everyday we would  see them wandering around the campgrounds lazily looking for food. Although they are pretty docile, if you get too close to them they would swing their tail in defense. Aside from all the wildlife exploring our time was spent; playing Frisbee, collecting beautiful sea shells, lounging in our hammocks, and hiking. All of our days followed a similar routine. We would eat breakfast around 8am, oatmeal or dried fruit. After breakfast we would swim, play frisbee, or snorkel. Around 11:30am the Pattaysia boat would arrive with lunch, and we would join them.From here we would sit on the beach and watch the tourists do their photoshoots. Everyday it was the same scenario; the girl posing a million different ways, and the annoyed boyfriend or husband playing camera man.The photoshoots would end by 1pm, when all the tourists and boats would leave. At this time we would have the island to ourselves, and we would spend a few hours snorkeling. After we would cook an early dinner; pasta, potatoes, or canned chili. Then to help digest our food we would go on an evening hike. Our twenty minute walk down a very long tile path, followed by a steep flight of tile stairs, would bring us to a cliff overlooking the andaman sea. We later found out that the path and stairs were put on the island in 2001, when the first French version of Survivor ,named  "Koh Lanta", was filmed on the island. I thought this was an interesting fact. At the view point we would watch the most beautiful sunsets.Afterwards,we would take our time walking back to camp, stopping along the beach to watch the hermit crabs. Back at camp we would end our night with tea and chocolate bananas cooked over the fire. For seven amazing we followed this routine. During this time we made two friends; Bell and Mark. Bell was a gay thai man from Bangkok, with a great sense of humor and friendly personality. He camped on Ko Rok two of the nights we were there.Mark was a middle age man from Denmark, who smiled a lot and spoke with great passion about traveling. The four of us had some great conversations. Mark told us of some amazing places in Thailand and south east asia that we need to visit, and Bell gave us his cell number and email so we could contact him if we ever need him to translate, or if we plan a trip to Bangkok. Making two new friends on the island was a fun unexpected surprise. One of the many highlights of our trip was seeing the bioluminescence. On our last night at Ko rok we put on our swim suits,grabbed or snorkeling gear, and swam in the water. The experience was magical. Every time we waved our hands, stomped the ground, or moved, blue lights would swirl in the water.It was an incredible sight. I was having so much fun that I couldnt hear the park rangers in their boat, as they politely yelled "excuse me". I was swimming right where they were trying to park their boat. The rangers were nice guys.They were always intrigued by what Ryan and I cooked. They would come over to where we were cooking dinner and look in all of our pots, point at the food, smile, and nod. They didnt speak English, so all communication was through body language. Our dinners were very different from theirs. Every night they would bbq their daily catch. One night they gave Ryan and I bbq squid and tuna, it was incredibly delicious.Our Ko Rok camping experience was remarkable. Everyday it felt like we were playing the role of mermaids under the water, and adventure explorers on land. The setting was relaxing and romantic. It felt like we were on our honeymoon. The entire experience was a dream come true and one I will always remember and cherish forever.

Day 59 Monkey thieves 3/1/14

This morning we woke up and caught a ride to our motorbike. From there we road to the Southern part of the island to get breakfast. We ate at a delicious little cafe, that served amazing omelets. After breakfast we road to the National park at the Southern most tip of the island. The national park was beautiful. There were hiking trails, beaches, a light house, and wild monkeys. Unfortunately our time at the park was limited since we had to return our rented motorbike by mid afternoon. Our first stop was the lighthouse. It was a short walk to the top and well worth it. The view was beautiful,you could see all of Koh Lanta and the Andaman sea. After some great photo ops, we waked down to the beach where we saw adorable monkeys. Within a few minutes of watching them; they stole an orange from a man and a pink glittery wallet from a woman. Luckily, Ryan and I did research on the national park before coming and read the comments about the klepto monkeys, so we were prepared to not carry anything on us. After watching the monkeys we went on a short hike through the jungle. We only had time to go a  portion of the way, before we had to leave the park to return our bike. On our ride back,we stopped at a produce stand and bought; potatoes, onions, bananas, mangoes, and a few bread rolls. From here we rode straight to the rental place next to our hotel and returned the bike. When we got there the guys working inspected the motorbike with a fine tooth comb. They pointed out "scratches, and dents" that were supposedly from us. They didnt speak any English, which made communication almost impossible. We ended up paying them 300 baht for "damages". We reluctantly paid, and left as fast as we could, before they could find anything else to charge us for. The rest of the day was lazily spent on the beach near our hotel. Before bed we packed our things and made sure we were set to go for tomorrow's island adventure.

Day 58 Reggae Party 2/28/14

2/28/14 Reggae Party
 Throughout Koh Lanta were posters advertising a reggae concert on the beach .  We looked up the bands on you tube. There were three reggae bands; two thai and one Malaysian. We decided to rent a motorbike and check it out. The concert didnt start until 8:30pm, so we had all day to ride around and explore the island. Our first stop was the rasta baby bar to buy our tickets for tonight's show. The tickets were only 300 baht. After buying our tickets we got lunch at a restaurant on the beach; veggie sandwiches and smoothies. The food was good and the view was incredible. The beach had beautiful white sand and the water was a beautiful baby blue. From here we rode the motorbike around the island. The ride was gorgeous. We drove through jungle, beach cities, and farm towns. Along the way we stopped in Old Koh Lanta town, which reminded me of a small pirate town. The buildings were wooden and many had piers in the water with small fishing boats. We stopped in a local coffee shop and ordered lattes. After our quick stop we hopped back on the bike and continued our ride. The drive was an easy one. There was one main road that looped around the entire island,and it was well paved. The roads were mostly empty, and the drivers were a lot less aggressive than the drivers in Chiang Mai. We stopped a few times to fill up on gas. There were a few main gas stations, but most gas was sold in glass bottles on the side of the road.  It was an interesting set up. Most of the stops were set up in the front yard of someones house; It looked like little lemonade stands all over the island, with a homemade wooden sign with "gasoline" painted on it. Gas was 40 baht a liter. When the sun set we made our way back to our hotel to drop off our things and change for the Reggae Party. We arrived shortly after 9. There were a few people inside at the bar, but most people were outside. The outdoor area was sectioned off with a green mesh net.There was a stage for the bands, an outdoor bar for coctails, and a large open area for dancing. The first band that played was a Thai reggae band with great instrumentals and voices. Their style of music was a little slow, so most people stayed sitting. In between the first set and the second band, Ryan and I walked down the street to the Mong bar. At the Mong bar, the owner greeted us warmly, recognizing us from the day before. He served us a drink, and told us he would be at the concert later. After we finished we headed back to the Reggae concert just in time for the second set. The next band played happy upbeat music, which brought everyone to the dance floor. The last band was amazing. By the time they got on stage it was almost one in the morning, and the place was packed with Thais and foreigners.  Although we couldnt understand the majority of the lyrics, we could feel the music. Thats the beauty of music, it is a universal language in which everyone can appreciate and feel its power. It was a magical experience, to be on a beautiful beach in Thailand with a melting pot of people from all different cultures, dancing, and enjoying the night together. At the end of the night, we took a walk on the beach under the stars. The water was beautiful; we saw bioluminescence. It felt like we were in Avatar. Every footstep in the sand left behind a trace of blue light.We had fun watching the blue lights. Before we knew it, it was three in the morning and we were exhausted. To be safe we left our motorbike at the venue and caught a tuk tuk ride back to our hotel. The ride was entertaining. About ten minutes into our ride, we came across another tuk tuk full of people. The driver ran out of gas, so we drove him to the nearest gas station and brought him back to his car. The rest of our ride, was loud and crazy. Our driver was blasting music, with neon flashing lights on the roof of the tuk tuk, and he pulled down a screen to play a strange music video of dancing skeletons. The ride was comical. Everyone we passed stared at as in amusement. I felt like we were in Vegas on a party bus or in a strange circus show. When we finally made it back to our hotel, we passed out immediately.

Day 57 Mong Bar 2/27/14

Today we decided to explore the island by bicycle. The long road that stretches from the northern tip to the southern tip of the island made it easy to navigate. We packed a small bag of sunscreen, swimsuits, and towels. The ride was beautiful. We passed many cute communities with beachfront bars and restaurants. Along the way we stopped at a few deserted beaches and took a dip . The weather was perfect; 85-90 degrees with a cool breeze, and almost no humidity.  Although it never felt too hot, we religiously lathered up with sunscreen .Koh Lanta is directly on the equator and the intensity of the sun is very strong. We rode almost to the end of the island. Our last stop was at the Mong bar; a fun, laid back bar, off the side of the road. The place was small and simple, with great vibes. There were hammocks, outdoor lounge chairs, a fire pit, Rasta tapestries, and signs for  magical brownies and shakes for sale. The owner of the bar was a middle aged Thai man. Shirtless and barefoot,  he greeted us with a smile, and asked if we wanted to see elephants on the moon. We laughed and told him we were good with banana smoothies. We sat and enjoyed our smoothies. I asked him if he knew of a place in Koh Lanta where we could camp. He said that we could put up a tent in the field behind the bar. He said he charges backpackers 100 baht a night to camp, and that we could use the bathrooms and shower. Stoked by the cheap price and convenience of his location we told him we would take him up on his offer after we returned from ko rok. After our relaxing break at the Mong bar, we rode back to the bicycle rental shop near our hotel to return our bikes. The ride took forever. On the ride back Ryan's bike decided to break down. The gears weren't working,making a simple ride into a strenuous one. We took turns riding the broken bike until we reached the shop. After returning the bike we went to the beach near our hotel and spent the rest of our day swimming, exploring, eating delicious fruit, and relaxing.

Day 56 Perfect Sunset 2/26/14

This morning we woke up early to the sound of a whistling bird. It was our first time seeing Koh Lanta in the daylight, and it was quite a sight to see. The water was a vibrant turquoise baby blue, and was almost as still as lake water. We walked to a coffee shop nearby and got iced coffees. After we ate breakfast at one of the waterfront restaurants; eggs, toast, and fruit. From here we made our way back to our room where we got into our swim suits, and packed our beach bag for our daily adventure. On the main road we saw a sign for a nearby beach. Shortly after we saw a convenient store that rented used bikes. Although the  bikes were very run down and in poor condition, it was the only place we had come across that had bikes for rent, so we decided to give it a try. Half way down the road my bike started to make a strange noise, and started going really slow. We turned around and exchanged it for a slightly better one. The first beach we came across was a very long white sand beach, that had very few people. We locked up our bikes, lathered up the sunscreen, and dove in. The water was warm like a bath tub, and stayed shallow for a while. We swam for a while. There were many beautiful shells on the beach, and we even saw a few sea cucumbers, but aside from that we didnt spot much sea life. After a few hours we decided to hop on our bikes and ride further down the road. We went about another half of mile and came to a dead end. There was a small tree covered hill, and a rocky sea shore on the other side.There were no buildings or people in the area. We locked up our bikes and took a walk to check it out. The rocky shore had many small tide pools with baby crabs and fish. We walked along the shore for a while and ventured out to two small rocky peaks. We climbed one of them and got a great view of the Andaman sea, as well as the long stretch of beach on Koh Lantas western shore. On the walk back to our bikes we saw two brahminy kites also known as the red backed sea eagle. They were beautiful birds, and by far the largest we've seen in Thailand. Our spontaneous bike ride lead us to a beautiful secluded spot and allowed us to see a few fun creatures we wouldn't have spotted otherwise. When we got back into town we ate dinner at the restaurant near our hotel. We ordered falafel wraps, they were surprisingly delicious.After dinner we hurried down to the beach to catch sunset. We made it with no time to spare. It was the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen. The Sun looked like a huge bloody orange fireball in the sky. It resembled the sunset in the Lion King. The View spectacular and was a great way to end our fun day.

Day 55 Island first day 2/25/14

This morning we woke up, got coffee, and headed to the airport for our 12:30 flight to Krabi. The plane was about an hour late departing, we arrived in Krabi around 3:30. From Here we caught a bus to Krabi town, followed by a minivan,and finally a car ferry which took us to our hotel on Koh lanta. We arrived at our hotel at 7pm. When we got there the sun had already set. We checked into our guesthouse, which was a small quaint little building on a wooden pier over the water. Our location was superb. There were many sea food restaurants, cute shops, and beaches nearby. We ate at a beach front restaurant that had amazing curry and rice. Afterwards we walked around the town a bit. The town was cute, and was less populated than what we were accustomed to in Chiang Mai. The temperature was surprisingly cool at night; a breezy 70 degrees. We got some ice cream at a cute little parlor down the street from our hotel before making our way back to our hotel to sleep.

Day 54 Possible Jobs 2/24/14

Today we walked to school to pay the rest of the class fee. At the school we talked to Moz for a bit. He told us that when we were done with our traveling he might be able to get us jobs at the Regina all girls Catholic school. The idea of this made us really excited; Regina is a prestigious school, and working there would be a great opportunity for us. After we left the school we walked to another health food store to find all natural yogurt to help my stomach. From Here we went to our favorite Irish Pub and got salads for dinner. The walk back to our hotel was long but enjoyable. At the hotel we packed up our things, and made sure everything was ready for the morning. Tomorrow we will be Koh Lanta bound!

Day 53 Salt Water Cleanse 2/23/14

Today we took a long hour walk to a health food store to get pink Himalayan salt for a body cleanse. The walk was a little sketchy, but well worth it. The store was really neat. It was similar to Whole Foods, and had a great variety of healthy organic food. When we got back to our hotel we did the cleanse, and spent a good portion of our morning skyping with family and friends. Afterwards we explored our surroundings. We walked to a nearby coffee shop and got some delicious ice lattes and then had a late lunch/dinner at a restaurant inside the moat area. Back at our hotel we meditated and watched a movie.

Fasting Experience

Fasting experience:
Day 1: I didnt feel hungry during the day, but at bedtime my stomach was growling. I drank plenty of water which kept my stomach satisfied. I felt light, and my energy seemed to be normal.

Day 2: I woke up without hunger. I felt energetic for the first five hours of being awake. During the day my stomach growled a lot and I felt hungry. By early evening my hunger stopped. My back molars began to have a weird soft, chalky texture. My thoughts were consumed by food. I couldn't stop thinking of recipes and different food combinations. The majority of my conversations with Ryan were about food, and what I wanted to eat. My food cravings were healthy. I craved watermelon, bananas, peanut butter, almonds, avocados, and grapes. At bed time my stomach felt empty, but there was no growling.

Day 3: I woke up feeling hungry, I also had some mild lower stomach cramps, both went away after the first hour of being awake. My legs felt weak today. I felt light. I knew that any energy I exerted needed to be minimal. I got up a few times too quickly and felt a headrush. I was aware of this and walked slowly, and got up in increments; first knees, then standing. My taste buds seem different. The water I drink now tastes sweet. Not a yummy sweet, but a mild strange sweet taste, and my teeth still feel soft and chalky. I constantly feel like I want to brush my teeth. I am not thinking of food nearly as much as I did yesterday. In fact food has barely been on my mind. My body feels like it does after being sick, slow, weak, light, and low energy. I feel like I am recovering from an illness. My energy and vitality comes in waves. It is now 5pm and I feel great. I feel like I have a lot of energy and my limbs no longer feel weak, and my hunger is gone completely.

Day 4: I barely felt hungry all day. My will power seems stronger than its ever been. I felt as though someone could lay a feast out in front of me and I wouldnt be tempted to eat anything. My body has changed. Before fasting I had an excruciating pain in my right knee from doing an improper lung the week before, and today I woke up and the pain was completely gone. I bent down on the toilet, which would normally send a shooting pain in my knee, when I realized, that I did it with ease, the pain was completely gone. The whites of my eyes are brighter, and my skin complexion is clearer. My face is also peeling its dead skin. I feel like I am chameleon undergoing a strange but amazing transformation.

Day 5: Today I have felt pretty good. My energy is a little low. I feel thinner. I am not very hungry, but I am starting to miss food a lot and I'm thinking about it more than usual. Tomorrow I will end the fast and eat so I can build up energy to walk down the steep steps of the giant temple.

Post Fasting day 1:
This morning I started off with a small banana. I ate very slowly, making sure each bite was chewed as much as possible before swallowing. It was the most delicious thing I'd ever tasted. At lunch they served spinach and green beans as one of their sides. I took a scoop, and ate it with great pleasure.  Around 4pm I ate a few peanuts and three small apple slices. The smallest amount of food kept me feeling satisfied all day. I felt as thought I ate normal meals. My energy immediately went up, and I felt I had never fasted. I was really surprised by how quickly I felt normal again. If I would have known I would have fasted a few more days, but at the same time it was so enjoyable to have food.