Same Same...but Better

Hello from phenomenal Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam! We are writing to you slightly sunburned and full from a decadent dinner of grilled shrimp and pork with delicious Vietnamese seasonings - life is good! It feels like years since our last blog. Since we last wrote, we spent a grand total of 14 hours in Nha Trang before impulsively hopping on another overnight bus to get to Saigon and Ms. Caitlin Blodget. Our second overnight bus was much like the first, although we got top bunks this time and arrived at our destination at 5am (2 hours earlier than expected) to our driver blasting what sounded like Jock Jams Volume 3 (Venga Boys, Aqua, vintage Britney Spears). Bleary eyed, we took a cab to the hotel where we planned to meet Caitlin and learned that we would not be able to check into our room for several more hours so we laid out in the lobby until it was the sun was up and then set our in search of food, only to come back to the hotel and splurge on the breakfast buffet. Caitlin arrived late in the morning and we had a joyous reunion filled with US Weekly and Lauren's long awaited Vanity Fair. Since we were all exhausted from our travels, we spent most of the afternoon lounging by the rooftop pool (Thank you Pam and Dudley!!) before setting our to explore Saigon. The traffic in Saigon is mind blowing, we could watch it for hours and not get bored, but we were all surprised by how manageable the city still felt. Our second day in Saigon we moved into a guesthouse in backpackerville and did some more exploring, including a trip to the War Remnants Museum. The museum was fascinating yet depressing, it inspired us all to read more about the Vietnam War since none of us had since high school. While Saigon was a nice city, by the end of the second day we were definitely ready to leave city and hit the beach!

We hopped a flight to Phu Quoc Island on Sunday and have been living it up here with $4 beach massages, gorgeous sunsets, delicious food and daily adventures ever since. Our first full day on Phu Quoc, we rented motorbikes and set our exploring the southern half of the island. Despite the fact that we were all motorbike virgins, the day was a great success and we got to see many beautiful sites, go to some lovely beaches and we topped the day off with finding the New Zealand ice cream shop in town (could this place get any better?!). The next day we dedicated to lounging on the beach and enjoying massages, we did a really good job with that assignment. Today we took an all day boat ride to several islands off the southern coast of Phu Quoc for some fishing and snorkeling. We had tons of fun jumping off the boat, snorkeling around some lovely reefs, lounging on deserted beaches and creeping on the cast of characters that were also on our trip - joyous. Tomorrow, Lauren and Trish are going scuba diving off the north shore of the island while Caitlin tries to catch up to their level of tan on the beach. Clearly we are having a great time! We really love Phu Quoc and feel so lucky to be here now before its tourism industry gets more built up. Sadly, we hear they are planning to put in several golf courses and turn it into a new Phuket. We really hope that doesn't actually happen. This island is still quite undeveloped, only about half of the roads are paved, and many of the locals are still living the way they have been for years and most don't speak English, which is refreshing after being in more touristy areas. The only real gripe we have is the trash, it is everywhere. The beaches and the ocean are the dump for the island, which is heartbreaking. Maybe we will move back and try to raise some environmental awareness!

We can't believe it is almost time to leave Vietnam, our whirlwind tour of this country has been a blast and we wish we could stay longer! We may or may not get to see more of the Mekong Delta on our way to Cambodia, we are working out our border crossing logistics now. However, we are quite excited to get to Cambodia, where we plan to visit Kampot, Kep, Phonm Penh and Siem Reap! We will blog when we get there and will try to post more pictures soon, although that may just have to wait until we get back to Bangkok or to Shanghai. We miss all of you and wish you could all be here with us on our adventure!

xoxo,
T, L & C

P.S. Trish would like to note that she came up with the slogan "Same Same...but better" so if you see it on some tshirts, perhaps being sold by a Vietnamese man named "Toto," you know where it came from!

Good Morning Vietnam

Good Morning Everyone! We have had quite the eventful few days in Vietnam. After flying into Hanoi from Luang Prabang we quickly discovered that Vietnam roads are full of motorbikes, cows, and kamikaze bus drivers. We were instantly exhilerated yet terrified by the streets of Hanoi. But the Backpackers Hostel we stayed at made everything okay. We got delicious food at Little Hanoi (the original not the copy-cat) and booked ourselves on a possible booze cruise to Halong Bay. The trip to Halong Bay ended up being a delight, minus the 3 hour drive there which was like a path to hell. But once we were on board and handed sombreros we knew we had booked on the right boat. Halong Bay can only be described as mystical and enchantingly beautiful. The weather is almost always hazy so the 3,000 karst islands pop out like something you would read about in a fairytale storybook. We had a fun group of characters which really contributed to the overall experience. We kayaked, spelunked, feasted, and treated ourselves to many Hanoi Vodka cocktails. After two days on the Bay and another car ride from Hell we returned to Hanoi for some divine street food and a 14 hour overnight train ride to Hoi An, which we shared with a nice smelly French couple.

Hoi An is another UNESCO World Heritage Site like Luang Prabang and we enjoyed it to the fullest. Hoi An is famous for its tailors and we took full advantage of their services. We each had two winter coats made to our measurements for "Cheap Cheap" and they look like something out of a J.Crew catalog ("Same Same...But Different" as they say in Southeast Asia). We are so pleased that we want to come back with the actual catalog and have everything copied for a fraction of the price. Not too sound too fatty but the food is amazing and Hoi An's specialities are just as good as we had heard. We feasted at the Blue Dragon, which not only has scrumptious grilled fish wrapped in banana leaves, but also gives a portion of their proceeds to programs for street kids. By happy coincidence we were in town the night of the Full Moon which meant we enjoyed a Lantern Festival on the river. Lucky us. Our second day in Hoi An we rented bikes and cruised down to a secluded beach and enjoyed our first dip in the South China Sea. We picked up our jackets which, we can't wait to show off back in the States, and boarded a bus that took us around the block and put us on another bus (typical Asia) which was our overnight bus/chariot to Nha Trang. The bus consisted of rows of three bunk beds across with pods for our feet. To give you a mental image, neither of us could fully stretch our legs and it felt like we were lying in dentist chairs. As characters of all different kinds packed into the bus we handled the situation by cracking open some beers, munching on some Ritz crackers and Oreos and peanut butter, and setting up shop in the aisle with our cards. We were continuously interrupted with new guests but halfway into the 12 hour tumultuous bus ride we picked up a permanent "aisle mate," an adorable Vietnamese boy who literally slept in the aisle in between us. We were nice enough to give our blankets to him to use as a pillow instead of the water bottle he was currently using. Still wasn't a comfortable ride for any of us, but we made it in one piece, although Lauren wasn't sure she would be able to wake Trish out of her drug-induced slumber. We are now in Nha Trang "the Cancun of Vietnam" and going to take a nap on the beach before we book ourselves on a night train to Saigon, and more importantly, to Ms. Caitlin Blodget.

All in all Vietnam is wonderful and we can't wait to spend the second leg of our journey here with Caitlin. We plan to treat ourselves to a few days on Phu Quoc Island before exploring the Mekong Delta and heading to Cambodia. Now time for breakfast and beach naps.

Xoxo,
T&L

Buckets and Beach Classes

Hello again everyone! We just returned from Koh Phi Phi and as usual are exhausted from taking the cheapest travel options available. Last week we had a little change in our teaching schedule. With an abundance of volunteers for the schools we looked around to see where else our services might be needed. Surprisingly we didn't need to look much further than our favorite beach bars. So we trotted on down to the beach with a paper that had thai writing on it stating our FREE english teaching services. We ended the day with four groups of eager new students, including bartenders and masseuses. The next day we returned with a pink plastic briefcase (We will be sure to include a photo of it soon) that was full of homemade language flashcards. Our day was exhausting but glorious and hilarious. Our beach students are just as eager and fun as the kids at the schools. Bonus is that they give us free food, drink, and hand massages while we teach. Pretty sweet gig. We were jazzed to semi understand some thai spoken by our student Joy's adorable son. Very impressive. We had to say goodbye to two of our beloved fellow volunteers, Sarah and Barbara. We sent them off with a fun night of eating and dancing and lantern lighting. It is now safe to say that no matter how hard we try we will never be as sassy as Barbara. We will miss the ladies but are sure we will see them again in the future.

This past weekend we ventured out of Khao Lak by bus and boat to Koh Phi Phi Island. We met up with our fabulous Canadian friends who had already checked out the aggressive bucket situation and found the best street food vendors. The first hour on Phi Phi was distressing to say the least as it was more difficult to find accommodations than we had anticipated and Lauren had low blood sugar and we were both taken aback by how touristy the island was. Kind of felt like Nassau Spring Break 2003. But once we had found our beautiful beach bungalow and gotten some pad thai in our systems we were good to go. We spent Friday night gallivanting around the island, slurping buckets, dancing with underage European boys, and eating copious amount of street food, including chicken legs that HAD to be bought at 3 am, and Nutella Banana Pancakes with a touch of Peanut Butter. Yummmmmm!!! The highlight of the night was when we left our friend Jamie alone for an hour and when we found him again he had a fresh tattoo on his chest. Clearly it was a night to remember and now that Jamie has Bruce tattooed on his chest he will never forget it and neither will we (Parents we did not come home with tattoos in case you were wondering......). Saturday the six of us hired a longboat with a cowboy hat wearing driver to go beach-hopping and snorkeling. Our first stop was Monkey Beach which was obviously covered in monkeys and we watched some girl get a little too close to the monkeys and, after getting bit, probably walked away with rabies.... Glad we didn't try to pet them!! The highlight of the outing was going to Maya Bay, otherwise known as "The Beach" from the film of the same title. We snorkeled, sunbathed, and floated in the gorgeous waters. It was truly breathtaking and we enjoyed every second of it. Saturday night we were all worn out so we feasted on the most delicious massaman curry at Papaya (You must eat there if you go to Phi Phi, huge yummy portions). The restaurant was amazing once we got over the cats sleeping in the food and drink refrigerator!!! T.I.T (This is Thailand. Then we curled up with buckets of popcorn and candy to watch bootleg 30 cent DVDs and surprisingly we were able to go to bed early despite the fact that our bungalow was literally shaking from the beach party next door. All in all an epic weekend and we can't wait to meet up with our Canadian friends again, either in North or South America.

We can't believe that only a month ago we were indulging in Maher's divine lasagna at our going-away Family Dinner and have now been in Thailand for almost a month!!! It will be weird saying goodbye to Khao Lak and the beaches but we are very excited to venture north to Laos. If anyone has any must-do tips for Laos please let us know ASAP. We will post pics this week and try to do another blog before we leave. Hope all is well and we miss you all!!!
xoxo
T&L

Cooking and climbing

Hello and happy belated Valentines Day! Since our last post we have become Thai chefs and rad rock climbers. Last week we taught everyday and continued to absolutely love it, the kids just couldn't be more fun! We took a Thai cooking class at the restaurant/bar we frequent and had so much fun learning the Thai culinary arts. Goi, our teacher, took us to the local market to buy all of the ingredients, it was quite an experience. The market has everything from dragonfruit to fresh shrimp paste to pig faces and whole chickens with the heads and feet still attached. We learned how to make red curry with chicken and pineapple, pad thai, papaya salad, spring rolls and bananas in coconut milk. It was a sumptuous feast and we had to teach through food comas after. It was like Thanksgiving. Since we are accustomed to sharing 1 dish per meal, each having our own 5 dishes was a bit overwhelming, but joyous! Now we can't wait to hit up the Asian markets in SF and show off our skills at a family dinner, get excited!

This weekend we headed out of Khao Lak for a weekend on the beaches off of Krabi. We stayed on Ton Sai and also visited Pranang and Railay. The landscape was totally surreal, pictures do no justice. There is just something so cool about limestone cliffs meeting the turquoise water. All of the beaches are only accessible by longtail boats and there are no cars in the little beach towns, it's such a treat. Getting there on Friday was a bit of an ordeal because there were strong winds and rough seas and obese Germans in our little boat and we thought we were going to tip several times, but luckily we made it unscathed. Ton Sai is a total trip. It is a rock climbing haven, most of the people live there for months on end and climb everyday and party every night. The beach bars reeked of reggae and reefer in a good way and the people were beyond chilled. It was one of the first places we met any Americans and it was chock full of Canadians, 4 of which we befriended on the beach and spent Valentines Day dinner with at a lovely Indian restaurant called Tali Leaf, a must visit spot for anyone who finds themselves in Ton Sai. We also treated ourselves to oil massages on Valentines Day, much more relaxing than the traditional Thai massages we experienced last time. This morning we got up bright and early and went climbing. It was totally different climbing on limestone versus what we are used to in the Northeast, each route was so unique. Our arms still feel like jello, but it was a lot of fun and we look forward to returning for some more climbing in the future, maybe after we hit the rock gyms for a bit back home and we will bring all of you climbing fanatics with us!

After 1 longtail boat and 3 buses today for a total of $10 and 5 hours, we are glad to be home and filled up on a dollars worth of our favorite street noodles. This week we plan to be super thrifty and solely survive off of pb & js and street food to save up for our final weekend in Thailand which will be spent on the beaches of Koh Phi Phi. If you need to visualize what that will be like, rent the epic film "The Beach." Hopefully the weird video game drug sequence will not factor in.

Hope all is well back home! Keep us posted on your lives and try to come visit us! We have both been able to get some pics up on facebook so be sure to check them out, more to come soon.

xoxo
T&L

Everything happens for a reason

Greetings from Khao Lak! It's been a hot and sunny 2 days in paradise. We were supposed to start our project yesterday, but Steve had fallen ill so we headed to the beach! We did a long walk, discovered many fun beach bars and massage huts and got some good color slash Lauren is living off of aloe since she got a nice sunburn from Trish doing a poor job putting sunscreen on her back. Thanks Trish! But the beach was heaven regardless! Our lunch consisted of ice cold Chang beers and nuts at the Freedom Bar (actually spelled "Freeom" on the sign) and ice cream, delish! Last night we discovered that Steve is actually quite ill and is shutting down Fun 4 Kids for the month of February. Lucky for us, the volunteer network is so close knit in KL that we were able to hook up with Volunteer Teacher Thailand and will be teaching in schools and orphanages for the next 3 weeks, we couldn't be happier! The kids are beyond joyous and the other volunteers are so lovely and fun to work with. This situation is turning out to be better than we had hoped, clearly everything happens for a reason!

Life in KL is beyond laid back and lovely. It is a quirky and quaint town with a nice slow pace. All of the locals couldn't be friendlier, our favorite so far is Lin the barman at Everyday Bar who makes us special shakes and understands that we split EVERYTHING so it all comes with 2 forks and 2 straws. Our diet is consisting of fruit shakes, banana pancakes, Chang beer and thai food (we'll order any dish under $3 and have gotten to try many new yummy foods!). Luckily, Lauren's iron stomach is holding strong and Trish has faired much better than she thought she would. Lauren is starting her dive certification class tomorrow and if all goes well, we will head to the Similan Islands this weekend for some world-class diving! We will update you on that next week. Can't wait to share many fun stories from the classroom, we are sure there will be many, these kids are clowns! More photos to come soon if the hex that has been placed on Lauren's camera connecting to the computer is lifted. We have some gems to share! Trish thinks it's all in Lauren's head, but we all know that technology and Lauren don't really mix. Fingers crossed it works out!

Hope all is well with all of you and that you are enjoying reading the blog as much as we enjoy writing it.

Time for cards and a small beer which we share, obviously.

xoxo
T & L

Bye Bye Bangkok, Hello Beaches!

So much to report we don't know where to begin! Let's start with what just happened to us. We are now in Khao Lak and just treated ourselves to our first thai massages. Have any of you ever had a thai massage? It's not your run-of-the-mill rubdown. We came from the beach and couldn't get into the place we wanted to go so we settled for the nearest parlor that could accomodate us for a 10 dollar an hour massage. We're speechless. And we have never felt so limber. We believe they used Icy-Hot as the lotion which is why we are both slightly burning right now. They put their legs in odd places on our bodies and some of the poses resemble those of the Karma Sutra. It's safe to say Trish went to second base with her lady and ended up topless........But all in all a joyous experience which ended with sweet tea and watermelon......We're hooked.

Now back to Bangkok. Our final meditations:
1. You must stay on Soi Rambuttri Road right off of Khao San. It's more laid back and filled with joyous people and scrumptious street food.
2. You must eat at Gecko Bar and Mr. Yim's Vegetarian cart. They are across the street from each other and Gecko offers Pad Thai for 25 baht (less than a dollar) and Mr. Yim's makes the best pineapple and veggie fried rice on earth.
3. Visit with Joe, the friendliest travel agent around. He keeps post at New Siam 3 and is a complete gem.
4. Only cross the street when a Thai crosses the street. Bonus if you can cross the street with a monk, no one is going to hit a monk. It's important to make sure you get as close to them as possible when crossing so that you don't fall behind and get hit. We had a few close encounters but are now street-crossing experts!!
5. Tuk tuks are a must. They are better than a roller coaster and you get to barter your price, although you get forced to visit the "best" tailors in town and pretend to look interested in purchasing custom clothing. (Taylor Stitch, you should get in on this!)
6. Cabbages and Condoms is a must splurge. The food is delicious, the atmosphere incredible, and it is all for a good cause.
7. If you have the time, the Tiger Temple is a interesting excursion but we still can't decide if it was really cool or kind of sad. Regardless, Lauren got to spoon a tiger.

We have had a busy day, having gotten up at 4 am for our journey to Khao Lak, but we couldn't be more happy to be here!! We've already signed up for scuba and made friends with the owner of the dive shop. We probably don't need to tell you that the beach is incredible, but it is!! We have to go shower off all of this Icy-Hot before we meet up with Steve and get the low down on our volunteer project which we will begin tomorrow. We'll try to post pictures soon and hope everyone is doing well!!
P.S. Who won the Superbowl???

xoxo
T & L