"the lagoon"

now, the best way to travel in thailand is on air asia. no more buses for me.....although, i think i have sworn this to myself at least 3 times, i now will not travel on a bus for the remaining month in thailand. speaking of which...i have (sadly) officially entered my last month in this glorious country....and will be cherishing every last minute i am here...but at the same time, i've decided i'll be ready to go back to LA (and real life) come may 18th.




back to my kraby/rai lay beach story. so, we got back to bangkok at 6am on thursday morning and did some errands and interneting and then got onto a plane at 5pm headed for krabi. we arrived in the nick of time, a short 1 hour and 5 minute flight all the way down south. then, we got onto a bus that would take us to ao nang which is like a port to get to rai lay beach....and for clarification, it is NOT an island, but rather a part of krabi that is unreachable by land transportation. we sat at ao nang for a long long time waiting for 6 other people to come (because each boat takes 10 people and it is a flat 1000 baht fee for the boat, so the more people, the merrier...) but 3 beers and a bag of pretzels later, we decided we had waited long enough and decided to suck up the cost and each pay 250 baht. once we got to rai lay we found a place to stay (it met neither of my two requirements, but i was so happy to be there because i hadn't slept in over 36 hours) and then ate dinner, chilled at "the last bar" and called it a night.

the second day, we spent the entire day at the beach. i hid in the shade for most of it, but ended up catching some rays towards the end of the day. we walked around a bit when the tide went out because it goes out so far it feels like you could walk forever! we watched the sunset and decided to go home and have another relaxing night. the beaches on rai lay are so much more peaceful than any of the other beaches i've been to and it was perfect to just lie around, read, listen to music, swim a little and eat ice cream all day. we rested that night to prepare for the intense activities the next day promised to bring!

and so it did....we woke up earlyish...about 800 and then met our rock climbing teacher named "guy" (who we later found out was only 18!) and headed for the cliffs. guy wasted no time. we arrived at some random cliff/rock/thing coming out of the ocean, to tie a "8 knot" and then said with sharp rocks at the base and guy plopped his mat down, set the rope on top of it and showed us how "climb." jon went first because he's the expert ;), and andy and i watched in awe and debated over who would be the next one up. it turns out that guy was actually a really awesome teacher, and helped us out a lot...i was able to get to the anchor (top) of every climb and he was able to tell me where to put my feet and how to stand up and not to use my knees at all and not to use my arms too much!! plus, he was SO awesome, and chill...just like all of the other people we met on rai lay. i swear, they were all thai rastas...it reminded me a bit of hawaii and thailand mixed up together...best of both worlds! (and, this is off topic, but i think that my favorite part of rai lay, and the perfect way to describe the culture of the place, is that there is absolutely no law enforcement there, and none is needed. its a small little village where everyone knows everyone, and they all take care of each other's kids, and hang out like a big happy family). back to rock climbing....so, we did 3 different climbs in the morning, and every time, i didn't think i could do much more because my arms and legs ached, but it was so so so much fun. it's like a huge game/puzzle where you have to figure out where to go next and where you can jam your fingers into and how long you can hang on with your toes before falling ;) i'll definitely rock climb when i got back to the states. in the afternoon, guy took us to a super duper cool cave that overlooked a beautiful beach. we had to hike up the pitch black cave, and then suddenly, there was a ton of light and we could see out over the whole coastline. then, we got to repel a pretty good distance down the mountain to a new climbing spot. i was only able to manage one climb in the afternoon and then i got too tired and it was windy and actually a little cold...plus, it looked like it was going to rain and i didn't want to get stuck mid-climb in the rain ;) then, we hiked back to the east beach (from the west beach) to where we were staying.

on the third day, we were planning to relax at another beach on rai lay (the prettier of the two beaches) and let our muscles recover from the strenuous activities of the day before. but, no no. along came a grand idea to hike to the "hidden lagoon" against all warning that it was a pretty long hike, and we probably shouldn't do it in slippers, we went... and, i swear. it was one of the hardest hikes i have ever done. harder than the koko head hike at home. at first, we had to climb up a red dirt hill (and we should have known it was going to be hard because there were ropes along the trail to help people get up there). this hill went on forever, and once we reached the top we had to go down a bit and ended up in a jungle like area that was sort of in a lagoon shape and position. andy and i looked at each other and were like "wtf. is this supposed to be the LAGOON??? don't tell me we hiked all this way just to see a huge tree in a dried up swamp looking area....we should have known better than to hike to a LAGOON in dry season." but little did we know, we were not even half way there....so we went around the huge tree and found another small path leading up and down and all around and finally got to an cliff. it was a big cliff...with more ropes hanging down. i think it was vertical from what i remember. and there were three of them...it was like never ending and praying that we would reach some sort of lagoon at the end of all of this....so, we scaled three cliffs (and i am NOT exaggerating) with our bags and towels (all of which ended up in my bag that jon carried....) and finally, after the third and final cliff we saw it. and it was beautiful. nothing like that dumb tree in a ditch that we thought was the lagoon....it is too amazing to describe in words....suddenly a huge blue body of water appears and there are plants and big rock and caves encompassing the water. and there were fish and swimming lizards living in it. i think it took us over an hour to get there. but oh boy was it worth every single minute of hiking. it truly was a secret lagoon and we hung out there for as long as we could before it started drizzling....the whole time, we felt like we were in jurassic park or something...and according to andy, he saw more animals than during his whole time at gibbons!!! the hike was harder than rock climbing, i think. but it was so much fun. also, when we were exploring, we found a cave that had a hammock and sleeping mats and jars and lanterns in it...it was so eerie and creepy because we were joking the whole time that our adventure could be like some scary movie (or like the movie "the beach") where some dumb tourists hike so far into the jungle and come upon people living there and they get stuck and have to survive on lagoon food...etc. you know...the typical scary/adventure movie ;) charity had a whole scene and plot in her head and narrated it to us all the while. hiking up was a lot easier than hiking down into the lagoon, and we were glad to be on paved land again. finally, after the crazy hike to the lagoon, we were off to the beach. the thai guys from the bar were at the beach that day and we hung out with them for a while....so nice....can't get over it. (look at our facebook albums to see the pictures in normal size. mine is: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2232317&l=3de04&id=3406342 and jon's is: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2232315&l=fc61b&id=3422511...charity's and andy's to follow)

today, we woke up and checked out of our hotel and then caught a long tail boat back to ao nang. we were quite lucky and did not have to wait very long for the boat to fill up and ended up at ao nang around 1pm. we hung out at mc donalds and starbucks until 5 playing cards and reading. then, got on our plane back to bangkok. it was so so funny though because when we arrived at the airport, they were like, good thing you are early, the flight is leaving early tonight. and we all looked at each other, and were like, "can a flight really leave EARLY???" and there was no warning of any sort, so i guess if you came right on time, you would have missed the flight....so strange. it was scheduled for 650pm and we were literally pushing back from the gate at 630pm. i had no sooner sat down before we were moving. oh, you gotta love air asia!

now, i think i will be in bangkok for the rest of my time in thailand. i might try to squeeze a trip to cambodia or laos in between the end of finals and may 18, but i might just hang out here and enjoy bangkok :) we actually have to do some work and study for finals so that we don't fail our classes....i think i have two presentations tomorrow...but i'm not really sure! hopefully they go well if i do! and, i think it has officially gotten too hot to walk to school, so i will be catching taxis from now on...lazy girl will have to hit the gym upon arrival to la.

night night, xoxo, mer

Happy 2551!

my third new year celebration was by far the most unique experience one will ever have on new year...

"Songkran," or, Thai new year was craaaaaaazyyy!!!!! on april 10, i got back from hong kong at about 11pm. and on april 11 at 6pm, about 20 of us were on a bus headed for chiang mai. needless to say, the other passengers on the bus were not the happiest of campers when we all got off in chiang mai 10 hours later......from the minute we got on the bus we were trouble ;) first of all, we had a few thai friends come with us and they are not technically allowed on the bus because the buses only have licenses for foreigners, so we had to argue with the bus drivers for about an hour before they would move the bus even one inch. finally, after we got them to start the journey to chiang mai we busted out our party supplies...hehe....and then before i knew it, we were there. so, we arrived at 6am, went straight to our hostel, "the green tulip" and slept until noonish. i woke up to lots of screaming, went downstairs, and got smashed by a bucket of water. not just a small bucket. a very large bucket. thank you to whoever graced me with that ice cold water! ;) anyway, after the nice fresh wake-up, we played water fight for almost the rest of the day....or at least until i was freezing (even in the 100 degree weather). after songkraning for 5 hours, we had a nap and then went to the night market.

the next few days were a blur and whirlwind full of ice water. buckets. water guns. canal water. and some food (as usual...meg, i know you always tease me because half of my blog is always about food!!) the best part about song kran is that everyone is totally into it. i was definitely the "deloris downer" (not a "debbie downer" on account of my mom ;)!!! )of the trip because i didn't want canal water on me, and i didn't want ice water on me either....so i basically did not have any option of water that could be poured on me. hahha...plus, everyone thought it was super funny to pour water on me....the thai guys love to target girls, and once they got me one time, i would scream and then they thought it was hilarious and then i got about 10x more water poured on me. meanwhile, jon and andrew would walk right behind me and be dry. so, basically, everyone is TOTALLY obsessed with water fighting and they do it from morning until dusk from friday through wednesday. crazy. the whole town shuts down and they pile into tuk tuks and pick up trucks and drive along the canals and throw water at each other. the traffic gets so bad that it is like a parking lot and people just run back and forth from the vehicles to the canal to fill up their water buckets. another good thing about songkran is that everyone is so so so happy! all the thai people are happy because it is new year, we were all happy because we felt like we were 5 years old again, and even when people get soaking wet in nice clothes, they smile and say "sawasdee bi mai" (or something of the sort), meaning "happy new year!" OH, and, they are so polite too! whenever someone is eating or says they do not want water on them, they do not throw water on that person! this kind of festival would never happen in america....so we enjoyed it while it lasted here! it is truly amazing, and so hard to describe...and i truly loved it for a little while, but, by the third day of songkran, i was over it. ;) everyone else thought it was the BEST thing EVER, but i hung out at our hostel and read magazines, books, and did crosswords. i was a big loser. but that's ok! i managed to stay dry for almost 24 hours! i definitely caught up on my sleep and did a lot of shopping in chiang mai.

I ALMOST FORGOT my favorite part of the trip!!!!! COOKING CLASS!!!!! on tuesday, jon, andrew and i went to a thai cooking class and learned to cook all my favorite foods!!!! but, we first went to a market in the morning to look at all of the fresh fruits and veggies, etc. and when we were standing there learning about chili paste and the stuff that goes into it, i felt something brush over both of my feet. then, from behind me, i hear andrew say "holy shit. that was a rat." then, i flipped out because it totally went over my feet and was soooooooooo gross. sooooooooo disgusting. eeeeewwwww. i got over it when i realized i would get to eat 6 meals in the duration of the cooking class ;) we made pad thai, papaya salad, curry paste, curry, stir fry, spicy soup, and mango with sticky rice!!!!! and i ate all of it. well...everything except some of my curry and rice and stir fry. but we ate a lot. it was yummmmyyyy!!! btw. thai curry paste is super tedious and hard to make....we had to pound it for so long, and jon's hand burned from the chili's for about two days afterwards....i will never take my curry for granted again ;)

then, on wednesday, we were forced to catch a bus back home because all the trains and planes were full.....back to bangkok. this time i stayed in the city for about 12 hours....and then off to krabi for some hard core adventuring!!!! (see next blog ;) )

Visiting Lisers and Nundies in HK!

we just got back from a very fun. very stressful. very yummy. very expensive. trip to hong kong. marney, abby, natalia, jake, and i went to hong kong last week and thanks to lisa and fernando, had an amazing HK experience. we got to see ALL of the night life (thanks nundies!), shop till we dropped, eat dim sum until it was coming out of our ears and ride the MTA like it was our job!




on thursday night, we arrived in HK at around 9pm and took a bus to meet fernando and lisa at Sha Tin shopping mall/metro station. we were hurried back to campus (which involved walking up A LOT of hills!!!) and before i knew it we were in cabs to a club called tribeca. apparently, i had an amazing time dancing the night away.....and we ended up going home around 3ish...which was too early for lisa...the party girl side that i haven't seen of her during the past two years of knowing each other came out this past week!!! i loves it! unfortunately, marney and abby lost their passports in the taxi that night. it was really crappy...........but, long story short, we are all back in thailand now. safe and sound ;) and, if anyone ever loses their passport in HK again, we know exactly what to do!!! (provided they are canadian citizens!!!) OH, it turns out that this bad luck happened on 4/4, which is a Chinese holiday to celebrate the ancestors because the way you say "4" in chinese is almost like the word "death" so everything was closed and all the students got school off and everything. it was a cool holiday, but bad because all of the consulates were closed so we would have to wait until monday to go figure things out.

anyway, after the passport fiasco, we hung out on friday and got to eat dim sum at the campus restaurant, and then rested and went to dinner, and then got ready to go out again. that night, we went to LKF, which is the clubbing/bar district of hong kong. it sort of reminded me of kao san road, or a smaller hollywood blvd, with tons of different kinds of clubs...loud music...small food stands...tons of people...buckets of alcohol.......and the rest is history. it was SO much fun, and i stayed out so late and didn't even get tired! after LKF, i stayed in a hostel in kowloon...and if you ever thought you stayed in a shady place, just look at this picture (it's the view as soon as you get out of the escalator)!!!! however, as i like to say, as long as there is hot water and a flushing toilet, i am fine. and i had both. so i survived.

we shopped ALL saturday at a mall called harbour city mall and then met fernando and lisa for korean bbq. i loved it. OH, and now i eat pork. and beef....i guess i am not anything near to a vegetarian anymore. go me. hahha....dinner tasted great, except it made abby sick for almost the rest of the trip, until she threw it all up three days later at the theme park and "felt 20 pounds lighter, and SO much better" -abby t.

sunday we rested again and went to a few malls and markets with brandon (nundies and lisa's friend from CUHK). the malls in HK are truly asian super malls. they are HUGE and have everything you could possibly want. the outdoor markets are about the same as thailand's markets, but i still like thai markets better: 1. because they are cheaper, 2. because they are bigger (more stuff to buy/selection) and 3. because they always have food at them ;) ;) don't get me wrong, i still love the markets in HK!!! anytime i get to shop, i am a happy girl!

monday morning we woke up early and went to the canadian embassy to try to figure marney's passport situation out. the only funny thing about losing the passport was when we first went to the embassy we had to check in with a security guard who filtered people into different rooms depending on their situation. so, we walk in and marney looks at the guard and says "i lost my passport." period. and he looks at his computer screen which has a few different options (all in the form of animated pictures) and in the middle, there was a big picture of a triangle with an exclamation point in the middle of it....and after a few seconds of thought, he proceeded to press that button (with authority!!!) and marney got to go first before all the other people waiting!!!! hahhaha...it was so funny. but i think that was the ONLY funny thing about the lost passport. after getting things sort of settled, we decided to go to ocean park and ride some sweet roller coasters! i finally conquered my fear of the ones that drop straight down and rode on it TWO times!!! it is SO much fun!!! it was the scariest thing ever though because it starts to go up really slowly, and then it shoots up and seems to go up FOREVER and EVER and then once you get to the top you just sit there for what seems like eternity, and then you just fall. straight down. the first time i closed my eyes and the second time i forced myself to keep them open and it was 10 times scarier!!!

tuesday was another embassy morning, followed by a trip to victoria peak and a little more shopping. i remember the peak from my last trip to hong kong, but this time it was pretty foggy so we were not able to see too much from the top. it was still beautiful though and nice and cool up there. after the peak we went to ladies market and then ate traditional hong kong hot pot! we had live craw fish and fish balls of every shape and color imaginable, noodles galore, and veggies i have never seen before!

so, we had all moved to the hostels on monday night and these places were a dump. there were absolutely no windows and five of us were squished into a room that would have comfortably fit 2. but, we are hard core now, so we dealt with it! look at the pictures below or on my facebook to get the full picture. the elevators were so slow and often times they could not hold all of us so it took almost 10 minutes to go down 5 stories, and we couldn't figure out how to go down using the stairwells because they never took you all the way down. but, really, it wasn't that bad. anyway, the point of telling you about the hostels was that we slept in until 2 or 3 on wednesday because we thought it was 9am....due to the lack of windows and exhausting walking around HK. we were so much more active there than we are here, mostly because it is bearable to walk outside without sweating every ounce of water out of you. i liked being active though. and now, we are hermits again staying inside all day because of the AC and doing everything possible to avoid the 100+ weather outside! it is nice, however, to be back home again!!! oh, i love my thailand! wednesday night, we went to the horse races!!! it is so much fun with lots of gambling and betting and weird chinese food! and after the races, they took us to a favorite college hangout called skitz. it is open bar for girls (free open bar!) and guys pay 180 HKD and according to fernando and lisa, there has not been a night where someone doesn't have to get taken home. but that night, none of us had to get taken home!! SUCCESS! it was a ton of fun, and we got to meet some of their local hong kong friends. it was a great way to finish a great trip!

on our last day, we decided to detox our bodies from the week of partying.....so we walked around the nathan road area for a while trying to find a place to get suctioned and ear waxed!!! our friends from bangkok came to HK also and they did this detox thing the first day they were there and they told us about it so we just blindly went in and told them we wanted to be suctioned....little did we know that we would come out looking like a GIGANTIC octopus slapped us on the back and left huge black circles all over us. it is disgusting. but kinda cool at the same time. supposedly it cleans out your body and makes your blood circulate better or something...it is supposed to realign you chi and if you have internal organ problems, it is supposed to help with that too. i had a lot of energy last night and i was warm in the AC when i am usually cold, so i think it actually might have done something...but there is a good possibility that i am imagining all of this too ;) ;)

in a rush now because we are leaving for chiang mai and the songkran festival in a few hours and i still have to get my laundry, pack and upload pics!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA!!!!! miss you guys so much...xoxo, mer