My Top Ten

Okay so this is not really a Top Ten because it's more like a Top Five, but below I've tried to summarize 5 things we love about SE Asia, and also 5 things we cannot wait to have in the States/Canada.

Let's start with SE Asia and Indonesia (Nepal due to its extreme poverty rests in another category here...but I will make some references to it):
1. Food! Hands down the food in SE Asia is the best for it's value, availability, and taste. In Thailand and Laos, you can walk down practically any street at any time during the day and night and find street vendors selling all sorts of fresh foods for very affordable prices. Not a day rolls by when we do not eat fresh fruit, or drink freshly squeezed OJ, and savor the cool sweet taste of a freshly opened coconut. At times we have to pinch ourselves to make sure the moment is real :)
Generally, if you are going to eat in a restaurant or on the street, it's almost a guarantee that the food was bought and prepared that morning. That is one aspect of food preparation that is unfortunately lacking in most (affordable) American restaurants . When we return we will have to transition to cooking most of our food and storing it in the refrigerator (oh that does not sound appetizing as I write refrigerator). I'll step out on a limb and say that locals infrequently use refrigerators in Thailand or Laos, since they prepare food for every meal.

Food is central to the Thai and Lao culture, and it's extremely uncommon to see anyone eating by themselves. Families and friends are always gathered around the table, and it appears community is strong here. We did end up eating many meals by ourselves, however, on some nights we where joined by foreigners, or even locals, which spiced up the food even more!

2. Transportation. The low cost, easy accessibility, and dinner time stories that come out of public transport is priceless! Some of our most memorable moments came from riding the public buses!

3. Sunny days. Since we left in the middle of November, most days have been sunny and clear with temps ranging from low 70's at night to high 90's in the daytime. The humidly is very high in SE Asia, so sweating though 2 shirts in one day is not uncommon. To all my family and friends living the Pacific Wet Coast, I have to be honest and tell you that it has rained 2 times (for a total of an hour) during our travels here in Thailand and Laos. I am SO thankful for the sun, yet I am looking forward to cool and clean air! Gosh I'm going to miss the sun when we return to Vancouver! I heard it's been a rough winter there. Luckily Spring is right around the corner.

4. Perspective. Traveling in SE Asia (and Nepal/Indonesia) has provided the perspective I was searching for. I now value my life in the States and Canada more than ever, and I look forward to reflecting often on my teachings here. Being born and raised in the US is a luxury that most Americans take for granted, and I think traveling to foreign countries is essential to see the beauty of our lives and the abundance we are bathed in on a daily basis.
Generally I was proud to say I was an American, but in Indonesia in particular, where Americans are not warmly invited, I said I was Canadian. Overall, travel in these countries was very safe, and I never felt threatened in any way (only when my parents warmed me of a terrorist threat against Americans in Bali). In fact, I actually feel more safe traveling here than I do in American cities (probably because I was mugged in Lancaster, PA during College).

5. Laid back nature. Maybe it's the constant heat that slows things down, but the cultures here are more tranquil than in the States/Canada. For instance, Tuk Tuk drivers in Vientiane had hammocks set up in their vehicles for napping. Very chill!


What we cannot wait for when we return to Vancouver:
1. Family and Friends. Simply put. We miss all of you :)

2. Clean Air! Oh my gosh the air quality in SE Asia is terrible compared to the Pacific North West, but nothing compares to the pollutants in the air in Nepal. Nepal had the worst air pollution than all the other countries we traveled to combined, probably because they burn trash on every street corner, and the roads are not paved and dust particulate is everywhere. We both developed coughs the first week we arrived in Nepal, and are still trying to clear the upper respiratory track infections. We both sound like seals barking away!
So, yes, we are very excited to wake up in the morning and see the mountains or smell the flowers blooming, rather than constantly inhaling exhaust fumes and burning trash. We are so blessed to have clean air! Seriously...I never new how much pollution other cities/countries created until I traveled here. I promise I won't go on my soap box again about how much plastic is wasted :)

3. Simple comforts and luxuries of the home. I think we take for granted the little things like heating and air conditioning, or couches to keep our bums from getting sore, or when we turn on the stove it gets hot. For people here who do not have air conditioning they cannot escape the heat...it's year-round! Sleeping at night with a fan in 80 degree high humidity weather does not provide a good night's sleep.
Conversely, in Nepal, the people have access to electricity for 11 hours during the day so their houses are not heated...can you imagine a house without heat when its 15 degrees outside? This is the daily life of a Nepali.
I could probably go on and on about the little comforts we easily take for granted (i.e. coming home to a Western toilet...and not a squat toilet!!!!)

4. Temperate climate. The fact that it rarely gets below 32 degrees F in the winter, and above 85 degrees in the summer (with the exception of the 2009) makes the PWC a delightful place to live. When we were wearing 5 layers of clothing in Nepal to stay warm, or changing 2 times a day in Southern Thailand and Bali because of sweat drenched shirts, we couldn't wait to get into milder weather. Not to mention it's also a bonus to have access to heating and air conditioning! Watching Nepali men and women huddled over burning trash (which mainly contained plastic) to warm their hands every morning was disheartening.

5. Space. When I say space I mean the ability to walk down the street by yourself, or walk on a plane without 50 people pushing and shoving you from behind (which happened in Nepal), or hear the quiet call of a songbird. Space is quite limited in most of the cities in SE Asia and Nepal, and I look forward to having more space when I return.
There is something thrilling about walking through the bustling city streets of Bangkok, where we have surprisingly spent a total of 2 weeks, yet I have no hesitation leaving the smog, light and sound pollution, and dirty streets behind.
Oh how I look forward to typing by myself on my own computer without being surrounded by 3 Skype users speaking 3 different languages!
Or how I cannot wait to walk down a quite street in Vancouver, and sense the silence in the air listening to the squirrels play in the trees, and birds singing overhead.

Can you tell that we're ready to come home?

Ah...but a part of me will miss Bangkok and the craziness of SE Asia. When I first arrived Bangkok was was a disgusting scam infiltrated city that I wanted no part of. I never thought I'd admit that Bangkok has grown on me, and that I'll miss this crazy city.

I'll post one more blog after we arrive in Vancouver the day the Olympics begin (Feb. 12th.)

Lots of love,

Drew

Photos of Nong Khai, Thailand

The 1st image is the Mekong River overlooking Laos on the other side. The 3rd image is of a massive Buddha sitting on top of a beautiful temple. The 4th image is Briana and the Mekong River right before a monsoon like rain came and flooded the market we were walking in.

Photos of Vientiane, Laos

This first image is sunrise taken from the train to Nong Khai, Thailand.

Photos of Himalays as we Leave Nepal

This first picture is from Pokhara, Nepal taken from our hotel rooftop. It must have snowed a couple of feet the night before. The 3 other pictures below are from the plane leaving Kathmandu. The last 2 photos are of Mt. Everest....the mountain with barely any snow.

Vientiane, Laos

Spending a week in the lovely city of Vientiane, Laos has been our vacation away from our vacation. Vientiane is regarded as one of the smallest and quietest capital cities in the world, and I cannot argue with that. So far we've been watching movies that we've bought off the street (for less than $.50 a DVD), eating standard Laos foods like noodle soup and fried rice that are incredibly tasty, baking our skin again in the sun after our cold days/nights in Kathmandu, and feeling an overall sense of laziness that is perfect for the end of a 3 month long trip.

Since Vientiane is only 20 km away from the Thailand border, it is no surprise that this city is very similar to other Thai cities with the endless availability of great foods and drink, a plethora of temples, and a poor yet developed culture. One big difference, however, is the people. Perhaps it's because tourism is relatively new here (I think the borders opened in 1989), but the people seem quite shy and reserved, and English is not spoken nearly as well as in Thailand. Regardless, Laos is a pleasant country to travel to with much less pollution and noise than Thailand. If we were not heading back to Thailand in a couple days to wrap things up in Bangkok, we would head north to Luang Prabang, which is a Northern province highly recommended by many friends and travelers.

Today is another lazy day :) We are going to spend some time next to a posh hotel pool adding yet another layer of shade to our Pacific NW skin :)

Much love to all,

Drew

pictures coming soon...

Namaste

Namaste.
With hands held in prayer position level with the chin and head slightly bowed "I honor the Spirit in you which is also in me." So far along our travels this greeting (hello, goodbye, thank you) has been wonderful to use in communication with people. I am not sure of any other language or country that uses this greeting (well perhaps India), but it's such a beautiful way to honor the greatness in others.

Well our time in Nepal has come to an end. We fly back to Bangkok, Thailand tomorrow morning and will probably head to Laos for a week before we fly back to Vancouver on Feb. 12th just in time for the opening ceremonies for the Olympics!

A couple last words on Nepal. When I mentioned in a previous post how unstable politically and economically this country is I didn't mention any specifics. Let's begin with the economics. Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world, and it's quite obvious walking outside the main tourist areas how poor this country really is. It's not uncommon to see young children selling cigarettes with ragged clothing and scars all over their bodies, or trash filling the streets. or the dilapidated buildings about to collapse. And to top things off the Government does not do much to help these people probably because they don't have the funding. This is where the political crash happens. Currently, the Maoists are in charge of running this country, and they are not doing a good job, and people are saying that within 12 months the Maoists are going to be overthrown. An Australian living in Pokhara informed me that the US has thousands of troops stationed here in Nepal to dampen the fallout about to happen. So like I mentioned earlier...if you want to come to Nepal do so very soon, or wait until the country is more stable politically.

The whole time we've been here, Kathmandu (and Pokhara and the rest of the country) is being severely crippled by the electricity cuts set up by the government. For only 11 hours each day people have electricity, and this typically fluctuates between 5 hours in the morning and 6 hours in the evening. How are the people to manage their stores, or cook food, or do the multiple things that electricity provides us with? I feel for these people after not having any heating for the last 3 weeks and trying to buy things in complete darkness using my headlamp. It will be hard for the country to grow economically when the electricity cuts are supposed to worsen in the coming months. It is predicted that 8 hours per day of electricity will be allocated to each town and city. Crazy!

After saying all the above I have to say that traveling in Nepal has been life changing. I would definitely visit this country again, although, I would wait until the tension in the air clears.

See you in Thailand!

Namaste.

Trekking to Annapurna Base Camp

Well we have done the unthinkable...well at least in our minds. We have just returned from a grueling 7 day trek to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) in the middle of winter where temperatures reached well below 15 degrees C at an elevation of 4130 meters (13,549 feet). Armed with our down jackets and fleece thermals, rented down sleeping bags (for minus 5 degrees C), backpack, and hiking poles, and enough toblerone chocolate for just one of us, we began our journey in Pokhara at 6:00am where we caught the local bus to Naya Pul. After a winding 2 hour bus ride, we were dropped off at the "town" of Naya Pul where we dined on delicious fried rice donuts, bean soup, and Chai. We walked into the Annapurna registrar and got our passes stamped, and headed straight to Ghorepani, a small village town that rests at the base of Poon Hill. We had originally intended to get our feet wet by trekking for 3-4 days to Poon Hill, which is a 3200 meter (10,498 feet) peak with stunning views of the Himalayas. Over the course of our first day treking, however, we happened to get lost, and soon realized at 1pm that we were no where near Ghorepani, but closer to Ghandruk, a town nestled in the hills 15 km from Ghorepani. Oops!

Well it looks like we are going to Ghandruk instead :)

On our lost way to Ghandruk we walked past a small village where a little boy fell and cut his leg pretty badly. I cleaned out the wound and placed a bandaid over it with some All Pursose Salve, and prayed that he wouldn't get an infection. Honestly, if we had some sutures we would have stitched him up because the laceration was almost an inch long and 10 mm wide. A wound an ER doc would have a field day with.

The village children continued to ask for "sweet," which we had in the form of raisens and chocolate, but didn't want to give out because apparently this supports begging behavior according to Lonely Planet. We did have some pens and Canadian pins on us, so we gave all 5 children a pin and where on our way.

Out of the woodworks children from neighboring villages surrounded us as they must have heard about the white people giving out medicine and pins. We ignored them continued on our way because we knew we had to make up ground for getting lost.

In about an hour we decided it was time to get directions because we hadn't passed any other trekkers in quite some time. I waited with the packs as Briana tried to find some English speaking villager. Very quickly more children found me and asked if I wanted to play volleyball, which I relunctantly did (I was not in the mood to play volleyball with these 12 year old boys as I was frustrated about getting lost). The boys where like professionals spiking the ball over the net almost taking my head off! I couldn't believe how intense our little game had become, and I eagerly awaited Briana's return so we could start trekking again. Briana did return with the news that we where in fact lost, and that we should get going. We gave the children our last Canadian pins, and were escorted by a very sweet 10 year old girl through the terraces to the main path leading to Ghandruk.

What a day. We arrived exhausted at our guest house at 4pm with some of the most beautiful views ever to greet us. We slept like babies.

We met an English couple at our guest house who had just arrived from Tibet, and got to know them fairly well over the next 6 days as we trekked together from guest house to guest house. They were an inspiration to us and a motivating factor to make it to Annapurna Base Camp. We are so happy they encouraged us to join them.

Over the next 3 days we made our way to ABC with the temperature dropping steadily and our energy plummeting. Briana actually developed mild to moderate altitude sickness on our way up to ABC, which rests at 4130 meters (13,459 feet). Her head was pounding and every step she took drained her energy reserves, and we were lucky that nothing serious happened at ABC. In fact, we met a English fellow on the way up to ABC that developed severe altitude sickness with vomiting, and had to be transported to lower elevation in the middle of the night! It's amazing at this high elevation how much energy it takes to move 30 feet in front of you.

When we woke the following morning, however, all bouts with fatigue, muscle aches, and headaches were quickly forgotten as the views of the Annapurna peaks blew our minds away. The sunrise was spectacular with golden orange hues draping the magestic giants standing strong in the cold wind. No wonder people worship these godly beings...

I will never forget that moment.

We made it back to Naya Pul in one peice in 3 days including a quick stay at a hotsprings to rejuvinate our body, mind, and spirit. Today we are so sore and banged up we had difficulty getting to and from our 4th floor hotel room. Room service please?

This week long trek in the Himalays has been the highlight of our 2 month trip. Being out in Nature watching the sun rise and set everyday, and trekking along ancient landscapes has been priceless. This region of Nepal has changed dramatically since tourism became big here in the 70's, yet the trekking sector still feels real to many who make it out here. If there were not teahouses along the way to rest our aching bodies and feed us warm food and drink, there is no way that we would have made it to ABC alive and well. I am so grateful for the villagers and the locals who work at MBC and ABC in particular...they literally saved us with their kind hospitality in freezing temperatures.

The Himalays are indeed beautiful and the people too. Please come here before Nepal reaches political disaster (if it hasn't already). It is a very unstable country politically and economically, yet, here you will meet the most genuine people in the world (in my opinion of course). When I say genuine I mean those who have absolutely nothing in value in terms of food, clothing, or shelter, but carry the biggest hearts around. The smiles on these Nepali people can bring tears to your eyes as they are so happy with what they have, which is typically nothing. Those reading my blog who have traveled here know exactly what I am talking about. The people of Nepal are messengers of love.

Well our trip is coming to an end soon. We are planning on coming home a little early (trying to fly out on the 15th of Feb.) due to dissappearing funds :) But it's also time to return home and begin a new chapter of our lives. We are ready to settle down in Vancouver.

Much love to all of you on this gorgious day in Pokhara, Nepal.