Watch out Mama Nong

Yesterday we had to take care of business. The end is in sight and we realized the luxury of "seeing where things go" is no longer allowed for us. New Years is a big deal here and domestic flights were booking up, so we had to book back to Bangkok. We also got a haircut/beard cut for Paul and booked some remaining tourist things.

1. Thai Cooking Lessons

I needed some lessons on how to create actual food for the new dishes so we signed up. ( ...they really are little pieces of historic artwork. I'm okay if that makes me a nerd)

Paul's specialties after last night:
Chicken with basil and chili
Spring rolls
Green curry

Me:
Thai beef salad
Pad Thai
Red curry

I'll apologize in advance for the next year forcing house guests to pretend our thai cooking is amazing.

It was very educational though and included a market tour to explain the different ingredients and what you can substitute if things aren't available.

Small apron. Big man.









2. Then this....helmets back on














The best part is when they tell you to "get down!" and you can just close your eyes and pretend you are someplace else. Someplace where you have actual control of the situation.

Made it safely. The waiter didn't have to ask if I wanted another. I was controlling that situation.


Meghan.

Location:Sridonchai Rd,Mueang Chiang Mai,Thailand

Emergency Blog Post

In Diving School our instructor informed us of the pre-dive check routine.

1) Buoyancy control device
2) Weights
3) Releases
4) Air
5) Final-mask and fins

Also remembered as "BWRAF" or "Bangkok Women Really Are Fellas". Last night we went out to confirm. I think there were a few sleeper females in the group to keep everyone honest. Meg (who has no more additional information than me) is convinced otherwise. You be the judge.

Location:Chiang Mai

Merry Christmas!

Hi, it's me again. Merry Christmas to everyone and hope you are having a nice holiday. We had been discussing what we would do for the day. I wanted to go hang out with my monk friends at my new favorite temple (see below), but Meg had other plans for us.





Get up at 4:30 am, stuff my body into a pink shirt that was two sizes to small, skip breakfast, get in a tuk tuk and head to old town so we can start running by six am. The good thing was that the sun hadn't come up yet, so at least I wasn't sweating before the run.

Before




And after (nice head phones Meg, I think she was able to tune into KDWB)



All went well and we survived. I guess the good thing about getting up that early, is happy hour comes sooner. We proceeded to have breakfast and some beers with our new acquaintances for the day (Martin and Lana). Martin crashed a cargo plane in Canada when he was 22 and has chosen Thailand as his new home to spend his lifelong monthly insurance payments. (his reasons for choosing Thailand were not postable)

For Christmas/Birthday/Wedding we ended up getting a set of Thai dishes for our gift exchange. I'm not entirely sure that we needed them. I clearly have not had too many issues with utilizing our existing dishes to transfer food from the refrigerator to my mouth, but Meg is super super super excited about them. She thinks they are "beautiful". She likes the style of dish made by the Lanna people over the last thousands of years. What a cute little nerd, and here I thought she was supposed to like cheese. Plus they are microwavable and dishwasher safe. I am told that we are going to have them "forever", so all is good.

Here's a picture of some of them without Mac and cheese and open faced sandwiches.


Again, I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday and talk soon.
Paul

Location:Chiang Mai

Oh me, oh (Chiang) Mai!

Happy Christmas Eve!!! I hope you all are enjoying some time with friends and family.

To celebrate this eve day, we had what some may call an "extreme" sports day.

First up? Well, Paul has been itching to drive a tuk-tuk since he first laid eyes on one in Bangkok. The tuk-tuk varies a bit regionally, but they all are basically some sort of moped pulling a cart. They are essentially open air taxis and the cheapest way to get from A to B.

All I can say is we had our very own Christmas miracle.




I have video of this too...we get into full blown traffic in the middle of the city. The driver was just sitting in the back laughing and everyone that saw the big pink dude driving this thing was pointing and shouting.

Next up:




How about we go ahead and see what 230 lbs. does in a rain forest canopy.
Big lips? Check
Excess body hair? Check
Prehensile tail? Ah. Crap.





All was going great the first 5-6 lines. They start you out short and close to the ground to build confidence. Look how fun!



Then we got to the big boy. When you started you couldn't see the end. We were about 350 feet above solid ground. I went first. Took about 30 seconds for me to get across. Next is Paul. We are still waiting on the final results, so don't spread the word yet, but pretty sure he broke the zip-line speed record on his run. He came barreling into the platform. hard. Hit the net breaker. Knocked over 3 men trying to stop him and started going back the way he came. It was a cartoon. The 3 guys were all laying on the ground and I swear I could see a halo of stars above their heads. As for Paul? Well...he didn't have enough velocity to get all the way back and so...got stuck dangling in the middle. Just hanging there.

I thought it was game over for us but they reeled him in and he was asking for more. It was fun and a lot longer than expected. We did about 20 zip lines, 3 bridges that looked like this:


And had to absail like twice:



We survived. I'd say it was another christmas miracle...but I'm going to need that one in tomorrow's run. Dear Santa, I've been a good girl.

Meghan

Location:Chiang Mai

Arrived in Chiang Mai

Hi, it's me again. We arrived in Chiang Mai last night and explored the city by foot today. And incase you don't believe me, below is Megs footprint inadvertently placed in a Thai gentlemen's freshly poured and finished concrete sidewalk.







In her defense though, it must have been harder to identify than a hot pepper in a dish of basil chili chicken.

Nawaret bridge over Mae Ping River


It's not real snow.


More temple viewing - Wat Chedi Luang



Tomorrow we will be leaving in the morning to to explore the rainforest. The Internet here is choppy so we will update more tomorrow. Hope all is well! Paul

Location:Chiang Mai

Crabby in Krabi? I should hope not!

So...oops. We went to check out yesterday and found that I had paid for 4 nights, not the 3 I had told Paul. He tried to be mad at my absentmindedness, but really not a major problem. " oh, so sorry you are stuck in tropical paradise for a night before you leave for another tropical paradise," I said. That didn't quite work so I tried, "Cambodia.". That did the trick. Our problem was not a problem. We spent the day reading and went to town for dinner.

It was hot. Hottest food in the hottest restaurant in the hottest place in the world, said Paul.

The cats were in agreement and found themselves a cooler spot, literally.






Paul ordered his current standard of chicken with basil and chilli. Spicy please. I watched him take large fork fulls in awe as he ordered two more bottles of water. After, as we were walking away, I saw his sweaty arse and asked if he was okay?

"It was so hot, I didn't know what was doing it so I just ate it all," he said. "What was I supposed to do?"

Hmm. Tough one. I guess maybe trying each type of chili until he found the fire maker didn't cross his mind. We shall see if a lesson was learned.

Anyway, the ferry to Ko Lanta was a quick one hour. Paul got to go on the roof with some new friends. He claims to have been "hand selected" because of his navigation skills...we arrived safely anyway.







And I FINALLY finished The Thorn Birds. So good. So sad. So long. It was weird escaping to Australia while sitting in Bangkok hotels, Cambodian cabs, and island Ferries. Good read though. Next up, a book on Buddism.

We arrived without a place to stay and were greeted by about 20 "touts" or resort/bungalow salesmen. I knew the place I was aiming for but they showed no availability online. We took a chance, got a tuk-tuk and made our way to Relax Bay.

We arrived. I was sold. Yoga studio with this view? Yes, please and thank you.



Thank god for Paul. I would have paid anything they asked. He ended up negotiating a house for us for half the price they originally quoted. All we had to do was shut the door on the second fan-cooled bedroom and not use it. Not a problem...only A/C for the Chili-eating champ.

One thing I forgot that was interesting on Phi Phi. There are limestone karsts or cliffs everywhere around the island. This picture shows the ropes that people use to climb to get to birds nests. The nests are made of saliva and exported to China for "birds nest soup"... Not judging. Just doesn't sound great to me:). I'll stick with chicken,basil, and chili.



Meg

Location:Koh Lanta

Ko Phi Phi is a screensaver. Everywhere you look is a photo op and staggering natural beauty. 7 years ago on Dec 26 the development on the island was destroyed be the Boxing Day Tsumami. They have rebuilt and unfortunately, you can't help but feel that the hourglass on this paradise will run out if there isn't more regulation. We, fortunately stayed on an area called Long Beach. Just a short walk from the main tourist quarters the beach here is still pristine, though quite busy. The 2 main bays that tourist ( re: backpacking Europeans and Australians, few Americans) are beautiful but the all night beach parties are starting to show.

Yesterday, being my birthday, I got to call the shots:). We hiked from our beach overland to a deserted bay and had a nice time swimming. I was with my husband so of course there were some made up rock throwing and underwater breath holding competitions. We stayed until a snorkel group arrived by boat from Phuket.



-


We then walked to town and had a drink...



Some maybe had two...:)


It was a great way to turn 32.

Today, we went for 2 dives. The corals weren't as badly damaged in the tsunami as was originally expected and the diving was amazing. We saw tigerfish, clownfish, porcupine fish, a great moray eel, and countless other large schools. It was like being in an aquarium. I now understand the "divers high".

I felt safe on the dive boat because The Chicken was there. Reminded me of my coworkers and made me feel so thankful again for everyone I have been so fortunate to work with. Thank you again and again for allowing me this time off and covering the extra work:)



Tomorrow, a bit more island hopping as we head to Ko Lanta. Paul is trying to convince me to axe Northern Thailand for Australia or Bali after that...may be our first marital dispute coming up. If that happens I promise a His POV and a Hers post:)

Thank you for the birthday wishes!

Here's a pic of Leo's legacy "Beach" from today

Location:I gotta Koh Phi Phi.

Where are the jets?

One short plane ride, taxi ride, ferry ride, and long tail ride to land in Ko Phi Phi.

The airplane utilized propellers to generate speed. Not so sure about the technology, but everything seemed to operate as intended. It was a pretty smooth ride, but I determined it would be an extra pill flight due to the age of the airplane.



Koh Phi Phi has no roads resulting in island travel from beach to beach being done by Long Tail boat. They are long boats with an engine that pivots on an extra long drive shaft allowing the driver to take the prop completely out of the water.








And made it to Koh Phi Phi by early afternoon.







PS.......check out this "safety first" pic. I guess you can take the snorkel out of the water, but you can't take the short out of the snorkel. :)




Paul

Location:Koh Phi Phi

Jack a-speak a Thai? Operation: Koh Samui

Last night we came in last in trivia at a British Pub. I mean DEAD LAST.

I blame that ego- crusher for this:



Which, of course, led to this:
( hey, alisa! Matching scars!)



A little of this:




And ultimately, this:










Not feeling too bad that we missed the Question about the " kingdom that owns the island of Saba" anymore. Driving a motorcycle is a much more valuable skill in these woods. No offense to The Netherlands. Some day I hope we can rent one in Saba too:)

Tomorrow we fly from Koh Samui to Phuket and then ferry to Koh Phi Phi. We are planning to actually lay on a beach for a few days, do some diving, and enjoy the scenery. I don't think I will be freaking out underwater anymore so no need for "short snorkel" to be part of anyone's vernacular going forward:).

Meghan

Location:Bo Phut, Koh Samui