Waterfalls and wild animals

Today was probably the best day of our trip, so far.

We decided to go out to visit one of the waterfalls in the area, that we were told was worth seeing. We hired a truck - Chaing Mai style - and headed out along the bumpy roads. It was so great driving through the local villages, seeing the various peculiarities of the culture, and the awesome view.

There were buffalo in the rice paddies and children riding bicycles carrying umbrellas to keep the sun off. We stopped in a small village and all the women and children put out their wares for us to see. I just couldnt buy from one of them so i just bought something small from each - much to their delight. The children repeated everything i said - I'm sure they had no idea what they were saying. One lady I paid, had two children and when i gave her a 10000 kip note her son began to cry. She gave it back to me and motioned for me to give her 2, 5000 kip notes - which i did - and both boys happily compared notes. (The children we have seen all throughout Lao are so involved in their parents lives. Tonight at the market I saw a girl of 10, cooking up a storm in her mothers road side stall). So after we had a good laugh at each other we said good bye to this happy bunch and headed straight for the falls.

When we arrived there was a sign for a wildlife sanctuary near the falls. We decided to head on over for a look. There were quite a few Moon (Asiatic Black) bears and also one Asian Tiger named Phet, all of whom had been rescued from Poachers. They were caged behind cyclone fencing (not quite Adelaide Zoo quality fencing). The bears happily played behind the fence about 4 metres from us however Phet the Tiger came a bit closer (about 3o centimetres from us through the fence) - certainly the closest we have ever been to a healthy looking tiger! While on one hand they were cages, the alternate option of these beautiful and endangered animals being hunted by pachers is certasinly the worse option. Luke bought a shirt to help support the running of the 'Protect the bears' fund.

We then headed off on the path that lead to the falls. Arriving at the bottom falls, we decided to take the extra hike to the top falls. Nice idea, but it was a strenuous scramble up a very steep hill. Some of the path had steps - at one point they were actually on the wall of the water fall, so we had water streaming over our feet as we climbed, which was quite a thrill as there was no hand rail. The rest of the path was a serious goat track.... and really showed up how unfit i am...... Mmmmm have to work on that!

When we got the top there was a bamboo railing along the very ridge of the falls, looking over the drop. We decided this was not an opportunity that we didn't want to miss, and braved our way across the slightly slippery rocks, as the water gushed past our legs. A few kodak moments later and we were scrambling back down the other side, thankful that we had not come up this way, as it was just one big mud slide. We offered our moral support to those we passed, as they headed up, and suggested they cross over and try the other track on the way down.

When we got to the bottom we wandered down through a series of smaller falls until we found a swimming hole with out any tourists - just a few locals (they were probably looking for the same and we probably spoilt their swim - LOL).

We decide this was the spot for us and tentatively stepped into the cold but aqua/white water. While swimming in this area there was one tourist who decided he was going to jump off the 10 foot (small) waterfall into the frothing water below. We thought this looked a bit periolous and that he was a bit cray but it caught on and before long a number of people were doing it and Luke decided he had to do it also and (after some convincing his parents!!!) he headed onto the falls and off he went (but we missed it with the camera!!); Up he went again (and we missed it again); up he went again and we caught the action on a small movie file but by now it was the norm and he went up again and again.

Jordan was initially hesitant but after a while and a couple of progressive (smaller) jumps he too did it and now they were both into it..... After about 90 minutes in the water we packed up and headed back to the Tuk Tuk. One other experience on this same day was that near the waterfall

Our final trip home in the Tuk Tuk was a good as the way up.....dodging the horses eating freely beside the road, swerving around potholes and children all over the place (school was out) and weaving our way back through the different villages located so close to town and yet so very different to what we would ever see, anywhere in Australia.

It was a great day. David & Stephanie

Luang Prabang

We arrived in Luang Prabang this evening, after two days on a long boat. We boarded the boat yesterday at 9:30am. There were a few Loas on board and the rest of the boat was full of tourists. We walked across a plank of wood onto the boat with our back packs on so we wouldnt be lopsided and topple over, but when we stepped inside the boat we couldnt stand up fully because the roof was so low. I took my pack off, but David who had his hands full kept his on. The front was full so we walked towards the back. the further we walked up the boat the lower the roof got. By the end David was so hunched over he was almost kneeling. We stored our bags under the floor boards and then they replaced the floor and pulled up these ricketty pews for us to sit on. They were made out of a couple of planks of wood on legs. One plank of wood was for the back rest and one to sit on. The wood was 15cm wide and only 90cm long- which made it quite a sqeeze for two bottoms. The leg room was even worse. I couldnt put my legs straight in front of me and David had no hope. We sat Lao style with our legs folded to the side. We sat there waiting for about one hour, watching more and more tourists board our already crowded boat.We were surrounded by a bunch of well humoured foreigners - making jokes about the journey ahead. Another hour rolled on and we were beginning to wonder what the hold up was, as the boat was packed to the rafters - when another 15 tourists turned up. We thought that maybe they were going to put them on the roof, as we had even run out of room for the luggage in the main hold and the narrow walk way was now littered with back packs. There was plenty of speculation about a possible second boat (as usually only one boat leaves for Pak Beng per day) or this group of travellers needing to wait until tomorrow to travel down stream, when a very fancy boat pulled up next to us to usher the stranded tourists on board. Up to this point we had been feeling sorry for this group, and now we were all viing for membership to their priviledged club. Well we got our wish. I called out to the owner of the boat to ask if we could join them, as our boat probably had 80 people on board and theirs (of the same size) only had 15. He called me over. I send the boys scrambling over the side of the boat and then it was on for young and old. This second boat had reclining seats with plenty of leg room, polished floor boards and an area at the back to stand up in!! The nice thing was that with the mass exodus from the "third world boat" there was a lot more room for everyone left on board to stretch out and relax. I heard later that they had enjoyed their trip as the stoic underpriviledged! We arrived refreshed and happy at Pak Beng about 7 hours later. I trekked up the hill when we arrived, in order to look for a guest house to stay in, as we had heard some horror stories about accomodation in Pak Beng, and I wanted to be ahead of the crowd. David stayed behind and waited for our luggage off the other boat. Well the town must have caught wind of its bad reputation and decided to up grade its facilities, because we were really happy with the guest houses on offer. We ended up in a couple of twin rooms with ensuit (Lao style ensuit) - the beds were lumpy but there werent the plagues of rats we had heard of and the rooms has fly screens, so we were happy. We even had buffalo curry for dinner! Next morning we all piled on to one boat. A larger one that had plastic chairs. It was a good medium between the two boats on offer yesterday, although i still ended up with a head ache after 7 hours of sitting in a plastic chair!! That said, I really enjoyed myself. The scenery is breath taking all the way down stream. We saw water buffalo, fishermen throwing their hand made nets, tiny bamboo huts dotted throughout the jungle and lots of water side villages with children playing in the water, women carrying huge bundles on their shoulders and goods being traded between animated parties discussing the price. We even had several baskets of ducks join us for part of the journey, and one woman carried a plastic bag full of small birds??!!! It has been a great experience for the boys and we have met some fascinating people. Stephanie

The land of a million elephants

After our visit to Mai Sai and our foray into Myanmar for a day we decided that Chiang Rai didn't have that much more that we wated to see so we decided to head north to Chiang Khong and across the border to Huay Xai in Laos. The bus ride took three hurs to cover just over 100km's and was definately the 'local Bus' variety with seats definately not built for people who are 196cm and roads not built for "express" bus services!! We were squeezed in on funny angles and were the only farangs (foreigners) on the bus however the difficulties in travelling were more than made up for by the outstanding countryside that we travelled through. We travelled into a number of mountainous areas where bananna trees, maize and sugar Caner as well as the occasional workers hut seemed to cling to the hill sides. When the ground was flat then rice crops dominated and I was truly taken by the beauty of the land we were travelling through. After three hours we arrived in Chiang Khong and decided to head straight to immigration and the border and after paying our Tuk tuk drivers (whose engines seemed to find the 2km trip to the border with two of us and our bags extremely difficult) we then had our passports stamped and headed down the hill to the river 'taxi' which was just a long boat with an outbourd which we needed to walk through the water to get to. We crossed the border and organised our visa's and extry to Laos without a problem and with one big bonus....we became instant millionaires!! After getting our visa's we exchanged 4000 Thai Baht (about $143 Australian) into Lao Kip and in exchanges received 1,072,000 kip....Millionaires. The exchange rate is $1 Aust = 28 Baht = 7500 Kip! I quickly realised that it may have been a mistake as I had a wad of money three quarters of an inch thick which certainly wasn't going to fit in my wallet and which makes paying for things quite scary (like one minute on the internet right now costs 100 kip which sounds lik a lot but is just 80 cents/hour). Anyway we were there and we headed to a guesthouse for the night and purchased tickets for the slow boat journey the next morning. After we settled in we decided to walk back into the town and climbed the steps leading to the towns only Wat (temple) just as the monks started their evening chants. It was quite enchanting to listen to and the boys and I (women were not allowed) climbed a pagoda to look at an ancient drum and bell used by the monks and to view the mighty Mekong river from the highest point in Huay Xai. After dinner we were briefly rained on before scrambling back to the hostel for the night in our Bamboo rooms.....quite apt for our first night in the Land of a million Elephants! David

Journey to another world

One of the day trips we planned to take was to Mai Sai on the Mayanmar (formerly Burma) border and if the opportunity arose to cross the border as well even if just for the day. On arrival into Chiang Rai we enquired about getting to Mai Sai by local bus and planned our trip for the next day.....the Myanmar border had been closed for a number of days following the polictical coup in Thailand however we also heard on our arrival in Chiang Rai that the border had been re-opened so we decided to make the trip there as well and head across from Mai Sai to the Myanmar town of Tachilek. We did consider staying for a few days and travelling as far as you can (only about 100km's to Kengtung) inland but decided against it due to the current lack of certainty that the border will actually stay open. After having our passports stamped to exit Thailand and where right hand drive cars drive on the left hand side of the road we cross the river on foot over no mans land into the Union of Myanmar where the cars are also right hand drive but also drive on the right hand side of the road. Apparently this unfortunate combination was dictated by the literal minded General Ne Win (who took over the Burmese govent by force in 1962 and moved the country to socialism), who moved traffic from the customary left side of the road to the right when advised by an astrologer to 'move the country to the right' - sure makes for excitment at every turn!! Once we passed through the Myanmar immigration and received our visitors permits (they kept our passports and only returned them when we left the country later that day) we walked into Myanmar which was an experience in itself - like stepping back in time when you see the dreariness and obvious poverty of the people even in the border town. There have also been some heavy rains here and as a result the entire border section flooded with all houses and shops drenched in mud which they were still cleaning out today. The entry permit cost had doubled so maybe they were trying to regain some lost revenue from when the border was closed however we made it and were then confronted with the reality of an opporessed people. From the moment we entered Myanmar we were approached by people of all sorts - selling cigarettes, playing Cards and even Viagra (targetted at me - David....as if I look like I need it!!) as well as a constant stream of very sad looking beggars. Even the buildings looked drab and coulourless. It was not only that the people approached us, they followed us as we made our way through the market and the streets. We had lunch at a local hawker stall and after realising that they were Christian (Baptist Convention of Mayanmar) Stephanie felt compelled to give a small amount of money to them after we had finished our lunch (which we also paid for). After walking through the streets and markets a bit more we left Myanmar, glad for the experience but also glad to be returning to the relative happiness and pleasantness of Thailand. The sign at the roundabout just inside the Myanmar border says 'The city of the Golden Triangle' and while geographically it is true that we were close the the golden triangle where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet, there was very little that shone in this part of Myanmar. It did give us some questions about what is really happening in Myanmar that makes a town and people like this though and I am looking forward to reading and understanding more of this after our time away. All for now. David

Chaing Mai trek - Day two - the journey continues

We headed off on day two minus 4 of our original group as one was sick and returned by car with her partner while the other two were taking a three day trek so headed a different way.

While the first part of the walking was easier on day two, we soon found out what a few hours of rain does in the mountains and I'm sure that most of the people slipped over at some stage....most us atleast once on the almost vertical walk down a very steep hill right next to a waterfall where we swam and played after about two hours of walking.

Luke was still the master of the walk and had organised new sticks for some but as there were less people now the group moved much faster.

We made our way across rice paddies and through open plains and thick jungle areas and occasionally passed by a small hut or farm or even village but generally just kept going on.

Being refreshed after our swim we walked another hour or two and eventually came to a point where we were met by a truck and were taken to lunch. After lunch it was on to an area where were were to go bamboo rafting and as if the river water was not enough to get us wet it began to pour and pour rain.

We did evntually make it onto the rafts and with two people sitting and one standing on each raft we made our way about 40 minutes down stream.

Jordan and I (David) sat the entire way on ur raft (Jordan did stand but literally only for the final 30 seconds) while Luke who was with Stephanie stood for the second half of the ride. Luke and Stephanie's raft driver had the motto of "no wet, no fun" so you can imagine what they ended up like....not that Jordan and I were much better.

The final truck trip back into Chiang Mai was fast (you could tell they were trying to get home for dinner!) amd we arrived around 4.40pm after a very rewarding and enjoyable two day adventure.

With one more day left for us in Chiang Mai, which we decided to take as a rest day before heading on to Chiang Rai as Jordan had a fever and we thought we could do with some time out while still staying at Anne and Sean's house.

David

Chaing Mai trek - Day one

This morning we headed off for a two day trek into the hill tribes of Chaing Mai. Were picked up by a ute with a couple of bench seats and a roof over the tray; what they commonly call a truck, in Chaing Mai.

We pilled in the back and set off. An Irish couple were the first ones to join us, followed by two English blokes, an Israeli lady, and a Russian immigrant to America, who is currently living and working in India.

It was quite a group, and were were nicely packed into the back of this truck, when we stopped to pick up another person. I mentioned to the driver that I really didnt think we could fit another body in, and he assured me we could, just as 4 extras victims rounded the corner, intent on joining our cosy group.

We all laughed nervously and consoled each other that it was all part of the experience as we squished a little bit further down the bench seats. Our new comers were quickly introduced and every one was soon swapping travel stories.

Our guide, was also enjoying the ride in the back with us and keeping us all entertained with his quick wit about tourists. He was quite an extraordinary man. He not only spoke English and Thai but also Hebrew - and chatted quite happily with our jewish component (3 of our clan were jewish).

After a 1/2 hour drive we arrived at a elephant camp and squeezed our swetty selves apart from each other and unloaded to wait for our elephants to arrive.

The elephant ride was a hoot. Luke got to ride on the elephants neck like a Mahout (young boy who is given an young elephant to care for and taught how to tame it. He will spend his entire life in this role).

As we rode around there were these raised platforms that the mahout stopped at so we could buy banana's and sugar cane for the elephants. I couldnt resist. Everytime the elephant would hear the plastic bag crinkle he would stick his trunk up for a snack, taking whole hands of banana's at a time with his sticky nose.

Once we had taken our photos and said goodbye to the elephants we headed off to the base of the mountains to start our trek. After a quick lunch our guide lead us off into the jungle. I had to laugh when i saw the track we were to take!!! It was a small muddy path through such dense forest - little more than a goat track. A little way into the trek Luke found himself a large walking stick - It was noted by a few of the other team members as being a "mighty impressive stick", and so Luke took up the challenge of precurring a walking stick for each of the team members.

This became a running theme in conversation throughout our time... and many times there were comments on what a "great kid" Luke was. (Jordan was pretending to be invisible - as he does - and Im not sure anyone even noticed him - just jokes!)

We walked for about half an hour before we came to a stream. There was a log spanning the divide and we were instucted to sling our legs over each side and using our hands, pull ourselves along, in order to cross! It sounded easy enough but i found it close to impossible. Combining the need to hand on as hard as i could with my thighs so i wouldnt go off balance with my pack on, and the need to lift myself off the log with my arms so i could shuffle my bum just a few inches forward each time was quite a strain.... by the end my arms had given up the ghost, and I wasnt sure i was going to make it the last couple of feet.

Well obviously I did make it, and we set off again up the mountain. After 2 hours of some serious climbing, where i was really beginning to wonder what was suppose to be fun about this little adventure, we arrived at the top. We stopped at a small village and the boys practiced sling shot with the others, and we shared around the very culturally oriented pack of potato chips that we had brought along - much to the surprise and delight of the nationals.

Once we were on our way again it was much easier going. There were a few more hills but it was mostly flat walking for another 2 hours before we reached our goal for the night - a Karen village - where we were greated by a few giggling children who ran ahead of us to tell the rest of the tribe of our arrival.

The village was made up of a few raised, bamboo houses, cropping land, small structures that they use for cooking, and some out houses. We quickly met the local dogs, pigs and chickens who all free ranged around the property.

For dinner we had some of the best food we have had so far.... tofu and bean shoots, chicken and potato curry, veges and rice - mmmm. There was lots of banter while we ate. One topic of conversation was the pig that had joined us (under the table) for dinner. Luke decided that we should name the pig and the discussion turned to the choice of name. In the end it was decided that whatever name the pig responded to would be its new name. Lots of suggestions were offered to the pig but in the end the name Simon was the one that elicited a response, and so it was named.

After dinner the children came down to sing for us. It was quite a funny site. It wasnt structured at all. The parents just sort of hung back around the edges the kids gathered in the middle of some seats we were sitting on, and instead of facing us they all just sort of stood there chatting away to each other in Karen. Then someone would start singing and everyone would join in. Some of the older girls faced the front but a lot of them were still singing away to each other. At the end of the song, there wasnt a definitive end... they just sort of trailed away and then stopped, and then resumed chatting or giggling until someone started up another song.

After the show we handed out the pencils that had been donated by the country homeschool group. There were seven packets and we assumed they would be given to the school or just offered to the children to use as a group. Instead the children all formed a line and each child recieved 3 pencils. It was quite a production. Once everyone had recieved their pencils they excitedly huddled together to compare their treasures and trade their favourite colours.

It was getting late and the children were starting to yawn, so they headed off to bed, and we decided that bed sounded like a good next stop, for us also.

We found a spot on the bamboo matting that had been laid out for us on the bamboo floor and snuggled down for the night.

It has been so hard to find time on the internet - our time has been full of so much activity that by the end of the day I am hard pressed to drag myself out to write you all my news.... and then the other night i spent an hour and half typing away madly just to have the computer go down as i tried to save.

So all my stories about our 2 day trek into the hill tribes will have to be told later.

Rest assured that more entries are on their way - I have been typing them and storing them as a draft so i can publish them chronologically.

Will publish them soon. Take care, Stephanie

Weary

Today I am just tired. You know the feeling - you have being going non-stop and then you pause for a moment and thats it - you're asleep standing up. LOL.

Today we had planned another action packed day, but the military coup last night through our plans up in the air. Local friends advised us to stay off the roads - so we just pottered around most of the day, doing washing and shopping for a two day trek we are taking tomorrow.

We are staying in Chaing Mai at the moment. My sister (Anne) lives in Chaing Mai, so we are staying at her house - with her three rambunctious dogs. Anne is in Australia at the moment with her husband, so we are using their truck.

It is quite the getting around on the roads in Chaing Mai. Folks dont stop at stop signs. They proceed through the red lights if there is no traffic coming and drive in the middle of two lanes - so blending in with the locals in our truck has been a hair raising experince. We were commenting that it would be good to have a big sticker on our car that said "Farang (foreigner) on board". LOL.

Yesterday we visited a local temple and were accosted by a couple of monks that were interested in interviewing us for their buddism studies. It was a great experience, and the boys sat there listening quietly for longer than i can ever remember them sitting still for!!

I practiced my broken Thai on them - much to their (and my) delight (when they actually understood me!)

We have been eating at the local food stalls for all our meals. The other morning we had chilli in our breakfast. It was a bit much for me - but Jordan thought it was great.

Anyway, must be off. I will have to fill in all the daily comings and goings, when i have Lukes journal with me - he has been keeping notes everyday - and it is a very detailed account of our trip

Cheers

Bangkok

Wow what a day.

We arrived in BKK at 9 am - the central train station was fantastic. There were plenty of staff wandering around looking for lost souls to help out. We really let our guard down and thought this must be the way Thailand is. LOL Boy were we wrong.

Fortunately we didnt get scammed - but we came close - it seems that the streets are full of entrepreneurs willing to lie in order to make a buck. A very friendly lady told us that we should visit the floating markets - which were on today because of a public holiday. She didnt want money she told a local tuk tuk driver to take us to a certain jetty and advised us a good price for a private tour.

The tuk tuk was dirt cheap but when we arrived the market was non existent and it seems our friendly helper works for the family that hires out the boats as it was very expensive. We decided to take the ferry instead. We didnt realise at this point that it was a scam.... but then we got off the ferry near the kings palace and were accosted by another friendly Thai keen to give us the same story and organise a tuk tuk for us to travel to a local temple as the kings palace was closed today because of a Thai festival..... we decided to walk up and check it out for ourselves.

When we got to the entrance there were signs everywhere telling us that the palace is always open and that foreigners should not listen to friendly locals.

We were approached by about 10 other folks during the day with the same story. We also so lots of other foreigners being handed this story.... funny!!

We are a little more cautious now.

Penang

I have been rather internet deprived the last few days. We have been racing around seeing the sights of Penang. Penang Hill, Kek Lok Si temple (http://asiaforvisitors.com/malaysia/peninsula/penang/kekloksi/) - which was amazing, Snake temple and Feringhi beach.

But the local experiences are way more interesting than any of the tourist sites. When we were on our way to the bus the other day we went past a small shop, with an old lady deep frying stick of dough. We asked her what she was cooking and she gave us a brochure telling the story behind her business.

The story goes - There once was a great warrior - who was noble and brave and loved by the people. The wife of a govt official became jealous of the warrior and with her husband conspired to have him killed. The falsely accused him of a crime and he was convicted and executed.

The local people were outraged and saddened. They got together and decided to create two dough sticks - stuck together - to symbolise the couple. They deep fried the dough and called the food Su Kuih which means "Deep fry the evil couple"

We bought a couple of the Su Kuih and the boys delighted in " eating the evil couple". The experience even made it into Lukes journal.

Penang is much cooler than KL - temperature wise. We have been walking everywhere, and taking the local buses. much cheaper and much nicer than the taxi's.

We walked down a local alley today and almost got chased by a couple of dogs. A chinese man warned us just in time for us to turn back, just before the dogs noticed us and came charging after us barking. We have had our rabies shots - but i still dont fancy being bitten by a disease infested dog.

We had a black-out in our hostel a couple of nights ago. It was pretty scary. OUr room has no windows and i woke up in the pitch black, burning up, as the air conditioner was not working and we were in our own little sweat box.

I tried to find the door and when i couldnt i woke David. We finally found the door but then couldnt get it open. I started to panic. I thought the door must have been electronically locked. All i could think of was "what if there is a fire out there" - I started crying and freaking out. David was calm as always and rushed to get the torches. I decided to jump in the shower to cool down but then i was just panicking too much and just wanted to get that door open.

I started yanking at the handle and turning with all my might. David came over with the torch and then noticed that he had bolted the top latch before we went to bed. We opened the door and i rushed out into the stair well where there was a window. I breathed in great gasps of air. I couldnt stop crying.

The boys woke up an couldnt see what all the fuss was about.

In the morning we contemplated changing hotels but in the end decided that it was just a once off occurence and wouldnt happen again - and we wouldnt latch the bolt again.

Well last night went well, and we are on our way to Bangkok today - a 22 hour train ride that will get us there in the morning.

Penang has been fun. The chinese are so friendly, and helpful.

Looking forward to Thailand

All systems go

Today was a lot better than yesterday.

Its a wonder what a good nights sleep and a morning yoga session can do for you.

This morning we headed to the Kuala Lumpur Zoo. The first exhibits were the primates - that was depressing. Their cages are very small and smelly.. although there were some truly amazing animals - one in particular could puff out its throat in order to call out a loud territorial cry. A truly spectacular sound.

The rest of the zoo was quite reasonable. It is obvious that they are trying to improve the animal homes. We saw some wonderful animals that we have never seen in Australia - Including rhino's, racoons, some adorable baby monkeys (not sure which type) and a baby giraffe.

After the zoo we went to the Batu caves http://kuala-lumpur.ca/attractions/batucaves.html - a centre for hindu's to come and pay hommage at the annual Thaipusam festival http://www.expat.com.my/thaipusam.htm

There are 272 very steep steps up to the caves, and in 35 degree heat and 89% humidity, it was no small feat. If we keep up this pace I am sure i will come home 5 kilo's lighter. (So look out for the new me when i arrive off the plane!!)

On our way to the caves we asked our taxi driver to stop so we could get some lunch. He asked us what we would like "McDonald's, KFC?" when we said we would like local food - some rice - he exclaimed "Oh you know how to eat rice? I didnt know you people knew how to eat rice!!"

We stopped at a small Indian eating place (couldnt call it a restaurant). We ordered some food that we knew they would have to cook especially for us (as we have been advised against ready made food). As we ate we had quite an audience of Indians watching (there is obviously no shame in staring here). At one point i bit down on a chilli and started to cough and my eyes began to water - much to the delight of the inidan staff.

Local food is very cheap - but anything in a restaurant is as much as it would cost in Australia. Today we had coffee at a shopping mall - it cost more than our dinner last night.

We are slowly getting used to the taxi system also. David found it quite stressful yesterday trying to bargain a price everytime we had to go anywhere, so today it was my turn. We checked at the tourist info centre about what a good price is from our hotel to the various places around - that was very helpful - but we realised just how much we have been ripped off over the last 2 days.

The trip from the airport was double what it should have been!!

It is quite funny speaking to the locals. There are certain phrases that they use that we dont use in English and I find myself saying those things to the boys at times. "My bad" instead of sorry,
"Ok, ok, ok" instead of "dont worry" - there is also an ettiquette when eating anywhere. You are suppose to go and sit down and wait to be served - which is not so unlike Australia - but what is funny is that if you deviate from the norm the staff get a bit flustered and keep gesturing for you to go back to the table. Today i went to look at what was available to eat and asked the cook some questions. The reaction was quite funny. I am sure they were wondering what this funny western woman was doing.

Well tonight we pack up so we can head out tomorrow for Penang. We are taking the 8pm sleeper train - which we are all looking forward to. During the day we are off to the deer park and Lake gardens before we head off to the train station.

Hopefully tomorrow will be cooler - well I can hope!!

KL

Well today has been tiring. It is hot and sticky and I have a splitting head ache.

We arrived last night at midnight (Adelaide time) - feeling very fatigued. After a hair raising taxi ride from the airport, without seat belts (I prayed the whole way!), we settled into our beds in a wonderful little airconditioned room on the 3rd floor of the Pondok Lodge - a back packer place in the "golden triangle" region of KL

This morning we got up early so we could get tickets to the patronus towers air bridge. They usually sell out by 10 am so we pushed ourselves to get up in order to not miss out. We picked up our tickets and then had a 4 hour wait until our allotted time to go up into the towers, so we went to a cultural craft centre where Luke made a batik wall hanging of a dragon fly.

I would have like to have done one too - They were truly amazing - but the heat and lack of sleep was beginning to get to me, so i just watched.

We headed back to the towers and I opted out of going up. The boys really enjoyed it and Luke got some great photo's.

For dinner tonight we braved the local food. The restaurants for foreigners are really expensive, even though this is a back packing area, so we went down to the local out door eating area. We were the only westerners there, and had lots of folks watching our every move.

We enquired about a few dishes and before we knew it they were served up to us.... we didnt realise we had ordered!! I was a bit nervous, but the food was all very hot so we just crossed our fingers and hoped that any germs were well and truly cooked to death.

A funny thing happened on the way to...

Less than 12 hours into our journey and we had our first "catastrophe". Waiting at Singapore airport for our flight to KL and we realised that we had left our waist pouch on the plane - containing our credit cards and camera.....

I wasnt sure when the plane was due to take off again and was quite panicked about getting back to the gate to check our seats.

Luke and I raced back through the terminal - atleast a kilometre long - and finally found the gate that we had exited the plane through. Luckily the plane had not taken off.

We asked a security guard for some help and he sent us off to the check in counter... we waited in line and eventually spoke to someone that reassured us that the plane would not be taking off again for a couple of hours and so they had plenty of time for a search.

I then had to wait in another line to speak to a customer service rep. who organised another person to go and look on the plane. She told us to come back in 1/2 hour.

I wasnt sure that anything was actually going to get done - but to my relief when we arrived back at the counter the smiling lady handed us our much missed pouch with everyting in tact.

She then told us to high tail it back to the departure gate as our next plane was due to leave soon and they would not hold the plane for us.

All this time DAvid and Jordan had been sweating it at the departure lounge - not knowing what was going on.

Luke and I raced up the corridor with the pouch waving over our heads - much to David's relief.

Catastrophy averted - phew

Singapore

Well we have been on the plane for 7 hours now and have a 2 hour stop over in Singapore.

the plane ride was great. Loads of food. The hostesses just kept running up and down the isles offering us food and drinks. Having said that i am so tired. Ive put it down to the constant hum of the plane and the tv screens being perched on the seat in front - a bit to close for my eyes.

As we descended into Singapore it was amazing to see the winding rivers and lush forest of rural asia and then out of nowhere see the airport buildings appear.

Singapore airport is amazing. So commercialized. At the moment there is a voice on the p.a. announcing a Saturday raffle for a car - the tv screens are beaming us the academy awards, world federation wrestling, american football and international news.

We were just passed by three armed soldiers carrying sub-machine guns across their chest, one hand on the barrel and one near the trigger. Freaky

Luke was just commenting that he cant believe we are over seas. Maybe it will sink in once we are actually out in the real world - not the airport mega mall!

At 8pm we are off to KL so we are going off to the lounge to flick through our Lonely Planet guide and decide what our first day in Asia will have in store for us.

cheers stephanie

Love Love Love

Im in love

It is almost 18 years since David and I tied the knot and I was reflecting today upon all the ups and downs we have been through

We are in a really great space, together, at the moment and it is so nice just to be enjoying each other. Swapping stories about our day, scheming together about what we want to do when the kids are grown, pottering in the garden, planning the final details of our holidays.

Being in love is so much more fun than being disgruntled... and some times I find that i go on for weeks being disgruntled before i finally say - this isnt working can we do something about it, and we reconnect and start liking each other again.

Its funny to me how easy it is to keep that loving space going once we get back on track. It also amazes me how much my pride (and David's) can get in my face and stop me from re-connecting, when my feelings are hurt.

Some days i think "This relationship is never going to work" and then I just say that out loud and David is so open and accepting that we just talk about it and I think to myself "This relationship will never fail as long as we have honesty and compassion at the heart of it."

In all the years that David and I have been together through the good and the bad our relationship has always been real - you know honest - sometimes brutally so.... but i wouldnt have it any other way.

I am on a total high right now. I am married to one of the most authentic, tender, compassionate people i know... and he's good in the garden!! How lucky am I!!

Dis-establishing society.

WHY WE MUST DISESTABLISH SCHOOL by Ivan Illich

"Many students, especially those who are poor, intuitively know what the schools do for them. They school them to confuse process and substance. Once these become blurred, a new logic is assumed: the more treatment there is, the better are the results; or, escalation leads to success. The pupil is thereby "schooled" to confuse teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence, and fluency with the ability to say something new. His imagination is "schooled" to accept service in place of value. Medical treatment is mistaken for health care, social work for the improvement of community life, police protection for safety, military poise for national security, the rat race for productive work. Health, learning, dignity, independence, and creative endeavor are defined as little more than the performance of the institutions which claim to serve these ends, and their improvement is made to depend on allocating more resources to the management of hospitals, schools, and other agencies in question."

We could go one step further and say that War is mistaken for a peace making... the ultimate contradiction. Who would have thought that we could be dumbed down so much by society that we could believe that lie!!!

Link to full text of Deschooling society by Ivan Illich http://reactor-core.org/deschooling.html

Sick Stephanie

Today I am having a lazy - catch up on all my computer work - day.

For the past 3 days I have had a nasty gastro virus that has been going around. Nausea and vomiting, rank up next to child birth on my list of "most painful things in life". I absolutely hate being nauseas.

So after 3 days of rolling around in bed feeling very sorry for myself (because the rest of my house hold are not good at the pity thing) I am having a quite day... while David busily races around and does all the cleaning, shopping, cooking, child care... and repairs some plasterwork that we knocked down during our renovations!!

I must admit i feel a bit guilty. I have missed 2 days of work and have not offered to lift a hand to help around the house.

But i am enjoying today. Feeling a lot better (still cant look at a piece of bread) and happy to be left alone to catch up with all my emails.

I will make up for it tomorrow. Back into the swing of parenting and home duties.

On the way to self sustainability

This week i attended a course on grafting fruit trees. I was skeptial about going as i had looked into grafting before and found it difficult to understand. But my girlfriend was going so i tagged along. It was great!! Grafting is actually very simple and these folk explained it very clearly.

I feel like i have taken a giant leap forward in my endeavour to be more self sufficient.

I have placed a link on permaculture and the peak oil crisis for those that are interested in reading more - I have to dash as the natives (2 teen boys) are growing restless (always seems to happen when i sit down at the computer!

Transition

I have been feeling really unsettled this week. I spoke to a friend who mentioned that she was also feeling the same, and have just logged into one of my yahoo groups to find a string of posts on this discussion. My friend thinks that it must be the phase of the moon and also possibly the cold winter days, causing us all to be more inward looking and unsettled.

For me this has been going on for more than just the current moon cycle. I just feel bored and lost. I feel like i need a new project, but then i realise that this wont really solve my problems.

Im not sure if it is just the waiting... waiting to go off to Asia... waiting for David to find a new job... waiting to see if our car is going to up and die (its on its last legs and each week we hope it will chug along for a little longer).... waiting to find out if the corporate take-over goes ahead at my work and the Adelaide office (where i work!) is closed down.... and waiting to see what each week brings for me as a parent, what new frustrations and challenges the boys will throw at me.

Writing all this here has made be realise what a stressful spot we are in at the moment. My usual response to stress is to up and move. Move away to find a better job... post pone our holiday and buy a new car instead.... sell up our house, buy a bus and travel Australia so we connect as a family again.

While all of that might sound fun, I assume this time is just a transition and all the waiting will come to an end with something new and wonderful - eventually, but for now the uncertainty is driving me mad and I am inclined to take charge of the situation with some radical new venture that will put an end to the discomfort.... dispite the fact that such action has not always been useful to me in the past.....

So for now we wait... and write in this blog

Thailand here we come

We have been busily planning our holiday to Thailand this last couple of weeks. We live on Sept 12. Our itinerary is as follows

Arrive Kuala Lumpur - Zoo & Bird/Deer park etc (2 days)
Train to Butterworth and Ferry to Penang - George town (3 days)
Train to Bangkok - floating markets kings palace etc (2 days)
Chaing Mai - including 2 day trek and elephant experience (5 days total)
Chaing Rai - Akha village Ikoh San Yuek, Hilltribe Developments and Welfare Center in Amphoe Mae Chan and Mai Sai (Myanmar border) (4 days?)
Golden triangle - Chiang Khong cross Laos border to Huay Xai - 2 day slow boat journey to Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang - Pak-Ou Caves and waterfalls, Temples, weavers, revolutionary museum etc
(2 days)
Travel to Vientianne - sightseeing 2 days
Train from Nong Khai to Bangkok - for some shopping before heading home.

We are away for 4 weeks in total. I was hoping to do some Wwoofing but our time is short and David is not keen to work during his holiday - which is completely understandable.

It is quite daunting looking at all the places we are craming into our 4 weeks, but there will be a few quiet days along the way - like the 2 day boat trip in Laos.

Cant wait to start packing!