in2travel: jay and corina's backpacking adventure

Come play with us

2010-10-31T14:08:00.000-05:00

We're playing a travel photo game over on Corina's jewelry blog, jake + cleo. If you followed our in2travels blog you'll probably do well at guessing where the photos are from. If you guess correctly your name will be entered into a draw for a piece of jake + cleo silver jewelry. There will be 6 photos over the next 3 weeks so you have many chances to add your name to the draw. You can read all The Rulz of the game and join in at any time.

Hope to see you playing. Good Luck!

Corina has a new blog!

2010-10-11T13:41:00.001-05:00

Since returning home I've had a few ideas of what I wanted to do. I've finally settled on a couple of things with one being silver jewelry design. My design partner and I are documenting our journey on our new blog. Plus we'll talk about all things handmade, upcycled, recycled, eco-friendly and locally-designed.

Our jewelry line has already had it's debut in Winnipeg at the Mozy Rue Eco Collective at 531 Osborne Street. We also have an Etsy shop online for those of you that don't live in Winnipeg. Pick something you like from our collection or send us message for a custom design!

I hope you will enjoy following this journey too.

Corina

www.jakecleo.blogspot.com

scenes from the everyday from around the world

2010-10-03T00:39:00.000-05:00

This woman in Bangkok made the best Banana Roti

When we first started traveling I didn't feel very comfortable taking pictures of people. In fact, in most of my photos I would wait until people moved out of my shot. Sometimes I would even get frustrated that they were 'ruining' a perfectly good photo. Somewhere along the line I realized that photos of empty streets and building facades no matter how good the lighting didn't necessary make an interesting photo. Memories of a place are so much more than the architecture or beautiful sunsets. It's the people that give a place it's identity. Here is a sampling (in no particular order) of what you might see on an average day, in an average place somewhere around the world.

Hanging out on the back of a pick up truck (aka. a shared taxi) in Chiang Mai

A young Thai boy testing the temperature of his hot dogs on a stick in Chiang Mai


View from the train as we leave Bangkok

Feeling the heat on 6 hour trip from Bangkok to Cambodia via the local train (cost = $1.60 CDN).

My first photos of people seemed to be of people wearing odd clothing. This guy was about to enter the Plitvice Lakes National Park. Seems to me his pants are better suited for a walk on the moon.

Walking through this market in Izmir, Turkey you are surrounded by people and hawkers yelling out the specials of the day.

Turkish taffy guy

Cruising down the river towards Tonle Sap Lake with 2 kids as our guides

Siem Reap, Cambodia street scene

A family showing off their goat (aka. dinner) as Eid celebrations begin in Dubai

Local Vietnamese cater to the tourists lounging under the umbrellas offering massages, manicures and threading (hair removal) rather insistently in Sihanoukville.

A street in the Kowloon neighbourhood of Hong Kong.

One of the cleanest subways, although one of the busiest, was in Singapore

Traffic jams were common place during the floating markets near Can Tho, Vietnam

Need a letter typed up? Head to the streets of Melaka, Malaysia.

These ain't no ordinary cabs in Melaka, Malaysia

This guy made the best Banana Roti...of Malaysia

An outdoor food court in Pulau Penang, Malaysia. You'll see locals and tourists mingling here.

Bangkok's street food. We ate some. It was good.

If you don't hurry, the ferry in Bangkok will leave without you even if you are mid-stride onto the deck.

Scooters maneuver through the crowds of the Dalat, Vietnam night market.

A Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam sidewalk cafe.

The cleansing station before you enter the temple in Toyko.

The fish market in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil has restaurants upstairs that will prepare your fish for you while you drink lots of beer.

The quaint cobbled streets of Paraty, Brazil

A pedestrian friendly street in Santiago, Chile

A street corner in Lima, Peru

The oasis of Huacachina, Peru

Ah, yes...this is where I started photographing people on the streets. Maybe before we got to Barcelona there weren't any interesting ones...

Harem pants were EVERYWHERE in Barcelona.

Harem pants AND matching tails? Seriously?

Hong Kong

Ho Chi Minh on the eve of Tet (the Vietnamese version of New Years except it lasts 4 days)

Shopping in the streets of Cusco, Peru

I haven't spend much time perusing our photos lately but when I do I always feel this sense of "I did that?"...

Thanks for stopping by,

Corina

sunrise, sunset

2010-08-30T12:07:00.000-05:00

Day breaks as we arrive in Dubrovnik, Croatia by ferry.

The first colours of light over the island of Anafi, Greece.

A few moments later the sun peaks out over the horizon.

The much acclaimed sunset view from Oia, Santorini, Greece.

Watching the sunset while fishing from the boardwalk is a part of daily life in Izmir, Turkey.

Making the most of living ocean-side in Pulau Penang, Malaysia.

Ahhh, Koh Chang, Thailand. I miss this.

The nightly view from our ocean-side hut on Bamboo Island, Cambodia.

Did you ever think that Vietnam could be quite so idyllic? It is on the island of Phu Quoc.

Now that we are home...

2010-08-09T21:52:00.000-05:00

We came home to the most beautiful spring in Manitoba. Unlike other years on record, our end of April arrival meant no snow, plus 20 degree Celsius temperatures, budding trees and blooming flowers. Ahhh, our perpetual summer continues...

We made it home just in time to walk in the MS Walk, which is near and dear to our hearts because our friend Emily lives with MS.

Then there was my experimentation with becoming a baker of vegan whoopie pies. I decided that was too involved and I had to jump through too many hoops to become a licensed bakery for just one product. However, I can still whip up a batch for any of you who might want them for a special occasion and be willing to pay $3.50 per cookie :) They are worth it...for reals! Just don't expect to want to walk anywhere until the next day.

We spent a couple of nights at Dorothy Lake in the Whiteshell Provincial Park with the BFFs. We explored Rainbow Falls and Bannock Point, swam in the hotel pool and generally had a grand time.

I became the 'official' photographer for emmsgems. I've been taking lots of photos of Emily's amazing collection and we even had a live model session with my cousin Janell one afternoon. It's been exciting to see some of the pieces that Em has been making with the Karen Hill-tribe silver that we picked up for her in Thailand and the seed and nut beads from Peru.

We've spent time at Jay's parents' lake-front cabin at Royal Lake, Ontario. This is one of my favourite summertime activities, getting out of the city and hanging out on the dock.

I drove to Vancouver with my brother Mark in his band's van leaving late Monday afternoon and arriving just after midnight on Tuesday. We picked up some hitchhikers which was a first for both of us. At one point we had a couple from Quebec, a guy from Saskatchewan and a girl from Germany along for the ride. There would have been room for Jay in the van (it seats 15) but he decided to be responsible and look for a job.

While I was in Vancouver I spent some time with my brother Michael who was without his family (they joined him earlier this month - you can read about their adventure over the next year). I also had a great time visiting with Jay's brother and family, Craig, Mathy and little Coco (Yohan).

The last six weeks have been a blur. We spent a week at Jay's brother's place stripping wall paper and painting the kitchen among other things. We said goodbye to Michael and Karla and my nieces for a year. Jay found a job similar to the one he had before we left as a Showroom Salesperson for an upscale plumbing company. I've been dabbling with getting a new blog started and experimenting with making fine silver jewelry with Emily. Jay and I have been apartment hunting now that one of us is employed. While living with my parents has been virtually painless and very easy on the budget it is time for us to be our own family unit with our two kitties again. I'm sure my parents will be relieved to finally see us go after 4 months of us living in their guest room.

So that's what we've been up to since we got home. As for how this trip has changed us...I'm still struggling to figure that out. Our RTW traveling friend Ali wrote a post recently that I felt summed it up perfectly. Maybe one day I'll find my own words to express it but for now I'll just know in my heart that this trip was the right thing for me/us at the time that we did it. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

Corina

The four corners of the globe

2010-08-07T14:31:00.016-05:00

Because I am a little bit of a freak and I like to look at these kind of things, I have decided to make a post about it. Of what do I speak, you ask? What were the furthest points of our journey to the North, South, East, and West, in our 27 country tour.

Our furthest point West was in our home country and first stop, Vancouver, with a western geographical co-ordinates of 123° 6′ 0″. With both of our family now represented in Vancouver it has been and will be a "go to" destination. A home away from home if you will.

Canada Place, Vancouver

Our furthest point East was located in the exotic and aptly named "Far East". Tokyo has co-ordinates of 139° 42′ 54" East. One of our top picks to get back to one day, Tokyo was everything we look for in a urban destination. Of all the places we visited it was the only one I recall that Corina instantly decided that she could live. A very attractive idea admittedly, as Tokyo was in the top five for the both of us.

Tokyo's Shinjuku district.

Our Northern-most point was another of our top picks and one of the prettiest cities we saw, in my humble opinion. I speak of the so called "Athens of the North", Edinburgh, with co-ordinates of 55° 56′ 58″ North. Considering their passion for stuffed potatoes who could not fall for this northern beauty. Both regal and warm, Edinburgh was another top fiver for us.

Edinburgh's royal mile.

Our Southern-most point was Santiago with co-ordinates at 33° 27′ 0″ South. Due to some travel fatigue and some home-sickness it was the least explored of our four corners. Santiago was charming, set snug in a valley in the midst of the high Andies. Given half a chance Santiago was arguably one of the niceset, safest of our South American cities (earthquakes not withstanding).

Santiago from atop Cerro San Cristobal

I can't post this without a shout-out to Winnipeg our starting point, our center to these four corners and our home. It is located at 49° 54′ 0″ N, 97° 8′ 0″ W. One great city, a former slogan for our home town, now "The Heart of the Continent" and it holds a special place in ours. I suppose home will always hold that place in most peoples' heart no matter where they call it.

Sign welcoming you to Winnipeg.

Thanks all for indulging my need to quantify and correlate this trip of ours. It helps me keep it straight in my head.

Jason.

california: a "smorgasbord of fun"

2010-07-13T22:58:00.015-05:00

Being in California with our friends kinda made me wish we'd had friends with us on our whole trip. I'm not saying I didn't have a good time when it was just me and Jay but...the level of fun was definitely amped up when Ron and Ali were around. Which makes it even 'awesomer' that we met up with them FOUR times within 10 months...plus...we didn't even know each other before we each left on our respective around-the-world adventures.

We were supposed to meet Ron and Ali when we were down in San Francisco for Evan and Mary's wedding. I'd found Ali on couchsurfing.com and noticed that she was gearing up with Ron for a similar trip to ours. She had a blog that I started to follow and because she was about a month ahead our schedule I could really relate to all the emotions and preparations that she was dealing with. Well, we didn't meet because of schedule conflicts but we kept in contact over the next few months via our blogs and email.

We were in Paris when I was catching up on their latest blog entries. The thing about travel blogs is that they are often posted a few days or sometimes weeks after someone is in a specific location. But Ali was constantly updating their current location on their itinerary page so I was able to see that they were in Paris too! Jay and I were only staying in Paris for one more night so plans were quickly arranged to meet for dinner along with our couchsurfing host, Veronica and friends. The night was short but it was enough to cement our virtual bond in reality.

To keep a long story short(er) we spent 2 great 'holidays' with them in Thailand and Vietnam and we now have new lifelong friends. The timing for our return to North America was perfect as Ron and Ali were also back from their trip.

View from Land's End

Ron took us for a day out in San Francisco while we waited for Ali to fly in from Oklahoma. We explored Land's End, had lunch on the beach, saw San Francisco from a hill, visited the painted ladies and ate at one of his favourite Mexican restaurants.

Painted ladies of San Francisco

The four of us headed to test out some wine in the Napa Valley. Ali had scoured the Internet for coupons and free tastings from at least 10 different wineries. We got a bit of a late start and it was at least noon before we were able to imbibe. The first host we met was extremely friendly and accepted our coupons without a second glance. She was quite liberal with the wine and even with our free 'classic' tasting plus our free 'premium' tasting she kept on pouring more samples. I think we must have tasted 12 or more wines just at this first winery. The afternoon kinda just spiraled out of control after that. I wish I had more pictures but actually I'm kind of glad I don't. Here's a series of us trying to get all four of us into one frame...it's harder than it looks...especially after another stop at a winery with no lunch in our bellies.

Is that Ali down there?

Ali! get in the picture!

better...but now we all look drunk! oh yah, we are...

After a quick snack of crackers and hummus on the hood of Ron's vehicle we careened over to the next winery on the list. (Disclaimer: no humans or animals were harmed in the making of this wine tour. Ali made sure she drank most of Ron's samples)

Hurry up boys! We gots more wine to drink!

We squeezed in four wineries before the 5PM closing time and then set out the rest of our picnic lunch which we postponed due to lack of time. As we were laughing and picnicking the staff from the last winery walked by to get to their cars. They must get that a lot. I mean, they must, right?...we're not the only silly drunken fools to visit Napa.

The next day we drove to Yosemite National Park and took a light walking trail to see a few waterfalls and lots of big rocks. We were lucky to be in the park during spring because the falls were at their gushiest and the crowds were at a minimum.

Bridal Veil

You know who

Half Dome at Sunset

Mirror Lake

We spent one last night with Ron and Ali in San Francisco. They took us to a fabulous vegetarian restaurant called Millenium. They passed us off to Evan (Jay's childhood friend) and Mary, our next hosts in SF after we all met up for a few drinks at Bourbon and Branch, a local speakeasy. It's been great getting to know these guys especially during such an incredible journey for both of us. It will be interesting to see the where, how and when of our next adventure.

The wine drinking didn't stop though. The next few nights with Evan and Mary we consumed the 3 bottles of wine we purchased during our wine tastings plus a few that they provided. I think I was the first one to drop out though. By the fifth consecutive day of wine drinking I was down to one glass...an hour ;p

We also did a bit more hiking with Evan while Mary madly worked to meet a looming deadline. This time visiting Muir woods to see the big 1000 year old Redwoods. We went up the coast a bit trying to find an elusive community of hippies but they had taken the town sign down again so we missed the turn off...and then there was this big hole in the middle of the road which we think led to the town...so we gave up and hit the beach for food instead. Those hippies can be pretty elusive when they want to be!

Read the sign, dummy.

The last sunset of our trip as we drive back to SF...sigh

And there you have it folks! Our round the world trip has come to a close. We haven't quite decided the fate of this blog. We will keep it alive for awhile and try to add some content with more regularity. If you don't live in Winnipeg (and don't see us everyday...sleeping in your spare room and eating your food) you may be curious as to what we've been up to now that we are home.

For now, rest assured, we are healthy, comfy and our kitties still love us.

Later,

Corina

Machu Picchu at last!

2010-06-19T14:37:00.001-05:00

Shack along raging river in Aguas Calientes, the town below Machu Picchu

Instead of reiterating hundreds of travel blogs out there with the history of Machu Picchu, I will regale you with a photo essay. Taking photos throughout our trip has been one of our favourite activities. Both Jay and I love to compose photos and this trip has been a great learning experience for what works and what doesn't. We have thousands of photos and hundreds that didn't turn out. I'm sure some photography classes are in our near future! We got lucky and lots did turn out so here you are: Machu Picchu at last!

Colourful buildings in Aguas Calientes

Men at work along the railway to Aguas Calientes (note the raging river below)

Finally! Macchu Picchu!

I love the sky in this shot but couldn't get rid of the tourist's elbow without cropping the photo to death

Jay poking his head in where it doesn't belong

that's better!

it was a hot, sunny day...and then it wasn't anymore

the fog really started rolling in so that we had our heads in the clouds :)

I obviously loved that little house

...and then it was sunny again...you can see all the details clearly

the intricate building blocks used in buildings of importance

Agricultural terraces at Machu Picchu

the Inca's just built around the mountain, no need to blast it with dynamite!

I let Jay take a few shots and this is what he came up with ;p

Jay hugging Intihuatana as requested by his father

Isn't it incredible?

Every blog post needs an "awwww" moment...

Those Incas, showing off their building prowess again!

Looking out into cloud forest

The views were spectacular!

I hope you enjoyed our RTW trip...we sure did! The next few posts will be our arrival back in North America and our smorgasbord of fun with friends in California. And then I might get around to telling you about coming home and what we are up to these days.

Chau,

Corina

Cusco and the Sacred Valley of Peru

2010-06-12T00:43:00.025-05:00

The Cathedral in Plaza des Armas, Cusco, Peru

I had no concept of Cusco as a place or city before we arrived. I only really knew I wanted to go because that's how you get to Machu Picchu. And who doesn't want to go there?

We left Nazca just after midnight, about an hour late, for our longest bus ride to date. The ride that was supposed to take 16 hours actually took closer to 18 with only one stop around noon the following morning. The bus ticket that we purchased promised food, air conditioning and a toilet on board and although first class was sold out, second class was quite comfortable. Since we'd started the journey late at night I wasn't expecting any food until morning. On previous shorter rides, with the same bus company, breakfast usually consisted of a pastry and a square of quiche-like food. On this ride we got a pastry and tea or coffee. Okaaaay...we hadn't eaten since 7 pm the night before so this breakfast was not very satisfying. Maybe lunch will be better...I thought to myself.

When we stopped at noon for 20 minutes everyone got off the bus and trotted off to the washrooms. I saw several people sucking on popsicles and a few munching on chips. Jason and I walked towards the hillside and took pictures of the luscious green mountains that surrounded us. This was the first inkling that I had that Cusco would be different than the desert-ish coast of the rest of our Peruvian experience. We bought some popsicles and hopped back on the bus thinking that lunch was just a few minutes from being served and Cusco only 4 hours away.

6 hours, 6 starving minutes later, we arrived in Cusco. One would think that after all the time we have spent on buses and after all the times we've been stuck with no food, one of those times would have taught us to be prepared...not to assume based on other experiences. And then the hunt for a place to stay started. The room that we had booked was no longer available even though we had confirmed via email but the owner had not confirmed back to us. When we arrived the receptionist was flustered and embarrassed but came through for us by finding us another room nearby.

As we walked from the second cab to the second hostel I remarked to Jay that I wasn't feeling the altitude. I was a bit short of breath but we were hauling our backpacks so that was pretty normal. For some reason the altitude didn't really hit either of us until later that night. As I was lying in bed on my back I couldn't breathe. I rolled to my side and still had a hard time getting air in. I didn't panic but it was a strange feeling. Eventually I fell asleep. Jay's altitude sickness hit him in the gut so I won't go into details there. We saw what we could walk to in town while battling fatigue and upset stomachs and once the altitude sickness passed we ventured out to see some of the Sacred Valley. We had 5 days in Cusco to explore before our bus and train trip to Machu Picchu.

Part of exploring any place for us has been taking photographs as we discover views, buildings, people and street scenes we find interesting. Somewhere between Huacachina and Nazca the lens on our Nikon D60 DSLR snapped off the body. Part of our discovering Cusco was trying to find a reputable repair shop. Luckily after a few attempts we found a place that was able to temporarily affix the necessary mount in place just in time for our Machu Picchu day. The photos in this post were all taken with our back up point and shoot camera.

Typical morning in the streets of Cusco

Cobblestone street in Cusco

Viva el Peru Glorioso - Long live the glorious Peru

View from Qorikancha (Temple of the Sun)

Vendors in street market, Cusco

We took a day tour that took us by minivan to three historic sites, which included Pisac (or Pisaq), Ollantaytambo and Chinchero. On our way we stopped at a small market at the side of the road where I met a woman weaving pieces of cloth from cotton. I purchased a piece from her and she agreed to pose for a few pictures for me. Pisac is well known for its Sunday market but we were there to see the ruins. The Pisac ruins are the remnants of a citadel that was once on an important Inca route. The views are spectacular as you look over the agricultural terraces and climb to the intricately built Sun Temple.

Peruvian woman demonstrating how to weave with cotton (coloured with natural dyes)

Ruins at Pisac, Peru

Agricultural terraces at Pisac

After hiking around the ruins for a couple of hours at Pisac we moved on to Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo looks like a really cute town but unfortunately, as it is with tours, we didn't get a chance to walk through it. The town is built on Inca foundations so much of the layout remains as in the times of the Incas. It is also the start of many of the Inca Trail expeditions so the town is quite tourist oriented. Our focus for the tour were the ruins that climbed the towering hillside next to the town's marketplace.

Looking up the terraces of the Ollantaytambo ruins

The Wiracochan Face & Inca storehouses found on Pinkalluna,
a hill above the town of Ollantaytambo

Wall structure of the Incas that fit together like a puzzle, Ollantaytambo

The last stop of our tour was late in the day and it was already getting dark by the time we reached Chinchero. None of our photos turned out but what we saw was a Spanish church built on top of Inca ruins. We were tired and hungry by then so I'm not sure if we would have gotten any more out the visit even if there had been daylight. Many of the streets were lined with shops and vendors lay out their wares on the grass near the site and they stayed open until the last tour bus left for the day.

We quite enjoyed Cusco despite the altitude sickness, the camera fiasco and Jay's pocket being picked in the street market. There is definitely more to Cusco than Machu Picchu and I hope that one day I'll be back to discover it all over again.

Chau,
Corina

all the stuff between Lima and Cusco

2010-06-03T22:17:00.018-05:00

Well, our friendly and helpful hostel owner, Ricardo, in Lima helped us plan our in-between time from Lima to Cusco. We were in Lima at the end of March and Machu Picchu didn't open to the public until April 1st. Machu Picchu had been closed since January due to uncharacteristically heavy rains caused rivers to swell and sides of mountains to slide. The mudslide actually took out a huge chunk of the railway from Cusco to Aquas Calientes, the town below Machu Picchu (more about that in another post). In any case, we were only able to obtain train tickets to MP for April 6th so we had about a week to kill before we wanted to be in Cusco.

Ricardo suggested we take a bus to Cusco (22 hours from Lima) but to break it up over a few days. We changed few things on his recommended itinerary and the things we did change we regretted later. The first stop on our itinerary was to go to the coastal town of Paracas. We were advised to only stay one night, take a tour of the islands and then head to Huacachina, an oasis in the middle of the desert.

In our experience, staying anywhere for only one night is a waste so we ignored this piece of advice. Even though the ride from Lima to Paracas was only 4 hours we would arrive to the town late in the day. We didn't want to take a tour of the islands and then hop on a bus to Huacachina because that would leave little time in the actual town of Paracas. Turns out, that is all you need. AND we decided not to take the tour of the islands. I'm not really sure why that is now that I'm home and trying to remember the details but I'm pretty sure it was all about the money.

So instead we lazed around the hotel, walked the boardwalk, cruised the main strip and wished we could go swimming in the ocean. I suppose we could have gone swimming but we would have been surrounded by giant maroon-coloured jelly fish with their long squishy tendrils swirling dangerously close. Plus the stench of the seaweed was so overwhelming that at points during our walks I had to pull my shirt-collar over my nose.

A pelican who doesn't mind the seaweed stench

Birds, birds and more birds on the coast of Peru near Paracas

Huacachina was thankfully a much more pleasant place to be, an oasis if you will. Our hostel/hotel had a pool, a couple of parrots and a macaw and though the village was tiny, there were vegetarian options everywhere. Huacachina is just over a sand dune from the city of Ica. One minute you are driving through the crazy, scooter filled streets of Ica and the next you are cruising down the dune to sun, fun and relaxation. The oasis is a natural body of water snuggled between towering sand dunes on all sides. The purpose of the village is to cater to Peruvian and foreign tourists that flock to the area to enjoy sand-boarding, dune buggy rides and swimming. The only establishments around the oasis are hotels, restaurants, bars and souvenir shops. On more than one occasion we came across people buried up to their necks in sand despite the 35+ degree temperature.

The oasis, Huachachina

Bizarre behavior in Huacachina's dunes

Thankfully, we'd learned our lesson and followed Ricardo's advice exactly for our next stop, Nazca. The town itself really isn't a place you want to spend much time in. In fact the 9 hours we had there was too much time. We met a couple of American girls as we got off the bus in Nazca who had planned to fly over the Nazca lines. Since we hadn't pre-booked anything we decided to tag along with them and see if Jay could join them. I wasn't interested in flying in a tiny 6-seater plane because a) my ears don't adjust to the air pressure changes in a big plane never mind a puddle-jumper like this and b) I'm not stupid. Jay on the other hand...took these shots:

Can you spot The Hands? Maybe a Huarango Tree?

There's a spider in among these lines...

The magnificent Condor

How did they know about The Spaceman? mysterious...

Bird's eye view

After the flights we all hopped back into the minivan and were transported back to the bus station. With another 5 hours for us and 3 hours for Shirley and Erin before our buses arrived we ventured into the town centre for some grub. Of course we just had to imbibe in the favourite local beverage, the Pisco Sour, to brace ourselves for our 16 hour overnight bus journey to Cusco.

Chau,
Corina

I think I remember liking Lima

2010-05-31T08:12:00.012-05:00

Yay! I'm in Peru!

After six days in Santiago with our own apartment and relatively not much to do or not wanting to do much, we hit the streets of Lima with a renewed sense of vitality. Perhaps knowing that we would soon be home took our moods to a more positive level. I think that it was mostly that Lima and Peru, in general, is a really interesting place.

We didn't have any luck couchsurfing in Lima but we didn't try very hard either. While it was our favourite way to travel it also became a chore to search for compatible hosts and compose individualized requests to each potential host. Instead, we stayed at a hostel in Miraflores, a popular area in Lima.

The hostel had a friendly and helpful owner but also some (ok, only one!) unwanted guests. The morning after we arrived, Jay was in the ensuite bathroom when I rolled to my side in bed and found myself face to face with a cockroach! OK, I'm exaggerating just a bit. The c-word was on the floor and I was on the bed but STILL it was closer than I wanted it to be. Now, normally this is when I would go into hysterics and scream for Jay to get rid of the thing...and that's exactly what I did! However, I then usually insist that we pack up our bags and move on but I guess I've matured? grown accustom? I'm not sure what has happened but I no longer needed to vacate the premises. And that, my friends, is how traveling around the world has changed me. haha...just kidding.

Once I recovered from my scare and showered, we set out to explore the neighbourhood. Not far away was a historical site, Huaca Pucllana, which was used from 400-700 A.D. as a ceremonial and administrative center. We were able to get a peek into the grounds even though it was closed for the day and Jay went back the next day for a guided tour. It was quite a sight to see all the small, handmade clay bricks stacked into pyramids and platforms.

Huaca Pucllana

in Miraflores

Another day was spent wandering in downtown Lima. It was extremely hot and sunny so we took a cab from Miraflores to the Historic Centre of Lima. Hailing a cab in Lima is easy and once you know the going rate it is easy to negotiate with the drivers. We say 10 pesos, the driver says 12 pesos and you say no, no, 10 (that's what the hostel guy said we should pay) and the driver says 12 and starts driving...so you pay 12 and get out at your destination, thankful that you made it in one piece.

The Historic Centre of Lima is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, much to the pleasure of Jason. Another one to add to the back of his travel notebook and eventually this blog (see previous entry). A hint of the city's colonial past is evident in the main square and a few surrounding blocks. It's quite beautiful.

Historic Center of Lima - Plaza de Armas

Cathedral of Lima

Plaza San Martin

After several hours of exploring the historic centrer and scouring bead stores for my friend, Emily, we had worked up quite an appetite. Luckily for us, Lima is very vegetarian friendly. We would pass vegetarian restaurants on the street by accident. In almost every other city we've been to, if we wanted to find an exclusively vegetarian place we would have to ask someone or find it on the internet first.

Jay looking forward to his vegetarian delights

View of the Pacific Ocean from Lima

We squeezed in one more stop just before sunset, sat in Amore park and strolled along the coastal path high above the highway and beaches below.

Chau,
Corina

THE NUMB3RS

2010-05-05T18:42:00.026-05:00

We aren't quite done with this blog as we haven't even finished our accounts of South and North America. However, we are home and I have been going through things like: Where we went. I also noted other things that I like to keep track of. I am a little bit of a freak that way I'll admit. I'll start with the obvious: How many countries and cities we managed to visit. Now in order for me to count a country/city the consensus seems to be to count it if you slept there. Also, I debated whether or not I should count all of the countries we stayed in while in the U.K. as separate entities or just as one country. Well, if you ask any Scotsman they will give you your answer. All in all we visited 26 different countries, 27 if you include Canada, and 65 different cities and towns with populations as diverse as Tokyo's 32.45 million to towns like Trinidade and Anafi that I estimate to have a population of 200 to 400. Here is a break down of where we went, in the order we went there:

I) Canada -Vancouver (1)

II) U.S.A. -New York City (2)

New York's Guggenheim Museum

III) England -London (3)

-York (4)

IV) Scotland -Edinburgh (5)

V) N. Ireland -Belfast (6)

VI) Ireland -Drougheda (7)

-Dublin (8)

VII) Germany -Berlin (9)

VIII) Netherlands -Amsterdam (10)

IX) France -Paris (11)

-Bordeaux (12)

X) Spain -San Sebastian (13)

Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum near San Sebastian

-Barcelona (14)

XI) Italy -Rome (15)

-Naples (16)

XII) Croatia -Dubrovnik (17)

-Split (18)

-Plitvice (19)

-Trogier (20)

XIII) Switzerland -Geneva (21)

XIV) Hungary -Budapest (22)

XV) Greece -Athens (23)

-Delphi (24)

-Santorini (25)

-Anafi (26)

-Rhodes (27)

XVI) Turkey -Istanbul (28)

Istanbul's Blue Mosque

-Denizli (29)

-Izmur (30)

-Goreme (31)

XVII) U.A.E. -Dubai (32)

XVIII)China -Hong Kong (33)

IXX) Singapore -Singapore (34)

XX) Malaysia -Malaka (35)

-Pulau Penang (36)

XXI) Thailand -Bangkok (37)

-Koh Chang (38)

-Koh Maak (39)

-Chang Mai (40)

XXII) Cambodia -Siem Reap (41)

-Phnom Penh (42)

-Sihanoukville (43)

-Koh Russi (44)

-Kampot (45)

XXIII) Vietnam -Phu Quoc (46)

-Can Tho (47)

-Da Lat (48)

-Nha Trang (49)

-Ho Chi Minh Cit y (50)

XXIV) Japan -Tokyo (51)

-Shimizu (52)

XXV) Brazil -Sao Paulo (53)

-Rio de Janeiro (54)

-Trinidade (55)

Igreja de Santa Rita in Paraty, near Trinidade Brazil.

XXVI) Chile -Santiago (56)

XXVII)Peru -Lima (57)

-Paracas (58)

-Ica (59)

-Cuzco (60)

U.S.A. pt.2 -Los Angeles (61)

-San Francisco (62)

-Sonoma (63)

-Yosemite (64)

-Fargo (65)

As far as the usual "What was your favorite?" ...I don't think I can answer that. Far too many good times and very few disappointments. Honestly, disappointment is probably too harsh of a word... The overall feeling of "When's the next time we will be in 'X' " outweighed the

negative aspects. So suffice to say, nothing truly bad happened to us. I mean, sure, we got swindled in Istanbul and trying to get to Phu Quoc and I even had my wallet pick-pocketed in Cuzco. But we never felt like we were in danger.

We also added to my previous list of coveted UNESCO sights which I will recap... quickly. Once again, in order of appearance:

1) Statue of Liberty, New York City, U.S.A.

2) Tower of London, London, England

3) Old and New Town of Edinburgh, Scotland

4) Giants Causeway, Belfast, N. Ireland

5) Bend in the Boyne, Drougheda, Ireland

Passage tomb at the Bend in the Boyne

6) Palaces of Potsdam, Berlin, Germany

7) Rietveld-Schroder House, Utrecht, The Netherlands

8) Left and Right Banks of the Seine River, Paris, France

9) Palaces of Fontainebleau, Paris, France

10) Jurisdiction of St. Emilion, France

11) Works of Antoni Gaudi, Barcelona, Spain

12) Vatican City, Vatican City

13) Rome's Historic City Center, Italy

14) Naples' Historic City Center, Italy

15) Pompeii's Archeological Areas, Italy

16) Dubrovnik's Historical City Center, Croatia

17) Diocletian Place, Split Croatia

18) Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

19) Trogir's Historic City Center, Croatia

20) The Banks of the Danube, Budapest, Hungary

21) Athens' Archeological Areas, Greece

22) Delphi's Archeological Areas, Greece

23) Rhodes' Medieval City, Greece

24) Istanbul's Historic Areas, Turkey

25) Pamukkale & Heropolis, Denizli, Turkey

26) Goreme National Park, Turkey

27) Malaka's Historic City Center, Malaysia

28) Ankor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

29) Lima's Historic City Center, Peru

30) The Nazca Lines, Nazca, Peru

Nazca lines "The Hummingbird"

31) Cuzco's Historic City Center, Peru

32) The Lost City of Machu Pichhu, Peru

33) Yosemite National Park, U.S.A.

That's 27 countries and 33 UNESCO world heritage sights for an average of 1.222 sights per country in, as the song states, 525,600 minutes... Well, quite a bit fewer than that, closer to a paltry 432,000... as we had to cut our trip short 93,600 minutes or 2 months.

We will be back with more posts, I promise. And funner ones too!

Jason

flat people explore south america

2010-04-16T15:57:00.032-05:00

after recovering from jet lag...the flight from tokyo to sao paulo took its toll on flat people and 3-d people alike...the flat penners delighted in the fresh air and green grass found in parque do ibirapuera. they especially enjoyed climbing a huge tree with roots that hung to the ground from its branches.

the flats were a bit disappointed when we reached the top of corcovado hill in rio de janeiro and cristo redentor was covered in scaffolding. seeing their sad faces, the construction workers offered to stop what they were doing and pose with the flat penners. then there were smiles all around :)

flat jane and flat owen spent an afternoon with uncle jason at the football museum in maracana stadium. they learned that football in south america is actually what canadians call soccer...so what do they call football?

uncle jason spent hours at the pool making friends with pedro the parrot at our hotel in huacachina, peru. but uncle jason was quickly forgotten when the flats came out to play. pedro loved to play peek-a-boo with flat owen.

pedro didn't play nice with everyone though. he nibbled uncle jason's ears and nose and then started in on flat hannah's hair. some people's pets...sheesh.

the flat petroffs were very impressed with how the incas could build their homes on top of a mountain. flat jane asked the tour guide how many people used to live at machu picchu. apparently over 1000 people used to live here over 600 years ago. the incas were probably wiped out by small pox and the city was lost to the world for the next 400 years.

if you look closely (imagine the picture above turned 90 degrees counterclockwise) you can see that the mountains have the shape of a person's face. the biggest mountain is the nose and from this view it is like you are looking up it. the tour guide explained to the flat penners that the profile of the nose is just like the nose of the inca people and is characteristically peruvian even today.

and then there were 2...no, no, no...the llama didn't eat flat ellie! she just decided that she really liked machu picchu. she was so interested in the history and the story of the incas so she has become the youngest, smallest, and flatest tour guide in all the world! i guess we're not the only ones that have learned to follow your dreams!

how can you visit peru and not have your photo taken with a llama? well, that's what flat jane said anyway. luckily, this llama was on its best behavior...no spitting!

the flat petroffs enjoyed a day of hiking in yosemite national park, california with auntie corina, uncle jason and their travel buddies, ron and ali. this waterfall was the lower of two stacked on top of each other called lower yosemite falls.

we hope you have enjoyed the adventures of the flat people! they are now safely tucked into the camera bag for our flight home tomorrow...except for flat ellie who we hope to see again the next time we are in machu picchu.

see you all soon,
corina and jason

Chillin' Chile

2010-04-12T23:13:00.018-05:00

We had 6 days in Chile, time enuf to do a little something. Heck we had six days in Japan and we did, what I consider, a good amount of stuff. But after arriving at the apartment in Santiago which we opted for as a treat. We settled in... it was nice and 'homey'. Maybe too homey. After a long time on the road we took the opportunity to, well, chill. It's not like we did nothing, it was just very low key. We walked about the city took in some of the sights but over all Santiago was low key for us. The fact that the country was rocked by a major earthquake on Feb 28th made the excuse to confine our adventures to Santiago proper a little easier to justify. For the first few days we managed trips to the market for supplies. By the third day I was getting restless and convinced Corina to venture out to Cerro San Cristobal a near by park/hill. We took the funicular up to see the view and a statue of the virgin Mary.

funicular up Cerro San Cristobal

"The Immaculate Conception"

We intended to take the teleferico to another part of the park but it was closed so after we wandered the top of the hill we took the funicular back down. On the way to the park we passed the church of San Francisco. We wandered inside one of Santiago's oldest churches for a quick look see. Afterward, we wove threw the streets to reach the park.

Iglesia de San Francisco

Another lazy day followed as we shopped at the Los Domminicos craft market. With a low key wander around Santiago's historic center the another day, where old meets new in a way that I appreciated.

Museo de Bellas Artes

Ave. Bellavista

Catedral de Santiago

On our last day a vain attempt to go to a winery just outside the city limits was thwarted because of the language barrier. But there were no long faces on our account. We really re-charged in Santiago and although I may have been prone to a little cabin fever, it was worth it in the end and allowed a more rigorous journey into Peru. Sometimes, even during a vacation, it is important to take 'er easy every so often. Corina seems to be more intune to this need and has prevented burn out, I am sure. Yep sometimes it pays to go slow, in this case, in Santiago!

Jason.

faery lake

2010-03-24T19:47:00.006-05:00

flat jane amid the faeries

we were walking in tijuca forest, the urban forest in rio de janeiro, when flat jane spotted a map along the side of the road. the map showed a tiny lake known as faery lake high up on the hill. we had already been walking for a couple of hours so everyone in the group was tired. not flat jane! she was raring to go! luckily auntie corina found her second wind and trudged up the hill with her. it was quiet...all you could hear were the rain drops on the forest rooftop...we waited patiently for the faeries to show themselves. i think if you look very closely above the flowers you can see the flash of light they left behind.

¡chao!

corina

¡brazil!

2010-03-24T13:46:00.043-05:00

we spent the first 3 days in sao paulo just getting used to the time difference and the exhaustion that comes with traveling...aka jet lag. i haven't had the best of luck with jet lag this trip. i seem to experience the symptoms harder and longer than jay does. a two hour time difference and a few hours of flying can make me grumpy for at least a day after the journey. so imagine what jay had to deal with after flying for 25 hours and a time change of 12 hours. hehehe... we did manage to fit in a visit to the museu de Arte de Sao Paulo (masp) which is housed in a modern building designed by lina bo bardi. the modern art collection inside wasn't very impressive but once you've been to moma in nyc can anything compare?

sophia and flavia

the next couple of days we couchsurfed with flavia, luis and their gorgeous daughter, sophia. we had a great time with them over dinners often waiting for luis to translate flavia's enthusiasic questions from portuguese. the weather was not cooperating with us though which added to my jetlag grumpiness, so we didn't venture very far. we toured the downtown area which would have been much more fun on any other day...like a day that wasn't sunday so the shops are closed or a day that is sunny...or even just a day when it isn't raining in the torrential sort of way that it was on that day...

our first few days in rio didn't get much better weatherwise. we were staying at a hostel in copacabana that my brother, mark, recommended which i will not repeat the recommendation by naming it. we stayed in a 14 bed dorm with only one toilet/shower to share and, with the week of rain preceding our visit, the whole place was rank. i think we had been spoiled with our private double rooms with aircon and cable tv while we were in vietnam. we were a bit bummed but decided to hit the beach each morning before the rain inevitably started again. we lucked out one morning when the clouds broke and the sun shone its radiant rays upon us. our southeast asia tans were fading fast so this hit of sun was a welcome surprise...until we got back to the hostel and realized we managed to get a burn in 30 minutes of sun.

view of sugar loaf and copacabana from corcovado hill

we found a couple of cs hosts in rio for the rest of our stay. we stayed with naira and her family in the northern part of the city. she was a girl that mark had met at a party last year and she offered to put us up. i think we stayed in her room and she moved in with her sister for the three days we were there. every morning her mom would have breakfast laid out for us and generally kept us well fed. on the night we arrived naira took us to a forro (pronounced foh-ho) party with some other local csers and their guests. a forro takes place in a big room similar to a social hall you would find in manitoba. the forro band plays loudly as couples swing around the dance floor, the moves similar to a two step but with more hips swaying and with a bit more flair. the next day we decided to visit christo redentor up on corcovado hill which we didn't realize was under construction until we were climbing the final stairs up to the statue. the ticket attendant had warned us about the cloud cover but said nothing about the scaffolding. with less than favourable conditions the top of the hill was still packed with people and we still managed to get some nice views of the sprawling city below.

christ the redeemer

naira and her boyfriend took us to tijuca forest one afternoon and we marvelled at the lush greenery that surrounded us. the park was definitely the most jungle-like that we've experienced on our trip...even more jungley than our old front yard ;p it was sprinkling rain for most of the day but as we were descending the hill a downpour started. we were rescued by a nice man in a station wagon who took pity on us and drove us to the nearest metro station about 15 minutes away.

tijuca forest

andre and pilar

we moved to andre's place to an area called santa theresa near lapa. lapa is the happening center for all things fun...like forro parties, restaurants and bars. andre's place was the penthouse apartment of a block that climbed a hill. we had a great view of the neighbourhood, peeks into neighbour's windows and 4 different options for outdoor space. he had a friend, fabien, from italy crashing for a few months on his hammock out on the terrace. andre's girlfriend, pilar, plus me and jay made five of us in a one bedroom...sounds crowded but we made it work. jason didn't get a chance to flex his chef muscle at all during our stay. fabien took the role as head chef making us 4 cheese pasta, eggplant and tomato pizza and bbq fish. our excursion with andre et al. was to a popular fish market. the beer didn't stop flowing even after the bill was tallied...one more bottle ordered...always just one more...one more...

ipanema beach and 'two brothers' peaks

our last day in rio fabien took us to ipanema beach. we had an acai (pronounced a-say-ee) drink which is everywhere in brazil and is reported to have many health benefits. the variation we had was super sweet so perhaps the health benefits were outweighed by the sugar content. we enjoyed our day at the beach and found it really handy to have a translator with us. fabien knew what all the hawkers were selling and got us some yummy arabic pastry treats.

view of praia do meio, trindade

so brazil is huge! did you know that? we had hoped to see more than we did but 15 hour bus rides did not sound appealing and with our budget almost tapped out we couldn't afford to fly. we found a memorable place to visit anyway...on budget and with a beach nearby. trindade is a small community about 25km outside of paraty...which is between rio and sao paulo. we had heard alot about paraty but happened upon trindade while looking for a hostel online. the smallness of it appealed to us and so did the description of a forest meeting the beach. we spent our five days in trindade exploring a waterfall with a 'rock that swallows', getting pushed around by the ocean waves and reading on the beach.

praia da figueira, trindade

jay's photo - cat with tongue hanging out

historic centre, paraty

we headed back to sao paulo via the coastal highway bus to stay with luis and family again before catching our flight to santiago, chile.

¡chao!
corina

a japan highlight tour

2010-03-15T13:11:00.041-05:00

our host, mochan (a nickname derived from 'mo', the first 2 letters in his surname, and chan meaning mister)

jay came across a japanese guy offering tours of japan while doing a routine couchsurfing search. mochan started wishclub a few years ago after he tired of owning and running a local bar. his purpose was to provide a social context in which travelers and local people could meet and mingle while exploring japan. he requests that travellers that stay with him and take the tour offer to pay ride shares. we thought this sounded reasonable as we had heard how expensive it is in japan...from pretty much anyone that knew we had added it to our itinerary! so we signed up for 2 days in the shimizu/shizouka area which, for those that are not familiar with japan geography, is very near mt. fuji.

after a cozy night sleep on a soft mattress on a tatami mat floor, mochan took us out to see mt. fuji. we had a late start so by the time we reached the viewing point you could see the clouds had rolled in and mt. fuji was quickly disappearing. there was no point in driving closer so we turned around and head in the opposite direction to experience a traditional tea ceremony.

tea master preparing our tea

we entered the tea house and were shown to a large open room with shoji screens on the windows and tatami mats on the floor. there were already two men sitting crosslegged in the room that had been served their tea. mochan asked us to follow his lead and described the steps to us as he accepted his tea. in the picture above the tea master is elaborately folding the napkin so that she can wipe down the utensil and cup you see to her left. it was a performance of placing items, moving them, measuring powdered green tea, pouring hot water, whisking and stirring and finally the presentation of the tea. as the tea master is preparing the tea another woman in traditional dress served us each a sweet made from red bean paste.

jay turning his tea cup

when the tea master presented the perfectly prepared tea, she bowed to us and we bowed to her while sitting on our knees and by placing our hands on the tatami mat in front of us. mochan explained to us that she sets the cup with the more beautiful or more interesting side facing towards the guest. when we picked up the cup, we were to place it in our left palm and slowly turn the good side to face the others in the room.

the tea house wet room

after our tea was consumed we wandered around the rest of the tea house. there were narrow hallways leading to smaller rooms off the larger communal tea room. one room was the wet room where the tea master prepares the water and her tools for the tea ceremony. there was also a more traditionally sized small tea room for individual visitors. this room had a small door low to the floor so that the room was accessible directly from outdoors. you can see the door from the exterior of the tea house in the photo below. traditionally, you are invited to tea by the tea master. there is a wash basin where you can wash your hands before tea is served. you are then invited to enter the house through the low door. this door requires the visitor to enter the house while bowing showing respect to the tea master.

corina and jason with the tea masters

rock wash basin to wash your hands and low door to enter the tea room

the next day we made a point of leaving the house early and arrived to the viewing point of mt. fuji with just a slight haze in the sky. we drove on to one the lakes near mt. fuji for more scenic photo opportunities. we walked around the lake taking in all the beauty of springtime in japan. it was a perfect day.

mt. fuji photo op early in the morning

the gorgeous mt. fuji

and what is a visit to japan without imbibing in some sake? mochan took us to a sake factory for a private tour where we learned how grains of rice are turned into the throat burning liquid of sake. we had to take our shoes off and slip on factory issued flip flops and wash our hands as not to bring in any unwanted bacteria. the making of sake is a very serious and even religious endeavor. barrels of sake are brought to the temples to be blessed and at this factory there was an armoir with several buddhas inside. at the end of the tour our guide showed us how the good stuff was made (much slower and with less pressure) and then offered us a taste. a special treat just for us!

barrel o' fermenting sake

getting the good stuff

barrels o' sake waiting to be consumed!

usually the wish club tours include more than two people but we came on a slow weekend. mochan made up for the lack of other travellers by inviting some people from shimizu to dinner. if you look closely at the photo below you can see that one of the tables has a blanket below it. most homes in japan do not have central heating even though temperatures can dip below zero. the use of shoji screens, gas heaters and a kotatsu (a table with a heat source and blanket below) keep the main living space warm and cozy. one of the girls demonstrated how at home she would lie beneath the table with only her head and shoulders sticking out of the blanket while she watched tv. we also learned that when pouring a drink for someone you should say "may, may, may" (more, more, more) and that the receiver then says "ote, ote, ote" (stop, stop, stop).

wish club dinner guests

we had a great weekend exploring the shimizu/shizouka area but once again we were left wanting more.

sayonara,

corina

tokyo with a little t

2010-03-08T15:22:00.036-06:00

shinjuku area, tokyo

i wasn't expecting tokyo to be cute. i certainly was expecting it to be big and populated, expectations that were definitely met. but tokyo is really just a collection of small neighbourhoods knitted together by metro, trains and freeways. small pockets of traditional buildings and gardens, lines painted to depict sidewalks on the neat and narrow asphalt lanes, and business signs with japanese anime characters help give the big city of tokyo its charm.

takashimaya times square (downtown), tokyo

rikugien gardens

komagome neighbourhood (where we couchsurfed)

the cuteness extends to some obvious trends you see while riding the vast and often confusing metro system. every cellphone has its charm...dangling from phones of business people, teenagers and the elderly alike. cellphone use is restricted to texting only as there are signs posted everywhere appealing to your politeness and remind you to switch to silent mode...your phone and you! every purse has a terrycloth towel in a tidy square ready to dry the hands of its owner after washing at a shrine, temple or washroom. it is perfectly acceptable to nod off while riding the metro. at one point i nudged jason from his nap to witness a row of 10 bowed heads across the train aisle. you can't tell a book from its cover in tokyo. book jackets adorn each volume in various styles...plain vinyl or leather, printed giftwrap or even the paper bag of the bookstore from which it was purchased.

even the sewer covers are cute!

and oh how clean it is in tokyo! i have heard people rave about the cleanliness of singapore but tokyo definitely takes first place in my opinion. people wear face masks if they have a cold or even the slightest runny nose. the streets are immaculate and in pristine condition...their lines perfectly drawn. there is even a person dedicated to cleaning the escalator hand rails. he or she stands at the top of the escalator armed with cleaner and two cloths, one in each hand, positioned to clean the two rails simultaneously. the transient population keeps up the tidy obsession keeping their belongings neatly in boxes on wheels. we walked through a park one sunny afternoon to see several people laid out on their backs on squares of cardboard, shoes off and precisely positioned on the grass beside them.

some of tokyo's almost invisible homeless population

tokyo has a good mixture of modern city and traditional japan. we enjoyed our four days here and definitely plan on returning to japan. tokyo has whet our appetite for more.

sayonara,

corina

farewell vietnam

2010-03-03T12:45:00.024-06:00

nha trang beach

nha trang was our last beach destination in south east asia. we will fondly remember our hotel stay there as it was the nicest place we had stayed in a long while. our hotel was 2 blocks from the beach, provided a scrumptious and free breakfast, had cable tv, a mini fridge, air conditioning and an extremely comfortable feather top bed. all for $24 a night! 3 cheers for ha van flamingo suites!

communal mud baths

we decided to take one of the tours that was offered by the hotel to the thap ba mineral & mud spa. neither of us had ever tried one and it was comfortably in our budget if we used the communal mud bath and not the couples romantic type bath. as it turns out we were treated to our own communal bath and were able to float flat out in the mud...like pigs...in mud...

once we were slathered and soaked in the cool mud we were instructed to bake in the sun. after you could no longer crack a smile without cracking the mud we showered under the hot mineral water to get clean...very clean as the signs specified. several people ahead of us were sent back to get cleaner still before being allowed into the soaking pools of hot mineral water. the rest of the afternoon was ours to enjoy leisurely by the swimming pools and waterfall. one of the pools was filled with 38 degree mineral water and had an amniotic affect on me. i just wanted to curl up and go to sleep right there in the pool...dangerous to be sure!

large hot mineral spa

after relaxing until we felt like jello we were dropped off at the cham tower which was close by. it was a small but `superb´example of temples built in vietnam by the cham dynasty between the 7th and 12th century.

po nagar cham tower

vietnamese women leaving the towers

(note: it´s ok to wear pj´s to pray...or anything else for that matter)

ho chi minh city hall

our last stop in vietnam was ho chi minh city. we were really looking forward to this part of our vietnam trip. not because of hcmc but because we would be there for tet and would be meeting our friends ron and ali again.

tet is short for Tết Nguyên Đán which is the lunar new year celebration in vietnam. it is a huge deal and used to last for a month but now with modern society what it is, it has been reduced to 4 days.

chuc mung nam moi! happy new year! buy a balloon!

the streets after the fireworks on nye

we were on our way to try out a local bar with ron and ali on nye. we were prevented from making it to our destination as there were crowds and crowds of people on the streets. at one point the crowd got so thick that we couldn´t go any further so we decided to stick it out and see why everyone was gathering. a while later we were rewarded for our patience with fireworks shooting over the river nearby. we were so close to the fireworks that we were sprinkled with their ashes...in some cases still smoldering ashes. the walk back to our hotel was quite an adventure. throngs of people were walking and even more were on their scooters. you cannot even imagine how many people were on the streets that night. crossing the street was akin to frogger at its highest level! what a way to end our visit to vietnam.

cháo,

corina

flat people continue their tour of asia

2010-03-02T10:31:00.020-06:00

when last we saw the flats, all those weeks ago, they were chillaxing under the sun of thailand. they had a few more opportunities to feel the sun on their laminated flat faces when we took them out in cambodia and vietnam but once we hit japan the mitts and scarves came out to stay.

here we have the flat penners posing in front of the famous angkor wat at sunrise. the early morning was hard on auntie corina and uncle jason but since the flats had spent the previous few days sleeping in the camera bag they were raring to go.

its common in cambodia to find randomly discarded shoes and sandals. this beach on bamboo island was no exception. on this island however someone turned the broken flip flops into tree art as colourful as the flat people.

we entered into the year of the tiger with the flats in ho chi minh city, vietnam. flat jane and flat owen chose this paper tiger as their favourite.

everyone was excited to leave the heat behind for a blissfully cool week in tokyo, japan! flat hannah, flat ellie and flat sasha had to sneak behind the guards for this photo op at the imperial palace.

flat jane and flat owen played it safe and took their photo outside the gate of the imperial palace.

the flats enjoyed a traditional japanese tea ceremony in this tea house near shimizu, japan.

it was too cold to swim under this waterfall but the flat petroffs were lucky to see a rainbow...but not lucky enough to find the pot of gold.

the gardens in tokyo were beautifully manicured and peaceful places to sit and rest after walking through the bustling streets of tokyo. many japanese people had their photos taken under this umbrella and so the flat penners did too. well, you know, when in tokyo do as the tokyo-ers do...

sayonara,

flat penners & flat petroffs

phu quoc and the mekong delta

2010-02-17T05:45:00.041-06:00

bai sao beach

well, vietnam quickly redeemed itself once we reached the island of phu quoc. we stayed in another bamboo hut but this one had a comfy spring mattress...something we haven't experienced through all of south-east asia. the highlight of our island experience was spending the day touring the island and spending a few blissful hours on bai sao beach. the sand was a fine white sand and the ocean a turquoise blue. the beach that we stayed at wasn´t quite as beautiful but it was a few steps from our hut. we didn´t swim much at our beach as there were little stinger things in the water. we aren´t sure what they were...jellyfish stingers floating in limbo or sea lice aka jellyfish larvae. but what ever they were they stung and itched and kept us on the beach. the water at bai sao was free of stingers but after a few minutes of frolicking in the waves i spotted two small jellyfish and i was outta there too.

sunset at our beach hut resort

our next stop was a city in the mekong delta called can tho. we opted to take a boat tour that was arranged through our guesthouse. we had a great time even though we probably paid far too much. many touts were wandering near the ferry port offering boat tours for $5 for 3 hours...we paid $45 for 7 hours. i wonder how much of that actually was passed to the tour guide and how much the guesthouse owner pocketed.

our tour guide for the day

the boat tour started on the mekong river at 7am. our first stop was a floating market about an hour away. it was already late when we arrived as most vendors start their day at 5 am but we still got stuck in a couple of traffic jams. by the time we got to the 2nd floating market at 9am the traffic had already dissipated.

crazy traffic at the floating market

the boats weighed down with loads of fruits, veggies and other pantry items surrounded us as we made our way through the market. our guide stopped along the way purchasing fruits for us to sample. she pointed out that most of the boats had the item they were selling hanging high on a pole so buyers could find them easily.

the sandwich lady

rice for sale

coming through!

the second part of our boat tour took us through the mekong canals. these smaller waterways slowed our pace and we wandered through spotting water coconut fruit, mangroves, lychee trees, banana blossoms, papayas and mango trees.

corina on a monkey bridge

one of our stops was at a rice noodle factory. we were given a tour around the small home-based business but luckily were not asked to sample their wares.

rice husks are used to feed the fire that cooks the rice to a pulp

rice pulp being squeezed to get rid of excess liquid before forming into shells

after being dried in the sun the rice shells are fed through the noodle maker

sitting in a rice paddy

our final scheduled stop was lunch at a riverside restaurant. we were slightly guilted into buying a drink and lunch for our tour guide by the server. still jay went all out and got the coconut steamed shrimp. i wasn´t really a fan of all those eyeballs peering at me as i ate my tofu veggie stirfry.

jay and his creepy coconut shrimps with big black staring eyeballs

our tour guide driving with her leg as she formed a flower bouquet from a palm frond

on our way back down the mekong river to can tho i scooted to the back of our boat where our tour guide was making things out of palm stems (apparently called fronds). she taught me how to make flowers and grasshoppers...all while keeping her eye on the `road´and steering with her elbow.

chao,

corina

Olympic Cities

2010-02-17T01:27:00.012-06:00

(For us) Planning an around the world trip meant going to a bunch of world class cities. I mean who plans a trip around the world and does not plan to go to Paris or Istanbul, Rio de Janerio and the like? It sorta comes with the territory. You might be wondering why I bring this up. Two reasons: The 2010 Olympics are on right now in Vancouver, and I am nothing if but a patriotic Canadian. And we are in a former, and a candidate city, for the 2016 Olympics as we speak... (Tokyo) (is that 3 or 4 reasons now? ...ooops)

My home and native land!

All in all I think these cities have something in common... a vitality... a joie de vivre... an electricity. Certainly they are amongst our favorites. I think if you are going to play host to the world you need to have world wide appeal.

All in all we will have visited 11* past and future Olympic cities

In the order we have visited them they are:

1) Vancouver 2010

2010 opening ceremonies, Vancouver

2) London 1908, 1948 & 2012
3) Berlin 1936

1938 Berlin games

4) Amsterdam 1928
5) Paris 1900, 1924
6) Barcelona 1992

Linford Cristie wins gold for
the U.K. in 1992, Barcelona.

7) Rome 1960
8) Athens 1896 & 2004

The first modern games 1896, Athens.

9) Tokyo 1964

now here is what is on the agenda
10) Rio de Janeiro 2016

I wonder if Rio is the first city to have an Olympic beach?

and
11) Los Angeles 1932 & 1984

Out of this list we have yet to get to Rio and L. A. and having previously been to the later can only assume the former has these qualities in mass quantities. (try saying that 3 times fast)

GO TEAM CANADA!

Jason.

oops...we did it again

2010-02-08T20:17:00.026-06:00

our canadian-ness has done it to us again. we were too trusting...too willing to believe the friendly, helpful guy...and we were scammed in vietnam.

the thai-cambodia border at poipet is well-known in travel circles as a difficult border to cross. it is difficult because it is unlikely that you will get across without having to bribe at least one person. well...we did! we did our research. we stuck to the plan. we met a forceful couple on the train to the border with the same mindset. we made it across with paying only the posted fee of 20USD while people in front and behind us paid at least 5USD more.

the cambodia-vietnam border was a breeze in comparison. we took a minibus from kampot to the border and the driver arranged a moto driver to drive us and our bags across to the vietnam town of ha tien. (ok ok...a little aside here...yes we took a moto aka scooter after we said we never would again. however, there was NO other option AND it wasn't like we were driving the scooter...we had a driver, a helmut and a scooter each.) we got to the cambodian border guard station and saw an officer asleep on a table in the back room. eventually another officer came to the window to stamp our exit from cambodia and we were waved on to vietnam. at the vietnam border we met 3 guards. the first looked at our passports and visas and waved us onto the next guy, who stamped our passports. the final guy looked at our stamped passports and let us through the gate into vietnam. all the while our moto drivers walked their scooters through the borders with our large backpacks perched behind the handle bars.

our plan once we reached ha tien, vietnam was to try to get a ferry to the island of phu quoc. phu quoc has become a big tourist destination for vietnamese people both local and those living abroad, as well as, foreigners. the border at ha tien has only recently become passable for foreigners. because of this opening the town of ha tien has seen huge growth in hospitality businesses and an addition of a hydrofoil ferry to the island was created. the other option is to get a ferry from rach gia which is a two hour bus ride further into vietnam only to add one hour to the ferry ride. we were keen on catching the ferry from ha tien figuring it to be the cheaper and faster option.

our moto drivers were khmer with cambodian licences on their bikes so they were not allowed to go much further than the town center of ha tien. jason had told them we wanted to go to phu quoc so they brought us to a tourist information center. a guy met us out front right on the sidewalk while another moto driver was also trying to get us on his bike to our next destination. we explained to the guy claiming to be with the tourism center that we wanted to catch the ferry to the island either that day or the next. he told us that the ferry was broken and would not be fixed until the following week. he said we may still be able to catch the ferry from rach gia if we caught a minibus right away. he went to ask his boss if he could take us on his moto with the other driver to the bus station. he saw us pay our other drivers with american money so he asked if we had vietnam dong because you cannot use USD in vietnam like you can in cambodia. so far we are thinking this guy is so nice, so helpful and making really great suggestions. they drove us to an atm and this was the first red flag that i felt. i said to jason, "do you think this is really smart of us to be taking out money in front of these guys?"

on the drive to the bus station my driver is making small talk like "where you from?", "are you married?", "how old are you?", "do you have children?"...all the questions we've grown accustom to in the last few weeks. they pull the bikes into a roadside shack that sells drinks and snacks and my driver announces to me, "bus stop". i am expecting to have to buy a bus ticket from the shop owner but they just tell us to have a seat and the bus will be by in about 10 minutes. aren't we lucky! the bus had to stop for gas so we will catch it! a few minibuses with rach gia written across their windshields drive by on the highway and jay and i look at each other. our helpful guy notices and mentions that those are tour buses and we are waiting for a local bus. as we wait we are quizzed about our life and we reciprocate and learn that our helpful guy learned english three years ago, has a wife and child and thinks vietnam is superior to cambodia. he taught us how to say, "i'm vegetarian" in vietnamese, which is "on chay". still thinking...nice guy...but...

finally after about half an hour the bus pulls up. a man hurries over and puts his hand on my bag to take it to the minibus. we ask how much the fare is and he says, "600, 000 dong each". well, jay only withdrew a million dong at the atm and we had to pay our moto drivers so we don't have enough. in my head i'm trying to figure out what 1,200,000 dong is in canadian dollars. jay tells the guy we don't have that much so he then says, "how much you have?". well, jay opens his wallet and he has 900,000 dong, a 20 and a 10 dollar bill, forgetting the change in his pocket from the moto drivers' pay. the guy says, "ok. 900,000 dong plus $20 will be ok". by this time jay has realized that 900,000 dong is $54 cdn which is way more than we have ever paid for a 2 hour bus ride anywhere else in southeast asia. he tells me this and i'm saying, "too much, too much". the moto driver butts in and says "ok $10". both jay and i are shaking our heads and the bus guy is trying to rush us onto the bus. in the end we didn't give them any american money but they did get all 900,000 dong.

after an hour of stewing on the bus we asked the vietnamese guy beside us how much the ride should have been and he said 100,000 dong. jay started taking pictures of the driver and steward (or is it more p.c. to say bus attendant?). but really what are pictures going to do. we have no idea what company they work for or how to find out. the guy that took our 900,000 dong didn't get on the bus. he stayed behind to split the profits of our stupidity with his new best buddies...our helpful guy and the moto driver.

the moral of this story for all you current or future travelers out there is...keep your wallet in your pants until you have agreed upon a price. another tip that we hope to remember from now on is to speak to people behind desks when asking travel advice and preferably a representative from a reputable company...not a guy in front of tourist office. still...after all this newly gained wisdom...we almost got ripped off by our guesthouse owner when we were in can tho...but that's another town...another post.

xin chao,
corina

cambodia...a country of contrasts

2010-02-05T08:30:00.031-06:00

we arrived in phnom penh after a harrowing bus journey from siem reap. in north america there is road rage, in s.e. asia there is road brave. you have to be really brave (or incredibly insane) to drive here. it must be innate and then through conditioning as a child (ie. riding with all four of your siblings and your father on a moto scooter) you become immune to the fear of dying via vehicular accident. to learn the nuances of when to ebb and when to flow would be overwhelming to the average canadian. the chaos that is traffic in cambodia makes no sense to those that were raised to abide by traffic lights and lane markers.

anyway...we arrived safely in phnom penh and went straight to our couchsurfer host's place. this was our first couch experience in s.e. asia so we were super stoked (did i really just type 'stoked'?) about it. usually our couch has consisted of a: a soft couch or b: a soft bed or c: a softish blow up mattress in a room separate from our host. we've stayed in home offices, living rooms, guest rooms and my favourite to date...a laundry room with it's own balcony! i'll just say our experience with mariam in p.p. was unique. we are always grateful for a place to stay and a new person to chat up. that her place was steps away from the national museum and a few more steps away from the royal palace was a huge bonus.

our 'couch' - a traditional khmer bamboo platform bed on a covered terrace

we had 4 days in p.p. which was actually more than enough. we only really did one touristy thing a day and the rest of the time we read our travel guide, walked along the river or sat in internet cafes planning our next destination. since the royal palace was literally across the park from mariam's place we couldn't NOT go...and anyway, we had to see the silver pagoda with the solid gold buddha. at the end of our tour of the palace grounds we came to the outer wall where we could hear music playing. we followed wooden stairs up to an open balcony where some musicians were seated. we were encouraged to join them and try out one of the khmer-style xylophones.

corina attempting to the roneat with the royal palace band

we wandered through the national museum one cloudy afternoon and eavesdropped on a tour guide that was quizzing his followers on their recognition of buddhist gods. the museum houses one of the largest collections of khmer art but i was quickly drawn outside to the courtyard. it was lush and green with great perspectives of the museum buildings, which are based on khmer temple architecture.

national museum courtyard

the weather in p.p. was drizzly and humid so we opted not to go to the killing fields but to stay in the city and go to the tuol sleng genocide museum a.k.a. S-21. the former security office 21 was created on orders of pol pot and was "designed for detention, interrogation, inhuman torture and killing after confession from the detainees were received and documented". while visiting this museum is difficult and depressing i think it is important to view. it's important because tragedies like this (ie. genocide) are still going on in the world today. and how is that possible? how can we let this continue? what are we doing to stop it? i'm not saying that a visit to tuol sleng will make you an activist but it has made me start to wonder about myself. how can i have been so apathetic for so long?

ironic footboard for a prison

photo documentation of just a few faces of the thousands killed at S-21

prison cells in building B

and then...just like that...you are thrown head first into paradise.

our oceanside hut on bamboo island

the beach at sunset

we headed from p.p. to sihanoukville on the gulf of thailand. we spent a day at the beach here and decided we should get out of there asap. the beach was crowded with restaurants and bars and many, many people trying to sell you stuff. an hour and a half boat ride over a choppy ocean brought us to ko russei a.k.a ko ruh or bamboo island. the hut was basic and the menu limited but it was just what we needed to recover from the hustle and bustle of mainland cambodia.

leah sen heuy,

corina

Angkor Wat the 8th wonder

2010-01-27T03:16:00.018-06:00

Angkor Wat sometimes called the 8th wonder of the world. A claim to fame for wonders as diverse as: The Grand Canyon, Giants Causeway, The Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu, The Moai statues of Easter Island, The Palm Island in Dubai, The Sydney Opera House and Andre the Giant (an old school wrestler) to name but a few. Having actually made it to some of these so called 8th wonders, and undoubtedly been impressed, I can say without a doubt Angkor lives up to the hype. It is after all the largest religious building in the world, and an UNESCO world heritage site! My word can it get any better?

Main entrance at Angkor Wat

After arriving at Siem Reap and surviving the onslaught of tuk tuk drivers we are whisked off to our guest house after securing our driver for a tour of the temples. Day one: After a little debate as to what it is we should see first we default to the wisdom of Mr. Lee our driver. We start with the heavy hitters... Angkor Wat, what can I say that hasn't all ready been said. Awesome, huge, marvelous... all accurate descriptions but used too often (for more info on Angkor click the link). Built in the Hindu tradition as a model of Mt. Meru it was later converted into a Buddhist shrine. The scale of the Wat could have you exploring it for days.

One of the twin libraries of Angkor Wat

The fearsome and ever present Hora

After clamouring around the grounds for a bit we head into the temple and check out the relief carvings and the inner grounds. Unfortunately the actual shrine (which is smaller than most living rooms) was closed, but the steep stairs up and oppressive heat may have made the humble shrine a bit of a let down when compared to the grandiose surroundings.

Relief carvings in Angkor Wat

After having our fill of Angkor Wat it was time to move on to the ancient city of Angkor Thom, home to some mighty impressive temples in it's own right. We enter the walled city through the south gate and paused to marvel at it and bridge that lead us into the city. The city has 5 gates all together. All gates have similar bridges with gods holding Horas and the face of Jayavarman VII atop the gate repeated in quadruple. A sight that, to this day, fills people with fear and respect.

One of the gods holding the body of the Hora

Cyclists pass through south gate under the watchful eye of Jayavarman VII

Next up... Bayon who's 200 plus carvings of the face of the Buddha of compassion may make you feel like you are being watched. An impressive sight, it is almost impossible not to catch a face in your photos. But who am I kidding, this is what you have come here to photograph! It is every bit as magnificent as Angkor Wat and a testament to the skills of the Khmer sculptors. It is generally believed that the face of the Buddha is a copy of the king's Jayavarman VII face. (not at all conceded!) Why not, after all he did consider himself a god-king.

Bayon's Buddha of compassion.

Who's that watching over my shoulder 216 times

Next it was off to what is called the largest jig-saw puzzle in the world, Baphuon. This temple was disassembled before Cambodia was plunged deep into chaos during the 70's. During which the records for re-assembling were destroyed. The back wall has an enormous reclining Buddha a mere 9 metres high by 70 M long, adjacent to the Royal palace area where we headed next.

Can you see the reclining Buddha?

While in the royal palace area I spot a monkey making it's way toward a group of us, along a wall. The monkey scampered down and is fed and attended to by several tourists. Not content, the monkey spots a young Cambodian girl with a bag full of (what we assume is) milk. A bound, a grab and snatch, and a bound away and the monkey steals the drink from the little girl . Completely shocked and terrified, it takes some time for her mom to calm her down. Unaffected the monkey attempts to drink the beverage. Nothing sweeter than milk stolen from the hands of a child! Cheeky monkey! However, you are warned that food can be targeted by monkeys while touring the temples of Angkor. You have been warned.

Pre-monkey, with bag of milk

Post-monkey terror syndrome or (PMTS)

Naughty little monkey!

Day two involved a 5:30 A.M. wake up call to witness the sunrise at Angkor Wat. We arrive far enough before the sun does but not nearly early enough to beat the crowds. We are directed to the "best area" to see and capture the sun rise. We crowd in with hundreds of others to wait the arrival of the sun. Granted the lotus pond does have a nice aesthetic but we tire of the crowd and skip over to the other pond sans lotus for our sunrise photo opp. No need to clamor for space here, we are able to have just us and the Wat in the frame. Sometimes it pays to breakaway from the shot everyone has to have. I mean, really who misses the pink lotus blossoms in the pond?

Angkor Way at sunrise

Contemplative Jason

As we head back ready for breakfast we pause at the stillness of the Wat and the calm of the moat around it. We are not alone in enjoying the peaceful setting. A Buddhist monk has plunked himself down on the banks of the moat and stares meditatively towards the Wat. We did continue our tour of the temples that day but moments like that seem to resonate.

Angkor Wat Moat

Monk at Angkor Wat

Day three... abbreviated. Up until now we had completely obliged our tuk tuk driver and went where he suggested. But at 40 minutes one way on a bumpy dirt road and with our aging and aching backs we decided not to go to Banteay Srey. Instead we headed directly to the Rolus Group temples. These are pre-Angkor era and because of their age they are in a greater state of ruin. But this still seemed like a great way to end our tour of the temples of Angkor.

Corina with Rolus Group elephant sculpture

Begun in 802 until 1431, the temples of Angkor have to some extent been left to the jungle. Not even a king as great and powerful as Jayavarman VII can keep the jungle at bay for all of time. It is not uncommon to see massive trees sprouting from temple walls like those of Preah Khan and the ever popular and impressive Ta Prohm. So stunning, they have been used in films such a Tomb Raider. It is both sad and satisfying that these once great temples are being returned to the earth they were carved from. But time marches on with a fervour and ruthlessness far greater than any army, Khmer or otherwise.

Preah Khan

Is it safe to say that there is no other reason to go to Cambodia than to see Angkor Wat? Well that's not true. We will always remember the people and especially the kids of Cambodia. We must not forget the turmoil they were put through under Pol Pot. This is the the most important thing to take away from Cambodia. But the most impressive (anywhere to date) thing to take away is Angkor. To come to Cambodia and not see it wild be fool-hearty. No doubt it will deliver as the 8th wonder of the world (with apologies to Andre the giant as I don't want to anger him).

Jason

heartbreakers

2010-01-20T19:58:00.014-06:00

we've been in cambodia for little more than a week and already the kids have captured my heart. they are a scruffy, beautiful, pesky, and dusty bunch and they know how to charm you. they've charmed us out of money, food, and a pen. we have read the guidebooks that warn you only to support businesses that help kids (which we have done) and not to give in to their begging but...really...could you say no to this face?

this little girl saw our bag of pineapple scraps and mango and made a beeline for jay. we'd already eaten most of the pineapple as we walked through the temples of angkor but she put out her hand and said, "food"?

this boy was selling books outside a temple and when we said no to the books he challenged me to a game of tic tac toe. as we were playing he said,"ïf i win you give me money". for some reason i never asked what i would get if i won but it was a moot point.

this blue dog and his friend just kinda moped around as we walked through a temple. they didn't ask us for anything but after i took is picture i gave him 1000 riels (25 cents).

just hanging around a temple with his sister, this boy posed for me and another tourist.

the boy on the front of the boat would leap onto the tourist boats and sell water and pop and then leap back onto his boat as the father trolled alongside.

we went on a boat tour of tonle sap near siem reap as suggested by our tuk tuk driver. there is a floating village on the lake and many tourists take tours around with a few stops at local businesses along the way. when i read about it online the price of a shared boat ride was $6 per person. when we arrived at the docks we were told the price was $20 per person and that we would have our own boat. jay and i had already spent $15 on the tuk tuk driver and spent the morning at angkor wat so another $40 was out of our budget. we turned away to leave and the tour guy followed us back to our tuk tuk. our driver explained that the tour would support the local people and gave them jobs. the tour guy dropped the price to $30 all the while making sure we knew that every other tourist paid the full fare and ribbing us about spending money in other countries but not cambodia. jay was still resistant but i said...we're only in cambodia once...so we went.

it was interesting to see the village but it became disturbing when it became apparent that children were put on display to entertain the tourists. this little girl is waving a snake at us and asking for food or money. when i took the photo i didn't think much of it but when we were on the floating souvenir store and looked down at another boat there was another snake and child combo. this time the mother was putting the snake's head into the child's mouth.

i'm sure not all the kids we see are coerced into putting on shows and begging from the tourists. there is evidence of loving parents and families in cambodia. but when you are bombarded with children begging from you at every opportunity it is difficult to see past that. i see the desperation in their eyes and my heart breaks.

chum riep leah,

corina

not just a pretty beach

2010-01-20T05:07:00.009-06:00

when i thought of thailand before our trip, i thought of sandy beaches, clear blue water and sunny skies. but thailand was so much more than that to us. we fell in love with thailand and are already planning how we can come back again!

thailand is a place of celebration. we celebrated new year's eve 2009 on koh mak. lucky for us nye coincided with a full moon and we witnessed a small ceremony of lanterns being sent off into the black night skies.

thailand is a place of tradition, worship and ritual. we've seen many wats in our 4 weeks in thailand and we've seen many monks clad in their bright orange robes. the monk in the picture above welcomed us into his wat saying, "buddha is waiting for you". he chanted some words in thai and then in english, "i want happiness for 100 years. i want a new home". over and over again. in the end he gave us each bracelets for good luck and asked for a donation.

thailand is a place of impossible to read signs. this sign says happy new year 2010. we only know this because there is an english translation on the other side of the bush.

thailand is a place where dogs wear people shirts. well...to be fair...while we were in chiang mai it did dip to 22 degrees at night. brrr! poor doggies!

thailand is a place full of beautiful children and quick smiles. this little boy giggled when he realized he'd been caught in the act. i showed him his picture on the back of our camera and he giggled some more :)

thailand is a place where i want to be when i grow old.

sawatdee-ka,
corina

why we will never rent a scooter...

2010-01-17T00:49:00.003-06:00

...ever again.
read about our thailand scooter experience at ron & ali's blog and you will know why!

http://leapandthenet.blogspot.com/2010/01/evil-kneivel-kutulas.html

we wish you a quick recovery ron!
corina & jay

chillaxing flats

2010-01-12T01:52:00.016-06:00

after the hustle and bustle of visiting 3 cities (dubai, hong kong & singapore) within 12 days, the flats were more than ready for some beach time. they had a great time lying on the beach mats with auntie corina and uncle jason. when they got bored of that they swam in the ocean (good thing they are laminated!), built sand igloos and ate the local cuisine.

from left to right: flat owen, flat sasha, flat ellie, flat jane, flat hannah showing off one of their sand igloo creations in pulau penang, malaysia.

the flat petroffs wishing it was their turn to fly into the sky and look over batt feringhu. uncle jason said, "no way! it's too dangerous for flat kids to parasail on their own and there is no way i'm going up there with you." they pouted for awhile but auntie corina promised banana roti for dessert and they forgot all about parasailing :)

the flat penners enjoyed sharing auntie corina's veggie pad thai in koh chang, thailand. flat ellie went crazy for the local specialty thai iced tea with milk. she sucked it down so fast that her flat belly started bulging! flat hannah warned her, "slow down before you burst!".

flat owen was getting a bit rangy after all this beach time and lying around. flat jane thought it'd be a good idea to go tree climbing and to get out of uncle jason's and auntie corina's hair. they agreed!

a favourite stop for everyone, flat and real, was koh mak, thailand. reading by the pool, drinking ice cold beer (cokes for the flats & a. corina) on the pool edge, playing catch with friends in the pool...good times.

flat owen and flat jane catching some rays on the colourful lounge chair set out on the long pier. the perfect way to end a sleepy day on koh mak.

sawadtee-ka from the flat girls

sawadtee-krap from flat owen

scenes from bangkok

2010-01-09T09:15:00.016-06:00

tuk tuks...ubiquitous in thailand cities...are a cheap way to get around when you are tired of walking or you can't figure out what bus to take.

the streets of bangkok are lined with food vendors. you want fruit...you got it! you want durian...the guy cuts it up for you and seals it in smell proof packages for your trip home.

the market place is a great place to catch up with friends or make new ones.

if you dare...jay has only had one bad reaction to seafood from the street vendors.

more tuk tuks waiting to take you..."where you go?"

khao san road is big with the backpacker types...but since we're wannabees (another post on the subject to follow)...we didn't spend much time here.

as you can see khao san road is full of farang (ie. european/white folks) and way too busy to be enjoyable...unless you are a true backpacker (yes, more wannabee chattering).

the river is a great way to bypass the notorious bangkok traffic. waiting for the ferry on the floating dock is a true test of your balancing skills. and you better act quickly when the ferry arrives or you'll be left in it's wake.

this is a slow boat...for those that have time to chillax...

just one of many homes/businesses/warehouses you'll see from the river.

even in a fast-paced city like bangkok, there's time for reflection while the world whizzes by on shore.

ka ka ka,

corina

this is for you jason ramm...

2010-01-09T07:48:00.014-06:00

a close friend of ours...you guessed it...jason ramm aka @mrbusdriver2u...is a bus driver. sometimes he has bad days, some days he has good days. like the day he got a huge bottle of wine from a regular rider at christmas. if you ride the bus, you should think about bringing your driver a bottle of something. can you imagine being in winnipeg traffic, hour after hour, day after day? putting up with drunks and stinky people? it's enough to send anyone to drink!

so j.r. how would you like to drive bus in bangkok?

unairconditioned, ancient buses with wood plank floors and the only way to stay cool is to open ALL the windows, ALL the way. yes, i know, most winnipeg buses are not a/c'd either BUT you really only need a/c 1-2 weeks out of the year. in bangkok, you would suffer 365 days/year! to be fair to bangkok, there are buses with a/c but they cost more to ride and i didn't take pictures of them.

one amenity that winnipeg transit doesn't offer...a garbage can. what a concept! oooh...but you'd have to get used to right hand drive.

you might like this feature, too, j.r...thai public buses have fare collectors. passengers just jump on the bus, usually by the back door and the fare collector finds you to pay up. the fare ranges from 7-14 baht (22-44 cents) depending on if its window vented or has a/c and how far you are going.

plus you don't even need to have the correct change! the fare collector has a tube full of tickets and coins which she expertly distributes while balancing in the aisle. she takes the ticket and uses the lid of the tube to cut a line through the ticket. there are numbers on the ticket but neither jay or i could figure out what they meant. the cuts seemed kind of random.

the long distance buses are full of thai charm. the decor on these buses is a big change of pace from the spartan public buses. i'm not sure if the decoration is supposed to make the tour bus feel more like home? these drapes are right out of 1980, like if you were a grandma in 1980...

prepared for a 10 hour bus ride from bangkok to chiang mai...sometimes you just gotta grin and bear it.

sawatdee-ka,

corina

the one thing...

2010-01-04T02:40:00.019-06:00

i need to make my day go from hot and grumpy to wonderful and satisfying...in one mouthful...is...banana roti. yup! that's it. nothing more, nothing less.

heat lots of oil on the griddle while you flatten out your ball of dough...

with magic fingers stretch the dough as thin as possible...

lay the almost transparent layer into the oil and add banana and egg mixture.

fold up the sides to make a pocket of goodness and yumminess...

add yellow stuff (i'm assuming this is really, really bad for you stuff) on the top and then slide some underneath the pocket of goodness for good measure...

flip it over to cook the yellow stuff you put on top so the pocket of goodness gets really crispy and even more yummy than you can imagine...

lay it on the table to set (start your next batch)...

drizzle the pocket of goodness with more goodness (ie. condensed milk and sugar)...cuz you need it to be sweet...this is thailand...duh! use your spatula to cut into pieces...

serve to hungry canadian girl waiting patiently and watch the grin form on her lips...

sawatdee-ka,
corina

wild thailand

2009-12-30T23:41:00.017-06:00

we weren't sure how to feel about the monkey at our guesthouse in koh chang. she bit my hand the first time i said hi. jay still tried to make friends with her on several more occasions only to be bitten...once on his eyebrow. she seemed happy to be carried around on the shoulders of the maintenance guy or to be held as she fell asleep in the arms of one of the restaurant staff. but often we would see her tied up in the dining room or near the fire pits. did she miss her monkey friends in the wild? i never once saw her swinging from the trees surrounding the bamboo huts where we stayed. sometimes she would climb the railings of the diningroom hut and shake them...perhaps in frustration...

these little guys shimmered in the sun, their bronze skin reflecting red and green in the light.

the sand crabs were very hard to see. in fact, you wouldn't know they were there until you stepped too closely and they would quickly glide away from your foot.

we haven't seen any wild elephants in thailand. the elephants on koh chang once worked the farms and plantations on the island. the word chang means elephant in thai. now they provide entertainment to the tourists. you can ride them, wash them, and feed them for a fee but we decided not to.

this beauty fluttered around us as we enjoyed a waterfall on koh chang.

this is the small spider we saw on our way back from the waterfall. this guy was tucked near the ground in his web and was about the size of pringles potato chip. we saw two huge spiders, one as we crossed a bridge and one above our heads hanging in its web between two branches. this is the picture that turned out the best. still scary, right? i believe all three of them were batik spiders...only mildly poisonous...it's bite like a wasp's sting.

i like geckos. they're cute. they eat bugs.

more crabs in the sand. the whole beach was covered with little balls of sand like an abstract painting. the balls are a result of the crabs digging hiding places in the sand. see if you can spot the crabs...there are at least two in this picture.

i saw movement out of the corner of my eye as i was relaxing on my lounger. i could barely see this bug that looks like a blade of grass.

on the rare occasion that my hair is not in a ponytail or braids...since i haven't had my hair cut in six months...it's a bit wild.

don't ask

sawatee-ka,

corina

how hot is Thailand?

2009-12-30T23:20:00.010-06:00

this is for our friends and family back in canada...cold canada...winterpeg, manitoba. as you start your new year with a low of -27 degrees celcius and a high of -20 we begin ours with a sunshiney +35. nah nah nah nah boo boo :P

so hot! good thing there's an ocean to jump into :)

yup that's sweat dripping off jay's nostril

sawadee-ka,

corina

Malaysia... why not

2009-12-23T03:39:00.024-06:00

China town gates Melaka

Part of the plan was not to have a plan...much to Corina's chagrin...but enough time had been spent in Singapore and it was time to move on. It was down to either Indonesia or Malaysia. For the simple reason that it was easier to get into (ie. no visa required), Malaysia won out. So now we have 7 days where should we go???? K.L. (as the locals call it) ...Hmmmm...nah, we had just been through a bunch of big city's and even a couple of nights in Kuala Lumpur sounded a bit repetitive. Time to hit the beach!!!! Now, do some web searches, read our travel guide and... voila! The Malaysian peninsula has AMAZING beaches on it's east coast! Woo Hoo! But apparently we got there at the tail end of the monsoon season for the east coast.. and all but the fanciest resorts were closed. Drat! More digging, more reading... Oh! the west coast has a completely different climate and though, not as astounding, some nice beaches as well. Done and done... Pick a town any town! Dig...read...web search... humm apparently the island of Pulau Penang has a nice beach about an hour out of the main city. Next we trot off to our neighbourhood bus terminal and see if we can get a ticket. Well, they only go to Melaka and K.L. but once in Malaysia we should be able to go just about anywhere no problem. Seeing as how I had already read about Melaka we decided to go there and find a bus to Pulau Penang to soak up some rays.

First stop Melaka, who knew another UNESCO site, part of the Portuguese colonial presence in Asia. Famous for cultural diversity food and world class ruins...we had but one day and one night in Melaka but we did manage to get some stuff done, some sights seen and, of course, some food et. We walked around historic St. Paul's hill and the town square. We had lunch and dinner at one of the 17 recommended restaurants that were mapped out for us by the proprietor of our hostel, the very nice, clean, and comfortable River View Guest House. Melaka did live up to it's billing. The cultural diversity was evident in the many different temples and churches, the ruins were cool and the food delicious. One day was not enough.

Melaka Malaysia, World heritage city... Who knew?

Chinese temple, there are Hindu temples, mosques and churches as well

Extremely good curry soup.

Next up was Batu Ferringhi, the beach on Pulau Penang. We had purchased our tickets when we arrived at the bus terminal in Melaka. We took a VIP express bus to Georgetown only to take a local bus to the beach itself. This took the better part of the day and night had fallen when we arrived at our beach-adjacent guest house. It was clean and it did have a A/C unit but when the guide book described it as "basic" they hit the nail on the head. Our days at Batu Ferringhi were lazy and involved alot of beach time. There was a nice mix of Malay and foreigners at the beach. Even though the water was a little cloudy and there was a constant barrage of jellyfish eggs, we went swimming every day, it was too hot not to.

Jelly fish eggs (the translucent slimy things)

Once again food is important to the region. Breakfast was either spicy noodles, coconut rice and yam donuts or Corina's favourite banana roti. Truth be told I can't imagine anyone not falling for their warm banana-y goodness. Lunch was usually just a snack on the beach. Dinner was at one of the hawker and was fried noodles or rice.

Banana roti, all Corina wants for Christmas.

We really took it easy and I finally polished the Steig Larsson trade paper back I had been hauling around since Greece. We watched the endless supply of para-sailers drift peacefully by only to land with an audible thud, 3 minutes later, on the beach. It was a simple 7 days where it was enough to let the days slip by. We did some reading on Thailand as we were headed there next but it is safe to say that for the next month or so the plan will be... well to have no plan and wing it. Much, like I said, to Corina's chagrin.

Corina's (she)Grin =)

(To be fair Corina's "go with the flow" is flowing just fine) take care all and Merry Christmas, Jason.

singapore

2009-12-16T08:32:00.031-06:00

jason and i sit here pondering the computer screen wondering what to say about singapore. it was ok i guess but when you've seen amazing, when you've experience fantastic, when you've tasted exquisite it's hard to be inspired to write about ok. what makes it extra difficult is that we are sitting in an internet cafe in bangkok and bangkok is definitely more interesting, way crazier and more inspired than singapore.

here's what we liked about singapore...

christmas was evident here. even if the weather wasn't what we would expect at christmas time there was something in the air... christmas decorations were everywhere, christmas musak was piped through the malls and people were doing the mad shopping dash wherever you looked. these of course aren't our favourite things about this time of year but brought a sense of home to our nomadic lives.

orchard road is lined with malls and more malls included not one

but two louis vitton mega-shops within 2 blocks of each other.

chinatown offered the other extreme

the food was good and the food was cheap if you knew where to look. we ate mostly at the hawker food stalls in outdoor food courts. when we say cheap...our dinner would rarely cost us more than $10 cdn. there was a food court near our hostel that served up a yummy pineapple curry and delicious tofu/choy sum stew which we ate several times.

hawker take away food, star fruit and grass jelly for dessert

the local weird food was called a durian. durian is a fruit but you could have fooled us. it stunk so bad that our hostel wouldn't let anyone eat it inside. on our last night in singapore we hung out with another couple, mark and viv, on the terrace. mark bought some durian and we were all forced to try some. jay didn't take much forcing...you can guess that corina did. the taste was likened to mushy onion and the smell to stinky feet/b.o. for some inexplicable reason jay and mark didn't stop eating it until it was done. the girls wisely stopped after one bite. it's really too bad that no one thought to bring out a camera and record the momentous occasion.

the victoria theatre and concert hall in the background looks like a durian with its oval shape and spikey shell which is how it got it's nickname 'the big durian'.

when we were in greece we saw a documentary about sandwiches. did you know that greeks have a fetish for documentaries? jay watched several. anyway, icecream sandwiches were highlighted in the film and we laughed at the idea of actual bread being paired with icecream. our notion of icecream sandwiches so ingrained in our minds to be that of a chocolate wafer and white icecream. when we happened across an icecream guy on orchard road we HAD to try one. the sweet pink and green bread wrapped around a raspberry swirl icecream rectangle did not disappoint.

how cold is it jay?

i think that if we had gone to singapore on a short vacation type of trip we may have enjoyed it a bit more. as a stopover on a year long journey we found it above our budget and too consumer oriented.

varEn, jumpa lagi, see you later, bai bai,

corina & jason

the amazingly adaptable flat people

2009-12-11T00:55:00.017-06:00

...from ancient caves to modern cities the flat people can handle it all!

the flat petroffs decide that these cubby holes found in goreme, turkey are the perfect place to play tic-tac-owen.

flat hannah is the clear winner in a game of queen of the cubby holes although ellie almost made it just as high.

flat sasha may look like she's smiling in front of this ancient goreme cave house but on the inside she's thinking to herself, "more stairs? didn't we climb enough in pamukkale?"

flat jane and flat owen think it's time for an extreme makeover on this old run down cave house! where's flat ty when you need him?

the flat petroff feel right at home in dubai's indoor ski slope...i mean, it's below zero, there's skiing, sledding and man-made snow...much closer to the reality of home than the +30 degrees C outside.

flat sasha was encouraged by flat hannah to do her best snowman impersonation. flat ellie couldn't stop giggling as usual.

flat owen and flat jane were asked to help guard hong kong's botanical garden with this chinese lion. apparently his partner on the other side of the gate really needed to pee.

obviously the flat penners didn't listen to their flat parents' advice to never play ball with hong kong lions...someone always loses an arm!

the flats practise their hovering skill above hong kong's famous skyline. miraculously flat hannah and flat sasha recovered from their run in with the lion.

the merlion in singapore's marina was a big hit with uncle jay. he was so excited to see a mermaid and a lion statue (and what's with all the lions in asia anyway?) that he literally forced the flats to pose with it. after all it's famous. good excuse, i suppose.

gule gule, baai baai, see ya
from the flat people who are now going to sleep...it's way past their bedtimes and they had a full day on the beach in penang! (pictures to follow)

so hk was nice. really nice!

2009-12-07T02:44:00.019-06:00

if i left it to jay...he would say...hong kong was nice. very nice. he thinks all things are nice. i bug him about saying nice because he uses it ALL the time. we'll be talking to a cs host about our visit to their city and his response is always "it was nice, really nice!". as i type this he is poking me in the kidney trying to make me stop. it won't work.

we had only planned to stay 3 days in hong kong but we extended our visit by a day. it could have been 5 extra days and we wouldn't have run out of things to do. we changed our flight because one day was taken up by my visit to a doctor. i've been having trouble with my ears after flying and it was starting to freak me out.

i saw a medic in athens after the first incident which is why we took a train to istanbul instead of continuing the second leg of our flight from rhodes. he told me i risked permanent damage if i flew when my ears were red and inflamed. when we landed in dubai one of my ears plugged up and it took about 6 hours for it to feel better. when we landed in hong kong the same ear blocked again and this time i had shooting pains down the right side of my neck. not good. we called our insurance company 'world nomads' and they suggested a clinic just down the street from our hostel. i got some anti-inflammatory drops and drugs and i'm happy to report that my ear pain was almost non-existant when we landed in singapore a few days ago. yay for drugs!

so what was so nice about hong kong? it had character, it was bustling, it was alive, it was energy, it was...what a big city should be. after dubai, hong kong was a great 'welcome back' to real life! oh...and the food! the food! omg...so in love with chinese food! i can't even explain my desire for more and more choy sum...

the skyline from the top of victoria's peak

our only disappointment with hong kong (besides seeing 2 whole cockroaches...one dead, one very much alive!) was the smog. smog and blog worthy photos do not mix. we went up the steep climb to victoria's peak on a tram, sitting on the right side of the tram as suggested by our previous cs hosts, steve & lenka. we had a great view of the island portion of the city from the peak terrace but the smog blocked out the kowloon side entirely.

walking around at night...wishing we had a tripod

using a skywalk railing as a tripod

at the advice of gadi and rebecca, our winnipeg-rtw-cyber-friends, we stayed on nathan road. we checked out some rooms in the 'mansions' that they suggested. i'm not sure what i expected from a mansion in hong kong but it definitely wasn't a dirty highrise building with dead mice and garbage in the halls! the first place we looked at was probably a flop house, rented by the hour, and not our idea of a good time. we moved on to the second 'mansion'...this time prepared for the worst. two girls were coming out of the building so i accosted them. i mean, if two young girls could stay there...how bad could it be? they directed us to mr. simon and luckily he had a room for us. luckily because this mansion really wasn't any more pleasant than the last BUT mr. simon's place was very clean. i'm attributing the cockroach that crawled under our door on the last night to the vegetarian, hole-in-the-wall, disgusting restaurant next door.

the kowloon hood

our last, extra day we spent by getting out of hong kong and exploring the town and market of stanley. it took awhile for my stomach to stop flipping around because of the rollercoaster bus ride we took through the mountainous terrain. we wandered through the famous stanley market and found a beach. if you have a passion for seaglass, like jay and i now do, this is the place to come! hoards of glass pieces are just lying there for your delight and collection.

the view at stanley pier

after being to several big cities on our trip, hong kong has made our list of favourites. i think it has even beaten out...well...let's just say it's up there with the likes of amsterdam, barcelona and paris.

baai baai,

corina (with a few inspired words from jay)