Days 45-49 Wednesday – Sunday December 23-27, 2009 Koh Pha Ngan

Highlights

-       - When on vacation, remember that it’s not all site seeing, and remember to unwind.

-       - If you’re going to partake in a fast, you need to follow a strict diet before starting the fast.  Therefore, don’t do a fast.

-       - There’s nothing wrong with getting a Thai massage every day when they’re that cheap.

The "Nothing good on late night Thai TV" version

It’s easy to know you’ve let go of all previous obligations when your primary objective to achieve before sun down is to truly understand the difference in color between the deep blue ocean water beyond the break and the light aqua-blue water closer to the subtly absorbing sand.  It’s not until these moments that you realize that months and months of stressful preparation have come to fruition not only for your cultural growth, but for your physical and spiritual health.  No longer do we ignore the beauty in front of us instead of losing our minds to what might be away from where we are.  No longer do our chests tighten uncontrollably simply because a miniscule worry passes across the back of our brains.  This is why we came to this land; to enjoy the stunning world around us, and to absorb the relaxed state of our new husband/wife.

That last paragraph might be overly abstract and/or nonsensical, but I can’t ignore the fact that that’s where my (Craig’s) head was at during one lazy afternoon on Malibu Beach.  That’s on Koh Pah Ngan in southern Thailand islands, not in Los Angeles.

After going so hard through Japan and China, we had no idea how incredibly tired we were from so much traveling and sight seeing, and how in need we were for downtime, that when we got to the first truly lazy beach destination, we sank into that sand and had little interest in doing anything else.

Christmas eve and Christmas day were full of the following…wake up, Skype with our family during their Christmas festivities, eat our inclusive breakfast at the beach restaurant, stay at said beach restaurant through dinner, taking a quick swim and drink a banana shake while at said restaurant, learning first-hand that crabs dart both vertically and laterally (whatever this link means), then heading back to our bungalow to watch a (very legal) DVD and passing out before the evening news starts; assuming there is an evening news, and that it starts around 10pm, which we can not confirm either way since there's no TV in our bamboo bungalow.

We did walk around Choloklum, ride a scooter (extremely carefully) to Koh Ma (an island that you can walk to because a connective sandbar is walkable during low tide), and visit friends at Haad Rin and Haad Yao for dinner and drinks, but mainly, we completely decompressed around Malibu Beach.

There’s something to be said about hurriedly site seeing when you’ve got a short amount of time to take-in a country/region, but when you’ve got 5 months, and you’ve just gotten done quitting your jobs, selling everything you own, moving out of a city, throwing a week-long wedding, and venturing off on a 5 month honeymoon through a completely unknown land, you also need to enjoy a considerable amount of down-time to enjoy your surroundings, enjoy the culture, and to enjoy the person you’ve just committed yourself to for the rest of your life.  Which we did, and did it well.

If you can’t tell, we slightly liked Koh Pha Ngan.

The perfect song to wake up from a nap to...

Sigur Ros
"Svefn-g-englar"

Days 44-45 Saturday – Wednesday December 19-23, 2009 Koh Samui, Thailand

Exit busy city life...

…Enter island living.

Even though we had arrived into Thailand a few days earlier, we didn’t really enter the Thailand we had been waiting for until we got off the mainland, and headed down to the islands.  Bangkok was busy and crowded and, well, big cityish.  We came to this country looking for much more of a retreat so we can recover from the past 6 weeks on the road through China and Japan, and we didn’t get that reprieve until we headed to Koh Samui.

While planning Thailand, Tania broke out the islands into three sectors:

1.     Koh Samui – for cleansing and body pampering after pushing ourselves so much through Japan and China

2.     Koh Pha Ngan, for relaxing on the beach and socializing amongst the Full Moon Party crowd

3.     Koh Tao – for complete seclusion and a quiet new years celebration

Knowing how the next few weeks would unfold, we made the most of our time on Koh Samui at Spa Samui, the original healthy island retreat.  We had planned on partaking in a 3 day fast (yes, that means no eating or drinking alcohol) and getting massages all over our bodies until there wasn’t a drop of tension left in our muscles.

We succeeded in doing half of that.

Apparently, the fast required the participants to ingest a specific diet of foods during the week leading up to arrival at the spa.  Well, we didn’t find that our until the day before arriving, so the fast was off the table.  I was really bummed about that.  Instead, we enjoyed fruit shakes and longevity drinks for breakfast, yoga, meditation, 2-hour long Thai massages and 1 hour oil massages, naps at the beach and pool, and quiet meals at the spa’s restaurant.  I was afraid that a restaurant at such a healthy resort would consist of vegan and vegetarian dishes, which it did, but it also had a healthy selection of options for carnivores like me.  So in addition to healing our bodies and minds, we catered to our stomachs in an equal capacity.

We also enjoyed the island by scootering around to neighboring towns.  We exchanged books at a cute little book shop (traded Dan Brown and Lonely Planet for some David Sedaris and HG Wells), bought some matching tee shirts (now we have two matching sets to show off to the vomiting world) and warm weather shorts/skirts), and passed through Cha Weng, the extremely touristy area of Koh Samui, which we quickly exited so we could return to our peaceful haven at Spa Samui.

 

Our few days on Koh Samui were a perfect outro to city hopping and an even more perfect intro to Thai island hopping, even though we didn’t get to treat ourselves to a good ol’ fashion fast.  (insert sarcastic crying sound)

Days 42-43 Thursday – Friday December 17-18, 2009 Bangkok

Goodbye China!  Hello Thailand!!!!!!!

Highlights

- Taxis from the airport into town should never be over 400 baht.  Even if you're in one of the supposedly trustworthy metered taxis.  Especially the one we were in.  Jerk.
- For the guys, forget about what you think about capri-looking pants, buy a pair of Diesel rip-offs for $2 and put them on before temple hunting in Bangkok.  You have to cover your knees and elbows, and it's waaaay too hot to wear pants/jeans in that heat.
- Khao San may be a popular backpacker area, but it's a little too backpackery for our tastes.  We'll leave the Chang shirt and fake ID buying up to the shadows of who we were 12 years ago that fill the area.
- Mexican restaurants in Thailand can be just as fun as those in Mexico, live band and tequila permitting.

The "Norah Jones Long Day Is Over and time to relax" version

Bangkok was more of a pit stop for us.  Other than needing to see the requisite temples and palaces, and to experience backpacker life to the Nth degree, we were more or less spending time there after China so we could catch an easy flight to the southern Thai islands.

Our stay at Villa Chi Chi was nice because it had a pool and decent accommodations, that is once the air conditioner kicked in after 90 minutes and you didn’t feel like you’d pass out of heat exhaustion in the room.

The food was amazing (definitely visit Hemlock - an incredible restaurant near Khao San) and it was nice to spend a little time amongst the globe trekking crowd, yet we were ready to get out of the big city after 2 quick days in the city.

Highlights of what we saw were the Grand Palace and a Mexican food joint that Tania found downtown.

The Grand Palace is as immaculate and approachable as any monument that we've come across.  The gold exterior shimmers off of the beating sun (it was winter yet still hotter than a Miami summer day) and the outlining buildings (the Bureau of the Royal Household, the Royal Institute of Thailand, and the Office of the Private Secretary to the King) are a blanket of impeccably designed pieces of art that beg for a whole memory stick (or roll of film for those that are still into that - Dad) of pictures to be taken of them.  And inside the Wat Phra Kaew sits the Emerald Buddha, which is exactly as the name implies, and may be unassuming upon first glimpse, but after hearing its story and sitting on the stone floor gazing up at it for a few minutes, you'll understand why Buddhists travel across the globe to sit at its altar.

 

 

Every season, this Buddha is dressed in a wardrobe to match that season, and placed back up on its altar, which sits about 20 feet above ground.  No photos are allowed while inside the Wat, and an insistent little Thai dude walks around making sure this rule isn't broken.  (I found out firsthand)  The statue is so little sitting way up there, but little glimmers off of it so perfectly that its green skin reflects through the seasonal garb making it seem so unassuming, yet so powerful.  Even though we aren't followers of Buddhism, we were still captivated sitting on the stone floor below the statue.  Pretty cool.


That night, Tania found a Mexican restaurant downtown that sounded like it would quench our taste for food that resembled what we love from home (LA) and from where we had our wedding (Puerto Vallarta).  After a cab ride through rush hour traffic that would make LA bow, we made it to the hotel in which the hotel resided and took a seat at a booth next to the stage.  A stage for what we didn't know, but we started munching on chips and salsa like it was no one's business as soon as it was placed on our table.  

Then followed the margaritas.  

We were SHOCKED by the image on our margarita mug (after a few giggles)

Then the fajitas and enchiladas.  

Then the clapping to the live band on stage.

Then the long cab ride home.  It was a successful harking back to our favorite week, and to some of the best food on the planet.


And then it was off to Koh Samui to start our Thai island adventure.  Bye bye mainland city living!

Days 40-41 Tuesday - Wednesday December 15-16, 2009 Macau

We ate amazing meals.

We experienced the beautiful Portuguese influence all over the city’s cobble stoned streets.

She spa’d at the Wynn.

He bungy jumped off the world’s highest commercial bungy jump (Macau Tower – 233 meters).

He lost some money gambling (not too much, definitely within his allotted daily budget).

She won more gambling than he lost.

It was a fun few days in Macau.

Days 36-40 December 11-15, 2009 Hong Kong

Highlights

-       - Hong Kong is expensive, so if you have to choose between shopping for Xmas gifts in main land China or in HK, choose the mainland, no matter how much negotiating you need to do.

-       - HK is also a gorgeous city with modern luxuries and traditional life, so if you must choose one city to visit in China (if you consider HK to be part of China), choose this place.  It has it all.

-       - 30-something professionals shouldn’t feel bad about reaping the benefits of their hard work and enjoying the finer things in life during a 5 month holiday.  We deserve it (even though it may mean the vacation needs to be cut short by a week or two).

The “I need something to do while Tania disappears into Twilight land” version

Wow!  What a city this is!  Even though it’s some sort of relative to China (answer depends on who you ask), and even though it has many of the same traits as larger Chinese cities (crowded, plethora of temples, crazy drivers, a outwardly public communal people), it feels like a complete detachment as soon as you’re walking the streets.  This is primarily due to the European influence that drove the city for many years, but it also has to do, HAS to, with this region of people realizing they need to evolve a bit if they’re going to live harmoniously with the outside world.

We spent the first night in the city, and the last night with our tour group, on the mainland area of town called Kowloon.  Tania and I walked from our hotel all the way down Nelson Ave. to the pier so we could catch the stunning sunset concluding across the water and over the shoulder of Hong Kong proper.  As we made our way through town, we passed through the park where several Far East Asia Games (local Olympics if you may) events had just taken place.  There was also an aviary and plenty of people doing exercises and chatting.  Even though it’s in the center of a bustling city, the park made for a quiet refuge and stroll.

That night the boys and girls split up for a last hurrah.  For some reason, all of the girls wanted a night away from Michael, Tim, Frank, and me.  I have no idea why they’d ever want that.  Unfortunately for them, the selection of bars in Kowloon is small and we all ended up at the same crappy watering hole.  Knowing none of us were going to find much better, we smiled and had a drink together before the women headed out the door, leaving us guys to play trivia (even Australians know a lot about Saved By The Bell, but not as much as this American!) for another round of drinks.  Then it was back to the hotel for a bit so the guys could teach Frank about modern music beyond anything Eric Clapton has been a part of in the last 30 years.  Tania and the girls went out for a little dancing before heading back to the hotel.  We all knew Hong Kong proper had much more to offer, so none of us were too driven to push it in Kowloon.

Click for a street level view of Kowloon

The next morning Tania and I packed our stuff and rode the subway over to Hong Kong.  To say that Tania was ecstatic with our hotel in HK would be doing it no justice.  Our hotel was modern, in the heart of the city, was spacious, and had the vibe like we hadn’t seen in months.  She was in heaven, and I too was loving the fact that our budget tour was over and we could finally enjoy housing that matched the lifestyle we’d become used to, which is light years away from the hostel bouncing we loved 10 years earlier.

After a quick bite of Thai food for dinner in order to prepare ourselves for the next phase of our journey, we met up with Michael, Tim, and Linda at Joe Bananas, a famous theme bar next to our hotel.  Apparently, the sisters Susie and Ali wanted to meet their trip’s primary objective (they had only planned on going to HK to shop for a few days, then decided to go all out with the 3 week tour) alone, and Indra was off doing whatever Indra does.  After a few drinks and gabbing with other Ausies, the group caught a cab and headed over to Lan Kwai Fong, a raucously slanted area of town full of street bars and drunk ex pats.  Think Bourbon St. meets Oktoberfest.  We did our best to enjoy the setting and partake in the fun, but we were so exhausted from the previous 3 weeks and couldn’t give it the due energy, we only had a drink and a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cone, then headed back to our luxurious hotel for a good night sleep. 

It was the last time we’d see Michael, Tim, and Linda, which was very sad for us.  The two guys, although from a completely different generation and with a totally different view of the world, we loved spending our time in China with them because of their passion for politics, their endless stock of energy, and the fact that they were two good people that had shared an important part of this trip with us.  We were just as sad to see Linda go for many of the same reasons, but also because she’s our same age, and she makes our travel itinerary look like a long weekend instead of a very extended honeymoon.  She’s seen so much of the world and looks at those adventures with such zeal and insight that we loved sharing our time in China with such a curious soul.  Tania really connected with her, and I’m sure we’ll stay in touch with her, the guys, and the sisters for a time to come.  They all were definitely a highlight of our Chinese journey.

Back to Hong Kong…

The city is dissected by a double-decker trolley that runs from one end to the next.  Our hotel lay dead in the middle of the route, so on Sunday we rode jumped on the trolley, climbed up to the front of the upper deck, and rode west until the car was empty and the conductor kicked us off.  From there we pleasantly got lost on the docks and wandered around watching people fish from the pier and others stroll around this barren corner of town.  It made for beautifully candid shots and a chance to see the city from a different vantage point not described in Lonely Planet.

Making our way back into the metropolitan area of HK, we passed through the local SoHo and its adorrrrrable (can you hear Tania say it?) boutique shops, through the crowd of women (I mean at least 2000 women) picnicking in the middle of the streets and park (did the husbands just get off of work and they all congregate here to wind down?), and past the inevitable selection of luxury brand stores.  We then headed over to HK’s time square for dinner. 

HK is a vertical city, meaning that shops and restaurants are just as likely to be on the 13^th floor of a building then they are to be on street level.  Luckily we knew this and were able to find our dinner spot on the 13^th floor of the department store in times square.  The selection was infinite and we were able to quench all of our tastes.  I had okonomiyake (which I fell in love with in Japan), she had Korean BBQ type beef on a personal grill, I had sushi, and overall we had one of the best meals of the trip so far.  Incredible!

The next day we explored the central and upper part of town.  HK houses the world’s longest stretch of escalators that climb from sea level up to the highest cusp of the commercial district.  It doesn’t reach the top of the mountain, though, because that duty is left up to the famous peak tram.  One can also hike up to the top of the mountain from the top of the escalators (app. 1-2 hour walk up – vertically – to the peak), but since we wanted to experience the tram (ahem), we opted to not hike to the top.

The view from up there was spectacular even though it was obstructed by the cloud cover.  It’s very much a site to be seen due to the magnificent array of high rises and architecture lining the edge of this island, but it would have been nice to have a clear day so we could see off into the distance.  Not to complain, though, since we knew what we’d be getting weather-wise by coming on this trip during winter.

We had an incredible late lunch up on the peak, not only incredible due to the gorgeous views and setting, but also because I got to have buffalo wings for the first time in ages.  Just because the sauce was more of a marinara and they weren’t fried enough doesn’t mean I didn’t appreciate the effort, but there’s something about buffalo wings in the good ol’ US of A that will never be matched in this corner of the world.  Even though I’d love to prove myself wrong some time, or many times, on this trip.

Instead of pushing it that night, we instead stayed in, ordered room service, and watched one of the very legal DVD’s that Tania purchased in Yangshuo.  Angels and Demons is out on DVD already, right? It was a good night to relax and get ready for the Vegas of Asia, Macau.

Days 33-35 Tuesday – Thursday December 8-10, 2009 Yangshuo, China

Okay, resuming the back-dated entries...

Highlights

- Yangshuo is a backpacker paradise that caters to westerners, all amongst the exotic backdrop of limestone mountains.  An amazing respite from China city life.
- Don't ever tell a little old Chinese lady to "Go Away!" unless you want her to do the opposite and hiss at you for the next few hours.
- You may now call Tania "Tai Chi Tania".  After a class with the master, she is now a master of the meditation martial art.


The "should I go snorkeling again or catch up on blogging all day instead" version

Having just completed a 19 hour bus and train trip through southern China, and over two weeks roaming through deeply local terrain that only showed signs of western life in its plethora of western stores and fast food chains, we couldn’t have been happier to arrive in one of those backpacker-friendly towns easily found all throughout the world.  This time, it was Yangshuo, just outside of the more famous Guilin.

We got into town at night when the sun had already gone to bed, so we couldn’t really grasp what this tiny city’s surroundings had to offer, but we did take in what the inner city was giving.  And mostly that’s restaurants and bars tailored to us white folk.  We had burritos, pizzas, and lasagna, or what the locals considered to be those dishes, and we played pool while listening to an odd array of musical hits from throughout the last 30 or so years.  This night had nothing to do with China, and we loved it. 

Wanting to take-in and absorb as much of a culture within a limited amount of time is one thing, but jumping from 100% your culture to 100% another culture for 3 straight weeks creates too much of a detachment for folks who are on (a very extended) honeymoon.  Although we want to see and understand everything about China, we also need to take time, relax, and enjoy the other element of what we’re doing here…vacationing.  And even though Clark Griswold will disagree, vacationing needs to include down time, comfort time, and R&R time.  And very necessarily, that comfort time needs to happen in the context of what you’re used to back home.  That’s what Yangshuo gave to us.

Click for a sneak peak at Yangshuo

Yet we did absorb the unique setting in Yangshuo, though.  On Wednesday, Tania, Susie, Michael and I jumped on some mountain bikes and took a tour of the surrounding limestone mountain areas.  When I say this corner of the world looks like nothing else on this planet, I’m pretty sure that’s accurate, mostly because we’ve watched all of the Planet Earth episodes (the best reason to own Blu-ray), and there was nothing like this in any episodes other than southern China. 

These aren’t even mountains.  And they’re not hills.  They’re some strange combination of the two that jut quickly into the sky and dive back into the earth just as quickly, completely covered in the greenest moss this side of the local Chia Pet factory.  From a scenic attraction standpoint, this was the highlight of China for me, and it didn’t disappoint, for it’s truly like nothing I’ve ever seen nor imagined.

 

 

 

We rode the bikes through tiny villages past chicken farms and men watching the world pass from their cement doorstep.  The roads weren’t always smooth, meaning Tania had to put on her off-roading hat and rough it through uneven terrain, completely against her liking.  She did great though, and we eventually made our way to the river, where we would gradually (aka slowwwwwwwwwly) make our way down the river via bamboo raft driven by a bamboo wielding pushman. 

If you couldn’t tell, the bamboo raft ride was quite mild, but a great way for Tania and me in one boat, and Susie and Michael in the other, to rest from our bike ride and take in the scenery.  We were occasionally interrupted by dams that we needed to ride over with our feet held high so they didn’t get completely drenched.  All in all, the river ride was a nice respite in what would become an arduous trek.

The arduous part of the day came after another short bike ride, up to Half Moon Cliff.  After parking our bikes at the local restaurant, we walked up a million or so steps to a stunning view of the valley below and the never ending site of limestone hills.  If that was the whole story, we would look back on that hike quite longingly, but that’s not the whole story. 

The missing piece of the story is the group of women who walked up the hill with us.  Step for step.  Every step of the way trying to sell us water or soda that was tucked away in their Styrofoam coolers wrapped in yellow tape draped over their shoulders.  We guessed that normally these women made a killing from those out of shape laowais who didn’t know how high the hike went, but Frank warned us of these little ladies, so we were prepared to make the ascent sans their water, no matter how thirsty we may become.  And we did get quite thirsty.

Luckily Susie bought a bottle at the top of the hill and shared it with us, but this made one particular little lady very upset because in her mind, it’s one bottle per person. 

After Tania and I took in the site and snapped a few pictures, we headed down the hill ahead of Susie and Michael, who went the extra distance to see another corner of the peak.

The little old lady was the only of her group to follow us down the hill.  Not wanting her to bother us all the way down, we stopped and asked her to keep walking ahead of us.  When she insisted on staying by our side, Tania laid into her with what we’re assuming is not a local favorite phrase in Cantonese…”Go away.”  Whether the locals like it or not, this lady was piiiiiiiiissed.  She yelled and hissed and made sure we knew how rude she thought that was.  She did eventually fade off into the distance, but as she did, she made a point to stop every 2-3 minutes to look back at us and scream “GO AWAY.  WAWAWAWAWA.  GO AWAY!!!” Even though we don’t want to offend the locals in any way on this trip, this little rag could have screamed all day and we wouldn’t have cared.  She lost all her allotted points on the way up.

Another hiker, who we found out was from India and Canada, on his way up the hill stopped us to ask what the lady’s issue was.  We told him and he had a good laugh about it.

That was the highlight of the hike.  The lunch and ride back into town were uneventful except for the storm of cars we had to navigate through.  We did a little shopping, meaning we summoned our newly refined negotiating skills, and then headed back for a nap before the group’s farewell dinner.  Since the 2^nd to last night would be on a train and the last night was in expensive Hong Kong, Frank chose for us to feast in Yangshuo.  We laughed, we cried, then we hit the hay to get a good night sleep before our last overnight train.

Before we left Yangshuo, though, Tania took a Tai Chi class and learned all of the 10 basic movements.  I took a cooking class with Tim and Michael, where we learned to make beer fish (the local specialty) with catfish, tempura deep-fried stuffed eggplant, and pork dumplings.  My dumplings tasted much better than they looked.  It’s crazy how tough it is to properly wrap those little suckers when stuffed with so much filling (and when you have such stubby fingers like me).

 

All in all, Yanghsuo was a welcomed stop for the group where we didn’t feel like such outsiders for once.  If you’re ever in China and are feeling too out of your element, take the train to Guilin and the bus to Yangshuo, and you’ll feel much more at home.