So, here I am, back in the good old U-S-of-A, living life as an umemployed post-traveler, moping around my parents house, catching up on TV, and reminiscing with photos from my trip! I just wanted to finish up my blog with this little disclaimer. Although I had an amazing trip, and had many incredible experiences, there were also a lot of crazy things I had to put up with. Life on the road entails a lot of rolling with the punches, and adapting to a lifestyle that many people would have difficulty with. Paying 4$-10$ a night for a hotel room [View Full Entry]

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After 2 amazing weeks at Elephant Nature Park, it was time to say goodbye, and round up my trip! I cannot believe how fast 5 months have gone by, it seems like just yesterday a small child was projectile vomiting near me at the LAX airport. The ENP shuttle dropped me off at my guesthouse in Chiang Mai, called CM Blue House, an absolutely lovely place run by 2 gay men from California. I had a king size bed all to myself, and even a TV!! That night I went out w/ friends from the park for a nice italian meal, [View Full Entry]

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Minutes after arriving at ENP for my two week volunteer placement, I knew I had made the right desicion. The website was vague about what volunteers at the park actually do, but I was ready to get my hands dirty and do some hard work. Volunteers stay at the park in week-long increments, and my first week there were about 25 volunteers, people from the UK, Australia, and NZ of all ages. There was even one woman there whose kids sponsored her to volunteer at the park for 2 weeks for her 70th birthday! She was amazing, got right in and [View Full Entry]

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I don't even know where to begin! I spent the last two weeks volunteering at Elephant Nature Park, an elephant sanctuary located in the Mae Taeng Valley, a little over an hour outside of Chiang Mai. I'll try and break down the sections to give a little information before I go into my stint as a volunteer. About Elephant Nature Park The park was formed by a Thai woman named Sangduen "Lek" Chailert, "Lek" meaning small in Thai. Lek is this amazing woman who has devoted her entire life to helping elephants. About 20 years ago, Thailand had over 200,000 [View Full Entry]

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A few fun-filled days in Chiang Mai *** I realized after the fact that some of the text got deleted when I published this....sorry if parts didn't make sense at first!**** We arrived in Chiang Mai late in the afternoon, and checked into our guesthouse, called Your House guest House. A bit of confusion in the tuk-tuk, I'm pretty sure the driver thought we wanted him to take us home with him, b/c every time he would ask us "Where you go?" , Ashley and I would both say, in exasperation, YOUR HOUSE! Eventually he figured it out, and our [View Full Entry]

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After our crazy one day stint in Vang Vieng, we got up bright and early to catch our mini-bus up to Luang Prabang. 8 people + luggage were crammed into a large mini-van, and off we went. To get from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang you have to take the infamous Route 13, which is an insanely twisty turny road that zig zags along the edge of a mountain. Laos drivers are known for driving like maniacs, but I think the majority of the people on the bus were trying to hold it together as he zoomed around corners that had [View Full Entry]

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So, after spending nearly 2 weeks down south on the islands, we caught a flight up to Bangkok, where we met our overnight train to Laos. Upon arriving in Bangkok, we had 5-6 hours to kill before our train, so we high-tailed it to a mall to watch an honest to goodness American movie. Right before the movie starts, there is a loud Thai announcement, and everyone in the theater stands up to pay their respects to the King, as pictures of him start playing across the screen. I think if they tried to do this in the U.S, movie theaters [View Full Entry]

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So, when I last left you, we had completed a massive trek from Koh Phangan to Phang Nga. Phang Nga is a really small town, with not much to do, most people just use it as a jump-off point for Phang Nga Bay, which is a huge bay with islands and rock formations scattered throughout. We checked into our hotel, the Phang Nga Inn, which was lovely and the owner was a really sweet lady who was always checking in on us. Ashley had some cousins who were staying at a resort nearby, so she left the next morning to spend [View Full Entry]

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Life on Koh Phangan Hello from tropical paradise! Early on the 5th, we flew from Bangkok town to Surat Thani, which is the main port town on the Gulf of Thailand. We weren't exactly sure how we were going to get from Surat Thani to Koh Phangan, an island in the gulf, but Thailand is incredibly geared towards travellers. As soon as we grabbed our bags from luggage claim, there was a large sign directing us to buy tickets for "Bus + Boat Combo" to Koh Phangan, and off we went! On the island, we stayed in Haad Rin, which is [View Full Entry]

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Ahh Bangkok. Home to 30 cent Pad Thai, 4$ hour massages, Golden Temples, and much much more! Our flight from NZ to Thailand was nice, thanks to Thai Airways....much nicer than my flight TO Australia! We got off the airplane, flew through customs, and hopped in a taxi to our hotel, New Siam II. Our hotel is really nice, a lot of families seem to frequent it, but it has a pool and our own bathroom, so we were pretty happy. We got in really late, but spent an hour or so walking around the neighborhood. Our hotel is on a [View Full Entry]

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