Amberabroad

Here are a few things that I'll never forget: -touching a kangaroo for the first time -the prickly legs of a huntsman spider on my cheek -my first day of surfing in Byron Bay, catching every wave -seeing a snapping turtle just off of the Great Barrier Reef -The talc-like sand on Whitehaven beach -the freezing water in the Shotover river -walking the volcanoes of North Island, New Zealand -Following dolphin pods at the Bay of Islands -the Kiwi shakes in Little India, Singapore -Being scared for my life in Malaysia -watching an amazing sunset on Perhentian Island, Malaysia -Eating delicious Nani-goreng for breakfast at a bus stop in Terranganu, Malaysia -Snorkelling the clearest water I've ever seen in Maya Beach, Thailand -Watching Batik fabric being made on Tong Sai, Thailand -Eating bugs for supper on ... read more

I love Japan, and always will. It's a perfect marriage of past, present, and future. There're meikos, geikos and geishas entertaining tired businessmen in tiekwood teahouses, shinto shrines rising up between office buildings, women walking down the street in traditional kimonos and dolce and gabbana bags, and well-dressed school-children checking out the futuristic sony inventions. The best part of all is that it's all genuine. The Japanese don't put on a show because the tourists are there to watch. Sumo doesn't exist as an over done attraction, along with teiko drumming, pachinko, flower arranging, and tea ceremonies. Japan would still hold onto it's history and identity, even if the rest of the world stopped watching. I hopped on the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Nikko within an hour of arriving in Japan. Nikko is home to the ... read more

I arrived in Kanchanaburi in the late afternoon after a very long local bus ride where I relied on a nice old lady who could not speak English to tell me where my stop was (don't ask me how I managed that). Kanchanaburi is a beautiful little town built as a kind of strip along the major highway to Burma. I decided to walk across town to find a hostel instead of taking a tuk tuk. This turned out to be not such a great idea since it was boiling hot and I managed to get lost on one of the two streets that make up Kanchanaburi. Eventually I found my way to the Jolly Frog, a quaint little hostel for only 70 baht/night (about $2.25). I treated myself to a western dinner of a grilled ... read more

After stubbing my toes too many times to count, spliting open my small toe, ramming my head into a rock and ripping off half of my toenail on a bamboo bridge I've learned the importance of slowing down. A safe journey is paramount to enjoying the destination. My crossover into Thailand went off without a hitch. I collected afew stamps and then hopped on a five hour train to Hat Yai. The trainride was a great way to see the countryside and I had a nice chat about muslim women of Britan with a Saudi-arabian woman. She thought I was on my way to meet my husband in Phuket because it would be rediculous for a young woman to travel through Thailand alone...oops. Although the south of Thailand is apparently plagued by civil unrest at the ... read more