http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/KACEE/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from KACEE en-us Fri, 25 Dec 2009 12:29:51 +0000 Fri, 25 Dec 2009 12:29:51 +0000 John was nice enough to bring me along one weekend to Kanam where he volunteers at the CSI Boys Hostel Boys Orphanage.It was super wild and crazy... and I loved itLet me know if you are interested in sponsoring a boy from here. I think its around 120 a year and that will pay for his food and schooling And the boy will send pictures and write letters to you etc. The whole package. Pretty co http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/blog-368892.html Sai Yok National Park a couple hours outside of Kanchanaburi...Here is a basic outline of what happened.We tried to find a cave by ourselves...Some random boys offered to help but said we had to pay money...We refused of course...20 min. into our mountain trekking I realized we were being followed...I figured they were gonna rob us and hide everything important into my belly pouch including m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Western-Thailand/Kanchanaburi/blog-364254.html Meet John... he's amazing and is from Texas.Ohhh and did I mention his family are Ranchers .... horses cattle vast amounts of land cattle dogs horses... need I say more ohhh yea we hit if off right awayHe is volunteering here at CMS college for one year and gave me a tour of college life and around Kottayam He also took me to the boys orphanage he volunteers at on the weekends.IT WAS http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/blog-369555.html For the first time EVER in my life I have been pleasure reading on a daily basis It's amazing. I don't have any due dates or pressure of what I am supposed to get out of the readings etc. It's just me and my book of choice.I love reading. HAHHhahHAHa hah ahaaSOOOoooo here are the books that I read and ABSOLUTELY LOVED Each book is amazing and completely different from the next... You'll ju http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-369542.html The official language of Kerala is Malayalam...In Malayalam Opachin which I'm sure I spelt wrong means Grandpa So meet some of the local Opachin's at Mandiram that I am volunteering withThey are all incredibly cheerful and always welcoming me with a smile to come and hang out with them http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/blog-367580.html The official language of Kerala is Malayalam...In Malayalam Amachi means Grandma So meet some of the local Amachi's at Mandiram that I am volunteering withThey are all amazing and full of tons of spunk zest and lots of touchyfeely LOVE... which I'm eatin right up http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/blog-367565.html That's right we did it we saw it we ate it up the world famous Thailand Floating Market Damnoen Saduak.What did we do thereWhat was it like you sayI'll tell you...All you do...IS EAT FOODSHOP ON THE WATERAND TAKE PICTURESAND HAVE PICTURES TAKEN OF YOUhahahahhHAHAHA HAHA HAHAAAaaaa.The End.lt3P.S. There were waaaaaaay too many pictures from this day to put up. So if you're hungery for http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/blog-364257.html I was thrilled to arrive in Chang Rai early in the morning and be the only tourist at the bus stop. Unlike it's more well known brother Chang Mai which I avoided... Chang Rai is a laid back area filled with less tourists and more life.Mae Salong which is 1800 meters above the sea level is a town of Chinese temples open air bazaars beautiful blooming cherry blossom trees and shops that of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Rai/blog-363898.html The power of small meaningful gifts is a wonderful thing. And can change lives.Today was the most AHMAZING day of my entire trip.I woke up in my favorite provenance Chang Rai... and prepared myself to go on an delightful horseback ridinghorse trekking tour With just me and the local who was arranged to pick me up at 9am sharpThe night before I could hardly sleep because I was so excited to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Rai/blog-363902.html On January 16th I violently woke up from my horriblyuncomfortable sleep to an old lady shaking my leg... we had arrived from Chang Rai at the main bus terminal in Bangkok and it was time to get my sleeping butt off the bus... it was 503 am... and I was back in Bangkok my least favorite place in all of Thailand.But instead of me being a lost and confused little Joey baby kangaroo arriving in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-364238.html Here are some pictures from Claire and Bonnie's jumble of pics and a couple late night Koh Phagnan ones from me. Side note I miss you Claire and Bonnie It's not the same without you and in case you guys couldn't tell they are amazing to travel with http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-364271.html When asked about my favorite Temple in Cambodia my answer is not the big and mighty Angkor Wat but my reply is Oh totally Ta ProhmWhile most of the main temples in the immediate Angkor area have been cleared of vegetation leaving only baren lifeless stone temples it was decided to leave Ta Prohm untouched as a testament of the forces of nature... Sounds awesome to meYou might know the tem http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-362262.html I have nothing but amazing things to say about Jungle Way the guest house I stayed at for over a week on Koh Chang Island. httpwww.jungleway.comLek the owner is a Koh Chang local who genuinely cares about his guest house and the residents. While volunteering at the Koh Chang Animal Foundation I stayed at Jungle Way away from the Tourist strip of White Sand Beach. Here Lek and his friend http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Ko-Chang/blog-362266.html Cambodia also known for a time as Kampuchea is located in mainland Southeast Asia between Vietnam Laos Thailand and the Gulf of Thailand. Phnom Penh which I stayed in for a couple days is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. It is also one of the wealthiest and most populous cities in Cambodia home to more than 1 million. The state religion is Theravada Buddhism which makes more th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-360222.html .... HORSEBACK RIDING OF COURSEI waited patiently and searched high and low in all of Thailand... but had no luck in even SEEING one single horse But as it turns out as soon as I got to Cambodia I spotted numerous ponies 16 so far to be exact and a couple of horses... AND then I found this amazing horse ranch in Siem Reap Where there were horses gallor I almost fain http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-360529.html I spent a little bit over a week volunteering at the Koh Chang Animal Foundation working with Lisa the founder and on site vet and two other volunteers... Virginie a Pediatric nurse from France and Kane a current resident of Koh Chang who is a vet nurse and is originally from Australia The Koh Chang Animal Foundation is a nonprofit animal health clinic that was established by Lisa McAlon http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Ko-Chang/blog-360204.html We have bigger houses but smaller familiesMore conveniences but less timeWe have more degrees but less senseMore knowledge but less judgmentMore experts but more problemsMore medicines but less healthinessWe've been all the way to the moon and backbut have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.We build more computers to hold more information toproduce more copies than ev http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Ko-Chang/blog-360012.html Hello everyone Before you start reading a little bit about Ko Pha Ngan I want you guys to know the theme of our motivation for this whole Thailand trip. This music video and song by Empire of the Sun sums it up perfectly Everyone morning and night we would blast this song to get us pumped up Its an amazing song and I'm obsessed with it It was also my inspiration for my face paint for http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Pha-Ngan/blog-358899.html As requested by Kara here are the pictures of the dingo looking pup I tried to bring back to the States... hahahaaa well it was an idea I had... it didn't really work out tho.apparently its super expensive and super complicated to bring a Thai dog back ohhhhh well.Next time and next country And as requested by Garret here is the local island PUG that was following me around PssshhhI'll http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Pha-Ngan/blog-357341.html Here I found some of the most amazing beaches I've ever seen some fun snorkeling great nightlife and lots of sun... Not to mention a bar that allowed DRUNK people to Muay Thai fight each other for a free bucket of rum and coke. WOW. It was kinda crazyP.S. Wow I can't believe I just uploaded 40 pictures... I get extra brownie points for this one... these things take soooo long http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Phi-Phi/blog-357309.html