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Published: March 15th 2013
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It is with great relief I write that Matt and I are safely back in California, subjecting Berlin and Zorro to our altered sleep schedule (since both Matt and I awoke around 3:30am this morning). Despite this relief and good fortunate for the opportunity to share this amazing three week Asia Adventure with Matt, I write this blog with extreme sadness. With great selflessness, my mom waited to tell me that my dear Ginger passed away while I was gone. She passed naturally, surrounded by my mother's love, in the comfort of her own home. Since a biopsy could not be performed we can only assume that she succumbed to liver disease complications, but I think she really suffered from a broken heart. My grandmother was her buddy, a source of endless goodies like bananas and cookies, until she passed away last July. Ginger slept next to the empty hospital bed that night.
I am blessed that I got to spend time with Ginger when I was in Chicago in January. She was healthy and full of life, forever the puppy I brought home from Iowa in 2001 in my eyes. I am comforted to know that she is once
again reunited with my grandma and she will be in my heart forever.
Last I left the blog, Matt and I were about to head back to Thailand (Bangkok) from Cambodia (Siem Reap). Bangkok Airways has a monopoly on this flight and we couldn't justify paying another $300 for the hour flight so we planned to travel via land. We had read about the border scams so we felt prepared to not be douped, but we were not prepared for the lack of AC. This travel day began with a $30 2.5 hr cab ride we arranged through the hotel. We got to the Cambodian border control and avoided the offers for the "Required Passport Sticker", non-stop 3.5 hr bus to Bangkok (it was at least a 5 hr drive), and tuk-tuk to the border (which ws only about 150 meters). After exiting Cambodia and through Thai immigration, we got a tuk tuk to the train station. We had a 2hr wait for our 2pm train, and the train ended up taking 6.5 hours..with only 3rd class cars. In total this trip was $35 for both of us. What one does to spare the budget!
Finally in Bangkok,
we wanted to see what Mexican food was like in Thailand. We were curious if there were any avocados in the guacamole and our burritos were disguised as enchiladas..and full of french fries and topped with marinara sauce. It was quite amusing.
Conveniently we were in Bangkok for the Chatuchak Weekend Market, the largest outdoor weekend market in the world. We had a good time exploring the thousands of vendor stalls and picking up a few souvenirs. We had dinner reservations for Sirocco, the restaurant on the 64th floor of the Lebua Building, showcased in Hangover 2. We purposely arrived before sunset and were escorted onto a side balcony to see that bright orange sun sink toward the horizon. We got to our dinner table and enjoyed our delicious food as the day cooled off and became night, with the twinkling city lights gradually appearing around us.
The next day (March 11) we were leaving Bangkok (yes after just 2 short nights), but not without first visiting the Royal Palace in Bangkok. We conveniently took the SkyTrain and Express Boat, prepared with long pants and sleeved shirts for the strict dress code policy. It was a quick visit
but well worth the excursion. Ornate and golden buildings dotted the Palace grounds as well as extensive murals that depicted battles and monsters and, you guessed it, lots of gold. After picking up our bags at the hotel we headed to the aiport and were off to our eight and final Asian destination, Phuket Thailand.
We thought it would be fun to keep it simple so we reserved a hut on the beach, only accessible by walking down the private gravel road. We knew it would be just a room with a bed, and it was just that and really nothing more. It wasn't bad once we got used to it but it would have helped to have a small table, shelf, and elevated bed so that the sand wouldn't get over everything as well as a few more windows to allow a stronger breeze. Thankfully there was a small fan, overhead light and one extra socket.
This little piece of private Phuket was a nice choice because it was on the west coast, allowing us to see the sunset everyday and then enjoy dinner at the hotel's restaurant. We enjoyed a self kayaking exploration of Phang Nga
Bay during our first full day in Phuket (and second to last day in Asia). We got to kayak through some caves, leading to lagoons that housed families of monkeys that were quite a source of laughter, cannon-balling into the water for the banans our guides was tossing at them. One even climbed onto someones boat and had to be lurred off with the promise of another banana.
We had no plans for our last day so we asked the inn keeper and eventually decided a hike in the rainforest would be the best activity. Our non-English speaking cab driver dropped us off at parking lot A, and we confirmed with his English speaking sister that he would pick us up at the other parking lot, allowing us to see both waterfalls along the trail. Our casual day exploring Phuket got very interesting as the "nature trail" turned into a guessing game. "Is that the trail?", "Are we supposed to use this log as a bridge?", and then after reaching the last marked sign asking, "How do we get to the other parking lot?" Our shirts had been soaked within the first 20 minutes, but we still continuously thought,
"How could our shirts be even MORE wet?" We picked a path leading off the last marker, hoping it lead to a parking lot. Climbing over fallen trees, stepping around the collection of small boulders and hoping there were poisonous plants, we walked for 20 minutes. We were occassionally assured that we were on a path with a sign here an there, but they were not located on the map. Drenched as if we had taken a shower with our clothes on and almost out of water, we finally had to decide to follow the path back to parking lot A. Three hours later we emerged from the rainforest and asked the Office to call our cab. He arrived 20 minutes later, having been waiting for us at the other parking lot.
We got back to the hut and started the day a new, with Matt reading and enjoying a nap and I relaxing on the beach, making sure to rehydrate. Although I consider this as our last full day, we did have to pack up and head to the airport at 11pm for our 2am flight. We did have time to enjoy a nice last Thai dinner and
sat on the deck enjoying the stars, something we don't get to see much in LA.
Our first flight was 5 hours (Phuket to Beijing) and we both just slept. We had a 5.5 hour layover, but the Chinese transfer process had many stations so by the time we arrived in the terminal we had 4 hours until take off. There were plenty of shops to walk around and the time went by quickly. If only the same were for our 12.5 hour flight from Beijing to Los Angeles! We departed at 2pm on Thursday March 14th and flew through the night..but arrived at 11am on Thursday. The food was awful and the leg room tight. When we did sleep, we dreamt of our bed. The pleasures of home.
We knew we were back in the states when airport announcements were spoken in English..and then Spanish.
Looking back, we really enjoyed every city and wouldn't have changed much. We would love to go back some day and see more of Bangkok and the islands of Thailand as well as southern Vietnam. There were more English speaking people in the less economically sound Vietnam and Cambodia and the
people of Vietnam were exceptionally nice.
It was everything we wanted this trip to be. Here's the the next one!
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