Bangkok: The good, the bad and the ugly

As those of you who have been following along already know, Z and I are in Bangkok for the last leg of our journey. We are staying near Kho San Road - a street in BKK (and the surrounding four blocks) whose entire economy is supported by dirty western backpackers - what my enlightened brother Joey would call a "hippy crack fest Mecca."

The city is great and we have been eating some fantastic food. The shopping is also incredible...we visited the world famous BKK weekend market today, but I will get to that in a moment.

Z and I are budget travellers, especially since we are at the end of our trip and our travel funds have been dwindling. This translates into us choosing the fan room at our hostel for $4 per night instead of opting for a more pricey AC room. The hostel is what you would expect - if you have experience traveling the globe then you know what I mean, and if you haven't yet had the opportunity - it is simply something you must experience yourself. Haven't seen any vermin to date and that is a big plus for this place.

Anyway, I wake up this morning and discover that some sort of insect has been feasting on my back all night as my back is COVERED in quarter-sized bites. I am actually awakened by the itchiness. Given the not-quite-4-star-accomodations, my first thought was "shit, bed mites. Now we are going to have to pack up our stuff and try out a different room." After traveling for a bit one gets pretty blase about that sort of stuff.

But after checking Z's biteless body and seeing that the bites are limited to my back I assume that some very large mosqito decided that I was the perfect place to camp out for the night. AWESOME.

By the time I am showered however, I suspect that these in fact are not bites, but rather hives and I am having a reaction to something here - either in the room or the city.

Z gives me one of his claritins and we hit the weekend market. The weekend market is pure insanity. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of vendors all packed together selling absolutely everything and anything you can imagine. Clothes, kitchen and housewares, PETS!!!! What??? (imagine an area the size of Crossgates [for those of you familiar w/ Albany consumer action] all on one level, outdoors, no AC and wall-to-wall PACKED!!)

The pet section was truly another world. Fish (of EVERY variety), dogs, cats, birds (roosters and chickens) rabbits, hedgehogs, rats, many different kinds of mice, the list just goes on and on. It was totally dirty and probably not the best move (visiting the pet section) for a girl having some sort of serious allergic reaction, but you may only find yourself in such a place once in a life time, if at all.

After roaming the market for more than 4 hours, Z and I were exhausted and had not seen NEARLY all of the market. I was itching up a storm when(unfortunately) I happen across a mirror. My arms, back and shoulders are smothered in red puffy welts. The hives have spread. A few on my legs, all down the arms, even some on my FACE! I draw a line at the face bit. I look like a freak.

Z and I decide to call it quits - we are tired and I look like a circus side show. We sort of accidentally jump on a non-AC bus (there are both, the AC buses cost a bit more) and spend about 30 minutes sitting in the muggy, sweaty nastiness that BKK can be, breathing in pure exhaust, praying that the driver will tell us that the next stop is ours.

We do finally make it back and promptly make a bee line for the closest pharmacy.

I have omitted Z's health/medical concerns- let me explain. He has been suffering from what the pharmicist identified as an infected mosquito bite since last night. Although he has had a cut-type thing on his knee for a week now, it was only last night that it started to swell and develop severe sensitivity. By bedtime we were worried that the infection was serious enough that it warranted Z taking some Cipro (a VERY strong antibiotic we have been traveling with just in case...).

By morning the infection seemed to have changed a bit, but it was still hot to the touch and fevery (not Z, but his knee). (As an aside - this situation may appropriately be called an Otter's Clam Bake as well - good that the knee is fevery and taking care of itself - but bad in that it might be more serious than we thought.) He took another Cipro and we headed to the market. By the time we returned from the market - i was an itching and swollen freak-show and Z has a slight limp.

Thus, we head directly to the pharmacy. "You first" I tell Z. He shows the pharmacist his injury and she immediately diagnoses it as an infected mosquito bite and tells him to take antibiotics. He explains he has Cipro and she says good, to continue with it for 5 days. Seems like a lot, but we plan to run that by some of my parents' Dr. friends.

She tells me claritin is what i should be taking and that is it. We are out the door, still in agony, but at least we are feeling a little bit better that we have accurately diagnosed our inflictions.

We grabbed a bite to eat and are currently hiding out in an AC internet cafe hoping that our wounds will heal. We have been so lucky not to be ill at all in the last three months (excluding a little food poisoning in S. Korea) we are a bit astonished to find ourselves falling apart at the seams on the second-to-last-day of our trip. Go figure. Hopefully the hives will deflate and Z's knee will be better by the time we return to the States.

Bangkok - the good, the bad and the ugly. But don't get me wrong, we both love it here and loathe to say goodbye to it.

K.E.Z Take a Break and Enjoy the View

K.E.Z Take a Break and Enjoy the View
Originally uploaded by savagecorp.

Brett's shot of us taking a break from our hike outside Seoul.

Zack and Erin Travel the Subway

Zack and Erin Travel the Subway
Originally uploaded by savagecorp.

Brett's shot of me and Z on Seoul subway.

Time to Eat

Time to Eat
Originally uploaded by savagecorp.

Brett's shot of the King Crab in Seoul.

Is That a Crab your Holding or are You Just Happy to see Me?

Is That a Crab your Holding or are You Just Happy to see Me?
Originally uploaded by savagecorp.

One of Brett's fantabulous shots of us at the fish market in Seoul. Nice, huh?

Zach explains the "Otter Clambake"

[This is a guest post by the esteemed Zach Pousman. He's got a theory about good omens and bad omens that is needed for me to tell the story. So I figure I'll just let him tell the whole darn thing.]

Before I can get to the story, I must explain something regarding good omens and bad omens. Good omens and bad omens are important to everyone, but most importantly to travelers. I believe this is because a traveler is the least likely to be able to control all of the things that will happen to him or her. When one is put repeatedly into positions where one is not in control, one begins to look for omens. The problem is that some omens are both good *and* bad. Our story includes one of these "both good and bad at the same time" omens. But, it seems, that there is not a word in the english language to describe this situation.

So E and I coined one: It's an otter clambake.

Why an otter clambake you ask? I'll explain. It's from a surfing trip I made out to Santa Cruz California in 2003. It was my first time surfing in the Pacific Northwest, and I was in for a treat. The waves were great, the water was a balmy 55° f (that's 10 C to you non-USAians), and there were otters in the lineup. The otter is a playful creature, and they were popping up all over wave zone, riding the waves, and generally being really cute. Otters come into the surf-zone to eat, not just to play. They dive down to the sea bed to get clams or mussels from the bottom and they also grab a small stone. The otters then surface, and while swimming along on their backs, their whiskers glistening, they crack open the clams with the rocks and eat the goodness inside. Now this is all well and good for the otters. And I thought it was oh so cute. But then my local friend told me that we were in the middle of a great white shark feeding ground. And lo, the great white's favorite meal (after seal, I think)? Otters.

Now, one might think that otters are a bad omen. The logic goes like this: Otters are here. Sharks eat otters. Ergo, sharks will be here. And hungry. But then, perhaps there's another line of reasoning that makes the otters a good omen -- it goes like this: Otters are here. Sharks eat otters. But if sharks were around, the otters would leave. So otters *still* being here is a good sign. Now both of these stories are potentially true, and it's impossible to tell which is the correct one. It's even possible that the data (shark bites in Santa Cruz in this case) is not correlated with otters being out or not. Maybe they're a non-factor. Maybe instead it's whether it's a sunny day or a cloudy day that is statistically significant. But it doesn't matter, because the person in that situation, sitting in a cold wetsuit, keeps on switching in his head which way the otters are pointing. It's a connundrum. And it's, for lack of a better word, an otter clambake.

Now we can get back to our story, which is the continuing saga of e and i getting from the Pehrentian Islands to Bangkok, Thailand. While avoiding, to make our parents feel safer, the contentious parts of southern Thailand (that we already toured through yesterday in an ironic twist)

In yesterday's installment, we made a gruelling 6 1/2 hour, three-times-the-bus-ticket-price cab ride with two Kotu Bharu locals who were very, very impressed with the tollbooths along the ride. We feared that they had not ever been to Penang before, a fear that was borne out by our 1 hour search for the hotel after arriving on the island. Anyway, after a shower and quick bite, we fell asleep, hoping to buy tickets for a Butterworth to bangkok overnight train. But it was not to be. Oh, the buying was to be -- I took off early, before breakfast, to go down to the ferry terminal to buy tickets (the Butterworth train station being directly at the other side of the ferry) and was successful in securing 2 berths in the aircon compartment -- but the actual getting on the train part, that part was not happening at least from Butterworth. See, when we arrived at the train station, there was a sign at the door, and a nice gentleman from the train company as well, to tell us that the train we wanted was canceled for the day. Sorry. Refunds Inside. The man informed us that there were 2 other westerners who were in a similar boat and that they had just left to catch a bus. So we raced out the door and into a waiting car.

I believed that he was taking us to the bus station. But it's hard to communicate, so I just let him drive the 2 minutes. He's taking us, surprise, to his friends cab-stand where the two westerners (germans? we never found out) were also waiting. We see them jumping in and taking off and we're sent to the counter (a rickety homemade desk if you must ask) to buy tickets. The cabs are going to Hat Yai, the one city that's mentioned specifically in the State Department's travel advisory on Thailand. Hat Yai is the main transportation hub for southern Thailand. Two rail-lines and countless bus routes arrive, leave, and switch here. And it's the only place to catch the train to Bangkok (only a 17 hour ride this time). And it's our destination. But the tickets are twice as much as we've seen in town, but we get hurried into making a decision and decide to go with the cab. And then I don't have any ringgit -- I had nearly 100 when we left the house, but, since the train tickets were already bought, and we didn't need them, I spent a few on breakfast and a magazine for the long trip ahead. So now I don't have the 90 it's going to cost to get to Hat Yai. I do, however, have thai bhat. The exchange rate works out to 90 = 900 give or take 5 bhat (it's very close). But the guys at the cab stand won't do the trip for less than 1000. So that's that (what am I going to do at that point?! Walk away and find our own ride, in the rain, for $2.50?!). And off we go.

We arrive in Hat Yai, after a comfortable and air conditioned ride with a long discussion about the crumbling of the american education system in the middle. And that's where the otter clambake begins. Because the train station in Hat Yai is swarming with military guys and regular police, too. They're wanding with a metal detector everyone who goes inside (except us scruffy backpackers with big bags -- we're clearly not the target of the dragnet). They're standing around, guns at their sides, with bored expressions. But it's a clambake, right? Because maybe their presence is a good omen (soldiers = safety). But then again, maybe it's a bad omen (soldiers = targets for bombings, as per the bombing two weeks ago). Now, I don't know which rationale is the right one -- whether the soldiers were actually making us safer or actually making us less safe. It's an odd feeling, to keep on flipping those reasons back and forth in your head, as you wait in line to buy tickets. But tickets were purchased (we had to buy first class because 2nd was sold out of seats anywhere near one another), and we high-tailed it out of there. We decided that we'd spend as little time as possible in the train station itself. So we had 2 hours to kill.

We strolled around, looking at what the part of Hat Yai across from the train station had to offer. Mechanics, hair salons, and small shops (though there was a really interesting cab company that had a fleet of 1950s Mercedes Benz sedans, complete with peeling paint, matching hubcaps, and fins!). So we stroll. And it starts to rain. And then it starts to pour. Sheets of rain come down for about 10 minutes before we decided to give up and plop into a half-hair-salon-half-restaurant spot where the proprietor (and mom of the two hair girls) doesn't speak a lick of english. We have "what they're having" (gesturing to a nearby table), and we got some rice and various sauces for 100B. The proprietor was very happy to have us, and thanked us profusely. We took off and did some internetting and then bought some fruit and snacks for the ride.

We got to the train station at 5:10 and the train left promptly at 5:20, with me still flipping the otter clambake over and over in my head. Maybe the soldiers were a good thing... maybe they're the freaking shark bait! Naw, but having them here is keeping us safe... etc. etc. But the trainride was spectacularly comfortable, clean, and even, dare I say, restful. The beds were nice, the food was alright (though expensive -- esp. since we didn't get the bill until the morning), and the company was spectacular. We got into BKK this morning at 10:30 and we'll be exploring (and shooting) the super-big weekend market tomorrow.

The Missing Stooge

There is much to cover since our trip to Perhentian Island, but I will begin with our departure from the Islands as it is the most recent and terrifying experience to date.

We decided, smartly, I guess, to go the "long way around" to Bangkok from Perhentian Island (get a map) and avoid the part of Southern Thailand that had a bombing 2 weeks ago (Muslim separatists and all...).

So we leave the Perhentian Islands on the 8AM boat. The boat arrives at 9:30. We take a cab and it arrives in the transport hub, Kotu Bharu, at 10:15. We get some cash (malay ringgit) and head to the bus station across the street. Uh oh, we've missed the "day" bus to Piang which will avoid the bad area.

So the options are: 1) wait 12 hours in the dirty bus station getting very bad vibes and bad looks from locals until we can take a 9:30 PM bus out that arrives at a soooooo bleary 4:30 am into Pinang. 2) Take a cab, now-ish, for 3x the price of the bus. Or 3) Say screw it and go the short way to bangkok via the state department "avoid unessential travel" area (which requires a few hops and stops). So 3's out. And one is so unpleasant even for an hour that we opt for 2.

We hook up with a dutch guy and bargained with the taxi drivers to drive us to Penang for what amounts to about $20 each. Imagine being in a country where $60 can get you a 7 hour taxi ride somewhere AND the taxi drivers simply turn around after dropping you off and go back home. Then imagine what a taxi in that kind of country looks and smells like. Then imagine the poor souls who are destined to drive these "vehicles" for eternity.

No AC, they didn't speak much English, it was a very balmy 90 degrees the whole trip. But nobody told our tweedledee and tweedledum cab drivers that we wanted to avoid Southern Thailand. So off we go, right into Thailand! Ironic. Luckily, when irony is involved, only madcap situations develop and not life-threatening ones!! Of course we didn't realize that was the route they chose until we were at the border being questioned (in a make-shift tent) about our feelings on GW Bush by the Thai border official in a VERY Muslim area of Thailand. He was totally agreeable once we communicated our feelings re GWB were similarly somber. The Dutch guy got to chat about football (soccer) with him.

Then the car broke down for a bit in the deserted mountains of s. Thailand. That was a blast. Of course no wind...so standing still was even worse than moving (which wasn't so pleasant either).

Finally we get to Penang, but of course our drivers have NO idea where to drop us off. Weird thing about the rest of the world is NOBODY knows how to read maps. So although we had the map for him, and the language Malay uses the same characters as English they refused to use it.

By this time we are absolutely dying from breathing nasty exhaust fumes all day. I am covered in sweat and pollution as whenever I scratch my many many many mosquito bites my nails come back covered in the black nastiness that has stuck to my skin after traveling into the cab through the window.

Oh yeah - one window in the back seat (left side) doesn't open, and there are three of us back there b/c there are two drivers to share the job. They were effectively the two stooges doomed to travel the world in search of their long-lost third.

Unbelievable, but it all worked out. That terrible ride was orders of magnitude better than hanging out in the dirty and somewhat antagonistic-towards-westerners town for ten hours for the overnight bus, etc. etc.

We got here safe and settled into our hostel and got some Indian food for dinner and headed to bed.

Check out the flickr link (meandering pictures) to see our most recent photos. The Perhentian Islands trip itself was an absolute blast.

Until Then

Just want to let y'all know that there may be only a few posts in the next week. Z and I are in the Perhentian Islands (beautiful, gorgeous, fantastique!)- however email is very very expensive. Thus more beach time for me and less procrastination at work for you. So sorry my friends. I know that absence of my nail biting tales of our day-to-day activities will deeply affect the quality of your lives. But fear not...they will return.

Tea Anyone?

Z and I hiked about eleven kilometers (you do the math) through the jungle and uphill on a VERY rural mountain road in order to visit the mangnificant Cameron tea plantation.





It was a long trek getting there but absolutely worth every hot, sticky, itchy (mosquito bites), sweaty moment.



Once at the top we enjoyed tea and, if you can believe it, crumpets! It was all VERY British. There are tours of the tea factory and of course the obligatory tea factory gift shop.

Luckily a kind gentleman from Sri Lanka gave us a lift down back to our hostel. Turns out he works for the U.N. doing all kinds of cool stuff. Traveling always leads you into the most unexpected and unusual situations.

We got some really great photos, so check'em out at flickr (the "Meandering Pictures" link on the side bar).

George of the Jungle

Can't write much now...but check out the new pictures on flickr (for those of you still a little slow with the whole technology thing - click link on the right side of the screen labelled "Meandering Pictures."

We are now in Cameron Highlands (Malaysia) and it is gorgeous. It was a bit of a hassle getting here - six hours by bus - well, seven if you count the amount of time it took to fix the bus after it broke down on the mountain in the middle of NOWHERE. Good times.

Our hostel is great though (great being an absolutely relative term) and there are a number of other backpackers here.

We went on the most incredible hike today through the jungle. The highlight being, of course, the vine/ swing we came across. It wasn't marked and I certainly wasn't brave enough to be the first one to try it out. Z was however and the two of us had ourselves a grand'ole time.

Have a ton of mosquito bites and desparately hoping that I do not get malaria. Only time will tell.

Ocean Warfare

We left for snorkeling early on Tursday for the Kho Phi Phi trip. This is the island where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. The snorkeling was outstanding - as one would expect.

At one point we saw some dolphins playing very close to our boat. We were informed that this is a rarity however. Dolphins are hunted for food in these parts of the world and tend to stay away from people and boats.

All in all, despite the pricey cost of the Kho Phi Phi trip, it was definitely worth it.

On the boat ride back we requested to be dropped off in Aonang instead of Rai Lay beach. Since it was our last night in S. Thailand we wanted to spend a few hours walking around the markets and taking in all the commotion of Aonang.

As I have mentioned in previos posts, the island Rai Lay - where we were staying - is small with negligible hustle and bustle. The only way off the island is by long boat (obviously).

Aonang on the other hand is comparatively much larger with actual paved roads and cars and mopeds! Yippee.

The trouble with traveling to Aonang from Railay is that the boat ride fare varies depending on the time of day - much like the taxis in NYC, there is a surcharge for those traveling after dark. Further, if the water is choppy, there is an additional charge for the trip.

You can see where this is going.




While Z and I were in an internet cafe, loading pictures for your enjoyment, the sun set and by the time we emerged it was very dark and there were no long boats in sight due to the extremely provocative wind.

NICE.

There were two Thai men standing in the area where we would normally negotiate a ride to Rai Lay however, so we sauntered in that direction.

After some back and forth they demanded an exorbitant amount to take us to Rai Lay during such poor conditions.

And then along came the inebriated French men trying to bully the Thai men into ferrying us for an unreasonably low price. Things were getting a bit heated and since the plan was for all of us to share the boat together, by default Z and I were dragged into Pepe's nonsense.

Then things got weird. Pepe and his buddy took off on a moped toward the piers where the longoats were being stored. They tell Z, a newcomer, Jack and I to wait on the beach and they will pick us up. Yeah, sure.

Now it is Z, Jack and I trying to re-negotiate a ride home and it is increasingly looking like we might be spending the night in Aonang (this is bad for us because we are leaving for Penang the next AM from Rai Lay - where all our stuff is, etc.).

Finally out of desparationthe three of us agree to pay 500 baht to get back (usualy it would cost only 80 baht per person). But 500 Baht = $10 so sometimes you just have to suck it up.

So, sketchy boat guy instructs us to take a tuk-tuk to the pier and he will meet us there and we will leave on his boat.

We get to the pier, which is full of empty boats, poorly lit and only the cicadas to keep us company. I was feeling relieved that Jack was a tall and strong looking type (not to say that Z is not burly himself. love you bunches big guy).

Then we see sketchy boat guy at the pier and he is now proffering some nonsense story about needing money up front to purchase oil for his boat. We of course explain that there will be no payment until we get to the island.

Suddenly we hear an engine start up and see and boat exiting the pier with a number of tourists. We shout down the boat and low and behold there is drunken Pepe with his buddy and some other backpackers.

We scramble down the rocky slope towards the water and leap into the moving boat in a less than elegant fashion.

Meanwhile,,, sketchy boatman is standing up at the top of the incline whith his hands on his hips frantically yellling "NO, NO, WAIT, STOP!!!!" He then switches to Thai and berates our new boat man with some very nasty language (according to one Thai speaking passenger on the boat).

Got to cut this one short. We just arrived in Penang a few hours ago and I am beat. Don't worry...to be continued.

New Pictures

New pics! Check out my flickr.com pictures by following the link on the right side of the screen "meandering pictures." enjoy.

Singha In The Rain

After our first rock climbing bit we hit the beach and back to our room to shower and prepared to see the sunset once again.

We met some Austrian travelers and shared a beer with them while dusk settled in. Then we returned to the east side of the island and enjoyed a veggie burger and some fried rice for dinner. Yum. Tbhe food in Thailand agrees with our tummies much better than in Korea.

We decided to seek out some excitement after our dinner and headed to a nearby bar - Gecko. We met some Australians and different Austrian kids.

There was plenty of drinking of the local beer Singha and even a fire spinning spectacle. One S.African girl we met had been learning to spin and she too captivated the crowd with her many talents.

That was a late night. Keeping up with Australians when it comes to drinking can be quite a task and we stumbled home at some unknown, but late hour.

Needless to say, rock climbing was NOT part of the following day's agenda. We slept in until noon, but thankfully awoke hangover-free. Wish we could say the same for our Aussie buddy who spent most of the day in bed.

We took it easy the rest of the day, hitting the beach and catching up on some reading.

The beach is just as gorgeous as we remember, however its 85 degree temperature is not quite as refreshing as one might hope. But hey, only a fool complains in paradise.

Today we will rock climb agian, this time during the afternoon session.

We have signed up for a trip to Ko Phi Phi by speed boat where we will snorkel, see the monkeys and lounge on Maya beach, the beach where the movie "The Beach" was filmed.

Until then!

Rai Lay Beach

On Monday night Z and I watched tje sunset on the west side of the island. A number of Rai lay visitors congregate there every evening for some drinks, the sunset and an assortment of other entertainment.

We watched apick-up game of football (aka soccer) as well as some bohemian fire spinning and juggling.

Afterwards we headed back to the east side for dinner. Surprisingly we ran into one of our former rock climbing instructors from last year, Teek. he came and sat with us for a bit. We offferrred to buy him a beer but he declined since he is in training for an upcoming rock climbing competition in Bangkok.

The next morning we woke up early and ate a quick bite before heading to the rock climbing shop at 8:40AM. This time Toby was our instructor.

We returned to last year's site and Z and i were delighted to find that we were able to complete erach route with much more skill and speed than last year. must be all that yoga.

After climbing we were wiped. We grabbed some grub and trekked to the beach. There is a psudo-long trail until you get to the ocean and numerous vendors selling a variety of trinkets. The best part of the hike however is that you will usually see a family of monkeys hanging out up to two feet away from you - studying you as closely as you them.

more to come.

p.s. - i apologize for typos, the key board is VERY sticky and when paying by the minute it is much more expensive to do any serious editing. ttfn.

p.p.s. - you absolutely MUST check out Brett's blog as he eloquently discusses our adventures in korea.

Back to the Beach

We arrived in Krabi safely around 7AM and shared a cab with the two Chinese Tourists to Aonang where we took a boat ride to Rai Lay beach. When one of the Chinese tourists asked where we were coming from, Z replied "Korea." The Chinese tourist asked "KOREA?" and Z confirmed. Then he turned to his buddy and relayed this bit of information to his buddy in Chinese, where upon the buddy looked up quizically and asked "KOREA?". This went on for a few minutes. Finally I turned to Z and explained that he had just told them that we were Korean.

After that they weren't quite so chummy with us for the rest of the ride.

Once in Aonang we grabbed a quick breakfast and caught a boat over to Rai Lay without incident. As Z observed, it is very weird but exciting to be back here again.

The island is noticeably more emplty than last year, due in larger part to the tsunami. However, most of the structures seem to be intact and the local tourist industires appear to be operating in full swing.

The depressed economy has made staying here significantly less expensive - with our room costing a mere 250 baht ($6.00) per night in comparison with last year's 500 baht per night price.

To be fair, we are NOT staying in a 5 star resort. We have no AC (to be expected) no hot water (but it is much too hot here for such a thing), no sink per say (a drain in the floor and a hose-type contraption) and no running water in the toilet (to flush you fill up a bucket - which IS provided - with water and pour it in and hope for the best). I would be remiss not to mention the positives which include a working fan and a mosquito net for the bed.

Although I am sure many of you (DAD) are cringing at the thought of staying at such a place, Z and I absolutely LOVE it. It has a very Swiss Family Robinson feel to it.

NOTE: Brett took a number of photos of our trip in KOREA which turned out much better than mine - mainly because he is a better photographer and has a better camera. Check them out here.

I hope to be posting my photos soon again, we just need to find an internet cafe that will accept my card. Toodles.

Thai Flys

We departed Seoul early this morning feeling reluctant to leave our good friends, but excited to continue our travels.

We flew on Thai Air, which is absolutely the most comfortable and accomodating airline I have ever flown on. Not only is there a steady stream of juices offered throughout the trip, there is also an open bar. Although it was MUCH too early for Z or myself, we were impressed with the expansive beverage service.

The food was decent as well and they actually served the meal with REAL silverware! Exciting stuff I tell you. Exciting stuff.

We arrived in Bangkok at 2PM local time (1 hour behind Seoul). We hopped on a bus to Khao San road and ate some falafel from our favorite stand from last year. Then we picked up some things we needed for our trip and caught a city bus to the bus station.

We are returning to Krabi in southern Thailand (where we visited last year) for a few days before heading to Malaysia. The cheapest way to do this is by overnight bus, so the bus it is.

We decided to take the Thai (non-tourist) bus line instead of the touirst bus tour we took to Krabi last year. As it turns out, the tourist line is a bit more expensive although it does leave from a more convenient part of town. However, the real draw back to the tourist line is the fact that the driver's buddies invariably rummage through everyone's bags during the long ride.

Luckily Karen and Brett had warned us of this practice before we got on the bus (last year) so nothing was stolen since they are only interest in cash and credit cards. Howerver we did have to do some serious repacking as it was clear our stuff had been tossed.

This time (thanks again to Karen and Brett's suggestion) we took the Thai bus line, where there is no baggage rummaging during the trip. We certainly did not blend in however as we were the only westerners on the bus (not including the two Chinese guys who were clearly tourists as well).

It was an interesting ride - and by intersting I mean LONG and UNCOMFORTABLE.

A fish is a fish

After another night of bowling Z managed a personal high of 151 and I came in at a not-too-shabby 128. Who would have thought bowling could be so much fun?

Today (Saturday), Z, Karen, Brett and I took off for a day of adventures. We first went to the local mall to visit the book store so that Z and I could browse the travel book section and copy some info from the Thailand travel book. We fly into Bangkok tomorrow and will hopefully be traveling on an overnight bus to Krabi (south Thailand). The four of us stopped in the Apple Store and then got sidetracked for a bit getting sticker pictures taken. Crazy cool.



We then headed to Dongdaemun, which is a HUGE shopping area of Seoul. It has about three malls (each are eight stories) that are open from 10:30 AM to 5:00AM. The later you go the better the deal. We saw some sign claiming that there are 35,000 stores in the whole area. Slightly overwhelming.



I managed to talk Z out of purchasing this shirt by explaining that perhaps “ManShaft” is not quite the message he wants to convey. He quietly agreed.

He did find one that was a bit more his style and proudly donned it and rocked it for the rest of the day.



Afterwards we got back on the subway and traveled to the fish market – Noriyangen.



A huge enclosed warehouse-type structure where many, many vendors sell a variety of sea creatures that most people only get to see on the nature channel. Here are just a few.





















When you have selected your fish (from the live fish assortment) the vendors retrieve the fish and promptly beat it with a sharp pointed stick and gut it in front of you. Dinner and a show.

Here is the coolest part – once you purchase your goodies from the vendors, you venture downstairs to one of the many restaurant establishments where they prepare your fish delights for a small fee.

K, B and Z bought king crab and some prawn for dinner. Here you can see the lucky crab candidate on the scale being weighed.



AND here is what he looked like after the nice Korean women at the restaurant fixed him up. mmmmm.



Since I am not eating seafood at the moment I was not able to share in the king crab and prawn feast. The rest of the crew was generous enough to consume my share without much complaint. I really was a bit sad that I never got into seafood as the three of them immensely enjoyed the meal. I had rice and beer. Breakfast of champions.

We headed back to the apartment after dinner as Z and I have to leave early tomorrow morning to catch our flight.

As an aside, for those of you keeping track of all our misadventures, we have changed our travel plans a wee bit. Instead of spending the next few weeks in Thailand alone, we will be heading to Malaysia for a bit in the middle. Look for those wacky tales in upcoming posts.

To Do Soju

Last night Z and I picked up Karen and Brett at work and the four of us headed out for dinner and apple soju. We ended up at a Mexican place that was actually pretty tasty. K and B work until 10PM and by the time we got organized it was 11PM, which is fairly late to be walking into a restaurant on a Wednesday evening. Since the Mexican place was open, that is where we dined.

Afterwards we went to FAS (Fruits Alcohol Shop), one of K and B’s favorite bar. They serve the most delicious fruit flavored soju.



Our first round was apple. As you can see they bring you a large bowl of soju and you drink it out of hollowed out apples. Yummy.



We ordered pineapple soju for our second round. Same idea except you drink it out of a glass and the soju is served in a hollowed pineapple instead of a bowl. We plan to return this weekend to try out the watermelon, kiwi and possibly tomato flavors.



After soju we were all feeling good. I especially was feeling elated, despite suffering some difficulty blinking with both eyes at the same time. Classy.

We came back to the apartment around 2AM and eventually passed out watching a terrible movie – “Constantine.” Snoozer.

Today we woke up fairly chipper and headed out for lunch with K at a local joint that we have visited before. Then Z and I headed out to Insadong again (the art center area of Seoul) to try and see the Palace.



Luckily the Palace IS open on Thursdays, so we were able to see a bit more this time. As we expected, the tour left much to be desired. Although the buildings are beautiful, they lack the sense of history that many other similar sites in other countries have. Since the Japanese destroyed almost all of the Korean palaces and monuments during their brutal occupation in the first half of the twentieth century, the buildings that exist today have all been restored very recently. In fact, almost all of the buildings we saw were built in the mid-1990’s. A historical site loses something when all of the structures are younger than you.

After touring the Palace we popped into an exhibition of a korean artist, Kwon In-kyung. Most of his pieces depicted cityscapes, primarily in black and white using Chinese ink on canvas. The style was partly old-world and partly 1930s pastiche. The subject matter was urban life. Cool stuff.



Then Z and I walked about a mile or two south of Insadong to Korea’s traditional shopping place, Nomdaemun market – a six-hundred-year-old market. The retail and food vendors formed a chaotic collage of bright colors and smells.

By the time we had made our way through a quarter of the market, we were beat. We returned to the apartment and will be heading out again soon to pick up K and B at work for some tempura and a bit of late night bowling.

Wondering Seoul

Yesterday Z and I woke up early and did some yoga in Karen and Brett’s living room. After a quick shower and some breakfast, we promptly fell back asleep on the couch just as Karen and Brett were waking up. Nice. Our internal clocks are still a bit on the fritz.

After dropping K and B off at their school for work we braved the Seoul subway by our lonesome and headed to Insadong, an area of Seoul, which is the art center of the city.



We walked around a bit and perused the various crafts. We tried to visit a Palace but as it turns out, it is closed on Tuesdays. We still were able to walk around in the courtyard however.

We left Insadong and returned to K and B’s school. K had scheduled time for her students to interview me and Z to practice their English skills. It was certainly a learning experience for us.



Korean parents insist on their children achieving high academic success because Korean culture dictates that economic success is directly correlated to how well one does in school. Thus, these kids – who are still elementary students – are studying 12 to 14 hours a day. After their regular school ends they are shuttled to various academies until very late at night. These academies include math academy, English academy, Japanese academy, science academy, etc. Many of them do no get home until after 11pm at night. They then study for a few more hours and then wake up very early to get a jump on studying for the next day.

When we described to them what our schedule was like when we were their age they were quite astonished and seemed a bit envious. One of the students commented “Korean children have no freedom.” Very cute. I should mention that their English was excellent.

After class (which ended at 10pm) B, K, Z and I – along with one of their friends from school – grabbed some food at a local Japanese restaurant and headed out for some bowling.



K and B have become formidable bowlers and put us to shame. K beat her personal best with a strong 146. Nice.



I did not score a 146, or anything near it. However I did manage a few strikes and I barely broke 100 with a whopping 103, which was pretty exciting.

Today the four of us grabbed lunch at a local spot near K and B's school. We also made a stop at the "Sock Guy" - a sock vendor who sells his merchandise out of the back of his truck. He has an adorable selection of colorful socks and they are only 50 cents each. Afterwards Z and I had planned to do some exploring around the city, however due to some stomach complications we spent much of the afternoon indoors. ugh.

We are not sure what the exact cause of our on-and-off recent illness is, but we suspect that our bodies are rebelling against the change of the number of hours of sleep we are getting combined with the drastic change in diet. It is hard to keep up our 10-12 hours of sleep per day and all-organic-all-the-time pattern when living the life of a world traveler. What can you do?

Never, Never Follow the Leader

Today, Sunday, the four of us ventured just outside of Seoul for a four and a half hour hike. But we’ll discuss last night first.

Last night we had planned to begin the evening with some Korean BBQ and head out from there for some Apple Soju (Korean vodka served in a hollowed out apple).



As I have mentioned in earlier posts, I am taking a break from eating meat for a while. So my meal was limited to rice, salad, tofu soup and this interesting egg soup-type dish. Some item in that list did NOT agree with my constitution and upset my stomach to such a degree we had to return to the apartment and spend the rest of the evening in.

We have all concluded that after a month of eating pretty mild food, the few bites of spicy soup was enough to set my stomach on strike. Not fun. Luckily Z, Brett and Karen were very understanding and the four of us watched the movie "Sin City" instead.

Today we headed out to Bukhansan National Park for a long hike. Three hours up-hill and one and a half down.

When we got off the subway we had to trek up towards the park through various food and clothing vendors. As you may or may not know, Koreans eat a great variety of foods.



And being the responsible American tourist I took it upon myself to take a bunch of photos of some of these snacks.



Notably, you can see here in the front the steamed silk worm larvae. Believe you me, they were very hard to resist.

We hit the trail with bold enthusiasm.



Since Z and I have been living a fairly active life style in Maui – including a number of serious hikes we were confident that this *little* Korean hike would be a breeze. Arrogance will always get you into trouble. Koreans are very serious hikers – or at least the ones we saw are. Must be all the silk worm larvae they eat.

As I mentioned above – three and a half hours UP hill.



Pretty soon we were all feeling the burn. But we doggedly pursued and eventually we reached the top. We snacked on some granola and fruit and discussed the best plan to descend. There were a number of trails leading down, and unfortunately Karen and I acquiesced to Brett and Zach’s bright idea of taking the Ridge trail down. Bad idea.



The Ridge trail was a narrow, steep and dangerous round-about route down the mountain.



Luckily I had a personal mantra on hand in order to calm myself as I crawled from boulder to boulder – “I HATE you Zach, I HATE you Brett, you are in SO much trouble” – managed to do the trick. The upshot was that such a potent fear for life and limb *magically* eliminated all lingering stomach pains from the night before. Funny how that works.

Surprisingly we all survived in one piece without any significant bruising or scrapes. We picked up some fresh noodles (made right in front of us) and some sprouts and greens for dinner tomorrow night.



All in all, it was a fantastic day. We are all exhausted and will sleep VERY soundly tonight.

We Got Seoul

After 19 hours of traveling we have arrived in Seoul. Karen and Brett picked us up at the bus stop in their neighborhood last night around 10:30PM Seoul time (and who knows what time according to my and Z’s internal clock).



We dropped off our bags and headed out to celebrate our long awaited reunion. We stayed out sort of late drinking Bekseju and munching on some rice and Korean BBQ (at least the veggie portions).



We slept in a bit this AM and then after a delicious breakfast of Asian Pears we headed out to adventure around Seoul. We walked through a tiny market by K and B’s apartment and took a bus to Apugeoing, which is one of the more trendy areas of Seoul.



Shopping seems to be a big part of Korean culture, so it was pretty fun to witness all the consumer-hype.

We also popped into a photography exhibit. featuring Bruce Davidson, whose pieces capture the the NYC subway system in the 1980’s. The artist explained why he took picture of the Subway: “When in the subway, what is beautiful appears bestial, and what is bestial becomes beautiful.” The pieces were really moving and it was particularly interesting for the four of us who were recently living in NYC using the subways quite often. It was quite shocking to see how ominous the subways seemed not long ago; the graffiti alone appeared very intimidating.



Now we are back at the apartment taking some down time in preparation for our outing tonight. More to come.

Final Days

Our final days in Hawaii are here. Z and I left Maui Monday morning and flew to Honolulu. Since the flight is barely 30 minutes we had plenty of time to sign in at the hostel and hit the beach.

Z got some surfing in while I stayed on the beach with my book (sound like anyone you know PLG?). The beach here is gorgeous, if a little crowded. It was a bit of a chore finding some space in the sand to park our stuff. Life can be SO grueling sometimes.

We have found that rejoining the hustle-bustle of society is a bit overwhelming after our somewhat secluded life in Maui. We haven’t seen a McDonalds or Starbucks in over a month and I can’t say that our re-exposure to the commerce-driven world is entirely welcomed with open arms. I suppose we had to return to it at some point.

Yesterday we woke up early and headed out for a rigorous walk and did some yoga in the park. Z and I would like to maintain the active lifestyle we had it Maui…and we certainly achieved it yesterday.

After our morning exercise we picked up some fruit at the grocery store and enjoyed breakfast at the hostel. Then we took off for Diamond Head – a crater on the Island that is a significant tourist attraction. You hike up the crater with the promise of a stunning view of the city and beach.

Z and I walked the two miles there, up the crater and back. The visual was indeed worth it, however we had to fight a fairly serious crowd including the second-grade class that was visiting on their field-trip at the same time as we were. Good times.

We took it easy the rest of the day and flopped on the beach – sandwiched between the rest of the tourists. The water is clear and just the right temperature and we spent a good deal of time in it.

We ate dinner at what seems to be the only organic restaurant/ food counter in the area, Marie’s. Not bad, although we are still longing for Myra’s cooking.



After our meal Z and I enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

Today we will brave the buses and head out towards the University in search of Down to Earth (natural foods grocery store) and a used bookstore to trade in our books for new ones. Will the excitement EVER end???? Tune in next time to see.

Best Day Ever

Well, it was our last day here in Maui and we all did our best to make it memorable.

We started out at 6AM and hit the surf. Z borrowed one of Vanessa’s surfboards, and while they and Scott and Myra surfed, Steffi and I ocean kayaked (played around in the waves in a big indestructible sit-on-top kayak).

Then after a few hours we piled back in the cars and stopped at home to drop off the boards. We jumped right back in the cars and headed off for our bamboo forest hike at “Bamboo Pools.”



The most INCREDIBLE place I have been. Bamboo trees as far as the eye can see. Then you pop out into fresh-water swimming pools and waterfalls. The hike was moderately rigorous, but we brought the two house-dogs along. At one point we had to hoist them up a 15 foot face cliff. It was quite a production.

It was absolutely amazing swimming in those pools under the waterfalls. We jumped off cliffs and generally made merry. We managed to do all this with only a few minor cuts and bruises…ouch.

On the way back we stopped for fresh coconuts that were hacked open right before our eyes! Outstanding. I never really liked coconut until I had it fresh…today.



The house is having a going-away dinner tonight which promises to be a grand ole time. To see more pictures check’em out by clicking the link on the right side of the screen!

Shimminy Crickets

So we went to the Shim Shai concert last night – Steffi, Brandon, Z, Dahi and I. Whoa. Music was ok. Shim Shai as it turns out is a blond, dreaded, Jewish kid whom we suspect is from Cherry Hills, NJ. No confirmation on that. Pure speculation.

The show was a bit weak, but the SCENE was worth every penny. Great numbers of loose fitting skirts and shirts of all shapes and sizes arrived barefoot and ready to jam. The atmosphere was a bit tainted by put-on spirituality, but all in all they were good folks out to have a grand ole time. Classic Maui gathering – hippified to the max (and I don’t use that term lightly).

This morning Myra held her monthly 108 Sun Salutations class at 7am which Z and I attended. It is as straightforward as it sounds. For those of you unfamiliar with yoga Sun Salutations, I will simply say that 108 Sun Salutations is no laughing matter. I was very apprehensive about attending, as I imagined that I would make it to 30, maybe push out another sputtering five and then simply collapse into Child’s Pose.

Surprisingly, I FINISHED! Now to be fair, I was a bit behind Myra and her crew. That is, it took them about 50 minutes to finish them and it took me 70. But those are just details. The point is that I finished! Just goes to show you what a couple of months in Maui will do for your body and spirit and drive.

Then Z, Steffi and I headed out to the Kahului (pronounced Ka - who - louie) for the Saterday Swap Meet. Found some interesting trinkets. Quite a show down there.



We returned to the house for lunch and then spent most of our time making these signs for Myra's vegetable garden. A fantastic afternoon.

It looks like tomorrow the whole house will be heading out to hit the surf. Everyone rides a different kind of board - so it should be interesting. Myra's friend Ann is lending us two ocean Kayaks for the outing. Nice! Don't worry...we'll take pictures and report later!

Packing Is Such Sweet Sorrow

It is funny how quickly a place and people can become ‘home.’ Today Z and I have begun packing – separating which stuff will continue on with us to Korea and what will be mailed home in boxes (thanks mom and dad, aka Universal Storage Co. – don’t worry, not too many boxes).

As I glance at my sad looking empty closet I am already homesick for Myra’s farm in Maui. We have had a fantastic time here and everyone at the house has made us feel so welcome and loved.

On a lighter note, I am making hummus tonight after which Steffi, Dahi, Brandon, Z and I will be attending a show in Haiku where Shim Shai will be playing some World music. Should be a hoot.



Can’t seem to get enough of the flowers here. Just a smattering of beauty to brighten your day.

On the Road Again

Today Z and I worked on the farm for half a day. I spent the rest of the day hitchhiking to Makawao (pronounced mock-a-wow) with Steffi. The thing about hitching is you never know what kind of characters will pick you up.

Our first ride took us all the way to Makawao. He was spacey pick-up driving dealer making his daily runs and conducting business on his cell, employing his oh-so-discreet phone lingo like “do you still want me to pick you up some of that stuff???”

A real character.

We arrived safely and went along our merry way to Steffi’s weekly appointment with the town’s herbal medicine man. He has a quaint shop with all kinds of homeopathic remedies – oils, herbs, etc. It's amazing how many different cures there are for all kinds of ailments. I spent a considerable amount of time simply perusing the various concoctions - including something called "Lung Soup." ???

We stopped on the way back for some carob flavored “Rice Dream” (rice milk ice cream substitute). Good stuff, although Myra has warned both Steffi and I that our already prominent Vata is irritated by cold foods and sugar, but what the hell...we felt like throwing caution to the wind. Life in the fast lane (KAG).

While we were gone Z was stuck here on the farm busily attempting to finish a website he is building for one of Myra’s students. We’ll see how that goes. I think he will be happy to be done with it as he seems to have over-committed himself once again.



On the plus side – we did get to enjoy a papaya from the front yard the size of Z’s head with lunch. Have you ever seen anything like it??

Steffi's New Blog

To everyone, especially Steffi's family and friends. I have exciting news! Steffi has started her own blog and I have linked to it on the sidebar. Please do NOT stop reading mine though! I love hearing from you and it makes me feel very popular to have so many people from Italy and France reading my blog. I know however that you will be excited to read more things specific to Steffi rather than some girl from NY that Steffi is now living with. Enjoy!

The Cleanse

Editing is one of the interesting things about having a personal blog. Editing may be less of a crucial part of your blog if you have limited your audience to a small group of friends or family. However, if you have chosen, as I have, to invite a large number of people to read about your day-to-day experiences questions surrounding what to include and what to exclude can be a bit more challenging.

It is not just the number of people who are reading your blog, but also the *kinds* of people reading your blog. You have to keep it interesting enough so that your college buddies will still find it compelling enough to visit now and then, while at the same time keep it clean enough that your parents’ friends (whom your parents were eager to show off the blog to) will still speak to you when you run into them at Temple next Yom Kippur.

Decisions,decisions.

Well, I am walking a fine line with this one and I apologize ahead of time if I offend anyone’s delicate sensibilities.

I am referring of course, to the apple juice saga. Some advice for those of you who have never heard of a “cleanse” – read ALL the instructions before embarking on any such journey.

Do NOT allow yourself to be seduced by scrumptious promises of fresh squeezed apple juice for six whole days in a row without considering what price you must pay at the end of those six days.

Of course it seems obvious NOW that something called a “cleanse” must involve something more than consuming large amounts of yummy fresh juice. There must be something that happens at the other end…right?

Believe me, there is.

I spent all of Tuesday bedridden suffering from flu like symptoms coupled with the quite unwelcome (but expected) side effect of ingesting three tablespoons of Epsom salt over the course of 18 hours. Oh, and let us not forget the one half a cup of olive oil I chugged Monday night before bed which I chased with half a cup of limejuice. All of which was equally distasteful. Ugh.

The point of this whole exercise was to rid my body of *toxins* it had collected over the years and stored in my gallbladder as proto-gallstones. Fun. Apparently we all have some and, according to Myra, if you are a meat eater – you most definitely have some. I did.

NOT anymore though. Thankfully.

A day of lying in bed left me wondering what I could have POSSIBLY been thinking when I signed up for this appalling experience which is misleadingly dressed-up by the cute and charming little phrase - “cleanse.” I think a more appropriate name might be something like “stay-close-to-the-bathroom-and-feel-like-ass-for-24-hours-roto-rooter.”

Yesterday was NOT my finest hour. However, I do feel very good today. Now, one might argue that I only feel comparatively good now that I have gotten all that oil and Epsom salt out of my body. They might be right. But, hey – try it out for yourselves and let me know.

What Makes Rambutans So Much Fun?

I don’t know what makes them fun, but they are. They are these crazy little spiky fruits and when you cut them open they have this sweet grape-like yumminess inside.



Today Z and I washed a bunch of windows.



Here at Myra’s house we not only eat organic food, we also use only natural cleaning products. So…Z and I had only a few rags and some vinegar/ water solution (1 to 4) with which to clean. It actually is not a half-bad alternative.

Z and I are taking tomorrow off as we have a bunch of things to tie up in preparation for our departure next Monday. Our time here at the farm has gone by very quickly and we will be sad to go. We have made some good friends here and we will miss them and Maui a great deal.

The Bear Went Over the Mountain

We went hiking today in La Perouse Bay, which is located in South Maui. Since Myra was leading the hike it was assumed that this would be a fairly rigorous hike. We had no idea what we were in for.

As you can see in the picture above, the landscape was some beach but mostly rock. The rough terrain is the result of the final volcanic blast that formed the island of Maui oh so long ago. Lava rock for as far as the eye can see.

Although the rocky trail is majestic in size and beauty, it certainly made for a difficult hike. The problem with walking on thousands and thousands of varying sized rocks is that they move quite a bit. And when the rocks move, so do you. Among other things, it was an intense ankle workout.



After about an hour and a half we stopped to rest at a gorgeous beach.



We discovered a blow hole – where the water seemingly erupts out of the ground with great speed and force. We played around a bit. I rested in the nearby foliage.



Then we took the oh-so-wrong-turn. Upon resuming our hike, planning on returning to the car (and lunch) we took a wrong turn. Well, we sort of thought we were taking an alternate route back. As it turns out, it was a route up the mountainside. After about an hour uphill with few breaks we finally accepted the possibility that perhaps we were a bit lost.



As you can see from this picture which was taken about halfway back down the mountain we had strayed pretty far from the ocean. We estimated that we climbed to about 2000 feet elevation before finally giving in and going back down. Luckily the way down only took a half hour.

At this point we were all pretty beat…ok, I was pretty beat. Myra and the gang were still rocking. In all it was a five hour hike over tough terrain and about eight miles total. Blisters and sore muscles for everyone.

Afterwards we all piled into the car and headed for the beach. There is nothing better after a long, hot and physically grueling hike than jumping into the ocean and doing a little body boarding.

Sundays are fun.

Apple Juice Kisses

This, folks, is what we at Myra’s call a “cleansing.” Yes it is true. Inspired by my housemate Scott, I have embarked on an apple-juice-drinking binge in the hope of ridding my body of any toxins I may have poisoned it with in the past.
Now, you are probably thinking “that is it. She has finally lost her mind!” And “why hasn’t Zach stepped in to stop her?” Well, perhaps I have lost my mind…but if that is the case, I lost it years ago.

The apple-juice cleansing involves drinking a whole lot of fresh squeezed apple juice for five days. Scott and I have been drinking about six apples each per day. We also eat a couple of apples the traditional way when we are feeling strong.

On the sixth day there we will drink about half a cup of olive oil and hope for the best. There are other details involved and if you are interested I will be happy to email them to you personally.

In the end there is talk of getting rid of any lingering gallbladder stones. Myra has done a number of times over 25 years or so and reports that it does seem to make a difference. The only difference I have noted so far is that fresh squeezed apple juice is much, much better than store bought apple juice. Really. If you happen to own a fancy and exciting juicer yourself you really ought to try it. Try the juice I mean…the olive oil is optional.

The Luck Pot

Picture of Steffi – our housemate who cut her dreads off yesterday! It was very emotional for her as she has had them for quite a long time. She looks and feels great though. Congratulations Steffi!

It has been a busy few days. Z and I took Thursday off, got Vanessa’s car and headed out SURFING! Scott, our housemate came with us. Our plan was to return to Lahaina, the place where I had my first lesson. Unfortunately the wind was blowing and the waves were scarce. Scott, a much more seasoned surfer than either Z or I was anxious to catch some more exciting waves.

We asked around at the surf rental shop and were told that the waves would be better 15 minutes north at Kahana. Z and I rented boards and the three of us took off towards Kahana.

Scott was the first to jump out of the car. There were condo developments lining this particular strip of ocean, so we had to find a good entry place to get to the beach. While all this was happening our beautiful sun had disappeared and the sky was gray and overcast.

Scott looks out and declares “yeah man, we can totally surf in this!” I can see that the surf is breaking MUCH farther out than it had where I had surfed before. And NO ONE is surfing there. Not a soul on the beach. We try to ask around about whether it is safe to surf there, but we could not seem to get any conclusive answer.

Trying to assuage my fears, Scott assures me that I can handle the bigger waves and the only thing I should be worried about is sharks. SHARKS???!!! Great. Just what I needed. I thought sharks didn’t hang around Hawaii all that often.

Scott is persistent however, so we park the car, suit-up and unload the boards. I am (as you can imagine) pretty vocal about my concerns. To no avail. We get into the water and start paddling out. I paddle for about five minutes before turning around. It was too eerie and all I kept thinking was “haven’t I heard some rule about not surfing areas that you are not familiar with??? And if there isn’t such a rule, there definitely should be.” My paranoia took over and I bailed.

Z and Scott continued however. I watched as they paddled farther and farther out. Anyway, they surfed for a bit and then returned and we all went back to Lahania, the sunshine and the smaller waves.

Sure enough, upon our return home we recount the events of our day to Vanessa. Without mentioning my cowardice or the ominous feeling in Kahana Vanessa (who has lived and surfed in Maui for 11 years) tells us that most people don’t surf there as it generally suspected to be haunted. On top of that – a surfer died last year from a shark bite while surfing that very same break. Nice. Scott is in BIG trouble.

The rest of the evening was spectacular. Myra lead an “Energy Management” class – sort of a guided meditation. Afterwards we feasted on our potluck (or as our Italian roomie calls it ‘luckpot’) dinner. Yum. We all slept well last night on full tummies.

Today was a working day. We hit up yoga in the morning and then transferred a massive amount of mulch from the bottom of the very very long and steep driveway to the top. It was a stupendous workout and I proudly showed off my new blisters at dinner.

Z and I will probably zonk out early tonight. We are working a bit tomorrow. Sunday the whole house will be heading out for a long hike that involves a number of swimming holes and caverns of some sort. I am sure I will have many pictures and stories to report on then.

PLG and KAG – have a wonderful trip and give Jenny many many hugs for me!

All Around Town

We were all over the place today. As usual, we took a half-day this Tuesday and hitched a ride to Pa’ia. Here you see Steffi and Z in the back of the truck that picked us up. In fact, it was the first vehicle that came along…this is quite good luck in the world of hitchhiking.



Went to the beach in Pa’ia. Rained a bit. No problem…it’s Hawaii you know? It is very hard to be upset by a brief rainfall here and there.

Then made the customary stop at Mana – the natural food grocery store we all live and die by. It was busy as usual. As planned Myra met us there with Vanessa and Scott so fortunately we did not have to hitch a ride back.

Upon our return Z and I went to work on some re-sodding in the front yard. Hey, this may not be the most exciting life, but it sure is a good one!

Right-Side-Up

Today Z and I worked a full day. More power sanding for me -- and Z worked on the cement extravaganza – i.e., the labyrinth. Yoga afterwards and we are beat.

Thought I would post this picture just for a laugh though. Z is trying out Myra’s upside-down yoga contraption. I will get more details on what it does and why it is used. For now, just enjoy the visual!

Also – you might want to note that I have added a link on the right sidebar that will take you to our additional photos…you know, the ones that don’t quite make the cut. They can’t all be as good as today’s!

Rain Forest

Z and I had a fantastic and pretty busy weekend. We worked a bit on Saturday but took off late in the afternoon for the beach with two of our housemates – Scott and Brandon.

After a few hours of surfing and body surfing we were hungry and decided to be a bit wild and go out for burritos and ice cream. It is an interesting thing when you realize that the most “unseemly” thing you have done all week is sneak away for some Mexican food and chocolate ice cream. There’s something to chew on…what tawdry things have YOU been up to this week?

Enough of that.

Today we all awoke pretty early and headed off towards the rainforest at the top of the mountain. It ended up being a good size crew – nine of us in total – and we had to take two cars. Anne – Myra’s friend – used to work at the nature conservatory so she was able to get us in and give us a first rate tour.

It was really incredible being there. Apparently there are very few native plants and birds left in Hawaii and those that are still around live exclusively in the conservatory. If the birds go lower they die from a bird flu that is transported by the mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes are not native to Hawaii, nor are many of the other creatures and plant life that occupy so much of the land. And – if you can believe this – there are only TWO mammals that ARE native to Hawaii – one is a seal, the other a bat. Unfortunately, many species acclimate easily to Hawaii’s climate and often end up destroying the native inhabitants (humans included).

Everyone felt very privileged to have the opportunity to visit the preserve and it was a rainy but outstanding trip.

After hiking in the cold rain for three + hours we were happy to return to the sun and ultimately headed down to the beach. More body surfing and we even got Myra’s feisty terrier, Rama, on the board. He actually really enjoyed it and kept trying to come back out. Who would of thought?

hard as a rock

Today was full of excitement. The work crew Myra hired to build the labyrinth aren’t scheduled to come back until Tuesday. Meanwhile our housemate Scott had worked all day with them yesterday so he became quite familiar with the cement mixing and pouring process…and he was eager to continue and conveniently the work crew had left their machinery and supplies here.



Before long the entire house was out there pouring cement and shaping the stones. ME pouring cement? WHA??



Here is Brandon after a long day of pouring and mixing cement. Brandon’s face is covered in the dye from the cement. It left him looking somewhere between a drag queen and a raccoon. Fun stuff.

Today was mainly a workday (as you can see). We did manage a *Mana* run (grocery store). There were intense 50mph winds throughout the day which made working outside very interesting.

Tomorrow we will start our day with some Yoga, then work for 1.5 hours and afterwards we might be heading to Pa’ia for a Raw Food Party at the beach. Not really sure what that will entail but I will be sure to fill you in.

dinner out

Z and I just got back from dinner with Myra and Steffi at Dahi’s house (pictured above). It was quite an unusual experience. Dahi has lived many lives, in one of which he was a mineral and crystal dealer/ buyer. Here he is showing us his stones. An interesting and uplifting evening! It never ceases to amaze me how many unique personalities you get to interact with while traveling. It was very generous of him to have us.

Today Z and I were off work – and spent much of the day doing chores and catching up with some online-work. Z is working on a new website for Myra and we spent part of the day taking pictures of the farm to put online.



Although this probably will not make the final cut for the website, I thought some of you might enjoy a picture of the labyrinth’s progression. They were mixing concrete, molding it and setting it all day. They are about a quarter of the way finished. I cannot wait to see the final product. KAG – I am sure that you can have one put in your yard if you really wanted to!

power tools are sexy

Ok – maybe power tools are not THAT sexy on me. Go ahead and have yourself a good laugh. I felt a lot cooler than I looked while sanding away at the walkway.

As you can see z and I had a long day of work today. We are bushed. Among other tasks, I was assigned to use the electric sander to remove the old paint. I was actually very excited to get to use such a fun and noisy tool.




Z worked on putting up shelves in the carport – more power tools – z got to use the mega drill. Then he got to help dig the labyrinth for the front yard. It promises to look very unusual but fantastic all at the same time.



We just finished some yoga and Z is making us some adzukis and garbanzos for dinner. Life in the fast lane, right KAG?

blame it on the rain

It rains sometimes in Hawaii. We have been getting unusual rainfall for spring here. Fortunately the rain comes and goes fairly quickly and on the days we are working outside it is a welcome reprieve from the persistent sunshine. You can see here that the view after the rain is breathtaking.

Z and I worked a seven-hour day yesterday…a whole lot of weeding. Our afternoon yoga session was just the thing our aching backs needed. This farming gig isn’t always a walk in the park!

Today was nice however. Z and I got dropped off at the beach during the afternoon for an hour or two. We then came back and worked a half day – Z sawed and painted signs for the garden and I sanded a wooden walkway in front.

The landscape architect was here today making plans for the labyrinth Myra is installing in the front yard. So far there are only lines spray-painted on the grass but it promises to be quite a sight.

It looks like a bunch of us will be doing a lot of digging tomorrow. We have to dig through the grass and 2 inches into the soil for the length of the labyrinth. Believe me – it is long. Should be a nice workout.

We have been invited to go on a very exclusive tour of the rainforest here on Maui. Myra has a friend who worked for the Nature Conservancy – she has access and invited us. Everyone in the house is going and it promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

recipes and pictures

Regretfully, I have created some confusion surrounding the debut of my second blog that catalogues the food that z and I have been eating here in Maui. I apologize.

Myra Lewin, our host/boss/chef/yoga instructor has been kind enough to allow me to photograph her dishes and post their recipes on my blog. To this end, I have created a second blog – meanderingfood – where I post photos and recipes of the dishes we are eating.

For those of you who have expressed a keen interest in learning more about the kinds of food we have been preparing and eating, as well as some general tips on healthy cooking please do visit meanderingfood .


As always, I welcome your comments here at meanderingtravels as well as meanderingfood . I hope you enjoy reading about it as much as we have enjoyed consuming it!

time for a fresh new look

hello friends and family. I imagine that those of you with heightened powers of observation have noticed that meanderingtravels has a new look and feel. I would very much appreciate your feedback - please comment and let me know what you think.

By the way - z took this shot last night of the almost-full-moon.

shedding some history

[from Zach Pousman, meandering travels guest editor]

    

Tonight, I did it. Or more precisely, it was done to me. I had been thinking for a while that I'd cut my flowing locks when I was out in the world traveling. And my housemates (and, interestingly, Erin, too) were only too happy to oblige. Myra bought clippers today. Vanessa, pictured above, did the honors. And erin captured it all on film.

It feels very light, very free, and very nice to be able to feel the windy Maui night nipping at my ears. Myra says that one keeps a lot of their life in their hair, so it's beneficial to change one's hair when one is growing or changing as a person. I hope you all will enjoy the final product as much as I do.

Here's to hoping that South Korea is warm.

better than gold

Thought I would share this magnificant rainbow that appeared earlier this morning in our backyard.

surfing rocks

Everyone, I would like you to meet one of our housemates, Scott. Scott, everyone. Scott just got out of the hot tub after a long day of working hard and paused long enough from devouring the pineapple to pose for us. I needed a picture to post today and Scott was generous enough to oblige.

What could be more interesting than Scott in just a towel???? I caught a wave THIS BIG today!! Z and I went surfing - my first time. It was truly a thing of beauty. I am proud to announce that I got up on my very first wave.

We returned to Lahaina for our surfing escapade. One of our housemates lent us her car so fortunately, we did not have to hitch this time. It was a really great feeling being able to drive around Maui. That is actually such a plus about staying here longer than the average vacation time - being able to really get to know the island and navigate all by our lonesome.

Z and I signed up for a lesson. Although Z has considerable surfing experience, it never hurts to get a lesson. It worked out perfectly as Z and I ended up getting our own instructor - Sam - for the group price. Nice.

After the two hours we were exhausted. Those surfers always make the paddling around on the board look easy. SO *NOT* easy. Ouch. Despite all that mulching and yoga, my arms were quite shocked to be worked so hard and are now limp and pained - the *good* kind of hurt though!

It was a PERFECT first day of surfing. The weather was outstanding and the water gorgeous. Life is good.

many weeds and more mulch

Today Z and I worked 7 hours. The first 3 or 4 we spent pushing wheelbarrows full of mulch up hill. My hands are throbbing as a result. Pain aside, I must admit there is something very eloquent about working hard in the dirt outdoors. The sweat tastes better than when produced at the gym. mmmmmm. There is a tasty thought for you all to nibble on.

Later today we moved rocks...yes rocks. We built a little rock border around all the mulch we laid. The picture here is of Z's kairn he built with the extras. Leave it to Z to turn a simple stacking chore into a work of art - well an art project at the very least.

Then we returned to the endless and thankless task of pulling weeds. They just never seem to die. Persistent little guys.

Tomorrow we are taking the day off and we hope to go surfing. I am sure there will be some more amusing stories then --- ALTHOUGH REALLLLLLY, I ask you, what could be more *on-the-edge-of-your-seat* than mulch and weeds?

blisters and yoga

Last night Scott, Stephi and Brandon broke into song after dinner. Stephi is singing. This home is often such a pleasant place to live.

Today was 6 hours of pretty intense physical labor. Z and I were fighting with Castor Bean vines all day. Some of the roots were as big and burly as tree trunks! Being the city girl that I am, my *delicate* fingers and palms developed multiple blisters through the gloves.

Great - now i am a blistery, burned-to-a-crisp FREAK! All in a day's work. It was actually quite fun. We got to watch one of our housemates, Scott, the resident handyman fix the golf-cart-type vehicle. Apparently he broke off the electric starter, so he had to start it using a piece of rope - similar to starting a lawnmower. Very impressive.

After we retired from the yard for the evening we had a fairly rigorous yoga session with Myra.

Z then made the two of us an excellent meal of lentil soup, tofu, arugula, apple sauce, bagels and muffins.



On a final note - can you believe there are the cutest little pineapples growing in our backyard????!!!

tanglefoot

it has been a few days since my last post. i thank all my loyal readers (mom, dad, jenny) for checking in anyway and i apologize for the delay.

z and i have been busy working in the garden. yesterday we spent a whole lot of time with the fig trees. we had to re-string the cd's around the entire perimeter and interior as many of them had been blown down by the recent storms.

we then had to take out a few sickly trees and plant healthier ones in their place. plants, like most people enjoy being spoken to and some gentle touching. z and i did our best to encourage these new trees to put down roots. imagine it if you can and have yourself a good laugh.

then we applied this sappy caramel-type substance called "tanglefoot" to the base of the trees. first you wrap the trunk with a band of gauzy material, and then apply tanglefoot to it. the tanglefoot catches the ants coming down the tree and going up and prevent them from wreaking mayhem on the fruits. cleaning up after that task was no easy chore.



today z, our housemate stefi, and i went to the beach for the afternoon. unfortunately i was a bit too hurried while applying the sun block and i have burns sporadically all over my body. i look a bit diseased at the moment, but we are all hoping it will pass. i will go collect some aloe from the aloe plants in the yard and slap some of those green sticky leaves on.

that is about it. tonight Myra is giving a talk on sexual energy. i guess she has sensed that there might be some sexual tension/ energy/ hormonal overdrive - as she has 6 twenty-somethings living under her roof, 4 of whom are single. should be a hoot. i will let you know how it goes.

meandering food

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Originally uploaded by zpousman.

i know that you all have been LONG awaiting the arrival of meandERING food. if you have an interest in crazy ayurvedic cooking or simply want to see pictures of the food we have been eating then check it out.

hitting the pavement

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Originally uploaded by zpousman.

i was too wiped to post yesterday. z and i had a VERY long day of mulching and only had enough energy to eat and crawl into bed afterwards. between yoga and working in the garden, not to mention the crazy organic-hyper-healthy diet, we are certainly getting into good shape.

today was a traveling day. z and i had the day off and headed out early for Lahaina, a town about 40 miles away. as neither z nor i have a car, we hitchhiked our way there.

this ended up being quite an adventure.

in all, we ended up getting 9 rides. 4 out and 5 back. it was a lot, but fun. met a bunch of interesting people.

Lahaina is an old whaling town - dating back to the 1830's. there were a handful of historic sites in town including an old prison, town house and missionary house (the oldest standing home on the island).

z is pictured here in Banyan Tree Park - one tree encompasses the entire park. the tree was massive.

the trip was good, but i am not sure i will be returning anytime soon. it is a pretty far distance to hitch with long and empty stretches in between. great memories though.

i have been hearing from a number of you that you are having problems commenting here. i think i have solved the problem, so feel free to try again. i love hearing from you!

a whole lot of mulch

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Originally uploaded by egerste.

Today z and i are *beat*. we were mulching and laying down cardboard for 5 hours today in the hot sun. in the words of GWB it was *hard work*, but we had a lot of fun too.

Last night was interesting...myra conducted energy healing on all of us and we had a drum circle. it was definitely a new experience. funny the things you do when you don't have tv - (right mom?).

tonight we will probably retire early. we are making pesto using fresh indian basil from the garden. i am famished after all the physical labor!

hitch-hiking

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Originally uploaded by egerste.

today z and i had off. we caught a ride with myra down the mountain then z, stephi (one of our housemate's) and i hitched a ride into Pi'ai.

we got picked up by a pick-up truck - the driver waived for us to hop in. here you can see z and stephi in the back of the truck.

once we got to town z and i sheepishly ordered coffee and pancakes as a treat. as you can imagine such items are no where to be found in myra's house and z and i would be too embarrassed to make either here. oh well. it was shameful but entirely satisfying.

then we walked around town for a bit and z covetously drooled over various surfboards. i swear, this one-intersection town has SIX different surf shops. crazy. z got a much needed hat to shade himself from the sun.

we then met up with the gang and went grocery shopping at Mana - the so-called *cheaper* natural foods store. this organic food gig is so NOT cheap. unfortunately it seems to be the only option. even if we wanted to shop elsewhere the surrounding towns have only one grocery store each and they are all organic. c'est la vie.

we then returned to the farm and resumed gardening for a couple of hours before dinner. myra cooked us squash soup with cilantro (a non-irritating spice), toasted dal (look like yellow corn nuts), papadam, spinach and feta wrapped in philo dough.

z and i have decided to start a food blog - due in part to brett's suggestion. we plan to take photo's of the meals myra prepares and identify them and hopefully post the recipes as well. it should be interesting. i will be sure to let you know when it is up and running.

also, i have a greater collection of photos at flickr.com. this way i don't have to post every single picture we take. take a look when you get a chance!

garden pic

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Originally uploaded by egerste.

the vegetable garden and some fig trees. we hang cd's from string to scare the birds away. so far i have yet to see any birds!

Sunset

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Originally uploaded by egerste.

This is the view from the back porch of our house.

after a few days on the farm

so our second day here on the farm (saturday) was not quite as exciting as we had hoped. it rained ALL day, which we were told is very unusual. instead of doing work out in the garden we all were assigned "indoor" jobs. z and i spent much of the day cleaning the kitchen cabinets.

part of the work trade deal here includes one meal a day. myra (the boss) makes the meal. so far, despite my somewhat limited palate, i have enjoyed all of them. they are SUPER organic and all veggies. for instance, today we had some sort of hot cereal - quinoa - with raisins, sprouts, apple-type-sauce, papaya (from the garden), and this tasty herbal tea that has to sit for 12 hours before being served. then we had fresh made yogurt that myra brewed last night!

z and i took sunday off and went to the beach with one of our housemates, brandon. he has a car which is crucial since we are about a 20 minute drive from the nearest town. luckily hitch hiking is both legal and safe and is a common form of transportation (we haven't tried it yet, but i will be sure to let you know how it goes). after the beach we visited a small town nearby - Pa'ia. cute, earthy town - natural food store, etc.

today z and i worked a 7 hour day - 7 hours of weeding and laying down cardboard under mulch - apparently it prevents the weeds from getting light and then popping through the mulch. it was actually a lot of fun. there is a magnificent view from all angles - gorgeous mountain tops and exotic plant life. as soon as we get our computer mailed to us (thanks mom) i will be posting pictures like a mad woman. until then, use your imagination.

tomorrow we have off and plan to hitch hike to town and do some grocery shopping. z is furiously looking for a deal on surfboard rentals. if he finds something we might head down to the beach. he is going to teach me...we'll see how well that works out.

farming

We arrived here in Kula this afternoon. mom - you would LOVE it. it is a beautiful home on two acres of gorgeously landscaped land on a mountain (volcano) in maui. it is about a 45 minute drive from the more urban areas and just breathtaking.

we started weeding this afternoon. there are 3 other workers in a similar position as z and i and a personal assistant staying here. living is very clean and environmentally sound. there is a pretty diverse vegetable garden as well as a bunch of fig trees, not to mention the numerous exotic plants and flowers.

there are yoga classes 4 days a week and i think z and i will start tomorrow. we are both very excited about being able to spend 7 weeks here. pictures will follow soon, i promise.

(KAG - we might have you send us my computer and z's phone that we left...)

we have arrived

aloha family and friends! i hope you are all well. z and i arrived in hawaii two days ago. we landed in honolulu and then hopped on a short flight to maui. we arrived around 9pm. it was raining a bit but we arrived in good spirits.

we are staying a town called Wailuku. it is the old city here in maui and definitely the more affordable area of maui. as z put it - "we are staying in the brooklyn of maui." very apt. however, even the brooklyn of maui is incredible! and the hostels offer free trips everyday of the week which travel to the "manhattan-type" areas of maui.

we stayed in the Northshore Hostel our first night. we got a private room our first night which was nice. for those of you who are not familiar with staying in hostels (dad) you have the option of a private or a "dorm" which you share with other travelers.

our first morning here, we took our bags and walked around the corner to the Banana Bungalow for our second night (they only had "dorm" style rooms available. - crazy canadian roommates - fun times). luckily we were able to sign up for the free snorkeling tour leaving from Banana Bungalow at the last minute. this of course was z's idea. however, because we had been planning on spending the day walking around town, we were unprepared for a day on the beach.

nevertheless, z and i jumped on the van - minus swim suits or towels. we were able to work out all the kinks however, and spent the day at a beautiful beach. unfortunately there was not much to see snorkeling because the weather was too choppy. we were able to swim and enjoy the scenary all the same though.

just to spice things up a bit, z enthusiastically hurried into the ocean. unfortunately he forgot about our cell phone he had been carrying in his pocket. although we have been letting it air dry all day and night, we are not very optimistic that the phone will survive. i will keep you posted on any news regarding the phone's recovery.

the highlight of the day was our whale sighting. there were a number of humpback whales breaching off on the horizon. apparently humpback whales hang out around hawaii between December and May. that was pretty crazy.

our "tour guides" were two kids who came here to vacation months ago and never left. the Banana Bungalow offers housing in exchange for work. i.e. house cleaning, reception, and tour guides. the owner of the hostel encourages those who go on the tour to tip the tour guides as they are do not receive any salary from the hostel. it seems that many young and old folks who come to hawaii for a visit end up staying on a more permanent basis. after spending only two days here i can see how tempting that would be.

after our day at the beach we headed over to happy hour at a local bar after which i was exhausted. z and i are trying to adjust our internal clocks, but hawaii is five hours behind ny, and we have been getting sleepy at 10pm and restlessly awake at 5am.

this morning we woke up pretty early (6:45) packed up our stuff and checked out. we then went for a fairly long trek to Iao (pronounced eeee-ow). a long walk up to/ through the mountain valley. breath taking.

this afternoon we will head up to the farm. myra, our new boss/ host will be picking us up here at the banana bungalow in an hour or so. we are excited to meet her and see where will be spending the next seven weeks.

until next time...