Canadians hmm?

Well I've been meaning to write this blog for awhile, but keep forgeting, so here I go.... while I was in Luang Prabang, Laos, I was eating at this lovely bakery with amazing carrot cake with real cream cheese icing (totally beside the point). We ate at this bakery at least 10 times, seriously, and the staff was so nice. Then one day I went in and the manager, a Canadian, was yelling at her staff in front of all the customers...all of whom were disgusted. Yelling at them for no good reason, telling them that they were ignoring us, which they werent and more and more....anyways I realized that this was the first time, in asia, if not my whole trip that I have seen this, something that I would see often in Canada. It was horrible...how am I going to come home?? hmmm...only kidding, but people here are so calm and relaxed and they dont stress out, it is really a beautiful thing. People dont yell at one another when something goes wrong, if a meal isnt right, if their boat arrives a day late, everything just seems to be okay! One time in Vietnam I was on a local bus that broke down and for 5 hours the driver and assistants had to take engine a part, by the time they were done they were all covered in oil, head to toe, yet the whole time they were still happy, laughing and singing and all of the passengers were happy too. Could you imagine all the yelling that would be going on in Canada. Oh I have so many more examples...the children here are so content, the babies rarely cry, really, I think it is partly because parents here are so calm and for the most part dont yell or get angry and therefore the babies dont pick up on the stress. Well its almost 1 am and Im uber tired...I will add to this blog later, xxmegs

On a long boat, during the rainy season on the Mekong!

I am writing from Chang Mai in Northern Thailand. We arrived here last night after an exhausting 3 day adventure along the Mekong River. Our adventure begins 7:45 am, Luang Prabang!! We were picked up by a tuk tuk and dropped off at the boat dock on the Mekong river (during the rainy season). We were pleased to find an old wooden longboat with mini van seats inside (and only about 35 people), much better than the wooden benches and hundreds of people we were expecting! Muff, Mamma J and I selfishly spread out our legs and took up 2 seats each (don’t worry everyone on the boat had a seat or 2). We slept, read books and admired the stunning scenery (it really was amazing) while we waited for the boat to arrive in Pakbeng 6 to 8 hours later, where we would spend the night in a guest house. During our trip the boat dropped locals off at small villages along the way and the inevitable happened, our boat broke down, but just long enough that it ended up getting dark before Pakbeng and our non English speaking boat driver explained to us we would have to sleep on the boat, during the rainy season, on the Mekong (I know I’ve already stressed this, but it Was during the rainy season along the Mekong river). He docked the boat at a miniscule village. All 9 of us tourists pushed the mini van seats together and lay down for a long and sleepless night…actually Mamma J slept just fine and Muff learnt that Gravol is a girls best friend!!! At sunrise our boat set off again, finally arriving in Pakbeng in time for us to catch our long boat for the second leg of our journey and only 12 hours late. Now this boat was what we had expected, wooden bench seats, and instead of hundreds of people, a whole boat full of supplies to be delivered to all the villages along the way!!! We were told we would make it to the border crossing in Thailand that day, however with our experience the day before we thought that unlikely, and seeing as our 6 hour journey the day before took 24 hours AND we had to deliver all the goods AND we were going against the current we arrived just as the sun was setting once again…but this time we did arrive in time to find a guesthouse!! After eating Nutella, peanut butter and bread we were ready for a real meal!! We ended up eating, sleeping and then waking up early to catch the ferry across to the thai side, we hopped on a bus and headed to Chang Mai…this of course was an adventure as well, we asked the tuk tuk to take us to the bus station and he so nicely dropped us of at a VIP travel agent who had a bus leaving 30 minutes later, they insisted that it was the bus station, although we knew it wasn’t. Now this bus was really nice, water and cookies included, however the driver was SO slow, the assistant was flirting with him and the bus continuously stopped to let people on and off, but not the usually on and off, each time the bus would stop between 5 and 25 minutes!! At one of the stops we ran into some of the people who had been on the slow boat with us, they were on a more local bus that had left 1 ½ hours after us…ugh…..all a part of the adventure!! We arrived in Chang Mai last night at Mamma Js cousins (heathers brother) in a lovely neighbourhood right by an amazing night food market that is on only on 2 days a week…so we went on a food extravaganza!! Beet juice, sushi, spring rolls and more...oh and of course lady boys...they are SO COOL!!!!!!!

Beautiful Laos

Hello...Im chilling out in Laos, one of the most picturesque countries I have ever been to! Mamma J, Ash muff, and I spent a couple nights in the capital city, Vientiene, the most chilled out capital city ever..it was just like a village. We spent one whole day at the spa, well it was a gym with an outdoor pool and saunas, and included a 1 hour massage and it was lovely!! Hopped on a bus up north to Vang Vieng...a lovely village with limestone karsts and the mekong running through and tommes of backpackers. We stayed in a perfect guesthouse overlooking the river, drank mulberry (not mushroom) shakes at the organic farm, tubed down the river, watched a few episodes at friends that are played at almost every restaurant CONSTANTLY!! oh and I watched Transformers at a bakery and it was so cool! and had the worst massage EVER, mamma J and I were in so much pain the next day ( I guess thats what you get when your massage therapist is 16 and it only costs 3 dollars)! We caught another bus up to Luang Prabang where we are staying at a villa with satellite TV....just been eating carrot cake with real cream cheese icing and riding around on bikes...so amazing here!!!! In a couple days we'll be catching a 2 day boat to the thai border and then off to Chang mai!!!! xxx megs

More stories....

While we were in Bangkok, which is a really cool city, we stayed with Ashleys friend Sam and for 6 nights we watched House and made mashed potatoes, salad and chicken breast every night and it was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!!!! One night Ash and I went to Harry potter, I packed my zip up and a scarf to keep me warm, during the movie I wrapped my zip up around me....part way through I headed to the bathroom and hung my bag on the hook in the bathroom stall, when I looked at my bag I saw that my pants, not my zip up were hanging over my bag...oops....had a good laugh over that one!!!!

Laos

Hello all....I am in Laos, caught a long bus from Bangkok to Pakse and then headed to Si Phan Don (4,000 islands) where we stayed on a tiny island in little cabins overlooking the river...so lovely, at night there was fire flies (2) and glow worms, so cool!!! Ash, mamma J and I have booked a flight to Kathmandu (Nepal) on September 7 and picked up a visa for India and Im so excited!!!!! Well thats the latest...Im heading on an overnight bus to Vientiene, up north in Laos. Hugs, Megan

The hole in the ground!!

So on our way from Bangkok to Koh Chang Jenna and I went to use the toilet at the bus stop...usually a horrendous experience, this bathroom however, was all decked out with flowers, decorations and was uber clean....but Jenna was a little shocked when she saw that she would have to pee in a hole in the ground!!! I saw that there was a western toilet at the end but didnt tell her as she needed to experience Asian toilets!!! When she was finished I gave her a 'lesson' including a demonstration of how to use the toilet, which way to face so that nothing splashes up at you, where to put your feet, and a full description of how bad the toilets can get!!! All the while our bus was apparently waiting for us!! We hopped on the bus and were telling Ash about our toilet experience when a guy came on the bus a few seats ahead of us...he sat down beside his friend and said "I just heard the funniest conversation in the bathroom...there were these 2 girls and..." He continued to tell his friend about our conversation in the bathroom....we were laughing so hard, it was hilarious!!!


And now Ashley's version...

Megan I were both surprised with Jenna not having jet lag
(probably due to her pill popping on the plane) and how well she was adapting to
Bangkok. Well there really isn't much to adapt to as it is like any other major
big city as it has all teh amenities of home, just a few differences like
language and street vendors. And since we really just took her shopping for
her first couple days, that wasn't much different than at home. She also didn't have the culture shock of arriving and having to hostel ight away with just a fan room and a cold shower. She had luxury at Sam's apartment with our own room, hot shower, own bathroom, cooking facilities, big screen TV, and air con. Can't get much better afteryou have flown for 24 hours and feel like crap. But her first culture shock happened when we stopped at the bus stop to use the bathroom and she was exposed to the lovely squat toilets. What a shock that was and she actually got a nice one on her first visit as well so I don't know about her complaining....hahah. I unfortunatly missed out on this incident as I went and waited for them on teh bus, but Meg decided to demonstrate and give a full in detail description on how to use them. Apparently you could them talking in the guys room as the guy who was
going in the men's side heard it all and burst out laughing when he got back
on the bus and was informing his buddies all about the weirdest conversation he
overheard in teh women's toilet. Way too funny as I new right away that it
would have been Meg and Jenna. It was a good thing that I stayed on
the bus because it tried to pull away with out them as they were taking forever
with this explanation and I had to tell teh driver to wait. Way too funny
but it was great to see a new persons reaction to something we have both gotten
used to. It was the same with always carrying toilet paper with you for
these lovely times and of course Jenna had no clue about this aswell and
it was another lovely surprise. This is the first real culture shock we have come across so far, but I am sure there will be more to come along hte way. We all got a good laugh out of this one for awhile which was great and I am sure the guys in
front of us will be telling that story to their friends as I am sure they
found it hilarious aswell. I just can't wait until we get to a bus stop break
where they only have teh toilets where you literally go on the floor and it
drains into a little hole in the corner....that will really make me laugh!


For more stories of our adventures check out livingmydreamashley@blogspot.com
This is Ashleys blog!!

Look for many more adventures to come.....

Bobby

Today we rode around the island on a scooter named bobby...couldnt think of a better title so thats my first story!! Im on Koh Chang with Ashley and Jenna, staying in a big bungalow on the beach!!! it lovley and its rainy season so the island is very empty!

When I was in Bangkok I spent 4 days at the hospital coolest hospital.....2 days I was there, 1 day we took Jenna there to show here how cool it was....its just like a 5 star hotel, and one day Ash had to go because she got her contact stuck in her eye...convinced she had gotten most of it out she spent the whole day with 3/4 of her contact in her eye, until she finally went to the 5 star hospital!!! Oh and I was there for stomach issues that I'd had for a while, and am now finishing my meds and am all better!!!!! Ash and I picked Jenna from kamloops, up from the airport and her first experiences of Thailand were hanging out at the hospital, watching HOUSE at Ash's friends place and shopping!! All very cultural I'd say!!

Next stop Bangkok to watch more episodes of HOUSE!!!! Oh and then Chang Mai to see some temples, by see I mean drive by them and say I've 'seen' them!!!!!!