lifeisbeautifulpink

Adventures to come.....

2009-08-08T21:37:00.000-07:00

will keep you all posted!!

Chicken Pudding

2008-09-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

2 days ago while meandering through the streets of Istanbul eating a juicy pear, a bird shit on my head, 2 hours away from my home on the asia side of Istanbul and I was once again transformed into a dirty backpacker :)

Istanbul is the most beautiful city that I have been to in the world (Seoul, Korea is my favorite), but Istanbul is the most breathtaking! I have spent my last 5 weeks living in summer houses on the sea and on an amazing, blissful private yacht...swimming with phosphorescense under the stars and eating amazing Turkish food! It has been a food extravaganza, some of my favorites include: soft white cheese with Honey on top, any cheese with homemade cherry jam....I am having writers food block, anyways, I have also tried some new and unique foods to add to my list of spiders, snakes, scorpions etc... just yesturday I had a dessert that when translated into english means 'chicken breast,' which consists of shredded chicken breast in a thick creamy milky pudding and can be purchased at the finest sweet shops and last night we went to an amazing restaurant called Garden, the biggest restaurant I have ever seen, seating perhaps 1000 or more people! When we arrived it was completely empty, as it is Ramazan and people begin eating after the sun sets! Well by 7:46 the entire restaurant was full, it was quite an experience seeing the entire place fill up and everyone start eating at the exact same time! As a part of this meal I tried a new (for me) type of Kofte (turkish meatball) which was a spicy raw ball of meat, so glad it was spicy otherwise it would have been terrible!

I must sleep now xx

Beautiful Istanbul...

2008-07-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

Hello all, I am just finishing up an amazing 5 weeks spent chilling and speaking English! Enjoyed so so much! Last week I spent 5 days with Sibel and the kids in a 5 star resort on the med sea! Lounging in the sea and pool all day long and at night sleeping....a favourite past time of mine ;) I have watched so many movies here..Hancock (2X), Kung Fu Panda (2x), Mamma Mia, Dave(?), Narnia, Journey to the center of the earth...and more I just cant remember all of them, so basically ın the last 5 weeks I have watched more movies at the cinema than in the last 3 years! I must go to sleep now, will try write something more exciting soon..

xx megs

The lıfe of a working girl.......

2008-06-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

Hello from beautiful, amazing, breathtaking İstanbul!!! I will begin by telling you just how much my life has changed ın the past week!! I have went from washing my haır, body, and clothes wıth the same palmolıve body wash, brushıng my haır wıth the brıstles of a brush that once had a handle, shavıng my legs wıth a handleless razor (thıs ıs really dıffıcult), eatıng my free hostel breakfast for breakfast and lunch, and eıther eatıng falafel whıch cost 40 cents for dınner or the braıns of a sheep.....prıceless!!! Now I am lıvıng ın an amazıng flat wıth floor to ceılıng wındows overlookıng the sea (only a few mınutes walk away)ın amazıng amazıng amazıng Itanbul...I have a room wıth my lıttle pony sheets, my own laptop, a house attendant who cleans and makes my bed every day, makes all meals, except for those that are purchased at fancy restaurants lıke the golf and country club where I spent my day today!! I go bowlıng, swımmıng, play board games and dance around the house wıth Sıbel (mom), Güchon (13)and Sınem (8)!!!! I am anxıously awaıtıng gettıng myself naked ın one of the turkısh hammams!!!!!!!! Will wrıte more from paradıse soon!

Jordanian night club tour.....

2008-06-16T02:45:00.000-07:00

I am writing from the Farah hotel, Amman, Jordan!! A couple nights ago I was sitting at this same computer trying to make a decision whether I will come home for the summer or not, when Jarrett, the guy beside me said "Megan, I can jump over people!" And of course I offered myself to be jumped over! Outside onto the street a group of us went to see what Jarrett could do. First he jumped over this guy from England, while standing up...then added a guy from Iceland, then the jordanian man who owns the gambling 'cafe' across the street, and then me all standing in a row for Jarrett to jump over!!! And he did!! Afterwards we were all invited to the cafe for Sheeshas and tea and told that we were all welcome there anytime and could have anything we wanted for free. Jordanian hospitality.

The next night as we were walking back to the hostel the men in the 'cafe' invited us up for tea, we began speaking about Jordanian culture and got on the topic of night clubs....."come with me, you wont believe it, I will show you," one of the men said. So we went with him for a night club tour all around Amman, and although we didnt enter any of the well hidden, russian and phillipine women frequented clubs, I know now where they all are and learnt so much about the culture here in Jordan!!! On the way back we stopped for a fruit cocktail (juice), we pulled up to a street stall, honked the horn and the owner, a friend of our 'night club tour guide' came, took our orders and brought us the most amazing fruit cocktails in glass cups to drink in the car. When we were finished with a honk of the horn the man came, took our glasses, and we were on our way!!

Before Amman, I went to Wadi Mousa to visit Petra, I met some amazing people and wandered around where parts of 'Indiana jones and the last crusade' was filmed!!! I also went petra by night, the entire siq and treasury (1.5 km walk) was lit up with candles and bedouin music under the amazing stars!!!

On my journey back from wadi mousa to amman I sat in the front seat of a local bus, infront of me a sign that said (spelling errors and funniness included)

Passengers bill of rights and responsibilities

1) Loading and unlaoding are not allowed except in des ignited places.

2) Smoking and throwing litter from the vehicle are prphbited.

3) Radio and cassette player prohibited with annoying form.

4) Driver is fully familiar with the rote and SHOULD reach the final destination in each trip.

Along with the blonde hair hanging from the rearview mirror and this sign, I had a good laugh!!

Okay Im off, hope everyone is well!!!

My escape from Egypt

2008-05-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hello from amazing modern Israel!!!

I arrived in israel much sooner than expected as being a girl alone in Egypt is not something I recommend doing!

After my last post I headed to Dahab, a beach resort on the red sea in Egypt, a beautiful, beautiful place that reminded me of middle east meets disneyland and the Land before time 1 thru 16??.....cheap, beautiful water, amazing accomodation, desert in the background, and a many many many egyptian men! Needless to say I didnt last long in this place before I decided to head further up north, hoping to escape all the hissing and marriage proposals!! Hopped on a bus to another beach and ended up paying extra and going straignt into Israel the same day, very unexpectedly and happily. I will go back and explore Egypt again someday, just not alone or blonde!!!

What a culture schock crossing the border from Egypt to Israel, where people stop for you when you cross the road, no hissing men, shopping malls..all very western!

I have been meeting my friends that I have made along the way and am now staying with my friend Nurit who lives in an amazing apartment right on the mediteranean sea!! paradise!!

Israel is nothing, absolutely nothing like I had expected....very much like canada, in some ways.....I am trying to upload pics to show....okay, im off...later, megs

Egypt

2008-05-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

Hello from beautiful Cairo, Egypt!!! A few days ago I hopped on a flight from delhi to Bahrain, a really cool Island country in the middle east, and then on to Cairo! Cairo is a beautiful city, and if I wasnt blonde and the men went for siestas when I went out it would be even more amazing!!!! I went to the pyramids today and they were so amazing! Got hustled quite a bit, ended up leaving my camel and guide, already paid for, because contrary to what I was told, you do NOT need a guide!!!

Tomorrow I am heading to the Red sea and then making my way to Israel!!!!

I spent my last few weeks in India in the Parvati valley and then in Dharamasala, where I studied silver, chased away giant spiders and went to teaching with the amazing Dalai Lama!

The last time I was in India I only travelled overnight by train, but this time most of my long journeys were by the incredible india sleeper bus!! A bed with a view of the stars from the window!!

Well I'm off to brave to wonderful world of Cairo men!!

more glorious india...

2008-04-12T04:59:00.000-07:00

Well I have a few minutes while I am waiting for my photos to upload onto the computer so I will write a wee little blog!! I have been in india for 7 weeks now and it has been so amazing, my love affair with India continues!!! I am now in pushkar studying jewellery making or perhaps I am mastering the art of money spending ;) I took a 37 hour train from Kolkata all the way to Ajmer, just outside of Pushkar, the journey was 10 hours longer than expected and because of the delay Sivan and I were foodless, aside from Parle g cookies, for one full day!!!! When you combine Megan, no sleep and no food...what do you get?? I tell you 'the bitch was back' Cambodia style (perhaps muffy is the only one who has ever experienced this) Actually it wasnt that bad, it was my most interesting train ride in india...lady boys demanding money for luck, countless crazy people...dressed as monkeys barking like dogs, beggars hitting us with sticks (I hit back), tabla and sitar players joining us in our seats/beds (for money of course)and of course the infamous chai sellers!!! What an adventure it was!!! I spent last night driving around on the back of a motorcycle in the desert under the amazing stars, it was bliss!!!! another one of my love affairs since I have been travelling....riding on a bike...along with bollywood movies!!! I have a new collection coming home with me!!! There are so many more stories, but in india it this amazing country full of heart, a country that everyone should visit one day....I am going to challo now, xxmegs

PAradise

2008-04-01T02:32:00.000-07:00

Hello all, this is going to be a very short brief update of the blissful month I spent on the Andaman islands.....most of my time was spent at Sunrise resort on Havelock island....turquoise water, white sand beaches, palm trees, colourful fish, phosphorescenc and amazing people! I no longer have blonde hair, as it is now a nice shade of pink, which is less colourful than the blue, green and purple that was in it before from the Indian colour festival, Holy!!! I will be flying to mainland india tomorrow and making my way to pushkar and then on the dharamasala up north!!! There is so much more to write, but my my brain is choosing to boycot the use of computers after a 1 month break!! xxxxx megs

India in all its glory

2008-02-28T07:40:00.000-08:00

Hello from chaotic India, am sitting in a cafe in Kolkata writing a 5 minute blog....It was such a breath of fresh (dirty) air to arrive in India, able to see everything again, with new eyes. I met a few people in the Bangkok airport, while waiting in the line for our boarding passes, amongst a group of 26 convicts handcuffed together, also waiting in the same line...random. I am sharing a room at a guest house filled with korean people, brilliant!!! Our taxi ride to our hotel ,also brilliant as our taxi driver kept falling asleep...I have pics to prove it, at one point he said "so sleepy, need rest." as he stopped the car, hopped out and poured water all over himself!! Treated my self to a roadside chai and a spinach curry for dinner!! mmmmm....now it is 9pm, and after 14 sleepless hours in the bangkok airport am so ready for a sleep. cant wait to see what adventures i can get myself into tomorrow!! xxxxx

On the road again....

2008-02-24T05:58:00.000-08:00

Well, only 2 more days until I fly back to masala-licious India!! Packing up my uber small backpack and will be on the road again!!! While traveling I have been living out of a 40 liter backpack (if you can't visualize how how big that is, its just a tad bigger than a day pack) and I have loved every minute of it, never did I get tired of living out of a pack, to my surprise and amazement and other peoples as well. Yesturday, as I was on my hands and knees cleaning Heathers' bathroom floor, I had an epiphany .... I HATE cleaning (okay so I already knew this) but I reckon it is one of my top 5 least favorite things to do, not too sure what the other 4 are, but cleaning is right up there!! And, when I am traveling I never have to clean, perhaps tidy, but not clean and that is why I love backpacking :) Okay, so there are a few more reasons why I love backpacking: freedom, colourful vibrant people, beautiful gongshows, chaotic noisy and sometimes unfathomably wonderful places, nature, studying, new cultures, crazy foods, amazing foods and on and on I could go!!!!!

I fly into Bangkok where I will spend 14 wonderful hours waiting in the airport before I fly to Kolkata, India and from there I have no idea where my adventure will lead me...tempting that it is so close to Nepal and oh how I love Nepal !!!!! Perhaps Darjeeling, or the southern beaches of India before I venture back to Rajasthan!

I have had an amazing last week in Korea, visiting friends, eating amazing Sushi, Korean food, visiting jimjilbangs and MY tea house as many times as possible.....taking amazing random photos with my new camera. For the first time in my 20 month trip I spent 3 weeks with a retired camera, RIP, until Dave, a teacher at Heathers Uni, sold me his camera!! yay!! So more random funniness to come!!

Hope every one is happy and healthy! xxxxxxxxMegs

Deiss

2008-02-14T05:49:00.001-08:00

ooh....i bet you are excited you get your own post for everyone to see!!

JOIN THE BOOK OF FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have no idea how to log on to your blog, this computer thingy always confuses me ;)

I will be waiting for you in Bollywood, we can become famous dancing to banghra music!!!!

Konglish Loving

2008-02-14T04:46:00.000-08:00

Hello from beautiful cold Korea, okay so -10, isn't quite as cold as i am told it is in Canada....but it is pretty windy here!!!

I have been practicing the art of elegant idleness here in Korea, although, I have been living a double life!! I have been splitting my time between Seoul, where I am staying with Natalie and the Kids on the 39th floor of an amazing building 5 minutes away from my favorite jimjilbang, and Suwon, where I am surfing on Heather's couch in her wee cell (sorry H)....although it isn't a cell at all, there are 4 windows and I sleep better than I have ever slept in my life on the couch!!!

Evie has gotten so big since the last time was here, baby Jacob, is adorable and so so happy, and Pete and Grace are still as amazing as ever!!!

I would post pics of the kids, however, my camera R.I.P, decided last week to go into retirement!!!!! and I have yet to find a replacement worthy enough to be MY camera....a camera that is waterproof, dust proof, AND, most importantly Drop proof!! he he!! I had been spending lots of time finding HILARIOUS signs and randomness, my creative konglish findings are posted on my picasa photo site for all to see!!

Happy V day to all, and to all a good night!!! a wee side note about valentines day....On February 14, Valentines day in korea, only girls buy pressies for their boyfriends, and on March 14, White day, only boys buy pressies for their girlfriends and the best one of ALL...January 14, Black day...a special day when all single people were black and go out and eat noodles with black sauce and wallow in their misery!! he he!! So funny!!

hugs and love, Megs

Megan is....

2008-01-10T17:03:00.000-08:00

practicing the art of elegant idleness!!! I am happily sitting in Heathers apartment chilling out watching the snow fall outside...thats right, I brought the snow all the way from Canada with me!! Im such a nice friend!!

I caught an awesome flight from Seattle to Korea which included sharing indian food with a man from Bombay, eating Korean food, yeahhh!! and watching amazing movies...Into the Wild, Darjeeling limited (plus 3 more and an episode of House) and having absolutely no sleep. The usual!! Why sleep when you can watch free movies!!

When I arrived in Suwon Heather and Coby picked me up sporting a welcome back sign, and 2 bags of the worlds greatest sushi!!! Awe Heaven!!

The next day while Heather worked, I decorated her room with random surprises and then headed on a walking adventure...I found THE soccer ball toilets and found an amazing jimjilbang that I hadnt been to before!!

I had Shabu Shabu last night, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm so good, oh how I missed korean food!!

Well Im off, either to find another jimjilbang with 'Dr fish' fish who nibble away at your feet and bodies or just to sit and work on the art of elegant idleness.

xxxMegs

On the road again.....

2008-01-07T00:45:00.000-08:00

Just can't wait to get back on the road again.....for everyone who has been faithfully checking my blog I apologize for not keeping you up to date, and am happy to tell you that there will be some fascinating adventures and beautiful gongshows to come. Im catching a flight back to Korea (my stop over) for the jimjilbangs ;), friends, food, amazing toilets and simply for my love affair with 'sparkling' Korea!! More to come soon!!!

Happy Christmas and a merry new year!! ;)

Hugs to everyone, Megs

Christmas tree cows

2007-11-14T03:49:00.000-08:00

Well its been a while...Im still in India and loving it, so many colours and crazy things!!!! Goa was amazing, just chilled out at the beach...then back to Mumbai for a couple days, and up to Indore to celebrate Diwali with friends....woke up one morning to Holy cows wandering the streets dressed up like christmas trees, It was BRILLIANT.....they were painted, and decorated in garland and all sorts of other colourful things!!! I'll post some amazing pics soon!! Indore sees very few tourists...figured this out by the lack of bottled water, and near impossibility of finding toilet paper, even at the guest house...Ash had to pay a kid to go out and find some ;) Now Ash and I are back in Pushkar, its coming up to the camel festival and there are some of the most beautiful, colourful people I have ever seen, it is so lovely!! Finshed my masters and Ash and I have designed some uber cool jewelrry, rings and pendants!!! Well, I know there is so so much more as every moment is an adventure in India... I look forward to hearing from everyone, big hugs, megs

Amazing India....

2007-10-31T10:42:00.000-07:00

Well I think this may have been the title of my last blog....but india is so amazing!! Currently chilling out on Palolem Beach in Goa....eating at the organic veg restaurant, reading books and swimming!!!! Ah the life! Ive finally been able to add a bunch of pics to my picasa sight...if you need the link again send a message to my email with the pics of all your halloween costumes ;) Well Im off to bed now...Happy Halloween everyone!!!!

You look like a bollywood movie starr....

2007-10-26T07:44:00.000-07:00

thats because I am one....he he!!! Well for my bday Ash, J and I got to be in a bollywood movie...its called Aamir and will be out in 8 months, and of course it will be a huge hit!!!! We'll be in the airport scene!! So much has happened in the past couple weeks....india is such an amazing dynamic country that offers anything anyone could possibly want in a country!!!!

Pushkar was AMAZING....Jaipur was beautiful...Jodhpur was a train station......Jaisalmer was perfect, we met an amazing couple who own an ayurvedic, organic restaurant called July 8, we took a cooking course there and spent most of our days in jaisalmer chilling out at the restaurant and at the jewellers....oh how amazing it was.....the family is world famous (yet so humble and hilarious) and will carve anything you want into a silver or gold ring (each ring takes between 3 and 40 days and you can stay with them and watch its progress)....they are in the guinness world records as the father was able to draw 826 or so letters? onto one piece of rice!!! Also went on a camel trekk...ahhh so uncomfortable, but amazing laying under the stars...my camels name was MJ (Micheal Jackson) which made for a few laughs!!!

Well Im gonna go now...time to eat. Im in Goa now at the beach!!! and it rained for the first time in India...hmmm big hugs, megs

I love india!!!

2007-10-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

Im writing from Jaipur, the pink city, in Rajasthan India....I am having the most amazing time in India, every moment is a beautiful gongshow!!

I have so so many stories and I will try and write a few, partly for you all, and also for me!!! We left Varanasi on an overnight train to Agra to check out the Taj Mahal.....ended up chatting and playing cards with a couple other backpackers so when we arrived sleepless to the Taj we were exhausted. My highlights of the day were the lawnmower at the Taj....2 large white bulls (?) pulling a man and a handmower type thing and all the many many (5 or 6) groups of people asking us to pose in photos with them, "one photo madam" We even had the guys restoring the builidng let us place the new marble on the building and take pics eventhough there was a sign saying no photos allowed!!! It really is an amazing building! From Agra we went to the train station to head to Jaipur, as we waited for the train to arrive we were surrounded by 30 or so guys, age 15-30, just staring at us and giggling, when we got on to the train they all swarmed at the window on the outside of the train where we were sitting, giggling, proposing marriage and confessing their love for us. The continued even after we told them about our many husbands in uzbekistan and kazakstan!! The Indian man beside us said "there must be something special about you girls because there are other tourists over there and they are not bothering them," I reckon the something special is that we are three blonde girls.

Arrived safe in Jaipur and it is so cool here!! Driving in the rickshaw today we saw and elephant heading down the road with all the cars,bikes,people, pigs, goats, monkeys, dogs and a a camel drawn cart.....so cool!!! We saw a goat today that had the colouring of a giraffe, just wait for a pic, its hilarious!!!

Tonight I had my #1 movie experience so far, in my life....we went to Chuck day (thats how it sounds), a bollywood field hockey movie. The cinema was like a lovely pink garishly decorated cake combined with disneyland... so so beautiful, it seated about 1400 people, mostly loud rowdy boys!! Watching the movie felt like being in the circus....people talk so loud, babies and children cry and cell phones ring. Everyone cheers, whoops,sings, screams, claps and whistles...it was the same as being at a live sports game, it was so unreal and utterly fascinating, and I suggest that everyone gets to experience this in their lives ;) I took pics and videos!!

And tonight I had my #1 McD's experience.....check out my pics on picasa, as I write Im adding a few more, but its quite slow....they had the #1 ugliest poster EVER and it made us all laugh so hard...so check out my pics to see......

oh I still have more to write.....we went to Heyy babyy, another movie while in Varanasi...It was hilarious, while at the mall we noticed that there were only men working in the mall, except for the female security guard, only men at Mc'ds, the cinema, everywhere, very strange to see....and McD's is meatless aside from chicken, so they replace the big mac with a chicken maharaja big mac, and have curry and veg burgers and other meatless treats ;)

Anyways I'd better head to bed, off to pushkar tomorrow, cant wait for more adventures!! hugs megs

Beautiful India

2007-10-08T04:42:00.000-07:00

Hello from Varanasi.....We arrived in India yesturday afternoon and I love it!!! Pigs, horses, cows, donkeys, chickens and dogs fill the streets and eat all its garbage mmmmmm!!! We stayed near the Ganges river in a lovely guesthouse where I slept on the floor with rat feces, dirty (but supposedly clean)sheets and bugs all around...met a few people on the plane and hired a boat to take us along the ghats after dark where the bodies are cremated and people bathe in the holy water of the Ganges.....Muff kindly let us know a statistic on the cleanliness of the holy river the day before....

"Every day about 60,000 people go down to the Varanasi ghats to take a holy dip along to 7km stretch of river. Along this same river, 30 large sewers are continuosly discharging into the river....Samples from the river show the water has 1.5 million feacal coliform bacteria per 100ml of water. In water that is safe for bathing this figure should be less than 500."

So by the end of this tour my body was covered in bits of feacal matter, from the splashing water of the oars...luckily I had my hand sanitizer to cover my body with!!!! We woke up at 5 this morning and hired the boat again to see all the activity along the ganges.... rituals, washing of clothes, hair cuts, bathing, and cremations (we even saw a man fishing right in front of where the bodies are burned and then tossed into the holy river). We spent the rest of the afternoon searching for a non rat infested hotel and are now in a moldy smelling room of a semi fancy hotel next to the Radisson...until tomorrow night when we take a 12-14 hour overnight train to the Taj Mahal!!! We've been several places (malls) today where women enter through one door and men another....men search men and women search women...this is the same in the airport and it sure makes waiting in line ups a lot quicker as there are a lot more men out and about so we dont have to wait!!!

Okay so Im off to see a bollywood movie tonight!!!! Should be fun!!!

Prime tail, tender lion

2007-10-08T04:36:00.000-07:00

On our last day in Kathmandu I took a pic of one of the funniest signs on my trip. We were wandering past a meat shop and on the window it said the types of meat served..

Prime Tail
Tender Lion

were two of the items on the menu....I cracked up laughing.....later on I mentioned it again and Jenna said "I wonder if they really serve lion there?" Muff and I bust out laughing and kindly (well maybe not so) let J know that it was meant to be tender loin, not tender lion!!!

You are so ugly....

2007-10-06T03:46:00.000-07:00

So today, we headed to Durbar square in Kathmandu...when we lined up to buy entrance tickets a local 'guide' approached us and asked if we would like him to tour us around...we very politely said no and his response was something like "you are not nice tourists and (sarcastically) see you in the next life," and he proceeded to harass us while staring down J's shirt...his response to all of us was "you are very ugly and you very fat, too much chocolate bars and computers!!" It was so funny we bust out laughing, I think its pretty rare to run into people like this in Nepal and there was nothing we could do but laugh...."see you in the next life," I said, and he responed, "I hope not to see you!" later Megs

You look like a Bollywood movie starr....

2007-10-05T06:06:00.000-07:00

said the kid at the photo shop as I was getting passport pics for my Reiki Certificate!!! hmmm....I think not (just as funny as the lady in Cambodia who came up to me and asked if I was from Japan) So while we were in Pokhara Muff and I took our Reiki training and now we are fully qualified? Reiki practitioners (perhaps not quite) Our course was a tad bit bogus, but cheap enough to be able to laugh at. We spent 15 minutes watching Swami demonstrate and then were told to read over our notes and come back 3 hours later....when we came back he informed us that he had two clients coming in and we were to give them a Reiki session, hmmmm....no practicing on one another, no refresher, didnt have a clue what I was doing but after the treatment swami (teacher) came in the room and said "friends, your client says they feel the heat....beautiful" anyways that was it, I guess the best part was that I look like a bollywood movie star and I have a certificate.

Spent 5 nights in Pokhara, it was uber touristy, beautiful, but I still love Kathmandu.....one day Ash and I were getting lost in the non touristy local town and I mentioned that I wanted to take some dance lessons and we saw a 'dance studio' and went in......a few guys were practicing their breakdancing skills....so we joined them, this studio had probably never seen a foreigner as the teacher was too embarassed to teach us, but one of the students showed us a few moves, also one night Ash and I started dancing (Nepali dancing)with some local girls on the streets of Thamel, during the street disco......it was hilarious because with in a few seconds of starting dancing we were surrounded by guys, partly because girls dont really go out at night here and because we were the only foreigners out of hundreds of guys and a couple girls on the streets!!! It was a blast.

Anyways Im off to Varanasi, India in 2 days!!! A new adventure!!! hugs

I was lost but now Im found....

2007-09-28T23:16:00.000-07:00

hey all....Im still in Kathmandu, its been an intense amazing few weeks trekking, and Im too tired to write about it ;) So you'll have to wait till I come home to here all about it!!!! Well I'll tell you a bit.....the airport in the himalayas at Lukla, has to best runway ever.....firstly planes are always cancelled and somedays not even a single plane can land...the runway is so short, coming in there is a mountain in front of you and going out the runway just drops into thin air, good times!! I tried to get a good vid, but it didnt work so well. We met some amazing people on the way, I ended up trekking most of the way with Paco, from Spain, who for some strange reason was slower than me (some days)...his guide G, became our honourary guide as ours was usually nowhere to be found!!! We work up early trekked and stayed in Tea houses at night and I would not have made it without my makeshift bamboo walking stick!! I have never eaten so much eggs and veg in my life....couldnt wait to get back and eat fruit!!! Lots of laughs and even goose bump moments!!! Nepal is a country to come back to again and again!! Okay thats all for now, Im too tired to be funny, hope you all are well, hugs, megs

Lost in the Himalayas

2007-09-25T00:15:00.000-07:00

...yes I did get lost in the Himalayas...not to worry its a funny story, I just have to save it for when internet is not costing me a fortune!!! I sitting in Lukla awaiting a flight to Kathmandu, some of our friends made the morning flight but we are stuck here until the weather clears up...could be ages? Had an amazing time, beautiful weather, people (aside from our sherpa).....learnt a lot about myself...like just how long i can go without showering or wearing clean clothes ;)

Happy Bday court!!! Hugs, love megs

This is what travelling is all about!!

2007-09-11T12:24:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went out to a beautiful valley in Nepal with our hotel owner, Lux, and his friend Ardie, a movie star :) and watched filming...it was so different from Hollywood...but really cool to see. Ash, J and I were sitting watching filming and a local boy came around and asked if it was an English film....I reckon they don't see too many westerners....it was especially funny when the camera man and photographer were sneaking shots of us sitting down!!! Perhaps we'll be in a movie when we get back from Everest....now thats another story I'll tell you in a few minutes so keep reading!!!! After filming we met up with Ardie 'actor' and some other new friends at our hotel for dinner, a lovely curry and gin and tonic feast, in the restaurant a ladies association was celebrating and withing a few minutes we were 'driving the car,' ' changing the lightbulb,' learning new dances and proving that white girls cant dance!!! It was brillant and by the end of the night I had 25 bangles stuck on my wrist and other nepalese jewlery as well.....by the time we headed up to our room we had just over 3 hours until we had to wake up and catch our flight to Lukla to start our 16 day trekk...not the smartest thing we had ever done....we arrived at the airport hopped on a small 19 seater plane and headed through the himalayas, it was stunning...just as we were flying over lukla the pilot told us that due to the clouds she could not land the plane, so we turned around and went back to Kathmandu....we soon found out that this was the first flight in about 7 days that had been able to leave for lukla, so we ended up getting a free amazing mountain flight....the downside was that we had to wait in the airport all day to see if the weather cleared in Lukla, an airport that is far worse than the kamloops airport, not even a place to eat, ugh! We have now rebooked our flight and are heading out again tomorrow morn!! Hopefully we will be the first plane to land in 8 days!!! Off to bed now, hugs, megs

Kathmandu, in the movies, off to Everest...

2007-09-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone...I am writing u all from the top of the world...well almost. I arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal 2 nights ago, flying into Nepal was lovely, like a mountainous legoland!!! Kathmandu is so much more than I ever could have imagined...hectic, colourful, and just oh so amazing!! From the airport hopped in a random mans taxi to his hotel...which turned out to have the most amazing staff....so amazing that we booked a 16 day Mt Everest trekk through them....and we leave in 2 days. We hired a sherpa and a porter to carry our bags...but apparently they won't was our hair!! (an inside joke)!! We are staying outside of the tourist area where everything is local, including the non english speaking restaurant we have eaten at three times. The food here is the best yet and well I think this is my fav country already!!!

So many strange things...like the sit or stand toilet....a squatter and regular toilet in one....oh tonight we went to the one of the most beautiful temples or rather most beautiful sights I have ever seen, it is along the holy river that leads into the ganges...along the river they cremated the deceased right in front of everyone, but before they do this they lay the person along the stairss down to the river where they place the foot of the dead person in the holy water...when the person is fully cremated they push the wood and body into the river...that they bathe in....we watched all of this, quite surreal and unlike anything I have ever seen or experienced! All around this temple are small shiva temples where holy men reside, men who remain pure, and as we were walking at 9pm through this area that is closed at 7 we heard a man calling to us from one of the small buildings....it turned out to be the 'penis baba' who Im pretty sure is known worldwide...he lifts a 10kg or heavier rock with his penis, he doesnt do it too often because of the police...but he did it for us!!! I have pics but you'll have to wait till I get back from Everest for them...he was such a lovely man, wishing us 'sweet dreams' and a wonderfu life!!! Its not too often that you can see a man lift a rock with his penis.....

...other fun facts....they have a gasoline shortage here and if you want gas for your car you have to wait between 8 and 10 hours....we saw the taxis all lined up for their night of waiting for gasoline!!!

Oh one more thing.....we are going to be in a gollywood movie ...nepali movie....a director is coming to our hotel tomorrow and then off to get suited up!!!! Hugs, megs

Canadians hmm?

2007-08-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-08-28T19:14:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-23T03:01:00.000-07:00

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

Laos

2007-08-13T02:18:00.000-07:00

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!!

2007-08-04T02:57:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

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!!!!!!

Beach Bliss

2007-07-27T06:39:00.000-07:00

Im sitting in a cafe in Bangkok and its actually pretty cool here!!! I spent 6 days on a beach in Koh Samet...teal water, a lovely little bungalow, puppies running around, which made me so happy!! It was lovely!!! I stayed at the wunderland resort, not quite a resort but a mish mash of different bungalows thrown together! One of the pets at this 'resort' was a ginormous ugly pig that must have been 3 or 4 times the size of me...and he was not dinner!! It was hilarious!! The people in Thailand are so lovely and there dont seem to be all the hassles like in Vietnam and even Cambodia....a chance to relax!!!

Im so excited because on my second day there I manifested one of the 2 things (natural phenomenons??) I wanted to see my trip. I was laying on the beach and I saw a circular rainbow all the way around the sun........I dont think its very common and it is so amazing. I have pics, but It will take some time until I get them up!!! The second thing I want to see is phosphourecense...Im tired and have no idea how to spell it.....

Oh yeah one thing I forgot to write about, and I think you had to be there to appreciate how funny it was...but anyways.....While in Phnom Phen Ash and I decided to have a movie night. We went with our 17 year old moto driver Alex and bought a fake copy of the new Harry Potter, picked up a box of extra buttery microwave popcorn and headed back to the guesthouse!!! We were so excited because most places dont have microwaves, but Alex assured us he could pop the popcorn for us. We gave him a couple of the bags and he set off to the kitchen to pop them. 10 minutes later they still werent popped, he brought one bag out and only a couple kernels had popped, so he went back into the kitchen to try again! Eventually Ash went in to see what was up.....the 'microwave' popping our corn was a toaster oven!!!!! Did we ever laugh!! We explained that this wouldnt work and we assumed that he wouldnt try again.....10 minutes later he let me know that he was still trying, in the toaster oven...I insisted he take it out before it caught on fire...sure enough once he went to take it out it was burnt, and of course not popped!!! And the copy of Harry Potter was so bad that we couldnt watch it!!!

Anyways Im off to my room as I have 2 movie channels in English!!!

Thailand

2007-07-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

Im in Thailand now, although yesturday I had a tad bit of a hard time getting across the border. My 4 hour journey to Trat, took 12 hours and I ended up in Bangkok....At 6:30 in the morning took a share taxi from battamabang to the Pailin border crossing to Thailand, its open to foreigners but not that commonly used, I paid so much money for this car that they crammed full of supplies and people, that Im sure I paid far more than all the others combined. I arrived at the crossing and the Cambodian border guard showed me a new regulation, keep in mind he spoke barely any English. The sign said that in order to cross into Thailand you needed to have travel arrangements or a bus ticket. It was unclear, so the Cambodian officer drove me to the Thai side, who didnt speak any English, because I didnt have the documentation they wanted and they wouldnt take a bribe?!!? I couldnt get across. Ahhhhh. So they let me know that there was another crossing that a motorbike could take me to, where I could buy a bus ticket?, now this border crossing was 2 hours away and NOT on the map...so I hopped on the back of the bike and headed through the middle of nowhere. At the time I arrived I saw a group of foreigners and I was shocked....so I ended up having to pay a huge amount of money for the cambodian side to print me a fake bus ticket, just to prove that I had travewlled in cambodia I guess?! They told me that there was a mini bus heading to Bangkok and that it was leaving right away and if I didnt take it he couldnt help me....which was true. I went through the border and hopped on a bus to Bangkok full of tourists, eventhough trat was only 45 minutes away there was NO one to take me!!! Turns out that the driver, a lovley german man, has a business of doing visa runs for people living in thailand but from other countries, and it just so happened that at the exact time I was there he had brought a group of people to re start their visas and had he not been there I would have been up shit creek with out a paddle. Once I found this out I understood why the thai border officer called over the other officer to tell her that it was my 1st time in Thailand and he shared his food with me :) Claudio told me that NO ONE uses that crossing!!!

When I arrived in Bangkok I was unprepared because I wasnt expecting to end up there....Claudio invited me to stay with his family for the night and it happened to be his sons birthday party, I met a whole house full of amazing thais and ate the most amazing food!! Today Im heading to Koh Samet for 5 days before meeting up with Ash again Bangkok!!!! Later, megs

Its sunny again!!

2007-07-19T04:09:00.000-07:00

Well Ashley and I spent 5 or so days down south at the beach where it rained the whole time. We went to a national park just outside of Kampot (a really cool little town)....hopped on the top of a pick up truck and headed on our way....6 hours in total on a rocky, bumpy dirt road dodging trees!!! My backside was so bruised the next day!!!next stop Phnom Phen(my 4th time visiting)where we chilled out for a few days!!! It finally got sunny yesturday and I think it will probably stay sunny for the rest of my trip?!!!???!! Off to Thailand in 2 days to chill out on the beach and drink coconuts!!!

Lost shoes

2007-07-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!! Today Ashley and took a bus to Shinoukville in the south of Cambodia. We are staying in an amazing bungalow on the beach, it is heaven. I did however have quite an adventure....On our way to dinner I fell in QUICKSAND....seriously, right up to my stomach....quite a shock.....I was able to get out, but not with my shoes and I have forever lost them!!!! I think I am going to go back to the spot and do a reinactment for a photo ;) I was laughing so hard...I wish it was on video!! I still cant believe that I fell in quicksand!!! Oh but I miss my shoes, they have been good to me. I said to Ashley "how many people can say they have sunk in quicksand!!!" Oh it was priceless!!!! Well Im heading back to my bungalow now...I borrowed a flashlight so that I dont fall in quicksand again!!!!

W

2007-07-09T06:14:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone (I am unable to write a title for this blog...so its titled W??).....I have had enought adventures the past five days to last hmmmmm a life time :) Five days ago I met up with Ashley in Phnom Phen,who is from Kamloops, so exciting!! and we decided to go on an adventure. The next morning we hopped on the bus to the mondokiri province in the far east of Cambodia (If you google it it wont come up because I dont know how to spell it!!!) The roads were said to have been built by the bastard child of the devil himself, and that wasnt even in the rainy season, which it is now!!!! So we prepared ourselves for a hardcore 5 hour journey to where very very few backpackers go, 13 hours later we arrived in Se Monoram! The 1st leg of our journey was on a local bus, part way we switched to another small bus and headed down a road that was the worst I had ever seen....until the torrential rains came (also the worst I had ever seen) and we had to hop into the back of a very full land rover to slip and slide through the meter(s) of red mud. Trucks were stuck the whole way along the road...I have amazing pics and videos as it was so so unreal, but the connection is so slow in Cambodia I cant download pics, 3 times the roads were so bad that everyone had to hop out of the truck in the rain and tramp through the mud!!!! We laughed the whole time, even when the driver had a flat tire and when he kept having to stop and check under the hood!!!!

We arrived to a lovely village amongst green rolling hills, we are staying in a lovely little bungalow and it is so so peaceful. Chilling out in the hammock and reading book!! Ah its the life. Yesturday we went to a minority village where we went trekking through the jungle on the back of an elephant!!! She was destruction elephant!!! She pulled out anything in her path....bushes, banana trees and as we were walking she walked over to a very large ancient tree and began to pull off a branch. I said "wow, she is so strong, I cant believe she can pull of that branch," as I said this she grabbed a hold of the trunk of the tree and pulled the entire tree, roots and all, out of the ground with her trunk........unreal. If this was a touristy place there would be NOTHING left of the jungle. Nothing!!! It was uber cool and uncomfortable being on the back of an elephant!!

Ashley and I ended up getting a ride home with the director of the Red Cross in Cambodia who invited us to have dinner with him and his friends!! A free meal, who could say no!!!! Now I have eaten some really gross things so far...spiders, silkworms, snake, scorpions etc....but what I ate last night still turns my stomach and makes me cringe when I thik about it!!! We had a 'buffet' of minority food that you can only get in this region that consisted of ground bird, literally, feathers, guts, beak, bones...the whole thing, a very strange liver dish that just looked so so wrong and a minority soup which was made of congealed cow blood, blood and was full of all the strange bits of animal that you would NEVER ever eat at home the bits that would go in the garbage...furry bits, crunchy bits, chewy bits....oh and it just tasted so wrong!!! We couldnt refuse as we were guests and the food was served onto our plates for us....poor Ashley was given 2 bowls of blood soup!!! I only had one....

Tomorrow we are heading back on the same road we came for our '5' hour journey!!!! Off to the beach soon!!!! Later megs

Riding in the Rain

2007-07-02T07:28:00.000-07:00

Oh how I LOVE Cambodia, it really is my kinda country!!! Yesturday I cycled 30 kilometers(on a bycicle)through the amazing temples of Angkor and only 6 kilometers of that was spent riding through torrential downpour in winds so strong that we (Nichola and I) could barely stay upright, rain so heavy that we were in tonnes of pain, and water up to the pedals of our bikes...oh and in addition to that my bike kept breaking until it was completely permanently broken 3 or 4 kilometeres outside of Siem Reap!!!! It was so so funny, I took a brilliant video.....normal people pulled over and waited under trees, but not us, we were already wet and thought why not keep going!!!! Ended up having to load both bikes onto a tuk tuk to get back into town!!

I am in Siem Reap, the town near Angkor Wat...it is such a lovely place...quite touristy but in a brilliant yet expensive way!!! If you imagine the coolest, trendiest coffee shop, gift shop or restaurant you've ever seen or been to and then combine a whole bunch of them into the centre of a small town and then add jungles and the most amazing temples in the world (and the slowest internet) that is Siem Reap. Its just perfect!!!

Can you believe I cycled 30km????

Creepy Crawlers....

2007-06-29T06:44:00.001-07:00

Tonight I ate a spider the size of my hand, a grasshopper and a frog and since travelling I can now eat olives, tomatoes (I know its a miracle)and mushrooms!!!!
And Just so everyone knows spiders do NOT taste good :)

Im in Cambodiaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!

2007-06-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

Well I have arrived safely in Cambodia...took a bus from Saigon this morning, paid extra for the special express bus with a toilet, however the roads were so incredibly bad that I was afraid the toilet would spill everywhere if i used it!! ha ha!!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Cambodia, eventhough I've only been here 8 hours. Its very different from Vietnam...Im staying in a little room overlooking the lake with the mangiest shared bathroom i have EVER seen....but its only $3!!! I made sure that the first word i learned was 'it's too expensive'!!! which i've come to realize is the most important phrase you can ever learn in a language!

I read a book before coming here and it has changed how i look at life...its called 'first they killed my father' and if any of you get the chance you should read it. After reading that book I have so much admiration and respect for what the people in Cambodia have been through.

Well thats about it for now....I cant believe any of you actually read my last post..impressive, it was so long and really didnt make much sense!!!

Later, megs

31 people, a baby and a bicycle

2007-06-25T04:51:00.000-07:00

Oh this past week has been jammed packed full of adventures...I am so exhausted and have so so much to write, but this would turn into a very long book if i wrote them all. I figure i must be manifesting all the mishaps just so that I have stories to tell and write in my blog!! In Hoi An I met up with Nichola and we decided to take local transport further south...but to do this we had to go about 1 hour north to Danang to catch a train....we stayed in Danang for a couple nights before hopping on the very local, uber slow train to another place off the beaten track, Quy Nhon. Danang was cool, no tourists, and lovely beaches...we hung out on China beach which was so amazing and the colour of the water turquiose blue...ahhhh, lovely. We had some hassles but it was nice being in a city that for the most part charges foreigners local price...we found a little alley with amazing side of the road food..and this is where we had most of our meals!! We ended up walking to the train station at 2:30 in the morn and on the way we were hassled by some lovely large scary stray dogs...luckily we made it safely to the station...hopped on the train for our 8 hour journey amongst hundreds of boxes and vietnamese people on hard bench seats....the first thing I saw when i got on the train was a man sleeping in a hammock (he had strung it up over top of the wooden bench seats)so funny. Met an amazingly creepy guy who probably had never seen another foreigner and thinks that we are all a tad skanky like in the movies.....eventually he took the hint, we had met him outside the train station while we were talking to a really nice taxi driver who wanted to practice his english...this taxi driver translated our story to this creepy guy who then on the train told another man about us and once the creepy guy left this man told the other people on the train and these people were the ones that we met at the cafe (that I write about later) who then told their family about us...(Im not sure if that made any sense, but it was my life story played out like a game of telephone) We met some other non english speaking people and we played '13' the vietnamese card game for hours!! I was in my glory! ....the reason Nichola and I decided to go to Quy nhon was because we had the bright idea to rent bicycles for 3 or 4 days and ride down the coast....we heard of barbaras on the beach, who apparently could help us arrange anything, however barbara was on holidays and she had some very useless staff who simply tried to rip us off and could not help us with anything we wanted to do..so we decided to leave at 12 the next day to a place where people could speak english....but first we set out with our bicycles to go and visit the leper colony, we walked out of our hotel and there at the smoothie cafe next door was the lady and her daughter who we met on the train, neither of whom spoke english...she invited us for a smoothie, introduced us to her sister and her husband, and then motioned that they wanted to take us around the town....they were so adamant that they took our bicycles and put them back in the hotel...so we hopped on the back of the motorcycles...3 people per bike and headed to the leper colony right by the beach, but first they took us down to the rock beach where we had professional photos taken and then back to the colony, where we had more professional photos taken!! So funny....next they took us for an amazing meal and then back to the hotel in time to catch a bus...they were so lovely and asked nothing in return...it was so amazing and they were so lovely and giving that Nichola and I both had tears in our eyes as we were saying goodbye to this lovely family! We had been having such a crap time...really I have not fought with so many people in my life as I have in Vietnam and everytime something is stressy something lovely always happens...we grabbed our luggage and went to the highway to hail a bus to Nha trang, beach capital of Vietnam...very touristy but we didnt want anymore hassels...now this 16 seat mini bus that we caught, by the time it was full had 31 people, 1 baby, a bicycle and a lot of luggage...what an adventure...we made it safely to Nha Trang, found an amazing new hotel overlooking the ocean and i got stung by another jelly fish...and this one hurt!!!
Wow Ive just wrote so much and most of it doesnt make any sense...but thats okay, its late and im off to bed and I think Im heading to Cambodia really soon!!!! Im ready for a new set of adventures :)

Beaches and Bikes

2007-06-19T04:21:00.000-07:00

I am writing again...only because the internet is free and I have a few minutes before I go and find some strange local food for dinner!!! I am still in Hoi An....and am having a brilliant time....today I spent the day riding through villages and around the beaches on a bicycle...and as most of you know that this is a miracle...truly!!!! Today I rode in the middle of beautiful nowhere but also had to ride 4 kilometres with the thousands and thousands of motorbikes, bicycles and cars driving to the beach for festival and I am back safely in one very very tanned brown piece!!! This, along with eating and drinking sugar cane juice is what I've been doing the past 5 or 6 or 7 days?? When I come home I want to get a light pink granny bike with a big metal basket on the front (hint hint)....my granny bike here is blue and just not quite girly enough for me!! Tam bien, megs

Sunglasses and the Police and Korean movies

2007-06-18T06:48:00.000-07:00

I contemplated whether or not I should write about my adventures the past couple days and I decided that although its been a bit of a shit time, its been an adventure and everything turned out lovely in the end!!! If you reading this to your children perhaps dont....as I had to tell a few white lies these past couple days!!!

A few days ago I lost my most precious travelling companion...my oh so expensive prescription sunglasses. I knew positively that I had had them at the hotel, so I searched everywhere, and asked everyone if they had seen them...no luck. So I first found an eyeglasses shop and ordered a really cool pair of 'police' sunglasses....contacted my insurance company and then headed to the police station to get a police report...otherwise travel insurance would not cover the loss. It is okay to lose something and claim it (but you still need a police report..and the police are loco here) I figured it would be easier just to tell them it was stolen from my bag while walking into the market (a wee little white lie)....the police however claimed that if it was not in the hotel room then it was not a robbery and therefore they couldnt help me. So I argued...really argued for about 1 hour, offered them money..no luck, and finally as I was about to leave realized that I should video tape it...so I sat back down, snuck out my camera, turned on the video, and started antagonizing the police officer again (actually quite a funny video)...I figured if he wouldnt write anything for me the least I could do was video it and send it to my insurance company....I walked out and headed to pick up my cool sunglasses....also no luck because they really had no idea how to add my prescription to sunglasses, they kept saying my 'yes yes your prescription, however it was not right....so I headed back to the hotel in quite a fowl mood....my roomate, Nikola was leaving so another girl, also Nichola was going to move into my room...but when we told reception that we were going to share they wanted to charge us 4.00 more, eventhough I was sharing before...ahhhhh sometimes they are so so crazy here...another 45 minute argument which ended in all three of us leaving the hotel...but before I left I went back up to the room and I moved the chair and out fell my oh so expensive sunglasses!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had a good laugh over that...all that work and hassle and they had been in my room all along....I had said to Nikola over the past few days "I just dont feel like they are gone" looks like they werent!!!!

Last night I went to the most amusing movie I have ever been to. A Korean movie...not sure the Korean name, but the vietnamese name was 'Say Tinh' where the main character speaks english and everyone else in the movie speaks Korean...over top of that was the loudest vietnamese voice over I have ever heard...Nichola sat with her ears plugged the whole time!!! It was in an old rickety theatre with wooden seats and birds flying around....and it only cost 60 cents and was Brilliant!!!

Auntee MayMay

2007-06-18T06:43:00.000-07:00

Well for everyone reading my blog, my sister had a baby girl named Evalee Jane. She is so very lovely and her favourite colour is pink!!! I figured I must add her to my blog because I know, even though she hasnt told me, that my mother must be making this into a book and Evalee must be included!!! And when Evalee gets a wee bit older she can come travelling too...maybe in a couple months ??????

I am turning Japanese???

2007-06-16T04:42:00.001-07:00

Every once in a while through out asia people have told me that I look like I have Chinese eyes, today however, a Vietnamese lady came up to me and asked me if I was from Japan!!! Hilarious....did she not notice my hair??? I am super dark now....darker than most Vietnamese girls...but still...anyways thats all...thought it was pretty funny!

Paradise

2007-06-16T04:21:00.000-07:00

Today I lost my sunglasses and got stung by a jelly fish!!!!

Good morning Vietnam

2007-06-15T04:02:00.000-07:00

For breakfast I had.....prawns with pork, pork rind, fish soup, fish and rice.....oh so many adventures in Vietnam this past 2 weeks. I could write a book!!! In the past 10 days I have ventured from Hanoi down the coast to Hoi An...a 450km journey that took me 32 hours in total, and only 5 hours of that was broken down on the side of the road (not to worry the 10, 12 and 14 year old boys fixed the bus)

I decided to venture off the beaten track and go to an area not mentioned in the lonely planet....Ha tinh. To get there I took the worlds slowest train and local bus. I arrived to find that no one spoke English and that they probably hadnt had a tourist there in ages. Felt a tad unsafe there so I took a local bus to Lang Co, another place without tourists.....the local bus was so funny....while the bus is driving down the highway one man holds on to the open door and hangs his body out of the bus hollaring at people on the side of the road trying to get them to come on the bus!! Not so safe!!

I arrived in Lang Co and found an amazing family run guest house. My room had a porch that overlooked the lagoon, and only 4 minutes in the other direction was the ocean. Paradise. The whole family was so amazing and treated me as one of the family.....fed me, took me out for seafood with their entire family, took me out on the motorbike, painted my nails, cut my hair (with the meat scissors and 1 cm turned out to be 5 inches...ahhhhhhhhhhh. They wanted me to stay forever! The only thing they made me pay for was the room...$5 per night! I spent my days sleeping, swimming, motorbiking, drinking coconuts(such a beautiful thing), playing cards....one night I went with Thuat, the son, and his friends to eat cat, crabs and to sleep on the beach! His friends cat was getting old so they decided to cook it, seriously....and on the beach there are sand crabs, we walked along the beach and just grabbed the crabs from the sand...we cooked them over the fire and at tonnes and tonnes of fresh crab and cat....Dont worry I refused to eat the cat! That morning I saw my first sunrise...Its hard to believe it was my first, but it was....I could have stayed in Lang Co for ages but decided to move on, although I may go back! I am now in Hoi An staying at a hotel that is fancier than any I've stayed in before....has a lovely indoor pool and free bike rentals!! Im only paying $3.50 as I met a girl from England to share with!! Hoi An is going to be trouble for me...the whole town is filled with tailors who can make ANYTHING...there are even shoemakers that can copy or make any design you show them....I must find a job here to afford that!! I went to a few tailors and told them that if they found me a job for a couple weeks I would buy lots of clothes :)

I've seen so many many amazing things in Vietnam...but one of the most fascinating thing I've seen was at the beach in Lang Co, each night while sitting at the beach small blue glow in the dark 'flecks' are washed ashore. If you touch them it feels like sand....but you can make prints, just like paint prints....however I have no
idea what it is so if anyone knows I would love to know!!

Wowzas thats alot to read...well I have more stories but I'll have to save those until I get home!!!! Hugs, love Megs

Magic and Fireflies

2007-05-26T02:13:00.000-07:00

I am back from amazing Cuc Phuoc National park. Stayed in Ninh binh for one night and then Christiaan and I hired a motorbike to take us just over 2 hours to the National park. From the entrance to the park it was another 20 km to the Pillar house, where we spent the night....away from all other tourists and backpackers (yes they are different) It was SO amazing and magical. We trekked for a few hours just before it got dark...there were so many new sounds and sights.....the highlight for me was the fireflies that came out at sunset..........I could have watched them all night, they are such amazing things. Had noodle soup for breakfast...that was a first (of many Im sure) for me and it was actually Okay. We took another motorbike to a small town where we caught the local bus back to Hanoi...it was far more exciting than the 'tourist' bus that we were convinced to take to Ninh Binh!!!! I think they are not used to having tourists there because when I went to buy lychees they only charged me 1 dollar for 2 kg.....so incredibly cheap!!! The people here are so lovely, contrary to what most people say, and they DONT spit!!!!! The food is really good although Im on my 5th or 6th week of nothing staying in my stomach!!! Perhaps I should get that checked out :) Later, Megs

Vietnam

2007-05-24T00:39:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!!! I am sitting at a small hotel in Hanoi writing and waiting for a bus to Ninh Bing, where I will be heading to a national park to do some trekking.

I am not feeling particularly creative, so this blog may be less than entertaining!
First, I must back track to China.....I have been so organized with all my things and HAD not lost anything in 11 months, however as I was packing up my things up in Dali I packed an extra bag (something I NEVER do) In it I put my shawl, my new shoes that were so so ugly that they were cool, other things AND my lonely planet southeast asia....I arrived in Kunming and began looking for my shawl and realized that I left that whole bag in Dali!!! Oops....so I lost my lonely even before arriving in SE Asia....oh well...I can just buy a fake copy here :)

Back to Vietnam.....It rained most of the days in Sapa, but still it was amazing...ended up renting a DVD player and buying some VCDs....they were hilarious...bought 'memiors of a geisha' which was in English but had vietnamese voice over....so you could here the english and right after the vietnamese...even better was a 'Paradise now' in Hebrew with vietnamese voice over!!! Ha ha.
After 3 or four days of rain I took a 3 hour bus to Bac Ha, a lovely village with a beautiful market amidst rice terraces and lovely mountains....the people were so colourful and lovely. Next stop Lao Cai where I caught an overnight train to Hanoi...it was a great train except that it arrived at 5 am.....SO i went on my first motorbike taxi....It was scary, new and exhilarating.....found another hotel in Hanoi for $4 (including fan, tonnes of stairs, ants and even house lizards!!!)
Headed to Halong bay for a 1 night boat trip through the amazing limestone peaks...went swimming!!!!!!!!!!! (the highlight of my trip :) ) ate good food, watched amazing stars....the room was so lovely, had I known it would be as good as it was I would have stayed longer!!!

Im exhausted and am going to chill out in a chair for awhile :)

RAIN

2007-05-19T03:34:00.000-07:00

Well I am in Vietnam....I took a 12 hour sleeper bus from Kunming, China...something I had been avoiding the whole time I was in China......had a small bed, lots of people smoking and no toilet. I didnt sleep AT all.....the road was so so bad...if any of you had ever been on the road to the cabin at the okanagan, it was pretty much like that, and it was pouring rain....there were some bumps that we went over where I went completely airborne in my bed...it was quite hilarious...I was just happy to make it safely to the border crossing!! I met up with a Christiaan, who I met first in Lijiang, and we decided to do the journey together!!! As we were crossing the border from China into vietnam they decided to take his lonely planet China, they do this to everyone because the map excludes taiwan and says too much about tibet!!! So they gave him a choice to surrender it or have it confiscated...he chose to have it confiscated so that he could have a souvenir....an official document!! and of course to make them work for the book!!

We arrived in Lao Cai and drove around in our bus to sapa looking for people to fill up the empty seats for 1 hour!!!!!!! All the mountains and rice fields are so lovely. lush and fresh!!! We arrived in sapa and headed to the queen hotel which has a lovely view of the mountains (actually its been raining and foggy, so I've only just seen the full view this afternoon!!!) We trekked to Cat cat village today...with rice terraces and waterfalls and it was beautiful!!!

Well thats about all for now.....miss you all, megs

Blood:The Last Vampire

2007-05-14T04:09:00.000-07:00

Okay , so yesturday nanna, cecil and I came to Dali to do 3 days of Tai chi at a monastery, we were at the bird bar hostel when a lady came in and asked us to be in a movie.....they would provide food and a place to stay and they needed us for up to 15 days....since we were doing the tai chi we said no....but this morn it was pouring rain so we called her up and said okay....so in 20 minutes I am heading to a private hotel to get all dolled up and filming starts at 8 pm tonight ...its a vampire movie so I'll probably just be a dead person on the side of the road, ha ha!!!!! At our hostel someone said that tom cruise was in the movie...doubt it but it will be interesting to see who is in it!!! Hilarious!!!! later, megs

Okay so Im finished my first day of work......i guess its the same producers of crouching tiger hidden dragon....and we were told that we would go right to makeup and then filming at 8...well they picked us (25 foreigners) up and took us to a studio to show the director our kung fu skills........hahahahahahahahahahahahaha it was a beautiful gongshow...I dont think Ive even seen a kung fu movie before. we had to perform one by one with everyone watching.....it was hilarious...I did yoga!!! Not one foreigner knew kung fu.....I was just hoping to be a dead person or something.....apparently they probably wont even film in the next few days (they are so disorganized) so for now Im just gonna enjoy my lovely bedroom that has a bathroom and a TV!!!!!!! Later, Megs

Nanna, Cecil and I shared a room at a hotel (not a hostel)
On our second day of 'work' we were picked up from our hotel at 4 and taken to movie city....it was like universal studios, but better because there werent any tourists (truly amazing)....they said no photos but luckily I didnt listen.....the sets were how I had envisioned china would be before I came here! We were taken to wardrobe and given outfits....I however searched through and picked my own :) They had a good laugh when I showed them my booty (only because I was joking about it) NO pants would have fit me....so I found a brilliantly ugly dress and I dressed it up with an ugly belt.

Next we were taken to a building near where they were filming and we had our makeup done....they did a crap job but it was lovely having someone turn me into a vampire?? We hung out for ages (4 or 5 hours) in a cold building awaiting filming. At dinner time we were all excited because they had western food: nutella, bread, fruits, olives, cereal...etc..............but when we went to have some we were denied, apparently the western food was for the chinese actors and the chinese slop/hospital/bad airplane food outside in buckets was for the foreigners...ah ha ha....theres something backwards about that. So we all complained and said we would leave if we didnt get western food...so they agreed that the on the next day of filming we would have better food. We played cards and hung out until are moment to shine!!! It was surreal sitting at a table playing cards (poker, of course) with 'vampires' from all over the world!!

In Dali it has been raining for days and it was so cold that we could see out breath.....and guess what, we got to be dead people!!!!!! When we heard the gun shot we had to fall to the ground and be dead, I was curled up on the ground in the pouring rain in a dress, and to top it off they added their own buckets and buckets of rain!!! Keep in mind we could see our breath. I have NEVER EVER EVER been so cold in my life!!! We did a few takes and were laying on the ground for about 25 minutes before they let us go into the tents........they were so so so disorganized and we had no idea what was going on or when we would be shooting again that we stayed in our wet clothes, that didnt dry for another 6 or 7 hours............ahhhhhhhhhhhhh we were so cold!!!
Nanna got chosen randomly to do a second scene where she had to play dead in the rain again...poor girl.....while the rest of us just sat in wet clothes. We started at 4 pm and didnt get back to our hotel until 7 am....it was a long exhausting day and night....however we slept until 3 30 pm today and it was amazing, we awoke to get paid (yes I got paid....about as much as it cost me to live these past 10 or 12 days) They wanted us to do another shoot today but we were so cold still that we said no...It would have been cool cuz they would have turned us into monsters, but we would have had to work overnight in the rain again....so instead we did an afternoon run!!!! and now we are staying at a youth hostel!!!!! They would have been able to use us for longer and we would have been able to do a bar scene and more but I am still shivering and I'm going to save myself for Bollywood!!!!!!!!!!! The movie will be out next year and is called
Blood: The last Vampire!!!!!!!! Thats the story of my beautiful gongshow!!!!

Megan the great

2007-05-06T00:07:00.000-07:00

Hi all!!!

I am writing from Lijiang, China, it is an amazing sunny day today....looks like I left the rain behind in Dali. I'll back track to my adventures in Dali. This past week has been the week long chinese golden holiday and Dali was sooooooooooooooooooooooo packed with people. I just chilled out doing nothing for a couple days, my hostel was a beautiful gongshow, it felt almost like a tropical paradise! Dali was cool, had a beautiful useless lake, as you cannot swim in it, cool buildings and amazingly beautiful people. Some of the most beautiful old people I have ever seen.....minorities who are naxi, tibetan and more! I took the 4 hour bus from Dali to Lijiang which is bordering Tibet, the bus rides here are brilliant! its like being on a scary ride at an amusement park.....I really do enjoy them!

I am staying at the most brilliant guesthouse called Mama Naxis. I met up with Megan (who is now called number two and I am number one) at the guesthouse...... as soon as we arrived she fed us tea and bananas....mama and papa take care of everyone here like a big family...If she sees you out on the street, she asks if your hungry and then will make you come in to her place and she will feed you. Everyone meets for breakfast, which is a massively huge banana pancake (the size of a pizza and just as thick) for 50cents, and again for dinner, you sit down and they just keep bringing out food and more food and more food, and it is all brilliant and costs only 1.75.........such an amazing place......last night we came in around 1am and she came out and said to a couple of guys 'you go to tigerleaping 8am, go to bed, I wake you up early.' She speaks little english but can communicate well and everyone calls her mama. No one else here has ever stayed at a place like it!!!!! i may just stay here the rest of my trip!!!! he he!! oh yeah and my bunk bed has stairs going up to it.....amazing!!!

What else...hmmm.....I have peed in a trough, and beside people with no dividers and well Im going to take a siesta now....later, number 1

2007-05-02T03:42:00.000-07:00

Hello from Kunming, in the Yunnan province in China. I spent the last week in Yangshuo, a 'quiet' village FILLED with tourists....not just backpackers but TOURISTS. Definitely not China. The countryside was filled with limestone? Karsts, so lovely, and the li river meandering through the town!! I stayed at a guest house named 'lisas,' met some amazing people who were staying in my dorm all from Israel. So now I've added another country to my list of must visits. It rained or rather poured most of the time I was there....I washed my clothes on Saturday morning and on monday morning they still werent dry....ugh!!!!

China is so hmmmmm.......interesting...I ate at this dumpling place a few times in Yangshuo....they always make the dumplings on the table near where you eat, on my last day there the man was smoking and making them and even better yet, they brought in the cat and started combing it.......ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! right beside the dumplings!!!!! And People dont just spit here, they Hork (no idea how to spell it) Unlike Korea where it is just spitting and usually only men spit, here everyone does, it is so animated, loud and rather disgusting, especially when your sitting in the back of a taxi and the spit flies back and hits you!!!! And one more thing SNOT ROCKETS...so gross, heres what you do to create a snot rocket, cover one of your nostrils with your finger and then blow as hard as you can so that all the snot comes out of your other nostril....you can blow it out the car window, in the garbage can, on the sidewalk, in the stores.....anywhere you feel like it....so disgusting.

I survived my second long train ride, 20 hours long...it actually went by so so fast, even if I was like a monkey in a cage.....the old lady above and across from me stared at me almost the whole time she was awake......

I have 2 weeks left in China and then off to Vietnam!!!
Despite what I have written about the rain, snot rockets, and being a monkey, I am having an amazing time in China........Later, megs

2007-04-25T05:31:00.000-07:00

Well I am in Guilin, China...I survived my train ride from Beijing!!! I read a bad book and slept and thats about it, no one spoke English, one lady however kept trying to feed my chicken feet (days old) and radishes, I chose the radishes and have a new found 'like' for this vegetable that I would not have touched before!!! My 27 hour train ride ended up only being 24 hours, to my surprise, in true megan style I had my shit scattered EVERYWHERE and had to pack it up and run off the train as Guilin wasnt the last stop!!!! That was a funny site for everyone around me!! Guilin is beautiful....you must google it.....and I hear that whatever pics you see are actually pics from Yangshuo where I am heading tomorrow. It smells like Portugal which is lovely!!!! Thats about it....later, megs

I just gotta get outta this place

2007-04-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

ha ha!!! Well I've been in Beijing for almost 1 week....not intentionally though....Im taking a 27 hour train to a small village in the south of China tomorrow and had to wait a few days to get a sleeper!! I went to the great wall today, which was the highlight of all the tourist sites here, the rest are all overrated and jam packed with people!!! The food, although I wrote in my last blog, that it was good, isnt. Well, its okay, but you know how the chinese food is in Canada, well its pretty much the same oily greasy, stomach falling out of your ass, food! Megan and I shared a whole Peking Duck tonight...so cheap, 10.00 for a whole duck and side dishes!!! As we were walking back to the hostel we saw a little boy squat and pee all over the road....I guess thats the perk of having a hole in the babies pants and no diapers!!!! What else............Im rather tired and I cant wait to get out of the big city....later, megs

Testicles and.......

2007-04-20T08:49:00.000-07:00

Well I am in Beijing, Im writing from the Leo Hostel near Tiananmen square....Beijing is VERY polluted and massive and it takes ages to walk around.....it is far more 'asian' than Korea. People ride bikes all around, wee babies wearing pants without a backside, apparently they just drop a bomb where ever? food is uber cheap and good....especially the delicasies from the night market...I just came back from my second night there. If you happen to be reading this allowed to a child you may want to sensor the next bit!!!! Last night I had testicles, snake and an entire scorpion...mmmmmmmmmm!!!! I went there with a weak stomach from the indian food night adamant not to eat anything strange!! ha ha.....its late and Id better get to bed, I may go hike the great wall tomorrow!! Later, Megs

2007-04-15T08:10:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, by everyone I mean my mother...well perhaps more of you will read this too!!!!
Thanks to Melisa, I now have my very own pink blog....yes Heather you will have to wear your sunglasses!!!! I am sitting in Heathers apartment in Suwon, about 1 hour outside of Seoul, on a good traffic day, 3 hours on a bad day......she is sleeping and I am preparing for my slow boat to china (perhaps mentally preparing). I am leaving for China on Tuesday and will hopefully befriend some amazing person to have me stay with them in Beijing, he he!! I have had an amazing last week in Korea....went on a road trip to the east coast where Heather and I went in the ocean, lots of laughs and chocolate mini eggs, yes the easter bunny managed to find us in Korea!!! What a good easter bunny! Lots of jimjilbangs, friends and good food....and I think I managed not to drive Heather too crazy with my idea of clean!! Melisa came up from Wando to spend my last weekend with me, thanks millie......At the beginning of the week Heather and I randomly met a couple of ajashis (old men), while Heather was doing sit ups on a bench, at the medieval wall, with an amazing view of Suwon and cherry blossoms all around, who taught us how to play the traditional Korean flute......in Korea I have become used to sharing everything, drinks, communal portions of food and traditional flutes, while playing a friend of Heathers walked by and invited us for tea at her amazing tea house, while there we met an amazing man, Daewon Seo, who spent the past 20 years in Italy and is apparently 'the italian chef' of Korea. He offered to make us a private italian dinner at the tea house...so Friday night we went for an amazing 5 course, 3 hour Italian meal, with Italian music and CCR in the background. Saturday night Hwan Jin came and cooked us amazing Korean food and on Sunday night we went for Indian Buffet.....Im like a bear getting ready for hibernation, soon (tuesday) I will be eating as uber cheaply as possible as I hop on my slow boat to China, a 25 hour ferry ride!!!! China here I come!!!!

Megan's leaving for China!

2007-04-14T20:18:00.000-07:00