From Austalia to Thailand

As I stated before, we have been looking for interesting ways to spend our time in Australia. I know you are thinking, shouldn’t Australia itself be memorable? Yes, it is - the 14-hour flight alone was memorable, but we wanted something a little more crazy or audacious…something we would look back on and not believe we did. Well, these last few days included some of the most wild things in my life…things I never thought I would have done before….events that would have driven my mom crazy.
:-)

January 5

Entering our hotel on the first day, we came across tons of brochures. I believe this is where all of the madness started. The flyers planted ideas in our heads that we probably never would have thought of. For example, white water rafting. I’m not going to lie and say I was all excited about this idea….I was extremely nervous. But like a good sport, I decided to partake just for the pure enjoyment of saying I did it…and everyone else was doing it as well, including Robin.
Our bus finally came and I was starting to become excited, but as we started moving I became more nervous for multiple reasons. First off, our bus driver was stoked because the rapids hadn’t been this big in ages. Second, I thought the water was going to be clear, hence the name WHITE water rafting, instead it was mud brown..worse than Carlyle Lake. Lastly, it was pouring rain. The last wasn’t as bad because we were going to get wet anyway, but it did not add any excitement.

Starting off towards the water, the rapid looked gigantic. They were churning in all directions, just like my stomach. We hopped in the raft and our guide, Cindy, explained all the maneuvers, rules, and things to expect. Things like falling out and flipping the raft. YIKES – I did not want this to happen. I believe Robin may have even threatened Cindy’s life if she (Robin) fell out.
Needless to say, my expectations of the rough waves were correct. We made it past the first three rapids safely and they were actually a lot of fun. As we approached the fourth (I think) it was much bigger than the last few. Andrea and I were in the front, so we could see everything before everyone else. It was a lot of excitement and fear combined. Passing the rapid, I turned around to exclaim how much fun that was and then realized James was hanging onto the side of the raft for dear life…he fell off. The same thing happened to Robin on the next rapid, then Andrea, then myself. It was a domino effect. Each time the guide got us all back in safely.
The rapids were so rough today that we actually had to “export”, meaning we had to walk around four different rapids. Once we hopped back onto raft we had to pass a level four rapid. The rapid was usually a three, but the high water made it a four. Cindy told us what to expect and how to handle it. About half way down, we flipped and everyone went flying. I really do not remember a lot of it, but do I remember doing a few flips underwater, losing a shoe and paddle, running into Andrea, almost drowning James, and being saved by random kayaker.

Unnecessary to say, the rest of the river was not that exciting for we all stayed on the raft. I have to admit white water rafting was one of the highlights of the time spent in Australia; everyone enjoyed it, even Robin, enjoyed it. She may not admit it, but we all know she did. Unlike my newfound love for diving, I’m not sure I’ll want to go white water rafting all the time but I’ll keep my options open.

January 6

I didn’t think it could get any better after our scuba diving adventure on Sunday, but the coral we saw snorkeling today was absolutely outstanding. I have never seen so many vivid colors of coral, fish, and sea turtles. The water was a bit choppy today, but it was so much fun. We experimented more with the camera, but it broke around the ninth photo, so we are unable to develop them. Luckily the photo shop exchanged our camera and we have so much more diving to complete in Thailand.

January 7

Today we went on a tour of the Kuranda Rainforest. The tour included a skytram/gondola ride, wildlife park overview, boomerang throwing and didgeridoo lessons, Aboriginal dance demonstrations, and a scenic train ride back the mountain. The day was interesting only for the fact that we could look back on it a laugh at all of the staged events.
Once refreshing up after the muggy ride on the train, we ventured to Trinity Beach for dinner. We ate at Blue Moon and had the best meal. If you ever travel to Cairns, you must try this place. The menu is innovative, tasteful, and filling. I tried the barramundi spring rolls and was absolutely amazed.

January 8

As if white water rafting wasn’t enough excitement, James pressured (wink, wink) me into skydiving today. Unlike white water rafting, I was not nervous, only excited for the thrill of a lifetime. The only time I was scared was after the first girl was sucked out of the plane. The plane was super small and carried a total of 16 people crammed in like sardines. I was sitting by the door, which they kept open durning the flight and was probably the scariest part of the whole experience. My fear wasn’t the parachute not opening, but not being attached to my tandem partner.

James and I both opted to have a video and photos taken. I have sent my video home with Robin and hope my mom will be able to upload it to the blog….prepare yourself for a big laugh.
After skydiving we traveled to Port Douglas for dinner with the rest of our travel group. Port Douglas was about 45 minutes away from our hotel and included a very scenic drive…similar to Route 1 in California. I would advise you not having James as your chauffer for you will feel ill. J

January 8…our last day in Australia

Today is a sad day because we are leaving Australia. While I am excited to move on towards Thailand, I had a great time in Australia and will miss the great attractions the country has to offer. I never expected this two-week trip to include white water rafting, skydiving, or many of the other experiences. Not only have I pushed my limits this trip, but also grown into a person that love adventurous activities. I look forward to integrating a smidgen of these daring behaviors into my life in the States.

James’s final thoughts of Australia

I’m not so sure about Sam’s confidence in my ability to explain Bangkok accurately, but I will give it a shot anyway. But first, I would like to refute the erroneous statements she made up above. I am an excellent driver and adapted to left side driving very well. Sam doesn’t like riding in vans to begin with, and the winding road wasn’t my fault. Secondly, I absolutely did NOT pressure her into skydiving. When we talked about doing it she thought it would be fun, and we said we would look into it. After that she kept bugging me to call and make the reservation, so really she was the one who pressured me. Either way, I’m really glad we did it. Skydiving is amazing. I thought I would be able to move to the edge of the plane, get myself mentally prepared, and then jump out. That’s not how it happens at all. Strapped to my instructor (a woman about 5’5” and 130 pounds), we were the second last group to go. We scooted to the edge, I dangled my feet out of the plane, and then we rocked back once or twice and “fell” out of the plane. I wasn’t ready at all so I think I closed my eyes just before we jumped. I thought if I looked straight down it would make me want to back out. That first second out of the plane I’m pretty sure my heart rate at least doubled. Then everything was great; I loved the free fall. 9000 feet with a max speed of about 125 mph was the most exhilarating 60 seconds I’ve ever had. When we fell through a cloud I felt the mist and cold air on my face. After the chute opened the harness dug into my hips a little hard, but steering the parachute was pretty cool. No matter how scared you think you will be, I think everyone should skydive at least once. However, something a little ironic did occur to me on the glide down. After 4 years of college learning how things fly, 1 month after graduating I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane.

But enough about that. Australia was great and I had a lot of fun, especially white water rafting. Falling out on the grade 4 rapid was a little touchy but we all made it fine. I did my best to point myself in the proper floating position and then just tried to gulp air whenever I surfaced. When I finally got through the worst of it I was able to realize that instead of facing downriver like I was supposed to, I was completely turned around. It surprised me how disorienting the water could be. I saw Sam a little in front of me and swam over to her before we made our way to the edge. After all that we found our boat back and then the trip was almost over. It sounds scary but I had a great time. The beer winner has to be Carlton, they make several styles including draught, cold filtered, midstrength, and light. Overall I think it was the best brand. The only other thing left to say about Australia is that I was unable to find a Crocodile Dundee knife. Someone will have to inform Jerry, Gary, and Kenny that I couldn’t get them one. When I asked around about it they said I might be able to find one in Melbourne or Brisbane, but not where we were. Sorry guys.

January 9 and 10….our first days in Bangkok!

After 12 hours of travel, we finally arrived in Bangkok, Thailand. So far, it seems as if it is going to be a great trip. The most random things I have seen include the truck that was carrying at least 16 passengers and the motorcycles that had three to four riders. I am looking forward to experiencing this vibrant city; it all seems so fascinating!

While I have so much to say about today, I am going to let James explain for I believe he has not only a better memory, but very developed thoughts about the things we experienced or witnessed. However, I will tell you about my favorite part of the first full day. In conjunction with ne of the walking tours we stopped by the Monk’s Bowl Village. Monk’s bowls were originally ceremonial bowls used to collects alms from the faithful every morning. Today a half a dozen families create these bowls by hammering the bowls together from eight separate pieces of steel said to represent Buddhism’s Eightfold Path. The joints are then fused together with melted cooper wire, and the bowl is beaten and polished. We were able to witness this process and hardships of the producers. I could not believe what I was seeing. The little children laying around crying, old men slaving over a pots of fire, and women begging people to walk into their “store”. The Monk’s Bowl Village was definitely an eye opening experience that I will remember forever. The small bowl I purchased will not only look beautiful on my desk, but will also remind me all of which I have to be thankful for.

Bangkok…according to James

Now we are in Bangkok, which is still fun but completely different. The biggest difference I notice is in transportation. First off, our taxi from the airport had no seat belts, except for the driver. I feel I should explain the truck Sam mentioned earlier. It was a small Toyota single cab, probably about 15 years old. There were 4 men crammed in the cab, and 3 rows of 4 men each squatting in the bed, with the truck driving down the Thai version of an Interstate. On the side roads the most common form of multiperson transportation seems to be a dirtbike or moped. It looks like the men on these mopeds get on the seat and sit their smallest child in front of them by the handlebars. Then they look for the largest woman they can find and sit her behind them. After that they take their older child and squeeze him or her between the man and woman. So in all I’d say there is over 400 pounds on what looks like a 90cc moped. I think you would be arrested and have your children taken away if you tried anything remotely like this in the U.S., but this is how it is. After being awake for 22 hours I don’t know if we fully appreciated all of this on the drive to our hotel, but we made it to our room safely. The room is interesting, being about 100 sq feet including the bedroom and bathroom. The A/C kept it mostly cool so I can’t complain, but we did choose to sleep in our sleeping bags instead of directly on the sheets. I don’t think my mom would walk within 100 yards of this guesthouse, but for $20 US per night it’s pretty decent.

So that brings us to our first real day in Bangkok. We consulted our books and found a few things we wanted to see; a temple not too far away, a shopping district, a market, and a restaurant we wanted to try. Walking down Kho San road (the main backpacker district) was pretty much what I thought Bangkok would be like. Lots of shops, weird street food all over, and a bit of general mayhem. It wasn’t really that bad since it was still 9 am, but after we write this we are going to head back to that road this evening to see what’s out there. A Scottish man we met in Australia told us Bangkok is like Disney World for single men and soldiers, and some of the stories we have heard are pretty bizarre, so who knows what we will see. After Kho San we started walking in the direction of the temple. Along the way a random guy started talking to us, asking us where we were from and where we were going. I should mention that although many people speak very little English, when they hear where we are from the first words out of their mouths are “Obama!, yeah?!”. Not to get into politics on this blog, but give me a break. I’m on the other side of the world and I still have to hear about the "Chosen One"… as well as see his face on T-shirts everywhere. Another thing that makes the language barrier interesting is Sam’s attempts to make small talk with people that don’t really speak English. When I talk to them I take out most non-essential words and just try to convey what I mean, but she asks them questions which they have no hope of understanding. They give her a funny look and I just laugh, but at least she’s trying.

I realize at this point that what I’m writing probably sounds like rambling, but that’s kind of how Bangkok is. The random guy we met up with took our map and started circling all the sights we should see today that were free because of a public holiday. He was extremely nice, and even flagged down a tuk-tuk driver for us. Now all of the books and people we have talked to told us to avoid the tuk-tuks, which are three wheeled motor powered carriages, kind of like motorcycles. Sometimes these drivers don’t take you where you want. Instead they go to their cousin’s store and try to get you to buy something. We were kind of caught up in the confusion, so we got in anyway and just hoped it would get us to where we wanted. The tuk-tuks make New York cab drivers look cautious. There seems to be no right of way in Bangkok, if traffic is backed up a little and there are no cars coming, they swerve into the other lane and drive over there for awhile, sometimes not even getting back into the right lane even when oncoming traffic starts coming. They just squeeze between the stopped traffic and the oncoming traffic until they find a spot to get over again. And making turns in front of on coming traffic also looks to be standard procedure. I was looking around and the cars are all in good shape, so I guess they don’t have many accidents, which is reassuring. Our tuk-tuk driver was just as fearless as everyone else but he got us to the places we wanted. Per our helpful stranger’s instructions, the driver took us to Big Buddha, Lucky Buddha, a Thai clothing shop, and lastly the Great Mount. At each place he would wait outside and tell us to take our time. The whole trip lasted around 3 hours, and at the end of it the charge was 20 baht, or around 75 cents. It is not normally that cheap but for the holiday the government gave the tuk-tuk drivers free gas. The driver tried to get us to go to a government shop or something before our last stop, which we refused, so I think maybe there was some agreement between the government and the drivers. Instead of the 20 baht I gave him 50 to include the tip, but even so the whole thing cost us $1.65 or so. To go from Baht to dollars you divide by 10 and then divide by 3 again, which gives you roughly US dollars. The 40 minute cab ride from the airport cost 360 Baht ($12). Even cheaper than transportation is the food. For breakfast I had 2 eggs, toast, bacon, some fruit, and orange juice. (side note from Sam: surprise, surprise! We travel how many miles around the world and he still eats bacon and eggs. I had to beg him to not order a cheeseburger or steak for breakfast!) Sam had pineapple pancake and tea. The whole bill was about $5. We were also able to eat lunch for around the same price. After our tuk-tuk experience we did a walking tour out of a guidebook we had. The best sight was Wat Suthat. A Wat is a Buddhist temple. The outsides are very ornate, which you should be able to see whenever the pictures get posted. In each Wat there is always a Buddha. You have to take your shoes off before entering, and feet are regarded as the lowest part of the body, so you have to make sure your feet are never pointed towards a Buddha when you sit down in the temple. Wat Suthat was supposed to be one of the most beautiful Wats in Bangkok, and I can believe it. It’s hard to describe the inside without seeing it, so I will let Sam do that when she posts photos. At this Wat there were several other buildings in the same complex. One of these was the Ordination Hall, which I think is the place where the monks pray most of the time. We went in after they all came out, trying to make sure that Sam wasn’t in any of their ways. We were told that women should not get in the way of a monk. If Sam wanted to give something to a monk she would have to give it to me first, and then I could give it to them. We thought we were out of the way, but a big old monk came up to me and slapped me on the shoulder, said something in Thai, pointed over to the front of the temple, and then just laughed at us. These monks are really intimidating, mainly because we just don’t want to do something wrong. But I think this one saw that we were nervous and was just telling us it was ok to move towards the front. Either that or Sam was standing in front of his umbrella and he wanted us to move, I don’t know. The Wats are very interesting and the people praying take the religion very seriously. So far I don’t think we have disgraced anything or anyone, so we are doing good. I know I’ve left a lot of things out, but it’s all I can describe at the moment. In the next post I’m sure there will be more, and I definitely want to explain the bathrooms in Bangkok, but that will have to wait. I hope all is well at home, and any comments you want to post are appreciated. If there’s something you want to know then ask and maybe we can answer.
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Despite our lengthy post, we have so much more to tell you. A combination of exhaustion, forgetfulness, and loss of words contributes to the gaps. Not to worry, we will continue with our next post. I promise to contribute more next time, but I have to say, James’s post are much funnier and informative in regards to the backside of Bangkok.


Best,
Sam and James