Laos

Laos is quite a country to meet it seemed to be a combination of beauty, overwhelming heat, 3rd world, rugged and sort of grasping at the tourism straws that surrond it with its neigboring countries.

We spent 2 weeks here and covered Vietienne, Vang Vieng, Phonosavan and Luang Prabang. There is only 1 road in the country and getting between places is no joke. We sat through some very long and windy bus rides. The majority of the locals seem to get car sick, so they puke in a plastic bag and then chuck it out the bus window. 8 hours of this is really unbeliavalbe!!!




Tubing in Vang Vieng was FUN!




















This little swindler name is Lynn and is 5 years old. In perfect english she asked me my name, how old I am, where I am from...all the important stuff to use in demanding me to come to "her bar". Very sad...these little kids are put to work from the day they can walk. Her job was to pull tourists off the river and bring them to her familys bar. When we refused she then belted out a series of bad words at us. She is 5.




This was a day trip to float through some caves












Local Lao transportation. We opted for the local busses instead of the tourist busses because the windows open. Very important when everybody is getting sick.












From Vang Vieng we took a side trip (8 hours out of the way) to Phonosavan. This is a town that went through quite a bit during the Vietnam war and was severely bombed by the US. Interesting place to be an American....We spent the time here looking at these weird jars that nobody knows for sure how they got here.























































Luang Prabang, this was my favorite stop in Laos. We really enjoyed our time here swimming in waterfalls, shopping at the great night market and just enjoying not riding a bus for a few days.

This was also our first sighting of the Mekong River (I think it was...now, I dont remember if we saw it somewhere else).






us, not sure if the self timer was working. The waterfalls here were incredible, probably the best ones I have ever swum in. We spent 2 days here and it would be a reason to go back!




















Our final morning in Laos, we got up early (no easy feat) and fed the monks their daily food. They go around towns at 6:00 am to collect all the food they will eat during the day. We handed out sticky rice and bananas.

Lampang & Udon Thani

In the most of Thailand, its the rainy season...we didnt bother to actually read anything about where we were going before we arrived in the country. Oh well...wearing a plastic bag all day does allow the clothese to stay clean and one less day of doing laundry.








We went to the town of Lampang, which is WAY off the tourist route. I think we were the only western people in the town. We spent the time in the rain wandering around the local market and I tried to teach Ariane how to play chess.



















frogs

















From Chang Mai, we took a flight to Udon Thani. Flying costs very little and saved us 16 hour on a bus. Well worth it in my book. We are again off the tourist trail but came to Udon to try and find the house my dad lived in 35 years ago. All we had to go on was an old picture with no address, it had a "yellow gate". We walked and walked and walked and tried our best to find the yellow gate, unfortunately we did not find it. We did meet a couple of very nice people who tried their best to help us, and also laugh that at us for not having an address....















This is the minister of tourism in Northern Thailand. He is holding the picture that my dad sent me with, he tried so hard to help us and even asked his mom and her friends if the picture looked familiar.







We also met these 2 local police guys, who also tried to help us. They said if we had a street name they would have been all over it. They were very proud police man but were not able to locate the gate in this massive city for us.




Our last hope...we had them translate "do you know where this gate is" in Thai. The first old lady I showed it to had no idea and then when I showed somebody who spoke both English & Thai she laughed. Because the translation actually said "do you know where the boys dorm is". good stuff!!!

Downtown Udon Thani, its a really nice town. Very different than when my dad was living there but we were really glad to have gone and spent 5 days seeing the sights. Its not touristy at all and again we were the only westerners there.

next stop is Laos

parts of Thailand

Introductions: This is Ariane whom I am traveling with. We met in a hostel in New Zealand and traveled together for a few weeks back in November/December. We kept in touch and then met back up in Bangkok a few months back.

First stop out of Bangkok was Kanchanburri. This is the Bridge over the river Kwai and is the main attraction in the small town.

Next stop from Kanchanburri was the 15 hour train ride to Chang Mai. You sleep in bunk beds with a fan...nothing fancy, but its quite a cheap and easy way to get up north.

Pictures from around the town of Pai. Pai was my favorite stop in Northern Thailand, we had a great time riding motor scooters, swimming and seeing the sights.

the bridge that connects our huts with the townhome sweet home, they costs 100 baht a night which is just over $2 local toilet

front yard of our huts

My first ever motorcycle driving experience!! We had such a great time driving around Pai for a couple of days. It costs $2 for 2 days with a helmet!

SE Asia Trip

I arrived in LAX from Portland and as I was getting off the plane I heard my name being called! I always wonder if that will happen to me but on this day it did and there was my good friend from Kwaj & Antarctica Amber!!! She was here returning from New Zealand. So great to see her and catch up on all the latest Ice scoops!!

Another small world story right from the beginnning. I was typing an email and saw these 2 walking down the street in Phuket. We had met and hung out a bit in New Zealand several months ago!

This is where I spent my first month, sleeping and studying physics in the Lucky guest house #1R.

The town of Kata Beach

The Thai flag that flys on an old worn out dive boat













Calypso Divers, Kata Bach, Phuket








My new friend Yaniv, we were partnered up as dive buddies for our month long course. We got along great and I learned allot about Israel and the super duper strange world of the Israel Army. I was SHOCKED at what I learned.

I realize this is a bit out of order, my computer skills are a bit rusty. I am on a 5 month backpacking/diving trip in SE Asia. I spent the first month in Phuket, Thailand doing my PADI Instructors Course, I LOVED it and am so excited to get to teach people my favorite thing to do.

From Phuket I went on a GREAT liveaboard trip to the Similian Islands. The Similians is definitely the best diving in Thailand and I am so glad I go to see it. We stayed out 4 days/nights and did 16 really great dives. Unfortunately I dont have any underwater pictures to share, underwater photography is just something I have not gotten into yet.

From the Similians I went to Bangkok to meet up with my Austrailan friend Ariane, whom I had traveled with in New Zealand back in November/December. We hit the backpacker trail and covered quite a bit of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam.

The past 7 months...

Hi ya and welcome back to following along with my life.

Deep thoughts: After living in very small/remote places for many years I don't find it strange that people watch and know details of my life. Many seem to know more than I do. I think if I lived in the real world I might find it strange, but I guess many years of living in a fishbowl, it seems natural for me to put my pictures and stories on a computer so that anybody with computer access can follow along.

The update: After the last post which was around the holidays, I took off to Hawaii for 6 great weeks of swimming, swimming and more swimming. I was so happy to be back in the ocean and I absolutely love swimming at Ala Moana Beach park. They have a great set up for long distance swims. After Hawaii, I made a brief pit stop back in Portland to do laundry and then hopped on a flight and headed to Bangkok. That's where the next several months take shape and I will post some pictures to follow along.

The many month update

Hello, The original idea of posting pics/stories to KBlifeonice was to keep my family & friends updated on the happenings while surviving Antarctica.

Happy to say that has come and gone and I am going to try and keep this updated with my whereabouts and whatabouts....Standby for more adventures....