South America here we come

So excited to be heading off on another adventure.  South America here we come :)

Kangaroo Island

Well, after a hideously early start this morning I managed to make it to the ferry at cape jervis in heaps of time. Was a bit rough crossing to the island, a few white caps on the water, but I am here now and ready to see the sights.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

Still in Chiang Mai

It gets a bit hot walking around all day so I have just popped into an internet cafe to cool down a bit. So yesterday we did the cooking class which was a lot of fun. I have learnt that I don't yet have a palet for Thai level spicy as I made a hot and sour (Tom Yum) soup and it was incredibly hot, WOW!!!! I also made fish cakes, Pad Thai, Penang Curry including actually making the Red Curry Paste to go in it, and a desert of Sticky rice with Mango. All soooooo very good but I was so incredbly fuf afterwards that i could barely move, but the good nws is I now have a recipe book with all those things in and I will be able to make them at home, yummmo!!!!!
After the cooking it was time to be pampered, so off we all went to get a Thai Massage. It was amazing 1 hour of massage and then a separate head and neck massage for 30 minutes and then a herbal steam compress for another 30 minutes, followed by a manicure and pedicure and I am a new person wandering aroud Chiang Mai :)
So today we had the most relaxing morning, a late sleep in followed by a very relaxing breakfast that took over an hour for all 6 of us to be served!!! :) Thai Time :)
Then I meandered off on my own as the others were of to do more shopping, so I headed into the old town through the southern gate and have been wandering around ever since, don't have to be back at the hotel before 5 to catch the train to Bangkok, so there is still plenty of time for me to go exploring, so that is what I shall do.

Hi from Chiang Mai

So we are here in Chiang Mai, 5 days into my 8 day tour and having a good time. There are 8 of us on the tour, 5 Aussies, and American, a Brit and a girl from Belgium. We have been having a fun time traveling around the Central and Northern parts of Thailand. So we have been to Sukothai, an ancient capital of Thailand, from there it was off to Lampang with a trip to the Elephant Sanctuary and Hospital. Do you know they make prosthetic legs for elephants that have stepped on land mines, so very cool.
From there we went to a home stay somewhere out of Chiang Mai where we spent the evening and had the most beautiful ride around the village on bicycles today, learning how to play drums at a monastary, dehusk rice at a lady's house, pick farmed mushrooms at another home, teach english songs to children at a preschool and then come back to our homestay and have lunch before heading off to Chiang Mai. I think today has most definately been the best day in Thailand so far, it was just relaxed and a lot of fun. The elephants were fun too but it was very touristy and organised, but it is amazing to see them paint!!!!!
In Bangkok, before I joined this tour I managed to see a few sights, the Grand Palace and the emerald buddha and the reclining buddha, both fairly amazing, but so completely glitzy at the same time, so different to the temples in Bhutan which were a lot more subtle in their beauty.
So we have tow days free here in Chiang Mai and we are currently trying to figure out what to do for the next two days, tomorrow will probably be a cooking class where we get to cook 4-6 dishes and we also get to keep a cook book from the day, so that sounds like a lot of fun. As for the next day, I am still not sure what I'll do, possibly just walk around town....
Anyway I prpbably wont have time to write again till bangkok, after an overnight train journey so I may not make much sense :)

Bridge over the River Kwai

So I am back in Bangkok after two very glorious day's at Kanchanubari. The hotel had views of the river and bridge which was awesome.
So I have had my fill of Australian history over the last 2 days too. With a visit to the Bridge and Hellfire Pass and then the JEATH Museum and War Cemetery. All very sombre but also very interesting. We also visitied the ancient capital of Ayuthia (? sp???) It was very interesting too.
Then yesterday we also visited a waterfall complex called Erawan Falls, there were 7 different steps in the complex of which we visited 2,4,5 and 6. The colour of the wate was amazing almost like the glacial lakes, such a vivid aqua.
Anyway tonight I am off to meet the rest of my group for the last leg of my journey.

One Night in Bangkok

Well, unfortunately I left Bhutan this morning, very sad, but trying to work on reducing attachment, and therefore not be sad. Mahayana Buddhism is confusing......

So, we departed Paro airport at 11:30 and I finally made it to the hotel in Bangkok at 18:55!!!! Long day!!!!

Just had to do a quick read of the last blog to see where I finished off.
Thimphu..... right...
We had a bit of a sleep in finally in Thimphu, and we spent the day cruising around to different sights in town. Karma didn't join us today so we were left alone with Sonam and Drukpa as our guides. So firstly we went to the radio tower to have a good view of the town, which was very good, although a little hazy, from there we went to the Takin Reserve to see those very wierd animals, goats head stuck on a cow's body, bizarre. From there is was off to the paper making factory and then we went to a weaving factory where I ended up being the model for trying on Kira's (the national dress of Bhutan). Too many people were trying to dress me and it all got a bit too hard so we left. Then we were driving back to the other side of town and it turns out we went to Karma's house for morning tea, which was lovely and very relaxing. From there it was straight to lunch and on to another temple, followed by the weekly market and lots of shopping.
That evening we had a lecture from a local Member for Parliament who was a very lovely guy, and it turned out to be a very good occasion to wear my new Kira that I bought that afternoon, he even said I looked elegant!!!! He was so entertaining in fact that he joined us for dinner. It is amazing the attention you get when you go to dinner with a VIP, free alcohol!!!!
So the next day we were up early again and off to Paro via the Haa valley. The Haa valley is a new spot for tourists and is therefore not that busy, which is a very good thing. We had a lovely day wandering around the hills and having a picnic in the medow. Very chilled and relaxing.
Yesterday was the day I had been waiting for, our journey to the Tiger's Nest... And it most definatley lived up to expectations. The horse ride to the lookout was awesome, although I am feeling it today, although riding a horse with no reins is a little tricky, especially when they don't understand english!!!!!
The Tigers Nest was fantastic even the 400 stairs down and 600 up again were worth it. There were Monks in one of the temples chanting which was just mesmerising and then there were 1300 yar old temples and the most beautiful art work, just magical. All topped off with a picnic from our favourite restaurant in Bhutan. Then after an afternoon rest we were off to a mystery dinner, which turned out to be a Bhutanese traditional dance show with way too much alcohol and then a very delicious dinner.
And now it is all over and the next part of my journey is about to begin.

The King and I

Well, tonight I am back in Thimphu, a little sad as it means my visit to Bhutan is nearing an end...
Today we visited the Phunakha (?) Dzong which was one of the more picturesque of the Dzongs that we have seen. A Dzong is a building that houses both Monastic and Secular regional leaders, ie government offices and a Monastery. Anyway, we reached the Dzong quite early and something seemed different to all the other Dzongs, there was a greater police and military presence and everyone was rushing around looking very stressed. It turns out the 4th King (ie. the Father of the current King) was coming to visit. He was on his way back from visiting the Bumthang fires and was calling in to the Dzong as today is a very holy day on the Bhutanese calender. We were luckily still allowed in the Dzong and we were able to visit 4 different temples within the Dzong area, and we were also able to see the 4th King, so that was quite exciting although we were not allowed to take any photos of the King. From Phunakha we then headed further down the road to another temple, this one was the Temple of Fertility and it was on the top of a hill, it was a very interesting temple and if you wanted you could be blessed with a large wooden phallus that is rumored to have once been owned by the divine madman himself!!
From there it was on to lunch and the drive back to Thimphu.
Tonight we had a lecture from a guest lecturer, Kunzing Chorden, one of the leading women in Bhutan and an expert on Bhutanese Textiles. She is a most interesting and very engaging woman and the lecture was fantastic.
Just thought I should mention what we did yesterday. So we were in Trongsa for the evening, maybe I shall go back to the day before that...
We left Bumthang as the King was expected to arrive to meet the people affected by the fire, the plan was to get to Trongsa for lunch and then visit the Museum and Dzong in the afternoon.
The Museum was fantastic, it was situated in the old watchtower for the Dzong and showed the Bhutanese history, both in the monarchy and the Buddhist traditions, it was such a well set out museum and easy to follow, except there were SOOO many steps, which I must admit I am getting a bit sick of at altitude...
So from the Museum (which the King was set to visit the following day also) we had to then walk all the way back down the stairs to the Dzong. The Dzong was another interesting building, again containing both secular and monastic components. There was some beautiful artwork in this one which Karma, our Bhutanese lecturer explained to us. Then we moved on to the Monastic area of the Dzong to find the Monks all practicing for Mask Dance celebrations. It was beautiful to see the grace of the teacher and very funny to see the VERY enthusiastic monks who didn't have much of an idea, and then there were others who were just lost. I really could have watched them all day, but alas we had to go.
So, yesterday, the only thing on our schedule for the day was to drive from Trongsa to Kichu resort, with a visit to a school on the way. All I have to say is I think I should be a grade 2 english teacher in Bhutan. I had such a great time, and I think I may have been there about 1/2 an hour longer than I should have been, but at least every child in that class had a paper crane b the time I left.
Anyway I had better go now, it is late and the hotel staff are hovering around, I think they want to turn the computers off and go to bed.