Chiang Mai: Thai cooking = brain damage or diabetes?

While Nolan was still occupied with Thai massage (and doing very well according to his teachers!), my mother, Maureen, and I set out to learn how to cook some Thai meals.  We were picked up late (Thai time) in an open air pick-up truck that made us feel like day laborers heading to a job.  Our first stop was the market where we learned about the different sauces used in Thai cooking - mushroom, oyster, fish, and soy  various seasonings - sugar, salt, MSG, curry pastes, and then walked around to look at the various vegetables and meat.  We were astonished and disturbed to learn that most Thai restaurants use MSG in their food.  Apparently, the only way to avoid it is to claim that you are allergic and if you eat it you will die.  Of course, the owners don’t want their guests dying on the spot, so they’ll substitute sugar for MSG.  Another disturbing sight at the market were the giant toads that I accidentally saw being clobbered to death.  It reminded me of the meat section of a market in Sapa, Vietnam where tables were heaped full of horses legs and other unimaginable items…or the fried bugs (crickets, silk worms, and cockroaches) in Chiang Mai’s night bazaar.

Leaving the market, we headed to the farm where we would be cooking.  We had a walk around and looked at all the fruit trees and vegetables growing before settling down to make our curry pastes in a mortar and pestle.  The pastes - red, green, and yellow - are surprisingly simple to make and what's better than FRESH curry paste?!  After this we set to work making tom yum soup, papaya salad, pad thai, spring rolls, desserts and our curry dishes.  All were made with fresh ingredients, most with coconut milk, and all with palm sugar or regular sugar.  Despite the delicious factor of every dish being near a ten, you have to wonder, with the main flavor enhancers in Thai cooking being MSG or sugar, how come the country isn't brimming with diabetics or worse from MSG chemicals?  Or maybe there is a problem?  Curious, I googled it and came up with this article.

Really, there's no need for all this sugar in their food.  With ingredients like galangal (Thai ginger), garlic, lemongrass, who needs this overload of sugar?!

Health rant aside, the cooking experience was rewarding.  Perhaps overly so.  Most of us only ate a third of our meals, and we took one complete meal home in Thai tupperware (aka a plastic bag).  I was delighted to discover that Thai cooking is much easier than I'd thought, which means anyone coming over for dinner will most likely get a taste of my new skills as it happens to be my favorite food!  You an be sure the take-away in NYC uses MSG!.

We left the farm exhausted from standing around a hot stove all day, but with bellies full, and lungs clear from the fresh countryside air.  

A word about Ladyboys and Buddhism (the recurring thread!)

In Thailand, there's a strong culture of ladyboy's, toms (tomboys), dee's (ladies who prefer ladies), and various other subcultures of which I'm unaware.  It was interesting to observe the ease with which these people of various gender identify themselves as well as their social acceptance.  Clearly, being gay, transexual, transgender, or anything else you might want to be is not an issue...why?  Because it's a Buddhist country!  Or at least this is what we concluded based on conversations with locals and ex-pats.  


Here's an interesting post about the subject: Buddhism and Ladyboys (Transgenders)


In a nutshell, Buddhism addresses the behavior and actions of people, not man or woman.  There's no distinction between heterosexuals and homosexuals.  Another reason is that, according to an expat friend, Buddhism says that as long as you are being true to yourself, you are not in the wrong.  


Wouldn't it be wonderful if this was the case all over the world?  What a stark contrast to this recent, shameful display in Moscow.

Chiang Mai: Religion and Politics

Buddhism:

As one must do when coming to Thailand, we set out to explore the many Buddhist temples in and around Chiang Mai.  The country is 90% Buddhist, so there are temples everywhere.  Even driving through country towns in the middle of nowhere, a richly decorated temples emerges amidst the wooden structures and rice paddies.

Temples that stood out were Doi Suthep, the hill-top temple with beautiful views of the city, and Wat U Mong, aka “Forest Temple,” consisting of underground tunnels that lead to a Buddha and surrounding monastery buildings.  The temples range from old stone structures from the 13th century, to teak Lanna-style buildings with mother-of-pearl inlays, and colorful temples made from gold-leaf and tile mosaics.

To me, the most interesting thing about the temples has always been the various ways in which people pray and give offerings as well as the many Buddhas set to receive these offerings.  From what I can understand, there is a different Buddha figure for every day of the week.  These figures consist of a Buddha sitting cross-legged, a Buddha standing making a peace sign (or om sign with his fingers), a Buddha with one hand out (as if he’s saying “talk to the hand!”) to encourage peace, the fat Buddha, etc.  This website explains them very well and shows you the pictures: http://www.buddha-images.com/seven-days.asp.

In addition to the number of different Buddhas, people pray by kneeling or sitting with their feet facing away (it’s disrespectful to point your feet at a figure of importance) and bowing three times, by offering lotus flowers, by walking around in a circle reciting a prayer, by giving items for blessing by monks, and so forth.  Taxi and tuk-tuk drivers roam the city with mini-shrines on their dashboards, and most households contain a home-made shrine.  Most important is that the Buddha’s head is always above that of people, so we were told by a local that people who bring Buddhas back home for decoration are actually going against Buddhism by putting the Buddha so low.  Oops - silly westerners!

In the midst of all this Buddhism, you have to imagine what the world would be like if everyone was Buddhist.  If everyone practiced mindfulness and strove to be kind to each other on a daily basis, there would be far less war and suffering and greater acceptance for the inherent differences among our many races and cultures.  Hmm…maybe someday!


Politics:

Another day, my mother, Maureen and I ventured out into the highlands to visit the highest peak in Thailand (which was rather disappointing as it was pure jungle - no magnificent views!), two crashing waterfalls, one of the Karen hill tribe villages, and the chedis (essentially temples) built in commemoration of the much-loved king and queen’s 60th birthdays.  The highlight was certainly the hill-top chedis.  The king’s was built in brown and gold and bedecked with wall carvings that told the story of Buddha.  Inside were more stone carvings with a black mosaic ceiling adorned with falling gold leafs.  When anyone spoke, an echo resounded around the room reverberating for seconds.   Once everyone else left, my mom and I experimented with a round of “oms.”  The queen’s chedi was decorated in purple everything because this is her favorite color.  On the inside, the round ceiling displayed a colorful mosaic story of Buddha’s life, the best one showing Buddha being born looking like a small 40-year-old man who can walk and talk…interesting.

Throughout my time in Thailand, it’s been clear that the king, Rama IX and queen and truly loved by their people.  Everywhere you go there are bill-board sized pictures of the royal couple, particularly the King from all stages of his life!  One of the Thai bills has a picture of the king with a camera and maps to show how he would often walk among the people getting to know them and listening to them.  Unfortunately for the country, the king has three daughters and one son.  The son, who is now 60, is apparently a play-boy.  He’s had three wives (that are known) and multiple children but only one “official” son, who is seven.  The poor king is 84 and not doing very well and the country is in uproar at the prospect of his delinquent son taking the throne.  For the first time ever, the people are lobbying for his eldest daughter to take the throne, but this would defy Thai law and tradition, so it’s unlikely.  One of our guides said that he doesn’t “know what will happen to Thailand when Rama IX dies.  Right now everything is good, but in the future it may not be.”  I guess only time will tell…

Perk of being the king of Thailand?  Any white elephants that are born must be offered to the king.  They are taken to Bangkok and apparently live in a nice area (not sure where in the city) and eat a lot!  The king also loves Thai massage and has his own personal therapists.  I’m sure there’s more perks as well judging by his beautiful campus of  a palace and grounds.

The king and queen of Thailand

Chiang Mai: Shopping Extravaganza

Chiang Mai is good for quite a few things: lacquer-ware, silk, jewels, cotton, market goods, and street food.  Since Mamma has a business (one of her many jobs!) importing pashminas from India, she was looking for new items to sell back home.  We set off on a mission with our driver, who we met the previous day at one of the temples, to the handicraft villages and factories just outside of town.  Our first stop was the lacquer-ware factory, where they made beautiful trays, plates, and other doo-das.  The products were made by dipping them in lacquer about ten times before sketching in an intricate design and then covering the design with an colored paint, eggshell, or gold leaf.  We spent an hour trying to accumulate enough goods to satisfy the wholesale price.  The price was so cheap that we collect a whole bunch of items and our sales lady would show us how much money we had left to make-up!  I think my mom and I went back to get more things about three times before we finally reached the limit!

After exhausting ourselves with the laquer-ware, we headed to the jewelry factory/store.  Not planning to buy anything, we still came away with quite a bit!  My mom and Maureen bought some beautiful pearl necklaces as well as some other presents.  I, on my travelers budget, delighted myself with trying on beautiful pieces I could never afford despite them being about half the cost of what they would be at home.  After finally tearing ourselves away from the glitz and glamour of this particular store, we headed on to see the silks.  The silk making process is fascinating!  The first step to making silk is getting silk worms.  Apparently, they’re pretty difficult to keep, but with the right conditions they grow and eventually form a cocoon.  The outer part of the cocoon forms the raw silk.  The Thai silk worms are yellow whereas the Chinese worms are white.  Once the cocoons are fully formed, they are boiled in water and the very fine threads of silk are extracted from the cocoons onto a spool, while the worms inside are discarded (or maybe eaten!).  Afterwards, they spin the wool and dye it before weaving designs into the textile fabrics.  Although we loved everything in the store, it was more expensive than we’d expected, so we left empty-handed.

Exhausted, we headed back to the hotel for an afternoon nap.  After we were rested, we headed back into town to eat a scrumptious meal on the river.  In fact, our first four nights in Chiang Mai, we ate on the river at Riverside Restaurant, La Brasserie, and The Gallery (this one being our favorite!).  We couldn’t get enough of the perfect combination of a cool breeze, tropical surroundings, thirst-quenching beer, and flavorful food (which we later discovered is enhanced by the Thai’s overuse of MSG - yuck! - more to come on that).

Chiang Mai: Massage and Markets

We arrived in Chiang Mai to our hotel, which was a bit farther from central CM than we’d hoped, but beautiful, spacious rooms in a quiet outskirt of town.  Nolan headed to his guesthouse in the city where he’d be picked up daily for his Thai massage course.  My mother rested at the hotel, and Maureen and I headed into town to find some food and explore the Sunday Walking Market.

We met up with Nolan at his digs and found corner restaurant with a single menu item: Khao Soi.  This is mouth-watering dish is specific to northern Thailand.  It’s a slightly spicy yellow curry with noodles, crispy wonton strips and meat (the usual choice of chicken, pork, or prawns).  I think I had it at least 5 times in my short time there!  Afterwards we wandered down the street a bit and found a “spa” (one of the bajillion massage parlors in CM).  Nolan and I desperately needed pedicures as our poor feet were in a sorry state after being jammed into small climbing shoes in hot weather for three weeks (you get the picture…).  Maureen headed off for her first Thai massage while Nolan and I got the works.  The spa we would then return to 5 times that week was called Lila Massage Therapy, and all of the women who work here are former prison inmates.  The director of the prison founded and initiative to teacher inmates how to practice massage therapy so that they would have a means of providing for their families as opposed to returning to crime (many of these women have no choice due to poverty/lack of education).  The women who work there were as sweet as can be and the only give-away to their prison days was Nolan’s rough massage from a heavily-tattooed woman!  Of course, he loved it.  For those of you who have never had a Thai massage, it’s very different from what you’re used to.  It involves a lot of pressing, pushing, and stretching, and is a serious workout for the massage therapist.  It can often be quite painful, but in general it’s wonderful (Shameless marketing: NOLAN PALMER-SMITH now has his Thai massage license!).  Maureen was very happy with hers, however, she discovered a huge bruise on the back of her leg, probably where her girl was kneeling on her!

When we all walked outside in a serene state, the walking market had suddenly popped up out of nowhere.  We wandered around oohing and ahhing at the stalls.  Markets happen to be one of my favorite things about traveling, and this one was out of control.  Unfortunately, I thought we had another night at the market the following week, so I didn’t seize the opportunity to stock up on presents and clothes then (sorry folks back home!).  Instead we ate some more street food and wandered around until our feet were tired.  Maureen and I headed back to check on mammalina and call it a night, and Nolan made his way back to get a good night’s sleep before his first day of massage school.

Architecture, Buddhism, and Condoms

After three weeks in Tonsai, we were ready for a break from climbing (believe it or not!).  We headed to Bangkok on the 20th to meet my mom and Maureen (long-time family friend) who were escaping their busy lives for the shopping, food, sights and culture of Thailand.  After surprising them at the airport for their late night arrival, we went to bed and woke up to a day of sightseeing in the baking, humid heat of BKK.

Our first stop: Jim Thompson’s House.  Jim Thompson was an American architect who started importing high-end Thai silk back in the 40’s or 50’s.  He fell in love with Thailand while there with the military, and never went home!  He celebrated Thai culture by building this beautiful house that was put together from various traditional Thai houses.  He tweaked things here and there to make it more comfortable and Western, but the result was a gorgeous teak wood structure.  He loved the outdoors and on a trek in the Malaysian hills, he disappeared.  No one knows what happened to him, but his house as well as his company still stand as a memorial to his love for Thailand.  The best part of our tour, however, was not the house itself, but our sweet tour guide who made many practiced jokes in English and had the group giggling here and there!

Afterwards, we headed onward to the Grand Palace, which occupies ________.  The Grand Palace encompasses a small city of temples (or so it seems when you wander around this maze of ornate gold leaf, mosaic, and Buddha-oriented structures), a museum showcasing various swords and jewels of the Royal family, and the old palace building itself.  We managed to get through the museum and enough of the temples - especially the emerald Buddha, which is actually tiny and heaped on top of a tall gold structure!  The best part about this tiny green Buddha was its wardrobe which changes with the seasons!

Feeling faint from heat and hunger, we hopped in an air-conditioned taxi and made our way to Cabbages and Condoms, a restaurant that aims to educate people about safe sex and STDs.  ________  As you might imagine, the restaurant itself was decorate with condom-covered mannequins, sex literature, and free condoms instead after-meal mints.  The food was delicious (especially after our diet of cheap street food!), and we felt rejuvenated.   The highlights were my favorite dishes: deep-fried fish with tamarind sauce and green papaya salad (som tum).

We rushed back to our hotel and caught a cab to the train station where we eagerly anticipated a good night’s sleep in our first class cabins.  We were sorely disappointed to find that the bathrooms were disgusting (as in hold your breath until you’re outa there!), the air-conditioning was set at an arctic temperature, we were required to eat in our cabins (I guess first class can’t mingle with the others!), and there was a mixed aroma of cigarette smoke and toilet wafting through our AC ducts.  What’s worse, we woke up and Mamma had come down with a sinus infection, and the train arrived three hours late.

Maureen and mamma decided to fly for their return trip not wanting a repeat experience, and we rushed my mom to the hospital to get her meds before her cold got worse.  The hospital was the opposite experience from the train.  We were in and out in 30 minutes, the building was immaculate, and the doctor thorough.  Oh yeah, and the whole thing cost 1,000 Baht (about US$30!).

Best Route in Minnesota (or Tonsai)

On one of my last few days, I led a route so spectacular, I feel like writing about it!  It is a climb on the Escher wall in Railay west. The Phra-nang peninsula is one of the best climbing areas in South East Asia, especially because of the tropical weather and huge amount of sport climbing routes. The quality of the rock/climbs and the amazing scenery makes this place a rock climbers’ paradise.

I’m not sure why the climb was named “The Best Route in Minnesota.”  I’ve never climbed in Minnesota, but this climb was amazing. It is twenty five meters long and is a beautiful line. It starts on the left side of an epic cave above a beautiful beach. The beginning of the climb started on slopey, SLIPPERY crimpers and side pulls. Once you get past the crux start and get the first two bolts, a traverse heads out left just above an overhang. The traverse is about twenty feet long and is on crimpy pockets, but generally solid holds. After you make the traverse over the overhang it is sustained face climbing on small pockets. You work your way onto a prow-like formation with stalactite "teeth" in the middle. The exposure is amazing as you go through the teeth and over a small roof on slopey dishes. Just above this is the crux at about twenty three meters or seventy feet high. It is so precarious in terms of balance and the holds are thin.  There is no rock that you can see on either side of you, or below you, which makes you feel like you are at the crux in the middle of the universe.  Open space everywhere around you…

After the crux you are at the anchor and life is AWESOME! The view looks out of the cave at that beautiful beach as you get lowered for what seems like forever and very far away from my belayer. I am very happy to have had such an amazing climb and amazing experience.

Dimity tried it on top rope and had two very scary falls that swung her into a rock wall once and another one that stopped her half a foot above the ground and she still hit the rock wall…(but she's ok!).

We decided that it was too sketchy a fall to continue. So a Polish kid came and led it and did it very well. I really wanted Dimity to experience such an amazing climb. Maybe we will do it one more time before we leave and she can give it another go.  (haha, she never did...!).

Cheers to amazing climbing routes all over the world!
Nolan

The Black Hole of Tonsai

Apologies for the lack of blogging, but we've been sucked into a black hole...a rather beautiful one at that.  It's called Tonsai, a beach on the Phra-Nang Peninsula.  The beauty and splendor of the place make it quite difficult to set aside time for blogging!

But here goes...

After leaving Hanoi (or Hannoying as Nolan calls it due to the fact that walking around the street is tedious, to say the least), we arrived in Bangkok around midnight.  Standing in line for immigration, I glanced over and saw our Italian friends, Geno and Alessio, who we met in Castle Hill over three months ago!  They were just coming from NZ.  We spent a wonderful two days with them in Bangkok, rejoicing over yummy street food, raking the weekend Catachuck market for doo-das to bring (or wear) back home, and discussing life over shisha and tiger beers.

An overnight bus ride, a tuk-tuk minivan, a boat (and plenty of haggling over the boat price), we arrive on Tonsai beach and met up with Pascal, our friend from the Blue Mountains.  Almost immediately, we began climbing.  For the past two weeks (since May 3), we've developed a routine that goes something like this:

• 7:00am - yoga on the beach (or, turn the alarm off repeatedly and sleep until 9am)
• 8:00am - breakfast at the beach restaurant, which consists of fresh fruit, yogurt, and meusli and a cup of coffee!
• 10:00am - Gather our gear and go climbing on one the many crags around Tonsai or Railay beach.  For the rest of the day, we climb, we swim, we eat papaya salad or fried rice, we watch monkeys on the beach, we read, we walk through woods, etc.  
• 6:00pm - we shower and head over to the internet place to check email or play with the kittens in the shop (this place is overrun with kittens at the moment and it's the BEST thing in the world!!  One morning we woke up to three babies sleeping on our porch.  I opened the door and they all looked up with puss-in-the-boot eyes - think Shrek - adorable!).
• 7:00pm - dinner at Mamma Chicken, our favorite place.  The food is cheap, plentiful, delicious, and the service, consisting of a family that cooks, takes orders, and serves, is wonderful.  
• 8:00pm - one or more of the following: read (recent recommendations include The Help, Visible World, Snow, Tipping Point) write, plan our futures, or watch a movie.
• 10:00pm - sleep

So as you can see, life is pretty good here on Tonsai, which is appropriate since our trip is now down to less than a month!  I can hardly believe the places we've seen, the people we've met, and climbs we've scaled in such a short time period.  

We leave here in two days to meet my mom and Maureen (my second mother) in Bangkok and head to the north!  I can't wait!!

Non stop climbing on Cat Ba Island!

Howdy everyone! So for the last week we have been climbing on Cat Ba island, with deep water soloing in Ha Long Bay. (Deep water soloing is where you climb as high as you can or dare and fall or jump off into water).  Halong Bay is a magical place where limestone karsts shoot up from the green water, which makes climbing there even more beautiful!


The first day we went DWS (deep water soloing) with Slo Poney, a climbing tour service owned and operated by westerners. It was a big group of us that went out on two basket boats (literally giant baskets with little motors) and did some fun climbing on beautiful stone over amazing blue waters. The climbing was easy, so it was more a matter of how high you wanted to climb rather than how high you could get. In our case, we're both big chickens!  Towards the end of the day we saw a mega huge jelly fish!!!

The next day we meet up with a guy we meet briefly in Laos named Dave and his girlfriend Moriel, who were going on a private boat with a guide to DWS for four days and three nights. They invited us to come along so we said yes! Our guides name was Victor and he was a hoot to hang with. A fifty three year-old, heavy smoker, rail thin climber. The boat was smaller than any other boat out there, but very comfortable for four people. We went directly to climb at the same walls that we had climbed the day before. It was a little chilly and we were launching from kayaks instead of basket boats. Victor would direct us on the best climbs there and keep saying "Go higher! Go higher!" It was his mantra that we soon learned to ignore. We had a delicious dinner of fish and clams and other wonders from the sea before sleeping in the bay.

When night was solid around us we discovered that the water was alive with phosphorescence! Each time we spat or agitated the water it lit up with vibrant green lights!!! Beyond anything any of us had seen in our lives. We slept ok aside from a shivering/fever fit from Dimity and hearing rats run and fight in the walls of the ship all night.

Day two on the boat we woke up to hearing poor Dave puking in the toilet. Not the most magical way to start the day, but the day was beautiful, so we decided to sport climb at Moody beach. The climbs were great fun on amazingly sharp rock. I lead everything on the island and Dimity lead all except one very hard overhanging climb. Moriel is very new to climbing, but she got on almost everything and did very well. Dave was throwing up all day and had a fever. Towards the end of the day Dimity was feeling very sick too, so by the time dinner came around Moriel and I did all of the eating. We had another fun night of phosphorescence and rat fights.

Day three we woke up and everyone was feeling a little bit better, so we traveled out to the far side of the bay and did the best DWS ever!!!! We went to Polish Pillar and did some other fun stuff in the area. The climbs were hard and not too long on amazing stalactites on an overhang. We tired ourselves out before heading back to Cat Ba island. We decided that we needed a night in a real bed to kick the sick away. We stayed in the owner of Cat Ba ventures, a man name Tung's hotel where his wife cooked us a great home cooked meal. We slept deeply and happy to not hear any rats or weirdness like that.

Day four of the adventure we went with Victor to Butterfly Valley to do some awesome sport climbing. Dave was feeling back to almost 100% so he and I lead almost everything. The climbing there is some of the best that I have ever been on. Amazing tufas and stalactites make for some very interesting climbing. We finished the day working on a 5.12d or a 5.13a depending on who you are.

Aside from the climbing, we have had many 5 dollar massages, interesting conversations with our new friends, and 5 dollar meals. But somehow we have managed to spend 200 dollars on who knows what!?  Dimity's obsessive compulsive expense tracking is clearly not accounting for everything!

Three more days on Cat Ba, then back to Hanoi!

How to Cross the Road in Vietnam - and survive.

My mother said it best four years ago: http://journals.worldnomads.com/dkirwan/story/5496/Vietnam/How-to-cross-the-road-in-Vietnam-and-survive

The 25 Hour Bus Ride...

When you hear that we journeyed twenty five hours by bus, your first thought is "that sounds terrible!" or something like that. And it almost was. We booked our bus ride on a normal (upright seats) bus, but when we got to the bus station we saw a sleeper bus (a bus where the seats are more like a bed) and opted for the upgrade on the last two seats available - and it was well worth it. We took off at 6:30pm, stopped for a nice dinner at 9pm and drove through the night, able to lay down to sleep almost through the full night. At three in the morning we stopped for a bathroom break and a very drunk Vietnamese guy got on and took the spot that another man had. He was an unfavorable neighbor who stunk of booze (no doubt he was celebrating the New Year) and snored through the night.

The next stop was at the border at 6am. We waited around for three hours to get across and into the next leg of our journey. It all went smoothly with a quick lunch stop where we had to point to a menu and hope that the nice Vietnamese women understood our requests for rice and eggs. Later that night we ended up in Hanoi around 9pm. We took the hostel that the bus driver recommended along with all the other backpackers on the bus. Starving as we'd only had two small meals in the last 27 hours, we ventured out into Hanoi's busy streets.  Unable to find a restaurant, we walked through various alleyways, each alley full of makeshift restaurants competing to serve the same dish.  We ended up on the "fish soup" corner where we pointed to some unknown objects, chose our noodles, and awaited our meal, which ended up being rather disappointing, especially combined with the warm beer we were served.

More on Hanoi in the next blog! Now its sleepy time... Lotsa love, Nolan

Pi Mai (Happy New Year) in Luang Prabang!

After a bumpy 7-hour journey through the Laos’ central highlands, we arrived in Luang Prabang.  Since it was the start of Pi Mai, the Laos New Year, we were lucky to find a room in the heart of the town’s historic peninsula, an UNESCO World Heritage sight.  We arrived at night to see the old French villas lit beautifully next to hidden temples that dazzle you by day with gold and mosaic decorations.

We immediately set out in the charming town to the night food market.  To get there we weaved our way through a long tunnel of Hmnog market vendors.  The Hmong people come from the highlands and sell bright textiles, silk scarves, handbags, and knick-knacks made from their various traditional fabrics.  Starving, we by-passed the shopping and ate like kings for peanuts, which made up for our more expensive accommodation rate for the New Year.

The following day we woke up early and explored the many temples around the small town and walked along the river.  When we walked back through town in the afternoon, we were suddenly doused with buckets of water or squirts from children on the street.  Luckily, we were wearing quick dry clothes, but we raced back to the hotel to water-proof ourselves!  This was nothing compared to the next two days…

Our second day in Luang Prabang, we woke up at the crack of dawn to watch the monks collecting alms.  There are so many young monks in Luang Prabang, mostly boys who are around fifteen years old.  It is considered an honor for a boy to go into monkhood for a short period of time, and it seems that most do it at an early age.  In the mornings, the boys file down the main street in their saffron robes collecting alms from the local people.  We watched them move solemnly down the street, as their bowls gradually filled to the brim with food for them to eat throughout the day.  Next to them, small children begged the monks for food and filled up bags of goods to bring home to their families.  It’s a strange sight as the tourists lining the streets in front, behind, and opposite of the monks like paparazzi - an extreme clash of tradition with modernism.

Following our colorful morning, we took a tuk-tuk to the Kuang Si waterfalls, an impressive waterfall that spills into various blue lagoons that you can swim in or splash into via tarzan rope swing.  Since it is such a big holiday, the falls were - unfortunately - packed with people, the most noisy being the locals who lugged in their speakers to do some karaoke.  Also at the falls is a bear rescue center, where baby bears played in a caged off area - adorable!

On the way back to town, our tuk-tuk crew consisting of an Australian, a Lao, two Spaniards, and a Malay, got soaking wet from children who expertly threw water to aim between the plastic partition and the open spaces of our tuk-tuk sides.  Back in town, the party was bigger than the previous day.  All of the shop fronts - most of which are family run and family homes - shut down to turn to the more important task of dousing passerbys (on bike, feet, motorcycle, car - you name it!) with clear and dyed water, paint, baby powder (this is called "frosting"), and grease.  We somehow avoided the paint wars and came out of our hotel room after the festivities for dinner.

The following day - the 15th - was the height of Pi Mai.  Literally every shop shut down and you couldn't walk one foot without ten buckets of water being poured down your back or on your head - did I mention that the water is dirty Mekong water?  Not a fun activity for the paranoid traveler!  Most of the backpackers in town joined in the festivities, everyone baring their own water guns, paint bottles, etc. as a means of defense!  Trucks paraded down the street with the bed packed full of young people singing, cheering, and rejoicing in their soaking, and often, brightly colored state.  From what we could tell, the majority of the population seemed to be inebriated as well despite the many drivers on the road!

This extreme water fight was all in preparation for the Miss New Year parade.  Nolan and I were lucky to run into another traveler who had heard of this local event.  It turned out to be a giant fairground, or stadium, full of locals, vendors, and arcade type games.  The event was the Miss New Year contest in which about 40 beautiful young girls (must be virgins) from Luang Prabang compete for the title.  The best part of the contest was the traditional dancing that took place beforehand.  We were able to watch various ethnic dances, hear traditional music, and see the beautiful costumes that come from the various tribes of Laos.

The morning of the parade, Nolan and I decided we'd had enough of changing our clothes three times a day and booked a night-time bus to Hanoi.  We checked up on email and before leaving the cafe, the owners - cousins - asked us to sit and have a beer with them.  It was a wonderful experience getting to talk to locals about their culture, the new year, and business in Luang Prabang.  I asked them if they had ever been a monk, and one was for two years when he was 15 - 17.  He said he probably won't ever do it again because you have to walk barefoot (which is scorching hot at times), you don't get to eat dinner, no girls, and no new year.   It seems the locals may have it wrong encouraging young lads who are mostly interested in girls, eating, and celebration to do their monkhood at such an early age!  We said goodbye to our new friends and headed into the heart of the festivities to watch the parade from a safe restaurant terrace.

Sitting down, we merged tables with some Argentinians, a German, an Italian, and some Americans.  We sampled Lao Lao, the local whiskey (potent stuff!), drank some beers, and engaged in some serious water fighting.  When 4:30pm rolled around, Nolan and I definitely did not want to go.  We changed into dry clothes and waited for our ride to the bus station.  When the tuk-tuk arrived, we noticed there were no barriers to block water bombs.  We braced ourselves and hopped in...fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the bus station - Nolan with a greasy black hand print in the center of his back and the both of us soaked to the bone!

Regardless of the many wet clothes, Pi Mai (or Songkran in Thailand) is definitely the best New Year celebration in the world!  We're thinking about bringing it back to New York City...but maybe in the summer. :)

Laos Food

Laos food is nothing short of divine!  Here are a few of our favorites so far (in English):

Fresh Spring Rolls: Every day we gorge ourselves on fresh spring rolls, which are made from vermicelli noodles, egg, and mint or basil leaves wrapped in rice paper.  They are served with a chili-peanut sauce, which is YUM!  These are also good fried, but there goes the health factor.

Sandwiches: Not the American kind!  The French left their love for baguettes in tow when they left Laos.  Now, you can get any kind of sandwich you want (I tend to stick with egg and vegetables while Nolan goes for chicken), served on a baguette with various sauces from Mayo, hot sauce, and soy sauce (my favorite!0.  These sandwiches are served from vendors at all hours and cost anywhere from $1.25 to $3.

BBQ: We never got to try the traditional Laos BBQ, but we had several tasty vegetable, tofu, and chicken skewers on the street as well as fresh Mekong fish (guts and organs included).

Fruit: Each morning, I start the day with a bowl of fresh fruit (mango, papaya, banana, apple, dragon fruit, pineapple), yogurt and meusli!  It’s the best way to start the day as far as I’m concerned!  (Nolan would probably say the egg sandwich is better!).  Of course, the fruit shakes, particularly coconut ones, are fresh and tasty!

Laap: This is one of Laos’ national dishes, a spicy salad which consists of minced chicken, beef, pork, duck or fish mixed with mint leaves, lemon/lime juice, fish sauce, and chili.  It’s served with rice and deliciously healthy!

Papaya Salad: The original som tam, for those of you familiar with Thailand’s green papaya salad.  Apparently, it came from Laos first, but was brought to Thailand because of their close proximity.  It’s my personal favorite dish from this region and is made in a mashing bowl with shredded green papaya, garlic, tomatoes, sugar, raw green beans, chili, lime juice, fish sauce, tiny dried shrimp.  Sometimes it’s so spicy you can’t eat it!  It’s often served with lettuce or sticky rice, which is helpful in cutting the spice.

Foe Soup: As mentioned several times, we’ve had noodle soup that consists of salty, but tasty broth, vermicelli noodles, bean sprouts, morning glory, mystery meatballs, strips of chicken or beef.  You can add chili, fish sauce, soy sauce, or sugar to the soup to make it to your tasting.

Dessert: The desserts here are usual made with coconut and something else.  Our favorite are the cocount pudding that is cooked so the outside becomes crispy.  We’ve also had some gelatinous coconut squares mixed with different flavors, which are interesting.

Now, amidst all of these new and welcome tastes as well as the gorging on street food, I’ve developed my first-ever bout of travel sickness.  Not even in India did I have a stomach issue that lasted more than two days, but low and behold, the inevitable has finally caught up with me in Laos.  When we boarded the bus to Vietnam, the two backpackers next to us also have an upset stomach.  Guess it’s back to restaurants and rice in Vietnam…

Laos Food Junkie,
Dimity

Rock Climbing in Laos

The past two days, Nolan and I have veered slightly off the beaten path in our rock climbing endeavors.  After getting information about where the crags were and how to get there, we prepared for the next day.  We rented bikes from a sweet old man as well as some fruit.

At 8am, we set off down the main road 2km out of town and then turned off on a dirt road.  At the end of the road, we came to the river and a very wobbly looking bamboo bridge.  According to our hotel owner's directions, we had to cross this rickety structure.  We walked our bikes one after the other, treading lightly on the slats of bamboo placed on top of thin logs.  With a sigh of relief, we reached the end and headed down the dirt path into a small village of thatched huts.  Women and children sat on the stairs and one woman came down and stopped Nolan to pay for the bridge toll.  We paid and continued on our merry way through farm fields following the most clear path...which led us into someone's home.  Chickens roamed the grounds, a faithful guard dog yelped at our presence and then stepped quietly out of our way.  Realizing we were not on the right path, we turned our bikes around quiet as mice, and headed back a barely visible path amidst cows, bumping along the uneven ground on bikes ill-equipped for the terrain.  Eventually, we entered a clearing with limestone walls and an overhanging roof with stalactites hanging everywhere.  Since we hadn't yet discovered the moderate wall (we did at the end of the day!), we climbed up overhanging routes.

Nolans notes on the routes... The stone is limestone and of excellent quality. Its is about a 45 degree angle with huge, fat stalactites that hang down 2-4 feet from the ceiling. It looks kind of like the lead roof at MPHC... The bolting was done about 5 years ago by excitable Germans. The hardest route I lead was a 5.10C.  

Despite the mosquitoes buzzing around our ankles, it was a beautiful, quiet setting by the river, with kids running around climbing trees (or watching us, they were clearly very bored!)!  A couple more days here, then we're off to Luang Prabang.

Over the Border: Laos

We boarded a bus to Laos around 7pm on Wednesday in Bangkok and arrived at the border in an extremely groggy state around 6am.  In buying our visas, we paid with Thai Baht, which meant that we ended up paying $50 each instead of $35 if we had had actual US dollars.  This put me in a terrible mood given our tight budget, the fact that $30 goes a long way in SE Asia, and my fitful night of sleep on the bus.  By the time we arrived in Vientiane, I was somewhat calmer.

We found a place to stay for about $7 on the outskirts of town, rented a bike and rushed off to the Vietnam Embassy where it was apparently cheaper to get a Vietnam visa than at the hotel.  We boarded our bikes, mine sounding like it was crunching bones and Nolan's sounding as if it was dragging tin cans, and raced dangerously back to the money exchange to get US dollars (no more tricks!).  Somewhere on this speedy ride, we discovered we had no brakes.  Tough luck equals tough fun.

Finding our way back the main street, we raced past a giant monument and various beautiful temples in frantic search of the embassy, which was closing in half and hour.  Finally, after hanging outside of the ambassador's residence for a long time, a sweet old man came to the gate and pointed us in the direction of the consulate.  We arrived at 11:37 only to see the sign saying they were closed from 11:30 - 1:30.  Feeling defeated, we decided to go in search of food, not having eaten a real meal since the previous day.  Nolan spotted a restaurant full of locals right around the corner from the Vietnam embassy, so we went with his gut.  Approaching the counter, the girls ladling soup gave us blank stares and begged the well-dressed men nearby to help them communicate with us.  

We managed to be seated, and were promptly served two plates of greens (raw string beans, lettuce, mint), a dipping bowl of chili-peanut sauce, and a gigantic bowl of soup full of noodle, beef, and mystery meat balls.  After adding some fish sauce, soy sauce, and chili, it was delicious!  The whole meal cost a whopping 3 dollars for the two of us. We biked around to some more temples until the embassy opened. The man who issued us our visas was the same one who helped us translate in the restaurant. Additionally, the hassle of going to the embassy ourselves was no cheaper than having the hotel do it for us!  BLURG! 

After a sweet nap, we walked around the city and ate street food till we couldn't walk and passed out. The next morning we did yoga and boarded a bumpy bus that tricked us into buying icecream!  BLURG!

Now we are in Vang Vieng, a sleepy town that has been transformed into a backpacker pit-stop where all the shops sell gear for westerners (i.e. souvenir t-shirts/clothing), and (much to my delight!) almost every restaurant sells the famed baguette sandwiches I fell in love with while in Vietnam.  Many of the restaurants we've walked by blast episodes of friends or family guy, and westerners strut down the streets half-naked to or from tubing excursions.  Despite the, perhaps, inauthenticity, of this town as a "Lao" town, we are sitting at a cafe on the river overlooking a view of stunning limestone cliffs silhouetted againts the dusky sky.  It's quite a spectacular sight!  The people are very friendly, and when we walk down the street, a chorus of "hello - sabaidi" greet you from the adorable children on the street.

Tomorrow we're heading across the river to these very cliffs to explore the newly developed climbing area.  We rented biked for $3 and when it gets too hot, we'll hop on a tube and cool off!

Driving in Bangkok

Bangkok seems to be a maze of perpetual traffic jams.  There are four main modes of transportation: (1) bus, (2) taxi/car, (3) tuk-tuk, (4) motorcycles.  Motorcycles rule the road because they are immune to the congestion.  They weave fanatically between cars and huddle at the front of the line to race ahead when the light turns green.

Tuk-tuks are second best.  They're cheap, they're relatively fast, and they're smaller than any car on the road, including smart cars.  The cons to riding in a tuk-tuk are the constant inhalation of Bangkok's pollution.  On the flip side, when in a tuk tuk or on a motorcycle and in moments of serious stand-still, one of the two lanes on the opposite side of the road (for oncoming traffic) is suddenly transformed into a third lane in which tuk-tuks and motorcycles reign free and oncoming cars avoid them! 

We had the luck (or maybe not...) to experience this once.  As soon as this makeshift third lane came to an end, our tuk-tuk swerved back into our side of the road at a perpendicular angle to oncoming cars in order to get to the outer-most lane.  Surprisingly, no one honks or develops fits of road rage at this behavior, so it must be the norm.

All in all, driving in Bangkok is a nightmare.  It's best to walk unless you're going to the opposite end of town. Walking allows you to see the city in a whole different light.  You are privy to the local food and produce vendors that adorn every street turning it into a long market tunnel (you will need to duck often if you are 6' or taller).  Delicious smells arise from every stall be it  fried fish, meat skewers, sweet rice or dumplings, roast chicken, noodle soups, etc. Some of the best fun is eating mystery meat dishes!  In the fresh food market, there's a pervasive smell of fish, both fresh and dried, that is less pleasurable, but all the same exciting to see.

As mentioned in the previous blog, Nolan an I continue to gorge ourselves on $1 delicacies wherever we are...which is now Vang, Vieng, Laos!  Read on to hear more!

A re-cap of the last week in OZ.

Our last week in Australia was awesome. The car that was lent to us was great and we drove up the coast to Nelson Bay. The Australian coast is beautiful in a way that that is hard to describe in words. One night we camped out at One Mile Beach and went for a run around sunset. We ran into the neighboring Samurai beach and came across two nude fishermen. (Samurai beach is a nude beach). After a few days of good eating and fun in the sun we drove back to the Blue Mountains to meet our French-Canadian friend Pascal, who we'd met in the Arapiles, and do some climbs that were previously denied to us due to rain.

When we arrived in the Blue Mountains it was pissing rain and was just above freezing, but by the next morning the rain had stopped and by noon it was sunny again. We had a solid 24hr window of sun and we used it to climb some of the most fun and exciting climbs that we have been on in OZ.

My personal favorite climb was Lardy Lady's Lats. It was 22 and very sustained the whole way up with a roof at the top and a powerful crux. I took a nice fall once and got it on my second try! Very rewarding!
After we got back to Sydney we both decided we were ready to leave OZ early. I was pushing the case based on our financial limitations and how it would be cheaper to change our tickets than to stay another 20 days. And we would be in guaranteed warm weather in a culture that would be very different from our own.

We booked a flight to Hanoi for the following day over the phone for an amazing deal of $550!!! We were so proud of ourselves we spent the day having brunch with our hosts, hanging out around Byron Bay and generally enjoying ourselves... That is until we found out that we need a visa to get into Vietnam and it was almost impossible to get one before our flight was due to take off at 7am the following morning!!!! Added to that once we looked at our flight itinerary we discovered that our awesome flight was really booked for Nadi, Fiji and NOT Hanoi!!!  Somehow, the non-English speaking booking agent had interpreted "Hanoi" as "Nadi."

BLURG!!! We both got very sad when we called the airline and the situation was explained to us that there was no way that we were going to Asia for less than 1,200 dollars. We canceled our tickets and re-booked with Thai airways for a flight at 7am the next morning.

And that is how we ended up in Thailand early. Even paying the extra money to leave early, we are still coming out ahead and the culture shock is amazing.

Till the next time, Nolan  

A Love Affair...with Thai Street Food

I know that we have to backtrack a bit, and you're probably wondering what the heck we're doing here in Thailand, but I've just got to share this with you.  In writing an email to Emma, I tried to recap everything that Nolan and I had eaten in our first day in Thailand, and, eh hem, it was a LOT.

So here goes...

(Important: street food dishes are between 10 - 50 BHT, which equals $1)

Breakfast:
We woke up early due to jet lag (OZ is three hours ahead) which means we're finally back on a "normal" schedule of waking up at a decent hour.  By 8am we were downstairs in the Shanti Lodge ready for breakfast.  I had been salivating in my dreams about yogurt, home-made granola and tropical fruit and that's exactly what I got - a gigantic bowl of it along with a pint-sized cappuccino (shocking after our minuscule coffees down under).  Nolan chowed down a veggie omelet, toast and an identical coffee.

After breakfast, we gathered ourselves and walked across the street to 7- Eleven, which seem to run rampant in this part of the world, Oz included. I bought a "Big Sheet" of seaweed (which is apparently very good for my thyroid), swallowed that, and then we went on our merry way to the Grand Palace.

We hit the main street, walked a block or two, and BAM! Street market galore with one food stall after the next!  We scoped out some delicious boiled eggs coated in a thick outer shell of ??? but delicious when topped with cucumbers and hot chilly sauce!  After this, I felt a bit full...after all, it was only 9:15.

Luckily, as we entered another block of food, we stumbled into a man praying three times to a temple barely visible between two buildings.  He told us we should also do this for good luck.  Following our prayer, he launched into a "getting-to-know-you" conversation that felt slightly like it was leading to a "good deal," or a "free tour."  After 15 minutes of chatter with this fellow teacher from Chiang Mai, he had written a complete Sanskrit list of sights to see in my mole book and a tuk-tuk driver pulled up to take us on our merry way for as long as we wanted at only 20 BHT.  Miraculous!

Food was never far from the mind, but in the next few hours, we saw three temples and numerous Buddha statues from many different time periods/places, conversed with another teacher in the lucky temple, were surreptitiously dragged by the driver to three suit stores in hopes that we would buy something and get him a coupon, and finally landed near Kho San Road.  We chose from one of the many ramshackle eateries on the street composed of tin tables, plastic stools, and clear cups so thin you feel as if you might break it just by picking it up.  We chowed down a delicious fish curry with veggies and a pork and shrimp dish washed down by a refreshing Singha.  

Next, we headed to Kho San Road...and were stopped by the sight of a fruit stall.  We quickly ordered a mango with chili and sugar, and at the next stall over topped up our bulging stomachs with a cocount pudding in some kind of crispy shell - to die for!  

Full as bulls, we headed down the garish backpacker road amidst stalls selling identical products, and bought a Lonely Planet for SE Asia and checked off some other items on our lengthy to-do list.  

Back on the street, we headed home, somewhat aimlessly having been hopelessly turned around by our morning tuk-tuk adventure.  On the way home, we picked cooled off (slash gave ourselves serious brain freeze) with a cocount shake and a Thai iced tea, both replete with condensed milk - horribly bad for you.  Because I had had enough sweets, I bought a bag of tamarind candy, which I've been chewing on all day.

Tamarind Candy

Back at the Shanti Lodge, we rested and caught up on internet work.  Two hours later, we had large Singha's by our side.  Three hours later, we'd downed a som tum (green papaya salad - my FAVORITE!), a quarter of roasted chicken, a strange tasting sausage-shaped thing, and a tasty noodle soup with mystery meat balls amidst locals.  

Honestly, I'm not even sure I remember to mention everything.  After over-indulging today, I think my mantra from now on will be to eat less and healthily - and I'm sure Nolan's will be the exact opposite!

Goodnight!
Dimity-in-a-food-coma

Road to Nowhere - Ukulele Style!

This is the live version of the song that we saw performed by the Wellington Ukulele Orchestra in Melbourne.  It's also an appropriate theme song for our trip!  Enjoy the magic of the ukulele orchestra!

Climbing in the BLUE MOUNTAINS

Hi there everybody!

So we have been in the Sydney area for about two weeks and it has been raining for most of that time. We had set aside two weeks to climb in Nowra and the Blue Mountains, but most of that time has been spent walking around Sydney trying not to spend money on all the awesome things that are here. Sydney is a beautiful city; one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. It's composed of inlets and bays, so there is water everywhere and ferries are a common means of transportation to the city or to the surrounding suburbs.  In general, Sydney is an extraordinary mix of old and contemporary architecture and feels much more like a modern city.  We spent the many rainy days wandering the central cities diverse areas, poking around in galleries, visiting the botanical gardens, and walking a lot!  On the first sunny day, we lounged on the famous Bondi Beach and did a free yoga class hosted by Lululemon in one of the most beautiful settings that I have ever practiced - right on the grass overlooking the beach and surfers at dusk.

We waited around for the rain to break before we headed up to the Blue Mountains. The people that we are staying with graciously hooked us up with a car and camping/cooking gear so we could have an easier time of it.  We headed up Wednesday, and it was a very pleasant two hour drive from the city center. When we left the air was very warm and smelled like the sea, but by the time we got to Blackheath, the air was downright cold and windy! We found a stunning, free campsite at Perry's Lookdown that had a bathroom and an amazing view of the Blue Mountains. We had a huge dinner of chicken curry and vegetables and passed out (sort of given the cold wind). The next morning we climbed at Shiply Upper in 45km per hr winds. We did three climbs and decided to stop and take a nap before going back and finishing the day with a great 19 lead. The next day the sun was out and the wind was calmer but it was a little colder non the less. We climbed with a very outgoing Italian named David. We did some 19's and I lead a 22 called "These People Are Sandwiches."  It was excellent!

The next day, we ran into our French Canadian friend Pascal, from Arapiles and we decided to climb with him and his friend Philip and Evelyn.  We drove to Mt. Victoria and climbed at the Zap Crag. Dimity lead an excellent 18!  I tried to lead a 24 but got all beat up on it and gave up about halfway. The Australian grading is harder than the US. We had dinner with Pascal and co that night and by next morning it was raining. We waited the whole day and decided to spend the night and see what the next day would bring, but it only brought more rain. So we left the soggy, cold Bule Mountains behind and drove back to sunny Sydney.

We are going to try and go back to climb a few more routes that we really wanted to get on, but the weather will decide that for us.

Pray for sun everyone. Nolan

The Great Ocean Road

(Backing up a bit...) Our last weekend in Melbourne, Rony drove us down to the Great Ocean Road to Lorne and Wye River.  This is the road that travels West from Melbourne (pronounced "mel-BIN" if I didn't already tell you) along the coast-line.  All along the road are beautiful golden sand beaches with their cold waters full of surfers.  Although our drive began soaked in sunshine, our rain god powers prevailed and sent tumbling dark clouds after us producing cool winds and a slight drizzle on and off all day.

Despite the changing weather pattern, we made it to Lorne, a tiny town full of cafes and boutiques right on the water.  We stopped for a healthy and hearty lunch, walked along the beach against strong winds (the kind that keep you from falling over if you lean into it!), and chilled out on the grass to immerse ourselves in our books and/or take a nap.

A few hours of relaxation, and we were on our way to meet Rony's friend Pip in Wye River, the next town on the coast that consists of a general store/cafe, and a pub.  This endearing town is set on a tiny beach with houses dotting the hill.  One of those houses was where Pip lives.  As the head baker at the new cafe associated with the general store, Pip receives accommodation in a beautiful house overlooking the ocean.  Next to his house there are tall trees that are home to a couple of koalas - one of which we saw the following morning!

Among Pip's many talents, including baking, guitar, painting (I'm sure there are many more), he is learning the piano specifically to play a few songs that he loves, including a Bach piece that I was familiar with.  I got down to playing, and Rony and I spent a good deal of time playing a single piece together (one on the right hand and one on the left - with which we're both slightly lost!) after a satisfying meal at the pub.

The following morning we had a leisurely breakfast decidedly in no hurry to get back to the city.  Although it was a long weekend, we assumed the traffic wouldn't be bad until the evening.  I guess everyone had the same idea as us, leading to four hours of traffic (poor Rony drove through it all!).  Despite the weather, it was lovely to see such a gorgeous area right near the city as well as Rony's "summer home" when she was growing up.

On the way back, we stopped at Bells Beach, renowned for its appearance in the movie "Point Break," with Keaneu Reeves and watched people parasailing over the mountains...not a bad way to spend a weekend!!

Ode to Mother Nature: We do NOT want to be rain gods!

Let me start by saying that in every city in which we've visited friends and family, our hosts continuously apologize for the bad weather and often say things like "this isn't normal," "you just missed a week of beautiful, hot weather," "I swear, it's never like this here!"  "This isn't the [insert city] we like to show off."


Hence the epiphany that Nolan and I are, in fact, rain gods, a possibility we've been speculating since we brought two weeks of torrential downpour to the start of Costa Rica's dry season last fall.  


Given our lack of employment, I'd like to follow-up this epiphany by doing the responsible thing, of course.  I'd like to offer our services as rain gods to those of you in hot, dry climates who need a bit of cooling off.  Perhaps some watering for your garden?  A chance to refill those rivers and ponds you're depending on for your hot afternoon dip?  Seriously, we'd be happy to help.


Lastly, I'd like to ask Mother Nature to please revoke our powers and give them back to whomever had them prior to Nolan and me.  We certainly do not like our special powers, and we'd like to exchange them for something like...teletransport.  This is the sort of power that would greatly facilitate our travels.  You see, we're both active folks, and we especially like rock climbing.  


Rock climbing in the rain can be dangerous and dirty business, and this special power of ours seems to be interfering with our primary interest during our trip - not to mention it floods our tent and sends all sorts of unfavorable creates seeking refuge under our tarp.  


We'd like to thank you for that stint of sunshine in Castle Hill, and again for those four hot days in the Arapiles, but please, Mother Nature, we don't want to be rain gods any longer.  We want to frolick on the cliffs of the Blue Mountains!  We want to dance along the routes of Thompson's Point (which had a perfect weather forecast until we got within an hour of it!).  


So please (and if you can all help send this request along), make that little rain cloud over our heads disappear and dissolve into endless sunshine!!


Your ever-grateful earth-dwellers,
Dimity & Nolan

Arapiles or Arachnides?

This past weekend, we ventured to Mt. Arapiles, a giant mountain of sandstone emerging from the flat plains of the surrounding area.  No longer with plans to work and back on a mean daily budget, we posted on chockstone.org - the Victoria climbing forum - to hitch a ride to the mount.  To our wonderful luck, Steve Toal, a local Melburnian and avid climber, offered to drive us up.  We met him at his office, and drove up with his work friend Mae, a climber from Malaysia.  On the way up, we stopped for delicious pizza in a smoky restaurant where waitresses rarely approach your table as well as groceries to keep us going for the week. 

Around 10:45pm we arrived to The Pines campsite and easily set up our tiny tent while watching Steve erect a massive tarp equipped with table, stove-top, gas-run fridge, and other luxury camping amenities.  Above us, there was thick sea of stars swirling in the black sky...clear skies - the first in a while!  We woke up to a view of orange cliffs towering behind us.  Swallowing down our usual camp breakfast of oatmeal and fixings, we racked up and headed off to the Organ Pipes to reacquaint ourselves with trad climbing (where you place your own gear in the rock).  We scrambled up three beautiful, moderate one and two-pitch climbs (Piccolo, D Major, and Muldoon) and called it a day.   During the climbs we watched black lizards shuttling over the rock and through the cracks; in fact, on my first one, a lizard emerged from a crack directly above my left hand!On our way back to the campsite the ground was alive with crickets jump out of our path, on us, and all throughout the air.  Clearly, there was a lot more wildlife going on in Oz compared with the mundane wasps and sandflies of NZ. 

Saturday night in the campsite consisted of our cooking a typical quinoa camp meal next to Steve who had whipped up a chicken korma curry follwed by a fig and date cake with butterscoth sauce for his friend Joe's birthday (another bloke who randomly offered us a ride up and happened to be Steve's buddy!).  Feeling especially lucky that we were taken on by Steve, we enjoyed all of his delicacies including wine and champagne.  

Over the next week we contended with gigantic (I mean GIGANTIC) spiders and webs as we bushwacked to various climbs, struggled to stay cool in the heat (finally!), tiptoed through the million milipedes in the campsite and up the bathroom walls (I generally opted for the woods), and spraying away the persistent mosquitoes that somehow decided to target my buttocks...through my pants.  By Wednesday, a very rainy day, we were ready for a shower.  Robbie, our newfound friend and campsite neighbor, drove us to the caravan park in town to disinfect our bodies.  An old-timer to the Arapiles, Robbie has been climbing there for years and is now in his 60's; despite having battled prostate cancer last year, he is still lead-climbing anything up to a 5.8 on the Arapiles various walls.  Back at camp, we had a new friend Bija, a fellow American who spends half of the year working in Antarctica as part of a team of 1,000 people supporting the scientists!  We all shared a meal and some vino under Robbie's tent Wednesday night to escape the unrelenting rain that brought on an unwanted rest day.

Thursday morning we woke up to a cold and blustery day and decided to pack it in and head back to the city.  Our tent was caked with dirt and debris inside and out and we had not been sleeping well due to weather and/or noisy campers bumping music throughout the night (appalling behavior for a campsite!).  

My brain is faltering after a day of nonstop planning, walking, and watching devastating news from Japan...so I'll pass the pen to Nolan.

~ Dimity

Everything that Dimity said is the truth. For all my climber friends or anyone who is interested in climbing, the stone at Arapilies is AMAZING! There are over 2,000 climbs in less than a kilometer that is right on the campsite.  It is a super solid sandstone that is different shades of yellow/gold, red and grey. Most climbs are multi-pitch routs with the longest being around 6-8 pitches. There are also very short routes and places to set up top rope on hard climbs. There is excellent protection on most of the climbs and the the routes eat up nut placements with bolt placements where the the pro gets thin. All in all it is some of the best climbing that I have ever done, and I highly recommend it to everyone who wants an epic climbing adventure.

  

Some of the other pro's to climbing there is the campground... The campsite is located at the base of the cliffs (the furthest spot to climb at is about a 20 min walk) and is heavily shaded by tall pine trees. It has running water and toilets that flush!!!! The local climbers are a tight knit crew and are all very friendly - most will offer you coffee or beer (depending on the time of day) just to sit and have a chat and give you some local knowledge.  Most everyone we meet was either in the guidebook or knew someone who is in the guidebook.

Some of the things that make it a wildcard of a place to climb is that the weather is unpredictable and variable. One day you will be melting and only climbing in shade, then by night you can be freezing in your sleeping bag. Or vice a versa... Keep an eye out for spiders... Huge. No joke. Seriously. Big spiders. The other funky thing is that you have to bring your own bolt plates for the bolts and the bolts are only in the hardest parts of the climbs. But that makes it just that much more fun.   

Now we are going to have some beach time and then more climbing in the Blue Mountains and Point Perpendicular closer to Sydney. 

Till later, Nolan

Coffee Culture Down Under

Kiwis and Aussies claim to be coffee snobs, for better or worse.  Everywhere you go, you can only get an espresso (called a short or long black) or a cappuccino (called a flat white), which is great, but it is mostly milk and its gone in two seconds. One second if you are Dimity. We look high and low for a "drip coffee" and the only place where we found one was in Starbucks. I know it sounds lame to travel to the other side of the world and go to Starbucks, but it was sweet joy. We had big cups of coffee the way that we love and were able to walk around downtown Melbourne sipping on delicious black gold. We also came to the realization that being in a Starbucks felt like being back home in a way. It has the consistency around the globe like Indian restaurants or Chines food places - you can be anywhere in the world, but they are all the same (or similar).

Now we happily go back to our flat whites and long blacks and wait for the day when we can have regular coffee on a daily basis.

The pros of Australian Coffee:
1. Delicious (no one can argue that) like dessert coffee 24/7
2. Beautifully served with hearts or sweet designs drawn into the milky foam.
3. Cute (read: small).
4. Cafe culture means it's normal to drink coffee all day long while sitting and reading or chatting to friends

The CONS of Australian Coffee
1. Too small
2. Too expensive
3. Not enough caffeine to get you charging around like a mad bull
4. Too much milk or none at all.
5. Takes forever to make one
6. You only get one size (small or smaller)
7. Highly competitive

It's a "Koala" not a "Koala-Bear."

Healesville Excursion: 

Melbourne has been a whirlwind of eating cheaply, house-hunting, job-hunting, and walking around the many unique suburbs of the city.

Last weekend we spent a blissful Friday night chowing down on veggie food at a place called Veggie Bar on Brunswick St.  The street itself is packed full of cafes, bars, restaurants, and funky boutiques that cater to the nearby Melbourne Uni students and travelers.  Noticing the array of accents in the restaurant, we decided to come back and interview there on Tuesday night, one of the two interview sessions they conduct a week (yeah, not promising...).

On Saturday we were treated to a lovely excursion to Healesville with Susi and Rony.  Healesville is a small town in the middle of the Yarra Valley (read: wine country). We headed first to Giant Steps, a winery restaurant, where we sampled wines before picking our favorite to accompany our delicious pizza that was smothered with garlic and fresh veggies (or in Nolan's case, spicy salami that made me sweat through the rest of my lunch).  Feeling happily satiated, we headed to Healesville Sanctuary where we saw every typical Australian animal you could dream of...next to the walkway, Koala's snored away while daintily perched in the fork of tree branches (it's a wonder they don't fall off).  Underneath the sleeping Koala's, echnidas, ant-eaters that look like porcupines and adorn the Australian dollar coin, scurried about seaching for god knows what!  We saw Kangaroos lazing about (no they didn't respond to our commands of "jump!"), and we got to pet dingos that roamed the path with their trainers - they look uncannily like my dog Toby.  A lot of the animals we saw were sleeping, but we did get some action from the Emu's - giant birds with tiny heads - which were grunting and clearly protecting their territories.  At the end of our visit, we went into the flying arena, where we saw a lyrebird, a beautiful bird with magnificent feathers for a tail.  Upon hearing us approach, the lyrebird went straight up to Nolan and had a stare-off with him while he snapped photos.  

All in all it was a beautiful day.  Full as a bull from our extravagant lunch, Nolan, Susi and I had some cheeses, dips, and meats from the market and then packed it in for an early night.  

CLICK HERE TO SEE PICS

Week in Melbourne:

This week in Melbourne has been a bit of stressful time as our plans (get jobs asap and start raking in the cash) hasn't exactly gone according to plan.  We spent most of the week passing our resumes to restaurants and stores, but everywhere told us that they had just done a big hiring (in sync with the start of the uni term), and were no longer looking for new people.  The climbing gym, despite woes of being understaffed, still have not called us, which would have been the perfect job.  Nolan scored two yoga classes at a gym, but isn't CPR/First Aid qualified here and the pay wouldn't exactly help us if I'm not working either.

On a positive note, karma or coincidence helped us find a place to stay.  While discussing our options rent a hostel room for a lot of money or a dumpy share-house room with a bunch of uni students for a slightly lower price, a woman overehead us and said she had a spare room that we could rent for $170/w.  So now we're about two blocks from Susi's place with our own bedroom/bathroom and free range to cook!

In terms of work, we've reassessed our situation and decided that it might be best to move on.  Tomorrow we head out to Mt. Arapiles to climb for a week, and then we're heading up the east coast via the Greyhound bus to Sydney where we'll look for more work.  We're excited to explore the beautiful nature and beaches along the east coast!

In other news, we've got our walking legs back as we've traversed nearly the entire city by foot, including the beautiful waterfront beach area which was reminiscent of L.A., and our running regime is still going.  

More next week when we return from climbing!

Melbourne!

It's sunny, warm, and bustling here in Melbourne City, Victoria, Australia!  Melbourne's population is nearly as big as New Zealand's, so it's nice to be in a city that can compare a bit to NYC.

Rony, my big sister, picked us up from the airport and took us to her mom, Susie's where we're staying until we're sorted with jobs and a room.  We arrived to home-made pasta bolognaise, salad, and red wine, not to mention the most comfortable double bed ever (or maybe it just feels that way after camping for 10 days)!

Day 1 in Melbourne, we walked a LOT.  We took the tram to the city center and explored the main streets, the little laneways (tiny off-shoots from main roads), ate sushi at a place where the dishes are served on a conveyor belt (plates are priced based on the color of the edge!), bought running shoes to get our butts back in cardio shape, and took in the sites.  It's a beautiful city where fashion is a priority, you can eat any type of cuisine you desire, and university students run rampant!  Feeling the miles in our legs, we took the tram back "home," and then popped out again to buy some flowers for our host and explore the local area a bit.  When we got back home, Susie had picked up an organic rotisserie chicken, so we made a salad and had a healthy meal.

Day 2: We kicked off our day with a run in the nearby parkway followed by an ab workout.  Woohoo!  Afterwards, we had a nice long breakfast with Susie while working on our resumes for jobs.  Around noon, we headed to Victoria Market, which is the most amazing market you've ever seen!  In an old market building, you have a range of fish shops, butchers, cheese shops, produce, and everything you could possibly want!  We walked around while Susie did some shopping, and then Nolan and I snuck back in to get a Borek, a piping hot, long bread roll filled with spinach and cheese and spicy lamb for Nolan, all for $2.50!  Shortly after, we picked up a sushi hand roll each, also for $2.50.  After the food prices in NZ, it's refreshing to have cheap, international food again and sushi EVERYWHERE!  Full and happy, we walked to Federation Square, where the information center is, and picked up some maps.  Afterwards we headed to the National Gallery to view an eclectic collection of Australian art...for FREE!  Yay!

We've spent the rest of the day back at home searching for jobs and apartments.  We've just had a Campari spritzer with Susie and are reading our books/writing blogs in the garden out back before going to meet Rony for dinner on Brunswick St, a cool uni street full of cafes and restaurants.

More soon!

Saying Goodbye to New Zealand and the Quake

So, for anyone living under a rock for the last week, there was a big earthquake in Christchurch and we were very close. The 22nd of February was supposed to be our last day of climbing at Castle Hill, but it was raining so we had a lazy morning and leisurely breakfast, chatting with our Czech friend Yan. We packed up, said goodbye to Cragieburn and went to say goodbye to our Swedish friends Tobias and Janna. They had rented a sweet house in Castle Hill Village. We were sitting around their place, exchanging music and videos and having a nice conversation when I felt the house begin to shake. I said "I think were having an earthquake." The others stopped and looked at the glasses shaking on the counter. Then it became very noticeable and we bolted outside. The trees were whipping back and forth and the sensation was like being on a boat. After a few seconds the shaking stopped and we went back inside. A few seconds later, we were back on the lawn for a comparable aftershock. I was thinking how cool it was that we got to experience an earthquake without it being too bad...

When we left them and went to the hostel, we found out that the quake had caused chaos in town. The whole city center was destroyed and the aftershocks were still rolling through. We sat and watched the news as images of destruction poured in from the places in the city where we had walked through a week before. A couple of times we ran outside with a strong aftershock shaking the hostel. Our flight was due to take off the next day, but we weren't sure if flights would be taking off, if the place where we rented our car was still standing or what. As the evening went on the hostel filled up with people either coming from Christchurch or those who had been heading there. It was a heavy night and a restless sleep.

The next morning we waited around for news about the airport and rental car and eventually made our way into the city. It took a long time to get to the car rental place in town because so many of the roads were closed and the traffic lights were all down. All the roads had cracks and big mounds of liquefaction, which is when water and dirt combine underground and force the earth upwards. When this mixture seeps through the cracks, it looks like wet concrete. The car rental place was a mess inside - glass and objects shattered all over the floor - but it was still there. We left our keys and decided to hitch a ride to the airport. Dimity made a sign that said "AIRPORT" and within ten seconds a nice older man picked us up and drove us there. His name was Tim and he drove us there on many of the closed roads (haha - not sure he realized they were cordoned). He was cool.

The airport was maxed out with people trying to get out of town and everyone was stressed. The aftershocks were still going on, so every now and then a big shake would shock peoples' already frazzled nerves. After a short delya, we took off and made it to Melbourne, solid ground.  And for anyone who has the choice, I highly recommend Air New Zealand!

Today we read that the death toll is around 130 and still rising. A few days before the earthquake, we were considering going to Christchurch early to do some shopping and sight seeing, so we're very lucky to have missed it.  Aside from the death and devastation to such a beautiful city, it was amazing to see how everyone in this small country (as well as friendly neighbors) are pitching in their best efforts to help the people of Christchurch.

We absolutely loved New Zealand, in fact we wished we'd had more time to explore, and we hope that ChCh gets back on their feet soon!

Castle Hill - The Energy Center of the Universe (or one of them).

Today is our tenth day in the Castle Hill area...and I'm struggling to remember everything worth writing!  Here's my best effort:

1. Christchurch: We got a small taste of Castle Hill before having to head to Christchurch to sell our car (thank goodness we did then because as I'm writing, it's about 3 hours after the massive earthquake hit).  Day 1: In Christchurch, we printed and posted flyers in every hostel we could find.  Within hours, a Scottish couple - Ryan and Vary - called us up interested in Aquarius.  We chugged over to their hostel, where they took her for a test drive.  Aquarius was on her best behavior, so their interest extended to a morning trip to get her fully inspected.  Day 2: We took Aquarius to a AA inspection place where we discovered she had more problems than we'd imagined.  Ryan and Vary seemed hesitant, and Nolan and I left in silence worried that we weren't going to get another fish to bite the bait.  In angst, I texted them wondering what they'd learned about cost of fixing the van...they texted that they were still keen on buying but given the cost of fixing it could only afford to pay $2,500.  So in the end, we swapped the car for the price at which we bought it and leaving it in better hands!  Car sold, we spent the night eating pizza and sleeping in a BED before renting a car and heading back to Castle Hill the following day.  
2. Cragieburn Campground: Our base for Castle Hill climbing consists of a small stream flowing through beech forest, which accounts for the swarms of wasps around the campgrounds, a three-walled shelter with two tables for cooking, a tank that collects rain water, and a loo that qualifies as the worst and smelliest one we have seen in NZ.  Our first few days we shared the grounds with two Aussie couples that are in their mid to late fifties.  They camped out for three nights and cooked gourmet meals, including freshly caught trout by one of the gentlemen, which they kindly shared with us one night because it was too big to eat!  The rest of the week we shared the grounds with fellow climbers, including Italians, a Czech, Hungarian, Kiwis, and Germans and somehow managed to fill ourselves up with lots of pasta and couscous meals on our one-person pot and stove.  
3. The Swedes: On Day 3 of climbing, we met a lovely Swedish couple, Janna (pronounced Jenna) and Tobias.  We climbed with them for the rest of the week, working on problems, loving the extra spotters and the two crash pads.  They are traveling for about 5 months through NZ, India, Greece, and France before heading back home to reassess what they want to do with their lives.  They might as well have been our Swedish counterparts!  Since they were renting a house in Castle Hill Village (clearly the Swedish currency is on their side), we went over to dinner one night and made tacos with a mix of Swedish and America traditions.  The Swedes put chopped apples in their (delicious!) and we cooked some of our veggies when they just throw them in their raw.  With full bellies, we headed back to camp in the drizzle.  
4. Flock Hill: In the Castle Hill area, there are several boulder-covered hills in which to climb.  The "cream of Castle Hill" is supposedly Flock Hill.  To get here, you need a permission slip so that the "farmer won't shoot you," as quoted by the bartender at Flock Hill Lodge.  With slip safely secured, you walk up a very step hill that is dotted with thorn bushes.  Flock Hill is different for a few reasons: (a) it is less climbed, therefore the limestone hasn't been polished as it has on the problems in Castle Hill, (b) there is no guide book, so it's up to you to find something fun and try it taking away the distractions of trying to read the map and worry about grades, (c) there are no tourists roaming the fields, so it's beautiful quiet, (d) there are less bees and flies and more crickets and lizards, and (e) there are more holds and less jumping to a mantle or "meat and potato" problems as Nolan calls them.
5. Flat Tire: We seem to always be at the epicenter of Murphy's Law - if something can go wrong, it will..i.e. nonstop rain and washed out bridges in Costa Rica, a snowstorm that shuts down JFk, an earthquake that shuts down the Christchurch airport, or the odd flat tire causing by the air valve popping off at a very inappropriate time when everything in tiny Springfield is already shut.  If we haven't mentioned Springfield yet, it's the town closest to Castle Hill.  It consists of a three cafes, two hotels (one is our beloved Smylie's), and a gas station.  We were forced to change the tire, drive over Porter's Pass on our spare to the campground, and back again in the morning to get the tire fixed.  Eesh!
6. The Vortex: The day of the full moon, I took a rest day and did work in town while Nolan went climbing.  On his way in, he met a fellow with a "Gentle Bear Healing" sticker on his van, a fedora with giant feather on hat, walking stick covered in gem stones in hand, and tattoos all over his body.  He mentioned to Nolan that tonight was a full moon and the moon was lining up with Uranus.  Because of this, a vortex would open in Castle Hill, it being an energy center, and a new dimension would open.  In celebration (or something like it), there would be a Shaman and many others in Castle Hill reigning in this new..."era?"  At 9:30pm, we set out to see and experience this unusual gathering.  On the way up Porter's Pass (the steep mountain road), our gas gauge sank down to empty, and given our luck with flat tires and all, we decided to turn around and experience the new dimension from the comfort of our once-a-week bed.  Days later, we came across a circle of stones that must have been the remnants of the full moon festival.
7. Supernatural! On my rest day (Dimity speaking), Nolan came home saying he'd flashed a V5 and he thought I could do it too because it was technical.  The following day, feeling well rested, I went to try it and got it!!  My hardest problem yet!! Woohoo!
8. Peanut Butter: I'm not sure why I never realized this, but peanut butter seems to be exclusively an American thing.  The Swedes had never had it, and I gave a German girl her first taste ever.  By the look on her face, I think she felt reborn.
9. Friends: Being in one place for a long period of time leads you to meet lots of interesting people.  In addition to the Swedes, we met two Italians from Lake Garda (who had been parked right next to us at Hangdog, but we didn't realize it!) who taught me to play Briscola an Italian card game I used to play when I was little, a Czech guy, a fellow American, and a German man all of whom were excellent climbing buddies and sources of entertainment.

Now I'm off to do laundry and enjoy the luxury of a long, hot shower...

Ciao!

Dimity

See Castle Hill pictures here.