So, we are less than two weeks from our departure and it seems like things are finally coming together. We've got some fancy new travel gear, signed up for solid travel insurance, ordered new contacts and payed our car insurance. There's still plenty to do, but we're feeling more excited and less anxious by each passing day.
Meanwhile we're trying to eat up the remainder of our stockpiled vegetables from last season before we hit the road. It's really encouraging to see how much food we grew in such a small space and how long it has lasted. Gets me all excited for the future! But the freezer is slowly emptying out and I just roasted our very last spaghetti squash that was hanging around in the root cellar. That sucker lasted 9 months...WOW! And there's an heirloom tomato sauce on the stove made from 2 gallons of frozen whole tomatoes put up last summer. There's still plenty more to eat, and our spring garden is putting up more greens than we know what to do with. At least there's a critter out there getting fat on our garden even if we can't eat it all. Either a rabbit or a groundhog has been chowing down on our peas and swiss chard this week in earnest. Can't say I blame him, but I wish he'd quit it. Time for the rotten egg/hot pepper spray!
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| Garlic coming up this Spring |
Anyway, more on our trip preparations. Up until now we've been doing most of our research online with websites like Travelfish, which definitely has a ton of info. But our new Lonely Planet "Southeast Asia on a Shoestring" travel guide arrived a couple days ago, so now we can really start to get a feel for where we're headed. I don't know what it is, but there's something about having real pages in your hand to flip through and detailed maps to get you oriented--the whole thing seems a bit more real.
Our basic route will go something like this: from Bangkok we'll move north through Thailand, then across into Laos. Then south through Laos into Cambodia and across into Vietnam. After we make our way northward through Vietnam to Hanoi I'm hoping we can shoot back to Bangkok on a cheap flight and make our way to the Thai beaches for a bit of sun and super-relaxation time. I'm sure it won't all happen quite like that, but that'll be fun too. Basically, we don't want a day-to-day itinerary. We'll use the guidebook to help give us a little direction, point out cool sites, etc. But we can decide to stay fewer or more days in any location depending on how we like it.
We've purchased a lot more travel-specific gear this time than we have for any previous trips. Maybe we're growing up--or just smartening up. Either way, SE Asia is notorious for it's tropical (i.e. hot and humid) climate and our travels will coincide with the first half of the rainy season, so we figure it was smart for us to pick up some fancyish, quick-dry gear. Plus, it just make things easier when it comes to keeping your pack light and trips to the laundromat infrequent. We've got travel undies from Ex-Oficio (very comfortable), plus some new pants, shirts, etc. A compression dry sack, a waterproof camera case, a new headlamp. Nothing super expensive...just enough to keep things safe & comfortable.We'll try to post a final packing list next week.
Then there's the issue of water: it's hot and we don't want to get dehydrated, but we'd prefer to avoid buying plastic bottles of water every day even if they are inexpensive. We don't expect recycling bins on every corner, so the waste from consuming 3 liters of water each day is not something we can get behind. So, we did a lot of research (UV sterilization vs. pump filter mostly) and finally decided on the Steripen to sanitize our own water along the way, along with a Nalgen bottle-top filter adapter for any particles in the water and to keep the lip of the bottle clean. As long as your dealing with basically clear water from the tap, all research shows that the Steripen should work perfectly well to kill off any potential harmful bacteria, etc. We've also got a 3-liter Camelbak for carrying water around during the day.
We confirmed a reservation at our first hostel in Bangkok, the lovely Sam Sen Sam Place. At 500 baht (33 baht=$1 US) it seems like a steal, especially for Bangkok. Most of the time we'll just find a place to stay when we arrive in a new town along our journey. But our flight arrives after midnight in a new country where we can hardly speak the language. Seems like a good time to have a specific destination. I can hardly wait for the cab ride from the airport!
Alright, enough for now. More on mosquitos, malaria and dengue fever next time.
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