Slowing down, kicking back.

We were both a bit worse for wear after four hectic days in Bangkok.  The combination of heat, jet lag, poor air quality, nasal congestion and poison ivy all added up to a dizzying experience.  So, anxious to get out of the city we board an ancient but colorful, funhouse-mirrored bus and rolled slowly toward Kanchanaburi. The bus putters along, spitting black exhaust and making frequent stops, but eventually we arrive.  This small town on the River Kwai sits about 2 hours west of Bangkok.  It's most well known as the home of the famous Bridge on the River Kwai, but there are a few other worthy sites and a generally more relaxed atmosphere that enticed us. 

Having my Iphone with us has been a real lifesaver so far. I don't have any cell phone service, but we can jump on free wifi whenever we find it, which is most any restaurant, coffee shop or guesthouse in Thailand so far.  So, once at the bus station in Kanchanaburi we dodge the nagging tuk-tuk drivers and use the free wifi at a coffeeshop nearby to call our guest house and get them to pick us up for free.  We spend the rest of our first day just relaxing and settling in.  We track down cheap vegetarian fare on the main drag, we lounge by the pool, we nap in our AC room.  We shake the flashing lights of Bangkok.

The infamous bridge

The next morning we're ready to go--we rent bikes for 50baht a piece (about $1.50), scarf down some breakfast and head over to one of several WWII cemeteries in town.  There's also a great museum next door that tells the story of the Death Railway (which the Bridge over the River Kwai is a part of) and the men who built it. During WWII, the Japanese put hundreds of thousands of POW's to work building a railroad from Burma to Bangkok to help transport precious resources for their war effort.  It was treacherous terrain, and thousands of POW's died from exhaustion, malnutrition and disease.  It's a compelling story that I'd never heard before.  After the museum we biked it down to the infamous bridge--not all that compelling, but worth a look nonetheless.

Cave Buddha

The heat is still brutal, so we take a pool/lunch break and then head off toward Wat Tham Khao Pun a few kilometers out of town.  The Wat (Buddhist temple) boasts a series of caves with various Buddha statues and images.  We get our first real taste of adventure, biking through small villages and trying to navigate our way to the Wat with a poor excuse for a map.  We cross paths with a herd of goats and several Brahma cows. Most signs don't have any English, so we take a couple guess turns and arrive eventually--out of breath and drenched in sweat but exhilarated.  The caves feel like a bit of a tourist trap, but the journey makes it worth it.  Plus, seeing Sadrah yelp and run from bats swooping overhead is worth every minute of pedaling. 

We decide to spend an extra day in Kanchanaburi.  400baht for an air-conditioned room and a pool--why not?! Besides, we'd developed quite a friendly relationship with the little lizards that decorated the walls outside our room after nightfall.  The next morning we board a bus to Erawan National Park to check out the 7-tiered Erawan waterfalls.  It's a beautiful spot with light jade-toned water surrounded by thick jungle.  Each swimming pond is brimming with little fish that swim up and attach to your skin and begin sucking/nibbling the minute you get into the water and stop moving.  It takes a little getting used to--actually we never really got used to it. But if you swim out into the deep water and tread water they leave you alone. We explore the first 5 tiers before having to rush back down and catch the bus back to town. 

And by the way, whenever you see a sign that reads "Beware Fierce Monkeys" you best take it seriously.  We had a monkey with baby in tow rip open a plastic bag filled with our picnic lunch supplies and steal off with our 7-11 cupcakes.  One of the park workers tried to get them back with a slingshot to no avail.  Later we saw another monkey go after a family and their bag of treats.  These are serious monkeys.

We finish our day with our first (of hopefully many) Thai massages at Suan Nanachaat, a relaxing spa/cafe about 10 minutes outside of town. We both change into loose fitting clothes and are lead up to a loft space and asked to lay down on floor mats.  Two small, but very strong Thai women then proceed to press, bend twist, and pound us into all sorts of wild positions for the next hour or so.  Thai massage is very different from what most of us are used to in the states.  The owner of the spa refers to it as 'passive Yoga' and the description is very fitting.  You're definitely not going to fall asleep during this massage.  By the end of it we are both worn out but also quite invigorated. The combination of yoga stretching and intense massage really works to loosen up the body and the mind.  It was a bit pricey for our budget  (16.50/person for 1.5 hours), but definitely worth the splurge to get away from the sleazy, sidewalk massage parlors in town. We return to Kanchanaburi proper for a late dinner, revived and ready to continue our journey north through Thailand.

First Stop Bangkok

Greetings from Thailand.  We're survived our first week here and between the 24 hours of air and land travel to get here and the dizzying pace of Bangkok once we arrived, it feels like it's been much longer.  Our flight landed in the middle of the night and we quickly discovered that Bangkok is the true city that never sleeps. 
We found our way into a taxi (w/ a wild-eyed Israeli/Swede?) from the airport and arrived at the hostel we would stay at over the next few days.  A simple, small room with a fan and a double bed with a shared bathroom down the hall.  As is Thai custom we removed our footwear before entering the living area which kept things clean and comfortable after a long day of traveling.  Bare feet in a foreign, semi-public restroom took a little more adjusting. 

We felt rested after our first night and woke up early enough to have our included breakfast: toast with butter and jam, fresh fruit, and coffee/tea.  Ever ambitious we fought through our jet lag and set out to explore the city. A short taxi ride dropped us off at a pier where we picked up a cheap and relatively fast medium sized boat down a canal to the Grand Palace - the former Royal Residence.  Bangkok is said to be the Venice of the East, but with its brown, sewage-scented water and overwhelming air pollution I think the comparison falls a little short.

We found that nothing stops here--the traffic is never ending, the buildings expand further than the eye can see, and while you are here you can't seem to stop either. It's all a bit overwheming. Any brief hesitation to take in our surroundings or catch our breath in the smoldering heat was an open invitation to be approached about a tuk-tuk ride to where ever we were (or weren't) heading for a much inflated price over the cost of a metered taxi. When we arrived at our destination pier outside the Grand Palace we found ourselves among an open air food market selling all kinds of identifyable and unidentifyable goods. It smelled of diesel and fried foods.  We bought some fresh watermelon and pineapple and began to assess our situation. 

We were on the opposite side of the street from the Grand Palace with about 4 lanes of never ending traffic between us.  Crossing the street is a particular challenge.  It flows from a different direction than we're used (look right!) and is filled not only with cars, but innumberable scooters and tuk-tuks. Real pros bravely step into traffic and cross little by little, one lane at a time.  Stopping and staring down the onslaught of motorscooters, trucks, buses, and cars and hoping that the timing works out in their favor.  This is still very daunting at this point so we chose to wait until someone else was venturing across and just kind of piggy-back along with them.  Eventually we reached the Grand Palace but not before ignoring several touts trying to convince us that the destination we were trying to see was currently closed for one reason or another and in the meantime we should take a ride in a tuk-tuk to see some other glorious sights the city has to offer.  All this despite the fact that hordes of 'farang' or foreigners, are entering a exiting the Palace right before our eyes.  We dodge them all and eventually get inside to explore the intricately designed temples and statues inside the Palace walls.

Our 4 days in Bangkok left us dizzy.  Literally.  Breating carbon monoxide all day from the overwhelming amount of vehicles and riding in small boats in canals getting misted with sewer water is not worth all the hype.  We did manage to make the best of it though and picked out some relaxing sights within a chaotic city.  We very much looked forward to the overstimulation of sound, sight and space letting up as we headed out of the city towards Kanachanburi.


What we've learned/done so far:

-  The inability to speak/read the language turns out to be a bit of a hindrance
-  Beware of the Crazy Bird Lady of Bangkok
-  Ladyboys are everywhere
-  Ping Pong shows really do exist
-  Thai food so far is not as spicy as I imagined
-  Geckos make the walls dance
-  We've been attacked by monkeys, nibbled by flesh eating fish, and pounded on by Thai massuers and taken many forms of very sketchy transportation...and it's only week 1.

The Final Countdown & The Story of Stuff

Mike and I head to the train station in Newark, NJ no later than 9:30am tomorrow morning and begin the arduous task of using public transportation to get from NJ to JFK.  Our flight doesn't leave until 1:55pm.  But I guess there's no better way to start a backpacking adventure than hoofing it all the way to the airport, full load on our backs.

After much procrastination and rationalization about doing just about anything besides packing and organizing, I have finally just about finished.  I'm bringing so much less than I brought to South America for a couple of reasons. Primarily, I will not being working on farms or traveling from the top to the bottom of a huge continent with many different climates in between. 

I decided to leave my Pentax SLR at home for this journey, still a little gun shy after the theft.  The camera for this trip is a compact camera with a nice fast Leica lens and lots of manual control. It's much lighter in weight and smaller in size and won't be a burden to keep with me at all times. As I look at what I've actually packed it seems like an frighteningly small amount of stuff and although that was the plan I can't help but break into a little bit of a fervor over what I've likely forgotten. The good news is that anything I may need can most likely be found when I arrive and probably at a fraction of the cost.

So, here it is--my packing list for 3 months traveling through Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos!

Paper:

- Journal
- Copies of passport, letter re: my medical syringes, injection instructions.
- Reading Material: BUST magazine
- Two decks of playing cards (double solitaire!!)
- Camera User's Manual

Electronics

- iPod
- Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5- Charging equipment for the above
- High Speed Memory Card Reader
- Travel Alarm Clock
- International Outlet Adapter
- Headlamp
- Steripen, for water purification and plastic bottle minimization.

Cloth

- 1 pair of hiking sandals
- 1 pair of all season, waterproof hiking shoes
- 1 pair convertible quick dry pants
- 2 sports bras
- 2 pairs quick dry underwear (wear one, wash the other)
- 1 bathing suit
- 5 pairs socks
- 1 t-shirt
- 5 tank tops
- 1 long sleeve, light weight shirt/hoody
- 1 skirt
- 1 pair of stretch pants for cool night pajamas in the mountains
- 3 pairs of shorts (one pajama-type, one regular, one hiking type)
- Waterproof/Windproof Jacket
- Pack Towel
- 2 Bandanas
- The Original Dreamie sleep sack, As Seen On TV

Misc
- Day bag with Camelbak hydration system
- 1 pair of sunglasses
- Enough First Aid supplies to stock a small hospital
- Lip Butter (Thanks Laura)
- Toiletries including all natural deodorant and Dr. Bronner's all purpose cleaner.
- Dry bag
- Compression stuff sack

- Waterproof camera housing
- The Skeeter Defeater mosquito net.
- Inflatable neck pillow for peaceful rests anywhere

$200 cash

Just for fun, Mike will try to put up his packing list soon.  Compare our packing styles and marvel at the striking differences between them!

And with that, we're officially on our way.  We'll see you in Thailand!!!

Shooting up!

Alright. Less digression, more progression.  Onward to Thailand! We're knee deep in half-packed bags and pre-trip anxiety.  Tomorrow morning we head down to NJ to see my family for a few days before our flight out of JFK on Wednesday.  First aid kits, Skeeter Defeaters, Malarone...oh my!

To get shots or not to get shots, that is (or was) the question. I promised talk of diseases, and I shall deliver. I read up on the CDC recommended immunizations for this region and it's enough to make you think you're walking into a horror movie.  Malaria, Dengue Fever, Japanese Encephalitis, Hep A & B, Typhoid and rabies are all more prevalent in certain parts of all the countries we're visiting. They can all be pretty ugly if they strike you, but most aren't particularly fatal unless you're trapped in the jungle, days from any sort of credible health care. We don't really plan on being that far out. Plus, our travel insurance covers emergency transport, and there's really nothing like closing out your jungle adventure with a call of "Get to the choppppa!" all Arnold-style as we fling our sickly bodies onto a helicopter. Actually, I'm kind of looking forward to it.

 For some diseases, specifically Dengue Fever, there aren't even any shots available, so all we have are best practices.  For many others there are vaccinations, or in the case of rabies a set of pre-shots that will make the effects of the disease less severe if you're, you know, accosted by a wild monkey.  But you'll still have to get a bunch of other shots if you get bitten. 

I already have the series of Hep B shots from when I was a kid.  But as for the others, we both decided to forgo the shots. Sadrah's reasons were more philosophical (she's never had vaccinations of any kind) while mine were more economical.  I don't have health insurance, and to get all the recommended shots would cost well over $500.  But we both know what it takes to follow safe practices while traveling, and these are really more important than just getting shots, many of which are not even 100% effective.  We'll be sterilizing all our drinking water and eating safely cooked foods including only fruits & vegetables with skins that are peeled.  We'll be using lots of bug spray (w/ at least 35% Deet) and long pants/sleeves at night especially when we're out in more rural areas where some of these diseases can be more prevalent.

When it comes to Malaria there are no immunizations, just a handful of anti-malarial drugs to choose from.  Some even give you crazy, super-vivid dreams.  I kind of wanted those, but they were more expensive.  So we both ended up with prescriptions for Doxycycline (the cheapest choice--only about $25-30 for an ample supply) which is an anti-malarial antibiotic that needs to be taken every day throughout travel and for 30 days afterward to help prevent malaria infection.  The potential side-effects don't sound so hot, including a slew of possibles like diarrhea, flu-like symptoms and most notably an increased photo-sensitivity, i.e. your skin will sunburn more easily. It could even cause permanent sensitive skin. Fantastic.

Stolen from here: http://xkcd.com/51/

 So after doing a lot of online research Sadrah has decided not take the pills, and I don't really blame her.  Taking an antibiotic for 4 months straight when you're not even sick is probably not a good thing for the human body. I think I'm going to take mine as an experiment/safety precaution (at least one of us won't get malaria and can take care of the other) but I'm still on the fence.  We also got one prescription of Malarone, which is an anti-malarial drug you can take if you think you're starting to get symptoms.  It will hold off the progression of the disease and buy you time to get to a good hospital. 

Pol Pot's revenge?

We'll also be carrying some prescriptions for Zithromax and Cipro (thanks to Sadrah's insurance) in case either one of us gets a particularly awful case of traveler's diarrhea. What a boring, sterile name for "the shits." Let me be sure to blog all about that the first time it happens over a squat toilet! In the meantime we started taking a daily Probiotic supplement to help build up the good bacteria in our guts, which should lessen the chance of getting sick.  You have to remember, it's not that there's anything wrong with most of the food or water in other countries like Mexico or Thailand--it's just that our bodies are not used to the bacteria's they have floating around. 


Ironically, the only real use I've had for the health insurance offered by my former employer is for a bunch of shots I could get just before I quit and take a 3 month trip to Asia. Oh well...I can't say I'm not a little bit nervous after all our research, but in some cases I'm just as nervous about the medicines as I am about the diseases.  I know we'll be smart and I think we'll be alright.

I should get some sleep.

Looking back...

My final night of work @ The Sherwood was last Saturday so I've had a bit more free time to tie up loose ends around the house this week. A few days ago I was storing away our cold frames for the season, and it got me thinking about how far we've come in nearly two years.  These simple, plywood boxes were our first project here in Upstate NY--completed on Labor Day weekend 2009, just before I left for the last Giving Chase tour.

Building cold frames

When we decided to stay here permanently I'm not sure we really knew what we were doing.  But a plan developed fairly quickly, and new projects popped up almost weekly. We built our own sawdust toilet.  We grew more of our own food than I ever could have imagined.  We built our own top-bar beehive. We designed and built a raised bed hoop house, helping us to grow hot peppers more successfully in our climate.  We learned about blanching, freezing and canning to preserve our harvest.

Our top-bar hive...soon, with bees!

Maple-sugaring, cooking, baking, kombucha, cheese making, kim-chi...Ok, enough of the bragging list. We failed a whole hell of a lot too, and we probably learned even more from that. For one, don't use drop-cloth plastic from Lowes for a hoop house.  It will deteriorate and rip to shreds by the end of the season.  Don't leave your kombucha mother sitting in the back of the fridge for a year--she will die.  And over-cooking your maple syrup after 15+ hours outside cooking it down over an open flame is particularly disheartening.     

The garden in full swing last summer

But I've also learned how much you really appreciate the value of things when they don't come easy. That lettuce that you've grown, battling the slugs and the deer and the groundhogs all season.  The salsa that you've canned from tomatillos that you grew from a plant that you snapped in half while transplanting and almost killed. Yes, I did that. Well, they all taste that much better. The crops or projects that fail make the ones that succeed that much more valuable. And what's more, they somehow make me feel more whole, more grounded.



So we're taking another big step, moving to a new place where we hardly know a soul, going forward without a safety net or a fall-back plan.  It feels...necessary. Much like coming here to experiment with all our ideas did two years ago.  Some days it seems so much easier to play it safe, follow dollars or convention and just fall in line with other people's expectations.  But there's so much more we want to do, and we continue to do our best to follow our hearts.

Planning & packing

The new picture above is from Machu Picchu in Peru--our first journey together. Here's to another...and many more!

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!

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.

We Caught the Wanderfoot...

After spending about 2 years in Central New York literally planting roots (and growing some awesome veggies too!) we've decided to leave the area.  Though the lakes are unparalleled in their beauty, the local apple and maple sugar traditions are mouth-watering, and the proximity of family is comforting, we're getting itchy feet.  The crisp leaves of last fall signaled the slowing of the seasons followed by the long, not-for-the-faint-of-heart winter. Then the first thaw of spring and impending summer spurred the desire to create, grow, and explore.

We are very proud of our experiences and accomplishments in CNY.  To see the transformation of our soil and the presence of earth worms where there had been none before.  To see the food we grew and preserved last summer still providing us our meals today.  We learned that what we put into it, we got out of it.  And we put a lot into this area--we learned to embrace the winter and found deep enjoyment in cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in bitter cold and biting wind.  We sat out in the spring, snow still on the ground, bundled up under the stars to finish the 12+ hour boil of our first season's maple syrup.  We got blisters, sore muscles, dirty nails, rough hands, sun burned backs, and red necks.  And we discovered that we loved it!

But we've been working only with annuals, planning and producing for the season without permanence and we're ready to move on to perennials. We're not just talking about plants either! It's a tough to decide whether to nurture something with patience or just let it go.  Sometimes we see a lot of potential for this area to bear fruit in the future, but it's just not for us right now.

So, we've decided to move on to greener pastures.  But first, we're off on another adventure!  On June 22, 2011 we fly to Bangkok, Thailand where we'll spend 3 months traveling in the region.  In addition to Thailand we're planning to visit Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.  There will be ancient temples, secluded mountain towns and postcard worthy beaches.  We're going to eat food that burns our faces off.  We're going to be cultural sponges, out of our element, just soaking it all up.  And just like we usually do we'll write about it here.

It may seem crazy to leave the supportive family environment we've been living in, where we've had the ability to test out our green thumbs and save up some money.  We've got good jobs where we work short hours and make good money.  We're quitting and traveling instead of waiting and saving. When we get back from our trip we're moving to Asheville, NC, a city we've only briefly visited where we know next to no one.  We have no job prospects, we have no living arrangements made, we have no Southern accents.  But all those things are easily obtainable (except for the accent, that's going to take some work and a whole lotta beer).  As far as we can tell, Asheville is a great city and the perfect place for us--progressive, locally focused and vegetarian friendly.  A small city swelling with art & culture. A slightly warmer climate with a longer growing season but still the beauty of all four seasons.

So, call us crazy, but the way we see it, life is short...and the world is wide!

Post your comments, give us recommendations, suggest wacky things for us to do, and follow all our travels here.

xoxo, S&M