Before, Now, and After

Thousands and thousands of apologies for the lack of posts lately. We've been traipsing around Southeast Asia and have run into several weeks of slow internet, making it a bit tough to get posts up. More posts and details are on the way, but for now, here's a little taste of what we've been up to. Pictures included so that you know we're alive and well :)

Thailand:
In Thailand, we spent a big chunk of time in the lovely city of Chiang Mai. We took a crazy bus ride to Pai, which is a hippie-heaven in the hills.

Jumping for joy in Pai

A cool temple in the woods in Chiang Mai

Pai's lovely mountains

Motorbiking around Pai

The White Temple outside of Chiang Rai. It's even cooler looking in real life.

Laos:
We entered Laos on a riverboat, which was a great entry to a beautiful, laid-back country. We couldn't sit on a bus or boat for more than 20 minutes before our local seat-neighbors would offer us a bite of whatever they were snacking on. This was one of our favorite countries of our trip.

Riverboats

On the riverboat

Cool cliffs of Vang Vieng

Enjoying the sunset from our hotel

Purchasing some delicious coconut things

Trekking in the jungle

Countryside

Tom at dinner at a homestay in a village

Cambodia:
We bicycled around small villages, learned about pepper-picking (Peter Piper was busy with the pickling, unfortunately), and saw the sun rise of Angkor Wat.

Delicious breakfast, Cambodian-style

Tom's massage place. 

Sunset in Kampot

Wave jumping

Beachy

Dried fish for sale

Fresh crabs with Kampot pepper

Sunrise at Angkor Wat. Note the coffee. 

Angkor Wat

Climbing to the top of some temples

Angkor Wat

Vietnam:

So far, we've explored the very cool Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), the mountain vacation town of Dalat, and a charming, but heavily touristy port town called Hoi An.

Over the course of the next to weeks, we will slowly making our way up through Vietnam. As of now, we plan to stop in Hanoi, Halong Bay, Sapa, and a few national parks to get some hiking in. After that, we're headed on a plane to...

Nepal!

A map for the geographically confused (like me)

We've decided to spend the last chunk of our trip trekking in the Himalayas and exploring some of Nepal's mountain towns and villages. We're really looking forward to getting into the mountains again and seeing such a cool part part of the world.

More posts soon to come!

-R

Recipe: Thai Beef Salad

One of our favorite dishes from the Thai cooking class we took was Thai Beef Salad. Yes, a salad made from beef. I think it would be delicious at a summer barbecue. (Ah, how we miss those!) You should be able to find most of the ingredients back in the States, but I think you could get the same effect with some substitutions. This recipe comes from the Classic Home Cooking recipe book, which they gave to each of us after we finished the class. If I haven't said this enough, I very highly recommend them.

Thai Beef Salad (Yam Nua)

Ingredients:
- 100 grams of beef (That's about 3.5 ounces. If you're cooking for a group, you might want to quadruple everything. It's that good.)
- 1 tablespoon of finely sliced shallots
- 1 tablespoon of thinly sliced lemon grass stems. (Don't eat these unless they're sliced very very thinly. They're not poisonous or anything, just a bit too fibrous and flavorful to eat on their own.)
- 1 tablespoon spring onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon mint leaves
- 1 tablespoon sliced cucumber (I'd use a bit more if you want to make this a bit more 'salad' and a bit less 'beef.')
- 1/2 tomato, sliced

Ingredients for dressing:
- 1 tablespoon crushed garlic
- 2-4 crushed hot chilies. (If you're using the original recipe amounts, I'd recommend no more than 2 peppers, unless you like things with lots of heat. To crush the chilies, use the flat part of your knife to sort of roll the pepper open.)
- 3 teaspoons of lime juice (Adjust to taste. I like it extra-limey.)
- 3 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon palm sugar

Method:

1. Grill beef and then cut into thin strips about 1 inch wide. (I recommend grilling to somewhere between rare and medium rare.)
2. Mix all dressing ingredients in a big bowl. Add the beef and other ingredients.
3. Sprinkle mint leaves on top. Serve with lettuce, cabbage, or whatever else you have on hand.

Happy eating, Thai-style!

-R

A Thai Cooking Class in Chiang Mai

Tom and I both really love Thai food, but since we eat it so rarely at home, we usually stick to our favorites like green curry and pad thai. We were really excited to get to Thailand and eat our way through dozens of menus (and we definitely did!), but we also wanted to spend a bit of time learning about the food and how to prepare it so that we could make some edible souvenirs when we get home. 

We decided to take a Thai cooking class while we were in Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand. It seems like everyone and their mother runs a cooking class in Chiang Mai, so we read some reviews and decided to go with Vanee and Meo from "Classic Home Cooking," based on a review which said that it was like cooking with your grandmother. I am so so glad we did a class with them. The food we made was incredibly delicious, and they were wonderful hosts to us. Since it was the off season, we were the only two students in the class and so we got tons of attention.

Beach and Island Hopping in Thailand

After the craziness of Bangkok, Tom and I wanted to take a bit of a vacation from traveling. (You'll notice this is a theme for us. We also 'vacationed' in Melnik, Bulgaria and Colonia, Uruguay, as well as a few others.) We figured that the islands and beaches in Southern Thailand would be the perfect place to unwind for a few days.



We flew into Phuket, spent a few nights in town, and then headed to Kata Beach, which was just a quick bus ride from Phuket town. We treated ourselves to a few nights at a resort just a few minutes off of the beach with a great pool. Plus, swans. The beach itself was gorgeous, with warm waves and clean sand and views of islands in the distance. At first, we were a bit apprehensive about going into the water. Since we were visiting during rainy season, we'd heard to watch out for riptides and jelly fish. We did see some red flags warning of riptide areas, but we swam happily and jelly-fish free for hours. When your biggest complaint is that the water is 'just a little too warm,' you know that you've found a pretty great beach.

Phuket Island, Thailand

It is Saturday and sunny on Phuket, the largest island in Thailand. We arrived two days ago by plane (although it looks close on the map, the bus ride takes 14 hours and is overnight... we had enough long bus rides in Argentina), relaxed around Phuket Town and are now at Kata Beach where there are many restaurants both on the sand and off.

Here are a few pictures:

Around Phuket Town

Our guesthouse on Thalang Road

Trying the scooter

Our hotel at Kata Beach... it is right on the beach, has a pool, is the equivalent of $16/night, and our towels are kissing swans.

We'll bounce back to Europe for Monday's post.

Right now we're off to the beach.

Cheers,
Tom

Bangkok, Thailand: Tips for Travelers

We had a great time wandering around Bangkok for a few days, eating and drinking our way around the city. If the food, drink and culture of Bangkok has captured your attention, then book a flight! But first, learn from our experience:

• Eat new things! We ate so much during our few days in Bangkok, and everything was delicious. We followed our gut and ate primarily at food stalls and restaurants that were filled with other people eating. We figured that crowds meant that places were popular, and that food would be fresh. 

Very busy food market. The food and drinks were delicious.



• Look both ways before you cross the street. Seriously. Thais drive on the left side of the road, and it's easy to forget that the cars aren't coming from where you think they should! You may also want to look behind you before you cross a road. We found that tuk-tuks and motorcycles weren't shy about hopping up on the sidewalk to get around traffic. 

• Bangkok is a pretty sprawling city, and it takes awhile to get from Point A to Point B. If you only have a few days in Bangkok, try to map out the places and neighborhoods you really want to see, and spend one day exploring each area. This might save you some time commuting back and forth.

• Take full advantage of Bangkok's public transportation. It's very modern, clean and easy to get around. We found the people at the information booths to be pretty helpful. You may have to switch modes of transportation (sky-train to metro to river ferry and so on) but transferring is fairly painless and all signs are in English as well as Thai. Cabs are also pretty reliable and cheap.  Drivers use a meter in central Bangkok. Take the advice we received from our good friend who lived in Bangkok for awhile: skip the cabs during rush hour! You'll pay big just to sit in traffic. Grab a drink or a snack until traffic cools down. We recommend the fruit smoothies.

• When riding the river ferry, keep an eye out for your stop. When the whistle blows, you have  approximately 3 seconds to get off of the boat. If you don't hop off quickly, you may get stuck on the boat, separated from your traveling partner. Not that we speak from experience or anything.

The river ferry

• If you have respiratory problems -- or even if you're just planning to be in Bangkok for more than a few days -- consider using an air mask. Between the humidity and air pollution, it was hard to breath at times. If we had remained in the city for a bit longer, we would've invested in some masks. And apparently, you can now find "fashionable" face masks. Very end-of-the-world chic.

• Don't take sightseeing advice from persistent strangers. Most of the people we met in Bangkok were incredibly friendly and went out of their way to help us find our way. Perhaps because of this, we fell for a harmless but annoying tuk-tuk "scam." (Here's one blogger's account of a similar situation. Thankfully, we figured out what was going on by the time our driver dropped us off at the tailor's shop and just walked away, so all we lost was a little bit of time.)  On the other hand, we did get a pretty cheap ride in a tuk-tuk for about a dollar.

• And one last tip: If you're one who normally prefers peace and quiet and small towns, ease yourself into chaotic Bangkok. Especially during our first day or two, we got burnt out after a few hours, and needed some time to retreat into our hotel room or a quiet restaurant. When we allowed ourselves breaks from all of the hubbub, we were able to take a step back and really appreciate the city just as it is.

If you have other tips on traveling to Bangkok, please leave them in the comments below!

-R

Sensory Overload in Bangkok, Thailand

Note: We'll be bouncing back and forth between Europe and Southeast Asia posts for the next few weeks while we get caught up. Don't be confused: we've left Europe, and are planning to stay put on the other side of the world for awhile!

We arrived in Bangkok a few days ago, and I'm still overwhelmed by all of the sights, smells and sounds of the city.

Market of dried fish.

Food stalls

 

Walking around town

Shopping!

In some ways, it's exciting to constantly see, hear, or eat things you've never experienced before. But on the other hand, my brain has been in a state of constant stimulation for the past few days... and that can be tiring, to say the least. It seems that I go from exhilarated to exhausted and back again every hour or two. Travel writers often like to describe cities or countries as having contrasting elements. Bangkok is the first city I've been to where I've thought the description to be fully accurate.

Take, for example, the city streets. They're chaotic and messy, and crossing one as a pedestrian is like playing a game of Frogger, except with motorcycles and tuk-tuks that weave in and out of lanes at random, all seemingly aiming for anything on two legs. Even the sidewalks aren't safe; you must constantly watch all around to make sure some vehicle isn't headed straight towards you.

Tuk-tuiks and motorcycles. This is very calm!

But, if you head to any one of the three train systems, you'll find a completely different world. The chaos is gone. Instead, there's serene music playing and everything is scrubbed clean. The citizens and tourists of Bangkok line up in straight rows to enter and exit trains, and while traveling, they sit quietly or talk in hushed voices. It's so different from the honking cars lining the streets.

This is a great system. People queue up along the sides and enter on a diagonal. People exit the train down the middle. 

Even more shocking, people seem to follow the arrows!

Tom riding the skytrain. Take note of the calm behind him.

On a more serious note, you can see vast differences in income and lifestyle from one block to the next. In many areas of the city, people live in crumbling homes and wash their pots and pans on the sidewalk. But right around the corner, there are brand new skyscrapers and gleaming malls filled with stores like Cartier, Valentino and more.

No matter what area of the city we were in, we felt completely safe, and we found friendly and helpful people in all parts of Bangkok. A nice young woman helped us order some delicious minced pork with basil from a street vendor. Three men who worked on the river ferries helped me reunite with Tom after I got stranded on a ferry while Tom was onshore. (Yeah, that was a fun half hour of worrying.) And many, many more people helped us navigate our way through public transportation, crazy intersections, and more.

The temples all around Bangkok are nothing I've ever seen before -- at least not in person! It seemed like every surface was covered in glittering gold or intricate tile-work. It was absolutely beautiful. While we saw some of the major "must-see" tourist stops, I preferred our time wandering around the streets of Bangkok, just taking in all parts of city life. Enjoy the rest of our photo tour after the break, and check back tomorrow for a few tips we've picked up for those traveling to Bangkok!