Trek Day 1

Day one of the trek started at 630 am when our guide picked us up at our hotel. From there we went on a 2 hour van ride around the island of Lombok to Senaru where we met our porter and started the adventure. We were supposed to have two porters to carry all of our stuff, but for some reason the second one never showed so our porter, Dee, ended up carrying ALL of our food, water, tents, sleeping bags, cooking gear, and anything else we might need for three days of treking. After today Jenn and I are convinced the porter has magical powers because he doesn't carry all this in a normal backpack, but instead he has a large bambo stick with a basket on one end and the bigger stuff tied to the other end. We have absolutely no idea how he not only does the trek balancing with the stuff, but in flip flops and beats us everytime!



Ok enough about the porter on the trek. Like I said we started in Senaru at about 600 meters. We took a break at Post II (4.9 km into the trek) where Jenny and I took nice naps while our porter and guide cooked us some traditional Indonesian food for lunch. The rest of the day we continued upwards till we finally reached our camping spot at elevation of about 2,500 meters...just short of the first crater rim. We saw a couple of monkeys along the way, but mostly it was like hiking in the clouds so you couldn't see too much during the trek. When the clouds did finally lift at out camping spot you could see all three of the Gili islands.



It was at the camping spot we decided the only way to camp/trek is with guides and porters. It was freezing when we reached the top and we were both wet from the rain, but our guides quickly put up our tents and then got started on our dinner. Jenn and I did not have to lift a finger. They even served it to us right in our tent because we were too cold to come out.

Xoxo,

Nichole and Jenny

Trek Day 3

"Trekking on Rinjani is not for the frail or unfit... The summit of Gunung Rinjani is reached by relatively few Trekkers..." (rough guide to Bali & Lombok) In our guide book it tells us that very few Trekkers reach the summit of Rinjani because of the extreme difficulty of the hike and the conditions that the summit hike must be completed in: the DARK to make it by sunrise before the views cloud over as well as very cold and windy weather conditions.

Day 3... Where to begin... Well let's start with the 3am wake up call in the 10 degree celcus weather followed by wet shoes, socks, leggins, and semi wet rain coats. It's pitch black and we've been half asleep on a rocky surface. We drink a cup of hot tea, put on our head lamps and begin the hardest part of our trek, hiking in the freezing, pitch black middle of the night to the summit of Rinjani, a 3-4 hour hike from crater rim 2 up another 1000+ meters. We're off... 1 hour into trekking up the mountain of volcanic sand (literally like an enormous sand dune) we are huffing and puffing, lips chapped, noses red toes numb, bodies shocked, we try to continue. Each step we are sliding in the sand so really each step is about half a step, it was by far the hardest and because of our completely innappropriate gear (everyone BUT us had on thermals, gloves, caps, thick socks etc.) the most miserable part of our jouney. Almost another hour goes by and our porter (he led us because our guide had no dry apporiate clothing) tells us at least another 2 hours to the summit! It's 5:20am and starting to rain, we decide that with our numb fingers, toes, and faces that we physically can't and should not continue, we weren't going to make it for the sunrise and there was a good chance it'd still be raining at the top.



So we stop at another peak and watch the volcano bubble out little bits of red lava and watch the sky change from black to blue to all colors of the rainbow. We continue watching these beautiful colors change the face of the sky on our way back down to crater rim 2, our camp site. Regradless of not reaching the summit we are very proud of ourselves and learned our lesson that appropriate gear is a MUST! We captured AMAZING
views of Bali in the distance, the lake, the volcano, the other neighboring island Sumbawa,


and then after breakfast... Monkeys! There were at least 2 dozen or so right in front of our tent, they were picking up scraps, eating and playing. We even saw a mommy monkey carrying a baby on her back and two monkeys going at it all from the comfort (haha) of our tent!


After breakfast we began our desent down Rinjani for what seemed to be the never ending hike... Thank goodness it was downhill! We literally went in a matter of 6+ hours (including lunch) from freezing weather on top of a mountain down through extremly rocky terrain, through the hillsides, over hillsides and rivers, through 2 forests, over the country side, through a cow pasture, banana trees, rice paddies, a vegtable farm, a FINALLY to the village where our driver picked us up. We began the day in 2 layers of clothing with wet shoes and ended the day with tank tops and a sunburn. Quite a crazy way to end our amazing 3 day trek.

It might a while before we do a 3 day trek like that again, but we know it's something that we will both do again in the future just next time we will definitley make sure to have a few pairs of shoes, some pants heavier than leggins, gloves, and possibly even a puffer jacket (we saw a few people in them). Lesson learned, appropriate gear is a must!

Currently we're headed back to Bali for 3 days of waves, rays, and parties :)





Xoxo,
Jenny and Nichole

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Trek Day 2

Day 2 started off a bit chilly and with quite a steep hike but only for a short while until we reached the first crater rim. We sat at the crater rim and looked at the lake surrounding the active volcano, Gunung Baru, and watched some monkeys trying to get food from other hikers. After this we continued down off of the rim on a very senic downward hike towards the lake (all the while Nichole and I are marveling at how the porter could do this? At some points we were sliding on our bums down rocks and we definitley used our hands many many times too!)... We watched the volcano puff black smoke and we were in awe of the natural beauty surrounding us.


Once we reached the lake, still at 2050m, it began to pour... We were completely soaked and our shoes and wet clothing never recovered. So while the guide and porter cooked us a delicious lunch we went to the hot springs just over the hill to warm up. They were steaming! We could only put our legs in but it felt great on our tired muscles. We also found several Hindu offerings to the gods around the hot springs as we later found out that many Hindus (we saw several groups) come to Mt. Rinjani to pray as it is one of 3 sacred mountains in Indonesia to the Hindus.



After lunch we continued on in the fog crossing mountain ranges and a few wobbely bridges.


Nichole and I kept saying how it looked like a scary movie outside... Fog and mist in the air, spooky trees covered in wet moss, the sound of light rain and rocks sliding in the distance and of course steep steep drops that we couldn't even see because of the fog.


Eventually after a very steep hike up we finally reached crater rim 2. We were FREEZING. It was now pouring and again our guide and porter set up our tents and we all took a rest until the rain cleared.


We checked out the beautiful view (see above), our guide and porter cooked us dinner and since we were still freezing (we were about 2700 meters up, the wind was whipping, the air was freezing and our feet could not get warm) we watched When Harry met Sally on my IPhone and called it a night before our 3am departure for what they told us would be a 3 hour hike to the summit.

Xoxo
Jenny & Nichole

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Sengigi Beach, Lombok

We arrived in Sengigi around 9 am after about a 30 min ferry from the Gili islands and an hour bus ride from the harbor. Jenn wasn't feeling very well so she decided to take the day to rest up for the three day trek. I decide to hit the beach.


Sengigi is a very interestig place because it really looked like an abandon tourist town. Apparently before the Bali bombs in 2001 and 2002 it used to be a hot spot to visit, but since then the tourisum has significantly decreased to the point where a lot of the locals have had to find new means for income. With that said the beach (and the market) was pretty quiet, but it was still absolutely beautiful. The beach was more of a local hang out than tourist spot with lots of musilums and Indonesians so wearing a bikini was a bit weird. I did managed to find a spot with other westerns in bikinis so I didn't stick out too much.


Overall, the city was great and I think it will be a lot more of an authentic experience than the Bali beahes, but the one thing that really bothered us was the call to prayer at like 430 am. Since Indonesia is a primary Musilum country (expect Bali, they are the largest concentrated population of Hindus in th world) they have a call to prayer several times a day. Depending where you are it can be really loud, and our hotel happened to be in one of those spots where it was really loud. It sounded like someone was outside our door, or maybe even in our room chanting from about 430 am to almost 5 am. It happened several other time during the day, but at the beach it was only in the distance.


We start the trek tomorrow!

Xoxo,
Nichole and Jenny


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Christmas in Gili

Jenn and I spent Christmas in the Gili islands off the coast of Lombok. The 3 islands of Gili are very small and have no motorized vehicals (only pedal bikes and horse drawn buggies), but are well known by Austrailans and Europeans for their night life and scubba diving.


We arrived on Christmas Eve via ferry from Bali. Our guesthouse, Pondok Lita, and a lot of the island had VERY spotty electricity. Meaning we had a very hard time finding cheap cold beer because the electricity had been out all day, and the first night we came home, from going out, to no power or even running water. All I can say is thank goodness for the head lamps we packed for the trek!

On Christmas Day Jenny and I decided to try Scuba Diving since this area is a pretty popular spot to dive. We spent the AM in the pool learning about the equipment and practicing our technique. After lunch, at this delecious beach side spot, we boarded the boat and headed to the dive location. Jenn and I were both extremely nervous about the dive since it was our first time, and we didn't have the best experience in the pool.


Of course it turned out to be an amazing experience. We had one guide for just the two of us. He did a great job at pointing out and signaling to us the different sea creatures we saw including trigger fish, angel fish, clams, shrimp, crabs, feather coral, starfish, tons of other schools of fish, breath taking coral, and of course a few great whites..haha only kidding! Initially we went down about 5 meters and then we followed the vibrant coral reef down another 10 meters so in total we were 15 meters under the surface and were underwater for about 45 minutes. Overall it was a great experience, but I'm not sure the next time either of us will do it again.

We left the Gili islands early on the 26th for the main island of Lombok. We are staying four nights in Lombok where two of those will be spent in the wilderness during our three day trek to the summit of Mount Rinjani and the other two will be spent in Sengigi (before and after the trek). Check back soon for updates on the trek!

Xoxo,
Nichole and Jenny

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Peace, love and Ubud

Colie and I spent the last 2 days or so in Ubud, Bali. A villiage in the center of Bali with a population of about 62000. Bali itself has the largest concentration of Hindus in the world. Although, the Hindu practiced in Bali seems to be much different than that of the Hindu practiced in India.

Ubud is the town where anyone who aspires to open a spa should venture to. The village itself is the epitomy of what every spa should aspire to be, I mean this in the sense that the entire town is filled with quiet quaint spas with unbelieve service and prices. There is wonderful smelling incesence burning in the hundereds of temples throughout the village, beautiful flora and fauna in every cervice of the village (flowers and other fauna along with small pinches of food are offered to the Hindu gods many many times throughout the day so at the end of the day piles of flowers rest throughout the hundereds more likely thousands of places of worship, mind you these offereings are carried by Balinese women via basket on their head while wearing very traditional clothing) endless organic and healthy food choices, yoga studios overlooking the beautiful nature, amazing art work on every corner (yes we bought some!), so much natural beauty from the palm trees/banana trees/monkey forest , and the most beautiful rice paddies in Bali just a short bike ride out of the village and of course a great market to buy many cute odds and ends followed by many many botiques!

Our first nights arrival after touchdown in the Bali airport and a taxi with an hour of straight Balinese music we checked in to our very cute homestay (a hotel like guesthouse) it's not only a homestay but also a yoga studio and spa :)




We decided to find a good spa deal close by. We did! We both got a massage, facial, and pedicure for less than $30!! During the massage they put a cucumber mask onto our faces meaning they covered our faces in cucumbers, we tried very hard to keep the mask on but we both laughed hysterically at the thought of what we looked like. Afterwards it was time for dinner. We wandered around for all of 2 minutes when a young balinese guy approached us on his Moto and offered us a ride to a resturant. He is an artist in Ubud and quite interesting, after dinner he asked if we wanted to go where the locals go to get a drink... Um yes of course we do! We arrived at this bar where not only were we the only women we were the only non Balinese people! Haha! We drank the local liquor, Arak, and chatted with several Balinese boys for about 2 hours and decided it was time to call it a night :)

The next day we woke up early and headed via bicycle to the monkey forest. We saw about 30 small monkeys playing and cleaning each other! Then off for some market shopping! We bought art, clothing, and as much cute stuff as we could shove into our backpacks. Next we ate at a delicious adorable cafe and tried local red wine, much better than Thai red wine! We then headed for the rice paddies. About 20 minutes into the bike/walk we arrived to one of the most beautifully unique places I've ever seen. Gorgeous emerald green colored rice terraces lined by palm trees in a up hill fashion set against the darkening sky. We walked upward and ended up talking with a rice farmer, they cut us a coconut, we drank the milk, ate the meat, and even got dirty stepped into the mud, put on the straw hat and attempted to work in the rice paddy, not as easy as it looks!!! The kicker was when we were done we wondered if we should offer the farmers some money, so we did and apparently it wasent enough so she asked for more (only $2) but still I guess nothing is for free... Hahaha

That night we went to a traditional Balinese dance where the female dancers move thier eyes and fingers in such a fast synchronized way, very neat! We went to a small bar afterward and played jenga with some Balinese boys... They had never heard of it before :)

Today we made the most of our morning and took a 2 hour private yoga/meditation class (8 USD per person) where I accidentally fell asleep... Oopps not good for my shockra I guess... Haha and now we're headed via boat ride to Gili islands off the coast of Lombok the island next to Bali. Currently were laying on the sand deck watching beautiful Indonesian islands :)

Ubud was AMAZING! Next update:Diving for Christmas in Gili!

Merry Christmas!!!!!
Xoxo
Jenny and Colie


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3 days in KL

Jenny and I have spent the last 3 days exploring Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. KL is the capital of Malaysia, and has a population of 1.8 million. Our experience there was very new because unlike Thailand, Cambodia, or Laos (all buddist countries), Malaysia is a Muslim country with a large population of Hindus. Additionally, it seemed to be more developed with a higher standard of living and a more equal distribution of wealth.

Our first impression of KL was that it's a very confused city with dutch style buildings across the street from Indian ones. Jenn and I realized we really didn't know much about the country so we decided to check out the Malaysia National History Museum. We learned that Malaysia did not declare it's indepence from the British until 1957 and did not become it's own country until 1963. Prior to being ruled by Brits they were over taken by the Japanese during WWII, and were occupied by the Dutch as well as the Portuguese. Malaysia was the halfway base for trade ships traveling between India and China so a lot of their culture comes from these countries as well. The culture there is really a mixing pot of a lot of Asian and European countries that made for a very interesting 3 days.

Oddly enough a few friends we met in Bangkok two weeks prior happened to be traveling in KL at the same time so we spent a good bit of our time hanging out with them. We went to the top of the Menara tower which has the highest views of the city.



We went and saw the Petronas Towers which houses the headquarters of the national oil and gas company.


We did a little bit of shopping (obvi), and we went to the Batu Caves. The Batu Caves were discovered about 120 years ago and shortly after a Hindu shrine was built inside them. The largest statue in the world of Muruga, a Hindu god, is at the base of the 272 stairs that lead to these caves.




We have arrived safely in Ubud, Bali where we will be staying for the next couple of days. Check back soon for an update on Ubud, a small inland town famous for it's Balianese arts.

Xoxo,
Nichole and Jenny

Best sign in a restroom!

This sign was actually in the bathroom of the bar we went to on our last night in Malaysia, and yes people actually do this. There have been several times when we have walked into a western style restroom and there are footprints on the seat of the toilet. I guess Asians are just so accustomed to standing over a hole and squatting that they don't know what to do with a western toilet? I get not wanting to sit on the toilet seat, but why not just hover like the rest of us?

Xoxo,
Nichole and Jenny
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1 week in CAMBODIA

Easy breezy party esk Sihanoukville, Cambodia... thailand's backpacker beaches about 10 years ago...

Sihanoukville sunset

Otres Beach Sihanoukville... cute little villa where our friend made us free delicious thai food for lunch

Wat in Phnom Phen

Phnom Phen

Angkor Wat... the big temple in the background

One of the many temples... this is A MASSIVE statue as big as a small house

Amazing tree growth in the middle of an old temple

Me at the top of some insanley steep stairs

I'm currently on my back from Sihanoukville Cambodia... A very interesting beach town which is similar in comparison to Port Lucaya Bahamas, but the cambodian version, about 4 hrs from the Thai border. I'm on my 3rd transport of the day and began @ 7am... For the first half of the rode next to a really nice Swedish guy and we discussed eveything from evolution to urban dictionary, fun ride :)

Now about my week:
Friday night Luis my good friend I've known since my arrival in BKK, took the bus to the border town, he runs late like me and funnily enough we made it to the border literally at 7:58pm 2 mins from closing time! We taxied to Siem Reap, the town where the Khmer rule and kingdom/town of Angkor Wat (the largest religious building in the world) remains. We spent the day going from Temple to temple, only pictures can do this place justice. The temple ruins were partially Destroyed during the veitnam war time (same time as Cambodian civil war, the killing feilds etc). But they were gergeous!!! Huge buddah carvings etched into hidden crevices throughout the temples, beautiful ancient trees and vines swallowing the walls, towering temples with insanley steep stairs, hidden crumbled Buddhist statues, palm trees, moats surrounding the Wats, and hidden buddahs to pray to where people still practice and worship (we did as well too). We stayed in a 4 star hotel and got VIP treatment, amazing food, massages, great great time!!

Sunday we headed to Phnom Penh (PP), missed our bus and taxied with the cab driver and his mother whom was dropped off Iin a small village on the way to PP :) when we got there we went to the killing feilds for a few hours and we found a group of Cambodian teens who were having a birthday party at the killing fields, very interesting! There was a tower/temple of skulls, bones, and remains of clothing from the 2 million executed during the Vietnam war era, which was about a quater of the Cambodian population. Very sad and the effects of this are still widely seen today, lots of larger towns in Cambodia are still being rebuilt or they are just left in ruins. The killing feilds today are a peaceful place of solitude where people can come to remember and reflect in the gazebo and pond which over looks the temple tower of skulls.

In PP I have a mutual friend, Matheiu, from a French/Thai friend who lives on BK, so we stayed with him in his great apartment which overlooks the tallest and in my opinion prettiest Wat in PP. He has this amazing terrace which overlooks the Wat and the city and is the size of my apartment and the kicker is he pays $100 less than I pay in BK for about triple the space!! Also odd side note: in Cambodia they use the Cambodian real (currency) but they also accept and greatly appreciate the dollar, and often ATMs spit out dollars not real!

On Monday my friend left :( to return back to the states/Mexico bc his 3 month adventure was over. So I spent the day traveling around PP: went to the Russian market where they sell nothing Russian but just normal market fair, walked by the Grand Palace, treated myself to a facial & pedicure and hiked up the tallest hill in PP to see the beautiful Wat which overlooks the city. Then I met Matheui for dinner... there is a huge French expat population in PP, the French at one time had control of Cambodia which explains the still very present French influence in PP. Needless to say, we went to a great French resturant and then to a french bar, very fun!

Next I made my way via public bus to Sihanoukville, the best beach town in Cambodia.. It's not really same same as the Thai beach towns, but it rivals in comparison to the fun times to be had there! I met an awesome French gal who I hung out with the rest of my time in Sihanoukville. We partied like spring breakers, rode a motorcycle to a quiet beautiful beach where we met the nice new owner of a resort who fed us free Khmer (what Cambodian people call themselves) lunch and let us lounge in the comfy peaceful chairs to sunbathe etc. We also went to this gergeous temple in town, away from the party scene, where we watched many Khmer people get blessed with holy water by a monk. We talked with a few monks about their lives as well. In the area of the temple was also a school for the monks and several beautiful Buddhist statues and gods of worship. The location was beautiful, it sat on a hill and overlooked the country side, also to make it even better we were the only 2 non-Khmer people in sight! Pretty awesome!!!

The rest of my time there was spent as a proper spring breaker, bar hopping on the beach side bars, chatting with folks from around the globe, teaching the Khmer bar tenders proper English (I got free drinks for helping with their homework) :), watching a Khmer wedding where they dance in a very non spring break style, eating delicious French inspiered food, and dancing until the wee morning hours with Pauline (my nice French girl friend) and with people from all over the globe oh yes and sun bathing too!!

All in all i had a great time in Cambodia and met many cool people! I will be back again before my southeast Asian adventure is over!

Next blogs: Nichole and Jennys adventures in Maylasia and then, drum roll please Christmas and New Years in INDONESIA!! To be quicky followed by my bday weekend in Singapore with Colie and our Thai BFF Pom :) I guess my blessed bracelts from the temples are working :)

Besos
Jenny

Also, promise to post pictures to go with this blog very soon!

Winter Festival

Last year my school celebrated their 40th anniversary so naturally one would think this year they would be celebrating their 41st anniversary... well apparently we thought wrong. This past weekend my school celebrated their 42nd anniversary. I am still not quite sure why they decided to skip a year, but I guess T-I-T is applicable here...This Is Thailand! Its our new phrase for when we can't really explain.

Normally every year the foreign teachers are expected to put on a "show" during the evening performance, but this year we managed to get away with just having a dunk tank booth during the day. It ended up being a huge hit with the students, and thankfully I managed to escape being dunked since female teachers were not allowed in the tank.

The evening performance and dinner followed the day festivities. The performance consisted of dance routines from each grade and in some cases each class (now might be a good time to mention my school is k-12 so you can only imagine how long this took). Below are a few pics of me with my some of my students all dressed up ready for their show. It was weird to see them like this because at school they all wear uniforms and they are not allowed to wear makeup or even dye their hair.

Grade 7/2

Grade 9/2 (Some of the smartest students I teach!)

Grade 9/3

So excited two days till we leave for our 2 week adventure!! School is basically done for me. Tomorrow I have to go to immigrations to get my work permit sorted and the rest of the day is Christmas parties!!

Xoxo,

Nichole

Pattaya...the good, the bad, and the dirty!

Pattaya beach is located about 2 hours by bus East of Bangkok. It is the closest beach to Bangkok, but it is by far the worst beach in Thailand. The best part about the beach is the food vendors that walk by selling delicious seafood and the massages you can get on the beach. The actual beach isn't terrible, but the people that the beach (and the city) attracts is disturbing. I would venture to guess that the breakdown of people at the beach is as follows (not including Thais):

• 85% older fat men either looking for Thai prostitutes or already had them in tow
• 10% middle aged men looking for the same thing
• 3% older couples
• 1.5 % younger western men
• 0.5% younger western women

After the sunsets in this crazy town all of the prostitutes line the boardwalk looking for "work." In addition to all the prostitutes on the street this town is full of go-go bars where you can have your choice of ladies (or lady-boys if that is what you fancy). So needless to say after this eye opening experience I will not be returning to Pattaya. One time was more than enough for me. Next time I want to go to the beach I will travel the extra 30 minutes in the other direction and head to Cha-am.

Jenny is in Cambodia till Friday, and we leave on Saturday for Malaysia and Indonesia! We are so excited to spend Christmas and New Years at the beaches in Bali and the Gili Islands!

xoxo,

Nichole and Jenny

Ayutthaya

Saturday Colie and I went to Ayutthaya, once the capital of Thailand from the 14-17th century until the Burmese sacked the city and it was never re-inhabited as a kingdom. It is now a UNESCO world heritage site, a city full of beautiful ruins of Buddhist temples, wats, and giant Buddhas!

We took the lazy route and instead of bicycling (as recommended) we rode in a tuk tuk with a driver who took us around to all the sights. The tuk tuk was a Song Taow tuk tuk, basically a 3 wheeled vehicle that has no doors, it's open air, and there are little benches on each side. Basically, something that would never pass US driving standards...

The ruins were really beautiful and it was interesting to see Buddhist ruins after seeing so many Roman & Greek ruins in Europe. We saw the largest buddah statue in Thailand where everyone was knelt down worshiping the buddah, placing lotus flowers around him for good luck, burning incense, saying chants, and throwing giant orange clothes on him (not sure what that was about?) We also hiked the steep steps of the Wat Phu Khao Thong where you could see a good veiw of the city and several rice fields down below, also some random cows and roosters that graze the premisis... Quite interesting! At the top of this Wat there was a monk sitting and I approached him for a picture, he let me and then tied a white ribbon around my wrist, a Buddhist symbol for good luck and happiness. Usually the monks don't put these bracelets on women, so I guess it was my lucky day, extra happiness and peace for me! Colie was exploring the Wat so I tied It on her, so I'm not sure what kind of luck and happiness she will gain from that. Haha.

Also life as a Super star (aka blonde attractive white female) in Thailand is going very well! Nichole was at the top of some very steep steps when a Thai woman approached her after running up the steps herself, to take a picture pose with her. This is not an uncommon experience here for us and we often find people gawking at us but generally with a big smile on their face too :)

All in all it was a great day trip and were glad to have gone there and captured some beautiful photos of the ruins! Next stop Angkor Wat Cambodia for me Friday! Lots more fun blogs headed your way!

Xoxo
Jenny & Colie

P.S. Happy fathers day dads! Saturday was fathers day here, they celebrate it the same day as the Kings birthday.

Jenny hospital experiece at a different hospital

Yesterday I went to the doctor to check on my toe which I found out I fractured a month ago when I decided it'd be a wise choice to jump down instead of walk down the stairs.

When I arrived at the outpatient surgery clinic they insisted that I sit in a wheel chair, right after I had lapped half of the hospital to get there. So I sat in the chair the entire time, wheeling me literally across the hospital 2 times, they even rolled me to the check out counter. Quite different service than in US... Interesting experience

xoxo,

Jenny

The doctor

In order to get a proper work permit here they require all foreigners to have a check up and some blood work done. Well my school recently requested that I have this done, but they sent me to a very Thai hospital for it. Besides the fact that I was the only foriegner I saw in the hospital it was different. Everyone knows that normally in America they take you in a room weigh you, measure you, and take your blood pressure, but here they do all of that right out in the open waiting area.





I guess that wasn't that big of a deal, but when they took my blood I watched two other people get their blood taken before me. I couldn't believe they wouldn't just put the waiting couch outside the door instead of in the room. Needless to say I'm glad that experince is over.

Xoxo,
Nichole

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Candy Island

Recently Jenny, Pom, Luis, and I ventured up river to Koh Kret, an island know for it's candy, tempura flowers, and pottery. On the boat ride up river we were joking about the how the pottery on the island is probably sold somewhere like pottery barn for ten times the price we could get it here. Well sure enough Pom ended up buying a coffee mug and when she took it out later to show us we examined the bottom and it said ikea...talk about wholesale!


The island is very small and wet so there are no cars only bicycles and motorbikes We decided to go with the safer option and rent pedal bikes for the day to explore. The island was very beautiful, but also very marshy so most of the bike paths were actually bridges over the wetlands.



We road our bikes around the entire island stopping for lunch, candy, and shopping along the way. We ended the day with a couple of beers at this really relaxing river side bar.


Xoxo,
2 vanillas and a toffee




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