Mad and I are currently in Vientiane, Laos. I have been enjoying Laos quite a bit so far! It is extremely laid back, which i love, and the people are friendly. I guess I should backtrack a little bit. After being in Bangkok for a few days, Mad and I took a train up to Korat. There we were able to meet up with one of the teachers I worked with last time I was in Thailand which was fun. He took us to a night market (they sold usual things like food and clothing, but also some more strange things like small caged squirrels (upon inquiry we discovered that Thai squirrels are not wild rodents that ruin your garden, but rather charming house pets…complete with claws and sharp teeth) and then out for dinner which was nice. We were hoping to be able to get in touch with my old host family but that never worked out which was too bad.

On the 22nd of May we took a bus to Mukdahan in Thailand and spent a night there. On the 23rd, Mad’s Birthday, we had the morning in Thailand and then at midday we took a bus over to Laos (i managed to find her a croissant and small pot of nutella for breakfast and even a candle (it was hello kitty dressed up as a mouse, i think, but whatever it’s the thought that counts!)). One birthday in two countries…not bad!

We stayed in the border city of Savannakhet in Laos which I really liked. It felt like an old war town unchanged from the 50s or 60s. It was neat. One of the days there we rented bicycles (complete with big seats, giant baskets in the front and bells…fun!) and rode along the Mekong river (i had been talking about doing that since we started planning our trip, and it was great as i expected!) It was cool because we were riding in Laos but looking out at Thailand across the river. Fun!

After a couple of days in Savannakhet we took a bus ride (long…very long) up to Vientiane where we still are now. My two favourite things so far have been going to a museum called COPE. It is about UXOs in Laos.  I learned things I never knew like that there are about 80 million unexploded bombs in Laos today each filled with hundreds of what are called bombies and only 60 million residents. The 80 million bombs are not even counting the cluster bombs that still remain in the country…it is pretty crazy.  It’s really sad too because most of the injuries and deaths that occur now are from scrap metal collectors.  The people are so poor that it is worth it to try to collect bomb shells for money (1000 kip (10cents) per kilo).  Anyway, the people working at the centre were extremely friendly (i got invited to lunch with them!), there were loads of interesting films to see (i watched 2) and a nice if sad display.

Another favourite thing for me was taking a cooking class. We made Laap with fish (that is a national dish here and is quite tasty), fresh spring rolls (the kind in clear rice paper) and a chicken curry. It was neat because in the morning we went out to a market to gather the ingredients (we used some neat things I’d never seen before like banana flowers!) and then we cooked everything over a bucket of coals style element like people from Laos do in their homes.

I think tomorrow Mad and I will be off to Vang Vieng where we will have the opportunity to volunteer on an organic farm! I’m really excited about that! We can do stuff on the farm (i hear it’s things like feeding piglets and helping milk goats! cool!) and also volunteer at a school.  Maddy is trying to finish making a film so we’ve ended up staying a couple days extra here in Vientienne.  Although i’m keen to get to Vang Vieng, it’s been nice to stay in one place for a few days instead of rushing off after just 1 or 2 nights. I’m also feeling a bit sick today so I don’t regret that we are not spending several hours on a bus.

Oh, there is some other news!   While most people end up seeing fewer places than they had wanted to while traveling, Mad and I have added 2 countries to our itinerary.  We have really been enjoying the places we’ve been in south east asia but the weather has not been particularly nice.  We knew it was going to be monsoon season; however, we had a different impression of what that would entail.  According to our guide book it should be hot and sunny in the mornings and then a couple hours of rain in the afternoon which should come as a great relief after the day’s sunshine.  So far, it has been quite gray and rainy and LOTS of thunder and lightning.  It is fine, but gets to be a bit annoying when you want to go out sightseeing and it is pouring AND when your clothes don’t dry…ever…and STINK like mildew (on par with the stench of a durian).  So, all that said, we have decided to cut out a few days here and there and then spend our last few days south of the equator in indonesia!!  It will be prime season there, so we are pretty excited.

Also, we will now be going to France for a few days as we received a generous offer from Cecil in Frankfurt to drive with him to their place in France.  I’m very excited about this especially as I have never spent time in France (a bus i was on once drove through a small corner of the country to avoid a bad traffic jam…but that hardly counts)

Right, well I think that is about all the news for now.  Time for a fruit shake (passion fruit? mango? pineapple anyone??)!!

xoxoEv

Well, you will all be happy to know that Mad and I made it!   There is one particularly difficult part of the trek, the Thorong La Pass which is at 5416m.  I don’t know how they figure out the height so specifically, but that is what it claims to be.  In any case, it seems that many people (including 2 out of 3 of the group that went before us) do not make it over the pass, so we were pretty happy!

The trek was very beautiful.  Lots of nice scenery and wildlife.  It was also pretty tiring though!

We finished our trek in Pokhara, and then flew to Kathmandu.  The next 2 days we slept a lot, took hot baths (we had a bathtub!!! first and so far only time on this trip) and generally relaxed.   After that we flew to Delhi and stayed with Lucie and her roommates again for 2 nights.  After that we flew to Singapore and spent one night there and then we flew to Phuket….crazy week for flying!

Neither Mad nor I were particularly taken with Phuket.  I think it would be ok to go there if you were taking a one week vacation to lie on the beach and suntan (the beach is well equipped with lines of chaises longues), but it lacks any sort of charm.  The next day we headed by bus down to southern thailand.  We spent a night in a place called Longu (i think) and then the next day we took a boat out to an island called Koh Tarutao.  The island is a part of a national park, so we knew that there would not be loads of people there or constant motor boats going by.  In an attempt to economize, I suggested we borrow a tent and camp on the beach.  It was rather uncomfortable without mattresses, but we thought we would be able to manage.  The first night was fine, but then the next day it started to get really windy….enough to cause our tent to fold in on itself!  We decided at that point to give up the camping and to rent a bungalow.  It was a good idea as just as we moved into our bungalow the rain started.  I know, coming from Vancouver and all we should be used to the rain and well equipped to deal with it, but these monsoon rains are intense!  We stayed for a week on the island (it would have been six days but the morning we wanted to leave the boat didn’t come due to unfavourable conditions at sea so we spent another night on the island).  I should probably mention that there is not much of anything on the island.  There is a restaurant, a small shop and a sort of welcome centre.  There are a few bungalows and also tents for hire that can be pitched anywhere on the island.  Other than that there is nothing much.  Oh, for those who used to watch the show, it is the island where Survivor Thailand was filmed.

After our week on the island, we took a boat back to the mainland and then shared a mini van with some people we had met on the island to the city of Hat Yai.  In Hat Yai we were able to book a night train ticket to Bangkok for that evening (we thought the train might be fully booked already, but i guess we were lucky!)  Thai trains seem more comfortable that Indian ones, but perhaps (we thought this was impossible) slower. 

We have now been in Bangkok for 4 days.  For the past 3 mornings Mad and I have been attending muay thai boxing classes.  I was scared to go as I haven’t done any martial arts before, but it is actually pretty fun!  Today we are off to see the Emerald Buddha temple and also the royal palace.

xoxo Ev

So they do have internet in the middle of the Himalayas…crazy!

We just finished our fourth day of trekking.  In total we’ve done about 65km and we are now at about 2600 m…starting to get cold!  It’s been going well so far though.  We have a guide who speaks english (kind of) and a porter who does not speak english.  Apparently the porter is illiterate but he plays cards with us at night time, so i don’t know.  Actually playing cards with them is kind of funny…because the porter cheats!  It’s like playing with a 4 year old.   He tells other people what cards you have.  It’s mostly funny because he’s really not shy about it…and he’s 40.

That’s about all for now.  The magical internet in the mountains is expensive, so i’ll write more when we get back to kathmandu.

Bye!

xoxoEv

One of the things that was first obvious upon our arrival here is that half the cow population that normally ambles along the streets has been traded for camels and the palm trees have been exchanged for cactus plants and small shrubbery.  It really is desert like!  Either tonight or tomorrow night Mad and I will go on a camel ride in the sand dunes.  We’ve chosen to do the sunset trip with the hopes that we won’t be in the middle of the desert in the extreme heat of the day.  Although I am not fond of horseback riding or elephant riding, I am still feeling optimistic about camel riding.  We’ll see how it goes.

I’ll just backtrack a little now as it’s been some time since I’ve put up a real post.   Before we arrived in Jaisalmer we spent one evening in Jodhpur.   The city was not really one that either of us was dying to go to, but there was no train directly to Jaisalmer from Udaipur so we had to spend a night somewhere.  We actually both enjoyed our stay in Jodhpur though.  We stayed in a guesthouse located right underneath the city palace/fort.  We spent several hours exploring the palace/fort and altogether enjoyed our day there. 

Prior to Jodhpur, we spent a few days in Udaipur.  I also enjoyed our time in Udaipur.  I took a cooking class there.  I almost didn’t because it was sort of expensive, but I’m glad I did, I got some nice recipes (everyone will have to come over for indian food when we’re back!)  Udaipur’s big claim to fame is that bits of the James Bond film ‘Octopussy’ were filmed there.  Almost all the restaurants play the film every single evening.  Mad and I and Amy and Paul (couple from England) went and watched it one night.  It was actually more entertaining than we expected!  The poor people who work at those restaurants must be SO sick of it though.

bye for now!

Ev

 We’re feeling better now though and even went out on Lake Pichola in Udaipur today.  We met a British couple and went out in peddle boats which was lots of fun.  It was really hot out eventhough we went in the morning, but I had a good time anyway. 

Anyway, I will update again soon with more interesting things to tell. 

xo Ev

 So last I left off we were in Cochin.  After our evening there, the owner brought us to the bus station and we journeyed down to Alleppey.  Our accomodation in Alleppey was on an island.  We went  to the dock and got picked up in a long wooden canoe.  It was pretty funny to travel along with all our bags in this big old canoe.  The giant canoe had a motor and so with that we travelled to the island.  The place we were staying at was built kind of like a tree house.  We had decided to economize by staying in an 8 person dorm.  It didnt end up mattering at all as we were the ONLY guests in the entire resort.  It was kind of weird.  The place was pretty nice though.  One of our windows looked out at a lake and the other to giant rice fields. 

The next day we got on a boat (it was called a ferry but it was more like a big boat with a canopy with garden chairs set up underneath) and headed toward Kollam.  It is an 8 hour journey by boat and our guide book had said that you could get off half way and stay at an ashram for a night and then get back on and finish the journey the next day.  We decided to do that.  We both found the ashram experience interesting but also pretty weird.  The ashram was set up by this woman called Amma and her thing is all about loving everyone and she’s supposed to have healing hugs.  Anyway, there are huge apartment buildings at the ashram and a lot of the rooms are used by people or families who have moved to the ashram.  Everyday they gather several times for chanting, meditating and singing of songs written by Amma.  A few hours of the day are reserved for doing “seva” (volunteer work) and the rest of the time i think they just hang out around the ashram (it is designed to be it’s own community and you are not encouraged to leave the gates unless you are actually leaving).  It was mostly weird because these people seem to have deifyied Amma.  There are HUGE pictures of her everywhere (our apartment room was absolutely plastered with images of her), when they do the chanting and what not they do it in front of a throne like chair with a big portrait of her seated on it, and when they talk, most of their sentences start with “Amma says…”.  Actually the group has done a lot of good humanitarian work, so that is good, but the deification thing is still pretty weird to me.  Oh and also everything is sex segregated and you are not supposed to show any outward affection to other people, which seems a little strange as Amma’s whole thing is about love.  In any case, it was an interesting experience, but I think one night was enough for me!

After our night at the ashram, we took the boat down to Kollam and from there we took the bus to Varkala.  Varkala was gorgeous!  I wish we could have stayed longer.  We stayed in a little guest house really close to the beach.  When we woke up the next morning (we actually get up pretty early here…i guess because it starts to get hot pretty early) we walked to the beach.  There are huge cliffs leading down to the water.  We walked down a set of stairs to the water and went for a swim.  It was great!  Warm water, nice waves, beautiful sand leading up to the fantastic cliffs and not too many people (i think only because it was early in the morning)!

That afternoon we took the train down to Trivandrum.  The administrator, Shanti, at Shanti Bhavan school has a son who has an apartment in Trivandrum that he was not using and she had said that we could probably stay in it.  When we arrived in Trivandrum, we gave her son, Rajeev, a call and he kindly came and picked us up and drove us to his apartment.  What Shanti had not told us was that it was a two storey penthouse suite in an apartment building in downtown Trivandrum!  It was pretty awesome.  There was even a swimming pool!  Anyway, he showed us around the apartment and gave his friend a call and asked him to drive us down to Kanyakumari (the tip of India where 3 seas meet) the next day.  Altogether we had a pretty great time there!  Well, minus the power outage the next morning!

xoxoEv

We did not go to Hosur last Saturday afternoon to use the internet because we discovered that there is no electricity every 3rd Saturday of the month in this area.  I had a couple of classes saturday morning, including environmental science.  It was fun because apparently in grade 3, environmental science means going on a nature walk and so I embarked on a journey with my 19 students.  They took me to ‘the rocks’ which are a couple of big rocks behind their dormitory which we climbed all over.  It was pretty fun!

 Saturday evening was the month end performance for students from preschool to grade 5.  Miss Berni had asked me if I could teach the students a dance, so Mad and I made up a line dance routine to the song ‘Man I Feel Like a Woman’ by Shania Twain.  We had rehersals throughout the week and then the kids performed Saturday night.  They did a great job!  The kids’ house mothers got jeans and plaid shirts for the boys and plaid skirts and white shirts for the girls which definitely added to the effect! 

On Sunday, Mad and I took a rickshaw from the school to Hosur and then caught a bus into Bangalore.  I didn’t have a chance to update my website because i went to the travel agent to book train tickets and flights for Mad and I.  I’m glad it is done!!  Trains seem to fill up really far in advance. 

This week at school the children have been preparing for sports day.  The actual event was this morning (it started at SIX THIRTY AM) and it was huge!  The kids marched in formations and then did routines with coloured pompoms (there were 4 house colours, red, blue, yellow and purple).  Then the races began!  The preschoolers and kindergarten kids did races where they had to do things like build a tower out of blocks and then run to the finish line, or put on a shirt (buttoning it up was very tough for them and a few kids started to cry) and then run to the finish line.  The older kids had running, cycling and skipping races.  It was all very thrilling especially as all the staff and volunteers were divided into the houses as well (i was in the purple group).  We all dressed up for the event in our colours and cheered loudly!  I am happy to report that my house won!  After the races were over we had breakfast and then the prize ceremony.  There were prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for every event for every grade…needless to say it took awhile, but it was fun.  The kids were excited to get the prizes (notebooks, folders, pencil sharpeners, etc.). 

After all that, Maddy, Jacques, Micheline (the couple from montreal) and I had to give a presentation on Canada to the whole school.  They like to spring these presentations on you, usually at the end of assembly so that you have no choice but to go up and do some sort of a presentation on the spot.  This time we actually had 1 day of notice, so we prepared a presentation including lots of acting (canadian wildlife, dogsledding, flying by airplane and so on).  On top of that each one of us had a category: history, geography, arts and culture and industries & wildlife to talk about.  The presentation was successful and we ended it by handing out canadian flag pins and pennies to all the students and staff. 

Mad and I are spending the afternoon in Hosur while the kids get the rest of the day to relax and watch videos at the school.  We are at the internet place now, but we will probably go out and do a bit of shopping shortly.

 xoEv

Anyway, today has been nice, we walked from our hostel to a restaurant for breakfast, then we walked through a few of the streets of Pondicherry and found this internet place and now we are about to embark on a heritage walk of the city.  I’m excited to walk on the beach!!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention.  At school I am co-teaching the 3rd grade with Bernadette (or Miss Berni as she is called).  The kids are super cute and VERY eager to learn!  They call mad and I Miss Maddy and Miss Evy.  It’s kind of funny!  Maddy is teaching classes in the 6th, 7th and 8th grades.  I have also been reading bedtime stories to the preschool kids.  They are very very cute! 

A funny story from my classroom, Miss Berni was teaching the students about renewable and non-renewable resources and how the school uses solar energy and that if we use up non-renewable resources there won’t be any left.  The kids thought about it for a while and then were like “but it’s ok, god will make more!”.  They were pretty pleased with their realization.  Ms. Berni, slightly flustered, told them, “well yes, god will make more, but it will still take him millions and millions of years”.  It was pretty funny.

That’s about it for now!

xo Ev