Appreciating Silence

I've just finished a week long visit to Nilambe, a meditation center in the mountains of southern Sri Lanka.  I could not have discovered this place at a more opportunistic time!  My Ashtanga yoga instructor in Bali heard great things about it, but hadn't had the chance to visit yet.  I took her word for it and contacted them.  As some of you may know, Sri Lanka was not originally in my travel plans, but due to complications (and serious overpricing) getting my visa for India while in Indonesia was unrealistic. I needed to make an additional stop somewhere for at least one week to apply.  I was lucky, because it just so happened that there are tons of Hindi holidays and of course, the embassy is closed for all of them.  There were four official holidays in the seven business days following the date I applied, so in reality it almost took two weeks to finally get my visa, but it was well worth it because I saved $250 by avoiding Bali bureaucracy!

My experience at Nilambe could not have been better.  This summer was a major transition, from living and traveling in Asia for more than two years to readjusting to life in North America.  I had plenty of time to relax, rejuvenate, and focus on what my next moves in life would be.  Additionally, it was very convenient to go there immediately following my intensive yoga program as it gave me the much needed time to continue my daily practice.  Developing a daily yoga practice is a challenge, and becomes even more difficult to maintain when you're always on the move.  The schedule at Nilambe included "Mindfulness in Motion" which was time set aside every day for a physical meditation practice.

There are many meditation centers in North America that offer similar retreats.  Although I have not participated in the well known 10 day silent Vipassana retreats, it is something I'm open minded to now after having such a positive experience at Nilambe.  Shambala is another worldwide organization that has many resources for anyone interested in developing a meditation practice.  My advice is just try it, on your own, with a group, or at a retreat. Your only loss might be a few minutes or hours of the day that you might have spent watching TV.

On the move again

After a few days in the Gili Islands and a coastal road trip we're not quite ready to say goodbye to Bali.  The Gili Islands were absolutely beautiful, relaxing, and quiet.  There are three of them and we spent our time on Gili Meno at Meno Dream where the roof of our bungalow opened up so you could see all the stars at night!  It's known as the quieter island and is often referred to as deserted, which it is most defiantly not.  There were plenty of restaurants on the beach to eat at and overall the food was pretty good. It is easy to walk the full circumference of the island and especially a good idea if you stay on the side with the pier which was considerably more expensive than the side facing Gili Tra. I do not however recommend staying on Gili T where we had a short visit while waiting for our ferry back to the mainland.  Gili Tra was noisy, crowded, and reminded me of the party islands in Thailand except they have lots of horses instead of motorbikes.

There are only two dive shops on Gili Meno and we chose to dive with Divine Divers.  I would definitely recommend this shop, we did five dives with them and saw quite a few octopus and turtles! There are a lot of people getting their divemaster certification of the islands, who wouldn't want to spend a month in paradise diving everyday?

Next, we are headed to Malaysia for a few more days of relaxation before I head to Sri Lanka and Orlando to LA and Vegas!

Ubud, Bali: Health Mecca

I arrived in Bali at the end of June.  I was on a late flight coming in and didn't arrive in Ubud until about 1am.  I was lucky to find On's Bed & Breakfast at that hour and I ended up staying there for the duration of my time in Ubud. The owners were sweet, and super helpful with everything.  One of them even brought me to the local banjar to ask for my mysteriously missing package in the mail, but I digress... I can easily say this is one of the most unique places I have visited.  I was a bit skeptical at first when I saw the Ashtanga Center was in a inland city (I was expecting the beach) and wondered if there was going to be anything going on there at all.  I had no idea! Ubud has everything and anything you could imagine and the food is amazing!  Organic, vegetarian, vegan, raw, and gluten free dishes are standard in many restaurants - it is so easy to be healthy here.  There are endless options for every type of yoga and massage you can think of, and various other alternative healing therapies readily available from singing circles to writing groups.


I started yoga the next day despite my late arrival.  Little did I know I was in for another surprise.  I've been practicing standard Vinyassa flow yoga since college and though I was well prepared for my one month intensive practice.  Well, it could have been worse (if I had never done any yoga at all!)  It turned out to be exactly what I was looking for, which was to learn the skills neccesary to develop an everyday self practice.  Funny thing was I did not realize that Mysore style Ashtanga was a self led class. Probably should have done a bit more reading on this before I showed up but luckily I landed in the right place :)

As you can see, (we didn't) they are
already trying to eat the seat!

I had quite the scooter experience in Ubud.  First, let me explain about riding a scooter in Asia, whatever you do don't think about what you are doing!  This is the #1 reason foreigners get into accidents.  Because everyone else on the road is thinking about everything and anything but driving.  Especially in Bali, where you frequently see someone eating, talking on their cell phone, and carrying a baby all while operating a two wheeled vehicle. And if you are lucky there will be 2-3 passengers.  Did I mention they drive on the wrong side of the road as well?  If you are going to overcome the challenge of riding a scooter in Bali, keep this advice in mind: drive slow, trust your instinct (unless it's telling you to stay to the right!) and never forget that the larger (more dangerous) vehicle and/or driver always have the right of way!  Anyways, my scooter story has nothing to do with driving because I wasn't even on it when this incident occurred.  I was staying near the Sacred Monkey Forest, a popular tourist spot in Ubud and had to drive through the foot path on my way in and out of town.  On the way, I saw my yogi friend Sue and stopped to say hello.  

Now, I know you that if you dont want trouble with monkeys you dont feed them but in this instance I chose to ignore my better instincts and decided that we had strength in numbers. (Yea right there were two of us and dozens of them!) As soon as I reached for the bag containing the rest of my fruit salad lunch they were all over the place.  Our reaction was scream, laugh, and take pictures, in that order.  Until we wanted to get going and realized the monkeys were really interested in my scooter, in fact they started baring their teeth at us when we tried to even get close to it.  Then one ran off with the helmet.  And then we realized they were eating the seat cushion. Now I know why people put bricks on their seats when they park in here. And WHY didn't the scooter rental guy tell me this! After a lot more screaming, running away, and enlisting the help of some foreign males (the Balinese were too busy laughing to help) we did regain possession of the scooter and helmet, minus the half eaten seat cushion. The scooter company was not happy with us.

One Hundred Days of Travel

Max Brenner Chocolate Shop

Everyone should travel alone once. I think experiencing freedom from our daily responsibilities to others, to time, and to our own schedules is rejuvenating. Today, that meant aimlessly wandering around Singapore and not worrying that I forgot my watch because I had no where to be. Sometimes I get bored of travelling alone, but there's always new people to meet in every place you go. I have one hundred days of travel left before returning home. I often use a day calculator to estimate my per-day spending budget when traveling. Better to save now and spend later than be eating crackers for a month at the end of my trip.

Singapore is fairly easy to get around. I found a green hostel on the internet, so of course I had to check it out. It's called Tree In Lodge and has a great central location.

The Fantastic Popsicle Chocolate Fondue

The city is very aesthetic although I get the feeling that I might get fined for walking on the grass or crossing the street before the walk light turns green! For readers unfamiliar with politics here there are very strict laws about everything from chewing gum and smoking in public to mandatory death sentencing for drug traffickers. The result is an efficient city with virtually no unemployment or poverty. (And I haven't seen any stray cats or dogs either!)

I could not resist the temptation of dessert at the Max Brenner Chocolate Shop.

The Visayas

Two weeks was just enough time to relax and dive in Cebu. We decided not to go to Bohol because it looked pretty expensive comparatively.

Our first destination was Malapacua island. After a long intercontinental flight from Paris to Bahrain to Manila we continued on to Cebu city and finally arrived in Maya around 11pm. As expected there were no public boats going to the island at that hour and when we saw two guys arranging an overpriced 'special trip' on a boat that looked like it might sink we chose to spend the night and go in the morning. Total saved: 1500 pesos plus the possibility of swimming if the boat didn't make it.

We only spent three nights in Malapascua, since we hadn't decided how many other places we would visit afterward. It was a quiet, laid back island and I wouldn't have minded staying another night.

The diving was our best yet - I saw a white tip shark that was sleeping under a rock and we were successful in seeing Thrusher sharks as well. (This is the main reason divers go to Malapascua) additionally, we had our first wreck dive which was awesome but I had terrible air consumption due to being overweighted and overexcited during the dive. Our dive shop was Evolution and I would highly recommend them. Great price and the guides were very thorough and experienced.

Moal Boal wasn't bad but there was way too much concrete for my liking. We did see a big manta ray at Pedcador Island and lots of sea turtles as well. Our last few days we rented a bike so we were able to get a but further from the town and drove along the coast which was beautiful.

It's so cool what you're doing, but I could never ...

A lot of people ask how I finance traveling, and are curious about teaching abroad in Asia. The most common response when I talk to people about my experiences traveling is wow that's so cool, I wish I could do it! Well, what's stopping you?

You're scared.

So is everyone else. The unknown makes everyone nervous, but that's what makes it exciting too! And if you want to travel you probably are looking forward to something different so get over it :D

You don't speak another language.

Luckily for us English speakers our language is spoken by people all over the world, which is kind of ironic because Americans do less international travel than all other developed countries. There is such a high demand for English teachers in Asia because everyone is learning it. Many people in cities speak some English and there is always someone around to help translate. It doesn't hurt to learn some of the local language as well.

You have no savings or are unemployed.

How are you living? Can you save $100-$200 a month? Cut back wherever you can, and book your flight on a credit card. If you work at least 25 hours a week you'll have your flight paid off in a month and can start saving. The cost of living (especially housing expenses and food) is extremely cheap here and you will be getting paid the equivalent of a US salary.

What will you do with your stuff?

Get rid of it! How much is it worth? What will it cost you to put everything in storage? You could probably buy new furniture for the cost of storing it. Sell everything you can bear to part with and ask a friend or relative to store a few boxes of your personal items or look for a super cheap and small storage unit.

How will you meet people?

You're not the only person going to Asia to teach English! Make friends with other teachers at your school, take a yoga class, join a gym, or do one of the many other activities available in your city and if you notice another foreigner on the street just say "Hello" you already have something in common with them :)

How will you find an apartment?

Most real estate agencies like foreigners because they know you're coming here to work and will probably pay your rent on time. Every country is different, but generally you can contact an agency before you arrive or right away when you get there and they will show you a variety of furnished apartments to choose from. You can easily find a place within one week. Then you just need a cell phone and a bike and you're ready to work! Check out cheap hostels online before you go - also a good way to meet people.

How will you find a job?

The easiest way is to pay an agency to find you one before you go. They will negotiate salary and hours for you ahead of time. You can also just go and visit schools when you arrive. Realistically, allow at least 2 weeks to find a school and start working. Often it is easy to find subbing hours immediately.  This will also allow you to get an idea of what it's like to work at different schools - there is a very wide range of expectations of foreign employees in Asia. Most schools will help you through the visa process. Many communities in Asia have message boards where you can look for jobs for free. The two I have used frequently in Taiwan are Kaohsiung Living and Forumosa.

Now, what are you waiting for? ;)

My afternoon class at Live ABC, L4-K

Diving

The last two weekends I was down in Kenting completing my PADI Open Water Course for scuba diving.  It took three days and now I am officially certified to dive.  The first day we were in the pool so it wasn't that exciting but by the third day we were out in the ocean having a look around and I did not want to get out of the water! Probably sounds familiar to those who could never get me out of the water when I was younger ;)

We had great weather both weekends and the ocean isnt very cold here.  Im looking forward to the next diving adventure!

This was the first time I've really used my camera underwater, I had it in a waterproof bag so it took awhile to get the hang of taking clear pictures.

Then I didn't write for six months

I recovered fully from my injury and then got super busy and six months disappeared in what felt like overnight.  Blogging has definitely made me more aware of time, in a positive way.  So, I came home for a visit, which was possibly the best two weeks spent all summer, and now I'm back in Asia for about a year.  Today is our last day in our old apartment.  One roommate is leaving and I'm ready to live in a new part of the city.  Deidre and I put a lot of effort into finding a new place and it totally paid off!  Our new place is smaller, but we've got a pool, reading room, and yoga room in the building :)

The summer flew by, but luckily the weather doesn't really get cool here until December.  I'm not working such a busy schedule in the fall which has given me a much needed break and I've got a lot to look forward to in the next few months!  I'm still taking Chinese classes, which I'm really enjoying and being able to communication easily is making life here much more convenient.  Next week, I'm transitioning to oil painting (from drawing) in my art class.  In the past I've only experimented with acrylics and watercolors and Im looking forward to learning a new medium.  In November I'm doing the PADI Open Water Course (finally!) which Im psyched about because I've been wanting to scuba dive for years and haven't had the money/gotten around to taking the course.

Recently, I decided to get rid of my facebook account.  I've wanted to for awhile, but I always thought it was an important tool to keep in touch with people - especially because I'm living abroad.  I realized, that 95% of the time I spend on facebook is not actually spent keeping in touch with close friends, and that Skype is a much more meaningful way to stay in contact.  So, for awhile at least I wont be using facebook.  Skype is a free program that lets you call or video chat with other users.  It's the primary way I stay in touch with my parents and it works great.  Check it out, and if you want to set up a skype date send me an e-mail!

Unfortunate Accidents

Another eventful few weeks in the Far East ... At the end of our Wednesday night soccer practice I managed to trip and fall while running backwards to receive a pass which resulted in a broken wrist :(

I was not happy, and attempted to keep playing because I didn't think it was broken but realized I couldn't even run it hurt so much.  I've been pretty lucky and have never broken a bone before so of course I had the completely irrational "it will never happen to me" mentality about getting injured.  After a 3am trip to the emergency room followed by three more days in the hospital I was on my way to recovery with six pins stabilizing my wrist and a robot arm looking contraption.  Hospitals in Taiwan are an interesting experience, one I would have preferred not to have.  All the doctors speak English (their medical classes are in English) but a lot of them aren't comfortable actually communicating with a foreigner.  In addition, Taiwanese pretty much blindly trust the hospital staff and don't ask questions.  When I came out of surgery and the anesthesia wore off I completely freaked out.  They had told me they were going to use pins, but had referred to the operation as "external fixation" which I assumed was a cast.  But when I woke up this is what I saw!

In the end, it's much better than a cast.  There is no risk of the bones healing abnormally or my wrist joint collapsing which can happen with a cast.  They expect I wont have any problems with my wrist in the future, which is a good thing because I dont plan on giving up glassblowing ;)

The doctor just gave me the okay to start running and training for soccer and I was pretty glad to hear that.  This weekend I am going on a visa run to the Philippines, so I'll have a little time to relax before getting back into everything.  I was hoping to get certified to dive on this trip but that will have to wait since my arm can't get wet.

Things have been going well at Melody (the publishing company).  I really like working there and it's been nice to have a break from teaching.  Working in a quiet office feels like a vacation compared to teaching at my preschool.  I've decided that I'm going to take a break from teaching after my injury until I find a school that will give me full time hours and my ARC. At Melody, I've been doing a lot of voice over, recording in English, and here I am at work.

Are you viewing this post as an imported note on Facebook?  Click on "View Original Post" to see more pictures on my blog.

The Escapades continue

I had my second art class this past weekend, and I am so glad to be getting back into drawing and painting.  On the downside, I've been thinking about how much I miss glassblowing and how excited I am to see the Chihuly exhibit that's coming to the MFA in Boston. Luckily (or unluckily) the last day of the exhibit is the day after I come home so you know where I'll be that day!  I'm a little concerned that it will be really crowded with people trying to see the exhibition last minute but we'll see what happens - its still about 5 months away.

Soccer (which I will now be referring to as football after being harassed by the team) has been going great, I realized the other night that I have not done a soccer drill since I played in college and I have really lost my touch since then.  The training is good though, because I haven't had the chance to play competitively in a long time and hopefully it will come back to me sooner rather than later. I've been running to the nearby beach at night in an attempt to get back into shape a little faster and it has become one of my favorite places to chill out  after a long day.

We had a long weekend because Tuesday was tomb sweeping day.  There was a large music festival going on in Kenting, the southern most city in Taiwan so we drove down there Friday night when Adriana got off work.  We ended up camping because all of the hotels were full but I was happy about that because I am not a fan of wasting money on a hotel when camping is dirt cheap! We met some of our friends who went down earlier from the university and had a good group.  The weekend was lots of fun, they had electronic DJs playing music on the beach all night and we had a great time.  I dont think I've had such little sleep since college. J

Now, its back to the work week but I am looking forward to my upcoming weekend in the Philippines later this month!!

Baisha Bay

A weekend in Malaysia

I recently had to do a "visa run".  Which means leave the country and come back to automatically extend my visa for another 60 days.  At first, I saw this as a big inconvenience, but now I realize this is actually a blessing in disguise.  Who wouldn't want a unexpected weekend at the beach?!  This is the first time I've had to do this, because last time I already had plans to go home for Christmas.  I had been putting off booking my flight because I didn't really know where I wanted to go and wasn't excited about paying for airfare.  I ended up in Kota Kinabalu (the cheapest place Air Asia flies from Taipei).

Malaysia has the best sunsets I've seen anywhere in the world

My long weekend turned out better than expected. I found a cheap place to stay (about $10/night) and started reading about KK so I could figure out the best way to spend my 3 days there.  It turns out there is a collection of islands just off the coast that make up a national park.  You can catch a ferry in the morning to the island of your choice and swim, snorkel, and hike during the day.  I wish I had more time to get to some of the places outside of the city, but I can always go back sometime in the future.

Relaxing on the beach I discovered... no tourists here!

Things have not slowed down at all since Chinese New Year.  My roommate pirated a copy of the Rosetta Stone so we've both been trying to do it every day.  Initially I had hoped to learn Chinese, but I have lost motivation a bit because it's so difficult.  I'm still doing a weekly language exchange, but I'm probably learning more about Taiwanese culture from my language partner than actually learning the language.  I have been using the Rosetta Stone to keep up with my Spanish however!

One of my friends here owns an art gallery and this weekend I started a drawing and painting class there.  I've taken some art courses at home, but they tend to be expensive and I've decided to take advantage of as many classes as I can while I'm here because they're much cheaper.  In the winter I took a French class at the association where my roommate teaches, and I'm thinking of enrolling in one of their summer courses as well.

I also started playing soccer this past weekend with a group of expats in a league, finally!  I was on the fence about bringing my soccer stuff to Taiwan and I'm really glad I did.  I've been playing on and off when I've been home but I really miss playing competitively on a team.  The day after the first practice just sitting down was a challenge but I haven't forgotten how quickly sore muscles recover.  They practice twice a week and I would need to be selected to play in the league, but regardless of whether I end up playing in the official games or not I'm happy just to be kicking a ball around again!

Formosa Road Trip

One of our campsites, a baseball field

The past few weeks have definitely been the busiest since I've come to Asia!  Melanie arrived right before Chinese New Year and we went on an east coast road trip that involved one scooter with the two of us and all our camping gear!  The weather was perfect (it never rained!) and we were lucky to find free places to camp each night.  We started out crossing over the mountains and heading north on highway 11 up to Hualien.  Midweek we arrived at Taroko National Park and set up camp there for two nights.  On the way back, we took highway 9 south and crossed back over to the west coast to Kaohsiung.

Taking pictures in a random field of flowers on the side of the road

The week was awesome, and I was really glad I had the chance to see the east coast - it was beautiful!  I have so many pictures and I'll be posting them soon.  After we got back from our road trip, we had a few days in Kaohsiung before we left for Green Island (Lu Dao).  It's the smaller of the two islands located off the east coast near Taitung.  Sophie (my roommate)  also had a friend visiting from France so a small group of us set off for the weekend.  We drove to Taitung and took a ferry from there.  In the past few years my travels have included many boats of varying degrees of comfort.  The ferry to Green Island was hands down the absolute worst.  It's nickname is the barf barge and for good reason.  Now, before we took the ferry everyone told me it was bad, even the writer of LP Taiwan said it was terrible.  But, of course my response was "Ive taken ferries, boats, and canoes all over the world!  It cant be that bad!"  Well, it was!  There were trash cans in every aisle and big packages of plastic bags hanging from each seat.  I only made it through the first 40 minutes of the one hour ride.  I even attempted taking motion sickness medication before we left, but all it did was make me feel drugged, and it clearly didn't help so I wont be taking that again.

Us on the scooter in Taroko National Park

Nonetheless, Green Island was very nice, and we had a good time.  They have one of the few saltwater hot springs in the world and the facilities were great.  There were numerous pools of varying temperatures and you could also walk down to the ocean and go in directly where the source of the hot spring was. There was even a boiling spring where you could cook your food!

During the rest of Melanie's time here I was part tour guide and part tourist again which was fun.  I've realized that there are still a lot of things I haven't done in Taiwan and hope to spend more time seeing new parts of my city and the country before I leave.  It's so easy to get stuck in your day to day routine!

I was lucky to have a friend from home here in Taiwan to celebrate my birthday.  A group of us got dinner at Brickyard and then hung out there for the rest of the night.  I had an awesome time!  I hadn't been to Brickyard for awhile and they have fantastic food.  My family sent cards and presents so even though I wasn't at home with everyone to celebrate I knew everyone was wishing me a happy birthday.  Thanks to everyone who made it special!

Super Fun! Starring Yours Truly

We are fostering two very photogenic cats :)

This weekend I filmed an educational series with Melody Publishing (the company that owns my preschool).  It was a good experience, but it was really hard!  Twelve hours of filming is not easy on the feet haha.  Actors definitely have their work cut our for them, and I am most certainly not cut our for the field (I was terrible at memorizing my lines).  But all and all it was fun, and I got paid to do it :) I'll be bringing a copy of the DVDs home with me so you'll all get a chance to have a good laugh.

Lulu and Momo

I'm still working at a preschool and an after-school program, but my afternoon school has changed. The place I used to teach at, Shane Schools was really terrible.  I won't bore you with all the details ... but being a foreign worker can be problematic and difficult sometimes and some schools just make it worse.  The biggest problem I had with working for Shane was that the management was awful and they were completely disorganized.  But, I like my new school a lot, and it's closer to my house!

Our new roommate Adriana also moved in this week.  Now there are three of us girls living in the apartment but I think things will go smoothly because we all get along really well.  Sophie and I each have a friend coming to visit at the same time so January will be a busy (and crowded) month.

I've also just started reading a book a friend sent me, Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.  It's an amazing book and I haven't been able to put it down.  You can find it on Amazon here.  Highly recommended!!

South Korea

One of my 2011 resolutions is to blog more often so why not get the ball rolling?  I'm at Incheon International Airport in South Korea waiting for my connection to Taipei.  This is by far the nicest airport I've ever been to and I've probably visited 100+ airports in my travels.  No surprise that it is consecutively rated the top airport in the world by Airports Council International!

So, what makes the difference when you're traveling?

Here's a few things I noticed about Incheon during my layover ...

• The chairs don't have armrests.  Such a small detail but having the option to stretch out and sleep comfortably during a long layover is essential!
• Free Wifi and free electric outlet adaptors
• Free city tours for transit passengers, leaving during the day and at night
• Korean Cultural Experience Centers: mini museums in various locations where you can check out Korean art, practice calligraphy, listen to traditional music, and other cool stuff.
• Airport construction:  I didn't leave the departures area,  but it's obvious that a lot of planning went into the innovative design of the airport. In addition to ample seating, tables, and outlets near each gate; the moving walkway (which was very busy) was separated from these areas by the line of stores and restaurants.  This layout created a quite corridor behind the shops where the gate seating was so that you don't even notice you're in one of the busiest transport hubs in the world.

I hope to get a chance to come back to South Korea to visit my roommate from Roger Williams who is also teaching English in Asia for a year.  The plane is about to take off and it  looks like there will be breakfast on my 1 hour flight to Taiwan :)  Glad to know I'll be flying the same airline on my way home this summer!

Weekend Adventures

I have been completely neglecting my blog. The good thing is that I'm having too much fun to spend any more time on the computer than I have to.  -_-   I've started working at a preschool in Dalaio (in addition to my after school classes) which is about 45 minutes away from my house on the MRT.  I dont really mind taking the train everyday because it gives me a lot of time to read.  I've finished some great books in the past few weeks and here are my reviews:

Little Bee,  Chris Cleave - A novel about a Nigerian refugee seeking asylum in England.  I couldn't put this book down!

Dead Aid, Dambisa Moyo - A very interesting book about the economic situation in Africa and the negative effects of foreign aid. Highly recommended for anyone interested in international economics or who has or is thinking of donating money or traveling to Africa.

Blessed Unrest, Paul Hawkin - A collection of information about the "largest social justice movement in history", an inspirational story worth reading - especially if you work in the field of social services.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards - Not a happy go lucky novel, but I really liked it.

Bel Canto, Ann Patchet - I really enjoyed this novel.  The writing style is unique and you definately get drawn into the characters lives and feelings.

Happy reading!  J


I'll be home for Christmas in just a few days and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone.  Hopefully I will have time to post some more pictures of Taiwan.  I have taken a few weekend road trips with my friend from Canada, Adriana and another one of our Taiwanese friends.  We've been to Tainan, Ja-yi, Taichung, Sun Moon Lake, and Alishan Mountain.  It's been lots of fun!  Melanie will be coming to visit for a month so there will be lots more trips coming up!  I'm tutoring a lot now but luckilly I have Saturday nights - Monday afternoons off :)

Sun Moon Lake

Taiwan and Hong Kong

It has been way to long since I've updated the blog!  Things have been quite busy since I arrived in Taiwan but now I have been here for a little over one month.  My flight on the way here was awful ... the first segment was delayed which resulted in having to rebook the rest of my flights and in the end it took three days to get here from Boston :/

But, since I've arrived everything has been great.  Sophie and I found an apartment quickly and were able to move in just a few days later.  We get along really well and I am grateful for no roommate drama!  I've started working at Shane School in the evenings but unfortunately until December I only have 8 hours per week of classes.  I've also been tutoring, which I really enjoy.  Next week I will be interviewing at preschools to pick up some extra hours in the mornings.

Hong Kong Park

Last weekend I went to Hong Kong to sort out my visa (my original one was almost expired) and I ended up staying for three days because I also had to have extra pages added to my passport.  Note to fellow travelers - this service is no longer free!  Apparently they started charging $82 this June which is really annoying.  HK was really cool, it sort of reminded me of New York - except much more diverse, if you can believe that's possible.  During the course of my stay I heard at least 15 different languages being spoken just in my building alone!

HK also looks like a city from the future.  There are layers upon layers of bridges for cars and as a pedestrian you almost never walk on the ground level.  There are raised pedestrian walkways and bridges connecting all of the buildings.  The architecture is very unique and futuristic as well, and the funny thing is that they also have parks everywhere, so sometimes you don't even feel like you are in a city. HK was a fantastic place to visit - probably one of the most interesting cities in Asia that I have been to.

Is that a road?

After leaving the islands on Don Det, I continued onto the city of Pakse with another American that I had met on the island.  We had decided to rent motorcycles and do a loop of the Bolavan Plateau (southeastern Laos) and check out some of the national parks and waterfalls in the area.  We weren’t really sure what to expect because many roads are unpaved, and it was the height of the wet season so it was possible we would encounter impassable roads.  We picked up a map and a phrasebook from the hotel we rented our bikes from and set out for a weeklong bike trip.

Our first stop was at a bike repair shop to get my odometer fixed (essential for navigation because road signs are few and far between).  Luckily bike repairs are very inexpensive and easily accomplished, usually in less than ten minutes.   Throughout the week we had various repairs including my chain requiring tightening, my foot pedal falling off and two flat tires on Pat’s bike.

The first night we arrived in Paksong, which is well known for its central location in the coffee growing region of Laos.  The coffee in Laos is world-renowned; one of the varieties grown there is Arabica, which is considered the champagne of coffee.

There are dozens of waterfalls in the Bolavan Plateu and whenever we saw a sign for one we tried to find it.  We were pretty successfully and managed to find each one we looked for and even managed to find some elephants along the way.   I'll be posting an album soon!

The first few nights we were mostly staying in cities and towns, so we didn't have any problem finding cheap guesthouses.  As we entered more remote territory (heading towards the Vietnam border to the east) there were only villages and dirt roads.  The best night was definitely the one we spend with a Lao family in their home.  We had been driving for hours and the first village was asked either didn't have a place for us to sleep or didn't want us to stay there.  But when we arrived at this village, they ran to get the one person who spoke a little English and we worked out the sleeping arrangements.  It was pretty basic, we slept on bamboo mats in their open air home and bathed outside before dinner with the rest of the villagers.  At this point I had been eating sticky rice 3x per day everyday, but I never got sick of it!  Now that Im home I actually miss eating sticky rice.  Ill be back in Asia soon, so Im sure Ill be eating plenty of it :)

Laos

Alina from Russia & I

I'm currently in Pakse, a city in the southern part of Laos.  I crossed the Cambodia - Laos border about a week ago and have been hanging out on the "Four Thousand Islands" since.  There really are thousands of islands in this part of the Mekong, but only the larger ones are inhabited.  I met some German travelers and a Russian girl on the bus out of Ban Lung (in Cambodia) and we spent most of our time on the island of Don Det.  It has been a relaxing week.  So far, I love Laos - it is probably my favorite country is Asia so far, although I really enjoyed Cambodia as well.  The thing that really sets Lao apart from the other countries I've visited is that there is no one harassing you to stay at their guesthouse, take their tour, or go in their tuk tuk.  It was such a relief to get off the boat on Don Det and have no one trying to convince you where to go!  The islands are very relaxed, and it was the perfect first stop in Laos.  Lonely Planet writes that it "feels so laid back that you could imagine the islands drifting downriver into Cambodia with barely anyone rolling out of their hammock."  Paradise!

In Ban Lung I did a three day, two night trek with two British girls and it was definitely an adventure.  Our guide didn't like trekking (or the jungle) and the ranger didn't speak English.  Most of the communication between us and our guide was "walk faster" or 'kill the leeches!".  Nevertheless, the girls and I got along great and made the best of the situation (I did not get any leeches).  We would have been better off doing the (more expensive) official National Park trekking package.  I also rented a bicycle one day and went to a beautiful lake that was created after a meteor struck.

Now I'm heading to the Bolaven plateau for a week long motorcycle road trip.  I'm really excited, and I originally thought I would not have enough time to see this part of Laos.  I'll be on a Honda Wave 100cc with another American that I met in Don Det.  Although my camera is broken, I have been lucky enough to copy friends' photos in each place I've been so far.  I'll be posting most of them when I get home.  I can't believe I'll be back in the states in about 10 days! I'm looking forward to spending Labor Day weekend in Boston :)

Cambodia

Kathryn and I are currently in Phnom Penn, Cambodia.  Kathryn leaves today to fly to Bangkok for a day before she heads home, and I am leaving in the morning for the northeastern part of the country via bus.  On our way to Cambodia from Thailand we didn't stay in Bangkok for more than 10 minutes because I wasnt feeling great and we didnt feel like carrying our backpacks around the crowded city for a day.  So, from KPP we took a ferry to Krabi, a shuttle to the bus station, then an overnight bus to Bangkok.  From there we took another bus to the border and then went onto Siem Reap, total travel time: 30 hours.

Me, at Banteay Kdei (one of the temples outside the Angkor Wat complex)

We spent five nights in Siem Reap, and were lucky to find an awesome guesthouse there.  We stayed at the Prince Mekong Villas, owned by a great Swiss guy named Eric.  It included free breakfast, laundry, and bicycles which we took advantage of.  We decided to do the three day pass for Ankor Wat and biked around the ruins there.  I think cycling is the best way to see the majority of the temples, it get's expensive to take tuk tuks (moto taxis) and the temples are too spread out to walk (we were biking between 40-50km per day).  There is a great map of the temples here.  We also rented motorcycles in Ko Lanta and Phnom Penn which was great because it gives you the freedom to go where you want and you dont have to rely on the bus - as long as you dont mind driving on the dirt roads :)

Cute picture of Kathryn and I at Ta Prohm, too bad the photographer didn't get the whole temple : /

We also visited a silk farm and factory just outside the city which was very interesting.  I shared a room with a silk artist at the Emerson Winter Market and already knew a little bit about the process but it was cool to see each step of the process and finally the finished products.

We've been in Phnom Penn for two nights, and have been enjoying a few days relaxing before hitting the road agian.  We are staying at the Top Banana Guesthouse and they have great food!

Sunset on the way back into Phnom Penn on our moto

Island Hopping

Kathryn and I have been travelling for about one week now, and we are having a great time!  We flew from Taipei to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last Sunday.  Our flight wasn't bad, and I didnt run into any problems leaving Taiwan, although I did have to pay a fine for overstaying my 30 day visa.  We decided that we were tired of the big cities and so we didn't stay in KL.  Instead we took the train to Butterworth (in Malaysia) were we continued onto the island of Pinang by ferry.  It was a long journey, we were travelling for about 24 hours (Taipei-Pinang) but it was definitely worth it!

Waiting for the ferry in Malaysia

The island was beautiful, and there were not many tourists there.  We stayed in a nice little hotel that cost about $3.50 a night each. :)  We also had a somewhat scary encounter with the monkeys in the national park.  It was our last day and we decided it would be fun to do some hiking in the jungle there.  We had a great day until we got to the last trail of the day heading towards monkey beach.  I've had a lot of experience with monkeys in South America and up until this point considered them pretty harmless although they can be quite mischievous.  Kathryn didn't get a chance to hike monkey mountain while she was visiting us in Kaohsiung so she was anxious to see some wildlife as well.

We were walking down the trail when we heard the tell tale sound of monkeys in the trees and saw one right above us.  Before we could even think of getting out our cameras it came right down to the ground (very unusual for wild monkeys) and sat on a rock about 2 feet away starting at us.  I was a little confused (and concerned) by it's behavior but was completely shocked when it jumped onto my backpack and literally started hissing at me and showing it's teeth!  We both pretty much freaked out at this point and I started screaming at the money (in an attempt to scare it) while Kathryn looked around (unsuccessfully) for a stick or some other object to scare it away.  I dropped my backpack (camera, money, and everything else inside) while the monkey actually tried to drag it away into the jungle!  Luckily my bag was too heavy for the monkey to run off with it but anytime I approached the either the monkey or the bag it hissed at me like it was going to attack us.

Kathryn managed to find a granola bar in her bag and hoping to distract the monkey I took it, which didnt really work because it practically grabbed the bar out of my hand before I got a chance to throw it far enough away.  Even with the food in hand it continued to defend its place in between me and the backpack.  Finally it retreated into a tree above my bag to eat the bar and I managed to grab my backpack and we literally ran as fast as we could all the way back down the trail to the entrance of the park.  To say the least, we are avoiding all trails or attractions involving monkeys for the rest of our trip.

Our trip has been pleasantly uneventful since then, and we crossed the border to Thailand on Wednesday.  We made our way to the coast where we took a ferry from Trang to Ko Lanta where we are currently staying.  Right now we are on the Andaman Coast, which is the western coast of Thailand.  Ko Lanta has a more relaxed reputation compared to some of the more developed islands.  It is one of the largest islands and we practically have the whole place to ourselves because it is low season here and many tourists avoid the islands because of the occasional rain.  The weather hasnt been bad, except for the occasional shower and we are enjoying the discounted prices due to the lack of tourists.  Our beachfront bungalow is costing us $4 per night each (and we are staying at one of the more expensive resorts on the island).

The boats between islands aren't running regularly, but we ran into a couple on their honeymoon at the dock who is heading to Ko Phi Phi tomorrow so we are going to try to negotiate with one of the longboat drivers to take the four of us there.  If there aren't any boats we will have to go to Krabi (on the mainland) and then take a ferry from there to Ko Phi Phi.  The beaches on Ko Phi Phi are often referred to as the most beautiful beaches in the world so we are really excited! We have a Thai cooking class at our hotel in a little bit, and I cant wait to learn how to make Thai food at home :)