Basking in my Rebirth

"When you travel, you experience, in a very practical way, the act of rebirth.  You confront completely new situations, the day passes more slowly, and on most journeys you don't even understand the language the people speak.  So you are like a child just out of the womb.  You begin to attach much more importance to the things around you because your survival depends on them.  You begin to be more accessible to others because they may be able to help you in difficult situations.  And you accept any small favor from the gods with great delight, as if it were an episode you would remember for the rest of your life."

The Pilgrimage-Paulo Coelho

The End

<-Becca & I aboard the boat we went snorkeling on. 

So I just woke up here, in Los Angeles.  Got in yesterday after traveling for over 48hours.I'm working on uploading all of my pictures and videos: it is a time-consuming process.

I miss Bali. I miss Cambodia. I miss traveling. I miss Becca. I miss never knowing exactly what

 I'm ordering or what I'm doing for the day.  It was amazing.

The day after my last entry, Becca and I met Danny boy at the beach and swam for a bit until he took us to a spot to go snorkeling! I was kinda nervous at first but got in and did it!

 

There weren't as many sea creatures as I'd have hoped; but I was so excited and happy I did it anyway because that's something I've never done before!

It was so cool just being underwater with the fishes and seeing school's (spelling) of them swim by.  

However, I started feeling some pretty nasty stinging sensations on my arms and face. I kept looking around and saw nothing so I asked Becca and she said she was feeling a little but it wasn't a big deal.  After swimming around I noticed she wasn't in the water and looked up at the boat. She got out after being stung on the face-which I had happen a few times. So I got out with her and we waited a bit before getting back in.

Once back in we noticed the entire area was full of teeny tiny jelly fish-and THAT is what was

stinging us!  

We stayed in for a bit longer then got out and headed to the Turtle Sanctuary where we got to hold and feed sea turtles!!

And then to our surprise we also got to hold a fruit bat, a snake (which I was more than excited about), an eagle, a bird that was supposed to be a toucan but didn't really look like one, and then we got to see another eagle, an iguana, and an angry monkey.

After that we headed home and got some dinner before resting up and having another fun night out! Met some more Aussies-Ryan and Steven. Danced most of the night  and then planned to walk to Seminyak the 

next morning.  Lonely Planet said Seminyak was a really posh part of Bali...that it was not-well, it was 'posh' because there were loads of expensive shops; but other than that...nothing.  We really had no reason to go there. It was so boring. Just shops. Lots of shops and traffic.  Totally dissapointed in it; and excited for our adventure the next day to Ubud.  That night we took it easy since we had to be up early for our trip to Ubud.  We bumped into Tim and Ricky and just chatted with them for a bit before calling it a night.

We went to Ubud, in Bali for a day.  Saw a cultural dance which was so similar to Indian dance as well as those I've seen in Hawaii.  After that we checked out a batik center and saw how the women make the patterns using wax and dye and looms.  Then we went to a silver and copper place: saw how they made jewelry.  I got a silver ring with a stone that had the face of the man

 in the moon carved in it: as it reminded me of home, and my mom.

After that we headed to the royal palace where family members still live. That was interesting. The smallest and least elaborate of palaces we've ever been to. But we saw the people living

 there, so that was interesting.

We also went to a wood-carving center and saw how they carved some amazing pieces

 from different types of wood: sandal wood, hibiscus wood, and the such. It was amazing what they did.

<- This is the carving I bought for my mommy: a carving of her and me!

We also went to see another waterfall; nothing like the one in Luang Prabang; but beautiful nonetheless.

Ubud is the artistic and cultural center of Bali-that is why we saw all these things. :)

We also went to the Elephant Cave and learned about it from a guide who blessed us and put rice on our foreheads and clavicles: as it was a holy day.  I had often wondered why some days I saw people with rice on their faces.  That was interesting to learn about.

After that we headed to: The Monkey Forest!! SO fun! It's this giant forest where all the monkeys run free and you get to see them! IF you have food for them you're supposed to drop it and walk away as they get very hostile.  We had a great time there!! Reminded us of the fun we had in the beginning of our trip at Lop Buri!

We then headed to Tamal Lot: the sea temple.  It is the most famous temple in all of South East Asia.  It was built on a rock in the ocean.  We go there for sunset. It was beautiful. And we were quite lucky because on our way there it started raining, and as we left it poured.  Somehow the sky cleared for us.  

That night we found Jordan at The Bounty and danced until they closed at like 4am.  Jordan's camera was taken :(  

Our last day we just layed on the beach, Becca played with her poi, and we met a few more nice travelers.  That night the three of us went out, enjoyed some local stuff, and danced until about 3am-as I had to go home because I still hadn't packed and was leaving the next morning.

That morning at 6:30 I packed and got taken to the airport. Techincally, it was Thursday night in LA when I left and I arrived in LA at about 1:30pm.  LOTS of time spent in airports and planes.

It's weird being home.  I'm really happy to see my mom again. And I'm excited to see my friends. But it's different...life is so safe and typical here.  Becca and I both agreed we will never be able to go shopping or eat out because of how cheap it was out there, and how you bargain for everything. :) We'll have to see. Tomorrow I start working again; and thus, saving for the next time I get to write in this blog. I have contacted my theater company and will hopefully be getting involved with helping out on this next production that opens in a few days. And so it goes.

I hope you all enjoyed following along with me. My older entries have pics now, too...if you want to go back and browse through them.

I missed you all and love you lots. And now I am missing and loving those past five weeks-the best five weeks in my entire life. And Becca. :) Love you wifey!

XOXOOXXOXXOXOOOXOOX Until next time I leave you with the final sunset I experienced in Kuta Beach, Bali:

Danny Boy

Here we are our first night in Bali at Apache with Ricky and Tim, and two cute and sweet Japanese tourists.



Well last night after writing in my blog we were just going to check a few places out and call it a night since we had been up til sunrise the day before.

But, alas, we ended up going out again. We hopped into a few bars had a drink in each one, then headed to the 'discotech' we had been to the night before and danced for a while. Afterwards we finally went back to our favorite: Apache, the reggae bar. And I just stood at the front of the stage singing along to every song and dancing the night away!! The bands were so good adn the music great. And it was PACKED! Mainly with locals. Everyone was so friendly. The lead singers gave me a shout out because I was SO into it. :)

Then one of the other lead singers took us to another bar where he was performing.

By then it was sunrise and two other tourists walked us down to this 24hour restaurant and gave us some tips on things. We ordered some food and watched the futbol game before getting home at about 4:00am.
This morning when we woke up we met Danny Boy (on the left) at the beach and he and Bob (wit the sunglasses) got us surfing! I finally stood up! I've surfed back home for a few years, but my ability to stand is usually lacking; but Bob got me up! It was wicked. So fun.

After that we just laid out and got a massage on the beach. Then Danny Boy took us to a local spot and we got some dinner.

Tonight we're just gonna walk around; Becca wants to do some shopping. I might too ;). Tomorrow we're meeting Danny and he is going to take us somewhere so we can go snorkeling. Then after that we'll probably rent surfboards and surf and play all day and stay on the beach for the sunset.

I believe in two days we will be heading to Ubud: it's about 30minutes away, for a nice little day trip.

Danny Boy is the local I met yesterday at the beach. You need to be cautious out here about people but when I told him I was from California he told me that he is currently taking care of a girl who is stuck here from California. Apparently this girl, Christina, lost her purse and her passport was in it. It's a very long and complicated story and after hearing more I"m a bit annoyed with her; but she is "stuck here with no money and no way out" so Danny Boy is taking care of her. He has nothing and yet he is paying for her meals and helping her find places to go and taking her around. He's looking after her. He told me today he is going to see if he can sell some of his land back home (he's from a different part of Indonesia) so he can have money to help her!
I think she should get a job for a little bit; it's really easy here to do that. And not let him pay for everything. He's just so nice and wants to make sure everybody that comes here is smiling and happy. He said to me: "I came into this world with nothing; these are all just things. None of it matters. What matters is people."
He's just so nice and so giving and so great! Before we leave I am going to give him some money for everything he's been doing for us. He's so cool and has made my experience here so much more enriching already.

So off we go for a quiet night. I'm coming back here for sure. It's great!

LOVE YOU!XOXO

Here are some videos I took in Bali:

Last Leg

Sorry I haven't written; when we got to Siem Reap the internet was too slow to be bothered with.
So we left Phnom Penh and took a 6 hour bus ride to Siem Reap. On the bus we met two awesome guys: Matt (from London) and Lenny (from Holland).  We ended up all four going to the same guest house-as when you get off the bus you are horded by tuk tuk drivers just yelling and surrounding you to go with them-I got so overwhelmed Matt came in to save the day and swooped us up and got us all a tuk tuk together.

<-Here are Matt (red shirt) and Lenny on our last night together. Nicest room we've stayed in at The Smiley Guesthouse. We got a room with hot water AND air con! It was amazing! :) $12/us a night. That night the four of us went out til very very late-got dinner and went to a few bars on this big street called: Pub Street. Which, btw, is the cutest street ever! :) 

It was so nice, and there are SO many travelers so you meet SO many people. It was SO fun!! :) Because we didn't get much sleep that night, we all decided to check out Angkor

 Wat for sunset and then see the sunrise the following day.

Sunset was beautiful there: it was a really impressive and

 incredible sight: Angkor Wat. We only had a short time to be there as the sunsets right when

 they close so we all just took pictures and walked around a bit before it started to rain.

Then we called it a bit of an early night after going out to dinner on a street BEHIND pub street which was REALLY REALLY posh. So cute!<-Becca and I at sunrise.  

The next morning Matt, Becca, and I woke up at 4:30am to go to Angkor Wat. We probably should have woken up at 4am to see the sunrise; but we got there as it was rising so it was still

 a really beautiful sight. After that we explored Angkor Wat for a while and then went on with

 our tuk tuk driver to Ta Prohm (The temple that TOMB RAIDER was filmed at) which was INCREDIBLE!! The trees growing around the temple were unlike anything I've ever seen. 

It was amazing. We also went to Angkor Thom which was WICKED! So amazing; I can't believe these temples have survived so long; and even through the khmer rouge. Although many have been completely destroyed and they are

 trying to rehabilitate but the Khmer rouge also destroyed the blue prints for all of it so it's hard to figure it out.

<-Ta Prohm

<-Bayon & Angkor Thom

It's so sad to realize I am going home in a week. Not that I am not excited to see all of you and be back at home; but 5 weeks was not enough time. I think I really got the groove of it down in Cambodia and settled in; and now it's time to go.

Cambodia is my favorite country because it's not quite booming yet. I hope you go there within the next 5 years; because I reckon it will become much more Western in the next 5 years and change loads. I like it more than Laos because of the intense history that is STILL alive there. The begging, esp with kids, can be a bit much to handle at times. The constant: "You buy you buy" gets tiring and hard to deal with. But the country is so beautiful in so many ways. Really incredible. When I go on my travels again next year I plan on going back to Siem Reap. I want to see the rest of the temples and volunteer at an orphanage.

I met more people in Cambodia than anywhere else and really enjoyed the country in everyway. 

It was all the travelers that have inspired me to go home, work my butt of and save my money, so next year I can buy a one-way ticket out and travel til I run out of funds. Everyone I met had been traveling for like 3 months and still had another 9 or so; had been to so many countries and were still planning on traveling for like a year or more!! I just can't imagine a better time to see the world and learn about yourself and other people and places than now while I'm yougn and still pretty unattached to anything. Thank goodness I'm an actress. :) Allows for lots of flexibility! AND you can't grow as an actor if you dont' grow as a person. I know for a fact I have changed and grown a lot from this trip and really really am itching to keep traveling. It's so sad that I have to leave!!! BUT I am missing hugging my mom everyday and seeing all of you, definitely.

Our last day in Siem Reap we went to a hotel and used their pool to relax and swim and beat the heat. Then we flew into Kuala Lumpur and sat around for 4 hours due to our lay-over playing chess, same same but different ( a game we titled after the most popular saying we've heard among our travels). Then finally we arrived here:
Paradise. aka: Kuta beach, Bali.

Full of beautiful surfers and Indonesians. Surfboards everywhere you look, beautiful beaches, tan bodies, pure and total HOLIDAY. I can't believe I have to leave here. It's incredible! We got in last night a bit late, grabbed some dinner then went out to an AMAZING reggae club!! Danced until 5am. Came home and then when we woke up this morning we had lunch and laid on the beach.

I got a massage; but I got tricked and ripped off. It's okay; I've learned my lesson and in USdollars it really isn't that much so it's fine. After that we just went to a different spot on the beach and while I was in the water a local, Danny Boy, and I started talking. He's been taking care of a girl from California who's stuck here until her Emergency passport arrives because she lost her first one. He's going to take us surfing tomorrow morning and then get us to his friends that snorkel!! :) It should be wicked! I'm very excited.
There is SO much to do here it's insaine! I can't wait!! I am living it up as much as I can.

Will do my best to write again before I head home; but I can't promise, as I said: I am surrounded by the beach, surfers, reggae music, and friendly people for only 6 more days. Gotta live it up!! :)

Love you all and be home so soon!! :)

Cambodia, so far.

That is me, feeding an elephant outside of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.

Two days ago we arrived in the capital of Cambodia: Phnom Penh. 

Automatically we were greeted with pure chaos: the roads here with no signs and the rules seeming to just be: "if you can go, go!" Massive amounts of people on the road; the most I've seen. I mean, there were five guys on a single motorbike at one point. 

Cars, tuk tuks, motorbikes, and bicycles just go-doesn't matter what side of the street. Although, amidst this chaos they seem to  have a system down.

A bit into our drive from the airport to an area with guesthouses, Becca said: "Maybe we should rent a motorbike" and as she said that we passed an accident.Not sure what had happened, but he was in the road and his foot was bloody. It looked as if 

something had flown into his foot.  Thankfully, he wasn't seriously injured, and nobody else was so it wasn't that bad. But upon that I looked to her and said: "Or not."

 After we arrived in the area where our guest house is, we settled in and made plans for the next day. Grabbed some dinner and decided to go play pool. We met even more people from Denmark; a group of three boys and went off with them to another bar to play more pool. Then to check out another bar and so on. Eventually it was time to call it a night, and that we did.

  

Yesterday we had a driver, Lo, take us to The National Museum, Tuol Sleng Museum, and the Royal Palace. We broke the sights up into two days, and had wanted to to Tuol Sleng with the Killing Fields today. I am glad we decided to go to Tuol Sleng yesterday. Both the T.S. and The Killing Fields would have been far too much.

So first we went to the National Museum, which was very nice. It was filled with stone carvings and other artifacts dating back to the 8th century! It was amazing to see the craftwork. How 

detailed and beautiful the pieces that were preserved, were. Just incredible stuff. We

 weren't allowed to take pictures inside, though. 

After that, because the Royal Palace was closed during the hottest part of the day we headed to Tuol Sleng.

It was horrible.

For those of you that don't know, ONLY 30 years ago, Cambodia went through a horrible civil war which culminated in the 

genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge. Over 3

 million Cambodian citizens were brutally murdered from 1975-1979. 6 American journalists, 1 Australian, and 3 Europeans, as well. 

There were rooms and rooms of photos of people 

such as this one; of those that were unjustifiably murdered by

 the Khmer Rouge. This photo is of the wife and baby of a government official; we also saw photos of the wife sitting in an

 electric chair-baby in hands. Horrible.

The Khmer Rouge actually took over the ENTIRE city of Phnom Penh. Last night we watched a movie about the war, and had already been to the prison at that point. So today, driving through this city: this country's capital which only 30 years ago was abandoned and filled with

 the Pol Pot regime and screams of pain was really intense. To realize that a lot of the people around me were alive then, experienced the war...and to be an American driving through their streets. I began to feel dirty, more so than I have before.

Usually, I feel terribly guilty for having the life I have when I see the people here. You feel bad for having a digital camera and for caring about things like how your body looks in a dress or something when you see all these bare footed children and people around that have nothing. They are concerned with feeding themselves. It makes you feel so bad. And I'm a pretty conscious person back home when it comes to being grateful for everything I have been given; but nonetheless you feel badly. But after going to S-21, after learning about what happened here...I was not proud to be an American. I do, however, feel lucky to be one.

Toul Sleng is also known as S-21 (Security Prison 21). In 1975, Pol Pot's security forces turned a school into this prison which was the largest center of detention and torture in the country. Almost everyone here was executed at the Killing Fields. It was absolutely awful to see. There were rooms with just a single rusty bed, and a black and white photo behind it taken before when there were dead bodies tied up and tortured here.

Pol Pot, first, captured all the

 intellectuals in the capital and surrounding area because it did not want them to undermine its rule. So all the government officials and their entire families were sent there to be tortured and then executed.

We walked around the prison, saw the small cells they lived in. And saw the pictures of all those that were detained. Women, children, babies, and men. It was really intense.

After being there we moved on to the Royal Palace. What a contrast in an afternoon.
The palace is huge, and has a small replica of Angkor Wat. It's quite beautiful.

After that we got lunch and eventually headed back to our guest house (Room 202 what!) and decided to see the Killing Fields and the market today and then head off to Siem Reap.
Today sealed the deal for me: Phnom Phen has been the most emotionally disturbing place for me, so far.

On our way to the Killing Fields I saw pieces of a bike in the road ahead. Then crowds of people on each side of the street and as we approached I saw the body of a man, surrounded by the remnants of his motor bike. He was just laying in the middle of the street. Dying.

Part of his face was torn open and there was a huge stream of blood pouring from his head into the road. Everyone around just stood there, lots of people on cell phones, calling for help.

I can pray that he survived: but I don't think he did.

I didn't even know how to react. I don't know how to react. It was just this...I saw somebody in the road, DYING. And there was nothing I could do. I couldn't call for help. I couldn't stop our driver to wait there and make sure he got help. I couldn't stare too long because it was too disturbing, and yet the image is in my mind.

A few minutes later there we were: at The Killing Fields.This is where the Pol Pot took the

 victims from S-21 and murdered them. In 1988 they built a stupa (the image to your left)to honor the victims, and in that stupa, sits over 9,000 skulls. 17 levels. The top levels are of the bones of peoples bodies, the bottom levels are all of skulls, and below that some of their clothes.

We hired a guide to take us and two others around the fields. It was horrible. As you walk you can see clothes and bones coming up from the ground-as the rain falls and the Mekong River pours over, more graves have been discovered over the years.

 

There was a mass grave with over 100 women and children next to a tree that they used to murder the babies. The Pol Pot didn't use bullets because they were to expensive, so often they would use farm tools or bamboo sticks and beat people in the heads and then bury them alive. Or, especially if it was a soldier which betrayed them, when Palm trees are young their leaves are sharp and they would use those, or an axe to slowly decapitate people. When it came to the babies...they would hold them by their feet and smash their heads against a tree. 

The photo below is of teeth of victims still laying in the fields. It's horrifying. You are walking over land in which people were brutally murdered on less than 40 years ago.

It was absolutely horrible. And to realize that this happened in 1975 really upset me. I mean, genocide is still a huge problem now. And I wonder, why? Why do we do this to one another? And then the

 questions come in: Can we do anything? Why doesn't the US do something? yada yada and then all the complicated answers and my head spins with anger that people are capable of such hatred.
We didn't learn much about this in school, by the way. We don't learn much about the horrible things that have been, and are, happening around the world like this and it's not right. People need to know that genocide did not die with Hitler.

We finally left after being surrounded by a group of kids begging for money.
Everywhere you go in Cambodia you are faced with beggars. Worse than anywhere else I have been.

After the Killing Fields we headed to the market here. It was huge and had tons and tons and tons of stuff-I got Adrianna and Brianna a little something as well as myself. :)

After that we headed back to the River to walk a bit and get some lunch. More beggars approached us and I finally gave in to one man. It looked as if the entire left side of his face was nothing more than a massive, massive, tumor.
I wish I could give to all the children and all the people I see whom have deformities; but I can't. And this man, I know people probably don't give to him because of how frightening he is at first glance, so I gave him some money and just thanked the universe for providing me with my health, and my mother, and my friends and asked that the blessings continue and those I love are always safe from these sorts of things.

Tomorrow we leave for Siem Reap: which should be incredible! We will spend 3 days exploring Angkor Wat before flying off to the beaches of Bali.

I can't believe I come home in 13 days! Wow. My eyes have certainly seen more than I could have imagined already. I can't begin to even tell you how much these past two days alone, on top of being in Thailand and Laos, has affected me and changed the way I see things.

Love you all! Miss you. See you very soon!

Getting close!

So I'm getting pictures up, sorry they aren't totally in perfect order on the page. I am working on it as best I can.

Will write a blog tomorrow: We are now on our second night in Cambodia and have booked our flight(s) to Bali!

Love and Miss you all SO much!

Leaving Laos

Becca and I left Vang Vieng yesterday by mini-bus to Vientiane, the capital city of Laos.

Vang Vieng is a pretty cool place, but there isn't much to do there other than go tubing (which consists of getting drunk and floating in intertubes) and watching Friends. The morning I wrote my last blog Becca came home not feeling too well and not up for much. Good thing because we had a thunder storm all day and night pretty much. So we just watched Friends, then took a break and watched Family Guy at another place. :) Then got dinner with some travelers from our slowboat. Dominic from England, Jordan showed up and apparently got a bit of a tummy bug, and Andrea: a girl from Germany who has been sick since we left Pak Bang.

The next morning we decided to head here. Jordan is still over there, he wanted to get better and go tubing. My wound is scabbing over finally!! Still a bit red and hurts sometimes but LOADS better! Whew! :)

We arrived here yesterday, checked into a guest house and walked around. Really there is not much to do at all here so we booked a train this morning to take us to Bangkok. We'll be leaving in a few hours for the border, the hopping on a sleeper train which will take us to Bangkok by tomorrow at 6:30am. Then we'll chill there for a day; Becca might get a camera since her's was taken. And at 4;30 we will fly out to Phnom Penh, Cambodia to check out the killing fields and the such.

We'll spend about a day there. Then take a bus to Siem Reap and spend about 3 days at Angkor Wat. From there we are probably going to take a bus for about 10 hours to Bangkok.

Then I have about a week left and we are deciding between going to the Thai islands, Bali, or to the Phillippine Islands. Looks like we are leaning towards the Phillippine islands because we have heard such amazing things from a fellow traveler and there is LOADS to do there! Trekking, Kayaking, Rafting, Snorkeling, Diving (Becca wants to get her paddy certification), horse back riding, and of course laying out on a pristine beach and tanning :) Mmmm. haha

So all we have booked now is our train to Bangkok. We're having some issues with our flight to Phenom Phen at the moment; but it will work out-opps no we just booked it as I typed! Taxes and stuff made it go up from like $50 dollars to $90. So what we are going to do is fly to Phenom Phen, bus to Siep Reap, and take a long bus to Bangkok because that will be much cheaper than going BACK to Phenom Phen to fly back to Bangkok. We are going to weigh our options until we get to Cambodia with regards to time and money before deciding which beautiful destination I end my travels at once we arrive BACK in Bangkok from Cambodia. Bangkok is like the hub of everything. It depends on money, on how she can meet up with Jordan easiest, and how I can get back to Bangkok for my already booked return flight home on the 14th of June.


Sooooo I might post a blog at the airport in Bangkok with more information on our decision OR I might wait until we arrive in Phenom Phen. :) I'm stoked to check out Cambodia and to end my travels at a beach, no matter where!! :)

Miss home and love you all loads and loads and loads!!!
XOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOXOXOXOXOXXOXOXOXOOXOXOXXOXOOXOXOX

Moving Through Laos

Two days ago Becca and I hopped on an uncomfortable mini-bus ride for about 5 hours to arrive in Vien Tieng, Laos.

The tuk tuk driver dropped us off on the airstrip in front of this guest house and we were greeted by a sweet Lao man asking us all to stay in his guest house, and that he'd pay the tuk tuk driver. While I had wanted Becca and I to stay in a nicer place, now that it was just the two of us, we just decided on this place because it was closest (we weren't sure how far the "center" of town was, and w/ our backpacks and the heat we didn't want to journey far) and because he was so nice...he explained his parents gave him the place as a wedding gift.

So we dropped our stuff and mosied into town. At first I was bummed out because it was NOTHING like Luang Prabang; not beautiful, not charming, it seemed deserted. But as we walked towards the main strip and more people arrived it started bustling and winning me over. It's not as nice as Luang Prabang; but it's still cool. The main strip is lined with restaurants and guest houses and they are filled with tables and benches that you lay back in, and with TVs playing episodes of FRIENDS, or Family Guy. :) It's very relaxed. Everything here is slow.

So once we got in, we sat down, had some dinner and decided to go out that night.

We wandered down to "the island." It is an area of bars that are along the water that you cross a little bridge to. All our friends from the slowboat were there plus tons of other people. I danced my heart out all night because they played music from like last summer back home. And Becca took off on a walk. While everything here closes at curfew, they don't kick you out: so I remained at one of the bars, with everyone else, until about 3am and then I decided to head home and get sleep for the next day.

Becca and I signed up to check out some caves and go kayaking in the river and had to be there by 9am. At 8am Becca finally shows up and tells me that she was mugged last night walking! She was walking with a guy friend and two Lao boys on a motor bike drove by and cut her purse off of her and took off with it. Her purse w/ her cc, and camera! With all the pictures of me getting my hand held at the trek by Bond and loads of others! :( Along with money and her license. We came down to the internet so she could tell her parents: apparently they arleady made a $525.00 charge to her CC.

Then because we couldn't do anything else, we went on our trip we already paid for. It was fun! We went to some caves and then got in intertubes with nothing more than a huge battery and head torch (like the miners wear) and floated into this cave. It was unreal! I felt like I was in The Goonies!!! You could only see where your flashlight was and the cave if you looked up just went so high, and there were so many formatoins and it was so slimy looking and just the coolest thing!!! We explored the cave by tube for a bit, all of us in the group (4 of us) had to link our feet to the others tube and paddle together. This is the cave we went in:

Then we had some lunch and hopped in kayaks that took us down the river. It was beautiful. There were some rapids, but not crazy ones.

Then we looked ahead and saw why most people come to this town: tubers. People get in intertubes and ride down the river, and there are make shift bars all along the river. So people ride their tubes down and get roped into these bars and drink and then continue on down the river to the other bars. The one we stopped at had a HUGE swing, about 20 feet in the air you climb up, then you hold on to a bar with your hands and swing all the way out and drop into the river. Becca went and loved it and these older couples that were partying and jumping in got me to climb up, and after a few minutes of being terrified I did it too!



After a while of hanging at this bar, since we weren't drinking and wanted to kayak our group got back in our kayaks and headed down the river some more. Oh but before that! One woman asked me to go with her to the swing and jump again, because it was fun. :) haha I didn'dt want to but went up anyway and after like 10 minutes and countless people going before me and telling me just to do it, I climbed down the stairs. :) As while it wasn't scary once I did it, and I did do it already, I was too scared. Once was brave enough for me!
Here I am kayaking down the river:



So then we continued on until reaching the end and got out and wandered into town. On our way we found a police station so Becca made a report of the theft and they told her to come back today at 9am.

We found a guest house for the two of us that I had liked when we got here (where we ate and watched Friends the first night) as Jordan hadn't written us back saying for sure he was coming or not, and we showered and then found Jordan.
The three of us met up with two other travelers we met on the van, and coincidentally Jordan worked with in Taho, Kylie and Nathan. Sage, who was on our slow boat, joined us and we went to dinner.
And apparently every place here has a regular menu, and then they hand you an extra one called the "Happy Menu" which consists of shakes and pizza and bread you can order that is either made with marijuana or mushrooms! Nuts, right?

So we ate our, non happy, food and I was EXHAUSTED as I had gone to bed at 3 and woken up early for kayking so I walked with them down to the bars, and then after about 15 minutes-I waited because we met two guys in Luang Prabang: one that was a bartender for a bar and one that owned it-so we wanted to say hi to them, then I came home and went to sleep.

Woke up this morning and Becca said that the police said she had to have a witness and they didn't believe her. :(

Today she doesn't feel like tubing, so we're just gonna hang out and watch a bit of TV outside then head to the bars because they have hammoks on the river so we're just gonna lay out in the heat and relax. Maybe finally get a tan! :)
I'm relieved because I didn't really want to go tubing...I'm not a big drinker and I have this infected wound on my leg thta won't heal because it's so hott here and moist out that my body is never really dry and in order for it to heal, it needs to be dry so I'd rather stay out of the water today.

I know Jordan is gonna love this place and it is really awesome and relaxed so I think I will now be missing out on Bali because of time. Cambodia I will still get to go to, though!

Miss all of you at home! Miss home! :)
XOXOXOXOXOOOXOXOXO LOVE YOU!

Enchanted with Laos

This is it. This is what I left for. To feel this. How I am feeling right this minute.

Where to begin?

We started our journey on a mini-bus ride up to the border town between Chang Mai and Laos. It was a longish drive; but the scenery was beautiful. The places people DON'T visit in Thailand. So green. And not dirty. I mean, they weren't pristine and kept up like I am used to ; but it felt cleaner than Bangkok. I enjoyed Thailand lots: Lop Buri was tons fo fun, and the trek a true adventure, and I had a good time. But I was ready to elave. ANd here I come to find myself in a ort of paradise. A sort of place I never knew existed and am so happy does.

The atmosphere, completely chill. ANd while it is familair (American pop songs play at restaurants occassionally...usually really shitty pop we would never listen to back home), it is still exotic. I am still in a foreign country.

This is a perfect change of pace for me, and a nice treat. As I hear Cambodia is very simialir to Thailand.

We crossed the border and got our visas and then stepped into those pointy wood boats you see in pictures, with a wood roof above us and thin wood benches to sit on. Packed at least two to a seat for 1.5. For 6-7 hours?

Okay, I thought...I bought a seat cushion (Becca looked at it and said: "Of course you'd find one that's pink with dolphins" :) ) But then this boat next to us, much bigger, it called to us and we saw some people jumping from our boat to theirs so we grabbed our bags, and WOW! What a great decision! I even managed to sit in the front, one of the four seats that were like car seats instead of wooden benches.
Nice.
The sun shone ALL day for the first time since I got in Thailand, and we rode down the Bang River. I can't explain it; riding on the river. The waves made by the boat made it sound like the ocean and we were surrounded by nothing but beauty. Sandy cliffs and huge trees. Just massive areas of green is all we saw. Occasionally a small hill tribe hut might be seen, maybe a random villager in a boat, once or twice I saw little village kids naked running down to the water. We just rocked on the water. It was exactly what I needed to recenter myself. I was so happy. Happier than I've been this trip: it was just us and the water.
We arrived in a small village about 100 people called Pak Bang (Mountain of the Bang River) there is no point ever to go there unless you are stopping over for the night to sleep before getting back on a 7hour boat ride. It had no electricity: ran on generators, and most of the young guys were offering opium.
But I loved seeing this was how they lived. Walking through their market and seeing pigs ears, still with the hair on them. Seeing all the babies around. Getting offered free homemade whiskey from the restaurant owners trying to get our business.

We set out again the following day for another extraordinary boat ride. Well, it wasn't as comfy as the last one: I had to sit on a bench. But I didn't care. I was on the water. It would occassionally spray on my face, and I was just surrounded by beauty. I went to the back of the boat where there was a sort of window (the whole boat was open...btw. I still haven't been able to upload, but here is a picture I found online:


Anyway, there was a sort of door on the back side of the boat and I just sat in it; with my head hanging out. It was amazing.
Just the boat ride and I could sware that was my favorite part of the trip.


All of us still together from the first trip, randomly bonded otgether and friends fo rth emoments we wer together on that boat an in Pak Bang. A couple from NZ, another couple orginially from England who have decided to travel for 6 months and begin their lives together in Austrailia, a woman who left the US for Austrailia at 19 for school and is at 25 thinking of coming back to the US, adn two 18yearold English boys on their gap year. Sharing small talk of where we've been, where we are going, little things. I know them here and now, but once we we leave, I will probably never see them again. But now, we are friends.

Then...then we arrived here. Luang Prabang, Laos.


This island paradise it seems, though we are not on the ocean. We are on the Mekong. Laos was once occupied by the French; so there is a particular type of romance and exoticness here, and a particular bit of familiarity. Lots of Europeans in the street, Bread and cheese! Wine bars!! I was actually able to look at a menu that was not simply: "Fried this...or rice that" I was able to have a salad for dinner last night!
The things you treasure.
We walked around the night market they have here, and everything started shutting off around 9:30. Apparently there is an 11:30 curfew here. Which I dont' mind. I think it adds to the relaxed nature here. The bars and restaurants are beautiful. At night with teh little lights and the chatter of all these people from all over. Everyone here is at ease. Happy. It's safe to walk alone in the evening: which I did tonight. It has a feel like the towns of Manhattan Beach, Santa Barbara...but more so, so so so much more exotic and beautiful and unreal.

We slept in today and when we woke up, got a driver to take us up 21miles to the Tat Koang Si waterfall.
I can't explain what we did for this day.

We got up there and walked by the most beautiful natural pools: such a color I have never seen, with little waterfalls around them. Jordan and I couldn't help ourselves by the third pool we saw on our way to the waterfall so we went in! It was amazing. Amazing! I couldnt' stop saying how happy I was. I can't use words to describe the color of the water, but we were in it. Swimming.


Now, it is slightly touristy; but I don't care! It is EXTRAORDINARY!!!




Eventually we went to see the waterfall...



When you look up at the Tat Koang Si waterfall you can't feel anything but grateful. To see something so magnificent, so enchanting, so grandious in beauty just there...in nature. Words can't express. I live in a world that has things like this. Something no human could ever create. How can you not be so grateful for this world? For existing in a place that creates such beautiful things?

Then, of course, Becca and Joran being the adventurers they are...wanted to go to the top of the waterfall. There are sort of paths...but for me and my little heart, it can be a lot more difficult. That and my ability to trip on flat ground made me a bit weary: and with no Bond to hold my hand! But I said that I'd at least try; and just see. If it got to be too much for me: if I spent more time worrying about how to get from one place to another without hurting myself than actually enjoying the waterfall I would stop. I told them not to keep waiting for me. Jordan is good at just going. :) And eventually, on my own, I made it to the top! It was amazing. To stand on top of that massive waterfall was unlike anything. And to know I did it myself, that was really incredible.
Now this is something the tourists do, so there were makeshift paths KINDA; it wasn't like our trek when I was just out climbing things. But still, it was really exciting for me and ureal.




After four hours swimming and exploring we came back, had an incredible meal at a restaurant that just opened by our guesthouse: two Belgians opened it. A couple. They came out here last year and loved it and wanted to see if they could do anything, and when it was feasable, they did. It was wonderful.

After that I checked out a really cool place I want to open in the states and watched a movie that Jordan and Becca weren't too interested in and then came down to the main street to write in my blog and quickly check my emails. Stores shut in about 30minutes.

I miss home; but Laos is my favorite favorite favorite place so far.

Come see this beautiful place.


Love and miss you!