Whirlwind

The past ten days have been exceptionally busy for both of us. I have been taking care of business in Kelowna and am now on the brink of my Alaskan adventures for this year. Ashley is in Australia exploring and enjoying the northern scenery. We have been so busy that we have only spoken to each other twice in ten days. It has been a bit of a switch going from seeing each other every day to not.

There have been many adjustments in the past week; traveling to not, accompaniment to none, reading to not, free time to responsibilities, etc. It is all in transition. One thing I am happy about is that I feel neither regret nor grief towards any of it. I am content to have experienced what I have and to be where I am now.

Six months is a long time. We traveled far and long and accomplished every goal that we set out to do. I did not go on this trip to find myself but I did find out about myself. I found more about what I value, my strengths, and my shortcomings. I am very thankful to have had so many opportunities in life. I return more experienced and more resolute to live a mindfully and responsibly.

Here's to the future...

Thailand Review

I finally get to write a bit of a Thailand review. I have held off as we have been in and out of Thailand a few different times in our travels. We did not spend enough time to go everywhere in Thailand. Perhaps that means that I should be writing a Thailand reflection?

Thailand is unique in our travels because of its location. It is the hub for travel in Southeast Asia. If you want to go somewhere different you pretty much have to go through Thailand to get there. From what I have been told the tourism industry is responsible for the same amount of income as agriculture but 70% of workers in Thailand work in agriculture while tourism employs only 10%. The cash flow from tourism is very visible with specific areas highly developed and others paid little attention. Thailand is a rapidly developing country with stark contrasts in culture and development.

Northern Thailand is predominantly Buddhist. It is mountainous, somewhat temperate, and agriculturally focused. Southern Thailand is predominantly Muslim. It is flat and coastal with scattered large limestone protrusions, beaches, and many islands. The islands are especially magnificent. Both of these regions are run at a charmingly laid back pace of life. In one small town Ashley and I found ourselves at a large park that was more active than any other park I've seen. In each corner of the park there were aerobics courses open to the public with hundreds of people attended. The center of the park was crammed with families walking, joggers, men playing a unique game, and of course people exercising on the outdoor workout equipment provided.

Bangkok is the center of Thailand but it thankfully does not represent the country and I would say contradicts the rest of the land. If I have not expressed before I will now, I did not like Bangkok at all. We visited, like Thailand itself, only a small portion of what we could have seen but what I saw I did not like. There were two main reasons for my dislike. The first reason is the busy, crowded, hot, heavily rubbished streets of the city. The second reason is that these streets reflect and magnify a very ugly truth; scams, sex, drugs, and all sorts of unacceptable behavior is glorified in these streets. Not that it is approved of or officially advertised but the signs of it and the unspoken knowledge of it is everywhere. The wanton destructive behavior both towards self and others affects me in a similar manner as the Cambodian Genocide museum. It all reminds me very much of a description of Tom and Daisy in The Great Gatsby "They were careless people, -- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made." This description is perfect for what we saw throughout our trip and, unfortunately for Thailand, is typified in Bangkok. Its not that anyone is bad, it is that they are careless and being away from their lives allows it.

I think Ashley and I spent more time on trains in Thailand than anything else. And why not? Thailand's trains are actually very nice, especially the overnight sleeper trains. It is fabulous to travel 9 or 10 hours in your sleep! The best part is that they are some of the most affordable trains that we came across. Usually trains were out of the question for us but in Thailand they were very accessible. Some advice for future travelers though is anticipate but do not expect the trains to be on time. They are regularly a few hours late. This can work in a traveler's favor though because you will regularly get one or two extra hours of sleep. So good!

 Chances are you will go through Thailand if you go to Southeast Asia. You can enjoy both short and long stays in Thailand; mountain getaways and bustling beaches are both easily accessible. Please though, travel responsibly.

Away we go!

What a whirlwind. I did not have time for proper updates this week and I don't have any now but I can tell you we are heading to the airport for our flights. This trip is coming to a close for me and moving quickly for Ashley. In a month it will all be a dream.

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur was a few days ago but I remembered today that I wanted to talk about its City Center. I am a big fan. We spent two days walking around it and I was impressed. Specifically there are two items that I was impressed by; its transit and its layout.

First of all you can walk around the city center in the daytime and not realize that you are in a major international city. There are so few people around and hardly any cars. The actual city center is a large park with beautiful landscaping, fountains, a gigantic playground and water-park. There is also a 1.3 kilometer walkway surrounding it that has a built-in track for jogging. The track isn't just flat but goes up and down some mild hills and there is a lot to see while jogging making it an interesting place to jog.

Surrounding the park are the Petronas towers (which are stunning both in the day and night), the convention center (which houses the aquarium) the central shopping center (which is connected to the convention center by an underground walkway), the national Mosque and a number of interesting and beautifully designed buildings. From there the rest of Kuala Lumpur spreads out. I do mean it when I say spreads out because the city goes on for a long ways but I also mean that it is spread out in that the skyscrapers are not clumped all in one section of the city but several and there are patches of green that are just undeveloped; not landscaped or turned into parks, just wild growth. There are also other large parks placed sporadically throughout the city with bird and butterfly sanctuaries to go to. It is delightful to see.

KL's transit system is also awe inspiring. There is a monorail and buses covering a vast expanse of destinations. There is also a free bus system for the city center which was very handy for us. My most favorite part though is that in the city center connecting the major destinations is an above ground, air conditioned, security patrolled, walkway. It made everything more convenient on our trips into town. We did not have to worry about crossing the street, extreme heat, heavy rains, or getting lost. What a great idea.

Though it doesn't feel crowded during the day, at night the city starts bustling. People and vehicles come out in multitudes, the city is lit up, the restaurants are packed full. It has been like that in many SEA countries; during the day it is too hot to go out but at night the cities come alive.

The grand scheme

It has been an exciting week. We gained two new nephews only a few days apart. The nephews are closer to each other than we are to them though so photos have had to suffice. Still very exciting,

We have only one week left after today and we are planning on revisiting Koh Tao. I could say that we are going back because we know it and love it, and because we know how to easily get to there and then to Bangkok from there, and because it will be a good place to end our travels but the truth is that we are going back because it has the best chicken sandwiches that we have ever had. Seriously imagine two full breaded chicken breasts with lettuce, cucumber, tomato, and onion on a delicious baguette with mayo and mustard (mustard being in short supply in Southeast Asia). All this for $2, how could we pass that up?

Our time in Tanah Rata has been pleasant. I get to wear my jeans and sweatshirt most mornings and evenings which makes things extra exciting. I haven't worn my jeans since Scotland and for some reason they came out of their stuff sack smelling like nachos. I don't know if that is good or bad but it made us both crave mexican food. In the afternoons we have spent most of our time reading or walking. We have gone on a couple of short hikes/walks; one through the town garden park which was very nice and one to some water falls that weren't very impressive.

We are moving on tomorrow to Butterworth (yes that is a real city) and from there we intend to take the train into Thailand and then a night train to Chumphon where we will eventually cross over to Koh Tao. It will be more than 24 hours of travelling by the end but it will be the last big stretch before our flights out. Here's hoping for straight paths.