16 Month Epic Adventures All Must Come to an End

Well, we have checked out of our hotel, eaten our final Pad Thai, and are just waiting to be picked up for the airport. It's going to be a 26 hour adventure going home, from when we leave Bangkok today (on Thursday) to when we arrive in Toronto (on Friday - we go back in time), but since we have taken bus rides that long, this should be a piece of cake!


And now, in no particular order...


The Best of South East Asia

Best Beaches: Malaysia
Best Value Accommodation: Cambodia
Best Food: Thailand
Friendliest People: Cambodia
Best Beer: Black Panther - Cambodia
Best Cities: Hoi An (Vietnam), Dalat (Vietnam), Nong Kiaw (Laos), Kota Bharu (Malaysia), Penang (Malaysia), Kampot (Cambodia)
Best Diving/Snorkelling: Malaysia
Best Dessert: ABC - Malaysia (Craig), Streetside Rotis - Thailand (Andrea)
Cheapest Beer: Vietnam
Craziest Streets to Cross: Hanoi (Vietnam)
Best Market: Chatuchuk Weekend Market (Bangkok, Thailand)



Average Daily Spending

Calculated by adding up how much we spent in a country (food, accommodation, transport, etc.), and dividing it by the number of days we spent there.

India: $36
Malaysia: $42
Thailand: $44 (diving), $38 (no diving)
Laos: $43
Vietnam: $43
Cambodia: $33




Travelling By the Numbers

How much time we spent, in 16 months, in each type of transport. Imagine!

Camel: 18 hours = 0.75 days
Airplane: 73 hours = 3 days
Train: 142 hours = 6 days
Boat: 56 hours = 2.5 days
Bus: 422.5 hours = 17.5 days

That totals 30 days of travel time out of a 16 month trip, not including time spent driving around New Zealand in our campervan!




Types of Transportation We've Taken

- plane
- train
- camel
- bus
- campervan
- boat
- scooter
- human-pulled rickshaw
- cycle rickshaw
- tuk-tuk/motorized rickshaw
- bicycle
- car
- subway
- boat
- elephant
- shared pick-up truck




Odd Food We've Seen (and sometimes tried)

- cricket
- spider
- frog
- dog
- horse
- eel
- scorpion
- beetle
- worm
- maggot
- rat
- bat
- goat
- ant




Memorable Experiences, Country by Country

New Zealand
Standing eye-to-udder with 200+ cows while they pee and poo on us, while trying to milk them. Then wrangling 60 naughty calves in order to ensure each one feeds... twice a day. Climbing various peaks above snow-capped mountains and glacier-fed lakes (Roy's Peak, especially). Sitting on a beach reading when a wild seal popped out of the ocean and challenged us to a game of tag.

India
Riding a camel for three days through the desert near the Pakistan border and sleeping on a blanket in the dunes under the stars. Getting a private cooking lesson from an Indian matriarch, in her kitchen, and then sharing the meal with her and her family. Being (paid) to be extras in a Bollywood movie (No Problem, starring Anil Kapoor and Sushmita Sen).

Malaysia
Snorkelling in the Perehentian Islands with a giant turtle, stingrays, sharks, and a school of giant groupers. Eating the cheapest street food in South East Asia. Arriving in clean, organized Kuala Lumpur after spending three months in India and feeling like we were finally back in a modern country.

Thailand
Visiting the monkey temple in Lopburi where Craig was attacked by three baby monkeys (luckily with no teeth). Riding on an elephant through the jungle in Koh Chang and being allowed to ride on the neck and "steer". Sharing the best curries in Thailand on Koh Phan-gan with new friends, and Full Moon Partying two different times.

Laos
Experiencing a 12-hour, but only 380 km, hilly, windy bus rides and being puked on by kids. Feeling the most off the beaten track, visiting northern towns where no one speaks English. Tubing in Vang Vieng, complete with riverside bars, slides of death, and muddy tug-of-war.

Vietnam
Drinking the cheapest beer in South East Asia (20 cents/glass) with travellers and locals alike at sidewalk bia hois all over the country. Surviving multiple scams (ask Andrea for full details). Finding our favourite cities in South East Asia, with amazing food and friendly people (Hoi An, Dalat).

Cambodia
Crossing the border on the Mekong River from Vietnam in a longtail boat, being greeted by smiling, waving children along the banks. Visiting the Temples of Angkor in Siem Reap and standing in awe of their size and beauty. Feeling like locals in Kampot, where we stayed long enough to know restauranteurs, locals, the dumpling lady, the baker, etc.



And Now...

... we go home. Thanks to everyone who followed this blog; even though the comments weren't always numerous, according to our counter our 87 posts got over 10,000 hits! Our hard drive and camera were on the fritz near the end, so we weren't able to share as many pictures as we'd hoped. Invite us out and we'll bring some pictures (once everything is sorted) and talk your ear off about the last 16 months... if you want!

If you or anyone you know would like any advice about an of the countries we've visited, please don't hesitate to contact us. We're always happy to help!

See you in Canada!

Body Paint & Culture Shock

Last week we made our way back into Thailand via Bangkok, and headed south for two weeks of fun in the sun.

First we went to Had Rin beach, on Koh Phan-gan, for our second Full Moon Party. We met up with our Dutch friends Floris, Marlous, Dolce, and Gabbana, and had four (late) nights of hard-core partying. It's all a blur of fluorescent body paint, beers, foam parties, drinking cocktails out of buckets, fire games, and beach dance parties. Once again the average age of party-goers was around 22. Craig is rocking a three-month-old handlebar moustache (Yosemite Sam-style, now) and Floris had a relatively young one-month-old 'stache. All the young 20-year-old backpackers fell in love with the guys' facial hair - petting them, having pictures taken with them, grooming them, and just all round complimenting them. Needless to say, a fun time was had by all.

Now the two of us are on Koh Samui, enjoying a week of down time. Our bungalow is 100 m from the sea, there is amazing food, we haven't had a day of rain, and Craig still gets at least one compliment a day on his moustache.

Tomorrow we head back to Bangkok (on our last overnight bus!) one last time, where we'll again meet up with Marlous. We have six days to shop 'til we drop, and celebrate Craig's September 7th birthday in a way you only can in Bangkok.


REVERSE CULTURE SHOCK

After living and travelling in Asia for the past nine months or so, we know we're bound to have some major culture shock upon returning to Canada. There are a million and a half differences between the relative order of Canada and the apparent chaos of Asia, never mind the differences between life on the road (or out of a backpack) and a "settled-down" life that includes jobs. Here are some of the things we think will be the biggest shocks:

Food & Drink - We haven't drank water from a tap since leaving New Zealand in January. Having spent time in Asian cities (mostly in India) where you're guaranteed to get sick if you do, it will be weird to be able to do it back home. Also, for nine months we've eaten out, three meals a day, every single day. We immersed ourselves in Asian culture by rarely eating "Western" meals - we've eaten pizza twice, and haven't had peanut butter at all. Cooking our own meals (including real cheese!) according to our daily cravings will be wonderful.

Bathrooms - Let us paint a picture for you of the typical Asian bathroom. About 90% of the time, the toilet is Western-syle (on the travelling scene); 10% of the time, it's a squat toilet. Whether it is in your hotel or at a restaurant, toilet paper usually isn't provided, so hopefully you brought your own (locals use that bucket of water over there and their left hand; or, the spray gun attached to the wall). The Asian plumbing often can't handle toilet paper (a Western invention), so when you're finished, throw it in the garbage can (that may or may not have a lid). If you're lucky, the toilet has a working flusher. If not, take that bucket of water and pour it in the bowl - that's bucket flush! The tap by the bucket is in case it's a two- or three-bucket job. Oh, you want to take a shower? In India, often you just got a bucket with a smaller bucket, for throwing water on yourself. Here is Southeast Asia, there are shower heads. But notice the lack of a tub or shower cubicle, and the drain in the floow. The whole bathroom is your shower! And the floor and toilet seat will stay wet for hours! After nine months of this, bathrooms back home will be so... luxurious.

Show Me the Money - Each country required bargaining in varying degrees, from Vietnam (for bloody everything) to Thailand (only for souveniers and transportation). But back home, it happens face-to-face usually for used cars and at garage sales. Fixed prices will be a refreshing change. We've been paying for internet by the hour since we left Canada, and we're sick of it! The cost has ranged from 25 cents to $5 per hour... and speeds have varied from slower than dial-up to lightening fast. North America is about the only place in the world where we must pay for incoming calls on our cell phones - pretty much everywhere else this is unheard of - even in Asia! And of course, although we are not looking forward to working again, it will be nice to be earning money again, and watching our bank balance grow instead of shrink!

(Inter)National Communities - We have become so used to 95% of the people around us not speaking English, it will be weird to be surrounded by English speakers - with similar accents, no less! Being part of an international travelling community means meeting new, interesting people from all over the world every day. Is it common to randomly talk to people at restaurants, on buses, anywhere really - everyone is friendly, everyone is in the same boat, and everyone has a story to tell. The next time you are out for dinner, imagine a stranger (probably from another country) suddenly pulls up a chair to your table and asks you where you are from, where you are heading, and then gives you their email address. Randomly talking to strangers and trading contact information just isn't as accepted once you're off the travelling scene.

Add to all that living with a closet/dresser instead of out of a backpack, a wardrobe 20 times as big as the one we've been living with, cold weather, high prices (HOW MUCH for a beer???), dogs on leashes, and weird animals like skunks and squirrels... if you see us walking around back home in a daze, please ensure we get home safely! Or, please, just buy us a beer!