May 16, 2010

Just wanted to say another quick hello before we head off to trek. We got to Nepal last night and it’s a  pretty interesting city. We will be trekking for about 2-3 weeks in the Annapurna region, staying in little tea houses with no power along the way and roughing it.

The full moon party in Thailand was absolute madness. We stayed in these amazing bungalows on the Ko Phangan. The Red Bull is literally like crack and we were wired all night. The night was filled with fire jump roping, fire ring jumping, fire dancing and slides into water puddles. Everyone was all painted up and sweaty dancing messes—super fun night!

Next we went to Karbi and Ton Sai beach, which had amazing rock climbing, both with ropes and over the deep water. We took a ferry to a mini-bus to a bus (then the bus broke down and another one came 3 hours later) to a bus to a tuk tuk to a train to a taxi and we made it to the North (Chiang Mai) 48 hours later. Chiang Mai was really nice, but still a bit touristy, so we decided to go off the beaten path and head to Chiang Rai, which was 3 hours away. In Chiang Rai we went Hill Tribe treking, which was a crazy experience! We trekked for 3 days in 100 degree heat and stayed in bamboo huts and experienced local culture. Our guide was from the Hill Tribe we visited on the last day, so we were able to meet her family. She actually suffered from insomnia and had a ceremony scheduled to get her spirit back, so we got to see it. First they slaughtered a pig, chicken and dog. Then they prayed for 1.5 hours, then shook a bamboo stick and flipped some leaves, at which time the spirit doctor told us her spirit has returned…which was obviously great news. Then he prayed for 1.5 hours more, and we feasted on all the animals that were killed. Yup, I tried dog. Just a little piece though, and it wasn’t that bad with a lot of rice and chili paste. In Chaing Rai we also rented bicycles and biked to some temples. They pretty much don’t have any traffic laws in Thailand, so it was a pretty scary and cool experience. We also wore helmets, and all the locals were laughing at us because a) we were tourists biking everywhere and b) no one wears helmets. Also in Chiang Rai we ran into some Spanish boys we met in Chiang Mai (from the Canary Islands). We drank with them and went to a Thai disco where we were the only Westerners. The disco was a bunch of Lady Gaga type performers and Thai’s swaying their little booties……