Hello again,
Well it is kind of hard to believe, but we are spending our last evening in Asia. We left our little island paradise of Koh Phangnan this morning and flew back to Bangkok, staying right at the airport, since we have to be here at 0330 hrs. Our trip home will be a bit of a long one, 6 hours from here to Tokyo, 2 hour layover, then 11 hours on to Minneapolis, with a 8 hour layover, then finally a shorter 3 hour flight home at 1130 Friday night. So all added up, it will be about 30 hours of travelling, but we are both looking forward to our own bed and seeing the kittens again.
We both have had an amazing honeymoon, and we really want to thank everyone for the wedding gifts that made this trip possible. We saw ancient temples, world heritage sites, some of the most pristine diving sites in the world, cuddled with elephants, golfed, suntanned and got massaged until we were puddles of goo. We managed to visit 4 countries, taking 16 flights, 7 ferries, 2 or 3 buses and various other modes of transport to get us from place to place. We have had the good fortune of meeting a number of great people, ate lots of tasty food, and stayed at some beautiful accomodations without running into any bad luck whatsoever. We are already looking forward to returning to some of our favorite spots in the future.
Once we get back to the land of higher bandwidth, we will be setting up a photo gallery of some sort and hopefully be able to share some photos of our trip with everyone soon.
Again, thanks to everyone for your gifts that made this trip possible, and see you soon.
Tim and Cat
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Paradise found
Hey everyone,
Well I told you in the last post that we were headed to a little island called Koh Tao in the andaman sea. We arrived there on Thursday afternoon and after a bit of searching, we found a place that looked like it might provide us with a week of relaxation and diving. Wellll...
First the diving... We headed our Friday morning to our first dive site and the visibility was only about 5 metres, which sucked, and our divemaster seemed to be lost, just swimming in lazy circles. We then were told that we had to surface while me and Cat both had tons of air in our tanks. The next dive was no better. We took the afternoon off to think about things and decided (foolishly) to go on a night dive with this same company. They gave Cat a torch that didnt work and the ocean was so rough I got seasick, and almost puked on an american... I didnt actually puke but it was close.
Second, our accomodations... Koh Tao it turns out is a place where people in their teens and early 20's come to do dive courses and party, and our room was in the thick of things. We managed to get our room changed, and then the hotel decided to increase our rate since we werent diving with them. Well, we decided that a change was in order so we left Koh Tao altogether and headed to the neighboring island of Koh Phangnan.
We didnt have accomodations set up when we got there and our taxi driver ended up leaving us on the side of the road in the general vicinity of where we wanted to be, so we started going from resort to resort dragging our luggage behind us, looking at rooms and hoping to find the perfect spot that we could spend the rest of our time relaxing before coming home.
Our luck changed once we got to the Haad-yao Bayview Resort. We are quite literally staying in what feels like one of those corona commercials. Our room overlooks a bay that is about a mile long with white sandy beaches and overhanging palm trees. It is even more dazzling at night. We had dinner 10 feet from the ocean and watched a big electrical storm pass across our field of view while we ate. Today I will get pics and try to post them, but for now, I am gonna go get a massage on the beach, dip in the pool, read, nap and relax... big day ahead of me!
Later,
Tim and Cat
Well I told you in the last post that we were headed to a little island called Koh Tao in the andaman sea. We arrived there on Thursday afternoon and after a bit of searching, we found a place that looked like it might provide us with a week of relaxation and diving. Wellll...
First the diving... We headed our Friday morning to our first dive site and the visibility was only about 5 metres, which sucked, and our divemaster seemed to be lost, just swimming in lazy circles. We then were told that we had to surface while me and Cat both had tons of air in our tanks. The next dive was no better. We took the afternoon off to think about things and decided (foolishly) to go on a night dive with this same company. They gave Cat a torch that didnt work and the ocean was so rough I got seasick, and almost puked on an american... I didnt actually puke but it was close.
Second, our accomodations... Koh Tao it turns out is a place where people in their teens and early 20's come to do dive courses and party, and our room was in the thick of things. We managed to get our room changed, and then the hotel decided to increase our rate since we werent diving with them. Well, we decided that a change was in order so we left Koh Tao altogether and headed to the neighboring island of Koh Phangnan.
We didnt have accomodations set up when we got there and our taxi driver ended up leaving us on the side of the road in the general vicinity of where we wanted to be, so we started going from resort to resort dragging our luggage behind us, looking at rooms and hoping to find the perfect spot that we could spend the rest of our time relaxing before coming home.
Our luck changed once we got to the Haad-yao Bayview Resort. We are quite literally staying in what feels like one of those corona commercials. Our room overlooks a bay that is about a mile long with white sandy beaches and overhanging palm trees. It is even more dazzling at night. We had dinner 10 feet from the ocean and watched a big electrical storm pass across our field of view while we ate. Today I will get pics and try to post them, but for now, I am gonna go get a massage on the beach, dip in the pool, read, nap and relax... big day ahead of me!
Later,
Tim and Cat
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Last stop, Koh Tao
Hey everyone,
We are just about to leave our hotel room in Chiang Mai and head off to the south east part of Thailand, Koh Tao in the Andaman sea. We have had a fantastic time golfing, shopping, eating and of course, playing with elephants here, and when we come back to Thailand in the future, I think we might just skip Bangkok and come back to Chiang Mai.
Now we are off on the last leg of our trip, one week on the island of Koh Tao. Initially, we had been considering Phi Phi or Phuket, which is on the south west side of Thailand, but there have been a few issues over there, including an early start to monsoon season, so we decided to come to the Andaman side. We have been in contact with a number of dive shops, and the rates to dive in Koh Tao are less than half as much to dive in Phi Phi, plus they have all been reporting a number of whale shark sightings, so cross your fingers for us and maybe we will get lucky and see one. I think it would be cool to say we have seen the worlds largest land animal AND the worlds largest fish in the same trip! Although, if a fish the size of a greyhound bus swims past me, I might have a little accident in my wetsuit...
Anyways, since we are going to be on a small island, I am unsure how good the internet connection will be, but we will be trying to post here and let you all know how things are going.
Chat soon,
Tim and Cat
We are just about to leave our hotel room in Chiang Mai and head off to the south east part of Thailand, Koh Tao in the Andaman sea. We have had a fantastic time golfing, shopping, eating and of course, playing with elephants here, and when we come back to Thailand in the future, I think we might just skip Bangkok and come back to Chiang Mai.
Now we are off on the last leg of our trip, one week on the island of Koh Tao. Initially, we had been considering Phi Phi or Phuket, which is on the south west side of Thailand, but there have been a few issues over there, including an early start to monsoon season, so we decided to come to the Andaman side. We have been in contact with a number of dive shops, and the rates to dive in Koh Tao are less than half as much to dive in Phi Phi, plus they have all been reporting a number of whale shark sightings, so cross your fingers for us and maybe we will get lucky and see one. I think it would be cool to say we have seen the worlds largest land animal AND the worlds largest fish in the same trip! Although, if a fish the size of a greyhound bus swims past me, I might have a little accident in my wetsuit...
Anyways, since we are going to be on a small island, I am unsure how good the internet connection will be, but we will be trying to post here and let you all know how things are going.
Chat soon,
Tim and Cat
Monday, May 18, 2009
Well that visit to the elephant conservation park was one of the most amazing experiences we have ever had!
This wasn't even in our plans, we just thought that a visit to an elephant park would be a good thing to do on one of our days while in Chiang Mai. Then Catherine researched it a bit more and found out that we could spend 3 days learning how to become a "mahout", or an elephant trainer. We decided that we weren't going to get many opportunities like this again, so we headed out on Saturday morning not really knowing just what to expect...
We arrived at the preserve at 0830 and were rushed into our "Mahout suits" and taken directly to our elephants, and introduced to the trainers. The spent a few minutes teaching us a few simple commands and how to mount our elephants, and the next thing you know, they had us headed out into the jungle for the morning baths. It was a little tricky to get used to because there are no reins or saddles, so you just clamp your knees behind the big ears and hang on. We both got the hang of it pretty quick, and then headed into the water.
The twice daily baths turned out to be the highlights of our days. The elephants absolutely loved being in the water and having us strangers scrubbing them clean. Once we finished getting them all cleaned up, we would then walk them to a secluded spot in the jungle and "park" them for the evening so they could eat and sleep. Then we were taken back to our cabin and had meals made for us on the deck while we scrubbed ourselves clean. By the end of the day, we were pretty much wiped and rested up to do it all again the next day.
We managed to take a ton of pictures there, and here are a few...
Here is a great shot of Cat and Tantawan
Relaxing during bath time
All in all it was an amazing 3 days, and we are so glad we decided to do it. Now we are back in Chiang Mai for a couple of nights before we head out on Wednesday to the southern gulf island of Koh Tao for our last week of sun and diving before heading back.
This wasn't even in our plans, we just thought that a visit to an elephant park would be a good thing to do on one of our days while in Chiang Mai. Then Catherine researched it a bit more and found out that we could spend 3 days learning how to become a "mahout", or an elephant trainer. We decided that we weren't going to get many opportunities like this again, so we headed out on Saturday morning not really knowing just what to expect...
We arrived at the preserve at 0830 and were rushed into our "Mahout suits" and taken directly to our elephants, and introduced to the trainers. The spent a few minutes teaching us a few simple commands and how to mount our elephants, and the next thing you know, they had us headed out into the jungle for the morning baths. It was a little tricky to get used to because there are no reins or saddles, so you just clamp your knees behind the big ears and hang on. We both got the hang of it pretty quick, and then headed into the water.
The twice daily baths turned out to be the highlights of our days. The elephants absolutely loved being in the water and having us strangers scrubbing them clean. Once we finished getting them all cleaned up, we would then walk them to a secluded spot in the jungle and "park" them for the evening so they could eat and sleep. Then we were taken back to our cabin and had meals made for us on the deck while we scrubbed ourselves clean. By the end of the day, we were pretty much wiped and rested up to do it all again the next day.
We managed to take a ton of pictures there, and here are a few...
Here is a great shot of Cat and Tantawan
A walk through a beautiful jungle
Relaxing during bath time
Why are we laughing? Because Cat's elephant liked putting her head under the water and leaving her bum wagging around on the surface
All in all it was an amazing 3 days, and we are so glad we decided to do it. Now we are back in Chiang Mai for a couple of nights before we head out on Wednesday to the southern gulf island of Koh Tao for our last week of sun and diving before heading back.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Shopping, golfing and elephants
Hello from Chiang Mai!
We arrived here from Siem Reap 2 days ago and have been spending our time shopping and golfing. We went to this great course just 20 minutes away from our hotel and it was awesome... well mostly awesome. It seems that all the left handed clubs for rent at most golf courses are at least 10 years old, and made for short people. Now I know what your gonna say, he is blaming his poor score on the clubs, but really, they were short... almost 2 full inches shorter than Catherines shiney new righthanded clubs. I did manage to compensate though and started using my 3 iron off the tee and left the driver in the bag, and managed a 52 on the back 9 holes... 3rd round of the year... I'll take it.
Anyways, I thought I better get a new post up, becuase I wont have a chance for the next three days. Why you ask? Well because we are going to hang out with elephants! We had planned to visit the elephant reserve while we were up here, and maybe spend the afternoon on a ride through the jungle, but then we found out we could stay at the reserve and learn to clean, feed and train the elephants while we stayed there. We figured that we might never have a chance to do this again, so we set it up and we head there tomorrow morning. I doubt we will have internet access there, but we get back to Chiang Mai on Monday and we will post pics and maybe video of our trip then. If you want to check out their website you can find it at: http://www.changthai.com, it looks pretty amazing.
But it is getting late here tonight and theres still some packing left to do, so we will chat with you all when we get back.
Tim and Cat
We arrived here from Siem Reap 2 days ago and have been spending our time shopping and golfing. We went to this great course just 20 minutes away from our hotel and it was awesome... well mostly awesome. It seems that all the left handed clubs for rent at most golf courses are at least 10 years old, and made for short people. Now I know what your gonna say, he is blaming his poor score on the clubs, but really, they were short... almost 2 full inches shorter than Catherines shiney new righthanded clubs. I did manage to compensate though and started using my 3 iron off the tee and left the driver in the bag, and managed a 52 on the back 9 holes... 3rd round of the year... I'll take it.
Anyways, I thought I better get a new post up, becuase I wont have a chance for the next three days. Why you ask? Well because we are going to hang out with elephants! We had planned to visit the elephant reserve while we were up here, and maybe spend the afternoon on a ride through the jungle, but then we found out we could stay at the reserve and learn to clean, feed and train the elephants while we stayed there. We figured that we might never have a chance to do this again, so we set it up and we head there tomorrow morning. I doubt we will have internet access there, but we get back to Chiang Mai on Monday and we will post pics and maybe video of our trip then. If you want to check out their website you can find it at: http://www.changthai.com, it looks pretty amazing.
But it is getting late here tonight and theres still some packing left to do, so we will chat with you all when we get back.
Tim and Cat
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Oops, we kinda let a few days slide by without posting, but we have been keeping kinda busy...
We left Bali on the 6th and arrived in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia late in the afternoon. We had originally planned for this to be just a quick layover and an early flight out on the 7th, but we changed our minds before we left and decided that we should spend at least one entire day here. After all, there is alot to see and do here. The main thing that we wanted to do was see the Petronas Twin Towers, a definate asian icon. You may have seen these towers before on TV or in the movies (Tomorrow Never Dies - James Bond), and they are every bit as impressive in real life...
We left Bali on the 6th and arrived in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia late in the afternoon. We had originally planned for this to be just a quick layover and an early flight out on the 7th, but we changed our minds before we left and decided that we should spend at least one entire day here. After all, there is alot to see and do here. The main thing that we wanted to do was see the Petronas Twin Towers, a definate asian icon. You may have seen these towers before on TV or in the movies (Tomorrow Never Dies - James Bond), and they are every bit as impressive in real life...
We toured the towers in the morning and then went to the National Muslim Art Museum in the afternoon. I am not usually a big art museum kinda guy, but this was pretty impressive... it was a very detailed history of how the Muslim religion spread throughtout Asia, and with numerous artifacts and antiquities as well. It was really interesting to see a display of this type, something we would never see in the museums in the west.
After a nice meal we went back to our hotel and headed for the open air roof-top lounge, and it just happened to be ladies night! It was a very swanky club where, if you looked up, you could see the top 30 floors of the Petronas building... it seemed pretty surreal sitting there listening to a DJ spin modern/trance music while surrounded by attractive ladies (none moreso than Catherine). A nice end to a busy day!
We had to get up at 0330 hours to catch our plane to Siem Reap, so we took it easy, and landed in Cambodia around 1000 hrs. We got taken to our hotel and set ourselves up for 4 days of touring through Angkor Wat, the Lost City. So far we have done two days out there and it definately deserves to be on the world heritage list. I would like to try to describe it to you, but it is just too massive and amazing to try to put into words. We are taking lots of pics, and Cat has taken some really fantastic shots here, but as usual, it takes an ridiculous amount of time to get them pasted to this blog. We will keep trying...
Heres one of the "elephant wall"... it seems like this was where the elephants were lined up to get to a ramp where people, likely the elite, were able to easily climb aboard...
Heres one of many stone faces from Bayon, one of the larger temples...
Well, time to get ready for a nap before getting ready for dinner...
Chat soon,
Tim and Cat
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Bye Bye Bali
Well we have made it to May 6th and are in our hotel room at Le Meridien resort packing our bags before heading to the airport. We are both a little sad to be leaving Bali - it really has been incredible here. Between the wonderful people, beautiful scenery (both above and below water), and great food, it will be hard not to miss it. Our flight leaves Denpasar today at 2:30 pm and we soar away to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
After our round on Monday we went into Kuta, the big resort town of the south, for some shopping. In addition to the necessary shopping list of golf shirts, bikini bottoms, and a watch, we also found a DVD store where we bought 24 DVDs for $20. Thats right - $1 each and 2 free when you buy 10! The quality is perfect, but I think it is safe to say that they are not original DVDs. However, we did finally get to see Slumdog Millionaire which was a really great movie.
Anyways, Tim is busy packing while I am sitting here typing, so should probably start helping. Here are a few more pictures from the Pemuteran dives.
Octopus spotted while night diving . . .
Coral and Tim . . .
Coral and fish . . .
Le Meridien has been an ok hotel, definately a big change from the small little boutique hotels we have been staying at, more of a western style monolith. The best part by far about staying here was the absolutely incredible golf course nestled between the coastal surf and the rice paddies. We golfed the last two mornings at sunrise and enjoyed ourselves both days, although the scores on the first day were much better than they were yesterday.
After our round on Monday we went into Kuta, the big resort town of the south, for some shopping. In addition to the necessary shopping list of golf shirts, bikini bottoms, and a watch, we also found a DVD store where we bought 24 DVDs for $20. Thats right - $1 each and 2 free when you buy 10! The quality is perfect, but I think it is safe to say that they are not original DVDs. However, we did finally get to see Slumdog Millionaire which was a really great movie.
Anyways, Tim is busy packing while I am sitting here typing, so should probably start helping. Here are a few more pictures from the Pemuteran dives.
Nemo and his Dad . . .
Octopus spotted while night diving . . .
Coral and Tim . . .
Coral and fish . . .
We will write again from Kuala Lumpur . . . Take care.
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