Bye Bye for Now

Anyways... There are so many untold stories that will come out as we spend time with each of you, but for now it's time to go. Here we are, the last day of the trip, sitting on the computer. There is so much more street food waiting for us then we can possibly eat in 24 hours. And you better bet that Jared is going to try to eat all of it. Thanks for all your love and support. We can't wait to get back home to be with you all.

SE Asia Party Scene

Seems like it doesn't matter which country we end up in, there is always a little (or a lot) of taste of home. By taste, we don't just mean in the figurative sense either, we mean pizza and burgers, cocktails and french fries, Espressos and bakeries. These places have at times been a refuge from the poop-stained squat toilet, cockroach infested days of traveling. They are however a major test in cynicism and patience.

In Laos, it was Vang Vieng. In Thailand it was almost every beach town south of Bangkok. In Nepal it was lakeside district of Pokahra. For us there has always been a souvenirs in a bite of real chocolate cake though. Navigating through the vomiting people with permanent markers all over their faces, we have been glad that we are tired because of the climbing close by, not the buckets of alcohol that we could have consumed.

Same same, no difference between some of these people. Just now on Koh San Rd in Bangkok, there is a loud young American swearing and bragging about the money he spent getting wasted last night while complaining how he doesn't know his parent's e-mail addresses. I'm glad we choose to spend our money and time other ways.

Seems like it is all over the world if you want to find it. At least now we know where the stereotypes of loud Americans comes from...

A Photographic Eye

Our experiences in Nepal have been one of the most cultural experiences of both of our lives. As you can tell, from the bus rides to the trek, we've learned the lives and ways that exist in the east. With these photos, we hope to share some of that. From top to bottom (in no particular order). I just wanted you all to know that these pictures came from Suzi's eye behind the lens. She has an amazing sense for the detail and still subjects.

Prayer wheels along the trek in Gyaru at 12,380 feet.

Buddha statues at the Drubgon Jangchup Choeling Monestary in Kathmandu, Nepal

A doorway in Bandipur, Nepal

Another doorway in Kagbeni, Nepal
(Both of these towns took us back a century or two. Jared whacked his head on every single one!)

Trekking Photos III

Some more photos of the trek. From top down... A yak grazing, talk about free-range meat. A tough old woman carrying a regular load, these people are amazing! Somewhere along the trail, Suzi has a good eye with that camera. So many terraced fields growing a variety of things from buckwheat, corn, rice and more. A regular traffic jam on the trail.

There are so many more pictures, but it would take days and cost a fortune to post them all. We have added a number of them on Facebook though, so check out more there.

Trekking Photos II

More pictures... Top down... The Yak burgers were actually really good here, but don't worry they weren't fast food style (they took over an hour to make). This kid was in his teens and weighed less then that pack. A goat jam in the slate stone alley of Kagbeni. Close up of a prayer wheel. An woman in Kagbeni who for some reason was really excited to get her picture taken.

Trekking Photos I

Well, there are endless words to describe the 10 days we spent walking through the Himalayas, but for now we can leave it to some images to tell a few stories. From the top down...

Suzi and I topping out on Thorong-La pass (17,769 ft.), the high point of our trek!
A close up of a Mani wall - Tibetan Buddhist walls with mantras and prayers carved into stone. The regular life of a child growing in the mountains.
Annapurna I from the back side, one of the worlds highest peaks at 26,545 ft.
A grazing Yak.

Market

Doesn't matter where we ended up, markets became an easy place to spend time. In the states, there is all this talk of local and organic foods. On this side of the planet, there is no other alternative. Whether spending lots of money in a nice restaurant, or eating at a roadside stall, the only food available is that which is in season.

Suzi and her amazing eye for the beauty and detail of food shows more then can ever be written about some of the amazingly simple sights of the markets we visited.

Ridgeline Views (all clouded in)

After the glory of walking in the Himalayas and eating at all of Pokarha's bakeries, we decided to head off to Bandipur. A ridge top village in which the Lonely Planet dubbed a wonderful out of the way place where you are more likely to experience real culture of the Newari people then the typical Western travel culture. As expected, it was full of young travelers like ourselves toting their Lonely Planets looking for the recommended place to stay.

Side note here... As I write this, the club song "Shaking That Ass" and other great club favorites are blaring from the massive speakers above my head making it difficult to recall all of the intricate details of the timeless ridges we spent three wonderful days on. For more on this see the section re: SE Asia party scene...

As usual, Suzi and her savvy ways brought us to a small guest house without much traffic and good for the pocket book, less then $3 a night. Bandipur is situated on a broad ridge line overlooking what many Nepali people call the best view in all of the Himalayas (not sure how many of those people have been atop Everest). Unfortunately for us, we saw nothing but L.A. style fog and clouds with a visibility of possibly a half a mile.

As a result, we spent less time exploring and more time relaxing, reading, writing, and eating. Pretty much anything that required the least amount of effort to move in the thick hot air. We did however make a journey to "the biggest cave in the Himalayas where we sang and chanted in the real dark of a silent mountain. We also spent a fair bit of time eating across the slate stone road from our guest house from a man who had the smile and heart of a giant radiating from his 5 foot 2 inch frame. It was here that we did a few of our 5 and 3 minute writes....

From Suzi
Chicken chasing children cause turmoil in the tiny lives of their offspring. Sun rays poking though the dense, dusty air welcoming the brick building painted white and blue, green and gold. Shutters open to greet the morning. Slate streets gently leading tourists and locals through the bazaar. Men resting on plastic round tables outside the local lodges. It's Sunday.

From Jared
Swallows swallowing mosquitoes, weaving through a tangle of power lines overhead. Barefoot man, unkempt with a massive scrape on his leg listlessly wanders the streets all day long with an odd smile. Flowers pink and orange adorn verandas and balconies. A village from another place it seams. Four older men talk about something with Nepali or Indian music drifting from a half closed door and past the steam of their glasses of tea; Tea the color of mute clay. Children chase chickens around dogs that lie uninterested in the morning sun.

Epic Bus Rides

On one of our 24 hour epics, Jared and I decided to highlight some of our favorite parts of one of Asia's best kept secrets: overland travel. Here are the almost unreadable snippets we wrote in our journal as we were navigating a Northern Thai highway through a thunderstorm.

Early morning heat searing the pavement, I feel like a fried egg.

Always some shade of neon upholstery... usually pink.

"Tuk-Tuk, where you go?" kindly asks a Laos taxi driver. "I'm at the bus station, dude! Clearly I've already got a plan." (Suzi can be a little impatient.)

The same two pop CD's on every bus. A groovy combination of a 1980's Casio keyboard bought at Walmart and a dying cat.

Three Horrific Words: "The Laos Superhighway"

Departure time: 9:30 sharp. The bus is in a creeping reverse by 9:29.

Suzi's mantra, "I have to pee, I have to pee. . . just breathe. . .shit I have to pee!"

Rear view mirrors sporting yellow flowers and Buddhas.

I'm sweating between the boobs. . . aaah, maximum AC. . . I'm FREEZING!

Finally a toilet stop! 3 Baht? For what? You guys don't even supply soap or toilet paper! Whew, sweet release! Wait! Stop the bus!

I need to pee, again.

The old man behind me has quite the smokers cough. Ew! I think he spit up something.

Laos mountain driving, people puking up all night. Aren't you guys used to this yet?

When was the last time you washed these lacy headrest covers? How about the vinyl ones?

Thank goodness Jared is comfy, this could have been a miserable ride.

Hmmm. . . cell phones as radios, interesting idea. Do you all need to play the song so the whole bus hears? Seriously, at least listen to the same song.

One word, cattle. I hope you guys standing in the isle got a discount. At least I get to sit on a bag of rice.

I still need to pee.

No, don't worry drunk Nepali guy, you should just fall asleep with your legs stretched out over two seats while I sit here on the engine cover kneeing myself in the chin every 17 seconds.

Finally we're here... What do you mean we have to get on another bus right now for another 6 hours, I haven't gone pee yet.

Falling off the kiddie stools we are sitting on in the isles between singing drunk Nepalis.

An empty water bottle, an empty back of the bus, a guilty look, and sweet release. No need to stop now, we're almost there I'm sure. I feel a lot better...

One Last Go

To all few of our fellow followers, we have not forgotten about you.

Times have been wild, mountains have been grand, walking has made us strong, we have almost been run over by 7,461 motorcycles in Nepal, our stomachs are becoming more iron by the day, spicy tolerances have gone up, and epic long bus rides now lull us gently to sleep.

From April 2nd until yesterday, we have been in Nepal as most of you know. A magic land that has stolen our hearts, but a land with terrible and infrequent Internet connections. These same connections which cost more to check our e-mails then to fill our never ending hunger for samosas and Dal Baht. However, now that we have come back to Thailand, where computers and connections are up to date, we are going to be putting together one grand finale set of blogs and pictures.

We fly away from this trip in two days, back to the land of regular dollars and traffic laws. Before we do though, look for our final entry. We have been thinking about all of you for so long now, and know that our journey would never have been possible without all of your love and support...