Summer in pictures.

Personally, I think life is an absolute hoot. I love it and I think it is my duty to do all I can with the opportunities I have to make the best of it. What better way to start than with Korean Summer.


Korean Summer is always a time full to the brim with trips, festivals, parties, friends and usually glorious weather. June 2011 has certainly been no exception. A friend of mine recently said to me once I realised that my life was fully booked for almost 2 months. "How on earth do you do it? You are so busy all the time. You must be about ready to lose your marbles" (I am certain - she didn't exactly use the expression 'lose your marbles' - that might just be a Katie addition - but it was definitely along those lines.) My response: "Yeah I know, I don't remember the last time I just had a night to relax and sometimes, I really do feel like I'm losing my mind. But I have been having so much fun that I just forget about that and just do it."  That's my motto for the Korean Summer and I fully intend to extend that into everything that I do - "Do it." This has recently become a catch phrase between our group of friends because of a ridiculous intoxicated '4 in the morning text' I sent out to a friend. The end of the text read : "energy burst, do it!" And there really is no better way to summarize our summer thus far.

Partying at Bubble Bar.

We started with a wild week of fun and games in Gwangju when Gillian's good friend from Canada, Leora came to visit. Her visit ended in Seoul where we wandered the streets of MyeongDong shopping district, drank at Aaron and Katelyn's and ate dinner at a superb classy Italian restaurant. The night ended, after going to watch a band play at a bar in itaewon, with most of lost in the big city and dealing with less than exciting hangovers the next day. At least there were hilarious stories to come out of it. Leora was a great addition to the Gwangju Party Crew. I miss her alot.

Silly Glasses in Myeong Dong, Seoul.

A New Love

What a fabulous way to kick off the summer..


The next weekend we were lucky enough to have Aaron and Katelyn down in Gwangju to visit us:) It was a weekend full of fun and games especially because it was Aaron's third last weekend in Korea and last weekend in Gwangju. We hit up all the favourite spots and knocked off many things including Aaron and My's notorious 'bad romance dance' which we were fully committed to despite a full house at Soul Train. I am sure the uninformed onlookers were most surprised and possibly scarred for life.  The weekend was also one of double pleasures because Ryan's parents were in town visiting from Canada. It was lovely to show them a good time in our beloved Gwangju and all the famous watering holes of course. Mr Song was lovely enough to cook us dinner at the German Bar which resulted in one of the best Sunday night karaoke bonanzas I have ever had including a dance group of Phillipinos and Koreans, one shots, love shots and even a locomotion train.

Night Hike.

All worth it at the top


We did another night hike which has quickly become a tradition..This time we somehow managed to get lost on the way down and ended up in a rice paddy, having to climb over a fence onto a highway and walk through a toll booth before we made it back into suburbia to catch a cab. We have done a couple more midweek night hikes since and it's been awesome. Not even the rainy season can stop us! It's such a great way to keep active and have fun at the same time.

Great Grupo.

.......the next weekend brought about something we have all been very excited about for a long time for multiple reasons: BEACH PARTY. Camping, day drinking, beach games, sun, bonfire, friends...What more could we ask for?

Wando Beach Party Couple Set.

5 of us road tripped the 2 and half hours down to Wando in Jo's car. Once our hangovers from the night before had gone to rest, the ride down was hilarious. Dancing to Kpop and making harmonies every time we went through a tunnel. We bought a boot full of fun from the Lotte Mart and surprised all our friends with a big water pistol fight when we eventually got there. We set up the tents, played ball games, frolicked about and just had a good old time enjoying the beach for the afternoon. By evening, a big bonfire was set up, people playing games, laughing and even hula hooping. It was just a big, great festival of fun. The next day was spent almost in the same fashion. It was utterly fantastic, especially because the weather was just perfect.

Beautiful Island.

boot full of fun.

Add caption

Beach games.

Couple sets:)

Another weekend in Seoul fitted into the mix next - It was Aaron's last weekend in Korea and time to give him a proper send off. We did so by going to a classy chicken restaurant and as soon as the chicken was demolished turned it into a riot. Dance offs, Soju bombs and from then on hazy memories of nothing but love, sexy dancing, not-so-sexy dancing, pouring rain and a night of pure fun. We woke up in the morning however, feeling not so kosher. In a joking manner whilst lying in bed and discussing how the last thing we want to do is get on a 4 hour bus right now - Gillian casually mentioned - "hmmm, I wonder how much it would cost for a flight back to Gwangju." In that moment, 4 sets of eyes popped out their sockets. YESSSSSS! With a "Oh, I'd totally do that..." from me and a "I'm on it" from Ryan sitting at the computer...suddenly we had ourselves a plan and there was no going back. Once we discovered that the tickets were just $80 and it would take us just on 30 minutes to get to Gwangju. Gillian even spent 20 minutes on the phone to a call center spelling out our names to book the tickets.  It was all worth it even just to hear Aaron at a later point in the afternoon say.."so, what time is your, uh flight?" Such a joke but it was hilarious and worth it even if just for the story.

On the plane back to gwangju from Seoul

Silent Dance Party on the bus to Busan.

...and finally the pinnacle of the June part of Summer...BUSAN! Feed the Boats were supposed to be playing a show at a bar which is how the idea sprung up but it was cancelled at the last minute..however a group of us decided to go anyway and celebrate our good friend Blair's last weekend in Korea. And what a celebration it was. Gillian and I bused down late on Friday night, leavin Gwangju at 10-30pm after a dinner and Margeritas at TGIFs.  The bus ride was hilarious as we listened to our earphones, drank aoju and had a silent dance party.
We arrived and headed straight out to meet up with Mitch (...and so the glorious three muscateers were formed!) We partied with tequila at a bar right on the beach which turned into a 6am dip in the freezing cold ocean covered in seaweed, sand and giggles as well as returning home sans my shoes. Gillian and I stayed with David, a friend of hers who lives in Busan. We all stayed up until 9am just being silly, eating Ramyeon, drinking chocolate milk and chatting our lives away.

Post 6am swim at Haeundae Beach.

The weather on Saturday was just perfect for laying on the beach and so after a delicious mexican feast (two bowls of guacamole inclusive) that is exactly what we did. All our friend met up with us and we had a relaxing afternoon of soaking up the sun and enjoying the free feeling that comes with the sand and the sea.

Beach bums

Blairs last weekend in Korea:(

laying.

Gwangju Party Crew!

The night brought about debauchery of a dangerous level (and by dangerous I mean AMAZING.) We started out playing games in the hysterically decorated love motel rooms and eventually ventured out onto the street once sufficiently liquored up. We came across a building with a bar called Rock and Roll on the 14th floor overlooking the beach. We were sold, it was incredible. Beer Pong tables, pool tables, cheap drinks, rocking music - everything we wanted in a night of fun and love and the perfect send off location to party with Blair.


Sunday was a bit of a right off, though we did manage to sneak out of the apartment long enough to eat at a cute little Bistro-style restaurant where Shepards pie was on the menu. We watched a movie and then Gillian and I began the long trek back to Gwangju (me still shoeless.) It took a lot of will power not to carry on the tradition and book a flight back to Gwangju.

Lady love

It was my first time in Busan and I had an absolute blast. The city has an electric atmosphere - from the beach and the carnival like games along the pavement - to the rocking bars, great restaurants and happy ocean air. I will certainly be back there as soon as the next opportunity arises. A BIG Thank you to everyone involved for a superb time.
...and so that has been the first month of Summer in Korea. As you can tell, it has been an absolute blast. It has been sad to say goodbye to a trio of close friends of mine. aaron, tal and (soon to be) Blair - I miss you already and wish you were still here but I am thinking of you and wishing you only the best for what comes next.

July brings with it only more excitement which includes a weekend in Gwangju involving a Feed the Boats gig and a rooftop fiesta, the Boryeong Mud Festival and theeeeeeeeen I, gillian and another good friend of ours - Sarah are heading to Singapore and Malaysia for our Summer Vacation. Life is certainly good, great in fact. Let's keep on living it up.


Lots of love,
Katie 

It's moments like these.....

I had an utterly hilarious experience whilst running in Damyang on Monday.

Let me paint the scene for you -

I live in the countryside and so when I go for my daily jog, I am mostly running along small pathway next to rice paddies, herb gardens and farm fields and of course the river. It had been raining in the morning so everything was a bit damp and the fields were all muddy and water logged but by the time I left my apartment at 6:30pm, the sun was shining and there was a lovely breeze.

I was about 20 minutes into the run and I was in a pretty good rhythm dancing along to the Time Warp when out of nowhere, I slipped on a mossy wet patch on the path and tumbled face first down the bank into a mud-filled rice paddy. I obviously let out a shriek in shock and the next thing I know 3 ajummas (old Korean ladies) who were in the field side shack come running out towards me. One dove right into the mud to help me out, the other stood screeching, laughing and flailing her arms in the air and the third ran off to call her friends. I finally manage to get myself up and I am now covered from head to toe in mud, dirt and grass and another 3 ajummas have come to join the party. One of them took off her neck scarf and starts wiping my face clean and patting me on the back, trying to shake the dirt off me. All I wanted to do was burst into tears but with 6 ajummas babbling off in korean, whilst cleaning me up and laughing and shrieking to each other and basically re-enacting the disastor, all I could do was burst out laughing and say thank you.

..and then they patted me on the bum, gave me a hug, made a running action and sent me on my way and I carried on running for 30 more minutes.

It's moments like these that just make me love Korea even more.

<3     

Korea Round 2:)

Hi friends,

I seem to find myself starting posts this way much too often and now that I am settled in my new job I hope it will change drastically BUT I sincerely apologize for my lack of updates.

I recently arrived back in South Korea (well 6 weeks ago to be exact) for my second stint as an English teacher and life has been quite a whirlwind to say the least. After a year away from this glorious country, I am still very much in the eyes-wide-open stage, where anything and everything that happens excites and mind-boggles me at the same time.

6 weeks ago, I arrived in Incheon airport - 2 weeks before my job orientation was due to start - ready to get back to my roots and friends in Gwangju before it was time to 'get serious.' Everything went smoothly until I was "randomly" pulled aside to have my bags searched by customs. The two men standing there didn't even as much as look at my bag, instead they began their 'routine' foreigner investigation. "Where do you live in Korea?", "Do you like Korean food?", "Do you have a boyfriend?".

Welcome back to Korea, Katie:)

Since I didn't have time to use the internet before getting on the bus to Gwangju - I helplessly charaded signs to a baffled Korean man to ask to use his phone to get hold of Gillian to let her know what time I would arrive in the Ju. She didn't answer, so he signed to me to send her a text message. How sweet. he even took the time to enthusiastically stumble down the aisle of the moving bus to show me her reply 2 hours later and then sat down next to me and offered me some mokolri (Korean rice wine.)

Welcome back to Korea:)

It's strange how one can immerse oneself wholeheartedly in a culture so that all of the little silly things that are so noticeably different seem so normal and then be away from it for a year, and come back and you are thrown right back into bewilderment and surprise . That's mostly how I felt for my first 2 weeks back though it also really did rejuvenate the endearment and general love I have for Korean people and their culture and traditions.

Things like the first time a cab driver gave me chewing gum and asked me if I spoke Korean, then when I said no continued babbling off in Korean as if hadn't said a thing. When I went for a run around Gillian's neighborhood and was literally cut off multiple times by old ajummas and ajoshis just wanting to have a chat, try to offer me water/tea or touch my hair. When a drunk Korean man was swaying all over the road and the Police drove up - thinking that he was slowing down to help the man - instead they just drove along as we walked so they could stare at the foreigners and point blank ignoring the man sprawled across the pavement. The 24 hour convenience stores where you can buy cheap alcohol at any time of day or night. The bars where anything goes, where there is never a closing time and no one ever gets cut off whether they are dancing on the bar, throwing up outside or passed out on the couch. SHABU SHABU! (This doesn't even require an explanation. I have had it probably 10 times since I came back and during each scrumptious meal, the only time I am able to speak is when I am talking about how good it tastes.)

Welcome back to Korea!

Shabu Shabu - the most delicious food ever made.

The pure generosity of Korean people has already proved indescribable. A small group of us decided to go shopping on a Sunday afternoon which quickly turned into walking about town with beers in hand. We went into Songs for 1 beer and to use the bathroom. things all went destructively downhill when Jo and I emerged from the bathroom to Ryan and Chuck singing "Can you feel the love tonight?" at the top of their lungs. Most bar owners would probably have cringed at the sight of crazy people singing karaoke at 4 in the afternoon. Mr Song ,the happiest and nicest man in Gwangju, however poured us some shots and invited us for dinner. And so in between our 'the doors' and 'toto' renditions, we sat and ate Sam Gyop Sal and drank beers together with Mr Song and his friends.

Dinner at Mr Songs after a day of beer and karaoke.

The first 2 weeks were a great time - catching up with old friends, meeting new ones and reconnecting with the plain madness of Gwangju life once again. I think after a year away it is easy to not necessarily forget (because I was reminded very quickly) but to underestimate how ridiculous one can actually behave in a place like Gwangju. Let's just say it was a wonderful, tequila, soju and Margarita filled 14 day long dance party.  

DANCE PARTY!

Orientation began shortly after that - 50 of us were stationed in the swanky Shin Yang Park Hotel on the base of Mudeung mountain in central Gwangju for 10 days. It was 9-5 days of presentations on teaching and Korean culture and nights of fun and games with new friends including a sunny Sunday afternoon at the Baseball stadium, watching the KIA TIGERS.     

Baseball Game!

Finally after 3 and a half weeks of living out of my suitcase - it was time for our co-teachers to pick us up from the hotel and take us to our new schools and apartments.
I have been very fortunate this year with my job placement for many reasons. The first reason being that I took over the job from one of my close friends, Lauren so I was able to come to the school before orientation, get acquainted with a few teachers and students and learn from Lauren how things work at both the school and the apartment. Lauren was a star in getting me settled in and it's really nice to have reminders of her all over the place - I miss her terribly now that she is gallivanting around the States but it's a small consolation. The Second reason is that my job and apartment are just all around excellent - an incredibly welcome change from my first year in Korea.

View from my new apartment in Damyang.

I am teaching at a public high school in Dam yang (a tiny county about 20 minute by bus from Gwangju.) It's such a gorgeous area and I am loving living out in the country (though I have yet to spend more than 2 consecutive nights in - there has been too much going on in other places.) I go running as often as I can along the river and out and in between the fields and trees, it's picturesque and often I find myself unintentionally going for longer just because it's so pretty. I have on two occasions actually managed to get myself lost because I haven't been paying attention to the route.

The job itself has already been a lot of fun. Exchanging elementary kids who show nothing but love and excitement to talkative highschoolers with teenage attitude instead has been a challenge but I have to say I have enjoyed most of it. It's very different but I am actually loving it particularly from a communication level - even the kids with the lowest level English, it is not too difficult to come up with something that sparks interest or at least recognition. If anything, I just produce the names of famous K.Pop stars or Korean food but most of them are really lighthearted and like to joke around. I have a student (who is in the equivalent of Grade 12) that I don't actually teach but who comes to sit and chat to me during his free time. We just sit in my office and talk about music or books for 20-40 minutes every few days and I have begun calling him Kanye West (because that's his favorite singer.) The other day, he came in and asked if I would help him pronounce the lyrics to a song he wants to perform at the school festival. Naturally, he wants to perform a Kanye West song. This is the Chorus:

"Let's have a toast for the douche bags
Let's have a toast for the assholes
Let's have a toast for the scumbags
Every one of them that I know
Let's have a toast for the jerkoffs"

Yes, he wants me to teach him how to pronounce these words... I just burst out laughing.


The teachers have all been great so far as well. It's really nice to be part of the public school system and be treated just like any other teacher and to be able to participate in the normal aspects of Korean school life.

Last week we had our first monthly teachers volleyball game. Now, I have never played volleyball in my life and I have no idea what to expect. So at 2pm I walk casually over to the gym, go inside and the teachers are all gathering around some tables that they have set up next to the volleyball court. I go over and am immediately greeted with a can of beer and a shot of soju. WHAAAAT??? I am absolutely baffled. It's 2 in the afternoon and the teachers have to go back to class at 5. AND they are at school. The next thing I know, my principal is handing me the next shot and my vice principal is on the other side of me asking me to always call him by the name "Brad Pitt" whilst chugging a cup full of rice wine. ...aaaand only an hour later when everyone was sufficiently liquored up did we begin the game. It was a hoot. I was the only lady playing - all the rest were lined up on each side of the court cheering loudly anytime anyone touched the ball and then scampering onto the court with in-between-point shots of soju. The game itself was hysterical, constantly jumping between ridiculously competitive to utterly slapstick. People rolling around on the floor, diving into each other and every time I got a hand on the ball and it didn't end in disaster I was congratulated with high fives, back slaps and the occasional bow. Our team ended up winning the game and we were given toothbrushes as a prize. Everyone stood around the tables, drinking more and eating fried chicken and fruit and then as if none of this had even happened, 5pm rolled around, we cleared up and they all went to teach their evening classes and I stumbled on home.

Laying at the Han River, Seoul.

 There have been some crazy weekends to account for too. We have already made 2 trips to Seoul - one for a Feed the Boats concert - which was ROCKING as always, and one to spend time with our friends Aaron and Katelyn who are living up there. We spent the evening, just 4 of us, enjoying the spring weather at a Korean street seafood restaurant having some drinks and then spent all of Sunday laying on the grass next to the Han river. It was blissful to lie in the sun and watch the Korean families out to play, the cyclists racing down the pedestrian path almost crashing into multiple walkers, couples taking 45 minutes to erect tents, lying in the them for 30 minutes and then spending another 30 minutes taking them down.We have had a few public holidays thrown into the mix recently which allowed us to have some daytime merriness - including an afternoon at the fun cafe playing board games, the ethnic hubbly bubbly cafe and many sunny rooftop gatherings. We also did a night hike the other week, which was a thrilling new experience - pitch black darkness trekking up a mountain - luckily I had my trusty headlamp and a bottle of soju to calm my nerves. The view of the lights of Gwangju from the Pagoda at the top was grand.  

Chilling on the rooftop.

We had a sparkly night out for Gillian's birthday. We went for dinner at a delicious 'all you can eat' galbi place and then went to a noraebang for a few hours. At 2am, after playing catch ball in the street amongst a multitude of cars, motorbikes, street stalls and people, we entered into the Bubble Bar black hole and somehow decided it was necessary to buy a bottle of tequila. Needless to say, Gillian and I woke up in the morning on her bedroom floor covered in heart stickers, tree branches, leaves and thorns and a full packet of goodies that we bought from the convenience store at 5am. What we do know though, is that we had a helluva great night. Such is nightlife in Gwangju:) 

Gillian's Birthday!

It's already been 6 weeks full of wonderful memories and I couldn't have asked for a better beginning to my second round in this beautiful country.I'm sure the next year and more is only going to bring around more ridiculous stories to share, great memories to cherish and a lot of new experiences to learn from.


So stay tuned until next time..

Katie x

Our trip to Egypt:: Avoiding Chaos in Cairo - well depending on your definition of the word.

It is quite horrifying to think that just over a month ago, my family and I returned from a holiday in Egypt. Watching the Chaos and violence that has erupted all over Cairo - Tahrir Square and the Egyptian Museum in particular - places that we spent almost an entire day exploring, is just mind boggling.

Our almost 3 week holiday in Egypt was a superb experience despite my battling to adapt to the sudden 'tour guide' mode of traveling as opposed to the 'backpacker' style I had gotten used to for the previous 4 months in Asia. We spent our first 4 days exploring Cairo - our first Egyptian guide, Mohammed picked us up from the Airport at 6am in a big 12 seater van and we wound our way into the already masterful Cairo traffic. En route to our hotel, he asked us 3 questions - the first, Who is the President of Egypt? "Hosni Mubarak, of course!" This catalyzed a long conversation as to why the Egyptians love and cherish Mubarak's great leadership which , infused with the obvious from the westerners - "well, even though there are 'democratic' elections, is it not a dictatorship - when the constitution has been specifically written so that technically only one candidate really fits the criteria for said elections?  What is 81 year old Mubarak really doing for the millions of poverty stricken Egyptians after decades of monotonous rule?" "Mubarak stands for the values that our Dear Prophet Mohammed wanted us to live by, that is why we continue to vote for him." Well, since we had been in Egypt for less than an hour, we didn't really want to overstep the boundaries by arguing with an indoctrinated Egyptian in a Muslim country. It seems a little ironic now though, given all the events of the past 2 weeks.

The second Question - How many people do you think live in Cairo? We came up with numbers ranging from 10-15 million people. The REAL figures - somewhere between 29 and 35 million! The slums of Cairo are some of the biggest in the world competing with places like Bombay and Lagos, Nigeria. The city has expanded urgently and hastily to accomodate the masses that it's neighbouring city Giza, is no longer seperate. The Cities have joined and the urban shadows extend through the desert to practically outside the gates to the Pyramids.

The Third Question - Do you like soccer?  :) I mean, I don't have anything against soccer, really - I owe the sport one of the funnest and wildest times of my life and one of the best events that South Africa has ever seen - the 2010 Soccer World Cup. But did I know that Egypt has a successful soccer team called the Pharoahs? NO! Luckily there were three men in the car who had more than enough to say on the topic and keep us out of hot water with the clearly Egyptian-Soccer-mad Mohammed.

Mohammed then began on the typical banter about Egyptian history - a banter that we would hear from each one of our tour guides in each new city we visited. Now, don't get me wrong I am truly fascinated by the Egyptians and their exceptionally advanced society (way back when), the beautiful and intricate detail on their art, hieroglyphics, tombs and the way they managed to manoever massive stones and rocks manually and then carve perfect sculptures by chipping away day by day. But after the 45th God or Goddess, King or Queen, battle and tomb, monument and statue things start getting a little confusing. Once again we were saved by my brother who knows enough about Egypt and it's long history that he could probably give Egyptologists a run for their hard earned money.

We arrived at our hotel for a quick 'freshen up' and were then handed over to our next tour guide - Mohammed. (*Surprise*, in Egypt every second person is called Mohammed or Ahmed -a derivative of the name Mohammed after the Great Islam Prophet.) Mohammed #2 got us packed into the van and onwards and forwards to the PYRAMIDS.  I have to say even after a 30 minute lecture about the significance of what we were about to see and the fact that the Pyramid complex is practically woven into the cities buildings complete with smog, dirt and rubbish - I was still impressed. The sheer enormity is overwhelming. The first row of stones are taller than my dad (and he is tall!). How Egyptians over 4000 years ago managed to move and lift stones of that magnitude and then design a structure so sound and sturdy using only their raw strength and intellect is beyond my imagination especially considering the amount of technology and machinery we have at our aid in our modern age (and somehow we still manage to create structures and buildings that collapse.)

The Pyramids of Giza

Our visit to the first set of Pyramids was also our introduction to the persistent hawkers selling tourist 'crap' that we would encounter many more times on our trip. And I'm sure they just saw my dad coming and sent messages of thanks to the heavens. My pops is a tourist crap nutter. He will get conned into buying any stupid trinket for anything that 'sounds' like a good deal. Case and point at the pyramids - he was scouted by a little old man selling Kheffiyeh - head scarves. Suddenly Caryn and I were spun around and a man began securing one on each of our heads. Confused and annoyed (convinced this man was trying to sell us something we DEFINITELY didn't want) we tried to argue and told him to stop. With that he starts jumping up and down and pointing over at my mum and brother who are also being harassed by men and head scarves. I then look over in my dad's direction to see him smiling happily with a video camera and a thumbs up. He had bought one for each of us (for a ridiculous US$5 each!) I tried for the rest of our trip to convince him how he was getting ripped off, but he continued to amaze me with his useless purchases that always had us in hysterics (more to come on that - don't you worry!) However, I will admit those overpriced pieces of dirty cloth disguised as head scarves made for a great family picture.

Family Snap in our head scarves.

 We spent the rest of the day exploring the rest of the pyramids and even got to go inside one of them.
We rode camels across the desert which was just hilarious. All the camels were named after famous western singers and actors - there was a Michael Jackson, a Chuck Norris, a Bob Marley and a Britney Spears. The young Camel minders however were less than funny, throwing stones at the camels to make them go faster and then demanding more money from us when they decided amongst themselves that our tip wasn't 'good enough.' On top of our $15 a person 20 minute ride, we gave them an extra $20 to share amongst themselves - and when they came back aggressively yelling at us for more money, I was ready to demand it all back. Camels, however really are the funniest creatures on the planet. Their facial expressions and sounds are enough to have you falling on the floor laughing.

The Great Sphinx

We soon found ourselves in front of the Great Sphinx of Giza - a huge statue with the pyramids as it's background. It was exciting to see it but Caryn and I decided to stay behind instead of entering into the grounds to have a 'closer look.' Caz was still on crutches from her surgery and I was honestly monument-ed and egyptian history-ed OUT for one day. This did not mean that we would encounter peace and quiet for a quick half an hour whilst the others got themselves a good side photograph of the giant half man, half lion - not 2 minutes after finding a spot to rest our legs - we were approached by an Egyptian family and thrust with a newborn baby by a woman in full burqa asking if we could please hold the baby and take a photo with them. "Uh, sure." This started the trend among the rest of the families, young men and school children in the vicinity taking pictures of us with camera phones and begging if they can sit with us and some even asking for our hand in marriage.It didn't take us very long to work out that we were the ONLY foreign, blond-haired lady duo in the entire area and we were very grateful to see our family coming toward us after what felt like hours.

First Egyptian Meal

We ate lunch at a delicious spicy chicken pita restaurant and then spent the late afternoon at a papyrus factory where our guide (Ahmed - Suprised?) who demanded that we call him "my brother, Ahmed" showed us how paper is woven and pressed using the papyrus plant. We then spent another hour and half being shown around the gallery and choosing Egyptian paintings to buy as well as being donated half of the shop for free by our dear brother, Ahmed. We moved from there to a perfumery where we had a demonstration of all the different oils made from flowers that are used to make famous designer perfumes. The whole shop was covered in adorable miniature perfume bottles in interesting shapes, sizes and colors. We came out of there feeling a little higher, than when we went in and it showed at the Sound and Light show over the Pyramids and the Sphinx that evening when most of us fell asleep in our chairs.  It was a very long first day in Egypt - but great all the same.

Sound and Light show at the Sphinx

The next two days we spent in a handful of museums 

The Ancient Pyramids at Saqqara

and historical sites. We saw the oldest pyramids ever found at a complex called Saqqara. It was right in the middle of the desert and the wind was unbearable blowing dust and sand all over the place. We were beginning to understand a woman's choice to remain wearing a Burqa to protect herself from all the sandstorms even though sadly that probably had not crossed their mind. We went to another outdoor Museum and looked at ALOT of old statues of Ancient Egyptian Kings - the largest remaining statue of the Great King Ramses II was a big attraction. We also visited Tahrir Square and the monumental Egyptian Museum of Antiquities where we saw thousands of ancient artifacts AND the entire Tutankhamen collection including the famous Gold mask that he was buried in and his entire fortune that was buried with him. What I found interesting is that Tutankhamen is possibly the most famous of the Egyptian Pharoahs, but his significance to Egypt is based solely on the discovery of his tomb and not regarding anything to do with his time as King. He had his tomb built so well and so disguised that it was undiscovered by his successors and all the civilizations that invaded Egypt thereafter. All the lavish treasure and jewels were still entact. Now imagine, if Ramses II had managed to keep his tomb hidden from invaders. We saw mummies of many Kings and Queens that have been preserved in temperature controlled casing since their discovery. Many rumors over the last few weeks suggested that rioters and looters broke into the unguarded museum and ripped the heads off.

The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities

Personally, after 3 days of monument sighting I was ready to NEVER see another statue, building or mention of a king or god ever again. I was anxious to spend time in Cairo just walking and observing the life there instead of always listening to a tour guide. Luckily on our last afternoon in Cairo we requested to be dropped at a market and picked up later, giving us the chance to wander and chat to people. Well, let me tell you I have never seen any salesmen as enthusiastic (or desperate) about selling you an abnormal amount of junk as any person I have ever come across.  Luring you into their alleyway shops by telling you your mom is here looking for you or by telling you that 'you are so beautiful and you need a nice husband - ME!' But regardless of all their tricks and quirks, those market hawkers were really entertaining and it certainly encouraged us to go to any bazaar we could find during the rest of our trip. The bargaining is out of control and eventually just becomes a game for both sides of the stick. Such fun.

Waiting at the Train Station in Cairo

My dad was once again caught out by a man selling "alabaster/granite" (aka fake plaster) statues of the popular Egyptian Gods. A man demonstrated how strong his rock sculptures were by bashing them as hard as he could against a stone stair. Well, the first one he tried smashed into a million pieces. The second's head came tumbling off and the third - a hideous green and black 2kg statue of the Jackal God of the Dead, Anubis - well he chased dad around the market with it for about 15 minutes. Eventually Dad gives in because well "cool, it's a genuine granite statue, why not?" WHY NOT DAD? Because regardless of it's 'granite' value, the thing is dam hideous!!! Anyway he must have spent 15 minutes trying to explain to us, how excellent his purchase of a 'real' granite statue was. A few days later, we stopped at an Alabaster Workshop where we were shown the difference between REAL and FAKE statues. Dad excitedly brought out his prized Anubis for the man to examine. The next thing we know the man is testing the statue with a fire and in about 2 seconds the thing catches alight and starts melting in front of his eyes. Well, his mouth dropped open in disbelief and the rest of us burst into hysterics and had entertainment for at least the next few days.

Our Luxurious Train Cart to Aswan

And so after a busy and bustling four days we packed up to get on an overnight train to Aswan to begin a 5 day cruise on the Nile. Cairo was an interesting experience, perhaps a few too many monuments for me but still a city with a lot of excitement, hustle and bustle that I would love to see more of one day. It was a great start to our Egyptian adventure, and I am exceptionally happy that we were able to experience it before all the REAL Chaos broke out. I mean, Cairo is Chaos, Chaos at it's best but over a million revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries packed into one square is just plain ridiculous. I sincerely hope that the rest of this crisis can be resolved without anymore violence.


The rest is still to come -


وداعا ، ونراكم قريبا!


It turns out that just after completing this , Mubarak has stepped down as President, handing over Egypts affairs to the Military. The power of the people and protesting has prevailed and I sincerely hope that the people of Egypt are finally given the democracy they have been fighting for and that the tourism there is revitalized.

...and that's how we got to VIETNAM.

We went on the craziest 3 bus trip of our lives to get from Luang Prabang in Laos to Hanoi Vietnam and it took over 30 hours - it was local bus travel (not VIP aircon assigned seats bus!) I don't have much time but I think this story will make you laugh...


We got on the bus at 4-30pm on Sunday afternoon - our bags taken off our backs and thrown onto the roof (without being tied down - we were terrified they were going to bounce off mid way!) We realise that we  don't have assigned seats and have to climb over an aisle full of packages and suitcases to get to the back where we squeezed into these tiny chairs and got stared at by a lot of people. We were then confused that the bus wasn't going where we expected, so that was a whole hullabaloo as everyone was looking at our ticket not sure if the bus actually went to our destination. We managed to terrify the hell out of another traveller in this process as we asked him where the bus was heading - he told us it was heading to 'Nong Khai' which we believed to be a city in Thailand and hence in the complete opposite direction to where we needed to be. He was actually trying to say Nong Kiaw which is a city in Northern Laos but also got confused when we told him he was going the wrong way. I think we may have ruined his bus trip and then we couldn't even get to the poor guy afterwards to apologise.  An older western man in the back of the bus yells at us to just sit down, but we yell back that we may not be on the right bus and we are worried about our bags flailing about on the top of a bus, unanchored. We finally get a little settled (though still uneasy as we have no idea where we are even going!) until suddenly the bus pulls over - after about half an hour - to get petrol. We see this as an opportunity to see what the story is with our bags. Shelly disembarks and tries to find the bus driver who is now at a stall buying piles of cds to play on the ride (we would hours later wake up to Sean Paul blasting through the speakers!) We try and sleep but its impossible..there is a girl vomitting her poor lungs out right in front of me..I'm scared its going to go on the floor and roll back to me so I get out of my seat and sit amongst a ton of luggage and rice packages in the middle of the aisle. This was actually much more comfortable and gave us all more space. Shell was sitting next to a guy who worked doing goodness knows what on the bus (we figured he was working as we always found him climbing in and out of windows onto the roof and then back through different windows- once terrifying the life out of me! This gave us at least a little confidence that he was tying our bags down!) He fell asleep multiple times on Shell's shoulder and eventually after waking up embarrassed a couple of times, he vanished to somewhere in the front of the bus.  We finally manage to get some sleep (a bare minimum!) and arrive at Sam Nua bus station after 15 hours to catch another bus to the border of Vietnam.

We arrive at 8-15am and head straight to the ticket counter. The man tells us in broken English that the bus left at 8am and there's only one bus a day. I almost cry (the town is so crappy we would have had to stay at the bus stand for 24 hours!!!) The look of desperation leads the guy to call the bus back for us and thank goodness we get on. There are just 5 people on the bus - we think "this is awesome!!!" We forget we are in Asia. The next half hour of driving around and we have a bus full to double past capacity. People are sitting on laps. Shelly and I are on a seat thats meant for 2 and a half people with 5 of us squished on. The small floor area in the front of this mini bus now has 8 people squatting together. We pass through the border crossing with no trouble and stop on the other side for lunch - we try to ask the small street noodle lady what she is selling and she stares at us blankly and shoos us away.  It has now been 18 hours since the last time we ate anything. We finally get hold of a weird bread roll. We get back on the bus and notice there is now a bamboo cage of chickens squawking under our seat. The bus driver is driving like a madman and smoking and talking on the phone at the same time. He is also constantly stopping to pick up and drop off deliveries - a profitable smuggling business over the border I'm sure.  We drive past another bus that has overturned into a stream on the side of the road. We learn from the legitamitely dazed and shocked French couple that climb onto the bus (having to pay a second fare!) that they were also trying to get to Hanoi but the driver was drunk.  That certainly settles our nerves! We stop at a checkpoint and see a ferret hung by 1 paw and his neck squirming around off the tent - we get sad and want to drive on. The next thing we know the driver is paying these guards money and they pass him the ferret through the front window. The thing smells like death and is ferociously squirming and biting at everything. They pass this thing back through the bus right past our heads and hang it off the door in the bus. Eventually (after loud protests and squealing on our behalf - and hysterical laughing on behalf of the vietnamese) they find a cage and put it on the top of the bus - but for the whole journey we could just smell this poor dying animal. The woman in front of us is throwing up into a bottle so we give her the window seat and Jessie is now sitting on the floor against my legs. A few hours later we roll up to a cellphone shop and a guy donned in mafia gear (black vest with huge gold chains and earings) comes out and BUYS the FERRET. Now, we actually are completely gobsmacked. The poor animal is thrown from the top of the roof looking stiff as ever - though still moving a fraction and taken into the store with him and the driver and him exchange cash. We finally arrive for a dinner stop at 7pm. But we have no Vietnamese money to pay and there are no ATMs in sight. We get back on the bus only to be told we are changing buses (our bags are being thrown to another bus!) We get on this bus to find ZERO seats! (of course all the Vietnamese are in the know and have secured all the comfy spots!) They move us around and Im stuck in the very back with about an inch of leg room - one leg finds refuge in the air for the next 4 hours! - I also bruised my cocksyx a week ago so I have trouble sitting down as it is! The driver is swinging madly in and out of oncoming traffic and I have to constantly close my eyes to avoid seeing a massive truck coming at us. Every 2 minutes I'm raised off my seat a foot in the air over massive bumps and potholes. We arrive at 11pm (30 hours after leaving!!) and are pretty much thrown off the bus onto the side of the road into the jaws of the awaiting taxi drivers. We get sadistically ripped off by the taxi driver but are too tired to even notice at this point. We eventually find a good hostel, eat some rejuvenating pumpkin soup and PASS OUT.

And that is the story of how we arrived in Vietnam. It was a hilarious and ridiculous trip that I would never repeat in a million years BUT it was pretty entertaining and has brought us a lot of laughs in the couple of days since.

Home in 10 days!!!!! Seeeeeeeeeeeeee you soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon!

A little hop, skip and Jump Jump over the Bay of Bengal.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeelloooooooooooooooooooooooooooo out there. It has been more than a month since the last post I wrote in Mumbai and I know that ordinarily I should be continuing the story of our adventure in India. I will come back to that in due time but since we are actually now in Laos with the past two week of adventures still fresh in my mind, I thought I'd change it up a bit and write about what we have been doing here.

After arriving fresh off the plane to Bangkok, Thailand and partying with Sang-Sonm Whisky bucket non-stop for 4 days (literally I have just one mere hungover day time picture of Khao San road), we bustled 2 hours south to a timeshare resort on the beach in Pattaya. Now Pattaya is not exactly a lady traveler's favourite destination - mainly because of the extremely indiscreet sex industry, but we had the timeshare in a swanky two bedroom apartment in a fancy resort (which was a massive change to our budget accommodations in India - to actually sleep on a bed with a proper soft mattress was like a touch of heaven!) We spent a week recuperating and rejuvenating our energy laying at the pool, watching movies, reading, chilling on the beach, eating at the Korean Buffet like professionals, drinking a couple of much needed cocktails and trying to decide what to do next.

We taxi-ed up to Bangkok for Halloween where I was pretty set on staying in and getting some rest, however when a 5 metre high DJ stage was erected a foot outside the entrance to our hostel and dance music and strobe lights began to make my bed vibrate, I figured it was a losing battle, put on my dancing shoes and plunged into the madness. We danced all night with hundreds of Thai locals, foreigners and others in scary masks and dragged ourselves into bed for a few hours around 7am. The next day was lost once again but at least we managed to get ourselves to the bus station in one piece and board our overnight bus to Nong Khai (a little city at the Lao border.)

Nong Khai was such a pleasant surprise, mainly because of 'Mut Mee Guesthouse' - a rustic setting in a gorgeous garden complete with hammocks, swings and quiet nestled on the banks of the Mekong River. We loved it so much that we decided to stay an extra day and explore the local spots. The city is also relatively small and flat which gave us the perfect opportunity to learn how to drive scooters. We rented 2 between the three of us from the cute little man across the street and after a few disaster-free practice rounds of the block, we set off toward the famous Sculpture Garden where we snapped some fun pictures with the interesting stone sculptures - some of which were the size of a small building. We scooted around town for most of the afternoon stopping at a couple of markets and whizzing through all the rice paddies along the Mekong, waving at the local farmers and taking in the truly breath taking scenery. We stopped to watch the sun set at a beautiful spot on the river with some local fisherman and then buzzed along the highway in the evening breeze back to the guesthouse for a traditional thai/lao dinner on the floating restaurant.  We were back in our room soon after wards, getting ready for bed when we noticed an exceptionally large shadow on our window/mosquito netting. It turns out it was a white and brown spotted ghekko the size of your arm stalking a moth the size of your hand. We crept out onto the balcony to watch this natural wonder in action, jumping with fright every time anything moved a muscle. It was quite the way to end such a productive day in Nong Khai, especially since it left us laughing our heads off to get ourselves to sleep. .

We woke up and crossed the border early with our 'on arrival visas' taking no time at all and hitched a Tuk Tuk to Vientiane. After checking in to our hostel, we ambled along the river (the second of 4 places where we would encounter the great Mekong in Laos.) and had some street food and delicious BEERLAO's (for which the Lao people are extremely proud) before getting an early night's rest. We woke up and headed for the BEERLAO brewery hoping to get a tour and a beer tasting. BeerLao is like Coca Cola for most countries in Lao. You find it on every street corner, on every billboard and everyone knows about it and it tastes pretty dam delicious. Sadly when we got to the factory because of construction (of course) we weren't able to catch the tour but we did sneak in a tasting and watch an interesting video. We then decided to walk along the road back towards the city stopping at various road side local restaurants for more BeerLaos. This was so much fun and we met a lovely entourage of Lao people who were all too happy to teach us about their food and culture. (We were given the local delicacy - raw pork sausage with fresh hot chillies!) But after the 3rd of 4th restaurant, it was dark, we were drunk and it was time to try and get back into the city - however we were 15kms out and without a Tuk Tuk in sight resorted to sticking out our thumbs on the side of the road, hoping like hell for a decent lift. Luckily we were picked up by a lovely group of young Laotians (and not the inevitable serial killer) on their way back from Luang Prabang and they happily dropped us back in our area. We went from their to another bar for a BeerLao Tower, had a street side banana pancake and fell into bed around 3am. Another Successful day in Laos.

And so it was on to Vang Vieng. A 5 hour bus ride, inclusive of the typical tyre changes and we arrived, settling into a homely, cheap and comforatble guest house for the night. We woke up ready for a long day ahead - an activity famous to Vang Vieng and well known to tourists around the world - TUBING!!!!!!! One basically hires a tube, is taken by Tuk Tuk to a point at the top of the Nam Song River and then spends the afternoon floating downstream while stopping in the numerous bars along the way for Liquor Buckets, dancing, sliding and swinging. At least one person dies each year doing stupid drunken things like going head first down a steep slide and smashing into the side or getting lost after dark in the river never to be found again - so we were of course a little apprehensive about drinking our usual amounts of happy juice - but it didn't stop us from having a wicked time. On arrival at the first bar we were spray painted and fed with LAOLAO whisky shots, we danced,slid and swung and then dragged our tubes into the water to begin the adventure. It was very peaceful just observing the mountains, the scenery and enjoying the water before we were thrown a rope to be pulled in to the next bar. Bar by Bar we went, drinking some buckets, having some tequilas, swinging wildly into the air and dancing up a storm in the sun. By the third bar we were happy chappys and decided to press on to the 4th bar, giving us a little more time to enjoy the water. At the fourth bar we came upon the 'Death slide' which was very wide and had a hell of a dip before flinging you back upwards and into the water. It was great fun, but unfortunately on my second go, I came off the slide at a bad angle to the water and bruised what i think is my cocksyx. Now more than a week later, it is still painful to sit down in certain angles making our numerous long bus rides since not a very enjoyable experience. But the day was still not over. We floated on and caught a Tuk Tuk back to the tubing station just in time to get our deposit back and then after a change of wet clothes for dry ones, headed over a rickety bamboo bridge to 'BUCKET BAR' where we drank and danced all night with every other person in Vang Vieng. A truly blissful, hilarious and all around brilliant day. I would recommend tubing at least once to anyone passing through Laos!

 We spent most of the next day recovering and then took a painfully bumpy (especially with a bruised cocksyx!) minibus ride 6 hours north to Luang Prabang and then after a few hours downtown another 15 hour bus ride up and down some more mountains North West to Huay Xai where the famous 'Gibbon Experience' in the Bokeo Nature Reserve awaited us. Although it was the most costly part of our trip, it was completely worth it. It is a Conservation Program that aimed to save the Black Crested Gibbon from extinction by giving the local villagers jobs as guides, builders, cooks and the like that provided a better income for them and their families than they previously earned by hunting Gibbons. They created a zip lining experience throughout the reserve where only handful of tourists a day can search for Gibbons and other wildlife, trek and hike with unlimited access to the reserve and use the many loooong cables to zip around while sleeping in small tree houses up to 200 metres above the ground, accessible only by cable. And wow, it was an incredible experience. We were taken by Tuk Tuk to a small village on the outside of the reserve, 3 hours outside of Huay Xai. We of course had to stop en route for a tyre change and even helped a Lao family push their tractor up a muddy hill. We arrived at the village and embarked on a 2 hour hike into the forest, eventually reaching the first camp at the top of a humungous hill where we were allocated to our treehouses and given our harnasses. We hiked for another hour or so and zipped over our first few cables, eventually taking another short cable to reach TREEHOUSE 3 - which had the best view over the whole tree covered valley. We practiced our zipping in and out of the tree house to get used to the steering and braking and had a sunset dinner with our 2 new roommates from the Netherlands. We watched the beautiful sunset (some from the open freezing cold shower!) and after some cards, we felt it was time for bed at the very late hour of 7:30PM.. With just a Mosquito net and a thin tin roof covering us from the sea of stars, we slept like babies. We were woken up early (at 5am) by the other group coming to watch the sunrise from our magnificient viewpoint. (Instead of a knock on the door, we just hear the zoooom zooom and inevitable landing of people arriving by cable.) After eventually getting a spot on our own railing, we stood in silence listening to the Gibbons singing to each other in the trees echoing all over the hills. They were so close to our tree house that we felt we had to go out and look for them, even though our guides (Ja To and Dtoo) hadn't arrived yet. Luckily we did explore because we saw some female(light brown coloured) Gibbons jumping through the trees.(Sadly it was much to fast to get a picture!) But wow, it was incredible. We hiked back to our tree house to find our guides waiting for us with breakfast of sticky rice(a loatian staple food), vegetables and omelette. We spent the rest of the day on the Gibbon Search, hiking and zipping around the reserve. Again, we were lucky to hear an entire troupe of Gibbons moving above us in the trees. It was so exciting. We hiked and zipped up and down short hills, down hills, steep hills and the death hill. We zipped and zipped till we could zip no more seeing some of the most incredible views and mind blowing feelings I've ever had eventually retreating back to tree house 3 for the night (once again sleep came to visit at 8pm.) We were up just before dawn to go out on a morning trek and after a little more zipping gathered our belongings together to make the long hike back to the village. We learnt how to play Rattenball (a local game similar to volleyball) with the guides back at camp and then trekked through the rice paddies back to the village where an ice cold BEERLAO awaited us. Another 3 hour Tuk Tuk singing Lao and English songs and playing games with the guides and we were back in Huay Xai ready to jump straight onto the overnight bus to Luang Prabang.

We are leaving Luang Prabang tonight for the Vietnamese border and hope to arrive in Hanoi by tomorrow night. It has been a fantastic experience in Laos and I really hope to be back here again one day. I loved the gorgeous scenery, friendly people, delicious food and laid back attitude.
We have just 10 days in Vietnam (as we spent a lot longer than expected in Laos) and will be back in Bangkok for a few days before we fly home on the 29th of November.

Hope you enjjoyed reading and I'll be seeing you sooooooooooooooooooooooooon

Sending Love (as always!)
Katie