Not a happy camper...

So, we're still hanging out in Railay. Not really because we wanted to, but rather because we both got food poisoning last night. Hurray! I won't bore you (or disgust you) with the details, but after 12 hours, we're finally starting to feel a little bit better. No need to worry! Going to lay in bed all day, and hopefully catch the boat to Phi Phi tomorrow. 

Love, 

Suzy 

Losing track of the days

All is well in Thailand! We arrived Krabi late Tuesday night. The flights went well, but the second was delayed. Some technical issues, so we had to switch planes. After seeing Bangkok Airways' quite amusing safety demonstration music video, I was starting to get a little nervous... As it turned out, they knew what they were doing, and we landed safely! Hurray! 

Check out the amazing video here: 

http://youtu.be/nc_-y56UiHM 

Once we got to Krabi Town, we searched for a hostel. After stopping by a dozen hostels, we found a place that had two vacant beds in a 6-bed dorm. We shared the room with two guys from Wales and two girls from Canada. We went out for a few beers with the Canadian girls and some other backpackers we met. It was nice to socialize with other people, and not just be hermits!

After spending the night in a hostel, we decided to head to Railay, a small peninsula between Krabi and Ao Nang. It's only accessible by boat, so we hopped on a long-tail boat and arrived 45 minutes later. Railay is divided into an East and West side. The East side of Railay isn't as nice, but has cheaper accommodation and restaurants. The nice sandy beach is on the West side, along with nicer resorts and restaurants. It takes approx 5-10 minutes to walk from the East to West side. 

Cheap accommodation is relatively scarce here, but we found a nice bungalow at the Lakeview Resort on the East side for 700 baht a night (130kr/$21.28). A little pricey for our budget, but it's nice! Comfy bed, our own bathroom, a TV (with two English channels!), and a pool nearby. 

We'll be here for one more night before heading to Koh Phi Phi (pronounced pee pee, haha). This island is about an hour and a half (by long-tail boat) from Railay. 

In my last post I said that I would try to keep the summarization posts to a minimum. In the meantime, I have realized that there may be quite a few more of these in the future. I mean, the whole purpose of this blog is to inform family and friends of what I am doing while traveling in Southeast Asia and during our study abroad experience in Australia. Sooo... That's what you're going to get! 

Time to get back in the sun! 

Love, 

Suzy

Day 5 and 6: Want a play by play of the last two days? Read on!

After arriving yesterday, we went into town and found a hostel. After stopping by several places, we finally found a place that had a vacant room: Jay's Guesthouse. It was a single room and little cramped, but we only paid 130 baht total for the night (24,3kr/$3,95). Didn't mind sharing a bed for that extremely low price! We're staying in a double room tonight. For 120 baht (22,4kr/$3,65) more we get a slightly bigger bed. Still only one blanket though... 

When sleeping in these super cheap hostels, you cannot expect luxury. They're usually not that aesthetically nice, no hot water, shared bathrooms etc. There's one thing I could not live without when staying at these places: my sleeping bag liner! This is pretty much just a super thin sleeping bag made out of silk. It provides a cleaner, more hygienic environment than the sheets at the cheap hostel. I hope this puts some of my family members in California more at ease. 

We spent the rest of yesterday walking around Chiang Mai, and took a minibus up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. A nice temple perched on a hilltop 16km/10miles northwest of town. 

The temples are gorgeous, and they're really all over the place here in Thailand. I'm sure we'll stumble upon some more without even trying. Miss you, Mom:) 

On our way home from the temple, we stopped by a random mall we passed by. Just did a little window shopping... Oh, and met some celebrities. 

Today we woke up early and went on a full day tour. A guy from London, a couple from New York, and two German girls were also on the tour. Interesting people! First we visited elephants at the Chiang Siam Elephant Mahout Training School. We fed the elephants bananas, and learned how to make them go forward, backward, turn, and stop. We also got some elephant kisses. 

After spending some quality time with the elephants, we went "trekking". We were expecting a few hours in the jungle, but in reality, we walked for 15 minutes to a waterfall, then went back to the minibus. Next time we book a trip like this, we'll make sure to ask exactly how long we get to trek. We wanted more! 

Later we went to a hill tribe village. The guide was very interesting and had a lot to say. Unfortunately, Isabelle and I started to worry that we would contract Japanese encephalitis (the one vaccination we didn't get). After seeing all the pigs and chickens, we were anxious to get on the minibus again. "As long as you're not planning on going to a rural farm with pigs and chickens, you should be fine without the vaccine", said the lady at the vaccination office. Cross your fingers for us! 

Lastly, we went on a bamboo raft down a relatively calm river. It was a fun day!

I'm tired after an eventful day, and am noticing that I'm pretty much just summarizing all that we've done. Kind of a boring post, if you ask me. But now you all know what I have done since I last posted at least! I'll try to keep these summarization posts to a minimum.

Love, 

Suzy 

Day 4: Chiang Mai

We knew it was going to be pretty chilly in Chiang Mai before we left, so we picked up some new pants. The material is pretty thin, but I'm sure they'll help a little. At least they're super comfy! 

The 14-hour night train to Chiang Mai was actually not bad at all. Probably the nicest budget class night trains I have been on. We paid 771 baht each for a second class sleeper (144kr/$23,42). The train was pretty standard; seats along the floor that convert into a bottom bunk at night and a top bunk that is stowed during the day. 

When it was time to go to sleep, a guy that worked on the train went around helping everyone. He even put the sheets on the mattress and pillow! We were very impressed. The bunks were pretty comfy, too. Softer than our hostel beds in Bangkok!

Despite how comfy the bunks were, I wasn't able to sleep until about 2am. I'm coming down with a cold, and my throat is scratchy and hurts. I ended up reading quite a bit on my Kindle Paperwhite. Thanks to John and Maria for suggesting this fabulous device! I'm impressed with the battery life, how many books it stores, and how easy it is to purchase new books. I'm currently reading The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson. 

We're excited to be in Chiang Mai. According to Lonely Planet, Chiang Mai is one if the easiest and most popular places in Thailand to go trekking. They also have a bunch of other activities, like whitewater rafting, rock climbing, elephant riding, zip lining, and mountain biking. We haven't booked anything yet, but will try to find something to do this afternoon and a full day trip tomorrow. A lot of the tour companies combine different activities, so you can do a variety of things. Very convenient! 

On Tuesday (January 28th) we travel from Chiang Mai to Krabi (on the Andaman coast). We decided to fly there in order to save time. After checking out prices (and that the airline company wasn't blacklisted) we booked a flight with Bangkok Airways. I'm already starting to regret the fact that we booked two extra flights, but it saves so much time. Less travel time = more beach time. 

Love, 

Suzy 

Day 2 and 3: Tourists in Bangkok

We've spent the past two days in and around Bangkok. Yesterday (Friday January 24th) we visited the Anphawa Floating Market. This market is located a little under 100km/62miles away from Bangkok, so it took quite some time to get there. We opted for this market instead of the Damnoen Saduak market because it focused more on food than factory made souvenirs. We ended up not catching the correct train (from Samut Sakhon to Samut Songkhram). Apparently this train ride is absolutely spectacular; the train pulls right into the middle of a bustling day market, with vendors moving goods and sunshades minutes before the train's arrival. If we only had gotten up an hour earlier... 

So there we were, stuck in Samut Sokhon with no idea of how to get to the market. Luckily a young girl (who was also going to Amphawa) took us under her wing, and made sure we got to the market. We ended up taking a minivan and bus to Amphawa. The people in Thailand are very friendly, always trying to help out. After traveling (and getting scammed) in India last year, Isabelle and I are a little wary about receiving help from total strangers. Our experience in Thailand has been nothing but pleasant so far. Yes, the friendly strangers often suggest going to certain tourist offices or sites, but they don't continue to haggle you after politely saying no. 

After finally reaching the market we were a little disappointed. It was nice, but not exactly what we had expected. We had expected sitting in a narrow boat, floating down the river/canal, and buying fresh goods from other passing boats. In reality, you bought prepared food from the boats while standing at the river bank. Though it wasn't what we had expected, the food was great, and we were happy we made the journey out there. We had super spicy pork skewers and oysters. 

What we were expecting: 

What the market actually looked like:

All around Bangkok there are tons of street vendors and small restaurants. These are FABULOUS! Everything is fresh and super cheap. We've been buying quite a bit of fresh fruit from the vendors. Papaya, pineapple, dragon fruit, and our new favorite: purple mangosteen. A meal costs around 45-60 baht (8,40-11kr/$1,40-1,80).

Besides "normal" cuisine, there are a variety of other things you can eat. Things that make your stomach churn. I'm contemplating trying a scorpion on a stick. I don't know if I'll actually go through with it. My big brother, John, ate scorpion when he was in China. If he could do it, I can too, right? We'll see. 

Today we've just been walking around Bangkok before we get on the night train to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand this evening. We went to Wat Pho, the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok. Gorgeous, and worth the 100 baht entrance fee (18,70kr/$3,04). 

Love, 

Suzy 

Day 1: We made it!

Today started off kind of rocky by oversleeping... A great new habit of mine; oversleeping when I have flights to catch. Thank goodness my dad managed to get me up in time to get ready and off to the train station. Made it to the airport, grabbed some coffee, got checked in, and went through security. You know the deal. 

Side note to Grandma: Your fudge almost didn't make it through security! My somewhat overstuffed backpack went through the X-ray machine twice, followed by me having to take EVERYTHING out of it. You'll be happy to know that once the security guy realized it was just fudge (and not some kind of explosive), he hesitantly let me bring it through. Isabelle was one happy camper! Thanks, Granny! 

We started off with a 2-hour flight to London, followed by an 11-hour flight to Bangkok. Both flights were pretty uneventful. We didn't crash! As most of you might know, I'm not too fond of flying... But I'm a big fan of traveling! So I've had to come up with ways to reduce the risk of me totally freaking out. I now start off every flight by asking the flight attendant if I can say hello to the pilots. Usually they oblige, and I get to meet the pilots and ask them a few silly questions that put me at ease. If I notice they have a wedding ring, I typically throw in "Oh, you have a wedding ring? I'm sure you have a wife you'd like to get home to!", then laugh nervously. If you're a nervous flyer, give it a try! You'd be amazed how much talking to the flight attendants and pilots helps.

You'd think I would have managed to read my whole Lonely Planet "Southeast Asia on a Shoestring" while on the last long flight... No, instead of being productive I rather spent my time watching movies and listening to music (fairly good selection on British Airways, by the way). Isabelle and I didn't plan much before departure. We just booked tickets to Bangkok on January 22nd and tickets from Singapore to Sydney on February 19th. Not having anything planned is actually quite nice. I usually like to have everything planned out, while Isabelle is more spontaneous. I'm excited to play things by ear, and not follow a rigid itinerary. 

Once we got into the city (after a train ride and a bus ride that took forever) we found a cheap, clean hostel close to lots of restaurants and shops (only 65kr/10,65dollars per night). The beds are hard as a rocks, but what can you expect for that price. As long as it is clean and cockroach free, I'm happy! 

We are currently sitting at a café in the Phahurat district drinking Chang beer. We had chicken pad Thai (stir fried rice noodle dish) and red curry for lunch. Absolutely delicious! 

Have a great day! 

Love, 

Suzy 

Welcome to my blog!

So... Here it goes! My first post on my newly created blog. Tomorrow marks the beginning of a six month adventure in Southeast Asia and Australia. My roommate, Isabelle, and I are heading to Bangkok in the morning. We will be traveling around Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore for a month before heading to Sydney, Australia for a semester at Macquarie University. There we will meet up with two friends from our class. We are all enrolled in the psychology program at the University of Tromsø (UiT), so we will be taking classes that fit into our current program. Health Psychology, Organizational Psychology and Psychopharmacology, here we come! 

In order to keep family and friends in the US and Norway up to date, I thought it would be a good idea to start a blog. And who knows, maybe some random people will come across this blog and find it interesting? You never know! I have no experience blogging, so please bear with me! I'll try my best to make this interesting! I'm not quite sure what I'll write about or how often I'll write. Time will tell. If you're interested in reading about my thoughts and experiences while traveling and studying abroad, keep reading and feel free to follow my blog! Also, feel free to comment. Preferably nice things! 

Writing this post is somewhat surreal. Partly because I never thought I would have a blog (hah), and partly because this means that I am actually leaving tomorrow. I can hardly believe it! I have been looking forward to this day for so long. Having never been to Southeast Asia or Australia before, I have also been a little anxious. Leaving the comfort zone can be a challenge, but I am sure this will be a great experience. 

I have packed and unpacked my backpack probably a hundred times, trying to figure out what I will (really) need on my 6 month journey. I've realized that the phrase "less is more" applies well for situations like these. I have also realized that I have great friends that are willing to listen to me list the pros and cons of bringing item X for way too long (thank you, I truly appreciate it). After sending a small box of items to Sydney and packing my 55L backpack quarter full, indecisive-Suzy is ready for departure tomorrow. Crossing my fingers that I won't oversleep tomorrow, and that the flights go smoothly with no delays or lost luggage. With my horrible travel luck, you should probably cross your fingers, too! 

I'd like to end my first ever blog post with my new favorite song (currently on repeat): Happy by Pharrell Williams. Enjoy! 

Love, 
Suzy