Mooooorreeee Porridgeee

Me doing the rope swing. Best swing of my life. Dont jump on the rocks!!!!

Ewww  beeesss in the shots. There was one bottle with a snake in it. Nast

Tubing pretzel.

Note: We have been doing non alcoholic activities as well. We went to this beautiful blue lagoon as well as this really creepy cave. It was so dark and we had to wear head flash lights to see. We climbed to the middle and there was a gold budda lying in the middle of the cave. It was beautiful. Leigh then saw a spider and I have never seen someone exit that cave so fast hahahahahah.

Heaps of new friends

Hahahah Leigh was obsessed with these shots.

Last night we were drinking at dinner and we wanted a splash more alcohol in our bucket. So we said, Sirrrr could we get a drop more delicous tiger wisky in our bucket. He gave us have half a 26. No big deal. Some people in Vang Viene are jems.

Bucket in and around....

HELLOOOOO,

I wanted to describe the most amazing experience that we had (its Chloe by the way). Before I do this i want to say that Leigh and I have prepared a wonderful Bangkok presentation with pictures and vids, and every time we try to post it it takes forever to post and then fails cause the internet is brutal, the excuse was that it was Saturday and the high speed internet is not high speed on Saturday. What a nut. Anyways, we are going to try to post it in Luang Prabang when we have more time. We have been busy tubing all day here in Vang Viang.


Anywho, back to the amazing experience. So our first day in Vang Viang we went tubing obviously. For those of you that don't know, you rent a tube and tube down the river and stop at each bar along the way. At these bars there are slides, rope swings, flip cup, free shots (but they are nasty cause they have snakes, bees and centipedes in them) and spray paint. We basically had the most wild day of our lives and met some sick sickkkkk people. Oh and our team won flip cup obv. Oh and we did the rope swing which was freaking and amazing. We have 400 pictures which we will post soon.

So we ended up leaving the last bar at 6ish, and it gets really dark here early so a group of 8 of us were floating down the river in the pitch black with only the stars as our guide. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. You could see the outline of the limestone mountains which are really pointy and it was just breathtaking.We all just floated down this river in our tubes singing songs and looking up at the sky. It was a magical experience. Kindo of creepy at times when your butt hit a rock or a twig grazed your leg but appart from that it was amazing. HEAPPS OF FUN, as our new aus friend would say.

Going to post picts and vids soon. We have the best videos.

Miss you HEAPPSSSSS
xoxoox

Sneak Peak of Bangkok

Hellooo,

To all you followers out there...do not fret. We are currently putting together a descriptive blog of our wild & action packed journey through bustling Bangkok. We have a lot to write so we thought we would post a quick sneak peak of our first night in Bangkok and of our first tuk-tuk ride (FYI- a tuk-tuk isThai taxi that is petit and has no doors).

This is the conversation that went down right before we jumped on the tuk-tuk:

Jocelyn: We should go see a ping pong show tomorrow night with my friend Chris so we have a guy to accompany us.

Chloe and Leigh: Yesssssss!!!!!! Wooottt!!!!

Random Aussie group of men that had just stopped us on the street (Koh San Road): Hey girls do you want to come to a ping pong show with us for 200 baht each plus a free bucket??!

Chloe, Jo and Leigh: Ummmmmmmmm....YES!!

And off we went (view video below).

Haahahah. So much for easing our way into Bangkok...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jQfqgWWAvA

Please refrain from Praying at this time....SIRRR

WE ARE IN BANGKOOKKKKK. So much has happened so far however we must start from the beginning. Etihad turned out to be a HUGE success. It was quite the experience to be a minority for once: two blond girls among  500 Middle Easterns. A little awk at first, but then we got used to it.  We got VIP seats at the back of the plane (ballin) which was a sweet two- seater when every other isle was a squishy three-seater. Our seats came with three pillows, a blanket each, headphones, and a little kit with an eye patch, toothbrush, earplugs and SOXXX (which I personally loveeddddddd). Air Canada suckssss shittt!!!! We are both quite pleased with Etihad at this point.. and THEN we proceeded to get 30 meals, 2 deserts, a sandwich, oh yah and FREEEE ALCOHOLLLL. Red red wineeeeeeeeee. Oh and 50 movies to choose from. I was pleasantly surprised with Clash of the Titans and Leigh enjoyed Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. The flight got a bit shaky - at which point the captain came on the speaker in order to inform us of upcoming turbulence. Once the turbulence started, the captain then came on the intercom and said, "Please refrain from using the bathroom at this time". Five seconds later he followed with "please refrain from praying at this time" hahaha. Glancing around curiously, we see a man praying in the middle of the isle in the middle of turbulence. "Sir in the white...we see you". It was quite the show.   To all you haters out there, ETIHAD is the way to go, ETIHAD FO liiifeee.

We arrive in Dubai safely and wander around the airport for a bit. They are playing a really interesting song which is like a deep, creepy voice uttering Middle Eastern language. We see this one woman with something on her face that looks like a goofy fake nose and moustache...it is not.  It’s a metal guard-like thing over her face in addition to her gown and hijab. We were staring, they were staring... Do you think they look down at us or are jealous of us? We found it so bizarre. Women’s roles do not appear to be as equal as I had previously thought.

Here are a few photos of our Etihad journey... Bangkok coming soon...

VIP service from Etihad: Menu for our 30 meals

Hotties in Abu Dhabi Airport

Prayer Room ...that way

I misss you REneeeeeeeeeeeee

Love Chloe and Leigh

One Day Left. Here Goes!

ONE DAY TO GO! To be honest, I never thought this day would actually come. We are at the bitter-sweet end of homecooked meals and familiar faces as our departure into the great unknown slowly approaches. Hey, I know it sounds a bit heavy, but for us 20-somethings it is a big deal. This 9-month-or-longer trip marks the beginning of a new chapter in our lives...and I'd say this chapter is called 'Independence'. I mean, in all seriousness, the return of this trip marks reality for most of us..which is the actual scary part of it all. We return to career choices and new apartments..But also, there is the idea of this..will we actually return home? What if we catch the travel bug and remain adventurous backpackers for the rest of our lives, always wandering the world looking for the next best thing? Who knows really..I have seen it happen before in others, and I can't say I'm not curious..but I guess we shall see...


Juust kidding - obviously I will come back home, since it is where my family and friends are and always will be..buutt it's always an interesting thought, no? (See photo below of Chloe and I with our friends from our going-away party..how could we not come back?)


Anyways, a few things to know before a trip like this begins. Hopefully this information will help others like myself out before your big departure:


1) Let your parents know you are not leaving them forever and that you will not go off and elope and have children and never come home again. Guaranteed this is what is going on in their heads (my Mom has already cried about 4-5 times (in this past week alone) thinking I will never return home). Please give your parents a break - tell them you love them and that you will keep in contact with them...but be realistic - you will not be writing them every second of every day about the last detail of your trip. This is why a) you are going on this trip, and b) why I started this blog haha. So, they can log on and read it and be comforted that I am not stranded on a deserted Thai island with sketchy Thai rebels held at gun point.


2) Get your travel shots. First of all, you should know that shots are not covered by OHIP nor are they cheap or painless. 200 dollars on stupid shots would buy me at least a week in a 4-star Thai hotel. But, I mean you have to suck it up - health is number one my friends. You get sick, your trip is oover. Also, I should add that being stuck in the arm by 4 consecutive needles doesn't tickle - so it takes about 3-4 days for the arm aching to fade. Also, make sure you know some info about your trip (as in which countries you are going to), so the doc knows which shots to give you. Also - just so you know - your normal family doctor doesn't do travel shots - you must go to a travel clinic. Google travel clinic in your area and  voilà!


3) Book your first hotel so you aren't stranded and can crash somewhere upon arrival. We all know jet lag sucks, and who wants to be exhausted walking aimlessly around an unknown area trying to find a bed. Just do it. Nuff said. 


4) Packing. Now this is the hardest part. Especially for overpackers like myself - I mean a girls gotta have options, no? Yeaa, but for this kind of a trip, no one wants to be lugging around a massive suitcase full of clothes you won't even use. I've done it. It sucks, and you'll be miserable. Trust. Since I am a genious and have done my research, I have opted on the Mountain Equipment Co-op bag that is a rolly bag slash backpack all in one! So, if I get tired of lugging the bag around on my back, I can flip up the handles and roll away! Since I will need the backpack part for doing things like hiking & camping, I can use the rolly part any other time (airports, flat ground, etc.). What a great invention. I will let you know how it works out. 


5) Passport, money, etc.  Since I personally lose everything that I come into contact with, I have decided to take 2 photocopies of each important document : my passport, Visa, and debit card. I have a copy, and my Mom, who will be at home, has the other. So in any case if I lose my passport and am actually stranded, I will at least have a photocopy, or I can call my Mom (always a lifesaver), and she can send over the documentation. 


Anyways, I hope I have covered most of the basic need-to-know info, which I think will help anyone going on a similar trip...


So..if any of you are interested, Chloe and I leave tomorrow at 10:45 PM on Etihad airlines (sketchy?), bound to Abu Dhabi. There, we will have a 2.5 hour layover, until we leave for Bangkok and arrive at 7:00 AM.  Since we have already booked our first nights' stay at the D & D Inn in Bangkok, we will set-up shop and hook you up with a little flight-recap blog upon arrival. 


SEE YOU NEXT YEAR CANADA!!


 - Leigh