Delayed

After my post the other night, Ashley came down with the same digestive issues I had a few days prior.. and we decided to hang out for an additional day in Kathmandu to give her a chance to improve. We moved our base of operations to a cheap, but nice, hotel in Thamel, and were planning on getting on a bus this morning. However, since today is Holi Day (more below), we soon learned that we'd have to stay in Kathmandu another additional day, since busses aren't running.

The children of Kathmandu have been preparing for Holi Day all week long.. What began as a celebration of color and culture in rural villages has turned into a water balloon throwing free-for-all event in the big city. All week balloons have been hurled from rooftops, side streets, car windows, behind-our-backs, etc.. targeting unsuspecting victims (usually women). These balloons are usually not balloons at all, but small clear plastic bags (like we get goldfish in) that hurt like hell! It's pretty much impossible to walk down the street (especially as white folks) without being targeted dozens of times.

TODAY, the actual holiday, most of the balloons contain bright pigments, and EVERYBODY is participating in this city-wide pelting contest. I'm gearing up to go find some balloons to buy down the street so we can join in the fun from our hotel's roof .. but I know that I'll be drenched and colorful by the time I return from the store (which is just across the street). Should be fun.

Last night after Ash was feeling a little better we checked out Swayambhu (the monkey temple) with Austin and Beth and then celebrated British Alex's birthday at a super-yummy steakhouse. We'll head out on a bus tomorrow morning towards Dunche, where we'll start our trek the following day. We're now planning on being back in Kathmandu the 22nd or 23rd.

Vacation Squared

A frustrating series of logistical miracles led us from a relaxing oil massage in Ton Sai to a missed shuttle connection in Ao Nang to an overcrowded taxi-pickup to the Krabi Bus Terminal (home to lots of buses) to a last-second taxi ride to the Krabi Port (unlikely home to only one bus -- ours) to a nearly missed VIP bus towards Bangkok to a 2:30 am transfer to a local government bus in Pran Buri to a much needed and fantastically comfortable bed at our friend Rob's house in Hua Hin.

Our time in Hua Hin proved to be an unexpectedly luxurious vacation from our vacation. Our hosts Rob (fishes with Ashley's father in Alaska), his girlfriend Jai, and their golden retriever Tuk-Tuk, took on the role of tour guides as they showed us around town, introduced us to their favorite haunts and restaurants, watched hours of movies with us in their beautiful house, and woke at an ungodly hour to drive us to Bangkok for our flight to Nepal.

Hua Hin itself is a popular but quiet weekend beach getaway for Bangkok's middle and upper classes, and is home to the vacation palace of the Royal Family. It also hosts quite a few European and American retirees, who can be found wandering the streets at all hours in their Hawaiian shirts, khaki cargo shorts, and faded loafers. Lots of small shops and restaurants line the streets, and a few small malls and markets host hundreds of merchants hawking the same merchandise that can be found all over town.

We found an exceptionally large ratio of ice cream shops per capita .. no matter where we were, a Swensons (really good sundaes), Haagen-Daaz, Baskin Robbins, or Dairy Queen was never far. Of course, a two-scoop cone at Haagen Daaz cost about twice as much as one night of lodging in Ton Sai (but it was sooo worth it)!

Thailand's road systems are all influenced by silly British ideas, and getting around town was a really weird experience. While everyone drives on the 'wrong' side of the road (I can handle this), and traffic rules are rarely heeded (I can also handle this), there are only rarely places to turn right across any main highway, and streets off the highway are rarely interconnected. Thus, u-turns were a mandatory and very frequent maneuver wherever we were going. I see the advantages to this system........ but it was just so weird.

On our second day in Hua Hin, Rob and Jai took us an hour south to Prachuap Khiri Khan, home to the 'Monkey Temple.' A hill sits between a monastary and the sea. Sitting at the top of 396 stairs sits a small temple/shrine complex with a beautiful view of the surrounding area. Living on the hill are roughly 4,000 monkeys, many in dubious health, and ALL of them very interested in tourists and their food (imagine being inside the monkey-house at an old school zoo...). A six or seven year old Thai boy, Pun, adopted us as soon as we got out of Rob's truck and served as our 'tour-guide' as we hoofed our way up the stairs to the temple. This kid was practically a monkey himself, and dealt with the more aggressive monkeys with far more panache than any of us could have mustered. Although a large male approached Ashley on our journey to the top and forcefully stole a bottle of juice from her, most of the monkey's were a bit more passive-aggressive. It was all great fun, but the unpredictability of the monkeys left us all a bit on edge.

That night we were all tuckered out, and after a few rounds of Johnny Walker, we wound up getting sucked into 'The Holiday' and 'Bank Job' from the comfort of Rob's huge and awesome bed/couch. We were so lethargic that we decided to call up a local Italian restaurant for delivery, and gorged on hot linguine, calzones, and gnocchi. For all we knew that evening, we had been magically whisked back to the US.

Food with Rob and Jai was actually pretty funny... for breakfasts and lunches we went to places with traditional Thai dishes, while for dinners we wound up eating Mexican, Italian, and Indian cuisines (as I write this entry from Kathmandu, I am VERY happy we took this world food tour while we had the chance)!

Our inital plan had been to spend a day or two in Bangkok with Rob before flying out. However, we were all having such a good and relaxing time in Hua Hin that we bagged that idea, and drove up the morning of our flight. After getting stuck in a massive traffic jam, retrieving our big bags from the hotel we stayed at our first night in Thailand, battling countless other traffic jams, and driving 180kph at every chance, we made it to the airport with only minutes to spare. Rob -- you rock!