Annapurna Circuit, Nepal 9/17-10/2/2010

We flew into Kathmandu yesterday after a long day of traveling and an uneventful night in the Delhi airport. We spent the day running around Kathmandu getting prepared for the start of our Annapurna trek tomorrow. We will be taking a hiatus from posting for the next couple of weeks as internet access is fairly spotty and expensive on the trek. But we should have lots of fresh material when we reach our destination in Pokhara on 10/2, just in time for birthday cake for Steve. Namaste.

Phi Phi Island Thailand 9/8-9/10/2010

Our first snorkeling stop. These were the best corral reefs we have ever seen.

Photo from the highest viewpoint on Phi Phi.

We daytripped to Monkey Island where Steve honed in on his wildlife photography skills.

View from the top. Most of Phi Phi is developed along this narrow isthmus. It had been heavily damaged in the 2004 Tsunami.

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What can you say about Phi Phi. Beautiful party island. We had a great room with a view, two days of warm weather, a snorkeling trip with colorful fish and amazingly intact coral. We also walked on the beach from the movie "The Beach". Southern Thailand continues to impress.

Kata Beach Phuket Thailand 9/01-9/4 and 9/10-9/14/2010

The Big Buddha with his back turned to Kata

Sunset at Kata Beach Phuket Thailand

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We came back to Kata beach after taking a week to check out what was on the other side of the bay. Three rainy days swimming and climbing at Railay. On our return to Kata we stopped at Phi Phi island and spent a couple of days snorkeling and hiking and the weather was great. We are so glad to be in southern Thailand and quite happy we found Kata beach. With warm blue water and waves to surf, this has really been the most relaxing place we have found in our nearly three months of travel so far. We booked a room at the Kata Beach Studio, about a ten minute walk from the beach. We have a rooftop pool to cool off in and our room has a private deck with space to lounge. We have been surfing, eating, sleeping and playing paddle ball. This is all part of our training regime for the upcoming trekking in Nepal. We decided to do the Annapurna circuit trek starting in a few days, hopefully Sept 17th if all goes according to plan. We catch a plane to Kathmandu tomorrow evening the 14th.

Ton Sai Bay, Railay, Thailand

In Railay, you can step out of your bungalow and be right there at a climbing wall. Many are only accessible during low/high tides and there are places to do some deep water soloing, where you climb without any ropes and fall directly into the water.... saving that for next trip!

Steve getting barreled by the rock formations.

Amazing caves and islands everywhere!

Steve fit in perfectly with the scene at Railay.

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At the recommendation of Wolfgang, our climbing buddy in Vang Vieng, we made our way to Ton Sai Bay, a rock climber's mecca and a somewhat reclusive spot in the Krabi Province of Thailand, as the electricity is shut off during the day (between hours of 9am-5pm) and the only way to get there is by boat or a 1/2 hour sweaty climb through the jungle. Getting there was an interesting journey consisting of 3 boats, many wadings through thigh high water, scrambling over boulders and squeezing through small openings in caves with our 20 kg backpacks. When we finally spotted Ton Sai Bay through the jungle foliage, with its 30m cliffs surrounding a crystal clear bay, and climbers dangling from precarious looking overhangs, we knew we had arrived. Unfortunately, it rained most days we were there, but we kept ourselves entertained watching the resident troop of monkeys, rock climbing, exploring the beaches and caves, and of course, eating a lot of amazing Thai food and fruit shakes.

Vientiane, Laos

We were the only people in this entire water park. Steve's face says it all...terrifying!

Our extravagant splurge on French cuisine. Pictured here is Steve's filet mignon with goat cheese/gorgonzola sauce. Price tag $6

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Sorry for the delay in posts, but we've been taking somewhat of a vacation from our vacation while in Southern Thailand. There wasn't too much to report on about our adventures in Vientiane, the sleepy capital of Laos, but we partook in two of our favorite activities: eating and some water fun. At the recommendation of some fellow travelers, we decided to kill time at a local water park in Vientiane. Although we read some reviews that the park was dangerous and that locals refuse to go there because of its bad safety record, we decided to check it out as we had a day to kill before we took the night bus to Bangkok and we thought it'd be better than walking around the city getting all hot and sweaty. When we first got there, we thought it was closed because the park seemed quiet and deserted. At the insistence of the ticket seller that the park was indeed open, we paid our $4 admission and entered what felt like the theme park scene from the movie Zombieland. Steve and I ran all over this deserted water park with one very bored looking lifeguard trailing us. He accompanied us to the 2 water slides that were working (only 2 of the 12 slides were actually operational) and pantomined how to ride down them properly - face first utilizing a rubber mat. We rode them several times and then a couple of the lifeguard's buddies showed up, so he ignored us the rest of the time, and we managed to not hurt ourselves!

One night we indulged in classical French cuisine where Steve had a filet mignon and I had some sort of seafood bisque stew. What probably would have been a couple hundred dollar dinner in the States came out to a whopping $20. We were tempted to stay another day just to indulge in another dinner, but we decided it was time to move on and get into training for our Nepal trek (don't think French dinners help) with some surfing and rock climbing on the islands of So. Thailand.

Vang Vieng Laos

Vang Vieng is one of SE Asia's top rock climbing spots.

View from the top of the mountain.

Yes, that is a monk giving Steve climbing tips.

Stopping for lunch on our bike ride to the caves.

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First impressions of Vang Vieng - the wild west meets spring break 2010. Over a backdrop of amazing scenery, limestone karsts (mountains) surrounded by rice fields and the Nam Song River and a smorgasbord of outdoor activities (rock climbing, kayaking, caving, rafting, cycling, you name it) lies a little town that caters to young backpackers looking for an adrenaline fix and a dose of all things Western - food, alcohol, drugs, and television sitcoms. Although we had to overcome our first impressions of the backpacker circus, Steve and I spent 4 exhilarating days here where we attempted to blend in with the other early twenty-somethings and Steve had his first Spring Break experience, albeit 20 years late!.

One day we rented mountain bikes and completed a very scenic 30km ride through rice fields and villages on our way to Poukham cave. It had rained the previous day which made for a slow, muddy slog, but it was well worth it. We saw great shots of village life, the fog rolling in over the karsts, and had a nice picnic and swim along the way.

The next day we did a rock climbing excursion which happened to be on the karst that our room overlooks. The rockface was a nice sticky, textured limestone with lots of good handholds from rainwater carving channels through the rockface and some pretty challenging overhangs. It was great climbing again after a 3 month hiatus and Steve was the climbing machine as his lighter, leaner bod really helped propel him up the mountain.

Our last day we partook in the activity that has put Vang Vieng on the map - tubing. It sounds like an innocent enough of an activity, but when you mix in lots of alcohol and drugs, water park rides, and a Spring Break mentality, you get tubing a la Vang Vieng. We joined the parade of tubers in their requisite uniforms - "In the Tube" tanktops, shorts, flip flops, dry bag pouches, and tractor tire tubes. A tuk tuk took us up the river about 7km to the drop off point and we were greeted with our first 2 bars before we even got to river's edge. After pounding a beer and a few rounds on the water slide, we finally got into the water. We only floated about 50m before we were thrown weighted ropes and pulled back into shore to partake in shots of snake whisky (yes, there is really a small cobra at the bottom of the bottle) and the big rope swing. Steve and I took turns on the rope swing and then we had the great idea of doing a double jump. Not realizing that the additional weight would cause us to go a lot faster, I hit the water with what felt like a powerful punch to the chest. Steve didn't get off unscathed from the rope swing either with a couple of bruises and scrapes on his legs, nothing a few beers and a round of beer pong couldn't fix. Not sure where Steve got his skillz, but he was certainly a player to contend with, impressing all with his signature air shot.

After 3 hours of moving from bar to bar along a short stretch of river, it started to rain really hard, which just kicked up the Spring Break atmosphere into overdrive with a big dance party in the rain. Getting a little cold, we decided to turn it in and left our young friends to tube down the river alone. We hobbled out of Vang Vieng a little beat-up and exhausted, but a slight sense of satisfaction knowing that we can still keep up with the young-uns.

Luang Prabang Laos

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Needing a rest, we decided to spend more than our usual three days in one place. Luang Prabang has been a nice town to kill some time. Though it is a heavily traveled destination on the SE Asian tourist circuit, it is also quite charming with it´s French colonial architecture, great variety of Laotian and French food, and plethora of outdoor activities. While here we have eaten well, gone river rafting, biked in the rain to an elephant camp, and spent a day swimming in the pools of an extensive waterfall with elephants. Tomorrow morning we depart to Vang Vieng further south along the Mekong.