Learn the Art of Thai Massage...Check!

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By the time our third day in Chiang Mai rolled around, we were exhausted. Between the 36 hour trek to get here, the all-day classes, and the late night market, we had been going nonstop since we left the islands. We had also gone 3 straight days without a massage which was unacceptable! So we slept in as long as possible, had a leisurely brunch on the sunny front porch of our hostel, and then headed straight to get a thai massage. Our hostel owner recommended a place down the road, and even though it was a bit weird to be escorted through a family's living room, kitchen, and up 2 flights of stairs to the massage room, it was totally worth it. We were REALLY sore from a day of scrambling all over elephants, plus we got to wear super comfy thai fisherman pants during the massage and one hour cost only 150 baht ($5)!

In our lovely post-massage daze, we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around central Chiang Mai. This is the first chance we've had to see the city on foot, so it was super fun to stumble upon glittering Buddhist temples around every corner and stroll along the moat that surrounds the old town.

The first temple we came across was a giant stone ruin called Wot Chedi Luang and was situated in a very impressive square surrounded by smaller temples, statues, and prayer halls. There was also a Monk Chat Club that invited people to drop in and chat with the monks about Buddhism, monk life, Thai culture, or anything else you're interested in. They love to practice their English so any conversation topic is welcomed.

We continued strolling and came across a smaller temple called Wot Phan On which was over 700 years old and somehow seemed to still be in perfect condition. It was completely covered in solid gold and had the biggest gong I've ever seen, just begging to be rung! I respectfully restrained myself, but it wasn't easy.

As we were on our way back to the hostel, we happened to pass a big wall that lots of people were driving through, so we ducked our heads inside and what was on the other side? Oh, only the biggest temple in all of Chiang Mai! We felt a little dumb for not noticing Wot Pha Singh sooner, but we happily covered up with shawls and sat inside for a bit of a monk ceremony. The sing-song Thai chanting of 100 monks in unison was mesmerizing, especially combined with the ornate golden decor of the temple. The most interesting tale about this temple is that back in the 1400s the chariot carrying the Buddha broke down, so they just decided to give up and build the temple in that exact spot. Good on ya Thailand.

We finished the night off by watching the sunset from our hostel rooftop, Chang beer in hand. It was a pretty awesome way to finish a relaxing day.

The next day was our last day in lovely Chiang Mai, so we had considered booking a hiking trip in the mountains or a tour around the region to see some more temples. But then our hostel owner told us that our bus to Laos would be stopping at the famous White Temple for a toilet break on the way, so we decided "Good enough!" and booked a Thai Massage class for our last day instead!

We're pretty much obsessed with Thai massage, so it only seemed right to learn a few techniques on our last day in Thailand.

The class was about 6 hours long and we learned somewhere around 100 moves! It totally exceeded my expectations as I figured they wouldn't trust spazs like us to do anything more than toe rubs. Not gonna lie, we started out giving each other very mediocre massages, but after just a few hours, we were using our palms, fingers, forearms, knees, legs and feet to squeeze, twist, lock, stretch and crack like a pro. There was only one other girl in our class so it was very personal, and our teacher Ah was adorable and an excellent instructor. She wants us to come say hello next time we're in Thailand!

Performing the moves was surprisingly hard work and we'll definitely have to build up our core strength if we're ever going to give a decent massage - we were both shaking and sweating while trying to do a few of moves! I have a new-found respect for Thai masseuses and loved learning a bit of the trade. Even the butt and groin rubs were less awkward than I thought they'd be...although it does take our friendship to a whole new level of closeness!

After the massage class, we headed to the famous Sunday night market to spend our last night in Thailand indulging in lots and lots of street food. They close down one of the biggest streets in town for this market every Sunday, and it is HUGE. We walked through the market at a steady shuffle for 3 HOURS and there were still side streets and temple courtyards filled with food stalls that we didn't have time to explore. We managed to stuff ourselves beyond belief on popsicles, pork buns, won ton eggs on a stick, sweet potato, corn on the cob, ice cream, fish balls, strawberries, and noodles. This market had the most innovative and unique collection of street food I've ever seen, and as per usual, everything we tried was delicious (oh except the durian fruit I tried...those are really gross). There were lots of great clothes and souvenirs as well, and if we weren't confined to one 15kg backpack, we would've loved to bring the whole market home with us!

Thailand has treated us well and we've added some sweet new skills to our resume in Chiang Mai - Thai cooking, elephant riding, and now Thai massage. I don't mean to brag but...we're pretty awesome!

Who you callin' a mahout?

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For day two in Chiang Mai, we decided to increase our riding repetoire of interesting animals. We were picked up early and taken to Chiang Mai Elephant Camp, about an hour outside the city. Once there we changed into worn out denim shirts, baggy pants, and a straw hat: the uniform of the mahout, or elephant trainer. Our mahout class was comprised of 9 people and 4 elephants.

The morning was spent learning about the elephants; what they ate, how they lived, their physical characteristics, and how to control them. We got a quick overview of general Asian elephant facts, then were introduced to 4 of their herd. We took some time to get to know them and feed them some bananas purchased on the way to the camp. The professional mahouts took their share as well, and the 40-ish bananas we bought for the day disappeared way faster than we anticipated.

Next we learned how to control the elephants using words, a hooked stick, and our feet. Let me assure you from the start: these elephants were coming to no harm. The hooked sticks were made of bamboo and acted much like nudging someone with your elbow might. We all were a bit concerned about that at first, but it was obvious before long that it didn't hurt the elephants one bit. A bit annoying to them, maybe, but ultimately just a way of communication. We practiced the commands for a while, cheering on the others in the class when it wasn't our turn. Honestly, the elephants weren't really listening to us, but to the mahouts. The mahouts train with an individual elephant for a year or more, striking up a strong bond of respect and love. An hour of mispronouncing the Thai command words probably didn't immediately endear us to them.

Lunch was greatly welcomed and comprised of chicken curry, cucumber soup, and fresh fruit. In the afternoon the real fun began. We all got onto the elephants bareback to take a walk down the river. A French couple, a British/South African couple, and two British sisters each had one elephant, while Caz and I shared the biggest one, Som Si, with a Norwegian girl named Mary-Lou. Som Si was 26 and very reliable and patient. Her mahout (whose name I never caught) was friendly and very funny.

As we plodded along towards the river, Sandy and Ania, the British sisters, in front of us began having some trouble with their elephant. It seemed she was just not interested in this little trek and kept swerving off the trail to have a snack. Her mahout was very young and not having much luck getting the elephant to listen. After repeated attempts to get the elephant on track, they eventually had to get off. Instead of just walking the rest of the way, we offered to let them join us on Som Si, something her mahout agreed to. Thus the strong and patient Som Si carried all five of us girls to the bathing area of the river.

As soon as we got there, we were attacked by the two couples who had already arrived and begun washing their elephants, so we were soaked before even touching the water. Once we were off Som Si, "bathing the elephants" turned into a full-fledged water fight as we all threw buckets of water at each other. The elephants, in the meantime, just closed their eyes and sat through it all. Bless their hearts. After we were all suitably wet, we were given soapy bark to rub down our elephants with. Then Som Si and her mahout gave us all the opportunity to get a picture standing on a standing elephant. It was pretty cool, if a bit nerve-wracking.

The elephants and their riders were all fresh and clean, so it was time for the second part of the river walk. Since it wasn't really fair to have 5 people on one elephant, they brought a new one over to replace the naughty one. The British girls were spooked, however, and refused to go on any elephant except Som Si. So Caz and I took her instead. Her name was Boi, and she was 75! A venerable lady. She wasn't really inclined to listen to my commands, and I wasn't really inclined to push the matter. She knew the way and took her own time about it, and I knew enough to respect my elders. Her mahout took over Caz's camera and snapped some shots of us, although most of the time he just looked through the pictures saved on the memory.

The second half of the walk ended with a mudbath, something the elephants supposedly like in order to cool themselves. The mahouts encouraged us to wade in there with them and help smear the mud on their skin. I don't know who threw first, but it almost instantly became a massive mud fight. The riders and a couple of the mahouts went nuts, covering each other head to toe, flinging it across the pool, and rubbing it into each other's hair. The elephants, for their part, all left the pool and had nothing to do with the shenanigans. The mud fight went on for a good long while, but finally we all dragged ourselves out and walked back to the camp center, all of us an appealing olivey brown color. Oh, except for the French couple, who opted out of the immaturity. Their loss!

We hopped back in the river to clean off, then bought pictures and watching video of our day. We paid our respects to the elephant spirit with incense provided by our class leader before getting a ride back to Chiang Mai. Arriving back after dark, we decided to meet Sandy and Ania at the Night Bazaar after a shower. Stalls lined the streets just outside the central city, and inside the market pavilion, more vendors showed their wares as fabulous ladyboys invited us to their free cabaret. We opted for some pad thai and Chang beer instead.

We got back to our hostel just around midnight, exhausted but with a certificate in basic mahout training. Plus Caz got some pretty cool shades. Success!

How do you say 'turkey' in Thai?

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We made it to Chiang Mai! It was no simple journey, let me tell you. It started with a 2 1/2 hour van ride to Krabi, complete with two tiny blonde children yet again. Then, after an hour at a rather sketchy transportation agency, we got in another van and were taken to another sketchy transportation agency. From there it was onto a bus that definitely looked as though it had seen better days. Still, it made the 4 hour journey to Surat Thani. We switched again (after eating some terrible noodles), this time to a significantly flashier bus, and rode another 9 hours to Bangkok. We had a very brief time in the capitol: just enough to get to the train station, stretch our legs, and get on the train to Chiang Mai. The 15 hour trek had us pretty darn happy to reach a shower and bed.

Despite the day and a half of straight travel, Caz and I were up early. It was Thanksgiving, after all! We were far from turkey and pie and green bean casserole, but that wasn't going to stop us from eating ourselves into a coma. We signed up to do a cooking course at Baan Thai cooking school. Our class consisted of a couple girls from Holland, one from Spain, and an American couple. There were five courses to be made, and for each we got to choose from three dishes.

My menu was:

 - Stir-fried prawns with curry powder

 - Spring rolls

 - Seafood in coconut milk soup

 - Green curry with chicken

 - Mango with sticky rice

Caz's looked like this:

 - Pad thai

 - Spring rolls

 - Chicken in Coconut milk soup

 - Chiang Mai noodles

 - Deep fried bananas

In the beginning Bat (I think? She said it means "duck" in Thai), an English major at Chiang Mai University and a trainee at the cooking school, explained the technique for making sticky rice and took us on a tour of the loal market, pointing out all the ingredients we would be using. She was quite nervous as it was her first time leading the first part of the class, and her English had some gaps, but she was very nice and cute and tried hard to get everything across to us.

When we returned we had a few snacks from the market, then got into the good stuff. The teachers divided to dishes between two kitchens, and everyone who prepared the same dish prepared their own ingredients and cooked them side by side as the teacher gave instructions. It was pretty quick, as most cooking must be, and if it were left to my memory, there's no way these dishes would ever get a repeat performance. Luckily we were given a very helpful recipe book, so we'll be able to get some hints if we forget anything. Once our dishes were done, we rejoined our table and all ate together.

All 5 courses followed the same pattern, with about an hour to walk around the neighborhood and digest between the soup and curry courses. We ate all the dishes we created, and it was good. Very good. Anyone who knows Caz and me is aware that a triple decker PB&J is the height of our cooking prowess. As unbelievable as it sounds, however, we succeeded in making some really delicious Thai dishes. Of my menu I think the stir-fried praws or the coconut milk soup were the best. I loved Caz's Chiang Mai noodles and deep fried bananas too. Of course, you can't go wrong with staples such as pad thai, spring rolls, and mango sticky rice either.

It was a day full of incredibly tasty food, and we ate to bursting. We left Baan Thai feeling sleepy and fulfilled, just as one should at Thanksgiving. Happy holidays!

Under the Sea in Koh Lanta

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On our second day on Koh Lanta, we wandered over to a dive shop called "Dive and Relax" at the resort next door to again take advantage of our new scuba certification. The trip scheduled for the next day was to Koh Haa, a group of 6 tiny islands only 45 minutes away, so we jumped onboard and signed up (pun intended). Then we spent the rest of the afternoon trying to keep up with our busy schedule of sunbathing, daquiris, and relaxing in the massage cabana on the beach. Nobody needs to remind us how tough our lives are right now!

We also found a cute little outdoor restaurant/barber shop? on the main street and over the next 3 days helped ourselves to cheap and delicious pad thai, pad see ew, masaman curry, pineapple milkshakes, and banana and chocolate thai pancakes. The adorable lady that worked there was amazed that we could eat so much and still have room for mango sticky rice for dessert! It's kinda how we roll.

The morning of our dive trip was overcast and threatening rain, but we didn't mind because we knew we'd be spending the whole day underwater! Apparently marine life is a lot more active on stormy days, so diving is really the best way to spend a rainy day on a tropical island. We waded onto our speed boat that left from the beach right in front of our resort, and sped across the Andaman Sea towards Koh Haa, passing all the other companies with slow boats that had left hours earlier. Suckers!

We had a really sweet German divemaster named Sandra who seemed to love shrimp as she pointed out different types to us in nearly every crevice we swam past on our first dive. The site was GORGEOUS (and dare I say rivalled the Great Barrier Reef), and we dove along a spectacular reef wall covered in giant blue sea stars with 20 meters of visibility (compared to only 3m at Pulau Payar in Malaysia). The schools of glass fish were so big and thick, sometimes we had to wave them out of the way just to see the coral! We saw some really interesting things like giant clams, lionfish, cleaner fish that kept trying to clean our legs, pufferfish, moon wrasses, a banded sea snake, christmas tree worms, nudibranchs, GIANT moray eels, squid, and a big ole barracuda. It was so amazing and overwhelming to roll over and watch the marine life gracefully swimming around you in every direction as far as the eye can see.

After our first dive, we were served a yummy rice and chicken lunch on the boat, as well as unlimited bottled water, sodas, and iced coffee. Three helpings later we were struggling to get back into our wetsuits but excited to see what our second dive held for us.

The second dive had equally stunning fish and coral, but the real highlight was the underwater cave. Real cave diving requires special training, certifications, and equipment, but this cave opened up inside and had a place where we could surface in an emergency, so it provided a really unique opportunity for beginner scuba divers. Words can not describe how beautiful it was swimming into the back of the coral cave and turning around to see the sunlight streaming in through the opening. There wasn't much going on inside the cave besides one sleeping moorish idol (you know him as Gill from Finding Nemo...), but the scenery was incredible and the adrenaline rush of swimming through a small tunnel to exit the cave has been unmatched in my diving so far.

It was a sad touch of reality when we surfaced at the end of the dive to the cloudy skies and rain. Everything is so peaceful and beautiful and dreamlike underwater that it's always sad when it comes to an end, but on the bright side, we set a new personal record of 59 minutes underwater!

The ride back to Koh Lanta was pretty rough with the waves and rain, but the staff served us heaps of freshly sliced pineapple and watermelon which definitely helped! When we got back to our resort, our divemaster sat with us and helped filled out our dive log books and flipped through fish books showing us what species we had seen that day. Overall a great day of diving and we would definitely recommend Dive and Relax to anyone staying on Koh Lanta.

The rain looks like it's sticking around, so we're leaving our peaceful retreat to head to what we hear is a great city in the far north of Thailand, Chiang Mai. Looking forward to it but first we have to make it through the overnight bus and all day train to get there. Here goes nothing!

สวัสดี from Thailand!

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Our first day in Thailand started out a little rough. We've been quite spoiled by the ease and comfort of Malaysian transportation, so we were a bit cranky when our ferry from Langkawi landed in Satun, Thailand and we were crammed into a small van with 4 other backpackers, several locals, a few deliveries, and a Swedish family with 2 toddlers...adorable blonde kids but not the kind of passengers you want to share a 5 hour van ride with! We thought our trip to Koh Lanta would be straightforward enough, but after several hours, they emptied us out at a random travel agency in Trang, and then 20 minutes later loaded us back up into a different van, where we spent the next few hours making deliveries, waiting in line for car ferries, watching our driver relieve himself on the side of the road, and trying to block out the crying toddlers with our headphones. To make matters worse, the resort where we wanted to stay gave away our room while we were in transit.

Not knowing where we were or where we should stay on Koh Lanta, we asked the driver to drop us off at Sanctuary, a humble resort on Phrae Ae beach that was listed in Lonely Planet. Instantly our luck started to change. They had space for us to stay as long as we liked, and they gave us a cute bamboo thatched bungalow with our own open air toilet and shower attached to the back for only 500 baht per night ($8 each).

Sanctuary is a simple, family owned place right on the beach and has an incredibly relaxed vibe. After such a long day of travel, we headed straight for their Bongo Bar and selflessly helped train the owners' son in mixology by ordering as many frozen cocktails as possible. Sipping a banana colada while watching the sunset glow across the Andaman Sea was the perfect cure for a bad mood, but we took it one step further and topped the night off with a 1 hour oil massage on the beach for only 300 baht ($10). The next 24 hours were spent alternating between frozen cocktails, sunbathing, thai massages, pedicures (we have flowers painted on our toenails!), reading in a hammock, playing with puppies, and of course eating delicious thai food.

I think it's safe to say we'll be spending a few days on Koh Lanta...

Scuba, Langkawi Style

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Langkawi was so awesome that it deserves more than one post.

After our scooter adventure, we returned to Pantai Cenang in search of something to eat. All along the main road were restaurants boasting "ikan bakar" next to chilled displays of fresh fish. Basically you got to choose your freshly caught seafood, and then they would cook it up however you pleased. I had to try it. Caz and I found a humble little place offering it; the simple, folding table type places were not only cheapest, but tastiest as well. Caz opted for fried noodles with chicken while I perused the fish selection, deciding finally on squid. It made for an extremely delicious dish, and it was nice to get a taste of the island's seafood.

The next day was a big one: our first diving excursion since getting our certification. Finally time to make use of those masks! We hopped on a bus back to the jetty, then piled on a boat to Pulau Payar, a marine sanctuary not far from Langkawi. Most of the people were going just to snorkel, but there were 6 of us certified divers and a few people trying out an introductory dive. The dive staff was made up of a group of easygoing and quite silly Malaysian guys. Caz and I got our own dive guide. His name was Sari, and he was a bit quieter than some of the goofier guys onboard.

Our first dive of the day was in an area called Coral Gardens. The first thing we noticed was that we couldn't really see a whole lot. Unlike the pristinely clear waters of the outer Great Barrier Reef, the waters of Pulau Payar were downright murky. The cause of this, I've read, is that heaps of plankton fill the area, limiting visibility, but feeding all forms of sea life. It was a good thing we had Sari, or else Caz and I would have had a very disappointing dive. Thanks to his expertise, we saw eerie ghost fish, dangerously beautiful lionfish, and even a large yellow seahorse! The coral itself was very pretty, waving branches in bunches of white and purple.

We joined the snorkelers on the beach for lunch, provided by the dive team. It was a funny combination of fried rice, some sad looking hot dog pieces, three french fries, a handful of peanuts, sponge cake, and an apple. We ignored the hot dogs, and everything else went down just fine. We caught a few rays and checked out the shallows on our break. Among the fish playing near the shore, there were quite a few reef sharks. There were a couple that were big enough to startle you, but don't worry, folks; they were totally harmless. One of the dive staff began following Caz and I around humming something akin to the Jaws theme while making the underwater signal for shark. Mr. Shark was surely after Caz's cool red and black scuba mask, as he tried to take it from her throughout the day. He was also a very able photographer!

Dive number two of the day was called House Reef, and it tookplace right around the docks where we first arrived. Admittedly, I wasn't blown away by this one. We did see a few cool things: a baby yellow boxfish the size of a die and just as spotted; weird, skinny pipefish; banded shrimps and their babies; and lots of Nemos! The atmosphere wasn't quite as enchanting as the first dive. We swam around the supports of the docks and through the beginnings of an artificial reef, complete with an underwater fact sign telling us all about it. Eventually we ended up back in the snorkeling shallows. We reached a new record for time underwater, however: 53 minutes! It always takes me by surprise; it never feels that long when you're under.

Caz and I sat on the deck in the sun for the ride back, joking with Sari and Mr. Shark and enjoying the ocean wind. When we got back to Pantai Cenang, we got cleaned up and went in search of dinner. We decided to head to the restaurant on the beach that we first ate at. We had a nice meal as we listened to waves (despite the lack of chicken satay and bananas), but thunder and lightning were making their threats known. We headed back to our guesthouse just as the rain began to fall. We repacked and went to bed.

It was up early again to make the trek to Thailand, but not without some breakfast! Before diving the day before, we discovered a little unassuming restaurant very close by that seemed to be the only one open. We headed there before our trip again for omlettes, banana roti (a naan like flatbread fried up with bananas inside), and nasi lamak (rice folded up in a banana leaf with egg, onions, sardines, and a spicy sauce. Caz and I split one both mornings, although I got all the onions and sardines). We finished just in time to catch our ride to the ferry, and then it was "Goodbye, Malaysia!" and "Hello, Thailand!"

We Found Paradise and It's Called Langkawi

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Selemat datang (welcome) to paradise! We spent our last 3 days in Malaysia on the island of Langkawi, and it didn't take us long to fall in love with this special place.

Langkawi has it all - beaches, delicious food, scooters, frozen drinks with tropical fruit garnishes, monkeys, waterfalls, friendly people, beautiful scenery, and scuba diving.

Langkawi is about 2.5 hours north of Penang by ferry and is the first place we've gone without booking any accommodation beforehand (look at us being spontaneous in SE Asia!). All we had was one recommendation from the hostel staff in Penang and another recommendation from Lauren's trusty Kindle edition of Lonely Planet - SE Asia on a Shoestring Budget (guide books on a Kindle...best idea ever). Both hostel potentials were at the same beach, so we grabbed 2 other backpackers at the pier and split a taxi to Pantai Cenang, a beach on the west coast of the island. We got really lucky and the first place we stopped, Gecko, had 2 rooms left. We were told to stay as long as we like and pay at the end, and at 35 ringgits per night for a private room (less than $6 each), we would've loved to stay longer.

Ecstatic about the sunshine and starving from our day of travel, we threw down our packs and headed to the first restaurant on the beach we could find. Freshly squeezed pineapple and lime juices hit the spot, but even better was the Pattaya Fried Rice, a delicious omelette filled with chicken fried rice and covered in hot sauce. Malaysian food really makes me grateful for all those buffalo wings I ate at the Kodiak Club in Melbourne...I'd never have been able to enjoy all this spicy food in SE Asia if I hadn't already burnt off all my tastebuds on the best hot wings ever!

After a stroll, a swim, and a sunbathe on the beach, we found another beach restaurant where conveniently enough we were right on time for happy hour! (it was 3 pm...i love islands) By the time we finished our daquiris, margaritas, and Langkawi Breezes, an afternoon rainstorm had moved in so naturally we left the safety of our beach tent and sprinted through the monsoon rains to go for a swim. If I were a doctor, I would prescribe swimming in a tropical rainstorm to anyone who wants to feel young forever. It's awesome.

The only casualty was Lauren's first ever jellyfish sting, but the restaurant was equipped with vinegar in a spray bottle and saved the day.

Our hostel's breakfast doesn't start until 9 am, so the next morning we slept in and went to order around 10 am, only to find out that the chef hadn't arrived yet. Island time! Luckily Pantai Cenang has a great strip of restaurants and shops along the coastline, so were able to grab some brekkie and head down to the scooter shop to pick up our wheels for the day. Each bike cost 25 ringgits ($8) for 24 hours...I love this country!

We puttered up the west coast to the Langkawi Cable Car, dodging cattle, water buffalo, monkeys, and giant lizards in the road. For real. The cable car took us up to the top of a mountain for some stunning views of the harbor and a walk across the Sky Bridge, a bridge suspended between two ridges by just one pole. The hike up to the observation tower was tough, but nothing compared to our lighthouse hike on Penang, so we handled it like champions and even stopped to be in a few photos with middle eastern tourists along the way (not sure if we should feel like celebrities or circus freaks here).

Once back down in the Oriental Village at the base of the cable car, we had a delicious lunch of Pineapple Fried Rice, glass noodles, and a banana milkshake. The best part was that my fried rice was actually served in a hollowed out pineapple! Bonus points for Langkawi!

We jumped back on our trusty scooters and headed next to the Seven Wells Waterfall, where after some more uphill hiking, we were rewarded with a refreshing swim at the base of the waterfall. Some locals showed us where to sit under the falling water to get the best back massage, and then we finished off the afternoon with some fresh coconut juice, straight from the coconut.

On the way home, I spotted another monkey on the side of the road and pulled over to take a photo. Seems harmless enough, right? But the monkey immediately jumped onto my bike and at least 30 other monkeys came out of the trees and started coming towards us. It was pretty intimidating, and even worse when we discovered we had unintentionally pulled over at a monkey feeding site and had no food to offer. Two monkeys were now on my bike and when they realized I hadn't brought them any snacks, one tried to eat my dashboard and the other just peed all over it. That was a pretty clear sign that it was time to leave, and I drove the rest of the way back to our beach glaring angrily at the monkey pee on my bike and thinking that monkeys are totally overrated.

Dang, Penang!

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Hello, guys and gals! While Caz and I relax at our hostel during our last night in Penang, I thought I'd catch you up. It took four buses, a ferry, and about 8 hours to get to Georgetown, Penang Island's main town, so we weren't up to much our first night. We wandered around and got some delicious food from an outdoor food court: asam laksa for me and chicken satay for Caz, topped up by some delicious banana and ice cream desserts from a cafe just down the lane from our hostel. That was enough to put me to sleep, though Caz stayed up to watch a movie.

We were up and hopping the next day. After some hostel-supplied breakfast (gotta love the free toast, jam, and coffee!), we got on a bus to the Penang National Park. We started our hike at the same time as a school group of teenage boys, which resulted in us being stalked for the first ten minutes with calls of "Wait!" "I love you!" "Justin Beiber!" Supposedly, they hate him. Luckily we took the right fork when they took the left, and the rest of the hike was a bit more peaceful. The walk took us through a few beaches and viney, shady rainforests. The heat and humidity caused quite a sweat, but we made it all the way to the end of the trail: a lighthouse on the top of a cliff head. We were very proud of our athleticism, but we did opt to take a boat ride back instead of repeating the 2 hour hike.

While waiting for the bus back to town, we had some protha at a little kiosk. It's a lot like naan, but with fillings cooked right inside it. Caz had an egg one, and we both had ones filled with banana and chocolate. We finished just in time to catch our bus. Once back in town, we stopped only long enough to cool down; then it was back on another bus to Kek Lok Si Temple. This huge Buddhist temple was comprised of many different, colorful buildings stacked up a hill and topped with a gigantic wooden statue of Kuan Yin, a Bodhisattva of mercy. Unfortunately there was no way to get to it besides climb up the hill, so we apologized to our tired legs and made one more effort. At least we managed to arrive in time to take a lift up the last part of the hill to the statue. It was a really amazing complex, and the Bodhisattva was beautiful. There were some statues of the Chinese zodiac as well, and we dutifully found our corresponding animals. Then we trekked back down and picked up a couple delicious pastries before getting the bus back again to Georgetown.

 We were pretty hungry by then, so we decided to get some Penang delicacies straight off the street. We took a seat at a metal table right on the road and got some Wan Tan Mee (noodle broth with pork and wontons) from a nearby cart. A very pushy salesman also got us to take some fresh squeezed apple juice. No harm there, really. Another man joined our table as we were finishing. He turned out to be the owner of a bar on the main strip called Reggae Bar. I was still hungry, so I got a second dinner in the form of Char Keow Teoy, a stir-fry of noodles, prawns, cockles, egg, and chilies. Caz got herself a cendol, and then we had a nightcap at Reggae Club. I guess it's pretty obviously that food was a big highlight of our time in Penang, as well as Melaka!

Next up on the schedule is an early ferry ride to Langkawi Island. Beach, diving, and lots of good times ahead!

Meals in Melaka

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The second stop on our SE Asia whirlwind was a pure "food-cation". While we're eventually headed north, we decided to take a quick detour 2 hours south from KL to Melaka. Melaka is one of those places that has been ruled by every country at one point or another - the Portuguese, Dutch, British, Chinese, and Indians have all had an influence on the port, leaving a delicious combination of culinary influences. So we only had one plan for our 24 hours in Melaka - EAT A LOT. I'm happy to say it was a most successful venture (as if anyone who knows us would have doubted that).

The day started with a surprisingly pleasant bus trip from KL to Melaka for 9 ringgit ($3), and we congratulated ourselves on successfully navigating the public transport of Malaysia. But we had barely finished high-fiving and saying "We're awesome!" when we found ourselves aboard a local Melaka bus that looked as if it had been dragged out of the bottom of the canal this morning. This bus was so busted I honestly have NO idea how it was still functioning, but it only cost us 30 cents so we just laughed as we drove down the road with the doors wide open.

After a short wander to find our hostel (i swear we weren't lost, we just love strolling around in 100% humidity with 20 kg of luggage on our back!), we headed out to explore Jonker Walk with our food spidey sense tingling. Our first stop was Famosa Chicken Rice Balls for you guessed it, some of their famous chicken rice balls. Between the two of us we had 13 rice balls, so I think we can count this stop as a win. Since dessert is a separate stomach, we finished the meal with a bowl of Nyonya Cendol, an amazing Melakan specialty. It included pandan, coconut cream, palm sugar syrup, and kidney beans served over shaved ice. Don't knock it til you've tried it - it was DELICIOUS!!

Feeling stuffed and satisfied we went for a walk around the town square and stumbled upon the Maritime Museum, which happens to be located inside a giant pirate ship! It was equal parts of informative and weird, and totally worth the 3 ringgit entry.

After more wandering and a stroll along the canal, it was finally time for satay celup! This is a Melakan do-it-yourself meal where you pick skewers of meat, seafood, and veggies from the fridge and then cook them at your table in a boiling pot of spicy satay sauce. We went to Capital Satay which, for good reason, is the most popular satay joint in town and has a steady line of customers down the block. Stoked to finally get a table, we loaded up our tray with chicken, veggies, tofu, quail eggs, shrimp, and a few unidentified objects. We were the only westerners in the entire restaurant, and while we were a bit offended that they brought us so much bread and put sugar in our sauce, they made up for it by treating us (Lauren) to two giant prawns. We really went all out on this dinner and managed to spend a whole $3 each. Overall a successful but messy meal!

Me like-a Melaka. A lot-a.

Tomorrow we head north to the island of Penang on an 7+ hour bus trip, so wish us luck and we'll check back in whenever island time allows!

Fast forward!

Alright, we'll admit it: we sucked at keeping up a blog. It was a lot harder than we expected; living in a campervan 90% of the time meant no internet access. Our posts just got more and more backed-up, and, well, you saw the results.

We will get back to the Great Trip Through Oz. For now, though, we thought it best to move ahead and blog Asia as we experience it. Backpacker hostels are almost always equipped with internet, so we should fare a lot better. Apologies for skipping forward, but trust me; it'll be better this way.

So on Friday afternoon, we landed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia! Our friends had kept us out pretty late our last night in Melbourne, so we were quite wrecked. As soon as we got to the backpackers, we "lay down" for a rest and didn't get up until 7 the next morning.

The weather sure did let us know where we were. It was like walking into a sauna every time we stepped outside. We started the day by walking in a random direction as it began to rain. This led us to a rainforest reserve smack in the middle of the city. We followed a trail through it, stopping in the middle to check out a faux Malaysian village at the Kuala Lumpur Tower. Despite warnings of snakes, scorpions, and centipedes liking the rain, we tramped through the whole park. From there we wandered to the Patronas Towers, once the tallest buildings in the world. The two towers are linked by a glass bridge, which was unfortunately closed. We just went inside to escape the rain instead and were greeted by a gigantic 5 story mall. It was strange at first to see stores we haven't laid eyes on in two years: "Look, a GAP!" "A Banana Republic!" "A Uni Qlo!" (Okay, that last one was me.)

From there we took the train back to Chinatown to find some lunch. We decided to explore Central Market, an enclosed market and food court. We got a delicious and cheap meal of chicken, rice, and egg. Then we went looking for the "fish spa." Caz had noticed it advertised on our map of the city. We found it towards the back wall: a spa pool filled with little fish ready to eat all the dead skin off your feet. We paid RM5 (about US$1.60) for 10 minutes in this spa. However, it took us about 5 of those minutes to manage to keep our feet fully submerged. It tickled so much! It was practically unbearable! Even when you got used to the tickling, the sensation of fish nibbling on your toes was a very weird one. My feet were indeed soft afterwards, but I don't think I'll seek out a fish spa again!

The sun came out in the afternoon, and we took a walk in the opposite direction. We wandered through Lake Garden. A notable spot was the Deer Park, with the small and strange Lesser Mouse Deer. It looked rather like a large rat on spidery legs. It was cute, though, in its creepy way.

After that we headed to the National Mosque. We donned visitors' burkas and had a look around. It was very wide and austere. I had never been in a mosque before, so it was interesting to compare it to other religious establishments I've seen. It was really quite beautiful.

Finally, we hit up Petaling Street, the main market road of Chinatown. This was a true market as we think of them: lots of bootlegged goods and people calling you in to their stalls as you fight your way down crowded alleyways. We didn't do any shopping, but we did splurge on food. Pieces of fresh mango, a cheesecake tart, BBQ pork buns, and a sticky rice concoction that neither of us liked very much filled our stomachs. It was an early night after that.

From here it's on to Melaka and more delicious food!

(Click on the photo at the top of the post to view our full photo album!)