A Prayer for the Backpacker

Heavenly father, look down on us your humble obedient tourist – servants, who are doomed to travel this earth taking photos, emailing, buying souvenirs and walking around in drip dry underwear. Gives us this day divine guidance in the selection of our hostels, that we may find our reservations honored, our rooms made up and hot water from the taps. We pray that the telephones work and the lines not slow and the operators speak in our tongues.

Lead us dear lord to good, inexpensive restaurants, where the food is superb, the waiters friendly and the wine included in the price. Give us the wisdom to tip correctly in currencies we do not understand, forgive us for under tipping out of ignorance and over tipping out of fear. Make the natives love us for what we are, and not for what we can contribute to their worldly goods.

Grant us the strength to visit the museums, the cathedrals, the palaces and the castles listed in the guidebooks as “a must”. And if by any chance we skip a historic monument to take a nap after lunch, have mercy on us for our flesh is weak.

Amen

To The Gili Islands and Back

Sitting in this little coffee shop in Ubud, Indonesia I have come to the realization that everyday I start with a cup of "real" coffee leads to a better day.  The day may still be difficult, but its chances of success of increased by a certain percentage due to that cup of great coffee.  My friend Torben has a great coffee joke I think I have to tell:

A little up of a Joe and a little cup of Tea are hanging out having breakfast.  The little cup of Joe is a bit sick and has the sniffles.  The little cup of Tea says to the little cup of Joe, "Are you feeling ok you sound sick?" The little cup of Joe responds saying, "I am ok I am just a little coffee."

Ubud, and SE Asia it seems in general, is the perfect place to enjoy a great cup of coffee and therefore, I have many fantastic days!  Here you can sample all the different varieties of Indonesia coffees that are world famous such as: Sumatra, Java, and Luwak Civit Cat Coffee.  I know I wrote before about my coffee experiences in other places like Lao and Vietnam so I will move on with this post and talk about my time in Bali and Lombok Indonesia.

I recently returned from a two week trip to the tiny Gili Islands off the coast of Lombok, Indonesia; the Island next to Bali. Gili Islands are surrounded by true turquoise blue water.  Expansive coral reefs teeming with fish, turtles, manta rays, and nurse sharks encircle the shores.  It is truly paradise! I spent my two weeks learning to dive in these crystal seas.  I am proud to say my fear of the ocean is close to gone! In fact, I can not get enough of the beach now.

 Other days were spent spinning my hoops, hanging out with new friends, and swimming around Gili Air and Gili T (two of the three) Islands.  At night the food market sold fresh fish.  I found my favorite stand and every night would select the fish I wanted to eat.  The local man would slap it on the grill along with two pieces of Tempe.  It was served with rice, stir fried vegetables and a selection of sauces all for a whopping $3.50! So fresh and healthy, I cannot think of the last time, if ever, I picked the exact fish I wanted to eat that was caught the same day and ate it hot off the grill. I could have spent longer on these islands, but all good things come to an end and it was time to move on to Ubud.

Many say Ubud in the cultural city of Bali.  While it is lovely and relaxing, I would not call it representative of Balinese culture.  Instead, Ubud is a community made up of many expats who have created a terrific town full of healthy living in the hills of Bali.  Dozens of yoga studios, health food shops, boutique stores, and outdoor markets make up this small town.  The accommodation is mainly small guesthouses or homestays with the local populations. 

Surrounding Ubud is rural villages who make a wide assortment of handicrafts that are sold throughout the rest of Bali's resort towns.  Ubud may not be the cultural haven people make to out to be, but it was just the relaxing hippie ambiance I am craving for a few days after the Gili Islands

Job interviews with Americorps!
Wish me luck...

Historic Penang: Delving into Malaysian Street Art

Georgetown Penang, is a historic World Heritage Site. The buildings are maintained in the traditional old Chinese style architecture and there are small Buddhist, Hindu, And Muslim Mosque and Temples at every corner. Within this section of Penang is a small China Town, Little India, historic teak building, and LOTS of amazing food. The result is a charming cultural hub of friendly, relaxed people and backpackers.

Hidden amongst the old painted buildings is an array of public art. On each corner are iron worked comics with a small fact about that block and its name. However, the most famous of the public art are the many murals painted by Ernest Zacharevic. Ernest is from Lithuanian and moved to Malaysia as a mural artists. He originally started painting on traditional wooden clogs but now makes his mark through modern street art.

Together a few friends and I created a self walking tour of Penang to search for his hidden mural treasures. Most of the pieces were located close to our hostel though some we had to peak around a corner or two. The art depicts images of local people, mainly children, playing around the city. He used props like bikes cut in half or windows of buildings to act in conjunction with the art. Some alternative pieces made statements about the failures of Malaysia to protect its natural resources though non were blatantly political. Overall the art was quaint and beautifully done. It added historical character to the already lovely city that I so enjoyed spending four days in.

Cambodia: One Fruit One Nut

My parents came to visit me! We spent close to three weeks traveling through Cambodia, Southern Vietnam, and ending in Bangkok. Overall it was an excellent trip with many "Oh Vietnam" moments. Though the trip was slow at times we still got to see Angkor Wat, Phenom Phen, The Killing Fields, Saigon, Hoi An, and many many sites in Bangkok.

We started the trip in Siem Riep to visit the many magnificent temples of Angkor. I can't even begin to describe how awe struck they made us feel. they ruins are huge and cover miles of space. Many countries are helping Cambodia rebuild the fallen temples and preserve this recently recognized World Heritage Site. We spent two days admiring their awesomeness in the blistering sun and humidity and by the end we were templed out (especially my Dad).

Next we joined a group and boarded a small river cruise on a boat down the Mekong named the Jahan. I unfortunately cannot say we enjoyed this part of our journey so much. It was not that it was bad but that it was painstakingly slow. we visited boring rural village after another and watched ignorant people shove candy in children (an sometimes adults faces).

What we did enjoy on the boat was our tour guide in Cambodia. He was a survivor of the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge Cambodian Genocide. His experience gave him extensive knowledge on the war which was fascinating. This as especially interesting for my dad who is very interested in the history of the region. In Phenom Phen he guided us through both the S1 Prison and the Killing Fields. All his stories were so full of heart that they educated while keeping me captivated. This really helped keep us interested in the river cruise.

After the Boat we quickly hit Saigon and Cu Chi Tunnels for a day before going to lovely Hoi An. I think Hoi An is the ONLY part of Vietnam I can say I like. We had a great time getting tailor made clothes made and staying at a lovely resort by the beach. We also spent a day taking a cooking class. The class so great in fact that our last night we all agreed the best meal we had all week was the one we cooked together at the cooking school.

We ended our trip in Bangkok. There we explored the Grand Palace, took a ride through the canals, shopped till we dropped at the weekend market, and explored the ridiculously large shopping malls! My favorite Bangkok moment was our photo shoot in a Japanese photo booth where we picked our backgrounds and added clip art (hopefully photos to come soon!)

All in all it was a great trip. I am so thankful my parents came and experienced part of my travels with me. I am lucky to have them support me in my adventures and silently worry at home . I am also really enjoying my friendship grow with my mom and the fun we have together.
Now I am back on the road again and heading south for the summer into Koh Phi Phi Thailand and then towards Indonesia.

Songkran Festival: Super Soaker Central!

In April Thailand celebrates their New Year based on the lunar calendar. It is the hottest time of the year in this part of the world, and marks the end of the dry season. The Thai people celebrate the holiday with three days of gigantic water fights. When I say water fights I don't mean back yard battles. These result in drenched head to toes, covered in buckets of water, set the hose on your neighbor, water fights. There is no age limit or restriction for these battles. All ages fight water with water during this hilarious festival. I left Songkran with a hefty scab on my shin after running into a median strip while fighting with a 5 and 65 year old!

One evening we asked for a ride to Khao San Road, a main street where people went to party, from a man with a pick up truck. All day we had seen locals riding in pickups shooting at people from the back. We hopped in and started raining down on all the locals! They were laughing hysterically and cheering us on. No one had ever seen a group of westerners rolling around in a pickup!

Originally I had planned to travel to the Northern city of Chiang Mai. However, once I got to Bangkok I realized that is where all the tourists flocked to. Bangkok was full of Thai locals and the street parties full of Thai teenagers. For the three days myself and the people I met at the hostel hung out with Thai locals getting drenched by fire hoses that the fire station set up, battling children, being covered in clay and bubbles, and drinking with the local neighbors. It was a fantastic experience!

At the end of each day the streets were full of water. Even the shops had a sizable layer of water on the floor. Needless to say, I remained in my bathing suit and quick dry shorts the entire time. The festival was a blast. The Thai people were so friendly. They were more than happy to share the holiday with us. They wanted nothing other than to have us join in. Sure we were a bit more of a target yet if we asked to be respected the people were still respectful and let me stay dry.
In my opinion Songkran is the best way to celebrate a new year. It is playful, innocent, inclusive, and enjoyable for the entire family. But be prepare to get wet!

 The guests and staff of Nira's Hostel Bangkok

Appropriate places to pee your pants

• Lakes
• Oceans
• Bays
• Marshes
• Estuaries
• Deep rivers
• Songkran