Welcome to the Jungle

Hey boys and girls. This little post is all about our two day/one night trek in the mountains near Chiang Mai, Thailand. We met up with our dear friend Aruna in Bangkok, took an overnight train to Chiang Mai (where we drank one too many Beer Chang). From there, we went on a really cool trek to waterfalls, hot springs and amazing mountain scenes. We even met a little 2 month old monkey and rode elephants. Nice!

Jennie and Aruna chilling around the hot springs. This is at the source when temperatures reach between 170-190 C below the surface, and 95-100 at the surface. We chilled out in a pool further down the mountain, and it was still really hot. Too hot in the hot tub!

This is the first pic of the little baby monkey we met while on our trek. It was rescued by a local family that lives in the mountains. Sadly, their dog got into a fight with the monkey's mother and killed her. So the family has adopted the little guy to try and help him grow up. He was so scared when we first showed up, but was also really curiouse to see so many faces. He would cry and hide, but as soon as we walked away to leave him alone, came back out and called out to us. I love this monkey!

Aruna and the baby Monkey!

These guys look alike. Maybe they are related.

Jennie and I also found our inner Kung Fu masters on the mountain top

This is my drunken Monkey style attack!

The view from the top of one of the mountain tops.

We slept over in the jungle at an elephant camp. The locals told us the elephants were chilling in the jungle we we got there in the evening, but that the elephants would return in the morning. We weren't sure about that one, but sure enough, the next morning we awoke to 4 huge elephants in our backyard, by the river. Very cool.

Here I am, getting off our elephant Ernest. I had started on the back of the elephant, with Aruna and Jennie riding in the saddle part. We didn't have enough room for all 3, so our guide asked me to ride bare-back. Since he had been calling me Rambo the whole time I figured, "why not?"

Well after about 40 minutes, my legs were shaking, my legs were red from rubbing up against the coarse hair of the elephant (they are not soft!), Ernest has unsuccessfully tied on several occasion to knock my fat ass of his head, and even sprayed me with a mixture of snot and water from his trunk. He made his point: I was not welcome on his head! Aruna valiantly took over, and rode him like no one has ever rode and elephant before! I was able to relax on the seat, and enjoy the rest of the ride.

No Dice China

Just a quick update for people. In case you've been following the news about massive protests in the streets of Bangkok over the current regime, there's no need to worry. They've been peaceful thus far, and Jennie and I are in the north, heading into Laos in a few days anyway.

Also, the Chinese government has decided to close up shop for the Olympics, at least at this time. They are actively denying foreigners travel visas, including to people with tickets for the Olympic events, and CEOs wishing to visit their factories in the Southern provinces. They've also kicked out expat workers, many who have been in China for several years already. Why? Namely the fear of more protests over the Tibet issue from Western tourists, which could undermine China's glorious "coming out party". China seems to believe that to come out to the rest of the world, they should also shut people out.

The recent tragic events in the Sichuan province, culminated with the flooding in Southern China, are making things even more difficult for travellers, especially when seeking a visa outside one's country. So, unfortunately Jennie and I will no longer be going to China for our last month of the trip. We have a pretty cool alternative: we'll be hitting up Malaysia, both the peninsula and Borneo for the better part of our last month, and try to hit up Singapore as well, before heading to Hong Kong for our trip back home. Hope this relieves any worries anyone may of had.

Lastly, I won't be posting for the next couple of weeks as the internet connections here are way too slow, and I suspect they'll be worse in Laos. Look for some updates in the beginning on July! Hope all is well with you all.

ZA

Mekong Delta

The following is an assortment of shots taken during our 3 day trip through the Mekong Delta, on our way into Cambodia via the Mekong river.

These are some of the biggest pieces of sushi, EVER! We had these at a great little resto in Saigon called Sushi Bar, before heading out for the Mekong Delta. No sushi restaurants there.

This is a pretty typical view along the various waterways of the Delta. Hundreds of boats, shacks, fisherman, and sadly, very polluted water.

Case and point. Just be glad I didn't take any pictures of the numerous floating dead dogs, pigs, and unidentified animals.

This is one of the many floating markets. This is for B2B only: retailers come by every morning to get produce for their shops. Each boat has a bamboo stand at the front of the boat, where the merchant can place whatever produce he/her is selling. Point of purchase display of a different kind.

More market madness!

This was a really cute puppy we found chilling on some bags of rice at a rice factory along the river. He was fast asleep while the rice husker was going full tilt just around the corner.

Jennie, making her way across the very narrow bridge to a local Cham ethnic village, right near the border with Cambodia.

This is indeed a bridge, made from a single width of bamboo.

A local family, chilling and fishing in the Delta.

Jennie makes a dash for the border. This was the funniest thing ever. We walked into the security check point by the back door, then had to wake up the customs officer from his nap. We then proceeded to go through a metal detector which exited towards the very spot we came in by. Basically we could have left our bags waiting fo us outside, then go through security, then right back out to our bags. And that's all because we woke the guy up! More to come with pics from Cambodia, but the internet is really slowing down, so that will have to wait for a faster connection. I'm out!

ZA

Mui Ne, Vietnam

It's been a while since my last post. After our stint in Mui Ne we headed into the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, before heading into Cambodia. Let's just say internet was pretty much non-existent for the last 2 weeks. I'm now in Bangkok, so you guys get to finally see some pics from our last month, or so. Hope you enjoy these! This bunch is from our time in Mui Ne.

This was the view from our room at the resort in Mui Ne. Not too bad!

The water wasn't exactly calm, but it made for a nice spot to chill out on a hot afternoon.

This pic was taken from our a little spot called Pogo Bar. Cheap/good food, Kruder and Dorfmeister on the stereo, and some pool tables by the ocean. Nice!

Our pool. Literally ours; the only other guests were Vietnamese, and they don't come out to swim before 5 PM, so that they can keep that attractive pale shade. The darker your skin, the more likely you work a labourer's job, so the whiter the better. Meanwhile Jennie and were there all day long getting a nice tan. Oh well, worked out nicely for us!

This is Jennie and the White Sand dunes, about 40 minutes outside Mui Ne. We took an old U.S. military jeep out with a guide for the morning and went to these dunes, the Red dunes, Fairy Stream, and some weird run-off formations in the sand the locals call a "Canyon". Okay there.

The "Canyon". Nuff said.

The Red dunes.

Fairy Stream. I am not the fairy. In fact, at this point I was rather pissed off, cause our guide failed to mention we'd be walking in the water. Walking in water is no big deal right? Well, the problem was the cows defecating nearby, with the waste making its way into the stream. Compound that to the fact that I had an open cut on my foot, and you get an angry Zach. The first aid kit came in handy to clean the cut. I'm alive and well!

ZA