TravelStream™ news feed for member normandsharon on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/normandsharon en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:30:21 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1208254920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1208254920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1208254920/tpod.html Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:30:21 -0400 Norm and Sharon Asia 2008.

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Bangkok, Thailand

It has been 3 glorious months of adventures and we are now ready to head home. Thanks for coming along for the journey. We hope that you all enjoyed the ride. We are currently back in Bangkok watching the clock tick as these last few hours seem to be taking forever to pass. Looking forward to being back in Canada and seeing all of our family and friends again. See you all soon.Norm and Sharon
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1208172060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1208172060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1208172060/tpod.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:16:37 -0400 Norm and Sharon Asia 2008.

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Krabi, Thailand

Well, we're on our last leg of the trip and are more than ready to slow down, kick-back, and just relax a little bit. No plans to move around - just from the beach to the pool and back. Hope you can stand the pace as its a little less than what we've experienced over the past 3 months of travel. A well deserved rest - or at least that's what we are convinced of!!Anyway, we left Nepal and headed down to southern Thailand. Had a connector flight in Bangkok to take us to the glorious beaches of the Krabi district. We actually spent a few nights in Krabi Town to enjoy the morning market and to just buzz around the community a wee bit. Wasn't much going on so we headed for Ao Nang Beach area which is where we settled in for the last week or so. The weather has been wonderful - averaging 85-100 each day. Its pretty hot, but as mentioned earlier we are so very fortunate to juggle between the beach and pool. We decided to live it up a bit and checked into a lovely new resort with a beautiful free-form, fresh water pool with Jacuzzi jets. I'm sure it sounds lovely, but sure wish you were all here to enjoy it with us as it is really, really nice. We were even here for their Grand Opening celebration. In any case, life has been tough - day after day of beach and then pool and sometimes even back again. Will we put the suntan lotion on before we leave the room or when we get to the beach? Should we drink beer or water? Where should we eat tonight? Do we want red, green, or yellow curry - hot or not? Decisions, decisions!!The beach is nice and when you walk to one end there are little monkeys that come down from the hillside to munch on bananas that the tourists buy. They literally eat out of peoples hands. They're really cute, but we don't get too close as you never really know what those furry little critters are thinking. One morning I saw them jumping all over this poor woman because she had a bag of food in her hand. I think she got a little too close for my likings. Wouldn't want to deal with a monkey bite this late in our trip.Probably the best day of our time here was the Songkran Festival. It is the Thai New Year celebration that lasts from April 13-15, but by far the best day is the first day of festivities (yesterday). The day begins with the Buddhist citizens going to temple to cleanse the Buddha with water. We were invited by a few employees of the resort across the street to join in their morning celebration as they had set up a temple and were having the local monks come in from Krabi Town to gather some 'offerings'. Our resort is owned by Muslims so they didn't seen to take part in the celebrations as much.So back at the make-shift temple, Norm was selected by the head monk to light a candle. I heard that this is quite an honour. The ladies that we know expressed how lucky he was to be chosen and that this would bring Norm good luck. They later suggested we stay at their resort and enjoy their breakfast buffet. It was good and a nice change from our place as our resort is new and improving on services daily. Our breakfasts are certainly nothing to write home about - although we are sure that they will improve over time.Anyway, back to the rest of the day...well, to make a long story short the whole place - streets and all - breaks into a complete water fight. Its great!! The whole concept evolves around the cleansing that starts at the temples in the mornings and just gets carried into the streets of Thailand. I'm sure the photos don't quite give all the fun total justice, but I hope you can imagine the great time we had. In fact, everyone had a great time splashing around with water and what appeared to be baby powder. People were covered in the stuff and soaked from head to toe. Sure makes you wish we celebrated our New Year in the middle of summer just so we could start up the same sort of craziness.Believe it or not, but the water fun lasted from about 10 AM to about 9 PM. The streets shifted from two-way traffic to one-way as there were so many vehicles filled with people and big buckets filled with water to spray on folks along the sidewalks. But the folks on the sidewalks were well armed too as they also had buckets, over-sized water guns, and full-on water hoses which they sprayed at everyone in sight. Every now and then someone would walk by and place their hands on your cheeks and wish you a Happy New Year. This is where the powder came in. We got blessed by white hands many times over and then splashed down with water repeatedly. It was lots of good, clean fun with everyone having a grand ol' time. Again, sure wish you were all here to be a part of this day. It was a hoot!Well, we check out in the morning and head back to Bangkok for a night. Then we catch our flight home. Needless to say, we may or may not connect with you all again before we leave Asia so we'll just leave it at that. If we do we do and if we don't we don't.Take care. Looking forward to seeing you all real soon.Love from Sharon and Norm
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1206875400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1206875400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1206875400/tpod.html Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:04:29 -0400 Norm and Sharon Asia 2008.

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Kathmandu, Nepal

We had a breath-taking flight from Bhutan to Nepal with wonderful sights of Mount Everest and the Himalayas. They truly are one of the most amazing sights you will ever see. Tharchean's brother-in-law, Sithar, who is the head of Security at Paro airport pulled a few strings and got us upgraded to Business class for this flight - a nice little treat for us. On arrival in Kathmandu we took a taxi to our hotel, on the way we witnessed an accident as the guy in front of us ran into the car in front of him. A few words were exchanged and everyone drove away. Kathmandu is craziness times two. The traffic congestion, the people congestion, the vendors trying to hawk everything you can think of. We booked a day trip to go white water rafting and it was a lot of fun. The launching place was 3 - 1/2 drive away through mountain roads on a rickety old bus. We rafted for about 3 hours, had a shore lunch and the bus ride home was 6 hours because there is only 1 road into Kathmandu from this area and everyone was on it I'm sure.The next day we took another bus to Chitwan National Park in the south of Nepal, near the India border. We stayed at Maruni Sanctuary Lodge which is right in the park. Since it is a nature reserve we were there to see wild animals in their natural habitat. However, we first visited the elephant breeding centre to view the new baby elephant that was born about 5 weeks prior to our arrival. It was so cute!The next morning we went trekking through the jungle with our guide Chuda in search of Tigers, Sloth Bears and Rhinos. We saw 2 kind of crocodiles, the Gharial - a fish eater that can grow up to 7 meters long and the Mash-mugger - a carnivore (man-eater) that can grow up to 4 meters long. No tigers or bears, but we did find a rhino and followed it to a watering hole where we watched him for awhile. When we got back to the river area there were elephants there with their Mahouts (elephant trainer/driver), so we got in the river with them and helped bathe them - or should I say they gave us a wash! We played with them for a while and had lots of fun.That afternoon we went for and elephant trek through the jungle looking for more animals, this time we saw 10 rhinos in different places including a baby about 3-1/2 months old. We also saw many deer hiding in the jungle. Still no Tigers and bears though. Oh well we got shut out, but thats okay.  The next morning we went on a walk with Chuda to Harnahari, a local village and got lots of pictures of them going about their daily lives. The Tharu people were originally from India, but left many years ago as they are Hindu and  most of the Northern Indian people are Muslim so they were always fighting. They came to Nepal and were nomadic until others also came and started farming. The Tharu learned from the other farmers and ended up staying here. A few of the homes we saw had Bio-gas systems where they collect the waste from humans and animals and capture the methane gas that is produced - which is what they use for cooking. Since most still cook with wood fire inside of the home this is a big improvement.We decided to fly back to Kathmandu as the bus ride there was supposed to be 5 hours and ended up being about 7 we couldn't even think about the ride going back. A half hour flight or 8 to 9 hours on the bus - it was an easy choice. We flew from Kathmandu to Bangkok, again over the Himalayas, but this time it was cloudy and hazy so not so spectacular as the first time. Maybe we just got lucky the first time. When we got to Bangkok we had a 6 hour layover until flying to Krabi, and when we went to check in they informed us that we had been upgraded to Business class and that we could use the Thai Silk Lounge area. That was a bonus as we had Internet for a bit, food and comfortable seating areas.See you next in Thailand.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1205651760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1205651760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1205651760/tpod.html Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:23:26 -0400 Norm and Sharon Asia 2008.

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Paro, Bhutan

Long over due greetings everyone!Please note that our next few entries will be arriving late as we had little access to high-speed internet during our journey and as you know we always like to include photos with our blogs. However, we are safe and sound and have lots to share.First things first...we finally made it to Bhutan!!Bhutan is so beautiful! No exceptions, it is definitely a sight to see. Tucked in the valleys of rolling hills and mountains it is really a lovely sight. On arrival, our dear friend, Tharchean, greeted us at the airport. What a delight to see a face we could recognize. That's one thing you miss while away - is the friendly faces that you do know, never mind all of the new friendly faces that you get to know. In any case, Tharchean was there with a warm welcome. He and two brother-in-laws - Sithar (a Major in the army and the head of Paro airport security) and Nawang (who was our driver/tour guide during our stay). Over our 2 week stay we met up with almost all of Tharchean's family as we spent a great deal of time enjoying the comforts of family time from one home to another; we shared in the delights of several Bhutanese home-cooked meals and Norm and I even cooked a few meals to share with them; we played cards, jump rope, and hop scotch with the kids; and just sat around chatting about all sorts of things. It was nice to feel like part of a family again. That is something that we truly miss.In Bhutan we began our stay with a quick visit to the hospital as I had managed to get a touch of tonsillitis while in Chiang Mai (Thailand) just before we arrived. No big deal, but the doctor recommended day of rest, some medication, and tender loving care - all of which helped me heal in no time at all.  I must say that Norm and I were very fortunate to have been in the country during this time as we managed to see one of Bhutan's wonderful festivals in Paro, as well we were present to witness their first ever election. The election was won over with an overwhelming landslide - which, for the most part was a bit of a shock to many, however, it was who the majority of people wanted. Unfortunately, there was little (only 2 of 47 districts) in terms of opposition so the 2  individuals who won actually decided to step down as they thought it would be a lost hope to ever try and stand up to the other 45 in the house.The festival in Paro was wonderful. It was really our first interaction with many of the locals who came dressed up in their finest traditional clothing to share in the event. The highlight was definitely the cultural dances that were put on. The photos included will hopefully express the rhythms and movements that were enjoyed by all. I wandered around the grounds where the festival took place and met up with several smiling faces that were more than willing to smile for my camera. Everyone was so pleasant. Many of the younger people could speak English so I was able to communicate with them, however the elderly just simply smiled and enjoyed the conversations that were taking place around them.During our 2-week stay we saw so many sites and enjoyed each and everyone one of them. One of the most prominent was our trek up to what is called the Tiger's Nest. As you can see from the photos this place is situated on a mountain side. It was so awesome. Our trek up was a bit of a challenge, but was well worth it when we got to the top as we enjoyed a tea and lunch with the head Lama of the temple. Fortunately for us, Sithar provided one of his young army men to carry up our lunch and thank goodness for that as the lunch that was prepared was more like a buffet! Most of the time we felt like VIPs as we were really spoiled with so much attention.Some of the other sites we visited were the National Museum, Punaka Dzong, a few NGOs to see what assistance is given to those Bhutanese in need, Royal Botanical Gardens, we watched archery (their national sport), went to the zoo to see the Takin (their national animal), we went to Tango Goemba, the communications tower, national stadium, we went to Tharchean's daughters classes and read a story and played with puppets, we shopped for fresh vegetables at their central market, went to the Textile Museum, Art School (where the youth are taught numerous cultural skills like wood carving, painting, weaving, etc.), the Heritage Museum, and the Chelela Pass. Everything was so interesting, but far too much to share in just one blog.We were only in Bhutan for a few weeks, but the family made us feel like we had been there forever. Everyone was so hospitable, the children were so cute, and even grandma learned to say a few words in English. We had a great time with everyone, but miss them dearly. Enjoy the photos - they will hopefully say a lot more than this blog will.By the way, Tharchean passes a big 'HELLO' to all who know him!!From here we headed to Kathmandu, Nepal. See you there!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1205466660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1205466660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1205466660/tpod.html Sat, 15 Mar 2008 05:08:02 -0400 Norm and Sharon Asia 2008.

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Bangkok, Thailand

Well, here we are back in Bangkok again! Just an overnighter as we head off to Bhutan tomorrow morning on a 5 AM flight. We've got to be at the airport by 3 AM so it will be an early night for us. Tharchean will be meeting us at the airport and has a bit of an agenda for us - at least it sounds that way. We will see what all he has planned when we get there, but either way - we are going to have a great time in Bhutan.Time was running out in northern Thailand so we just did a quick walk-about the day before we left. We visited only a few of the several temples in Chiang Mai. There are 50-60 temples there so we were selective and enjoyed one of their most famous - Wat Phra Sing - which unfortunately was under repair when we were there. The other was Wat Suan Dok, where we got to enjoy the splender of the Wat during sunset. When the monks gonged the big bell around 6:00 or so all of the dogs on the property and the neighbourhood went bonkers! If you can imagine, there were at least 30 dogs howling and barking during the bell ringing session. In the evening, we enjoyed dinner at the Riverside Restaurant with a live band and tasty food. A few cold beers too, of course! And then a nice hot and sticky stroll through the night market and back to the hotel.With time having run out on us we were unable to go and visit the refugee camps as previously planned as we needed to get back to Bangkok for our flight.Take care.Norm and Sharon
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1205332680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1205332680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1205332680/tpod.html Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:48:57 -0400 Norm and Sharon Asia 2008.

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Chiang Rai, Thailand

Today I ventured off to Chiang Rai area to learn more about the different village hilltribes. I say "I" because Norm decided he wanted to just kick back and hang by the pool instead of spending another day in a minivan driving through the small mountain range sight-seeing and enjoying the likes of the weavers in the villages. It was a small group today - only 7.As the photos indicate, these are different hilltribe people from those we visited in Vietnam. I was fortunate to be able to meet up with a few of the women and children from the Long Neck Karen, the White and Red Karen (with the big hole earings), and the Akha. I was told by the guide that all of these people originated in Burma. There apparently is a bit of overlap of hilltribes between China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Burma. However, those I had seen during our travels all appear to be very much their own people as their attire, language, and customs vary from place to place. Their lifestyles were similar, but time during our daily adventures only allowed for a very minimal education of any of their other practices. Being unable to communicate in what would be considered an ordinary fashion also hindered the speed of learning, but let the truth be know that it made for a far more interesting day to try and figure things out by not being able to speak the same language.During this particular adventure, I would say that I probably spent the most time with the Long Neck as I was very curious about their practices and intruiged with their neckware. From what I understand, the brass neck-brace-like-necklace that is worn by the woman is replaced every three years until the age of 25. I didn't get an actual name for the item so I'm not too sure what to call it. In one photo, you will see one of the women holding a brass fitting that had been removed from someone's neck. I was not there to witness the procedure, however did get to hold it. If you can imagine the weight of it - being brass - I found it to be rather heavy. My Thai guide translated, what was part of my days worth of education, to let me know that the brass is heated so that it can be stretched out and shaped around the neck of the females that adorn it. Another one of the women explained that mothers of today are choosing to not put such fixtures on their female children anymore as it limits their opportunities outside of village life. Given the age of time, there now seems to be a stronger interest in allowing future generations to explore the world outside - be it with education or work. All in all, it appears that they want to embace what the rest of the world has to offer their women beyond their immediate surroundings. More importantly, women are given a choice to make their own decisions.When I asked, I was told that the brass fittings were not uncomfortable, nor were the leg braces that were worn just below the knee. I'm not too sure of that, however I suppose one would 'get use to it' - referring to the weight and feel of such foriegn objects on a persons body. I wondered the same about the large earing hilltribe women and asked it their ears felt pain as, to me, they appeared so over-stretched. They, too, suggested that there was no discomfort in the jewelry that adorned their earlobes. In fact, the one lady popped her silver earing out of her ear and allowed me to feel how heavy it was - it was not heavy at all. It just seemed so different to me (of course). You will see in the photos, that some of the older women had black stained teeth. It is my understanding that during WWII the men in the villages gave their women something to eat (not sure what it was) in order to stain their teeth and make them look less attractive to the white British soliders who use to take the women from the villages and have their way with them. Even today, such tactics of raping women and using them as tools of war is very common. A very unfortunate truth that has repeated itself over and over again only these women are literally stained for life - in order to perhaps have saved their lives.The last of the group that I saw was the Akha. These hilltribe people, I was told by the guide, were not as 'poor' as the others and that I should spend money with the other two groups instead. I did as was suggested as these women seemed far more savy when it came to dealing with the foriegners and much more aggressive with their 'sales pitch'. What was either fortunate or unfortunate, I suppose is in the eyes of each individual as most every village I went in to had somewhat of a 'commerical zone'. Be it a few small huts or a stretch of vendor shops which would almost depict a 'plaza-like' feel has all been introduced to the villages due to tourism. There are certainly pros and cons to all things, but like many others I just can't figure out which side of the fence I sit on when it comes down to it. As I, too, have been invited to visit most of the villages through a tour group - with the exception of the one day Norm and I spent with 'our sons' from Laos. Again, time just hasn't allowed for us to be around any one place long enough to build deep relations that could otherwise allow us to visit the local hilltribes in a less intrusive way. I'm not sure if I was able to share as much of my life with the hilltribe people as they were able to do with me as I only had a few photos to help introduce our family to them. However, I do feel blessed to have had the opportunity as I have learned a great deal about this part of the world and more so about these particular groups of people. I am not sure how long these hilltribe people will last as their numbers get smaller and smaller as time passes. It has been a privilage to have seen what I have seen and to have spent what little time I had to offer in order to learn as much as I was able to have taken away with me. I was able to enjoy the basic conversation - via hand signals and other bodily gestures - in order to figure things out. Overall, it was a true pleasure to watch the women weave and to have the opportuntiy to buy a few simple items that were made by the vendors who made them with their own hands and tender love and care. It was amazing how much one can learn, but more interesting to just be a part of what I found to be so far removed from what life back in Canada is really all about. Simiplicity made for many smiling faces in this part of the globe - unlike what wealth seems to do to people in our western societies. My day-trip was very interesting - especially the villages. On route back, we also stopped at an orchid and butterfly farm, a hill-top temple overlooking a village in the valley, a cave, and had a quick bite to eat. By the time I got back Norm had almost completed his book (novel) and was nicely bronzed from the warm sun. I will suggest that he may have had a few too many beers (as the photo indicates) - however, this particular photo was actually 'staged' one day when we were having lunch in Laos - it wasn't even taken in Thailand. I just thought I include it as I think Norm got the short end of the stick having stayed by the pool all day with such little adventure!Enjoy the pics. Sharon and Norm
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1205242980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1205242980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1205242980/tpod.html Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:29:24 -0400 Norm and Sharon Asia 2008.

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Chiang Mai, Thailand

Well, we made it to Chiang Mai safe and sound on Saturday night and dined on some fine Thai cuisine. Enjoyed it so much that we decided to take another cooking class...only this time it was in Thailand!!The cooking class was held at The Organic Farm Cooking School. It was just outside of the city on a lovely small farm. We were told that the area housed small size farms of similar size that sustained each farming family. And although each farm never produced enough to sell goods at the market, they did however swap their 'over-flow' of produce to someone in the community for a little bit of something else that they didn't have. The class was really enjoyable. As you can see from Norm's photo we picked all of our fresh herbs from the garden. We had visited the market just before we left the city to pick up our meat products and coconut milk, but most other supplies came directly from their garden. Many of the vegetables were already picked and cleaned before we arrived, which made it easier on us 'wanna-be Thai chefs', but the tour of the herb garden made up for what we otherwise might have felt we missed out on in the vegetable garden as it was, once again, very educational. It will certainly give us an edge when we return to Canada and shop in our favourite Asian grocery store as at least now we will have a better idea of what we are buying.Overall, a wonderfully filling day. We prepared a number of yummy Thai favourites all from scratch: red curry paste, green curry paste, red coconut curried chicken, green coconut curried chicken, spicy shrimp soup, coconut milk and chicken soup, chicken with cashew nuts, chicken with basil, pad Thai noodles, broad noodles, bananas in coconut milk, and sticky rice with mango. Hungry yet? As mentioned, we were stuffed. In fact, the food we cooked in the afternoon we just took away with us and ate later that night. Too much of a good thing ain't good for nobody!Take care. With love, Sharon and Norm
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1204976880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1204976880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1204976880/tpod.html Sun, 09 Mar 2008 08:04:32 -0400 Norm and Sharon Asia 2008.

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Bangkok, Thailand

B-L-D 1-2-3...what the heck does that mean????Well, 'B' was our number '1' meal of the day - breakfast in Luang Prabang, Laos;'L' was our number '2' meal of the day - lunch in Bangkok, Thailand; and'D' is for our number '3' meal of the day - dinner, which we will have up in northern Thailand in Chiang Mai.Long story short, but we woke up in Laos, had breakfast, took a tuk-tuk to the airport, jumped on a plane, stopped in Bangkok to purchase our airline tickets for Bhutan (which will be going to on March 16th), had a quick lunch, took a taxi back to the airport, and then will get back on another plane to head up to Chinag Mai area for the week. Sounds crazy, perhaps, but a very important ticket needed to be purchased and picked up. If you recall, we were unable to pay for our Bhutan flight in January as their airline didn't book flights that far in advance. Or if we didn't mention it, we are now. Yes, seems like a waste of time and money, but not to us as we are soon flying to Bhutan to visit with our dear friend, Tharchean and his family. Once again, we feel very priviledged to have the opportunity to visit Tharchean's beautiful country as it is only a dream to many of the people that we have met on route as everyone who knows about Bhutan wants to go there. Anyone who has spoken to us about it agrees that we are lucky to have a friend there. Needless to say, we are looking forward to that part of our trip.As for our final days in Laos - before our flights into and up to the northern part of Thailand - was interesting. Norm went and got a haircut, we had a quick walk-about through the morning market to buy some breakfast with our two sons, and then we visited the local village. Our 2 new sons, 'Charlie and Jerry', took us to see Charlie's dorm room. Both of them attend the small university in the village and are studying English as well as taking a teacher training course. Charlie is 22 (like our real son, James) and Jerry is now our eldest child - he's 24 years old. They are both of the Mong hilltribe people and both worked at the Villa Champa Guesthouse (where we stayed). They quickly adopted Norm and I as their 'Canadian' parents as we were spending time with them in the reception area trying to teach them a few new words in English along with helping them with their pronounciation. They were wonderful and a real delight to have come into our lives and, consequently, the lives of our family. Hope James and Jill don't mind a few extra members in the family! Of course, the boys won't be coming home with us, however have encouraged us to come back and stay for a long time the next time around. They thought that their brother and sister were very attractive (they saw their photos) and seemed happy to have new siblings to add to their 'real' family list of 7 other brothers and sisters, which would make 10 kids in all for those of you counting!The boys drove us on the back of their mottos - which we didn't realize until later that they could've gotten into trouble for - and took us to the village (sorry, but I cannot recall the name of it right now). In any case, it was an adventure as Charlie and I took the lead and Norm and Jerry followed. As was done once before with the 'friendly giant' on the back of someone else's motto, Norm and Jerry needed to stop for air as the back tire just couldn't handle the big fella. Then, when we thought everything was good to go, Jerry ran out of gas. Charlie and I came to the rescue and we were able to move onward.I mentioned that they could've gotten into trouble as they are not licensed to take tourists on their mottos. I guess this is something that is rather specific in this part of the world as they were very cautious to drive us on the 'back roads' and away from any possible run-ins with the authorities. Had they mentioned this first, we never would have accepted their offer. We were lucky...this time.Any way, back to the village....we saw the dorm, which was basically a long concrete block building with about dozen or so rooms. Norm said they reminded him of a storage locker. They were pretty small - about 8x8. Pretty bare - a clothing rack, family photo, calendar, very small bookshelf, a one-top cooktop burner to make food, and a bed roll to sleep on at night. Two people shared the space - Charlie and his other friend. Jerry is currently living with one of his sisters somewhere else, which we did not get to see.I said it was an interesting visit to the village as we were very fortunate to have come at a time when 2 pigs were being burned and slaughtered to repay the Shaman for 'healing' one of the members of the village who had taken quite ill. It was a real experience to have witnessed the ceremony of the slaughter, the drumming, and then the chanting of the Shaman. It was certainly an education that I had only read about in the past, but now got to see with my own two eyes. Pretty awesome, indeed.We spent a bit of time with a group of women and children, and even a few older fellas who were out smoking their pipe. This pipe is only smoked by the men as it is seen to be too masculine an affair for the women (or at least this is what I recall people had said to us in Vietnam as it was the same sort of pipe there too). After that we just headed back to the guesthouse. The following morning Norm and I took a little boat ride down river to visit the Ban Chan village, which is where they produce pottery for the local area. They make all sorts of things - big and small - to use for food, planters, etc. Unfortunately for us, we did not get to see anything being made as all items recently made were in the kiln - which was a fair size dug-out in the ground with a ramp that went down to the entrance. We could see the chimney, which was a hole in the gound about 20 or so feet away - a good indication of just how large the man-made kiln was for firing their works.What we did get to see was what the locals did in their down time - play cards. The men, women, and children were all busy playing some kind of card game with a bit of gambling involved. We didn't recognize the game, but did recognize the fact that there was money on the table to be won. I suppose, this was what people do when they wait for their pottery to get fired. We were told that the pottery would be coming out the next day so we weren't able to see it.Not much beyond that happened, however I did forget to mention one very important thing about this visit to Ban Chan...our tour guide - if you want to call him that - was about 5 years old. His dad drove the boat and sent his little son to take us up the bank of the Mekong River, down the path and past the water buffalo, and into the village. So when you see the photo, please don't mistaken it for another 'big man - little man' shot as it is not. The little guy was just our 'guide'.We'll connect soon when we have more to say about our time spent in Chiang Mai. Until then, enjoy life, stay healthy, and keep smiling!Love you all!Sharon and Norm  
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1204727040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1204727040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1204727040/tpod.html Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:15:45 -0500 Norm and Sharon Asia 2008.

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Luang Prabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

Hi Everyone,Sorry about the 're-send' on the last few blogs, but the computer we had used in Hanoi had been acting up so we thought we'd best send them again. If you saw them once - great - if you saw them twice - lucky you!Here is some new stuff to view...We arrived in Luang Prabang, Laos on Saturday evening and we are loving it.This is a great little town. Nothing at all like Vietnam or Cambodia. Here the people are laid back, relaxed and don't hassle you at all. They will ask, but if you say no they accept it and move on.We found a great little guest house right in the middle of town called Villa Champa. Champa is the national flower of Laos. It has only been open since February 2008 and is run by a very nice young family (and a few hired and friendly staff). The night clerk is called "Charlie" and he is training another young man, who we have named "Jerry" - as he asked us to give him an English name like his friend (Charlie). They are both good hard working young fellows who go to school during the day and work at night. But never complain as they are happy to have a good job and also happy to be learning in school (teacher training and English).Every morning at 6:30 AM there is a procession of Monks that goes right by our Guest House, so we get up in the morning and watch it as they walk by and the onlookers give Alms (food donation) to them. They believe that if they give to the Monks they in turn will be blessed and it will bring them luck and prosperity. The procession usually lasts about 1/2 hour and there are probably about 100 Monks or more. We have taken some pictures, but try to be respectful and give them their space as well.The other day we went for a boat ride on the Mekong River for a couple of hours and visited Tam Ting Caves which were just re-discovered in 1975 by a French explorer. When he discovered the inside of the caves, he found that there were over 4000 Buddhas of all shapes and sizes inside that local people had been leaving in the caves for about 500 years.On Tuesday we decided to go back to school, cooking school that is. Tamnak Restaurant (Three Elephant Restaurant) also runs a cooking school so off we went. First thing we did was go to the Phousi Market to learn about all of the different Laos ingredients that we see, but don't know what they are. It is good to learn about the different vegetables and spices and what we can replace them with if we cannot get them at home. In the morning session we watched as the 2 instructors created 2 dishes and then we had to re-create them. In the afternoon our instructors showed us 5 dishes and we re-created our choice of 3 of them. Of course we got to eat all the different things we made, and our left-overs we took back to Charlie and Jerry to have for their dinner. They were both very appreciative. As part of the package we receive a small cookbook with about 15 or 20 recipes, so look out when we get back you may be eating Water Buffalo or something else.Today we had a very full day as we were picked up at 7:45 by a mini-van to take us to the "Elephant Project and Camp" where we watched the elephants eat, saw a doctor (vet) treating "our" elephant (whose name is Bonsue) who has an infection in his cheek. Bonsue is the largest of the elephants at the center and is 45 years old, but he was a gentle old soul. He was very calm and sure footed as he took us on our journey through the jungle and across the river for about an 1- 1/2 hour. After this we took a van further up the road and got onto a bamboo raft for a gentle ride down the river back to the center. It was nice and relaxing and we enjoyed our ride as Suk and Muen, our guides guided us down stream.Had lunch at the center and then it was off to Kuangxi Waterfall to look at the wonderful views and of course have a swim. The water was quite cool, but it was very refreshing. Also at the falls area they had a tiger and bear rescue center. The bears are called Moon Bears and they are black with a white patch on their throat. Like back in Canada, people are encroaching on their space and they are losing more and more of their environment. The tiger area was not open so not sure what this was all about. It was a very busy day, but definitely worth while as we got to see and do so much.The owners of the Guest House have asked us if we could take some pictures of their new establishment, and help them with some ideas for their website that they want to create. While I am typing this Sharon is helping with the content portion and tomorrow we will take some pictures for them and put them on their P.C. so they can use them in the future.As we keep saying, we always look forward to hearing from everyone back home so keep those emails coming. Stay in touch,Norm and Sharon.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1204429620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1204429620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/normandsharon/seaward_travels/1204429620/tpod.html Sun, 02 Mar 2008 10:32:53 -0500 Norm and Sharon Asia 2008.

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Hanoi, Vietnam

Hurray,I found the elusive beer corner just about 4 or 5 blocks from our hotel. The beer was good, but talk about inflation. The first day we got some it was 2500 dong or 17 cents a glass. The next day it went up to 3000 dong or about 20 cents or so. If the Filly ever did that to us there would be a revolt. We are back in Hanoi and today we leave for Luang Prabang in Laos so we will update you when we can. We sometimes send blogs close together as we have trouble finding internet access, sorry about that.Today it is a little warmer so we will stroll around a wee bit. We went to the Temple of Literacy where if you stroke the turtles head it is believed that one will get wiser. Wish me luck!Look for our next Blog soon.Norm and Sharon
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