TravelStream™ news feed for member nperian on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/nperian en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:32:31 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nperian/2/1259406501/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nperian/2/1259406501/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nperian/2/1259406501/tpod.html Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:32:31 -0500 Gringos go to Central America!

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Manuel Antonio, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Hey Everyone!!!

Well finally found a place with internet and I know I am really behind!!

Saturday 11/21

We started the day with breakfast at our hostel and was then picked up by our tour guides for Zip Lining or Canopy. Louis, Alan, and another guy I can´t remember his name. We picked up one other girl that was to come with us. We drove for about 30 mins to the jungle/rain forest for the fun to begin. As most of you know heights and me are not the best of friends, so this was pushing it for me. For those of yo who don´t know what zip lining is, it basically is you get put in a harnass and then there is a pully that attaches to wires from one tree to another in the jungle. I went first and it was a little scary cause you have one hand behind you that can break and help to keep you from twisting around. There were about 8 different lines and I have to say that the last two were my favorites they were fast and then a really really long one. It has to be one of the funniest things I have ever done. We finished up with some local lunch that was simple but so tasty!

The funny or dare I say scary thing was we were talking to people later about doing it and they did another tour company and they were connected differently than we were to the lines. We had the pulley that was on the wire and there safety harness clip was also attached to the pulley. The other people had the safety harness attached to the line in case the pully some how jumped off the line. When I heard that I was like wow.....didn´t even cross my mind...


We finished our day by heading to the beach. It was so nice and the ocean felt like bath water. We met Ray and his sister Mary (she actually lived in oak park, IL for a few years) and they put us out some chairs and umbrellas and my new favorite beer Imperial. We would soon be regulars for the next couple of days. We relaxed and ended the day with some dinner. We met two guys from Colerado. When I first saw them I told Denise, "They are family". Sure enough I was right, their names was Eric and Todd. They were nice and celebrating their 10 year anniversary. They asked if me and Denise were together and I just starting laughing....and I said no. We talked some more with them and then took the bus back and bought some beers down the street and then back to our room.

-Nathan
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Manuel Antonio, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Ok so I have to say that I am sorry that I have not written one single blog. The reason is well the place denise picked for us to stay at didn´´t have internet...; Also the place didn´t have a lot of internet cafes. I have to admit that I kinda enjoyed not having it.

So we boarded our plane and to our luck we had children surrounding us. A baby in front of us, a little boy sporting his cowboy boots and some very annoying girls behind us. It was only about a 4 your flight but it felt like forever! I think I may have dosed off for maybe an hour total. Then the baby was crying the girls behind is were talking and kicking my seat pure hell. Then there was some seat switching and a new little boy with a.d.d. Sat next to me. At one point he had his music so loud I had to ask him to turn it off.

We had a little layover in Mexico then quickly was landing in san Jose. The budget traverlers we were going to take the bus, but this nice man in a somewhat official uniform offered us a ride for 120. We jumped on it and soon pulling up was a late 80s Nissan sentra..... Yes I am sure the lonely planet would not advise this but off we went!

In just 3 short hours we were rolling up to flora de blancas our home for the next few days. Let me tell you denise did it again she has a knack for picking shitty places. The room was musty and had a cobweb of hair on the ceilling and gum on the wall. I just looked at Denise thinking this is just the beginning. We showered and headed out to dinner were I had my first imperial which is their local beer. It was delicious! We came home because we hadn't slept much got all cuddled in our beds when what do I spot.... I lizard on the wall. As I looked at denise she said "and we didn't even have to pay for that" and I responded "oh...I am paying for it maybe not money but I an paying for it"

-Nathan
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Chicago, Illinois, United States

Hi everyone!

I hope this year you all will enjoy reading my blog again like last year. We will will be traveling to Costa Rica and Guatemala. I am all pack (I hope) and Denise should be here in a taxi in less than an hour. I made sure to take a nice long hot shower before this trip, because it will be awhile before I will be able to do that again.

This year's trip should be fun and very exciting. We have a lot of really cool things planned but as I have learned on these trips, it is always the unplanned things that seem to be the most memorable!

I am very excited about this trip and a little nervous, so keep me in your thoughts!

-Nathan


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Phuket, Thailand

Well it is Saturday morning here in Phuket. This will be are last full day and night here. I have to say I have enjoyed this relaxing part of the trip and the people we have met on this Island. I enjoy the people I meet as much as I do seeing sites and the countries. You get to pick their brains a little bit about what they think on Americans, world views, and get to see if what you thought about them is true at all. Phuket is a little too tourist for my taste, but would be a great place for a shorter trip (2 weeks is too long) or if you are simply looking for a great place to lay in the sun and eat cheap food and drinks. I really love their local beers with Tiger being my favorite by far. You can get it at the fake 7 11 for $1USD :) very nice!! I hope that I am able to find the Thai beers in the states when I return to share with my friends.

The weather over the past few days has been great hot and sunny much different than the overcast we experienced in the first week we were here.

Yesterday I woke up before the others (they like to sleep a little later than I do) and had my coffee and breakfast. Before going to the beach. Denise has been talking about getting a dress made all week so she finally did it yesterday morning. I debated on getting some custom dress shirts made because they are so cheap but haven't done it and will prob kick myself when I go back to the states. I have been trying to also be good with my money due to the fact that we are way over budget on this trip and with the holidays fastly approaching! I headed to the beach to be greeted by my favorite beach attendant (I don't think that is what they are called but I don't know what else to call them) Single who greeted me with a smile and asked where my friends where. I told him they would be joining me later.

I baked in the sun for a few hours had a beer and a sandwich and then decided that I could not possibly take any more of the sun and headed back to the hotel to take a dip in the pool to rinse off. Frank wasn't feeling too well so he had stayed in the room all day and slept mostly. We all layed around some and then decided that we would have a few drinks, grab something to eat, and then head out to the bars. We had nothing else to do and it was Friday night!

We noticed that that the streets seemed a lot quieter than usual and clubs/bars were closed. It turns out that since it was the King's Bday that all the bars/clubs had closed and not seeing drinks. We grabbed some fried rice at this dive place that Frank had stumbled upon one night after being out and we had dinner and a beer there. It was back to our room for the night.

We found the movie Office Space on the TV and it was kinda a funny reminder of what my work is like as I drifted off to sleep.

Until the next one (only a few more)

Nathan
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Phuket, Thailand

Well we have officially been in Phuket and are trip much longer than we thought it would be. Luckily things are safe here in Phuket so no need to worry. On Tuesday the protesters finally got what they wanted and the Prime Minister was kicked out. So at least it worked!

As for us, well we have been kinda in a groundhog day since are vacation was extended. We pretty much wake up eat breakfast, go back to the room and change (Frank showers, he takes like at least 3 a day), decide on the beach or the pool, go there for a few hours, grab lunch, come back and nap, wake up get ready, go eat, and then either come back and crash or go out for a few drinks.

So yes I have a pretty good tan going on and I'm sure when I get back to Chicago everyone will just think I have been fake bakin too much. We started going to this one part of the beach because it isn't too crowded and the beach guy always makes sure we have our beers (which cost $2USD) and talks to us, his name is Single. Actually we know quite a few locals here. The hotel when we come in knows are room number and just hands us the key we have been here so long. Also this one bar/club we go to we know some of the local people there by name as well. The will ask if one of the 3 isn't there where they are. Kinda funny... kinda sad...

The other day to mix things up me and Denise rented jet skis which was a LOT of fun. I had never ridden one before but it was well worth the money and to break the groundhog day thing we have going on. I mean seriously our biggest decision is pool or beach everyday!

Last night though we really got a little crazy. We had thrown around the idea of going to the movies so I mentioned again yesterday and Frank was all over it! He found one within walking distance and times of the shows. We were going to do dinner and a movie, boring for most... exciting for us!

We decided on Twilight and it was a really good love story about a vampire and human, go see it. We had dinner at this place where they give you a big pot and you can cook the stuff yourself so that is what Denise and myself did. It tasted pretty good, but for the work I would rather have someone else cook for me!!

The movie place was cheap about $4USD. You get to pick if you want cheap seats, deluxe seats, or sofa seats. Paying more as you go up to a better seat. The theater was large and very nice. However it smelled as if we were on top of a sewage plant.. yuck!

One thing interesting before they movie started they played what I believe to be their national anthem and had pictures of the king and queen and you stood up for it. Different, but we did.

The prices on things in the mall seem pretty cheap too so I may go check it out and see if there are any good buys.

Until the next one!

Nathan
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Phuket, Thailand

Well when we flew into Phuket we were supposed to be staying from Sunday and then leaving on Thurs (Thanksgiving) to head for Bangkok. As we were here on Tuesday we learned that protesters had taken over 2 of the airports in Bangkok and there was no way to get there. Thursday soon approached and are flight was indeed canceled. They kept saying that they figured it would be over by Saturday so we would just fly out then to Bangkok and catch our flight home. This was def wishful thinking on our part. As Saturday came and the airports were still closed we were thinking that we may be delayed getting home a few days. I checked with our airline and found out that they flew from Phuket to Seoul which is where we are supposed to connect to get to Chicago.

Next we decided that we should call them and have them re-route us from Phuket. Well Frank called and we were in the room just waiting to see what they would tell us. We heard Frank go "Thats the earliest you can get us out" me and Denise were expecting something like Tues/Weds the latest. He then gave us the bad news they said Dec 8th!! A whole week past when we were to go home. We had them change things but thought that we would be able to find another way home faster if we could get to another city. So off to the computers we went!

We were checking the websites to see if we could get back to Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, really anywhere. It wasn't looking good. Considering that over 20,000 passengers were stuck in Phuket too flights were filling up. It didn't help much that a lot of the flights from here connected through Bangkok which was closed. We finally after looking at other airlines and tickets of over $2500 and another $300 for expedia to change our flight we were going to be stuck here another week. I know I know what you are thinking is there are worse places to be stuck. This is very true. However... we have been traveling and away from home for 3 weeks and just want to come home!!

Everyone took it pretty well, I actually thought that Frank would have broken down crying, but he stayed strong. We now are even more over budget than we were!

Until the next one!

Nathan
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Phuket, Thailand

Well It is Weds and we are off to do what Denise has been waiting for this whole trip, Elephant trekking. I wasn't too excited for it but hey thought it would be some good pics!

We were picked up in a truck type vehicle with a gate that kept us in the back. We got to the "safaria" after a 30 min ride from our hotel. We first rode what I think was an ox around in a circle then had our picture taken on top of one. They showed us how they use the sap from rubber trees to make rubber kinda neat to see that this is how they make things.

Next up riding elephants... not what I thought it would be at all. We rode them round the land some and through a creek. My elephant must have been hungry and just kept getting detoured by eating grass and such on the way. So then we went to the Elephant show. At this point I already feel really bad for the animals and am pretty sure PETA or some other US group would have them shut down in a min. They show was 2 adult elephants and a baby one that they taught how to dance, play tug of war, shoot a basketball, give massages, and kick a soccer ball. I am honestly just hoping all this is going to be over soon because I feel so bad for the animals.

Well they had another show for us and it was the monkey one. These poor things were tied to little tree huts/houses and were taught to ride a bike, shoot a basketball, get money, and take coconuts off a tree.

Finally all that was over. As we got in a our cage truck I asked these 2 aussies if it was what they thought the place was going to be like and of course they were disappointed as much as I was.

Back to the hotel change and off to the beach. It was supposed to be our last night here in Phuket and then off to Bangkok but as we had been watching the news we knew that there was no end in site of the protest and figured we would be here until we left to come home. So we had dinner and then went out on the town.

Until the next one!

Nathan
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Phuket, Thailand

Well we left hot beautiful KL, Malaysia to make our way to Thailand. First stop is Phuket, Thailand (Sunday). It is a island in Thailand big for tourists from everywhere. The first thing we do when we land is go to an ATM and take money out. Well my card had been deactivated and I couldn't get anything out. I called before I left to make sure this wouldn't happen but I guess there were too many with drawls and they were making sure. We hopped in a taxi and made our way to our hotel/resort.

We pulled up and we are right across from the beach which is awesome and they gave us a drink upon arriving which we need! We went up to our room which is the nicest place we have been staying. We travel so cheap but decided to spend a little extra money a night to stay at a resort cause it still is so cheap. We gave Frank a little bit of a hard time because he went over budget (our budget being around $35 per person a night here). We didn't really mind though cause we had been paying so little everywhere else. We went up and changed and then went out for a drink to celebrate us being in paradise!

The next day was our lazy day for us to do the pool and beach. We also got a massage and facial for $40USD not to bad. I have to admit though this massage was the most different than any I have had before, at times they really have no shame in touching all over. Anyways my back had been hurting me some so the massage felt great! We also registered for some tours to do while we are on the island. That night we went out to a few bars to check out the night life. I had went to the bathroom in one of the clubs and they had a person in there that gives you soap and towels while yo are there. Well when I was washing my hands a man came up behind me and just popped my neck to the left and then the right before I could even say anything. Weird but it felt great, back pain gone!

So Tuesday was our first day to have a Tour. It was a Phi Phi Island tour that included island hopping and some snorkeling. We were picked up in a van then drove to the marina. As we got on the beach it was us, some English speaking Asians, and a whole bunch of Russians (who don't believe in Deo). Some were nice and others not so much (a lady got all mad cause we moved inside the boat and sat where she was because it was raining). We rode in the front of the boat which was quite bumpy at times, so much I thought Frank or myself were going to fly out.

We went to Monkey Island where yes there were monkeys for us to feed bananas to. We also went to this place called Viking Cave which I thought we were going to explore but no just pointing out this cave where a family of 5 lives and catch a certain fish that Asians use in medicines and which also they believes makes them younger. We then went to Loh Samah Bay where we got to snorkel. I had done this in Hawaii before and it still excites me every time I do it. You can get so close to the fish and they swim right next to you, I did get bit by one though and kinda freaked me out. Another place we went was Maya Bay, this is where the movie "The Beach" was shot. It has been a long time but they still are using it as a selling point.

Lunch was a buffet type on another part of the island after wards was off to Khai Nok for a little relaxing, picture taken, and of course a drink. We came back and out to dinner after we freshened up. Frank was all about going out but I just didn't have it in me so Denise went out. They were just supposed to go for a drink but they rolled in past 4am! Happy with myself for staying in and relaxing!

One thing to note here we learned that the Bangkok Airport had been taken over by protesters and that it was closed, we are supposed to fly to Bangkok on Thurs. It is Tuesday now...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nperian/1/1227931680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nperian/1/1227931680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nperian/1/1227931680/tpod.html Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:21:41 -0500 Asian Invasion

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Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia

Well it was our last day in Kuala Lumpur and the only thing we had to do was go to the Batu Caves. It was these limestone caves just outside the city that was founded by an American over a hundred years ago. Well it was quickly adopted by the hindus as thier primary worship place in the area.

We took a bus there which was a little hard to find due to them not really have "bus stops" we made it there and then had to prepare for a hike up nearly 300 stairs to the top. Along the way the cool thing was there are all these monkeys that hang around there and people feed them, they let you get pretty close but I was not about to touch any of them. I did get some good pics ot them.

As you are walking up the stairs you are also walking along side this huge statue of a gold god for the temple. Upon the top you get a great view of the city. As you enter the caves they are limestone with opens to the sky. There were little shrines all through out and then some places for people to go and pray and worship. As you walk more towards the back there is another opening to the top that is just breathtaking.

One thing I do on the trip is try and keep my eye on Denise and Frank so I know where they are at all times. As me and Frank were walking back towards the exit Denise didn't see us and then found us at the top steps. She was right behind us as we waked down but stayed to take pics. When we got to the bottom Denise came up to us and started screaming at us for leaving her in front of all these people, rather embarrassing as foreigners at a temple. It is hard traveling with a girl at times.

We got back to the city and Denise took some time off by herself. Me and Frank grabbed some lunch and met this really cool guy from Iran who has been traveling alone for 2 months and doesn't plan to go home until end of Jan. I am jealous of people who do those things and see the world. Also the courage to do it alone blows my mind.

We then hit up some shops cause we had extra money and I got some cool things, although my bags are stuffed and I need to stop buying things. It is hard though because you start haggling with them and want to see how cheap you can get things.

It was off to the airport Phuket bound and excited for a beach and pool!!!

Until the next one!

Nathan
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Shanghai, Shanghai, China

Day- I have no idea :)

Well it has been a few days since my last entry we have been quite busy and the computers in the hostel in Shanghai were always busy. I am sure I am missing some stuff that will come to me later, but I gotta get caught up on these!! I almost like going to an Internet cafe and just paying and not being rushed. We were in Shanghai for a few days and it was pretty fun. Of course when we get there it was kinda late so the fast train wasn't running so we had to take an hour taxi ride to the hostel, luckily our non-English speaking taxi driver got us there. As he was driving around the area started too look a little rough so we knew we were on close. We didn't have a room for that night since we flew in early but they had one. Good thing too cause I didn't have another place lined up.

It was a pretty cool hostel, prob the most "backpacking" one we stayed at. Well we started our day with going to see the another temple, I know shocking. This one was in the middle of the city and still an active one. We then made our way after walking around to find the Yu Yuan Gardens. Got some cool pics of this garden just in the middle of all this business. I had this street food there that I thought was potatoes but turned out it was some sorta gelatin type cubes. I have no idea what it was, prob fat or something worse. That night we went to an area called Po dong to meet up with one of Franks friends for dinner at a dumpling house. I think she was very excited to see Frank cause she moved over here to teach 3 months ago and is still adjusting.

Shanghai and Beijing are like night and day. Shanghai was much more of a city feel like Chicago. The city is growing a lot and there is construction everywhere. You could tell the people in Shanghai have more money than Beijing. We didn't really see any homeless people in Beijing because I believe that most live a very very modest lifestyle to say the least. This trip has definetely opened my eyes to a lot of how others live in the world. I find myself constantly thinking about how lucky I am and where I live. People here live on hardly anything and make so little.

The next day we were just having kind of a chill day that involved going to another part of town that is their big shopping district and grabbing lunch. We then walked to the Peoples Square in the middle of the city. Afterwords back to the hostel. As we got off of our stop we saw this foot massage place that we heard this guy at the hostel talking about. We said why not it was only 20 yuan, which is like $3USD. The didn't speak English so no real communication was happening. They immediately went to town on massaging our legs as our feet soaked in boiling hot water. Then came the foot massage which felt amazing after walking all day. I have to say I kinda felt bad that this is how they made their living. It really is quite disgusting rubbing peoples feet, they didn't even wear clothes when they did it. They prob massage each foot for 30mins before going to the next. There were times that it hurt some but nothing compared to the beating the Frank was enduring. The lady was pounding the hell out of Frank's feet and calve muscles with her fist. All and all well worth the money. Then we grab a cheap beer 3yuan, which is close to 50 cents and headed to our hostel and ordered a pizza.

We went out to some bars that night that were pretty fun. So we woke up the next morning which was when we were to fly out. We wanted to leave by like 11am but was more like an hour late leaving. Our flight was at 2 ish. We get to the fast train, which goes over 250mph to the airport. We get in and go to see what terminal Air Asia was in. We looked up and down the list of airlines and ours was not to be found. Then the bad news... Frank pulls out our tickets and we are at the wrong airport. My heart sank, I was so upset with myself for assuming we were to fly out of the same airport that we flew into there. We had no time to go to the other airport so I suggested that since this was the biggest airport there we would just go and see if there were flights going to Malaysia from there. We found a flight and the cost was a little over $500USD each. I mean now we had almost missed our train because Denise took us to the wrong train which meant we could have missed a flight and now this. We def need to up our game. I thought Denise was going to pass out and Frank was still groggy from our night out so he wasn't doing great. We agreed to buy the tickets because if not we would not get into Malaysia till the following day and miss our Tour. It was def a low point in the trip because we have been so cheap and doing so well with our money. It was one mistake that we will NEVER do again, no more assuming!

We had to hang out in the airport for around 6 hours till our flight. Bye to China and we are ready for warm weather now!

Until the next one!

Nathan
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