TravelStream™ news feed for member timandmary on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/timandmary en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:56:23 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1150163700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1150163700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1150163700/tpod.html Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:56:23 -0400 From Sydney to the bush and Beyond

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Ottawa, Canada

Boarding the plane, we noticed Air Canada's maple leaf. It finally hit us that we were coming home. During the flight, we watched a few movies and thumbs up for the Hagen daaz ice cream. We arrived in Toronto around 4:30 pm and had no problems going through customs. We thought for sure they would search our bags. Being away for 4 months wasn't a big concern for the customs officer. He only wanted to know if we had any alcohol or cigarettes, the usual questions. The only weird thing is we had our camera equipment swabbed down for chemicals and thought that was pretty funny after all the security checks we had already been through, not too mention is was a domestic flight. Our flight to Ottawa wasn't until 9:00 pm but we knew for sure there would be an earlier one. So, we made our way to the connecting flight counter and they changed our flight for 6:00 pm. Tim's friend picked us up at the airport and brought us over to his parent's place where we waited to surprise them. It was quite a surprise! We've been pretty busy these last few days putting our things in order and getting use to driving...not turning the wipers on when wanting to signal. We're still getting over jetlag. This morning I awoke at 4:00 am ready to start the day. However, it was all worth it. Leaving with only a backpack knowing that in the days to come I would be realizing a childhood dream is indescribable. It was pretty exhilarating hitting the road with no predetermined destination. We had some great fun seeing another part of the world and meeting all kinds of interesting people. We enjoyed sharing our travels with all of you and want to thank everyone who supported us especially Tim's parents who took great care of Gonzo and Fluffams.Tim and Mary
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1150163580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1150163580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1150163580/tpod.html Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:55:08 -0400 From Sydney to the bush and Beyond

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Tokyo, Japan

A good thing we bought some new suitcases the other day because they were full by the time we finished packing! But then of course, our big backpacks took up a bunch of room. Somehow, we managed to save some space for our last shopping day in Bangkok. We went to a few places, picked up some last minute souvenirs and headed back to our guesthouse to get our luggage. Our flight was leaving at 11:55 pm and it was around 7:30 p.m once we left. It took a good 2 hours to get out of town. Everyone in Thailand had come out to see the firework display so traffic was a nightmare. Streets were like parking lots. People were getting out of their cars to watch. It was so magical to them; you could see it in their eyes. It made me realize how we take it for granted. We finally made it to the highway and from there on it was fast sailing. We had no problems finding our gate and had enough time to walk around a bit before boarding. It was a pretty short flight to Tokyo (5 hours 45 minutes) and we got in at 5:45 am (7:45 am Tokyo time) we were really tired and didn't get much sleep on the airplane. Our flight to Toronto didn't leave until 5:15 pm so we decided to get a day room. After having a nice warm shower, our heads hit the pillow and we didn't awake until 3:30pm. It was nice being so close to our gate and not having to sit for hours in the airport. Feeling refreshed and ready for an 11 hour flight!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1149817500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1149817500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1149817500/tpod.html Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:52:46 -0400 From Sydney to the bush and Beyond

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Bangkok, Thailand

We visited the zoo today and had a blast walking around the peaceful grounds. Seriously, you could hardly hear any cars and they had classical music playing. You'll see from the pictures that we saw quite a few animals: elephants, zebras, giraffes, monkeys, bears, red panda... As the sun went down, we were near the exit taking some pictures of the lake when we noticed all kinds of policeman. Some were really dressed up. We weren't quite sure what was going on. So we left the zoo and walked a bit to find a taxi. As we were walking, we noticed that the traffic had died down. We crossed the street and a man came up to us and said that the King was coming. The zoo is located right next to the King's palace and now it made sense why there were so many officers at the zoo. A few other people gathered next to us and the officers told us to put our hands to our sides. We couldn't believe it; the King was going go by any second. Now, there were absolutely no cars in all directions and all of the sudden, some police cars drove by followed by a cream Mercedes limousine. There was the King with some women passengers, perhaps his wife and children dressed in the most amazing dresses. After they went by, there were another 20 cars followed by more police cars. Most of the passengers were dressed in military outfits. We could feel the people next to us move their heads back and forth, not daring moving any other body part. We had two policemen in front of us watching our every move. When it was all over, people had huge smiles asking us if we saw their King. They explained how celebrations were starting tonight for the King's 60 anniversary to the Thrown. This afternoon, we saw a big line up of people waiting to purchase a yellow t-shirt. Everyone is wearing yellow and the 7-Eleven's are selling wrist bands saying "I love the King"! All of the decorations are up and yellow flowers are everywhere. It's quite something to see. You can even buy a yellow handbag encase you want to color coordinate!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1149644280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1149644280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1149644280/tpod.html Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:44:26 -0400 From Sydney to the bush and Beyond

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Bangkok, Thailand

We had an early start this morning and caught the 8:00 o'clock bus to the floating market. We had a two hour bus ride ahead of us and only a chocolate bar to survive on! We were hoping there would be a food stand near the terminal but the bus was leaving so you get the picture. We sat in the front because we weren't too sure where we had to get off. The only thing is, they turned the television on which only played very loud Thai karaoke songs. Tim and I just turned to each other and laughed. We passed beautiful temples on the way to the market. We also saw all kinds of ponds and later found out they were shrimp and salt farms. As we approached the two hour mark, we got off the bus and started walking towards the market. Not knowing how far it was, we grabbed another bus and 25 km's later, we finally arrived. The second bus driver dropped us off at the "new floating market" and right away we knew something was up. Yes, there were canals but where were all of the people, other tourists? Not too mention the guide book said it was the old floating market. A man quickly approached us and showed us a map of different temples and fish farms. We were right. The bus driver probably just dropped us off at his friends place or he got some kind of commission. So we continued walking and two minutes later, we saw the Old Floating Market sign and tourists all over the place. Now, this was more like it!After walking around for a bit, we decided to take a boat ride across the canals. There were women with straw hats selling fruits and vegetables. As our boat glided by the stores, some of the vendors would stick a hook out in order to pull our boat in for a closer look. We knew before we left that the prices at the floating market were inflated. Some things were quadruple in price so we ended up taking pictures instead of purchasing any souvenirs.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1149557460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1149557460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1149557460/tpod.html Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:38:14 -0400 From Sydney to the bush and Beyond

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Bangkok, Thailand

We took a short ferry ride across the river to visit a local shrine. As soon as we boarded, we could see the temple. It looked more like a weapon of war. But up close, it had beautiful mosaic flowers made out of porcelain. We walked by a French tour group and overheard the guide explaining how there were rumors of a giant Buddha inside the temple but no-one had ever seen it. She also said that you used to be able to climb right up to the top but it is now closed because some women had their dresses fly upwards and made the monks mad, so they decided that for now on, nobody could climb to the top. After walking around and visiting a few souvenir stands, we sat near the dock and watched the boats go by. The water was brown and long tailed boats were zooming across the water picking up tourists and bringing them around. We must have stayed there for over an hour watching all of the activity.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1148915640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1148915640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1148915640/tpod.html Sun, 04 Jun 2006 07:30:45 -0400 From Sydney to the bush and Beyond

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Bangkok, Thailand

We've been walking our feet off this past week visiting shopping malls and numerous markets. From high end to low end, we've seen it all! One department store had 6 floors of bright colored clothing. We couldn't get over it; each floor carried the same bright colored shirts/pants/skirts. Another mall we visited carried Gucci and Louis Vutton and as we walked through the department store, there was a "personal shopper" sign hanging from above. Not too far, there was sitting area and a little café selling chocolate deserts. Bangkok is truly a shopper's paradise. There's a market on every corner and most of them are open till late. Some of them don't even open until 6:00 pm. And every other store sells shoes... rows and rows of shoes. Yesterday, we visited the mother of all markets with 15,000 stalls. They had everything: handicrafts, antiques, plants, orchids, animals, clothes -aisles and aisles of clothes. Finding our sizes was a bit tricky because wearing a size medium is very "Big" in Thai terms but I did end up finding 3 skirts and Tim walked away with some T-Shirts. We were exhausted by the time we caught a taxi back to our guesthouse. We also visited a tech gear place. You should have seen Tim's eyes as we walked into the building and looked up to see escalators after another. There were electronics and computer parts everywhere. Some things were comparable to back home but others were too good of a deal like the Ipod covers we bought for $3.00 compared to $45.00 back home.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1149175140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1149175140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1149175140/tpod.html Sat, 03 Jun 2006 15:41:57 -0400 From Sydney to the bush and Beyond

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Bangkok, Thailand

Today we thought we would try something different and visit a snake farm. As we were walking towards a tuk tuk, a bus full of monks passed by. An image that reminded us again that we were in Thailand! Once we arrived, we walked around and saw different types of snakes (in their enclosures of course!) After watching the King cobra for the longest time, we headed inside the auditorium for a slide show. We found out that the farm is owned by the Thai Red Cross and they use the snakes to manufacture antivenoms. We also found out that Thailand has more than 180 varieties of snakes of which 56 are venomous. But, not too worry, the most dangerous ones are found in Australia. After the slide show, we made our way outside and watched the handlers bring out different snakes. We got to touch most of them and even had our picture taken.We weren't too far from Wat Traimit (Temple of the Golden Buddha) so we decided to make that our last stop before heading back to our guesthouse. It's the world's s largest golden Buddha image weighing 5.5 tones and standing 3m tall. Before heading back to our room, we decided to stop at this ice cream shop nearby. It's similar to Friendly's and has this amazing peanut butter and fudge sundae! We're having such a great time in Bangkok. People are so friendly and always smiling. The other day we got lost and a college student helped us out even though he was struggling to find the words. Even a taxi driver was telling us how he'd been to China, South Korea and Vietnam and tried to talk to people but their just not as friendly as people in Thailand. The only thing is, we still have to figure out this weird chanting music we hear every other hour outside our room. We're not sure if it's a prayer or their national anthem? The other day, we went to see the Da Vinci Code and right before the movie played, everyone stood as they showed a clip of the King. That was a bit strange but at least we had read about it in our guide book so we knew what to expect. By the way, the book was much better. Speaking about the King, in a few weeks he will be celebrating his 60th year accession to the thrown. The entire city is being decorated in yellow and with ribbons. People are wearing wrist bands saying "I love the King". At night, workers are decorating trees with ferry lights. Once everything is up, we'll take some pictures and post them.But make sure to visit our website for all the pictures of thailand www.lostaroundtheworld.com
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1149002160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1149002160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1149002160/tpod.html Fri, 02 Jun 2006 11:56:02 -0400 From Sydney to the bush and Beyond

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Bangkok, Thailand

We got up early this morning and caught a tuk tuk to the Grand Palace, the former royal residence. It was quite amazing walking around knowing that it was established back in 1782! We saw a few throne halls and Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) you'll notice in the pictures the funny shaped trees; they're actually trimmed by the royal poodle barber. Afterwards, we made our way to Wat Pho, a temple dating back to the 16th century. We saw this amazing Buddha gilded with gold leaf and measuring 45m. Even its feet were beautiful, lined with mother-of-pearl. As we continued walking, we came upon another temple where monks were praying. We were surprised that the guard let us in and we were even able to take pictures. There we were, sitting in the back, the only two tourists, feeling a bit awkward watching these monks praying yet feeling very privileged. So we just sat and watched as they chanted. It was so peaceful and such an amazing experience that we'll never forget.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1148394780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1148394780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1148394780/tpod.html Fri, 26 May 2006 10:48:56 -0400 From Sydney to the bush and Beyond

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Bangkok, Thailand

We got up a bit late this morning trying to recoup from last nights flight. Feeling a lot better and refreshed we were ready to explore the city. Before heading out the door we made a "To do list" so we wouldn't forget canceling our hotel in Auckland, calling up aireoplan for our missing air mile points and finding new accommodation. Because we got in so late, we decided to pay a bit more and get a hotel room the first two nights and then head out to Khao San Road, the main travelers centre. We had heard and read so much about this place. It's basically where most tourists end up because of its cheap accommodation, abundant internet cafes, markets and close proximity to a lot of attractions.Our first stop was finding a place to eat. The only trouble was there were so many vendors selling everything from clothes, shoes to kitchen sponges! There were so many things to look at but we finally made it pass the vendors and found a nice restaurant which ended up being a 5 star!! That explains why they put the napkins on our laps. We both had beef stew which was really good and while sitting at our table, we noticed a book store which we visited afterwards and bought a few maps.We then made our way to the bus stop and took the air conditioned bus all the way to Khao San Road (about a 30 minute ride) for 30 cents each. The lady in charge of collecting the money told us where to get off, which was really nice of her. We got a bit loss walking around but finally found it! Oh my god! There were hundreds of vendors; internet cafes even a Thai Ronald McDonald! Before getting too excited, we stick to the plan and looked around for accommodation. We quickly noticed a guesthouse sign and talked to a tourist who was typing away on the internet. He told us that it was o.k., pretty noisy but clean so we decided to a least have a look for ourselves. We told the young man working there, that we needed a room for two and he brought us across a few streets in a quieter area. The place looked brand new. As we walked towards the back, we followed a beautiful stone wall with elephant appliqu?s in the middle. And along the bottom of it, was a pond feature with fish. They showed us a room and it was really nice not to mention quiet but being our first place we thought it would be a good idea to look around some more. We bargain a week's stay for 100$ Canadian but told them that we wanted to continue looking. As we were leaving, we noticed some couples sitting down and asked what they thought about the place. They mentioned that they had stayed in a lot of places and this was the best one yet and very quiet which was hard to find! So, as we walked away we figured why not just stay here. We went back to see the manager and gave her a deposit for tomorrow night. After we left the guesthouse, we walked around and visited the numerous stands. There were so many knock offs! Designer shirts like Polo, addidas, Gucci purses, cd's, DVD's you could go crazy!! But since the beginning of our trip, we always asked ourselves: will we use this, would we wear this back home, will it end up in the closet. By the end of the day, we had purchased 4 items: a hand made photo album that says " Thailand" on the bottom with wooden elephants in the middle, a similar looking notebook and two pillow cases (golden brown with elephants) Ok, its hard to explain but they'll look really nice in our living room! Oh, and maybe The Da Vinci Code DVD.As we continued walking, there were many stores where you could have tailored made clothes. We met other couples in Australia who told us about it and had suits made so we decided to have a look. After visiting a few, I ended up being measured for a matching blue silk skirt and jacket. I have my first fitting tomorrow. We continued browsing and came upon a spa looking place so Tim ended up getting a 30 minute massage while I had my hair shampooed, cut and blow dried. We both left feeling amazing. Tim had no more sore muscles and my hair had never felt lighter. It was getting dark so we decided to grab a tuk tuk (three-wheeler with a driver in the front and enough space for a couple of passengers behind) On our way back to the hotel, we quickly noticed that there are no rules re driving! If you can fit two cars in one lane, so be it! Oh, and if a motor bike can fit, why not! Scooters drive in and out of lanes and usually end up in the front because their able to pass the cars. But we had a great time looking everywhere and at one point, I turned to my left and there was a man walking along the street with an elephant. I did a double take and nudged Tim to see. Never did we think to see an elephant downtown Bangkok!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1148653800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1148653800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/timandmary/australia-2006/1148653800/tpod.html Fri, 26 May 2006 10:33:37 -0400 From Sydney to the bush and Beyond

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Bangkok, Thailand

Our plane was really big and there must have been 20 staff on board. The flight attendants were all wearing beautiful dresses made out of silk taffeta that changed colors in the light. We found our seats and got our books out thinking we would read until we noticed the TV screens in front of us. After the plane took off, it wasn't long before we found the remote control and figured out we could watch movies, TV shows like "Every body Loves Raymond", "Friends" or even play Nintendo games! While Tim was enjoying his backgammon game, I decided on the movie "match point". Then, shortly after, they came around with breakfast and drinks. During the flight, we spoke to a NZ couple who had already been to Thailand. By the end of our flight, we knew where to sleep, how to get a cheaper taxi from the airport and the cost. At one point, we were over the clouds and they invited us over to look out the window to see the lightning as it hit underneath us. It was pretty cool to watch. Other then that, we had a pretty smooth flight to Bangkok. I managed to sleep for about 30 minutes and when I awoke, Tim was still playing backgammon. It was 10 pm, when the flight attendants came around with more food but being on NZ/Fiji time it was more like 3am. We didn't really feel hungry as this was our third food serving, not too mention the time, but who could say no to chocolate chip cookies for desert. We landed at 11:00 pm and had no problems going through customs. They stamped our passports and we were on our way. We never even had our bags scanned.When we got outside, we were greeted by Bangkok's humidity. It was worst then Australia. We quickly found a taxi driver; showed him the hotel's business card, agreed on the price and off we went. By this time, it was midnight (5am NZ/Fiji time) and let me tell you it was nice getting into an air conditioned car with leather seats. Even though we were stuffed from the airplane food and jetlagged, our eyes were wide open looking from side to side as we past markets and food stalls. Business was carrying on as if it were daytime! 25 minutes later, we arrived at our hotel, had a nice warm bath and fell asleep as soon as our heads touched the pillows, excited to know that tomorrow, a whole new world awaited us.
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