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Nerdy Videos and Clay's thoughts
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Last night we slept in a bus that was so full of cockroaches that the floor not only moved when you looked down, but it also crawled up onto your face. They ate through part of Jeff's backpack. Eventually you just have to give in and go to sleep because getting creeped out by it really isn't going to fix anything. On top of the cockroaches, there were several chain smokers on board who seemed to see right through the red line on the "no smoking" sign. To them, the sign must have said something like "Please, by all means smoke! Smoke until your teeth fall out!" I wasn't surprised to see this morning that one of them had burned a large hole in his pillow.
I spent the few hours before getting on the bus throwing up. Jeff got a bug a few nights ago and I got it yesterday. It also could have been that we hadn't really had a meal in two days, except for the one bag of mini muffins we bought at the bus station in Laos (which we discovered later were moldy.) Or maybe it was the bus ride with chickens and dogs or the fisherman sitting next to me falling asleep on my shoulder. Or maybe it was that we hadn't been in one place long enough to do laundry and the last place we had do our laundry lost two of my shirts, which brings me down to 'dos shirtos' as our friends say south of the border. Or maybe it was the stress that we had no money and no one, not even the banks, would exchange our cash or help us with the ATM because it 'wasn't their day.' Luckily, out of no where, a Japanese back packer came up to us and asked if we were having trouble getting money. He walked us over to a guy in an engine repair shop who said he would illegally exchange our last U.S. cash at a horrible rate. In thanks, we bought the Japanese guy a bus ticket.
Don't get me wrong, thats why I like to travel. Something inside me loves to get packed into buses, eat moldy muffins and throw up in bathroom stalls I usually wouldn't wish on a prisoner at Alcatraz. So why? Why do it to yourself?
There are a lot of possible explanations, but its been a long three days so I'm just going to get right to the point. It makes me grateful. Maybe it was that its Easter and Jeff and I don't have much other way to celebrate, but I spent the whole day giving all my change to people begging in the street. I'm so glad to have a bed to sleep in and something to eat. You quickly realize how little you need to survive and all the excess you get just for fun. Sure there are a lot cheaper ways to realize how grateful you are for your life, but you sure see a lot less the other ways.
Here are some videos that we haven't had time to upload until now. They might not be up and running right away because youtube.com takes some time to get things rolling. If they're not, check back, because some of them are pretty great and you won't want to miss out.
1. On our way out of the Bokeo Reserve in Laos, this monkey jumped on Jeff and started grooming him. Then he jumped on me and did the same. When I tried to take him off he made angry monkey noises and showed his teeth. I let him finish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7BFbyS9Q18
2. We put this one in one of the blogs, but some people had trouble getting it to work. This was at our cooking class in Chiang Mai. Its really a big surprise to me that more people don't get injured taking these classes. After our Master Chef instructor gave a brief description of what we were supposed to do he had us pull off this technique.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvi6bnW3uXY
3. This is one of the really special meals we ate while traveling through Thailand. Its pretty much self explanatory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95RfvSANtR0
4. So, if you're getting this blog then you know that Jeff and I are kind of nerdy. This is our nerdiness at its peak. Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was dehydration, but for some reason while wondering around Angkor Wat we decided to relive some of our favorite Indiana Jones moments. Here is the fruit of our labors:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLAzZdNBSxI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHZGSCY-6lo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lc0qhy8xCw
5. Here is Jeff climbing Angkor Wat at full speed. We found out later that this is where two tourists died last year because they fell and rolled all the way down. Yeah, that was a good idea.
(Ok, this one is having a really hard time loading, if you look in youtube in my videos, it should be there soon.)
6. Zipping throught the primary jungle in northern Laos is probably at the top of our Most Amazing things list. This is a little video of us breaking the rules and zipping as a duo across the forest. We have rough take off, but you can get a little idea of what it was like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4LWZmWmzHw
Latest Comments (2)
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ok so i think i got this down (reply)
Apr 18, 2007 17:00 EST by dianabanana
i post the message here and it shows up under the message thingy...ah ha...so here is my meassage...you guys look like you are having so much fun! i watched the youtubes...the are awesome.
~~diana~~
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Please, use this link... (reply)
Apr 15, 2007 15:24 EST by admiralbal
www.hilton.com
They'll exchange your money, give you your own room...I'm getting the jitters just reading about what you're going through!
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