DELHI!

So we haven't been in India a week yet and already it is an emotional roller coaster. One minute it is the most amazing place I have ever been with the nicest people and the next I feel like everyone is just trying to fuck us over. We only spent two and a half days in Delhi but they were quite busy. First day was lots of sight seeing and at every sight it was like we were the biggest celebrities ever. It would take us forever to get anywhere because everyone was asking to take pictures with us. Entertaining at first and then supper annoying by the end of the day when we were tired and hot and ready to go home. I went from super friendly to Lindsey Lohan with my water bottle in front of my face to avoid all the cameras.
Second day in Delhi was even more intense. We got in a tuk tuk intending to go to a park to read and relax but our driver, a Sikh, said that he wanted us to love his country and wanted to take us to his temple. He told us this was something that he wanted to do and we could pay him whatever we wanted. This old man was so sincere and wonderful that we couldn't say no. At the temple we were the only white people and again attracted many looks. He gave us the grand tour of the temple, leading us to the front where people were making offerings and men were singing prayers. We were washed in water from the holy spring and then we were taken through a massive crowd of people into an huge empty auditorium. We were told to stand at the far end of the hall and all the doors were opened and 1000 people streamed in, sat in rows and were fed a huge lunch. We ate with them and then were led back in the kitchen to see them prepare the food and help make the nan (harder than it looks). At this temple they serve free breakfast, lunch and dinner every single day for anyone. At the end he presented us with silk from the temple as a gift as well as two books on the Sikh religion. The whole experience was incredibly intense. When he took us back to our hotel we gave him 1000 rupees (like $20) and he says that he expected double that! We were so tired, overwhelmed and shocked that after standing in silence for a few minutes looking confused we just gave it to him.
There often seems to be hidden agendas, expectations and costs so far. Its the first country we have been in were tipping is expected and people are quite rude if you don't tip or don't tip enough. There is definitely a lot to get used to but so far it has been pretty wonderful. My absolute favorite thing is all the women in their beautiful saris and I can't stop staring at them!

Bangkok!

So Danielle and I have had a wonderful two days in Bangkok before we head to India (tomorrow will involve doing nothing but swimming in our pool and getting a message to prepare us for our flight). Yesterday we decided that we needed to get back into sight seeing as we have pretty much been lying around on beaches for the last two months (minus Angkor Wat). Anyway, we were looking a bit lost apparently and this wonderful man that I guess worked for some tourist agency came up and set out a whole plan for the afternoon for us and then escorted us to a tuk tuk driver and got him to drive us around for the day for only 59 bhat (less than two dollars). I am pretty much sure that if Danielle and I had asked for the same thing we would have paid like 300. So our super nice driver takes us around to all these amazing temples. It also happened to be a Buddhist holiday so lots of people were visiting temples to pray and give offerings which I really like to watch cause Buddhist people just seem better than everyone else. Anyway, we saw this amazing Standing Buddha which must have been at least 30 meters high and everyone was covering his feet with flowers and gold leaf. We saw a couple other temples and then took a river taxi a couple of stops to see the Royal Palace and Wat Pho where the famous reclining Buddha is. Before those sights we drank some delicious red dragonfruit juice and had a sweet lunch. First we went to see the reclining Buddha which is 46 meters long and 15 meters high. Its made of brick covered in plaster and then coated in gold. His feet are inlaid with mother of pearl showing the 108 characteristics of Buddha. It was absolutely amazing. Pretty much the whole temple complex, which was huge, was covered in gold and sparkling glass. It was actually kind of blinding in the afternoon sun. We ended up spending quite a while at the temple as it was so big and so beautiful so by the time we left the Royal Palace was already closed. Today we went to MBK which is a massive mall. Mostly just wandered around, got pedicures and ate some delicious food. I am currently adding a bunch of pictures to facebook so everyone that is hip head over there and check them out. Those of you who are not on the book I guess your shit out of luck. Or go find someone young.

Anyhoo SEA has been absolutely amazing and I am really sad so be leaving but incredibly excited for our next adventure in India.

The End of Beaches

Our last two beach experiences were my favorite by far. We started on Koh Mook which couldn't have had more than 20 other foreigners as it was the low season. I think we were the only people staying at our place though the woman was super nice and had four amazingly cute puppies for me to play with. It was also the first beach we've been to that had proper waves and I had forgotten how much more fun that can be...except also super tiring cause I'm lazy. There was only one restaurant but luckily it served amazing and super cheap food. We ate every single meal there. And they had two cute kitties to play with. The beach was facing west so we had two amazing sunsets where we were the only people on the beach.
We then had to come to Bangkok for a few days to get out visa for India sorted out which was not very fun but we happened to run into our friend Sihanoukville and decided to go with her and her brother to Koh Tao for the weekend instead of waiting in Bangkok for 7 days for our visa. Koh Tao is on the east coast of Thailand and the beaches there were some of the best of our entire trip. The water was completely clear and the sand was like cornstarch. We spent and entire day laying in the water as it is shallow for the first 4 meters and almost completely still. We had a great hotel and also had a great restaurant and bar. Koh Tao is famous for its diving certification programs and it was nice to hang out with older people who were doing something a little more interesting than the standard 18 year olds partying route. The second day Danielle and I went on a snorkeling trip around the island and got to see some amazing fish and coral. I was shocked how deep the ocean was where we were swimming and how huge some of the coral is. Also the fish are crazy looking. All in all the beaches here have been amazing and we have met some great people in Thailand. I am going to be very sad to leave but I am getting super excited/scared for India (we just bought our Lonely Planet tonight so we have some research to do).
More on Bangkok later.

Best thing in Thailand

You wanna know what the best thing in Thailand is?? 7/11 Toasties. They're only 24 bhat which is less than a dollar and are the perfect early morning food or late night after too much redbull snack. So if they have those in America go get one.

Beaches Make Me Lazy

So Danielle and I have pretty much been living at the beach since our arrival in Thailand last Wednesday. Our first stop was Koh Phangan where the Full Moon Party is held. We were a little concerned about our lodgings as we had booked a little late and not a lot of places were free. We were staying at the poorly named Party Hostel which turned out to be a lovely place with lots of entertaining people to...party with. It was our first time staying in a dorm at a hostel and while I wouldn't want to do it that often it wasn't so bad as we were positioned right under the air conditioner. In fact I wore most of my clothes to bed but I got some amazing sleep. The Full Moon Party and all the parties leading up to it were more of what we had seen in Laos and Cambodia but with a whole lot more neon clothing, body paint, and dangerous fire activities. After the full moon party the town looked like a war zone with nearly everyone bandaged, limping or on crutches. Luckily since Danielle and I are so mature we made it out with only a few scrapes and bruises from an ill thought out climbing adventure early in the morning. Anyway, lots of fun was had and then we were ready for some peace and quiet so we got a boat taxi to the next beach over where I pretty much spent each day laying in the perfectly clear shallow water and getting nice and tan/sunburned.
Now we are at a beach a little ways away from Krabi on the west coast. This area is famous for rock climbing and the scenery is crazy. Thailand really is one of the most beautiful places I have seen. Definitely more travelers and things are more expensive but you can see why.
Tomorrow we are headed to Koh Muk which I believe was Pete's favorite when he was hear. Then its on to Bangkok to finally get my debit card and get our visa for India! I can't believe we will be there so soon!

24 Hours of Buses Till the Full Moon Party

So Danielle and I left Sihanoukville empty handed (my card never came) Friday night and have been in Siem Reap since. As a second time visitor to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat I have been super surprised by how much has changed in seven years. The town of Siem Reap is huge and super busy! When we were here I remember there not being a ton of restaurants or shops and now there are giant restaurants and clubs! The temples were also much more crowded than I remember. Even though nothing can take away from how amazing all the temples are I am really glad that I was able to visit them when they were not that crowded or controlled. Now there are tons of package Asian tourists, I kinda felt like I was back in Korea and lots of the stairs are either roped off or they have built wooden stairs over them. When we came last time I remember climbing to the top of one of the big tower things at Angkor Wat and then being completely terrified at the prospect of coming down. Now the route that I took is roped off and you can only get up by a nice set of not terrifying wooden stairs. Our first morning we watched the sun rise behind Angkor Wat and it was extremely beautiful despite the old Korean man snoring next to us. I swear Koreans can and do sleep anywhere. We had a great tuk tuk driver for the temples who took us to some that were much further away and much less crowded on our second day. It was really wonderful to get to see some of the temples in the quiet that I remember from my last visit.
Tonight we get the bus to Bangkok around 1 am and then tomorrow night we get another bus and then boat to take us to Ko Pha- Ngan for the full moon party on Saturday. I recall pete being very sick following the same itinerary so hopefully I will make it through ok. I
It has officially been over two months of travel so far and it seems like it has gone by super fast...I can see how people get stuck in this life style, though you never get a good nights rest.