Julia and I really liked Bangkok for the first few days.  Often times, when you hear about Thailand people will say “Get out of the city. It’s too hot, sweaty, crowded, and dirty.  Head to the beaches.”  I can totally understand this sentiment, but all in all we thought Bangkok was pretty great.  We spent about five days there total.  The first three days consisted of a street food binge fest (see previous post.)  The last two days were ready to leave.  I think 3-4 days in Bangkok is probably just about perfect. It is, in fact, hot, sweaty, dirty and crowded, but it was also vibrant, exciting, delicious and cheap.  The teacher side of me can’t help but grade it. I’d give it a solid A.

 

 

Negotiating.  Bargaining.  Easy to say. Never all that easy to do.  In Thailand, it’s part of the culture. It’s what they do, and if you don’t do it back, say it with me,  you WILL get ripped off.  Ripped off with a smile and a ‘khob kun ka’ (‘thank you!’)

I actually hate to bargain.  I just think it feels so awkward.  I know the golden rule of negotiating is “you have to be willing to walk away,” and usually I’m not.  I typically become disproportionally invested in whatever I am trying to buy. I quickly start envisioning my life with the item and all the happiness it will bring to me.

Thailand was a learning curve for us in the best way possible.  I never felt intimated by the process of negotiating.  The people are kind, friendly and didn’t put lots of pressure on us.  It was a back and forth until it worked for both parties.  At times, it was downright funny.

We would typically bargain with tuk-tuk drivers and at markets.  It would start by the person saying a ridiculously high price and us immediately cutting that price in half (halving the first stated price is a good general rule of thumb.) Next without fail, the person would laugh an over-emphasized big, hearty guffaw as if to say to themselves (or anyone else in the near vicinity) “these American girls are trippin!!”  Which we knew we weren’t, because we had done loads of research and knew the fair price of whatever we were after. We would then start to walk away, and more often that not, the person would offer us a more reasonable price. We didn’t ‘win’ every time, but all in all we did pretty good. The whole thing was just laid back, natural and easy with these smiley people.

Making it to Thailand was a bit of a roundabout decision.  Aren’t they all on this whirlwind journey?  A friend recently sent me an article on traveling and this quote resonated with me as a validation of my lack of planning:  ‘Plans insinuate an underlying purpose, and from your experience, traveling without one always leads to more excitement.’

Thailand was top on my list for a long time now.   I wanted to spend a significant amount of time in there and fill in other countries accordingly.  We were going back and forth with how we wanted to organize our loop through southeast Asia.  We had so many places were on the list: Where should we start?  Finally we came to the conclusion of: If Thailand is top on our list why are we looking into going to other countries first?  Let’s just go so we don’t miss anything.  Verdict:  Good decision all around.

Our first day in Bangkok, we hired a tuk-tuk to take us around to see the sights. Tuk-tuks are essentially rickshaws attached to mopeds. These things are both practical and ridiculous.  You have to take them for what they are: a necessary means to getting around the city, while being subjected to various ‘stops’ along the way.

If you are taking them from point A to point B, with a set price negotiated before departure, than all is well.  If you want to see the city and are not going to an exact location, then be prepared to see more than you bargained for.  Our guy was very sweet, and took us to various temples around the city.  In addition to that, we experienced a jewelry expo, a travel agency, and even a men’s tailor shop (I guess Julia and I should have mentioned that were not looking for a custom tailored man’s suit before hoping aboard.  Silly us!)  When arriving at the last stop Julia noted “Gee, all the tuk-tuks are lined up in a row outside this shop.  Such a coincidence!”  But none of this seemed to bother us all that much.  Our driver was a sweet, funny guy.  He showed us a bunch of beautiful sights and got a couple kick-backs along the way. We didn’t mind all that much.

WECLOME TO ASIA! We decided to start the voyage into our next continent via Singapore.  Flights were good, and we thought it was a good of place as any.  When we arrived to Singapore we were struck but just how orderly and easy to navigate it was.  First of all, English is one of their (four!) official language and is considered the country’s ‘main’ language.

In Singapore things fall into a certain patter and routine.  There were signs all over the city informing people what to do, how to act, and giving an overall sense of calmness to the situation.

In many ways, it was quite nice.  Hardly a spot of litter to be seen, no stray animals running around, a general sereneness.  Even the subway station was silent.

I emailed a friend of mine (an American gal living in Asia) and told her my initial thoughts. “Oh yes Singapore!” she responded  “Lovely place.  We call it a fine city, meaning the government will give you a fine any chance it gets.”  I thought this was funny but also slightly ominous.  Don’t do anything illegal in Asia!  Not that we ever would, but other countries seem a bit more lenient.  If you happen to jaywalk in Argentina, Spain or Italy, you smile at the police officer on your way to the curb.  If you jaywalk in Singapore, you use your one phone call to get bail money. I still vividly remember the 1994 controversy in Singapore, when an ambassador’s son was sentenced to caning for vandalizing and theft.  A quick google search just indicated that caning is still legal and  used in Singapore.  Lord have mercy.

Needless to say, no issues surrounding corporal punishment arose.  We were pleasantly surprised by the polite and kind citizens of this city/state. People on the street were just so darn helpful.  We rode the city bus (which was air-conditioned, and super clean) to and from the airport.  Numerous people helped us with our luggage, telling us to move  here or there, offering us more space whenever it was available.

Fun fact: There was sign on the subway (of course) telling people to please refrain from eating while riding.  I asked Julia offhandedly if many people ate on the buses and subways in Philadelphia.  She responded “I’m pretty sure a woman went into labor and gave birth on the Market Frankford line so. . yeah, I don’t think anyone is too troubled by soft pretzel or cheese steak.”  Man, I love Philly.

While we were in Singapore we crossed over the border into Malaysia to see Julia’s college friend. What a treat it was to have her friend show us around.  She has lived many places in her young life (Hong Kong, Singapore, Johor Bahru, Philadelphia, San Diego!)  It was really sweet to spend a couple of days with her and her family.

The last stop on our Australian Adventure 2015, was a delightful little placed named Hamilton Island.  This island is a jumping off point for many people go trip out to the Great Barrier Reef.  

This little island is just. so. fun.  It’s part of the Whitsunday Islands, which is maybe one of the most beautiful places in the world. Also worth noting, the island is a land ruled by golf carts or more endearingly referred to as “buggies.”  There are a couple of cars milling about (mostly service trucks or vans filled with tourist,) but for the average guest it’s a buggie or good old fashion walking.

We flew into Hamilton Island and immediately set out exploring the place:

I love at the end of this video when you hear Jamie tell the group, “They say the bakery is good.”  We have our priorities straight people!!

Hamilton Island is overrun by these adorable cockatoos. There are signs all over the place encouraging tourists not to feed them but it’s just so darn hard to resist.

You give one of these guys a French fry and they will hold it in their tiny, baby sized claw and chow it down like a champ.  The more time you spend on the island, the more it becomes abundantly obvious that these fellows are Grade-A stalkers.  I starts with one or two but before you know it you are surrounded by them.

Sometimes I would look at them and say in a serious tone, “You are a bird.  You are meant to eat seeds and nuts.  Not French fries and bits of meat pie.  Although you are REALLY cute, you need to back up off me. It’s for your own benefit.”  They typically didn’t listen.

Our first couple of days in Hamilton were spent enjoying all the beach had to offer.  Our house came with access to paddle boards, kayaks and Hobie cat sailboats.  Jamie is a licensed boat captain (up to cruise ship status–wow!) We went sailing on the beach and soaked in lots of rays.

 

I gave this water rescue lifeguard so much credit.  He zoomed around the beach herding the swimmers, kayakers, paddle boarders and boats into a designated area.  He checked up on people, chatted with them, and even took an occasional picture to ‘document’ a good stand up paddle board run.  What a fun (but stressful) job.

The great barrier reef was next on our itinerary.  We spent the day heading out to sea in very choppy conditions.  A storm a few days prior led to a less than ideal cruising situation.

It’s all fun and games until the boat becomes so rocky the crew can hardly get through the safety demonstration.

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Dear God, thank you for creating the scientist who invented Dramamine. 

After a tough start we made it.  Needless to say it was well worth the bumpy ride.

Just in case you were wondering, Australia has a small little gold coin in its currency circulation with a number 2 written on it.  FYI, that sweet little coin is NOT worth 2 cents and it’s not worth 20 cents either.  I learned this lesson the hard way by nearly ‘throwing away’ these coins into the nearest street musician’s top hat.  Oh no, no.   That little coin is worth 2 DOLLARS.  This thing is literally the size of a nickel.  Who does that?  Granted it is gold so that should have tipped me off.

On our third day in OZ we were buying bus tickets and the total price was around $9 (have I mentioned Australia is EXPENSIVE??) I was still jet lagged and discombobulated. As I opened my outstretched palm filled various coins under the teller window, I said to the cashier “I don’t think I have enough but I can’t figure out all this money.”  She took the coins from me and starting counting out “2. . 4 . .6. . 8 and 9.  See all of these,” she held up the little gold coin “these are all worth two dollars.” I had about $50 worth of these things in my pocket, thinking I was carrying around about a half a dollar.  “Well, that’s just crazy.” I responded.  “They are so tiny.  How are we supposed to know that?!”  “Yeah,” she agreed knowingly.  “All the Americans say that. But they are the best coin. ”  And they really were!  So convenient, so accessible, so valuable!

So there you have it folks.  Next time you are in Australia, don’t be deceived by the cute little coin.  Don’t be tempted to throw that coin into any old tip jar.  That coin is worth something and it ain’t just a couple of cents.

There are certain learning curves that come with traveling.  Of course, many things are lost in translation when visiting a country that does not speak your native tongue.  HOWEVER, things can still be ‘lost in translation’ when English is being spoken.  This was something Julia and I discovered pretty quickly in Australia (but perhaps not quickly enough.)  The dilemma: ordering coffee.  I know, I know my life is so demanding.  The struggle is real.  But, coffee IS a big deal.  Not only am I a more friendly and kind person after my morning cup of coffee, but I can experience physical withdraw if I don’t have it.  Headaches, shakes, nausea, weird thoughts . . .  Basically just think of all the side affects you hear about on prescription medication commercials and that is essentially me without coffee.

My ‘go to Joe ‘ is a large iced coffee.  No cream. No sugar.  For this past year, it’s been difficult to find my favorite cup and that’s quite okay.  In Spain, I indulged in café con leche; in Italy, tiny little espresso, and in Argentina delicious café cortado.  I love coffee and as a result, enjoy trying it around the world.

Being in Australia is so similar to the states I figured I could easily order an iced coffee with no problems. Nope. Not the case. Think again.  Iced coffee in Australia is essentially a coffee flavored milkshake.  Coffee with ice cream, heavy cream and whipped cream.  It may sound delectable, but in the morning it’s a diabetic shock waiting to happen.  After a couple of errors, we finally got it down.  Mystery solved=A ‘long black.’  A long black is two shots of espresso with water, similar to an Americano My order typically sounded like this: ‘Hi! I’d love an iced long black, lots of ice, no sugar, no cream, sorry for being difficult, thanks so much’.  Sometimes I got hot coffee with a couple of cubes of ice, other times I got a heaping glass of ice with wonderful coffee poured over it. Either way, the sweet, sweet caffeine was worth the effort.  And on some days we just had to forget where we were, go ‘full American’ and hit up the local Starbucks.

Port Douglas is a short car ride from Cairns.  People say Port Douglas was what can was like 20 years ago.  It is a quiet little beach side town where we visited a place called Mossman Gorge, Daintree and Cape Tribulation.