Snow is falling!!

A couple of days ago we had our first snow snowfall overnight...just a bit of a skiff, it did not stick to any of the roads. Today though...today I was sitting indoors, I was watching the snow falling and thinking how lovely it was. But then it was time to go home. 

I had been quietly enjoying the snow for over 3 hours...I had to sweep the snow off of the windows and doors, it was a bit slippery on the side streets as they were not plowed. I went to the service station to fuel up for the ride home. Slow going, busy traffic and they were all worried about the snow. Westside Rd. Plowed, but not well. Went about 40 - 60km the whole way home. It took a lot longer than usual. Passed a few people pulled over to avoid hills. There were still quite a few deer on the road (stupid deer -- don't they know it's so much harder to stop in snow!), also one coyote. Made it to the resort. Stopped for mail..and then couldn't get going again. Took a run at the hill 5 times. Nothing doing. Had to park it down by the pool and walk up that snowy damn hill. This is not a little crest, it's a big effing hill!! Close to 400 metres up hill in the snow with my hands full. NOT FUN!!!

So the lovely snow is not seeming so lovely. I put a call into the landlord to ask about plowing...so hopefully that will improve!! Also, gonna sandbag the back of the van.

Knitting?! Working on some Christmas gifts...the snow is definitely inspiring in the knitting department. I listened to a podcast the other day. Two people, I found it a bit confusing, a bit unorganized, and a bit boring. But yesterday I decided to check out KnitPurlGurl as she has been doing video podcasts lately. I dig. I knit while watching, though I was often distracted because I could SEE the yarn, and SEE  the projects. So I dig knitting VIDEO podcasts, also the audio ones are not for me so much.

Not much for news either than that --- can't really post photos of objects as they are pressies - but perhaps tomorrow will be a bit of a snow day?!?!! ooooooooooOOOOOoooOoOoooohhh

First time blocking...

I know that every knitting book, blog & bit of info I read tells me that blocking is essential. However, I never have. Partially because I think things look OK as they are & partially because I don't have a blocking mat & I am a little afraid of wrecking things if I block them incorrectly...but I'm working on a Christmas gift, and there are a bunch of little pieces that need to be a certain geometric shape & then be sewn together. This item is being made from acrylic...so today when I finished weaving ends in (oh how I hate little things with many ends!!!) I pulled out a piece of cardboard, some straight pins and my iron. I pinned each piece into it's shape. I loaded up the iron with water, and steamed each bit. Hopefully it worked?!?! I guess I'll find out in an hour or so. If it worked out I should be able to start seaming it all together & soon it will be completed. Yay me for getting the jump on Christmas!

I have a very strong urge to knit something for EVERYONE -- this hobby is fast becoming an obsession! However, I know that a lot of people don't appreciate homemade gifts, and for the Aussie's on my list it's harder to imagine what they could possible need as well. Canadians are always good for  warm socks, mittens, scarves & toques!

After this project is done I think I will spend some time playing with my drop spindle. Seeing if I can create some yarn that I can actually knit an object with!! That would be so rewarding...

Also - travel is becoming a nearer thing for me as I got back my renewed passport, and have gotten a bit further on my visa application. A few more things are needed & then we should be able to send it off. Once I get approved we will book our tickets for Sydney, Australia! Because the length of approval on this particular visa is about 6 - 10 months (trust me - we are praying that I look like an exemplary citizen & it happens a lot more quickly) we will probably miss summer. On the up side, this past summer in the lower mainland was about the same bloody temperatures as winter in Sydney. So I think that's OK **plus it gives me more time to try to get this bod into a beach worthy shape**

Birthday?!

So I had a birthday. I turned 29. I am not worried about how much closer I am to 30 -- I don't feel any doom & gloom about it. I feel no different, so as far as I am concerned age is just a number...I'll get back to at 30 to see if I still feel the same ;)

For my birthday my sister & I went to a Mega Knitting class hosted by Lynne at Fibre Arts Bootcamp BC - http://llamasintheraw.com/ This is the same place that we went to learn to spin about a month ago. This time with 4 other knitters my sister & I chose some gorgeous yarn & used gorgeous handmade 1" needles to knit up a super quick project -- a pillow cover!

It seems that every time I am at this farm it is a great time. Tea, lovely lunch, wonderful people!! This was truly my first day knitting amongst other fibre enthusiasts and I loved it. I keep saying I need to join a knitting group and never seem to find the time. Well geez!!! I am going to make the time!

I do want to add some ribbon - there are touches of teal in the yarn & I want to add teal ribbon to bring it out. It could have been a little bigger so that now so much of the white was showing...so I'm not sure if I am going to frog it & do that - or just use ribbon.

When sister & I got home from the knitting day my man was making dinner & it was great! We had dinner & watched some scary movies. I did a bit of Christmas gift knitting...and then went to bed. I felt a bit of a cold coming on & was trying to keep it away. They are calling for snow any day now so winter is close!


Life other than knitting? Well I am knitting alot -- no plans for any trips in the really near future. Still planning on Australia soon, but within Canada I am not sure what we are going to get to now that the snow will be flying!


My blog is messed up. The columns are not working properly - so I need to work on that. Will see if I can get it fixed!! Cross your fingers!

Socktoberfest 2011

Heck ya I did it! I completed my socks -- both of 'em finally! I am pretty stoked! Gotta get some photos up of the completed pair. In the end I did end up frogging the toe on the first sock because it was bugging me. lol

Not much new here, been spending most of my free time trying to get the socks done. I definitely am not the biggest fan on Fingering Weight yarn. It takes me an awfully long time to finish a couple of socks! For now I am done & it's time to start the Christmas presents! 

It's nearly my birthday, and my sister & I are only 2yrs & 1 day apart. So for our bdays this year we are going to a Mega Knitting class. Gonna make something cool with some homespun and some 1 inch needles!! It's at a wonderful farm, we were there not too long ago learning to spin with a drop spindle. It's called Llama's in the Raw: http://www.llamasintheraw.com/ - lovely people, adorable llamas and fascinating yarn!

Otherwise?! Trying to get some work around the area. I sent off my passport today for renewal! Once it's back I can finish my visa application for Australia! I'm excited, we gotta get on this so that we don't end up with me in Canada & Spyros in Australia!!

Ok-- gotta go & do some holiday knitting!!!

Thanksgiving!

Friday was work as normal in Vernon, and after work we made the trek to White Lake. It's a much shorter journey now, only an hour from Vernon, about 1h45m from our new place. Not much to report on the travels -- construction still going on in Armstrong & Enderby!

This Thanksgiving mum was out of town, she was at her parents place helping them with a few things around the house & yard to get ready for a Northern winter. Here in the Shuswap we decided to surprise mum by finishing off the upstairs! Back in April we renovated the living & kitchen & laundry area. Took all the old stippled ceilings & made them smooth. Repainted everything, and removed the old mahogany trim & replaced it with white trim. Mum also got a whole new kitchen & appliances. The surprise?? The 2 bedrooms upstairs had yet to be touched, and we thought we would tackle those!

We arrived at around 6:30. Ready to work! Of course since we came straight from work we had brought pizza (thank you Little Caesar for your Hot & Ready) we had dinner & got straight to work. Dad had scraped the ceiling in the master bedroom, and when we arrived Spyros put a coat of mud over the whole thing. I went out to the shop to start prepping the closet doors (also mahogany -- just getting painted white). That was the first effort for the project. To bed early - much work to do!

Saturday morning was breakfast & Spyros got to work on another coat of mud while I primed the doors & the walls. Once the walls were dry dad put up all the new trim so that we could prep it. By the evening we had a coat of primer on the ceiling! We went to spend some time visiting a friend that night. While visiting I took the opportunity to work on my second sock!

Sunday was Thanksgiving dinner...so we awoke & got to work. Two coats of paint on the ceiling, Turkey in the oven by 1pm. Sister arrived around 2:30 and got to work on all the other foodstuffs. Got 2 coats of paint on the main walls by the time we went to bed. Yes, that's right -- even after turkey & the fixins...we managed to do some more work!

Monday we got up & put 2 coats of paint on the feature wall and 2 coats on all the trim. Done!! Vacuumed & washed the floors & moved all the furniture back in...then we got The Brother to help us disassemble his room. Pack all his stuff up, rip all the existing trim & closet apart. We sanded down the doors, scraped the ceiling, put a coat of mud on the ceiling and left it to dry overnight.

Tuesday...regular day for dad & brother. Work & school respectively. So Spyros & I were into town to pick up a few supplies, and then back at the ceiling with another coat of mud. Then primed the doors and the walls...dad put up trim once the walls were dry. While drying I took some time to start this blog & watch a TV show while I worked on my sock! Then it was time to sand & prime the ceiling & prep all the trim. Then more dry time...yes, this is our lives...2-3 times we have to do the same thing & wait for it to dry each time. Yawn! Turkey, turkey & more turkey, it was great for quick & easy sustenance in between painting coats! Did some knitting on my sock while the cat sat in my lap! It still makes me laugh when cats really do play with my yarn - frustrates me, but makes me laugh too.

Wednesday we finished everything but the damn red wall. Terrible red. Not a bad colour - but a clear base that we used an entire gallon on the one wall & still it's picture framing!! OI! Otherwise though, good day - finished everything else in the room.


Thursday morning up & at 'em. Red wall DONE. Baseboard DONE. Floors vacuumed & washed. Most things moved back into the room. Cleaned up the place so that mum wasn't tipped off when she drove up to the house, and we came home!!!!


Friday afternoon -- finally received the call from mum. She's home. She loves it. It's all worth it! <3

Vancouver Island

So it's been awhile. :)

I came home. I worked, Spyros arrived in Canada. We traveled up through most of BC & Alberta as we were visiting my family. Definitely different countryside than Spyros was used to!

Finally we took a trip though. We went to Vancouver Island a couple of weeks ago. We spent a week- we took the ferry over, I knit, I was working on my first pair of socks. We arrived on the Island in Nanaimo. We went to the Visitor Centre & got a couple of maps. We headed for Parksville. We thought the camping would be better there. The plan for this trip was a camping trip. We brought a tent & sleeping bags. Of course we had no plans - just winging it!!

Found a place called Rathtrevor Beach campground. It's very close to Tigh-Na-Mara...the 1 mile beach when the tide goes out. Unfortunately we were out seeing sights each day and were never around during low tide. The campground was nice. We stayed in a group site, 5 spots shared one fire pit. But as I mentioned, we were so busy seeing the island we didn't spend much time at the site. We went that evening into Parksville to find dinner. Dinner was OK, super cute place, mediocre food.

The next couple days we were up early with the sun & the children running about!Our plan was to go out the Cathedral Grove and check out all the old growth red cedars in the area It's a beautiful place, definitely some huge trees!!! The path didn't take us as long as we had thought because there was a big part of it closed. Nonetheless we still were able to see the largest tree in the forest. We checked out Qualicum Falls, there is always time for waterfalls! That turned into a longer walk than expected. The weather was fabulous, it was a long succession of intense falls, but short ones where a lot of water was being forced through rather than a single really high one. We went to Coombs and wandered through the shops. We grabbed some lunch at the market and some fudge at the fudge shop. We found that the distances and the wanderings were much shorter than we had planned for. Into Qualicum we ventured, to see the sights and to check out a yarn shop I had seen along the way. It was nice, the lady working in it was nice. I found a yarn I needed to complete a project for a friend, and some very cool Icelandic wool (I have a small obsession with getting over to Iceland for the spas and knitting right now!). We went into Nanaimo for dinner & shopping. The old quarter was super adorable. The buildings cute and the paint colours and varieties on them were just beautiful. Found another local yarn shop (LYS) and it was very awesome. I bought buttons here. I needed a couple to finish out a cowl. It was a cute area, and my favourite part of Nanaimo.

We were trying to figure out a plan, Crystal was planning to meet us in Tofino, a send off before Spyros & I moved away from the lower mainland. We went about it in a most strange way, but it ended up alright! We went back down to Victoria..in Victoria there was no camping, we decided to splurge and spend a couple of nights in a hotel. We wandered around the city for food, and for sights & shopping. Again, an old quarter/China Town that had fabulous buildings. We found Fan Tan Alley which was incredible, and another similar little alley that had government  offices in it. I love that kind of thing a person can find in older cities. Also, a VERY fabulous LYS that I wanted to move in to! There were a lot of dirty areas and run down areas and people there as well. Over in the quay, where the parliament buildings were it was quite posh! We went to the Butterfly World and saw butterflies in all stages of their lives. It was pretty amazing. Also to Butchart Gardens, which was overpriced. They had beautiful flowers -- but I have seen other beautiful gardens that were cheaper or free! So I was a bit disappointed in that. A short journey into Sidney to see it, it took no time at all as it is quite tiny. I found it very cute that there was a little amphitheatre (where a wedding was being held) that was shaped similarly to the Sydney Oprah House in Australia. A bit of a longer journey took us to Sooke. We went up to the Sooke Potholes and wished we had come a little earlier in the day. It would have been a lovely hike, very glad we saw it though!


The finale of the trip was Tofino. The most expensive area of the island (though we did find most of the island quite expensive), we met up with Crystal the night before and camped in another place in Parksville - after that we went to Tofino, drove the windy treacherous road and found a place to camp. We wandered through town, many interesting shops, Crystal booked her surf lessons, we found some food and headed back to the campground for a BBQ & some time on the beach. It was nice for Spyros to see some sand that was more like home, but the temperatures sure weren't! Sunset was gorgeous though. It was a bit cooler in Tofino. The rest of the trip was quite warm (we drove too much to enjoy it though), and in Tofino we wanted to hang out on the beach all day and it was foggy & overcast and cool. So I took photos of Crystal surfing. We went shopping. We ordered a pizza, and watched another sunset. On our way out of town we stopped at the Tofino Chocolate shop- it did not disappoint. Neither did the LYS! Found some yarn there too. The week went too quickly.


It was a good trip. We saw much, and spent much. Next time I would like to see the smaller islands, Gabriola, Pender, Hornby, etc. I would like to have the time to spend at least 3 days at each place, to just enjoy the camping, the nature and the mellow time. Not be rush rush rush everywhere. We did not feel rested at the end of the trip, and we were surprised at how much money our camping trip cost us. We did enjoy most of our interactions with islanders...though I found in Tofino people were pretty rude (except the yarn shop & quilt shop - YAY crafters!). Glad we got to see a bit more of Canada, as our planned trip to Montreal had to be cancelled. 


I endeavor to post more often. About life, about travel (even small road trips) and about knitting, as I am really trying to do more of that to as I love it!


Knitting updates: aside from the smaller projects I have been working on and accomplishing SOCKS I was afraid of. I have now completed my first sock, it has some issues, I followed a pattern and ignored my gut. Silly! But I am keeping it as it is #1 -- #2 to come soon. The other new & exciting thing, I took a course with my sis to learn to spin. It was using a drop spindle and kinda more art yarn, but oh-so-fun! I think my scrapbooking days are over, as I love fibre and the many many things I can do with it :)


TTFN

The End!

Hello all - if there is anyone still reading this blog.

I have heard tell that I am a bit on the wordy end of the spectrum & it can be more than a little daunting to undertake the reading of my life story!! Who knew?!

Nevertheless it has been a busy last couple of weeks. We did find a replacement to the Nature Park. We went to Mahout Training instead. We got to feed, learn commands, learn to get onto & ride the elephants, walk through a mud pit (and yes we did wear the mud), and bathe the elephant in the river. We had the added bonus that our particular elephant was a mommy & her 6 month old elephant baby was following us around, his name was James Bond (because he can't stay out of trouble!!). The experience was hilarious, exhilarating & so worth it! We both would still like to do the nature park, but that will have to be next time. 

We parted ways with Teresa & Terence in Chiang Mai. They had to fly out to South Africa & we had a little more time. It was so awesome meeting them both & here's hoping we stay in touch!

We left Chiang Mai via train. The ride was uneventful - really humid & warm, but comfortable. A nice change after the bus rides from hell. Although I must say, being too rather short ladies it was a much easier & more comfortable traveling experience than for our 5'9" + friends!!! We took a night bus & got into Bangkok fairly early. We took a tuk tuk to McDonalds. Always open! Had breakfast & then went in search of a room. It was quite busy, it was around Chinese New Year so places were booked up. But we found a dodgy little cheap cheap place with a shared bathroom. Good enough for one night! We got settled, had a little rest...and then we got busy.

It was a whirlwind of last minute adventures. Last minute grabbing of gifts we had wanted from Day 1, but left to the last few days so that we wouldn't have to haul them around for months. Last minute selfish purchases. Last minute trip to a gigantic shopping complex called MBK that we had heard about & that had a great movie theatre. Spent an afternoon/early evening watching a couple movies back to back. We ate at the places we loved, and the places we hadn't tried yet. We took a day tour out to the Floating Market, Bridge over the River Kwai, and the Tiger Temple. In that order "could have been better", "pretty cool, felt rickety, checked out the war museum next door too", "Pretty cool, got some photos with tigers, sad to see them chained up & drugged up". We went to a weekend market that was insane, so big & crazy we lost one another & spent the shopping day alone. We got some waxing done. A facial done. Clothes & household items, extra bags to carry it all!!! We didn't spend much time online, too many things to do. We did laundry so that we were set for Sydney & we finally got our tattoos. We got "matchy" tattoos, that are a little different on our feet. Mine is on the left foot & Crystal's is on the right foot. They say "Thailand - Cambodia - Vietnam - Laos" in Thai writing & each country name is separated by footprints (and one of mine is a flower). They are lovely...we are happy with them.

So we barely had time to catch our breath, sleep or relax in Bangkok. It was all about crossing the 'gotta do it, gotta get it" off the list. And we were pretty darn successful. Literally combing the streets until about 3 hours after we had to leave for the airport. We got back to the hotel room at around 1am. We packed all our stuff, we showered & then we went to grab a cab to the airport. No sleep for us...

We flew direct from Bangkok to Sydney. 9 hours. Didn't get a whole lot of sleep - but we arrived at about 8pm or so?! Spyros & Jerry picked us up & we went straight to Spyros place. The rest of the week was pretty mellow, pretty lovely. Sleeping in. Eating loads. Getting chauffeured around the suburbs & different areas near Sydney. Checking out beaches, seeing new places, spending time with the family. All of whom are excellent. Younger brother George gave up his room for Crystal, what a sweetie! Older sister Ev & her family were a laugh a minute. Gorgeous kids, great fun & big hearts abound in this family. Loving that I'm getting to be a part of it! So happy that I was able to go to Sydney & spend the week. I think we all felt that it wasn't enough time, but we're all glad we got some time. I'm sure my next trip to Sydney will be a little longer. Also met cousins for briefer periods of time, but they were great fun too, and Spyros dad was awesome too. Letting us stay in their home & eat their food & do whatever we liked. I felt very welcomed. We also went out for dinner & drinks in our "fancy dresses" that we had made in Vietnam. We went downtown for Mardi Gras & saw a bit of the parade & had a few drinks. Big family BBQ on the Sunday with loads of food & much hilarity. Needless to say --- Sydney was great & the family, immediate & extended were just beautiful. Very lucky to have spent some time with them, thanks to Crystal for suggesting it!! 

But the week flew by...and soon we found ourselves being carted off to the airport, having to say goodbye for another fairly lengthy period of time...and flying back to Bangkok. Yes. We had to go all the way back!!! We weren't able to change our flight. So the return home was...3.5 hrs flight, switch in Brisbane, 9 hrs to Bangkok. Sat in the airport from 7am - 5pm or so. Slept (crashed out!), ate, wandered, called home, stared at the time, eventually got on another plane. About 3 hours to Taipei, a switch...and finally - 10 hours to Vancouver. Customs was a quick & easy process. I love it when they don't give a person a lot of attitude!! Michelle picked us up at the airport with hugs & flowers. Very sweet!!! We got back to the Stask/Arsenault home & started unpacking. Showing gifts & regaling the family with stories. A couple of friends showed up, Krystina & Laura & the stories & the showing off of purchases began again. We ended up on the bed downstairs looking through the plethora of photos. At around 1am we finally were showered & going to sleep...

Today we woke up at 5am. Damn jet lag!!! And the day was spent unpacked, doing laundry, napping, planning. My dad was in town and he came to pick me up for dinner. We got my car back on the road, so tomorrow there are a few things left to do regarding the car & the cell phone...and then I'm officially back in business in Canada.

Thailand & Southeast Asia in general were beautiful. It was an amazing trip. Crystal & I are still on speaking terms. I got to see Spyros again & meet his family. It's been a top 3 months!!! Now I'm home. I'm finding a job & going to get some money happening. It's time. Soon Spyros will be here & things will be changing again! Exciting!

Love Shelle

Back in Thailand, feels like Home

So the last blog we were about to hop a slow boat from Luang Prabang to Thailand.

 

Well that is just what we did! It was a 3 step process. First step, go to the slow boat, buy a ticket, get settled, ride the boat to the first stop. It was an uneventful, fairly smooth, beautiful scenery kinda ride. I read, I listened to music & gazed at the hills. My friends read, napped, and Teresa & Crystal played some cards too. It was about a 9 hour ride upstream to the place we parked it for the night. We found a guesthouse & we moved our stuff in. Got some dinner, had a drink, went to bed at a reasonable hour to repeat the whole process again the following day! And we did!

 

This time though the journey was much more eventful. Not sure what it was, but I got something. Started feeling ick, ate something to help the tummy...didn't help. A few hours into the trip I was spewing. Then it was coming the right way, but the wrong consistancy. And I felt like death that night when we finally rolled in. Many trips to the toilet later I was just laying in bed praying for sleep. Now some of you might not understand, but I literally have a cast iron stomache. I cannot remember the last time I had to vomit or had diarhea! It just doesn't happen to me. So a whole day of it, and now...6 days later...it's still not right!!! It's crazy! And I'm really tired of it! LOL But it's all controllable now..just unpleasant. Still not sure what it is, because that night as I was trying to sleep both Terence & Teresa started to suffer a similar malady. Everyone but Crystal, but she's the only one of us that took the Ducoral vaccine (plus she had a hole in her head, so I thought God might be feeling some sympathy).

 

Life in Chiang Mai is good. There are loads of markets to wander, the people are all friendly, Crystal got her stitches out & her head seems to be healing up pretty good. I know she is very happy to be rid of the strange gauge bobble she had going on, and she's happy to be able to shower with her head under the water too! We went on a 2 day eco adventure thing. First day was white water rafting...so much fun. The river was pretty low, but it was still a lot of fun. Different types of stuff to do because we kept getting stuck, so there was a lot of jumping up and down & jumping from one side to the other. Good times! Plus the views were amazing! Then we spent the night at a homestay in a village in the jungle. Sweet people, didn't really speak any English, but it was great. They cooked for us, we got massages, a comfy bed & breakfast in the morning. The woman of the house also makes these little animals out of Bamboo & she gave us each a frog keychain. So sweet! Yesterday we spend the day strapped in & ziplining around the jungle canopy with a group called Flight of the Gibbon. So exciting, so beautiful, so fun!!! We were with all Canadians, and one Austrian couple. But it was funny, there are usually more Aussies than anything! Two couples from Ontario, and a couple from Saskatchewan. We ended the day at a waterfall & then ate lunch together & headed back to Chiang Mai city. We made plans with the younger couple from Sask. Tim & Sheila & we met them for dinner & went to a Muay Thai boxing match last night. That was pretty cool too! Very different & not knowing the rules it was sometimes hard for us to tell who was winning, but it was pretty intense stuff!

 

We wanted to go to the Elephant Nature Park, but it's all booked up..so we're looking into alternatives!

 

Will keep you updated! Not long now!

 

Love Shelle

Lazy in Laos

Hello all!

 

Well I haven't updated in awhile because I wasn't sure what to say about a few things!

 

We called it an early night & met up with Teresa & Terrence at about 6:30am to walk to the bus station in Vientienne where we purchased tickets for the local bus to Vang Vieng...and what a local bus it was! Dodgy as all get out...the seat Crystal & I were in was rusted thru the floor and if we leaned back the whole seat went back! Yikes! So we tried not to lean. There was plenty of fresh produce on the bus as it was being transported to a backwoods little town. No A/C, but the windows opened. All locals, the 4 of us were the only westerners on the bus, save one older gentleman who seemed to have done it all before. It was an experience. The back door at the back of the bus kept swinging open & I kept getting up to shut it, we stopped a couple of times, so that people could pee on the side of the road & to unload the bounty of goods at a market type place. We arrived in Vang Vieng & followed the older gentleman to what seemed like town. Terrence & Teresa had met a couple of people who recommended a guesthouse with cheap rates. So we went on a hunt & it was successful. Quite nice rooms even! We got settled & then set out for lunch.

 

On the road we were accosted by a guy giving out free coffee in order to advertise this one restaurant, so we ate there. Pretty good food, we ate there quite a few times during our stay in Vang Vieng. After lunch we wandered the tiny town. Got some ideas & made some plans.

1) tubing

2) cycle to the caves & waterfalls, stop in at a volunteer project & see if we could help out

3) there are loads of places where a person can work/volunteer & get food, drink & accom for free - we were interested, thinking about spending a fair amount of time in VV.

 

So the plan was to go tubing in the morning. We ended up at this pub across from our hotel. Short tables & loads of pillows so that a person can lay down after eating & enjoy conversation, TV or movies. We ordered a couple of beer towers, because they are so fun looking & we all wanted to get one. But it was to be a mellow night in preparation for tubing. Then Terrence was enlisted to help carry in some boxes & our table received 3 free buckets. Literally - buckets of booze, soft drink & ice. Then we moved to a different table to watch a movie, had some onion rings & more drinks...we were all a little "happy". Then we moved bars - went back to the restaurant that we had lunch at & had pizza & more drinks, as well as inviting over a guy that was sitting on his own. This is where things get a bit spotty for me. Fun was had, interesting pictures were taken, too much alcohol was imbibed. And I was pretty hung over when I woke up the next morning.

 

It was a big brekky of carbs & grease & lots & lots of water & I was feeling able to walk around. We made our way down to the tubing shop & paid our way. Took the tuk tuk to the beginning of the ride & also the first bar. Everyone had a free shot & a beer - except for yours truly, I was on the water. Thru the day I had 2 beers & mostly water, also, I was the only one who ordered a meal instead of just having a couple of free fries. Everyone else was a beer & shot per bar & we went to a few bars. Very cool set up tho, ziplines & trapeze swings into deep spots in the river. Each bar throws a line out to you as you float by to pull you into their bar. There are slides into the river, really high platforms to jump from ( we jumped & swung into the river), and there are loads & loads of bars. Different music all over the place & a general good feeling about the place. We went to one bar that does mud volleyball...a giant mupit with a net in the middle, and all these dodgy holes in the ground so even if you could stand up thru the slippage, you can stay upright when you are trying to move & slip into a hole. We were all delightfully & disgustingly muddy & dirty. Mud in places one might think mud should not go! But man oh man was it fun! Then we went to a couple more places, and it was getting late, about 5:30pm, stopped off at a final bar before we were going to begin our final lazy drift down the river (we thought we were half way or so, but it turns out we had only made it about 100metres down the 4km stretch). I was a bit worried about my friends, they were all pretty boozy...and then Crystal went to climb up a ladder to get to the slide & she slipped off, fell backwards & hit her head on a sharp rock. I ran over & she told me that she was fine, but I had seen the rock & was worried. Sure enough, I got her sitting up & she was bleeding. I know head wounds bleed a lot, plus we were all wet from our journey down the river. So I got Terrence to help me get her over to the bar so that I could mop up the blood & try to see what we were dealing with. I couldn't really tell, but I didn't think it was good, so we crossed the river on a bridge & took a tuk-tuk back to town. We went to the hospital, showed them the wound & when they got ahold of it I was glad we had come, it was bigger than I had been able to tell. So she got 4 or 5 stitches, a course of antibiotics & some painkillers & we were told to get them checked in 7 days. This Friday, the 5th, will be 7 days. Needless to say, amazing day, scary evening. I watched her like a hawk that night, worried about concussion etc, but she seems to be doing pretty good. She's well enough to be lipping me off for worrying about her too much. (But I'm afraid of Denise!!!)

 

So, after that our time in Vang Vieng was more mellow. Crystal had a sore head & we couldn't do anything involving water because the wound can't get wet. So it's been a mellow time, which is good - a holiday should have some mellow times! It was fortunate that we were in a town with all these nice places that you can lay around & watch movies in! We were there for another 3 or 4 days & then we hopped a bus with Terrence & Teresa up to Luang Prabang.

 

It's a much more quiet place, a lot of older couples & tour groups. A heritage town, but again, most of the activities involve water. So we've been sleeping in & eating & wandering around shops etc. It's a beautiful little town & Terrence & Teresa go & do activities & tell us what we missed or did not miss & we spend our evenings chatting with them. Last night we went to this great Lao BBQ place where they set this BBQ type thing in front of you & you  boil veggies & BBQ your meat & it was tasty & fun!

 

I've been trying to make some calls using Skype, but the mic isn't working & I'm afraid I'm annoying Spyros's family by calling & not saying anything. LOL So I'm putting that whole idea on hold for a bit. I will make calls when I'm back in Thailand.

 

The plan right now is to take a slow boat from here to Thailand, starting tomorrow morning, it will take a couple days, but will be a new way to travel! :) We will be in Chang Mai with Teresa & Terrence, and after that we will part ways, as they head home earlier than we do.

 

Laos has been a fabulous country & definitely want to come back with more money & time to see all the things that there are to see!

 

It think that catches you up on what has happened the last little bit!

 

Love Shelle

Out of the rain & into the sun!

Okay...so Ninh Binh was a bit lame. Mostly because it was pouring with rain. But it's a tiny place with not much to do except outdoorsy things, and when it's raining & cold & the idea of having to put on wet clothes or pack them into a backpack makes a person cringe...not much to do! We arrived at 5am or some ridiculous hour. Decided to just park it at the hotel we arrived at because everything was dark & closed & raining. We went straight to bed & slept until 11 or so. Then we got ready & went on a wander. Not much to see, found some food, and then we asked the front desk about the Halong Bay tour. We then went out on a boat ride down the river to see some caves. One of the things to do. It started off ok, but started raining while we were out there & we came back drenched. The ladies didn't speak much English, they swarm you at the far end & want you to buy things from floating shops & to buy embroidered things on the boat & then they ask over & over for tips. It was frustrating, but the ride was pretty cool, saw some people rowing the boats with their feet instead of their hands.

We decided that it was just too crap to stay in town, so we went to hang our wet stuff up & crawl into the covers to warm up & we read for hours. Then we booked our trip out for the following morning to go straight to Halong Bay for 2 days & 1 night on a boat. We were waiting at 6am, breakfast was 2 bottles of water & a box of crackers & then we got picked up by a red sports car, transferred into a local bus & were the only tourists on it. It was quite the journey & we really had no idea where we were going or what was happening. Several hours later we got transferred to a taxi that brought us to a restaurant where we were to wait for a tour group to meet us. We asked a couple of times & finally a guy came & walked us down to the docks. Then we waited for another couple hours for them to get it all organized. While we waited we met a girl from Switzerland. Nice girl, had a crappy few days & was feeling really bitter about Vietnam in general. So the conversation was a bit of a downer -- and everyone on the bus commented on it when she left us to stay on Cat Ba Island for the night. We got on the boat & had lunch, then we went to some caves & wandered thru those. And it dumped on us again & we changed our clothes because we were soaked thru. After that we anchored for the night, had dinner & there were kayaks & swimming. It was about 5pm & raining & chilly. But we decided "what the hell!!!" we were there, so we went swimming. We thought at least that way we would be out of the wind. A Parissian named Theo, and an American from Nevada, named Addie came with us & we had a lot of fun. Two aussie blokes - Matt & Guy from Adelaide stayed in & played cards with a Dutch couple, Lues (Luce) & Eric. When we got back out of the water  & all dried off we joined the group in the main area & had some conversation, some beers & then...KAREOKE!!! Really Theo was the only one with the balls to go to it without a few beers under his belt, but by the end of the night we were all singing...badly most of us - but it was a lot of fun. The next morning we got up & ready & had a pitiful breakfast, stopped to check out a floating village & some caves, but most of us stayed on board because it was really chilly out. We played cards & they brought us back to the dock & we had lunch. Then we caught a bus into Hanoi & said our goodbyes. It was kinda lousy weather (but most of our time in Vietnam was that way) but the view of the bay was still incredible & we had loads of fun.

We got our room squared away in Hanoi & then went out to find some food. Success came quickly & the meal was incredible. Then we tried to find our way back (not an easy feat - Hanoi is a maze!) and wandered thru a night market & we both found hoodies that would suit our purposes & were warm & comfy!! It was bliss...2 weeks of being cold & we finally found something warm! We went back to our hotel, booked a bus out to Laos for the next afternoon. We decided to risk the crazy bus ride even though the horror stories abound - because a flight was just more than we were willing to spend.

Got up in the morning & packed up. Stored our bags & went for breakfast - another amazing meal. Then we went for a wander, I got a new book to read, we ran into Theo, Lues & Eric, so funny..and we made our way back to our hotel to meet the 5pm bus. We followed a moto to another travel place with a few people in front of it & were told to wait for our mini bus. We started chatting with the two people there, English gal, Teresa & her South African boyfriend Terrence. Over 2 hours later we were finally squared away & on a big bus heading for Laos. It was about 7:15pm. We stopped fairly often & at about 3am we stopped dead. They set up a couple hammocks hung from the bars along the roof of the bus (in the middle of the aisle) and there were a couple of Vietnamese guys that slept there. We were there until about 6:30am, when the border opened. Of course in all that time we didn't know where we were or why we were stopped. LOL Craziness.  We had also, on one of our stops, loaded up like crazy with random stuff & so when we did go thru the border they took forever looking over our bus. It was uneventful, but took about 2 hours. Then we were on our way. A quick stop for some breakfast...and we arrived in Vientienne at around 5pm. What a journey - but nowhere near as bad as some people have had it. And we made new friends! Spent the next couple hours wandering around a seemingly dead town..that had no available rooms...trying to find a place to rest our heads! Finally we found one & after we were all showered up - the 4 of us went out for some dinner & beer on the beach at around 9pm. Just ace! We were back at the hotel at around 11 & we all just went straight to bed & crashed out.

The next day we all woke up at around 11:30am. I had been up earlier, but was trying to sleep because I had barely slept on the bus. Crystal & I brought our laundry to a place, got some breakfast, asked about the options & what to see in Laos to try & decided how best to spend our time here. It has a great feeling...definitely want to come back..and Vientienne isn't even the most loved city! It's just the capital! We took it pretty easy, walked to find out where the post office was & saw the Arc de Triumphe that they have here. It's unfinished, but massive & kinda cool because it's got lotus flowers & buddhas & very asian things on something I have only seen in Europe. Pretty cool. But it was night so the pictures were crap. We went out for dinner on the beach again, and met up with our mates on the way back. We bought some beers & settled in at the hotel on the balcony for an evening of getting to know one another, drinking some Beer Laos & listening to Crystal's Iphone. it was awesome & we talked & drank until 3am...then one of the other patrons came out & yelled at us, and we realized it was ridiculously late & hit the bed.

Today...we woke up at around the same time. We had made plans last night for our days today...some of that was changed because of our late awakening. But we still went to breakfast/brunch this amazing place we had found...avocado...YUM!!! Then we rented bicycles, gathered up a bunch of stuff we wanted to send home, rode to the post office - shipped it off (much cheaper than my parcel from England!), went to see the Arc de Triumphe in the day, rode 3km out to Wat Sok Pluang (?) except we missed the road & it took a little longer. But we found it & we went to the traditional Laos sauna & massage. It was so awesome! Climbed up into a tree hut, got naked & wrapped in a sheet thingy, went into this hut that you couldn't see 3 inches in front of you there was so much steam...and it was so hot (and hot outside too LOL) And we sweat & breathed & loved it. It was an herbal sauna so there was basil & oregano & a bunch of other herbs in the air too. Reminded me of the raindrop massage that Pure Oasis had. It was stellar. We had 12 minutes of sauna, came out to cool down, had some tea. Met 2 french Canadians, Anthony & Sabrina from Montreal. Got to talking & they were really cool, his cousins own a bakery & ice cream parlour in Port Moody - so we are going to check it out when we get home. Then we hopped back in the sauna for a bit more. Cooled off afterwards, more tea, changed into a dry sheet, then got an hour long Laos massage. Similar to a Thai massage, but a little less rough, yet more joint popping & cracking. It was great...and then we rode back into town. Dropped off the bikes, ate some dinner, picked up our laundry...and now we're headed back to the room. If all has gone according to plan, our new friends bought us bus tickets & tomorrow morning we all head to Vang Vieng to get our tubing on!

We are having plenty of ideas about how to spend our last month...nothing concrete yet - so I guess you will be informed as it happens!!!