Live from Taiwan

Follow along...

2005-11-11T02:37:00.000+07:00

Hey. Just wanted to let you guys know that although our Taiwan time and South-East Asia trip are over, Allison is continuing her adventure in Australia with her friend Susan. They have started a new blog and you can follow along by going to www.susanandallisoninoz.blogspot.com. As for me, I am 'sans' digi cam, and will not be documenting my Canadian adventures. Thanks again for all your encouragement, support and correspondence. Al, you were travel-partner extraordinaire and I had the time of my life. Thanks so much.

Until our next adventure....Ciao!

The Last-Leg - Southern Thailand

2005-11-07T09:55:00.004+07:00

After leaving Phuket, we jumped on a boat for Koh Phi Phi. There, we had a very eventful 6 days of soaking up the sun, pounding down our share of buckets and participating in what turned out to be a less than relaxing snorkeling trip... (for Allison at least). We met lots of very cool world travellers there and even one that is Mark's neighbour at home. We also learned a lot more about the destruction caused by the Tsunami and the contributions so many travellers have made.

When we felt ready to move on, we took another boat to Rai Lay beach. Our last two days down south were filled with more swimming, eating, relaxing, and massages (for an almost broken Allison.)

The story behind our beautiful snokeling trip is that we paired up with a couple from Holland who had done this trip before. First stop - clliff jumping. For those who know, this is not uncommon in Canada, our lakes are filled with such rock jumping opportuninties and I considered myself an experienced vet. Unfortunately after a first successful jump by Mark and myself, I landed funny on the second jump (from a 15m height that didn't make the water as soft as I would've liked) and so bruised my tail bone and seized up every muscle in my back, which are still recovering today, almost a week later... eeccchh. I could still walk and float and there was no better place to be than Southern Thailand, with all its views and cheap massages. Aside from that the snorkel trip was excellent, seeing hidden lagoons, the famous Maya beach from the movie 'The Beach' and lots and lots of turquoise water,

We are now back at Lisa's in Bangkok and are heading to Koh San Road today for our last night in Asia. Mark heads out tomorrow morning at 8:30am and I follow at 6:30. He'll be in Vancouver the following day and I'll be with Susan in Sydney. We're both looking forward to seeing friends and exploring different continents so the split isn't as hard as it might be otherwise. We had an amazing few months and wouldn't change a single thing. We hope to do a repeat performance sometime in the not-so-distant future to explore another far off land. Stay tuned and thanks for all the support and encouragement along the way!

<-- This a look at Patong Beach. Patong is the major beach in Phuket and would probably have been the one that you saw in pictures/videos of the Tsunami hitting Thailand.

^-- Approaching Koh Phi Phi. Phi Phi Don (left, where you stay) and Phi Phi Lei (right, where "the Beach" was filmed).

Al standing out in the water at Koh Phi Phi. One day you could honestly walk about 1 km out and the water would be below your knees. The next, you would go 25 meters and it was up to your shoulders. From our now vast experience, this translates to "strange tidal behavior".
<-- The famous "Thai Bucket". Buy one get one free. One costs $7.00, two is more than you need!!
Who needs costumes and masks on Halloween when you have faces like these?? (Buckets at work!)-->

<-- On our boat trip to Phi Phi Lei (the island that "The Beach" was filmed on) we went into this totally enclosed lagoon that was the epitome of beautiful. This is the entrance.

<-- In the lagoon.

This is the beach that the movie "The Beach" was filmed on. It looks quite different in real life but is still very beautiful. -->

<-- Lovin life in a hammock on the beach. The best place to recover from back injuries!

^-- A view of Phi Phi Don from the viewpoint. It was hit from both sides by the tsunami and so, a lot of damage was caused. They're still rebuilding. Still, a beautiful island.

This is the area that used to be covered in cheap bungalows for backpackers. The tsunami wiped them all out and right now, there is only the one building that stands which only opened while we were there, almost a year later.-->

A view from the boat of Railay Beach. We swam on those beaches bewtween massive and gorgeous rock formations.

<-- Part of Al's recovery.

--> Railay beach with the tide in.

<-- Railay Beach with the tide out! Not quite as picturesque eh?

<-- A walk to the beach through crazy monkey ridden caves and hanging rocks.

The beautiful view of the beach at Railay. Lots of people came here to do rock climbing and you can see why.

^--Where we spent our days swimming at Rai Lei beach.

Bangkok to Chang Mai

2005-10-24T14:15:00.000+07:00

We arrived in Bangkok late on Sunday night after a really, long and dreadful bus ride. The road from Siem Reap to the border of Thailand is among the worst we've ever been on. 6 hours of dirt roads, no A/C and pot holes (if you can call holes the size of cars, potholes). We went straight to our friend Lisa's house in Bangkok and had a great sleep in her king sized bed!!

We've since spent 4 days exploring Northern Thailand, Ayutthya and Chiang Mai with our old buddy from Taiwan. They old, historic sights in Ayutthya were nice to see and the outdoor treks of Chiang Mai were refreshing! After a couple hill-tribe villages, an elephant ride and a ride on a bamboo raft we exhausted. We got our second wind at the Night Bazaar and after Lisa caught her flight home, Mark and I took part in a cooking course just before catching the night train. The course was better than we both expected and I am now a certified Thai cookery grad.

After Chang Mai we missioned South (24 hr mission) and are now in Phuket. The damage caused by the Tsunami is hardly noticable, it's amazing to see how this place seems to have bounced back. We have been soaking up the sun and exploring, enjoying the beginning of the last 2 weeks of our adventure.

Tomorrow we head to Koh Pee Pee, made famous by the movie 'The Beach'. We will spend a couple days there and then head to Koh Lanta, followed by Krabi and finally back to Lisa's house in Bangkok.

<-- Exploring the ruins at Ayutthya.
--> What's left of a Buddha, it's at ground level, buried in a tree, amongst the ruins.
<-- Our favorite Wat at Ayutthya.
--> Evidence of the ancient wars between Burma and Thailand. The Burmese managed to decapitate just about every Buddha in the city.
<-- The view from the top of the mountain on our hike in Chang Mai (that's Lisa). We visited a hill tribe there.
<-- Crossing danger-bay bridge to the elephant camp.
--> Elephant ride! These guys took us up and down steep hills, so steep we were holding on for dear life.
<-- A well earned snack. It was very cool to feed them, piggy elephans.
<-- At a the Karen hill tribe.
<-- We spent a good hour frolicking in these powerful falls. The rocks were like black ice, very good for rock sliding.

<-- A picture of a picture that Lisa bought of us on our Bamboo raft.

<-- The cooking class in Chang Mai was awesome, I sucessfully made 5 dishes and am excited to experiment with them and more when I get back.

Last night's sunsets on Patong Beach, Phuket.

<-- The nightlife in Phuket is unbelievable, this is the main party street, you'd swear you were in Florida or something... a little loud for some.

<-- A view of one of the many cove-beaches we explored today. The water was crystal-clear aqua-blue and the waves were perfect for body surfing.

Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, Cambodia

2005-10-24T11:14:00.000+07:00

Cambodia was a new, different experience from what we had already seen in Taiwan, China and Vietnam. The poverty in Cambodia is much more prevalent and victims of war, homeless children and beggars are very common sights no matter where you are in the city. The city roads are paved but 1 minute outside of it, you find yourself on red dirt, pot-hole filled roads. A few minutes in a tuk-tuk on these roads and your skin is turned to an off red color.

Hanging out outside "Herbs Happy Pizza", in Phnom Penh -->

The tourist sites we went to were not the happiest of places by any means. We visited 'The Killing Fields' where the mass graves of over 9,000 Cambodians were found. These people were the victims of the Khemer Rouge mass genocide that happened in the late '70's. We also went to the prison where thousands of Cambodians were held, beaten and tortured, prior to being killed and taken to the 'Killing Fields'. The prison was actually a school, that the Khmer Rouge gutted and transformed into hundreds of awful holding cells. A tour of these places, leaves you feeling sick to your stomach. However, despite these sadnesses, the people of Cambodia are incredibly friendly and the city is filled with beautiful architecture and amazing Wats. (temples)

<-- The site of the "Killing Fields". Walking around this place, you simply see big holes everywhere that served as the mass graves. At the front entrance is a big structure holding the skulls of all those who were found buried.

The old school that was transformed into a Tuel Sleng Prison by the Khmer Rouge.-->

ANGKOR WAT

The typical postcard shot of Angkor Wat

Following our days in Phnom Penh, we bussed it up to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat - the old capitol of the Khmer Empire, ruling over S.E. Asia. I'm sure many of you have heard of Angkor Wat, but for those who haven't, it is considered an architectural masterpiece. It is huge, full of intricate detail, and breathtakingly beautiful. Surprisingly, we learned that it was only used for religious purposes and that noone ever actually lived in it.

<^--We had a 5 a.m start to catch the sunrise on Angkor Wat.

<-- The intricate detail of 'The Terrace of the Leper King'. Detail like this is absolutely everywhere, all over every wall, brick and door way.

From far, The Bayon Temple looks like a pile of rubble.

Up close, you can see much more amazing details. The whole place is covered with these different faces...super cool.

<-- A steep climb up the so-called 'steps'. Imagine doing this everyday...?

This temple was amazing because these HUGE trees had grown over and on top of the existing walls. Seeing how big these trees are, and knowing they are younger than the temple itself, gives you a great idea of just how old these temples really are. -->

^^ All the trees, and their giant roots, have ruined many of the walls and structures. The rubble still lies around the grounds giving it a very natural, and real kind of feeling.-->

Mekong to Cambodia

2005-10-12T20:58:00.000+07:00

We are now in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. We had a fabulous 3 days on the Mekong and look forward to visiting Ankor Wat in a few days! Here are the pictures!

<-- A view of Ho Chi Minh City from our dinner cruise... $10 for everything, not too bad!

Mekong Day 1:
<-- As we were getting on our bus we spotted our friend Ron from Taiwan on vacation! What are the chances?
<-- On the Mekong, and a perfect day for it.

<-- Houses on the flooded Mekong. During wet season the Mekong is flooded about 3 months every year! People use bikes or boats depending on the season!

Where's Waldo? (On a 'monkey-brigde' on the Mekong, used by people, not monkeys.) -->

<-- Me and a Python outside a candy-making, picture embroidery, honey-bee rasing, traditional folk music shop we visited.

<-- Eating Cobra in Can Tho.
<-- Baby Crocodiles! Too bad they are being raised to become purses.

Day 2:
<-- A boat in a vegetable market on the river. They advertise by tying what they sell on a stick.

<-- Hiking up Sam Mountain, the mountains in the distance are in Cambodia.

<-- We were invited for dinner at our guide's family's home. We ate snails and clams and drank beer and rice wine. It was all very tasty.

Day 3:
^-- You can see the whole area on the left is flooded, the rest of the year it is filled with rice paddies.

<-- Another picture of the flooded Mekong. That should be a full tree and power line next to a road.

At 9:30am we boarded the first of what would be a series of boats to get to Cambodia. We then transfered to a 1.5hr bus ride across a very bumpy road to arrive in Phnom Penh at 6pm. The architecture here is very different, our favorite so far.
<-- Pagodas around Phnom Penh.

Mui Ne & Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

2005-10-08T18:35:00.000+07:00

"Fill'er up!"

The sand dunes and landscape around Mui Ne fishing village was very unique. We rented a motorcycle and explored the beaches and red sand dunes.

<-- Where's Mark??? Ya, it's not as fun in the desert.

<-- Isn't that how it always goes in the desert?

It was the closest thing we've ever seen to the desert, but very neat because plant life seemed to be able to grow out of it.
We moved from our first night to another beach side resort with a much cleaner beach. The fishermen littering in the Bay caused a lot of garbage to wash up on the inside of the Bay. Our second spot was much better, and closer to town. At night we spoiled ourselves with seafood and relaxed.

Next, we were off to Ho Chi Minh City. We spent the first day exploring and on the second we went to the CuChi Tunnels, 1.5 hrs North of the city. We have learned a lot about Vietnam's history in HCMC. The amount of dedication, the kind of tactics and the ingenuity of the VietCong (guerilla soldiers) during the Vietnam War was extraordinary. Although only one-third of the 15,000 VietCong soldiers survived they still managed to win the war.

<-- Reunification Palace, where the North Liberation Army crashed through the front gate, ending the Vietnam war and unifying the country.

<-- Helicopter landing pad on the top of the Reunification Palace. This is where the American soldiers evacuated from at the end of the war.

<-- Very old radio equipment used during the war.

One thing we hadn't realised was that the French had given the North of Vietnam to Russia after their own war with Vietnam, and it was the Russian's communism that the Americans feared (or so we have been told). The Americans worked together with the 'dictator' in Southern Vietnam to try and stop the reunification of the country for fear that if it occured, communism would spread through Asia and India, which would be 'A direct threat to American National Security'...? Though the Americans had bigger guns the VietCong won in great part due to the system of tunnels they built, over 250kms long, running under American bases and controlled territories. The tunnels had three levels and included kithens and living quarters. They were built 1.5m high by 90cm wide and rigged with traps. They also used systems of chambers and bamboo pipes to filter cooking smoke out and disguised air vent holes by using pepper and American soap to make it untraceable by dogs. Anyway, enough detail, as you can see we were very impressed, here are some pictures!

<-- This is the would-be hidden entrance to the tunnels. The VietCong were the only ones small enough to fit into them and able to find them.

<-- This is how the cooking smoke looked when it finally exited the tunnels. Hard for the enemy to see from above.

<-- Exiting the tunnel modified for tourists.

Finally, tomorrow morning, we are leaving for the Mekong Delta region to explore the Mekong river and it's small river systems that you would have seen in any and all Vietnam movies. The itinerary involves boat rides, coconut candy making, snakes, crocs, mountains, sunsets and walking through plush lands. The 3 day trip has us ending in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We'll post pics of our Mekong trip next time we're on.

Hoi An & Nha Trang

2005-10-04T19:48:00.000+07:00

<-- A stop along our bus route heading South. We bought a $22 ticket that takes us from Hanoi to Saigon with as many on and offs as we want. Cheap, but a tough night's sleep!

From Hue, we went a little further South to Hoi An - home of the best clothing deals in the world! Our co-workers in Taiwan vacationed to Vietnam and went to Hoi An and gave us the low down to prepare us for the amazing deals. Even though we were prepared and knew what was coming, we still both bought more than we had planned. Hoi An is simply filled with little shops that make custom fit clothing. Suits generally run from $35 US to $50, dress shirts $7, pants/skirts $10, and coats for about $20-$30. We took advantage and we will dazzle you all with our fine new wardrobes when we get home.

<-- Mark getting sized up. Isn't she tiny! Isn't he huge!!!!
A sneak preview. Allison trying on a new outfit and picking material for more. -->

Hoi An also had a very nice beach that wasn't really hyped up by anyone but it turned out to be great. We rented bicycles and biked the 5K to a very large, unpopulated, palmtree lined, white sand beach and had a ball just swimming and chilling out.
<-- Just another daily sight on the streets of Vietnam...

Following Hoi An, we went to what is dubbed 'Vietnam's Party Beach Town', Nha Trang. We got a place 50m from the beach and spent 2 days soaking up the sun and sand while enjoying some cheap beers at night at a couple bars. It was good, but paled in comparison to the Thailand Beach/Bar scene.
<-- Relaxing on the beach. <-- Waiting for my crab to be cooked... tough life, eh?

We are currently in a much smaller town called Mui Ne where we will spend a couple more lazy days catching rays and exploring the giant sand dunes that make Mui Ne famous. Then we'll be on our way to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) for our last Vietnam stop prior to heading into Cambodia.

Hanoi & Hue

2005-09-30T21:45:00.000+07:00

After Sapa we headed South to Hanoi. We spent 3 days exploring the capital and planning the rest of Vietnam. A typhoon unexpectedly hit the second day and we decided to cancel our plans of Halong Bay and use the exra time to see Hue and later the beach towns of Nha Trang and Mui Ne.

And you thought Toronto rush hour was bad! This is 24/7 in Hanoi (and throughout the cities of S.E.A. it seems) -->.

<--In case you forgot what we look like. (In front of the oldest pagoda in Hanoi.)

We went to the water puppet theater in Hanoi, highly recommended by friends and worth seeing. The puppets were controlled from behind a screen and the show was both entertaining and unique. -->

We spent one day in Hue, the old capital. We drove around the forbidden palace, saw the army doing drills and some old war relics.
<-- A typical intersection. Don't stop! Keep moving! (No lights, no signs, lots of honking, no road rage?!)

We're now in Hoi An, but not for much longer. After a 3 day spending spree on new work wardrobes we are leaving tonight for Nha Trang... beach town. Hoi An is great, we've rented bikes, been at the beach, and did I mention the clothes? We both got suits, pants, shirts, coats and I got a couple skirts and a dress all custom made, tailored to fit. I'm not usually too keen on the classy stuff but this was the deal of a life time! We'll be posting some pictures of the last few days and our upcoming adventures shortly!

Sapa, Vietnam

2005-09-30T20:32:00.000+07:00

<-- The french-colonized, mountain-side town of Sapa.

After a long night-bus ride we walked across the border from China to Vietnam. Our first stop was Sapa, a small town up in the mountains in Northern Vietnam. It was absolutely beautiful and exceeded all expectations. We stayed in a hotel built into the side of the mountain and our room had an unobstructed, magnificent view of the surrounding beauty.

<- Not a bad view for breakfast, eh?
We took a motorbike out (in typical MacCuaig-Roberts style) to explore the countryside. First trip, we went up, up, up, and froze, froze, froze. The second time we went into the valleys an loved the waterfalls and being able to see the local villagers harvesting their rice crops.
<-- Where's Waldo?... I mean Mark... does that boy ever get around!
^-- Tiered rice fields.
<-- Some H'Mong kids working hard to 'beat' the rice off the stalks. They gather it in bunches and whack it off the side of the bin numerous times until they are satisfied all the rice is off.
A local boy using the wind to clean the newly harvested rice. They stand on a platform, slowly pouring out the rice into a collection bin and the wind carries the debris and dirt away.--^

No those aren't mini smoke stacks. The rice collectors burn the stalks of the rice plants after they've beaten all the rice off of them. This makes for quite the smokey valley during harvest season. -->

Sapa was also great for a bit of shopping. The H'Mong people, a hill tribe, would come into town selling their goodies, and boy did I love it. They were, however, a little overbearing at times, swarming and fighting for your attention in what we now realize is the traditional Vietnamese way to handle us foreigners. Mark was able to miss all this shopping as he was laid up in bed with a fever for a couple days.

Mount Emei (Emeishan)

2005-09-18T15:29:00.000+07:00

After visiting the Giant Buddha, we hopped on a bus to Emei. We arrived in a nice, small mountain town and planned our following day's hike up the mountain. After an early rise (5:30 am), we were walking the trails well ahead of the masses that would come several hours later.

We had an amazing hike up the beautiful trails alongside the rivers and waterfalls, and apart from a few run-ins with some crazy, attacking, mountain monkeys, had a very peaceful and rewarding hike. We climbed for several hours with hardly anyone else around us but on our way back down, we ran into thousands of Chinese tourists snapping photos and clogging up the narrow pathways. We were super happy that we had an early start and were able to enjoy all of the wonderful scenes on our own.

Despite being near freezing cold, Michael decided that it was due time for a swim. "There's just something about waterfalls and pools of clear water that makes me want to swim." Michael -->

Can you find Mark? (It's like 'Where's Waldo' but in China and with Mark instead of Waldo!) -->

<-- These are the crazy monkeys who wouldn't let us pass. We were told to show them rocks and sticks to scare them off but when Allison tried to threaten them with her stick, the boldest one took hold of it and she got scared and let him have it. Meanwhile, the others were busy jumping on Michael's legs. Mark escaped unscathed. "I'm not sure if i'm shaky beacause of all the walking, or from those damn crazy monkeys!" Allison

Xi'an to Chengdu to Leshan

2005-09-15T16:21:00.000+07:00

We've had many more adventures since we were last able to post. We left fabulous Beijing Sept. 9th after a couple more days of exploring the city, visiting the Forbidden Palace, and then headed on another sleeper train to Xi'an, home of the Terracotta Warriors.
<-- This picture is of the very busy entrance to the Forbidden Palace, overwhelming at first but very interesting as we got into the smaller back alleys.
The warriors were the main reason we wanted to get to Xi'an and they were well worth it. They were made as a result of Emperor Qin Shi Huag's desire to be buried with the protection of a giant army to serve him. He had the same belief as the Ancient Eygptians, that what you were buried with could be used in the afterlife. That was around 100 BC and they were only discovered in 1979, when a farmer was digging a well. Since then, most of the soldiers have been uncovered and a museum has been built around the site. The whole of Qin's tomb was several acres big, we drove 10 minutes by bus from the site of where his body was to where the soldiers were found. It was amazing to see the life-sized figures that had been made by slaves so long ago and have been deemed the archeological find of the century.

<-- The detail on the warriors was incredible, to think these were made by slaves over 2000 years ago!

Xi'an was also a great place for late night kebabs and street markets. Our hostel was very central and though we were only there for 2 days we had plenty of time to enjoy the old capital.

From Xi'an we headed on a 17hr overnight hard-seater train to Chengdu. The train was about as much fun as you could imagine. Though we were spared of the babies peeing at our feet, as we heard from other travellers, it was still a full night of lights on, straight backed seats, loud-mouthed food sellers, smoking men in the aisles and little sleep (especially for Mark).

Chengdu was excellent. We started off by visiting a Panda breeding base the morning of our first full day. As it was feeding time, the Pandas were wide awake, active, and not too concerned with their human spectators. There were so many it was hard to keep moving along. It was definetly a memory to last a lifetime.

<-- These were the most relaxed eaters we have ever witnessed. Serious couch-potato like tendencies.

<-- A new born Panda. They are all born prematurely and sometimes the mom kills them because she doesn't know what it is so the breeding center incubates them for the first little while.
<-- The Red Panda, a kind of fox/raccoon little guy.
<-- This was taken at the Sichuan Opera in Chengdu. We didn't understand a word, but made up our own convincing story line and enjoyed the music, singing and especially the costumes.

<-- Us and our packs, not bad for 9 weeks eh???

We left Chengdu this morning to visit Leshan, known for it's Big Buddha, measuring 192ft, that was built in 713. It seems that every city in Asia boasts the biggest Buddha as a number one attraction, and we have seen our share, but this one definitely takes the cake. We took a bus to Leshan and then a ferry along the river to see the Buddha that is carved into the mountain side. It took almost 90 years to complete and was the project of a Buddhist monk who's goal was to calm the violent rivers that converged at this mountain. It's amazing to experience these glimpses into the past. The history in this country is unbelievable and hard to even grasp.
<-- In case you can't figure it out, this is the big dude. If you look closely you can see all the tiny people walking down on the left and some right in front. HUGE!
<-- Up close and personal.

Tomorrow we're off to hike up Mt. Emei (we're staying at the base tonight) and then onto Kunming, our last stop before we enter Vietnam.

Beijing - Part 1

2005-09-07T18:35:00.000+07:00

We're now on full day number 2 in Beijing and loving every second of it, we've had nothing but beautiful, sunny days. Beijing is a 2000+ year old city with a population of over 13 million so you can begin to imagine where we are. Beijing is also getting ready for its 2008 olympics so is extra crazy. Where Taiwan had scooters, Beijing has bikes and when we thought driving in Taiwan was nuts we were not even close to describing the insanity of Beijing streets. Luckily there are many 'Hutongs', which are small alley-like side streets that hold traditional chinese homes. Yesterday we explored the Hutongs as well as main streets by renting bicycles from our hostel. We also went to the Temple of Heaven, where we were able to experiment with a curved 'echo wall' and the voice projecting center stone of an ancient platform. Very neat stuff. Later we passed Tiananmen square and drove past the Forbidden city which we are going to explore further tomorrow. After a drive in the park, where we saw many old dudes hanging out playing games, we went up a hill to a viewing tower and looked out over the forbidden city for the sunset and a couple $2 Yuan beers ($.30 CND!!!).

Today... WOW... we went to the GREAT wall of China. It was a 3 hr ride both ways and well worth it to get a spot on the wall that was very authentic and peaceful. We hiked an hour up to the wall and then 4 hours across for a total of 9kms. The wall marks the border between China and Mongolia and the view to both sides was nothing but undisturbed nature at its very best, mountains and forests stretching to the horizon. It was one of those memories that will definitely last a lifetime and is even better because of the work we had to put into it to get the breathtaking results. We had to climb and clamber down a series of super steep steps and ramps the most of which are originals that are more than 420 years old. We did pass a section that has been restored in the past 20 years so it was really nice to get a mix of both. At the end of the hike I (Allison) opted to take a rip-cord across the river in front of the wall, what a way to end the day! Pictures will never do it justice but we've tried and will post a whole bunch.

** having problems uploading more pictures... stay tuned...

The Great Wall

2005-09-07T16:46:00.000+07:00

We drove 3hrs from Beijing to a small farming town and then hiked up this hill to the wall.

Check out all those steps! This is from the newer section of the wall, only about 20 yrs old.
This is part of the original wall over 420 yrs old!
A well deserved rest.
You can see how instead of steps they used to just have steep inclines, it was very crumbly at points and was almost harder going down than up!
Group shot!
Looking toward the steep climb to the next tower.
Tired and Happy.

Looking back on the 23 towers we hiked.

YAY!
WEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Hong Kong

2005-09-06T21:21:00.000+07:00

Hong Kong is a wicked place. It is so big and busy but is nestled in to this little spot between the harbour and the mountains. It is super convenient and easy to get around with many different modes of transpo available and lots of English to help along the way. Al and I experienced some 'reverse culture shock' as we found ourselves staring at all the 'whities' at the restaurants/bars and we both found that we were reading EVERY single sign written in English whether it was important or not. We met up with our buddy Michael (who taught with us in Taiwan) right away and he happened to have a few friends in Hong Kong who were able to take us out and show us around. We had fun exploring and seeing all that H.K. had to offer and although SUPER EXPENSIVE, it was a tremendous way to start our adventure. It's great to have Michael around for this part of the ride as he is super easy to chat with and is very easy going about all that we do. We're currently in Beijing, another huge city and we spent today riding an old school bike around the city and seeing some of the major sights. So far, Beijing is great and MUCH CHEAPER than H.K. We boutght large beers today for about $0.30 cdn!! Our hostel is super great as it is big, clean, cheap and very centrally located. We're off tomorrow a.m at 6:30 to walk the GREAT WALL! Now, we're off to bed and we will post more when we have some time. Hope you're all well.

2005-09-06T21:14:00.000+07:00

After Hong Kong, we hopped on the 24 hour sleeper train to Beijing. It was much better than our past experience on sleeper trains in Thailand and we were pleasantly surprised. This is a picture of our little room with six beds in it that we luckily only had to share with one other man. The three of us are now comfortable in Beijing and are heading out to the Great Wall tomorrow morning. We'll post more when we can!

2005-09-06T21:07:00.000+07:00

After Day 1 of exploring Hong Kong Island, we met up with Michael's friend Marina who took us East to Stanley Market in Stanley and to her little beach town of Shek O. Later, we took the ferry across to the Kowloon side, where we could look back at Hong Kong and watch the lights of the city's skyscrapers dance in time with the music being played for us in Kowloon. Pretty cool. This is a shot from Kowloon, looking back toward Hong Kong Island.

2005-09-06T20:53:00.000+07:00

This is up on 'The Point' of Hong Kong Island overlooking the lights of the city, the harbour, and in the distance, Kowloon (mainland).

And AWAY we GO!

2005-08-29T15:26:00.000+07:00

So it’s that time… time to leave Taiwan. We’ve both had a fabulous year and will take a way a million memories. We’re now getting ready for our 9 week trip through China and the Northern part of South-East Asia. We’re going to fly to Hong Kong and use trains and buses from then on. Here’s a rough itinerary and we’re hoping to update the site as we go so you can keep tabs on us.

China – 2.5 weeks
• We are leaving Taiwan for Hong Kong at 8:30am on Sept 1st where we will be meeting up with Michael, who we worked with this past year. He will be with us for Hong Kong, Beijing and Xi’an and will decide what to do from there.
• After 3 days in Hong Kong we will be riding a 26 hour train up to Beijing to see, among other highlights, The Great Wall of China.
• Following 4 days in Beijing, we will head South West to Xi’an (Shee-an) to see the Terracotta Soldiers (among other things).
• From Xi’an, we will go to Chengdu to see Panda Bears and some other sights outside the city.
• Then to Leshan for the famous 200+ ft. Buddha carved into a mountain beside a river (it took 90 years to carve!).
• We’ll then head down to Kunming, our last stop in China, before to entering Vietnam.

Vietnam – 2.5 weeks
• We will cross into LoCai, Vietnam around Sept. 20th for 3 days of relaxing in the mountains.
• Then to Hanoi and out for a mini-trip to Halong Bay for a night or two out on the ocean, visiting islands, snorkeling and sleeping on the boat.
• Back to Hanoi and then down the East Coast of Vietnam with stops in the beach towns of Hoi An and Nah Trang
• Finally we’ll head to Saigon (Ho Chi Min City) to see the Chi-Chi war tunnels and maybe a cruise on the Saigon River.
• From Saigon, we hope to hook up on a Mekong Delta trip that will take us into Cambodia around October 12th.

Cambodia – 1 week
• Our first stop in Cambodia will be in the capital city of Phnom Penh.
• We’ll spend a few days there and then will head north to Siem Reap to see the famous Angkor Wat (ancient temple ruins).
• We plan to stay in Cambodia for about 1 week and will hopefully enter Thailand around October 19th.

Thailand – 3 weeks
• First to Bangkok to visit our friend Lisa and book our flights onward.
• Bangkok, north to Chang Mai (jungles and elephants) and then back down to Bangkok with a for-sure stop in Ayuthya, the ancient capital.
• We’ll then head south down to the beach-resort areas of Phuket, Phi-Phi (from the movie “The Beach”), and Krabi.
• We will both head back to Bangkok a few weeks later where Mark will fly to Vancouver and Allison will head to Sydney, Australia. We plan to leave Thailand around November 7th.

Birthday Weekend in Kenting

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The birthday girl and Beth - doing their own Macho thang with bad-ass Batman tatoos!

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This was funny - these two Taiwanese girls were over by a rock, doing this photo shoot like they were posing for the cover of Sports Illustrated. They had poses galore, accessories to accentuate and they LOVVEED the camera. Naturally, George and Will wanted to join in on the fun...The girls loved it!

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We spent all day Saturday on the beach with Beth, George and Will, drinking beers and enjoying the warm sun. Luckily the beach was open but we were still unable to swim due to dangerous waves and undertow (so the non-swimming Taiwanese told us).

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On Friday night while we celebrated Al's birthday in style (sitting on a picnic table outside 7-11 with $1.00 beers), we met these two dudes - George and Will. They turned out to be two super guys from Hamilton, On. who we got along with really well. George is working up in Taipei and Will was visiting from Japan. We gave them a lift back to Taipei when we went to drop Beth off at the airport and then Will and I joined George's soccer team for a game.

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Very macho!

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We were out celebrating Al's birthday and decided to get a picture with this dude. Keting has several bars that put on 'shows' - they usually advertise them as "TWO BEAUTIFUL LADIES AND ONE MACHO MAN'. I'm sure you can tell that this is the MACHO MAN and we couldn't resist a pic. Check the white boots!

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As the beaches were closed on Friday due to dangerous waters, we found ourselves driving around exploring the greater Kenting area. We found an ocean side tourist area where we walked along and saw some nice sights. Among the highlights were waterfalls, monkeys and dress-wearing mountain climbers.

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Our friend from university, Beth, is currently working in South Korea. She had vacation time and came down to Taiwan for a visit. Having just recently been to Kenting, we knew she'd love it so we went back. We arrived on the tail end of a typhoon so the weather was not the greatest. Nonetheless, a good time was had by all and it was just good to see our buddy Beth.

Soccer Tourney in Taipei

2005-07-30T15:51:00.000+07:00

Mark and I headed to Taipei last weekend for his last tourney of the year. Due to an unfortunate penalty kick, by a not-so-fortuate former Brazilian national soccer star that missed the net completely, the team was placed 5th out of the 16 teams. I didn't really understand the full story until I later found out that he had tried some fancy footwork instead of just the old ball-into-net tactic and cost the team what might have been a victory. We spend Saturday night in Taipei catching the night view of a lit up Taipei 101 and returned back to Taichung after the games, and festivities, on Sunday.

Crazy Kenting

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This was our final adventure in Kenting. We found a bar called 'Ocean Blue' that was giving away free beers all night to ladies in bikinis, so obviously Heather and had to take advantage. Mark was a little disappointed that they weren't encouraging him to go topless so he entered a drinking contest and had no trouble beating his Taiwanese competitors and winning some free beer for himself. We stayed here from 10 till 2ish and seemed to be the only girls really taking advantage of this fabulous deal. Only in Taiwan... We had a fabulous three days and arrived back safe and sound in Taichung Sunday afternoon, thanks to Mark's driving, narrowly escaping the beginning of a big typhoon that closed the beaches and is sure to cause a couple stormy days ahead.

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Heather and I enjoying Day 2 in the China sea. The huge rock behind us was called 'Sail Rock' because it looks like a sail.? We could see people climbing up and jumping off the little ledge to the right, something we'll definetly have to try next trip.

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This is the main street in Kenting it was PACKED with tourists, vendors, shops and bars. There was also a steady stream of traffic inching along, getting no where fast.

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Speaking of sun-scorched I got one of the best sun-glass burns of my career. Not only did my face keep Heather and Mark entertained but the Taiwanese tourists thought it was pretty hillarious aswell.

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After the beach we took a ride around the Southern tip of Taiwan. This is Mark and I standing at the edge of a cliff looking towards Australia. A spectacular view.

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This past weekend we took Friday off and headed South to Kenting with Heather. The weather was beautiful, the water was blue and the drinks were a plenty. This picture was taken at a beach that was about a five minute walk from our hostel.

Cross-Island Adventure

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This the most famous rock formation at Yelio called "The Queen's Head Rock". (Yes I am a typical tourist who is pretending to kiss her. I always have been slightly lame)

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This Jay at Yelio. The ocean tides have created some cool rock formations from erosion of parts of the rock. It reminded us of Mars or something....hard, dry, red, and different.

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Our next stop was Fulong Beach where we took a quick dip in the Pacific and then were off to Yelio.

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Taroko poster shot!

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We like waterfalls!

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Yaaaayyyyy!

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A beauty waterfall right in the heart of the Gorge. Would have been nice to stand under but it's impossible to reach.

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We stayed in a Catholic Youth Hostel right in the Gorge for $12.00 each. It was totally clean, nice and comfortable. This was the view!

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Heather and some friends we met on the way, soaking up the hot water from the spring behind them while staying refreshed by the river.

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We went to the hotspring in Taroko Gorge again to show Heather and Jay how wicked it was, but found a big gate stopping us from descending down. We decided to climb over it and squeeze between it and the giant overhead rock. This is a 6'3" man squeezing through a 3.5' space.

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As there were no dumbells on our cross island trip, Jay was forced to resort to curling cobs of corn.

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Heather and I peering out over the vast unknown. This is pretty close to the top of the mountains - 10,000 vertical feet up. It was much colder up here and we were right among the clouds. Super nice.

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Heather, Jay and Mark at our first stop on our Cross Island adventure.

You Went on a What?

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Seeing as though you can spit from one convenience store to the next, and beers within these stores are about $1.25, we decided to have a 7-11 crawl. This is all of us outside one of our stops. Note the Taiwanese homeless man who joined us, and even bought us a 6 pack. Shouldn't it have been the other way around??

Beautiful Boracay, Philippines - June 4-12

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Swimming with the sharks...

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The locals would often make amazing sandcastles on the beach. This castle is actually quite a bit bigger than it looks in the picture.

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We got our best Boracay sunset on our last night.

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Around the corner from the big, main beach, is this little one where there are no people. We camped out here for an afternoon of swimming, reading and relaxing.

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Brown feet, white sand, and a pink sky make for a pretty decent pic.

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The yacht we cruised around in

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Boca beach - another snorkel stop

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Cave snorkelling

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This is on the boat that took us on our private 4 hr snorkelling/island hopping tour for a mere $10.00 each. Beat that!

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This is at one of our favorite Boracay hangouts. A bar that had live music a stones throw from the beach. The best part was that between 5 and 9, you could get two drinks for $1.00. We were there every night.

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This was the view as we stepped out of our hotel.

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Al and the Swedes at the busiest of the night clubs in Boracay - Cocamangas. The wall behind is a list of gold plated names of people who have finished the "15 shots challenge" and were still standing. I guess we're getting old as we didn't try it.

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Our porch hangout where we listened to the rain and got some much needed R&R.

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This is at one end of White Beach - the longest beach I've ever seen. It took about 45 minutes to walk its entirety and was filled with baby powder like white sand. Shortly after we took this shot, we went swimming. I left Al's sunglasses and our room key on the tree I'm sitting on. We swam for about 5 minutes and when we got out, no sunglasses or key. Some kid nabbed them on his way by! We weren't happy.

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Boracay doesn't have an airport so you have to fly to a place called Caticlan and then take a boat over. This is the baggage waiting area at the Caticlan airport! Very advanced as you can see.

Taitung Soccer Tournament

2005-05-30T22:02:00.000+07:00

Friday evening after school, we left for Taidong - site of a fun soccer tournament in which about 8 teams participate. This is a different type of tourny than the other bigger, more serious ones in the major cities. Saturday consists of an 8 team tournament in the local stadium and Sunday is a day of hungover beach soccer. Taitung is on the South East Coast of Taiwan. The East Coast is far less populated and polluted than the busy west coast and is much more scenic, natural and beautiful.
This was the first tournament Allison came with me as she thought she could handle a day at the beach. I must say that it was a nice treat to finish games and have a snack + beverage + massage combo waiting for me.

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Ta-da

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The Sunday setting for a little beach soccer action. There was another playing area behind this one. Although it rained a little, it was still hot and the ocean was warm and wavey. In between games, we go for a swim and enjoy the mountains surrounding us. There was a dj playing some tunes and the beer sellers were ever present. Most were feeling rough from a heavy Saturday night and a tiring day of soccer the day before.

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Our small team + girlfriends out for dinner on Sat. night at an aboriginal restaurant in the mountains. Our bus got lost on the way and after playing 4 games earlier in the day, eating dinner at 10:00 was just slightly annoying. Those who know me well can imagine how I was doing. But the food arrived, the beer started to flow and we had a good night.

Sunny Sun Moon Lake

2005-05-24T20:32:00.000+07:00

It's obvious that everyone loves a good weekend at the cottage. Taiwan isn't exactly cottage country although it does have some beautiful, natural scenic areas. They just don't really lend themselves to a weekend of sitting on the dock, having a beer and jumping in the lake whenever you please.

However, we found that Sun Moon Lake is just a two hour scooter ride away. So we planned a weekend away with our friends Michael and Laura. Michael knew the way so early on Saturday morning, we took off through the mountains to find our cottage paradise! After a beautiful ride through the mountains, and then a somewhat treacherous high speed ride on the highway (eeeesh), we arrived at our destination. The sun was shining, the water looked beautiful and we had a perfect, lakeside cottage recommended by another friend.

We spent time simply enjoying the clean air, staring out at the lake, sipping on beverages, playing cards and swimming. It was super quiet and very relaxing. It was good to finally be able to get away with our friends Michael and Laura who will be leaving at the end of June :( But now that we know the way, I'm sure we will go back there prior to leaving Taiwan for good. As usual, the photos don't really do the place justice. The water was a color I had never seen before and the view from atop the pagoda was incredible. But, I'm sure you'll be able to see that it was a pretty nice place.

Sunny Sun Moon Lake With Our "Buddies"

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White teethed, rosy cheeked Michael and Laura. Happy on top of the pagoda.

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Feeling pretty happy with our weekend get-away.

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Al about 'bong' the big bell at the top of the pagoda. There is something about the Taiwanese and their love of loud noises. I think they think it wards of the evil spirits and whatnot. We all took our one or two gong hits but the Taiwanese would absolutely hammer the thing about a dozen times in a row. It made what would be an enjoyable stay atop the pagoda, somewhat annoying.

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Michael and Laura posing on the way up the 572 meter winding trail that leads to the pagoda (or the padoga as some called it!)

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The view from the top of the pagoda.

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On Sunday a.m, we took our scooters up to see this pagoda, perched high up in the mountains, overlooking the whole lake.

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This is the little bay that our cottage was in. It was obviously very quiet and it was nice to get some peace and quiet after always being in the busy, noisy and once again, slightly smelly city.

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The place we stayed at had two kayaks available for use. Al and I (a.k.a The Rookies) took a paddle out and about and realized we needed a little more practice at 'working together' - we couldn't quite get our paddling strokes in cue!

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Allison having a swim. We swam all weekend long but you won't catch too many Taiwanese in the lake. Several stories say that the lake is haunted by 'ghosts' from a busload of Japanese tourists who perished in an accident many years before. Others say the lake is filled with piranas so they stay away. We swam without any problems but we did get some 'you guys are absolutely crazy' stares from the Taiwanese on the dock.

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This was where we stayed. Our cottage was the furthest one to the right, with Michael and Laura's being further to the right of ours. My buddy Kurt from soccer was actually on the other side of us but that was unplanned. As you can see, our cottage was very much 'lakeside' and we woke up to all those good cottage sounds.

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We went with our friends Michael and Laura. Michael had been there before so he was our fearless scooter leader! We had a great weekend together sight seeing, swimming, playing cards and partaking in other cottage life activities.

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After a beautiful scooter drive through the winding mountains filled with FRESH AIR, we arrived at Sun Moon Lake. The Lake is a beautiufl bluish green color and is surrounded on all sides by fully treed mountains. A very nice spot!

A Night Out With Crome Relic

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Though Mark and I don't go out as often as we might at home, when we do it's always memorable. Last night Mark and I were having some delicious italian cuisine when we got a call from one of his soccer buddies informing us that 'Crome Relic' would be playing at 89K, a local 'alternative' bar. I had seen them once before and Mark has attended several of their performances. Why? The lead singer (the one with the curly hair rockin' out on the left) is one of Mark soccer buddies. So we got dressed up 80s style as best we could and headed to the bar where a bunch of other teachers met us - they didn't realize what they were in for. It turned out to be an excellent night. Almost everyone was dressed up, the whole band and hardcore fans wearing wigs and they rocked out like it was 1984. Like Mark was saying, metal wasn't cool in highschool but we can dig it now that we're mature adults. Oh how the adventures in Taiwan continue.

Gorgeous Green Island

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Two weeks ago we went to Green Island, the small island you can see off the South-East coast of Taiwan. We took a 6 hour night bus there and back and had a fabulous time exploring, sunning and snorkeling. We're both feeling very lucky to have the chance to travel so much and get to know the little island of Taiwan. So below are the highlights of our 3 day adventure to Green Island.

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Those big rocks that you can see out in the water was the location of 'the hole' that we had just come from.

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This is one of the bigger waves where the whitewash actually made it to our hole.

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We took turns. Nice scene though eh?

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Next stop was another ocean front scene. We hiked down and across a buch of volcanic rock and emerged sea-side. We found this nice little 'hole' in the coral and rock and made it our own little swimming hole for the next half hour. Large waves were rushing in about 10 yards away but luckily, the rocks were breaking them up before they could do any damage to us. Looking back, a big wave could have flung us about pretty easily and those rocks would not have been fun to be thrown up against.

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This is a shot from the Green Island campground of the gazebo we would go relax in.

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Nice scenes everywhere!

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Checking out the scene - you know me, fascinated by simple things! "Wow.....look. There's like water coming up from this whole!"

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Exploding volcanic-water holes!

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One of the crevices through which the water would shoot up as the waves came in.

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Our first stop on Monday was here. A little spot under a bridge that turned out to be way cooler than we thought. We walked out through that water behind Al to the rocks on the other side of the bridge. We found that the ocean was rushing in right underneath us and was shooting up through various crevases in the rock. Hard to explain, hard to picture but we have some movies of it to show you when we get home.

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"O.k. Now let's look at each other while we take the picture"
Don't pretend you haven't done it!!

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This is in our hotel room. As you can see, we had a beautiful ocean view. Just down from our hotel is where we went snorkelling. The water was warm, clear and full of amazing marine life. Sorry......no underwater pics.

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After our hike, we found an ocean front gazebo that we could have all to ourselves. We read for a couple hours to the sound of waves rolling in. I think I (Mark) might have even had a little nap. I know, I know......strange!

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Fearless Hiker Extraordinaire!!

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This was one of the many little 'creatures' we encountered on our walk. At first glance, it looked like a snake (first thought was that it was one of those big, bad poisonous ones). Then, upon looking closer, we could see his little 'arms' which made him a lizard I guess. Nasty looking little bugger.