Done and done.

After a smooth Japan Airlines trip (watched the Departed, Driving Miss Daisy, and Good Will Hunting) -- three days of apartment hunting, and a great graduation party at Kyle's house...

I'm home yo.

Homeward Bound

Yoooooooo! As hard as it is for any of us to leave (at least most of us), we are officially on our way home. We're currently at the free Yahoo internet cafe in Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan, painfully dealing with our five-hour layover before our flight to JFK. I could update you with the details of the last few days, but honestly, it's 7:15am Thai time and I slept for maybe 30 minutes on the flight from BKK. Though I am very sad to leave, I think I speak for everyone when I say I cannot wait to get home. Mom -- what's for dinner? I'm hungry.

Some of my favorite [non-anticipated] moments:

• Anthony sitting down on a squatting toilet not realizing that the grooves on either side were for your feet.
• Vas thinking that the chirping bugs at sunset in Angkor Wat were actually an alarm system designed to tell everyone that the park was closing.
• Ben talking off the ears of every person we had any sort of extended interaction with (maybe that's why we got bailed on so many times).
• My night of debauchery with Pipe and M in Chiang Mai, and the ensuing slap Vas suffered after trying to take care of me (Sorry, V).
• Anthony and I nearly having our faces washed by two small girls who wanted to clean our cab's windows for money (had to be there... or at least hear about it the next day...).
• My dosey-doh dancing skills in Siem Reap.
• Anthony and I 'singing' Bon Jovi on stage at a Thai pop star's birthday party with her famous actor boyfriend (stay tuned for more on that).
• Nearly eating fried chicken feet.
• Being cat-called by Thai hookers every 10 feet in Koh Samui ('Sawadeeeeeee. Sawadee Kaaaa. Where you from? Wha your name? Sawadeeeeeee. I like you.').
• Meeting a girl vendor in Angkor Wat that knew the capital of every state in the US (Did everyone else know the capital of Montana was Helena? Me neither.).
• Vas using my Lonely Planet guide to tell the waitresses at a restaurant in Bangkok without an English menu that he doesn't eat meat, their ensuing confusion, and our later realization that he was reading from the Vietnamese section.

I think that's it for now. I'm hungry, and this damn airport only has two places to eat - a noodles place, and another noodles place... I am in serious need of some fast food. We will all share some more final thoughts and an update of the last few days when we finally get home after this God awful 13 hour flight (It leaves Tokyo at 11:30AM and arrives in JFK at 11:25AM - We go back 5 minutes in time! Sweet.). SEE YOU ALL SOON!

Last day in Bangkok

Yo yo. We hit up some shopping today. I bought two "Polo" shirts. We'll see how long they stay together.

We ship out in 27 hours. It's been real, T-land.

Vas

Federer/Roddick

We hit the "Irish Pub" last night to watch the Wimbledon final. We may have been the only Americans there, but what a match...we went nuts any time Roddick scored on Federer's serve. Sadly, it was not meant to be....

Here is our itinerary for the remainder of the trip for those keeping score at home...

July 6th, 5:30PM: Bus back to Bangkok
July 7th, 7:00AM: Arrive in Bangkok
July 8th, 10:25PM: Fly.
July 9th, 11:30AM: Arrive in NYC
July 9th, 11:31AM: Start looking for apartments.

Vas

A Vacation from our Vacation

I hope you all have enjoyed our blog thus far, it's been great to hear comments from our friends and family. To everyone back home, hope you're having a safe and enjoyable July 4th weekend. Interestingly, I think we're missing the States more than ever right now. That being said, the trip is no doubt winding down...it's been a whirlwind 3 weeks, to say the least...we need a va-cay. So, true to our name...we've made it from Spruce....to Ko Samui.

It's the last leg of our trip, the namesake of this very blog, and a much needed respite from the site-seeing, temples-visiting, and ruins-trekking that dominated our time thus far. Ko Samui is a bumpin island off the southeastern coast of Thailand, replete with blue beaches and palm trees. I doubt we could have asked for a better way to spend our last 3 days on this trip...sitting on the beach, sipping mango smoothies, and rollin deep in sun, sand and surf. After a short ferry ride, we arrived yesterday afternoon to some nice bungalows, just yards from the beach. Kyle was of course the first to jump in the ocean, wasting no time while I instead generously applied SPF 70 before heading out into el sol. Tsk tsk, Kyle. We strolled down the beach to some cool rock formations, eventually landing in a small crystal-clear ocean pond, surrounded by massive boulders. It was pretty legit, and I'm sure Kyle will load pics soon.

After browsing the world wide web for an hour, we retreated to dinner on Chaweng beach, a beach a bit north of Lamai, where we are currently staying. Wimbledon was on EVERYWHERE (yeah Roddick!) and it was cool to enjoy the game with such a multifarious crowd of travellers and natives alike. My spaghetti dinner made me miss the Olive Garden though (when you're there, you're family), so I'm itching to hit that up when I get back state-side. We bounced around a few bars, playing pool for an hour before heading to the Green Mango, Ko Samui's consumate club. It was ill...good tunes, good moves.

All in all, a relaxing first day....only to be followed up by additional relaxing and beach-meandering today. I'm almost done with An Unaccustomed Earth, while Kyle finally finished The Beach.

The other fellas are kayaking tomorrow. I'll opt for a nice beach chair and my iPod, thank you very much.

Adios my peoples. Again, thanks for reading along with us...we hope you've enjoyed it as much as we've enjoyed experiencing it. Just a few more posts I think...hang with us.

Vas

I'm Bored - Additional Commentary from Siem Reap

Ant just gave the summary of today and yesterday, but I'm still waiting for my 417 pictures and videos to upload to Picassa, so I'll add a word or two (and some photos). First of all, though Ant thinks his new nickname is Lucky, he's the only one who refers to himself as that. Secondly, 'Crazy Girl' was easily the cutest child I've met on this trip, and I had no issue with buying ten more postcards for a dollar to add to the ten I already bought yesterday. Another interesting approach was the growling child that barked like a dog and chased me before begging me to buy his flute. I didn't want the flute so eventually he just chased me away and I never came back. Sorry, kid. It is really hard to face them all though.

Ah! Pics are finally up, so I'll make this quick. Sunrise over Angor Wat was easily one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen. I think the overall favorite though was Ta Phrom, the forest temple, where I had fun climbing stuff and getting lost. There seems to be a trend on this trip: Ben, Vas, and Anthony walking ahead or behind of me, as I stroll along aimlessly, stopping every so often to observe the most obscure things at my own pace. I'm also the only one who didn't buy a cell phone and a SIM card before we got here, so it's amazing that I haven't gotten lost yet.

Interesting piece of information: Last year, Angkor Wat was narrowly outvoted by the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the ruins of Petra (Jordan), the Great Pyramids, the Christ statue in Rio, the Colosseum, and Machu Pichu in a 'New' Wonders of the Ancient World competition (likely because few people have ever heard of it though).

Oh yeah, and the difference between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh is unbelievable. I've seen more legit hotels here than in Bangkok, and there's a whole street literally called 'Bar Street' lined with pubs, clubs, and restaurants. Definitely hitting the $1 Angkor draughts up tonight. In the mean time, enjoy the pics from today below.

I also created a new Picassa album at: http://picasaweb.google.com/thaikappblog/ThailandCambodia# - Should include everything from the trek onwards. If it doesn't work, I'll need to invite you to view them, so shoot me an email.

Angkorwat with Pharell

yo kids. after a long day (completed before noon) at Angkorwat, we all all wiped and pumped to get some sleep. quick update on the last two days.

Monday morning we caught the 7 30 bus to Siem Riep (after staying up to watch the heart braking US loss to Brazil in the Confed Cup final). After a painfully bumpy bus ride (which Kyle somehow enjoyed), we arrived at our guesthouse, Rosy's, in Siem Riep. Turned out to be a legit place with a pool hall and extremely friendly staff including the manager, Smiley. After some grub, we caught the sunset (aka cloudy horizon) from atop the Ba Keng, temple/hill. Although underwheming because of the weather, it was still worth the attempt.

Next was dinner at the Red Piano (nice place, decent food) and walking around the surprisingly nice and fun nightlife area in Siem Riep. We saw some of a Apsara dance show and played some pool (trying to become pool sharks before the trip is over) and then turned in for the night.

Today, we got up at 4 30 am to catch the sunrise over Angkorwat, which was definitely worth it and quite beautiful. Then, on to exploring Angkorwat, which was amazing simply for its enormous scale and a number of other temple ruins within the Angkor complex including Bayon (legit architecture with faces carved into the pillars), Baphuon (under renovation), Terrance of Elephants, Ta Keo (tallest wat in the complex with sweet views), Ta Prohm (jungle temple aka the Tomb Raider temple where some of the movie was shot, including some awesome giant tree/root/temple combinations), and Banteay Kdei and Sras Srang (the last wat ruin we saw and the adjacent lake/pool).

Another note from today was that the children and adults selling everything from water to large paintings were overwhemingly persistant and difficult to say no to. At almost every stop, we would encounter numerous locals, typically young children, attempting to sell them products with a variety of methods. The children were quite difficult to resist whether they tried to be happy and cute or very sad and pleading. We certainly empathasized with them, leading to a number of purhases, although we were never able to satisfy the abundance of sellers. The most effective selling method of the day was delivered by a young girl who said her name was 'Crazy Girl'. Crazy Girl was able to answer the capital of almost every state in the US and after naming Raleigh as the capital of NC, I couldn't resist buying from her, although I didnt need/want anything at the time.

Overall, the temple complex was really impressive and incredible to see first-hand. Also impressive was that we were able to complete all of this touring before 11am, along with the help and transport of our tuk tuk driver, 'Pharell', (everyone has American-esque nicknames for the tourists sake). Effectively watted out, we had lunch a Thai-Western restaurant, gotta please the whole fam, and are about to pass out of exhaustion and get ready for a night out on the town.

PS - the blog has covered everything so far but some of my highlights from the past week or so were: waterfall rapelling (my favorite day of the trip so far), getting a new nickname, 'Lucky', from one of the monks we chatted with, trying bamboo shoot soup in the Karen village where we stayed, our rafting guide named 'Jack Sparrow', and Mr. Sun's 'blue' steak (rarest yet cooked with love)

The World is a Wonderful and Horrific Place

Seeing as though Vas has covered all of the basic bullet points from our last few days, I want to take the opportunity to get real and reflect on a few things. The things that we have seen, the people we have met, and the things which we have done over the past two weeks is absolutely unreal. We've climbed mountains, traversed white water, partied hard with Thai locals, received the wisdom and blessings of Buddhist monks and one very amiable Cambodian prince, and walked through the fields where nearly 20,000 innocent men, women, and children were senselessly murdered. We've slept in huts, 4 guesthouses, a bus, and not one, but two, lovely Sun family homes. We've ridden cars, cabs, busses, trains, elephants, motorized long boats, a motorized speed boat, a sky train, bicycles, "red trucks", and every imaginable form of tuk-tuk. We've eaten pad thai, rice noodles, jellyfish, cow's intestine, french toast, waffles, lots of pizza, shitty hamburgers, roast duck, and easily the best steak I have ever had in my life. And to think we haven't even made it to Angor Wat or Ko Samui yet...

I actually want to elaborate more specifically on Phnom Penh and our experience yesterday a bit. Prior to coming here, I had actually done some research on the Khmer Rouge by reading "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung, and had been anticipating our visits to Tuol Sleng and the Choeng Ek killings fields. To think that this all occured less than a decade before my own birth is absolutely mind-boggling. The government of Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia's name under the Khmer Rouge) actually held a seat at the UN until 1990, and the government which ousted the KR in 1979 was actually condemned by most Western states for several years. As Vas mentions, it is difficult to convey the emotions one feels when walking through the fields of Choeng Ek, with human bones literally protruding from the earth beneath your feet, or the halls of S-21, covered with gruesome photographs of the corpses found there and images of the prison's victims. Nonetheless, I will tell you that one of the most profound moments for me was when I caught myself breathing a short sigh of relief when stumbling across a photo of an elderly man among the hundreds of faces strewn throughout the halls, feeling grateful that he was at least able to lead a full life prior to the war, unlike most of the prison's victims.


What I find most amazing, however, is the lasting impact the Khmer Rouge has had on Cambodia. Because it occured only three decades ago, nearly every single individual has been directly affected by it in some way - families were uprooted, dispersed, and destroyed, and many still remain hopelessly separated. Though the country's potential is enormous (thanks to one particularly inspiring individual), the poverty is rampant in Phnom Penh in ways I did not expect, and in no way comparable to what we have seen in Thailand - an immediate example of how less than 4 years of bloodshed and chaos can set development back more than 20. Just when I was beginning to think there was nothing worse than the persistent tuk-tuk drivers of Bangkok, I was introduced to the impoverished children and landmine victims of Cambodia...

Nevertheless, Lonely Planet aptly describes Cambodia as a country of extremes. Thus while poverty seems ever-present and dark memories of the past linger in the present, the beauty and opulence of places like the Royal Palace and Angkor Wat remain.


This brings me to a much lighter note (an example of the 'extremes' we have encountered here). Last night was in fact one of the more enjoyable we have had here. Along with ten or so relatives and family friends, we were fortunate enough to be served what was easily the best steak dinner I have ever had, cooked especially 'with love' by Mr. Sun himself. Though none of us specifically requested a drink at any point during the evening, they just kept coming! And when the high prince of Cambodia asks you to have a shot of cognac with him, you don't say no. Ask Vas. I also think we danced to "Thriller" three or four times. Forget Michael Jackson though -- I've just been told that Billy Mays passed away today. Damn.


Today was a slow day, as we spent most of it hanging out with the Suns. We did see Wat Phnom, which was interesting, and then went out on the family boat on the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers. We then returned home, played some pretty competitive volleyball games, had dinner, played Go Fish, Old Maid, and Hide and Seek, and Anthony and I are now watching the US of A play Brazil in the Confederations Cup Final in South Africa. 2-0 at half!


Anyway, I had more that I wanted to say, but it's 2:30 in the morning and I'm drawing a blank. We have a 7:30 bus to Siem Reap as well, which is not going to be a ton of fun.

Miss you all! And a big thanks once again to Ratavy, Nyny, and their family for showing us such a great time and welcoming us into their home.

Kyle

Off to Siem Reap

YO! We are losing readership...it's time for an update. After a rousing game of hide and seek with Mony, Nyny and Ratavy...we're crashed on Ratavy's couch awaiting the U.S. - Brazil Confederation Cup final. We won't have much time to sleep, since we have a 7:30AM bus to Siem Reap to catch. Let's recount the last few days...

After arriving in Phnom Penh, we were warmly greeted by Ratavy and Nyny at the airport, crashing for the night.

The next day we took to the streets of PP with a packed day ahead of us. Despite its bright future, Cambodia is a country with a scarred history, a history aptly memorialized around the city. We headed first to the Tuol Seng genocide museum, site of the S-21 prison and a proper introduction to the atrocities of the Khmer Rogue genocide (I'm no history buff, so a quick Wikipedia search would do you good!). It was a moving complex -- a secondary school whose classrooms had been converted into torture rooms and small holding cells. Pictures lined the walls of those who had died there, and much of the site remained preserved in its initial state. It was difficult and at times disturbing, but served as a stark reminder of what we can never let happen again.

From there, we rode about 40 minutes outside the city to the Killing Fields, a site where tens of thousands had been brought to be killed. A memorial in the center of the field held almost 8,000 human skulls that had been excavated from the site. Most of the site remains in tact, many of the bodies still buried there. It's hard to verbalize the emotions one feels visiting a place like this, so I will leave it there.

One thing we were quick to quick to notice was the scale of development here in Phnom Penh; it's a much smaller city than Bangkok. We also had our first real dose of children beggars. Some were cheeky, others were desperate, and overall it was tough to say no. Having experienced something similar in India, I knew first hand it would be impossible to help them all. But we spared a few dollars here and there and did our best.

Next, we hit the Palace, home to the Royal Family. A vast complex of beautiful buildings and obvious opulence -- quite similar to the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Pretty legit -- pics to come. "Yo yooooooooo"... Ben was quick to point out the exact building where Obama would have tea, should he ever visit Cambodia. This was followed by two or three stories of his own visit to the Oval Office, and how he was in the War Room during the invasion of Baghdad. For those of you who have been privy to Ben's exaggerations, I'll let you figure those out....but they helped to pass the time nonetheless.

We headed home to get ready for the big graduation bash at Ratavy's house, which, as Ben alluded to earlier, was AMAZING. Maybe one of the best times we have had on this trip, a truly memorable celebration. I'll let Kyle take that one...

We are off to Angkor Wat tomorrow! I've been looking forward to this the most on the trip...

A shout out back to everyone in the States, I miss you guys.

Vas

Unbelivable

Amazing night in Cambodia. I think the best night yet.

More details to come....

In the Pehn

Yo. First and foremost, thanks again to Ratavy for her unbelievable hospitality. We're at her house here in Cambodia with her family, and it's been awesome. Last night we hit up dinner with her and her family -- a fantastic meal at a French-Cambodian restaurant with GREAT bread. What more could I ask for? This'll have to be it for now, time for breakfast.

Vas

Lost in Bangkok

Just a quick update before we head over to Cambodia. As Kyle mentioned, due to the rail workers strike, we ended up taking an overnight bus down to Bangkok. Sadly, none of us slept much due to the blaring music, erratic driving, and many interruptions. No worries though, we made it safely.

When we made it into the train station we decided to head to a guest house near the riverside. Our cabbie clearly had no clue where we were going, so I called the guest house and asked them to give him directions in Thai. Nearly 20 or so minutes later, we were still driving around in circles. The cabbie called the hotel again and spoke with many people along the way, but we were still going in circles. At some point Antony pulled out his guidebook and directed the cabie. It is alway a bad sign when we have to give directions to our cab driver in Bangkok.

Lucky the guest house althoguh out of the way is pretty nice. From there we decided to head to the movie at Siam Square. The imax was sold out so we went for the regular showing. Although the movie was weak, the experience was worth it. We were in one of the nicest mails we have ever seen, and the theatres wre incredible. There was also the most extensive foodcourt we could imagine. Vas and Kyle missing huntsman decided to hit up ABP. I of course couldn't avoid the mangosteen sorbet.

There was also a gourmet grocery store near the foodcourt. I was introduced to m,y new favorite fruit -- golden kiwi from New Zealand. Sorry for all the typos. The computer is very slow and lagging a sentence behind my typing. I'm just going to try post.

See you in Cambodia

Living on a Prayer

Today is Day 13 of 26, I believe. Or 14, I forget. Either way, our trip is roughly half way complete. Though it feels like an eternity since we first set foot in JFK almost two weeks ago, I can't believe it actually has been that long already. I think we all are becoming at least mildly homesick -- whatup to all of our lovely mothers, fathers, siblings, significant others, relatives, and dear friends -- you are all missed very much and thought of/spoken of often. But not enough to leave just yet!

Let me begin by making a few addendums to Ben's post... The life insurance (provided by AIG...) was actually 200,000 baht, not 6000. By 'pouring rain', Ben means that it rained lightly for maybe a third of the trek. Considering how stifling the sun was when it wasn't raining, it was generally welcomed by us all. Shiloh IS the cutest puppie alive, and I miss him dearly. I also don't know how Ben failed to mention that, aside from my performance the night of our return, the nearest to death experience we have had so far occured during our white water adventure. We were split into two rafts - Anthony and I in one with a guide, and Ben and Vas in another with theirs. At this one rapid, mine and Anthony's boat got stuck between two rocks in the middle of the rushing water and literally bent in half, with me hanging on to the edge of the raft. Just as I was ready to jump and say my prayers, our guide was able to get the thing loose. EXTREME.

Okay, I'll pick up from there. Our night out with M and Pipe that night was absolutely legendary. I blame Pipe entirely for my complete intoxication. Thankfully, the other guys were well enough to take care of me. We went to Roots, Rock, Reggae, a live music bar off the beaten path just near our hostel that happened to be a local favorite and a staple among the Peak Adventure employees. Amazing time and great experience overall.

Yesterday was largely a bust to be honest. We had planned to go to Doi Suthep National Park, home to Wat Doi Suthep, roughly 16km outside of Chiang Mai. Disappointed from arriving after closing time the day before, I woke up before everyone else and walked down the street to the Chiang Mai Womens' Prison, where I received a 30-minute Thai foot massage from an inmate for 100 baht, or roughly $3, including a 33% tip (she deserved it - my feet were nasty after three days of all that hiking, rafting, and rappelling). All of the proceeds go toward supporting the inmates once they are released.

After that, I did return to find the guys eating breakfast at our wonderful MD Guesthouse. That place is sorely missed. After checking out, we took a 'red truck' up the mountain to Wat Doi Suthep. When I tell you that was the windiest road I have ever been on, I am by no means exaggerating. It seemed like forever before we reached the top, and I'm fairly certain that each of us was on the verge of vomitting. It took me two hours to fully recover. The temple itself was nothing special - similar to all the rest we've seen - but it did have an interesting 360-some-odd step staircase which was kinda cool, and a spectacular view of Chiang Mai and the surrounding valley. Sorry, no time for pics now. We'll get some up when we get to Ratavy's tomorrow in Phnom Penh. After that, we wasted 30 minutes of our live by heading further up the mountain to some palace whose name isn't worth even looking up right now. There were some lame gardens, some unexciting buildings, and a dry water reservoir, but that's about it.

After that, we headed back to the MD House, grabbed some food, and played a bunch of spades until it was time to catch our overnight bus back to Bangkok. The bus itself was amazing - fully reclining seats, double decker, massaging chairs, free food and drinks, pillows, blankets, etc., but none of us slept very much as the Thai movie and music they played sporadically was so loud, and we stopped twice to have our passports checked and once for a 30-minute rest stop... In fact, all of the others are still in bed. I need to go wake them so we can catch the 2:00pm showing of Transformers at the Paragon in Siam Square. It's supposed to be a cinematic adventure - each person gets their own lazy boy or something. I dunno, Vas has been raving about it for days. Tomorrow we head to the airport for our quick flight to Cambodia. Can't wait!

Laaater,
Kyle

If You Fall, You Will Die: Jungle Trek

One of the most anticipated events of our trip was our jungle trek. We spent countless hours discussing the pros and cons of different tour companies, different jungle locations, and various amounts of time. The short version:

Burr: Do we really need a tour guide? I'm just going into the jungle and we'll find the villages on my own.

Vas: Do we actually have to go on a trek? Can't we just rent a movie and stay at the guest house and do laundry. I saw a good pizza place down the street. Where are my tums?

In the end, taking the advice of our waterfall "Peak Adventure Guides" we decided to embark on a two day, one night, Peak Adventure Tour. The company picked us up at our guest house at 8:30 am and drove us to their corporate headquarters. It was then that we met our tour guides, our new lifelong friends, who lead us through the hills and mountains of Thailand, M and Pipe.

At Peak headquarters we met a few of our travel companions and signed our liability waiver. In case of death or dismemberment our heirs would receive 6000 baht less than $200.

From there, 12 people started our journey together. 4 were on a one day trek and 4 others with us 4 were planning on sticking around for two days. A big shout out goes to Wanda aka Prada who unfortunately didn't it make it all the way with us. Her large size prada bag was too much to lug through the jungle (although Vas did enjoy talking about the re-burgeoning IPO market for VC portfolio companies to her HBS grad boyfriend). The first, but certainly not last tear was shed by Vas when they slowly departed in a peak van.

Our trek started at an elephant camp. Vas and I paired up as did Burr and Anthony to ride the elephants. We weren't expecting much, but it was significantly more exciting than we thought. We bought some bananas and sugar cane to feed the beasts whose back's we were on, in hopes that this would stop them from bucking us off. A huge shout out goes to our driver. Only he knew that the fastest way to calm TitTat (our elephant) was to put his cell phone in TT's ear and play a Kanye ring tone. I guess even elephants want part of the goodlife.

After the elephant ride M and Pipe led the four of us into the Thai jungle. We anticipated a four hour hike, so Ant and I were prepared with our Merrill Moab Gortex. What we were not prepared for was a four hour hike, almost completely uphill, in the pouring rain. We were soaked from head to toe, covered in mud, and out of breath for four hours long. Vas was quick to make jokes about our matching shoes, but his Air Force Ones (which led him to many championships on the hoop court) let him down in the jungle. He spent more time crawling through the mud than walking.

We finally made it to the Karen village where we were to spend the night. M and Pipe showed us to our room at the hut in the village. It was slightly more austere then we had first imagined. M and a local villager cooked us our first dinner in the jungle, which was surprisingly one of our best meals so far. It consisted of chicken and mushroom soup in a creamy coconut milk broth, sweet and sour vegetables, glass noodles with bamboo shoots, and ended with a fresh cut mango.

Although it was very tasty, I was hesitant to eat much after seeing our sous chef --pipe pouring water out of a oil can to cook and wash his knife with. Following dinner we walked around in an attempt to meet some of the villagers. It was quite an eye opening experience. Families lived in one room huts without running water or electricity. They typically had a cow or pig tied to the post of their houses. We didn't get to speak to many of the villagers, but did use our knew Karen word -- dubli -- meaning hello and thank you. Anthony was able to give a high five to one of the young boys kicking a soccer ball

Once we got back to our hut we saw a different side of our tour guides. Pipe and a local villager Patti turned into quite the sommeliers for the evening. For some reason we couldn't get a cold bottle of water the entire trip, but they seemed to pull an endless supply of ice cold homemade rice whiskey from the middle of the jungle. Although I have been to a fine wine pairing class, I did not know that rice whiskey would go so well with bamboo shoots.

After many rounds of rice whiskey our tour guides began to open up. Pipe who barely spoke english began to tell stories and teach us different brain teasers. The most interesting person we met though was a local villager named Patti (which is a term or respect meaning something like uncle in the local village tongue). He taught us many tricks and even gave us a home made bamboo toy. Although we had to buy him many beers from himself to learn the ancient secrets. By the end of the night he convinced us to call him Mr. Party which was seemed normal at the time even though he spoke literally no English.

Finally we all decided to retire to bed. Burr almost certainly dreaming of his new Friend Pipe the entire night. Surprisingly due to the fact that we were sleeping on rugs on wooden floors with no AC we woke very early, and before M and Pipe. The place did have a few key amenities---most importantly a built in mosquito net. At that moment Vas posed a math question for the group. Vas: I have at least 100 mosquito bites on my body. What is the probability that none of these mosquitoes had malaria?

After waking up early we met a new friend appropriately named Shiloh by Burr. He was one of the cutest puppies we have ever seen. He quickly jumped up onto us and was very playful. A quick side note -- one of the most distinctive things we have noticed in Thailand is the sheer amount of stray dogs running around. We all were warned by the able Penn Student Health Doctor not to touch any dogs due to the high probability that they would be rabid. There was no way Shiloh was rabid right?

After a quick breakfast we packed our bags and began our trek down the mountain with Shiloh at our heals. We tried to get him to stay back at his home but he refused, following us for literally 3 hours and a handful of miles. He led the way most of the trip, but we did have to help him down a ladder and across a few irrigation canals. Finally we came across another village with a dog or two. There we prepared to cross a raging river and said our goodbye to Shiloh and crossed without him. There, Burr shed the second tears of the trip. After crossing the river and climbing through a rice field or two we looked back to Shiloh standing at the rivers edge barking for us. Burr cried again and Pipe had to restrain him from running back to rescue Shiloh.

Finally we were off to some white water rafting. We were reminded of the adage in broken English from our repelling the day before "If you fall you will Die." Somehow I again was paired with Vas. Luckily his paddling skills were slightly better than his non existent swimming skills. It was hard to follow instructions from our rafting guide because the only English he knew was "high five." Luckily we made it through for the final high five. We also taught him our other motto: "Vas too good for paddle," as Vas dropped his paddle during many of the rapids and he had to jump out of the raft and swim through the rapids to retrieve it.

After the rafting, we took off our helmets and vests, but the guide told us to keep them on for the ride home. Naturally I chuckled but he informed me that they were putting the rafts in a truck and we were going to sit on them, so we needed helmets in case we fell. Still thinking he was kidding, I laughed again. A few minutes later. Vas' knuckles turned white as he gripped ever so tightly on to the side of the pick up as we sped through turns---still sitting on our rafts.So this post is entirely too long. But after the trek we took a quick shower and our guides met us at our guesthouse to take us to a nearby Reggae bar. Burr had the time of his life. We carried him home. The lobby guy at our guesthouse remembered him from last night---kyle doesn't.

All in all it was a very successful trip.

Chiang Mai Shopping

I'll leave the update on our jungle trek to our own Crocodile Dundee, Kyle Burr. (UPDATE: As we speak, resident exaggerator Ben Mundel coming at you with his sensationalized version of our jungle trek.) Nonetheless, it actually ended up being an amazing adventure. The highlight for me: Pati, a member of the Karen tribe with whom we stayed, stumping the hell out of four Penn graduates with his stick logic puzzles. Ridic.

On to today though: pretty tame, but we got some much needed relaxation. We woke up late -- exhausted from our trek. I would like to take this time to comment on the French Toast being served at our hostel. Delectible! I will sorely miss this staple of my Chiang Mai experience.

We hit up our daily wat before grabbing some pizza and falling back into bed. After a quick dinner, we rolled to the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar which was uhhhhhmazing. So many legit deals and great buys. I got an authentic Liverpool jersey for $25...typically bought for $80 in the States. I also got a cool gift for my Mom (yo Ma, I got you a gift) and a neat tuk tuk made of a Thai Coke can. Hova. Ant and Kyle also picked up some nifty gear. A quick shoutout to all the women in Ben's life, including mothers, grandmothers, and Elizabeth: Ben is coming home loaded with gear for you. He's either a huge suck-up or actually a nice guy.

We're back now, ready for a 13 hour bus ride back to Bangkok. I think I may have convinced the boys to check out Transformers 2 in a Thai cinema, an experience that *apparently* goes unrivaled. I'm feelin it.

One,
Vas

P.S. Equally amazed at how quickly a bug can bite me and fly away. It all happens so quickly...

Mas Deet

No time for an update now, but we just got back from our two day trek through the mountains and hilltribe villages. Amazing. Heading out drinking with our tour guides, M and Pipe, at a local reggae joint now. Can't wait!

Yo

Just got back from the Riverside Cafe. An amazing band jamming out to all the American hits of our youth. The Thais were soaking it in and singing along. Maybe the best cover band I've ever heard.

Sleeping now, then a big jungle trek tomorrow. I am riding on an elephant...then back to Chiang Mai to climb up to a mountain Wat? Or bamboo rafting down the river...

This is why I came to Thailand

In the last 24 hours, I have undergone two of the most unbelievable experiences of my life, and easily the most amazing of this trip so far. Not only that, but we are finally eating well, as the dining options we have chosen in the past two days have all been top notch. I am officially a chicken pad thai fan (but the chicken club and fries I got from 'John's Place' were pretty decent too).

Okay, first things first. Having read about a 'monk chat' offered from 5-7pm every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at Wat Suan Dok Suthep at the Buddhist University of Chiang Mai just outside the city, we decided to check it out so as to learn more about Buddhism and its culture. In the end, it is safe to say that all four of us we're blown away by the experience. Obviously the monks were extremely welcoming and friendly, but I feel naive in retrospect for not realizing how human they are. They were merely students, just like us, looking to get an education so that they can get good-paying jobs back in Cambodia when they graduate (though there are Thai students at the nearly 1000-person university as well, the Cambodians lead the chats so that they can practice their English). Vas and I sat in a circle with 4 or 5 monks, while Ben and Anthony sat in another. One of them, Ti, spoke very good English and did most of the talking, though it was still often difficult to understand him. For more than two hours we discussed the history, teachings, and principles of Buddhism, which I find extremely fascinating. Vas and I were completely taken aback when another monk, Kai, told us that he was actually Christian and quoted John 3:16 (which, honestly, I couldn't even repeat to you). Buddhism, which is more of a way of life than anything else, accepts all faiths and believes that all religions are good religions.

After all of the heavy stuff, we talked about several different topics ranging from sports to politics to pop culture. A few Manchester United fans, and one Chelsea fan, but no Arsenal supporters unfortunately. Apparently, when they find time away from their studies, the monks go off into the mountains, where nobody can see them, so that they can play soccer (it's generally not smiled upon for monks to play apparently). We were again caught off guard when Ti and Kai told us that they had to go put together a PowerPoint presentation on abortion for their class the next morning. PowerPoint! Monks use PowerPoint! In the end, we exchanged e-mail addresses and phone numbers, but failed to take a picture... Damn! I think we all had such a great time though and made such good friends that we are considering going back before we leave. I really can't describe the experience in such a way that would give justice to it. You'll just have to try for yourselves...

On to today's adventure. Surprisingly advocated almost entirely by Benny, he, Anthony, and I did a day trip to go rappelling down the side of a 50 meter (165 foot) waterfall. Unreal. Though the 2500 baht fee (about $70) seems pricey, it is worth every penny, and I strongly recommend this trip for anyone planning on traveling to Thailand. Brian and Monica - I'm looking at you. Make sure you use Peak Adventure Tours. Okay, good plug. Anyway, our guides, Nai and Fati, picked us up at our guesthouse around 8:30 this morning and drove us about an hour and half outside of Chiang Mai to Doi (Mountain) Ithanon National Park. After about 2 and a half minutes of training, we drove to this unbelievably gorgeous waterfall in the middle of the forest. We went down twice - first with Nai, who took pictures of us the whole way, and then by ourselves, as Nai took pictures and videos from the bottom (she literally took over 100). Naturally, I was the one who was literally drowning himself in the waterfall. EXTREME!! Again, no words or pictures will do it justice.

After that, we had a quick lunch of rice and chicken, and drove another 30 minutes to the top of Doi Ithanon. At 2,142 meters, it is the highest point in Thailand. In fact, we were so high that we could hardly see anything because we were literally in the clouds! Constructed 20 and 15 years ago, respectively, the King and Queen Pagodas there to commemorate the 60th birthdays of the royal couple. At 80 years old, the king of Thailand has reigned for 60 years, making him the longest-reigning current monarch in the world.

Back at the guest house now, attempting to upload my first 400 pictures and videos onto Picassa. Once I figure out how to share them all with you, I'll post the URL. Headed to Riverside Bar and Cafe tonight for some grub and drinks. Tomorrow we're using the same tour company for our 2-day, 1-night jungle trek, which includes elephant riding, white water rafting, and a night in one of the hillside tribal villages. So pumped. Later!

Okay, here are the pictures: http://picasaweb.google.se/Kyle.Burr/FromSpruceToKoSamui02?authkey=Gv1sRgCIOriY2XH4Y-vwAE#

Somebody let me know if that doesn't work for whatever reason.

Old City Chiang Mai

Surrounded by a moat, we are staying in the 'Old City' of Chiang Mai, which is roughly one square mile. After a good night's rest last night, we woke up to a decent breakfast at our guest house, and did some planning for our impending jungle/hillside trek. There are so many reviews and options that I'm ready to just pick any of them. In fact, while I'm writing this, the other guys are debating what to do. I'll leave it up to them.

We finally went out exploring around 12:30, and saw a few key places nearby, including Wat Sigha, which contained a massive golden Buddha and a shrine to a monk who recently passed away. We met up with a pair of UCL students from London on the street who were likewise lost, and headed to Wat Chedi Luang, a 500-some-odd-year-old brick structure that half collapsed in an earthquake in 1545, giving it a really unique look. In fact, I'm willing to say it was one of the more impressive things we've seen so far, probably because we didn't have high expectations for it. It was gigantic!

After heading over to the moat for a bit, we found ourselves back at the MD House, and I'm getting antsy. Supposed to be going to Wat Suan Dok for a 'monk chat' for foreigners from 5-7pm.

More to come later.

Phitsanulok/Sukhothai

whatup kids, anthony here, finally checking in. cheers to everyone following...miss you all back home!

ill pick up where vas and kyle left off...the morning of the 17th. After a night experiencing Bangkok's nightlife, we caught the early train to Phitsanulok. The 6 hour train was comfortable and easy to navigate. Arriving in Phitsanulok, we checked into a nearby hostel, the Lithai Guest House, which featured an interior open air garden. Phitsanulok was really legit but completely not touristy. We may have only seen two other tourists the entire day but we did see the locals going about their daily business including jogging, aerobics, and badminton along the river. We also visited the main wat of the city, but services were being held. All in all, a very different experience from Bangkok because none of the locals approached us really. It was still very cool as we had dinner on a floating restaurant (spiciest meal of my life) and turned in relatively early.

The next morning we took the short bus ride to Sukhothai to visit the temple ruins of Historical 'Old' Sukhothai. After checking in at our authetic bungalow hostel, Garden House, (legit gardens) we took our 17th different mode of transportation, a bike/tuk tuk/truck bed to Old Sukhothai. There, we rented bikes and rode all around the ruins, which were really immense and expansive with plenty of large Buddha statues to pose with (Ben took 234 pictures and actually believes he is a professional photographer i think..)

Afterwards we came back to New Sukhothai and made the impromptu decision to take the bus to Chiang Mai that afternoon since there wasn't anything much else to see in Sukhothai. 5 long hours later we arrived at Chiang Mai and found our hostel, MD House, which is amazing. Before blogging and turning in, we had a quick meal at the local Irish pub, which happened to serve delicious pizzas. Ive never seen Vas so happy..

One thing I've enjoyed so far has been the increasing kindness (without personal interests involved) of the Thai people as we have moved away from the touristy areas of Bangkok where everyone is constantly trying to sell you something. On the train to Phisonulok, we were approaching by a younger lady who spoke English offering to help us to find where we were going next. Just after exiting the train, a lady (whose 5 year old daughter was very interested in observing us during the trip) approached us and also offered to direct us to our hostel. And, again, on the bus to Sukhothai, the man sitting next to me offered me his water after a minute of meeting him. All in all, the innate Thai kindness here has been nice to experience.

Ok, off to bed after a very, very long day. Hitting up Chiang Mai tomorrow. Goodnight all.

-Anthony

Bangkok Day Two

As Vas said, internet access has not been as ubiquitous as anticipated here in Thailand... Thankfully, the guest house we are currently at in Chiang Mai is amazing and has 7 computers and free internet. So here goes... I'm going to try and pick up where I think he left off.

After dinner and drinks with Ratavy and Nyny at the Suan Lua Night Bazaar, we headed back to our hostel. However, seeing as that it was only 11:00pm, and it was our first night in Bangkok, I figured I had a personal obligation to explore some of the city's nightlife. You're only young once, right? Acting as my partner in all things evenly remotely untame, I was able to convince Anthony to come with me. Opting against Patpong, Bangkok's most notorious red light district, we decided to check out the scene on Khao San Road. After a game of pool and some beers at one bar, where I saw not one, but two, gigantic rats, we headed further down the road to a place with a live cover band playing everything from Kady Perry to Blink-182. The place was absolutely pounding and swarming with a mix of locals and like-minded travelers. Good times.

The next morning, Ben and Vas woke up early to check out some museum and a zoo, while Ant and I stayed in a bed a little later to recover from the night before. Eventually we headed out in search of the apparent "monk bowl village" - a place where they hand-make the bowls which the monks eat and drink from... I don't think we ever found it, but in the process we stumbled upon some pretty cool stuff. We walked through an area of town with shop after shop selling massive Buddha figures and statues, which I presume are shipped all over the world. From there, we walked through a wood-crafting section, where I bought this sweet hand-carved elephant. After that, we followed a sign for "The Golden Mount" with an arrow down an alleyway until we eventually ran into Wat Saket - a temple built upon a huge artificial with 360 degree views of the entire city from the top.

After some street cart pad thai, Ben and Vas met up with us and we headed to Siam Square - a much more modern and industrialized area of Bangkok. We walked around for a while there, and went into the MBK Center, which is just about the largest mall I have ever seen in my entire life. Parts of it were like a gigantic indoor market, with hundreds of stalls selling everything from knock-off soccer jerseys to women's lingerie. After that, we walked a few blocks to a canal, where we experienced yet another unique form of Thai public transit - the motorized longboat. For 8 baht (about 25 cents), it was worth the experience, but I could have done with out the water being splashed in my face.

After freshening up back at the guest house, we took a cab to Lumphini Stadium to see a Muay Thai (Thai boxing) match. Absolutely insane. It's mostly kicking and punching, but one guy took a knee to the face and had to be taken off on a stretcher. More exciting than the fighting though was the atmosphere itself. Though they tried to rope us into buying the 2000 baht ($60) ringside tickets, we chose the 1000 baht third level ones instead. I'm so glad that we did because the upper level was clearly the rowdiest section, and the place was so small that I still felt extremely close to the stage. I'd say that the place was filled with 95% Thais, almost entirely men, the majority of whom were screaming and shouting bets as they counted each point the fighters got. Though there were wooden and cement bleachers, hardly anyone was sitting. These fighters looked like they were no older than 16, by the way, and the "main event"was between two guys who weighed 121 pounds each. That was an experience I will not soon forget.

Another unforgettable experience... Our first real Thai meal. Before the match, we walked down the road to the entrance to the Suan Lua night bazaar from the night before and found a sukumvit buffet (Thai BBQ). The way it works is they give you one large bucket filled with hot coals and covered with a metal grill/pot. If you can imagine it as a Mexican sombrero, the outter circle is filled with broth to cook noodles in, and cone-shaped center is used to grill raw meat. Though we mostly ate beef, chicken, and pork, Anthony and I manned up and tried some jellyfish and cow's intestine as well. There's a first and a last time for everything, and I'm pretty sure that is the first and last time I'll be doing that.

Finally, after some confusion, we met up with Ratavy and Nyny again at the apparently renowned "red wagon" - a converted red Volkswagen on the side of a street that has all sorts of alcoholic cocktails served by the bucket. In fact, drinking out of buckets is fairly common here - they poor some booze into a sand pail, give you a straw, and that's that. Ben even had his own! We were all very proud of him. After the wagon, the four of us followed Ratavy and Nyny to Bed. I know what you're thinking, but that's actually the name of the club we went to. The place was pretty trendy, and reminded me of a giant iPod, as literally everything was white. On either side of the two main rooms, there were upper lofts lined with beds and pillows to lie and sit on with your drinks, thereby explaining the name of the place... Overall, I think everyone had an absolute blast. I have never seen Benny or Vas dance so hard in my life. And Katie, it's a shame you weren't there, because apparently Anthony only does that goofy dance for you. You know what I'm talking about.

And now it's almost 12:30 in the morning here, and I am exhausted from two days of nearly non-stop traveling. I think Anthony is going to pick up from here. Miss you all!

Kyle

PS - there's supposed to be pictures here, but I can't keep my eyes open any longer and Vas, our Tech Support, has left for bed, so no go tonight. Sorry.

BANGKOK!

Yo yo yo! People. Hope all is well stateside. Again, apologies on the lack of posts. I think we slightly over-estimated WiFi access here, and our Netbook kind of effed up. No worries though. We're staying at a fantastic hostel right now in Chiang Mai, Thailand, replete with internet access. On to Bangkok, Day 1.

After chilling at Ratavy's for the night, we headed out to our first Thai breakfast: the New York diner. Chill, you haters. We needed to ease our way into the local cuisine, and an omelet and pancakes does the trick. Those of you who know me well, you know I dislike Asian food...so also count this as meal 1 of 4 for Vas thus far in the trip. Ratavy cut us up some tasty local fruits, and afterwards, it was onward to check into our hostel, the Roof View Inn.

It was there we had our first run in with the Tuk Tuk driver, the local taxi man who is eager to sell you on anything and everything. We'd read about these guys in our Lonely Planet guide, but to experience their persistence was entirely different. None the less, we decided to throw him a bone and ask him to take us to our first stop: the Grand Palace. Expectedly, he was ready to take us EVERYWHERE BUT the Grand Palace, all places he could pull a commission. It was hilarious and enlightening at the same time...a good dose of reality for our first trip. No worries though, we were able to use our first Thai words of the trip: Mai Chai, which means No. Although, given his reluctance to give in, I'm wondering now if we were pronouncing it correctly. Maybe we should print it on a shirt and just wear it.

The Grand Palace was AWESOME though, a true delight. Wat Phra Kaew is a gorgeous religious center (Wat means Temple) and the adjoining Grand Palace was equally spectacular. We caught a bit of a group of pilgrims chanting in the main hall, and everywhere we saw monks from around Thailand who had come to worship. Despite the hubbub of tourists, there was a distinct yet surrea serenity about the pilgrims. The Grand Palace, a former home of the Royal Family, was also legit...if forced

We toured around here for a while, then stopped at a shop to pick up my first legit buy of the trip: an authentic Thai straw hat. Though the Thai people eyed me with certain disdain, I'd like to think I rocked it pretty well...pics to come.

We next headed to Wat Pho, home of Thailand's largest reclining Buddah. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I think the description says it all: it's literally a massive Buddah, just chillin. It was ridiculously long, I think some 46 meters in length, 15 meters tall. It was plastered in gold, and again, hundreds of pilgrims had come to visit. An awesome sight.

Khao San Road was our next stop, otherwise known as backpackers lane. Tons of backpackers and hundreds of vendors lined the street -- we stopped into a shop for a few fruit shakes and to take a load off. We were pretty exhausted but happy with our first day of travels. We headed back to the hostel to shower up before meeting up with Ratavy at a local beer garden -- which, true to its name, had hundreds of vendors surrounding a big open field, bringing miniature kegs to our table to drink. We downed two kegs before calling it a night, and her sister Nyny came along for the ride. Nearby was a night bazaar that we checked out. Thailand is notorious for its bootleg goods...I snagged a sweet "North Face" bag for 9 bones.

All in all -- a great first day. Benny and I crashed that night while Anthony and Kyle headed out on the town...I'll let them tell that story.

General Thoughts:

• It's pretty hot here.
• Things are really cheap. One meal = $2.
  
• I'm hungry.
  
• Anthony keeps eating.
  
• Kyle is still alive, surprisingly.
  
• Benny is surviving.
  

Hey guys, sorry we haven't posted recently. We've been having trouble finding internet access and our netbook died. We'll get back on the horse ASAP.

Landed in Bangkok!

After a 26 hour journey, we've arrived. Ratavy came to the airport to pick us up, and we just got back to her beautiful house outside of Bangkok. Next up for us: sleep.

Till the next episode...

Highlight of my flight: watching "He's Just Not That In To You". I watched it at least 4 times, and it is my new favorite movie.

It reminds me of somone...

-Ben

Landed in Tokyo!

Yo yooooo. Fresh and clean in Tokyo, Japan. I fell in love with a Japanese airline stewardess named Hiroshima...she pours the freshest Diet Coke around. We played a ton of Tetris, watched three movies and read a good bit on the way over. All in all, the thirteen hour flight flew by -- pun intended.

Next up for this crew: a hot bowl of noodles and some Japanese beers.

at JFK

We are at our gate with 2 hours to go. Unfortunately we all have middle seats, but at least we are sitting close to each other. Here is our flight info:

Japan Airlines 047
NY JFK 10:05 am
Tokyo Narita 12:55 pm JST

If you know any good sushi places at the Tokyo airport for our layover, let us know.

Japan Airlines 707
Tokyo Narita 7:05pm JST
Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International 11:40 PM ICT

Shout out to Ratavy-- looking forward to seeing you at the airport in Bangkok.

-tweet tweet (Ben)

THAILAND TOMORROW!!

The day is finally upon us! In less than 10 hours, Anthony, Ben, Vasant, and I will be airborne enroute to Thailand. It's hard to believe we planned this trip MAYBE three weeks ago -- a shorter period than our entire 26-day tour. It's only been 6 hours, and I'm already tired of hearing the phrase "dickfor". That's nothing new though. Big shout-out to Mama Burr for an amazing send-off meal this evening.

Above is our last photo on American soil. Though I suspect my travel-mates won't get into too much trouble, I'm putting myself at around 90% to make it back with all my limbs and without an international arrest record.

At 10:05 tomorrow morning, we begin our 13-hour flight to Tokyo, where will we spend 5 hours before our 6-hour connecting flight to Bangkok.

Bagels in the morning. Hova.

-Kyle

3 days!

we booked a great looking hostel today in Chaing Mai. the city is known for its "floating markets" and an otherwise thumping night life. it'll also be the launching point for our treks, which are pretty infamous in this region amongst backpackers -- daily hikes through the countryside punctuated by night stays in authentic thai villages. i think it'll be our first real taste of Thai life (away from the typical tourist traps). plus we ride phat elephants.

malarone for $180!? c'mon now....dayquil cures all, even malaria.

one week away!

we're out in a week. get that deet ready.

i just bought a pair of $4.90 shoes -- i figure, i won't mind losing these....with free shipping and handling, the total came to: $4.90. simpleshoes.com > clearance.

ill.

yo yo

we are just under two weeks away from our flight. after spending a quiet evening of packing and picking up last minute supplies in west islip, new york (the house that burr built), we push off from JFK for the first leg of our flight, to Tokyo.

till then, we sit idle in our respective hometowns. kyle is already getting antsy, having asked twice if we "could just leave now." when not avoiding the paparazzi or ditching reporters, anthony (the lesser half of 4100's star couple, Kanthony), our third trekker has just returned to north carolina after playing house. benny awaits his backpack in the mail (one might wonder if he is more excited for the backpack or the trip...) and i continue to find innovative ways to somehow pack a hair dryer. alas, the planning continues.

a huge shout out to my buds at work, Olaino, Mike and Gary, for hooking me up with a great netbook! blogs posts will be aplenty -- and I promise to bring it back in perfect conditions (so long as a lady boy doesn't walk off with it). also, shout out to sarah dickerson, who is our first unoffical blog groupie.

as you can tell, not much to update now - but an update none the less. till the next episode.

here we go, there we go

First snag of the trip: West Philly heads steal the international cell phones we ordered on eBay. A daring porch raid, I'd say.

booked our first hotel

Just booked our first hostel, the Roof View Inn of Bangkok. Shotty shower.

trip planning

This is the trip that was never supposed to be. Two months ago we had no itinerary, much less a destination. One month ago, we had no itinerary...much less a destination. Today, we're 20 days into a 28 day itinerary, Kyle Burr is starting to compromise and Benny has bought a raincoat.

There is no turning back. We are going to Thailand.

"Do you want a deserted island, or no?" -- Benjamin Mundel, as we sit planning the trip's last leg that we hope to land us in a bungalow on a remote, isolated beach with WiFi and our own mango tree. Benny is trekker 1 of 4, a recent Penn graduate heading to Penn Law next year and a life of domesticity.

We tested out my bag this evening, a 60L North Face that I hope to lug everything from my Sperry Topsiders to my toothbrush. Two bushes in our front yard mimicked the jungle-like conditions we anticipate in Thailand (err...). I think it passed.

"I would prefer Ko Phi Phi just for the beach, to which I think all other options pale in comparison." -- Kyle Crawford Burr, trekker 2 of 4, a red bearded Penn graduate and our most intrepid, venturesome traveler. If there is one man daring enough to climb the walls of Angkor Wat and proclaim himself God, it is he. He has cheated death twice (ATVs in Puerto Vallarta and a diseased fine arts student he met at a bar), but his most daring days are soon to come...

More to come later, but in short, this is our travel blog. Follow us as we travel halfway across the world.