"The further one goes, the less one knows." - Lao Tzu

     Thailand

BANGKOK
Thailand is often referred to as the Land of Smiles. It is a country with beautiful people, diverse landscape, and delicious food! When I first landed in Bangkok after my morning flight from Jakarta, I headed to the taxi stand outside of the Suvarnabhumi Airport. Each time I travel I like to do as much research on the country as I can - especially when I'm going to be traveling by myself. I had read on many forums to be weary of the Taxi drivers in Bangkok as they like to take advantage of tourists. Well, my first experience with a taxi in Bangkok couldn't have been more accurate to what I had read. All taxi vehicles have a large sign that say "Meter". It is actually the law that they use their meters when driving, but many drivers try to be sneaky and charge their customer a steep rate. The second I got in my taxi, I noticed the driver had a small towel laying over top of the meter with a Buddha statue sitting on top. I left the car door open and one leg outside of the vehicle so he couldn't speed off with me inside. I politely said "Meter please" to which he ignored me. I repeated again in a firmer voice. He ignored me again. At that point I said "No meter? Bye bye!" This was when he decided it was acceptable to scream at me and say "YES METER, YES!!" as he ripped off the towel and turned on the meter. After that I decided to head to 7/11 and buy a bag of chocolate. From then on I started bribing my drivers by handing a chocolate as soon as I entered the taxi. As I would hand them the chocolate, I would politely point to the meter and smile. This seemed to bring out the smile they're so well known for and assured me a meter rate and a safe drive!  

Finally at my hotel and out of Jakarta for a 9 day tour of Thailand! I had prepared to travel the country alone and had my binder full of maps, hotel info, tours, currency conversions, etc. Coincidentally a friend of mine from the Netherlands who also lives in Jakarta was in Bangkok at the same time on a business trip. We were able to meet up and have a fun filled weekend enjoying the sites and marveling at the ability to walk around the city without the risk of being run over - like in Jakarta! Each time I leave Jakarta I'm reminded how wonderful it is to be able to use sidewalks, walk to cafes, be in the fresh air (well maybe not so fresh in Bangkok), and be surrounded by trees, benches and sidewalk shops. These are things I look so forward to having again when I return home and when I move to Milan! 

     After enjoying the ability to walk around the city, visiting some markets and taking a few Tuk Tuk

rides, we headed to a Ladyboy show. Thailand is famous for their Ladyboys and Bangkok has many shows throughout the city. The Ladyboys range from quite manly looking figures with hair extensions and breast implants, to beautiful women who look like they could be models. I found myself questioning every woman I saw in the city thinking - "I wonder if she's a ladyboy??". The show we attended was a bit on the lame side, but still pretty hilarious. The ladyboys performed songs and dances - everything from Rhianna to Elvis. It was much like a resort show in the Caribbean. 

FLOATING MARKET AND COBRA SHOW
The next day we did a long 10 hour tour in the areas surrounding Bangkok. We started the morning on a bus ride to the countryside where we boarded a rowboat and headed to the colourful Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. With the sun beating down, extreme humidity, smells of spices, meats and fruits, marketers yelling to make sales and splashes from boats bumping into one another it became a bit of a sensory overload. It was certainly a unique experience and it combined two of my favourite things (boating and shopping) - but it's definitely not something I would care to do on a regular basis! Men and women sat in their own boats that were filled with everything from fancy shoes and knock off designer purses - to souveniors -  to beer and fish. When you see something you want, you wave over and the person in charge of rowing your boat does their best to fight through the crowd of boats to reach your destination.

The next stop was a Cobra show. I can't say this is something I would recommend doing. It felt a bit abusive to the snakes. Snake trainers came out and performed tricks like fighting a cobra, catching a jumping snake in their mouth, milking the venom out of the cobra (pretty much right over our heads), and swinging snakes bodies over the audience. At one point they rolled out a cage with a mongoose and dropped a cobra inside and let them fight for a few minutes. Although they didn't make them fight to the death, it seemed pretty unnecessary and cruel. 

TIGER TEMPLE AND THE RIVER KWAI

After a stop at a wooden carvings furniture shop and a few hours of driving, we reached Tiger Temple. Another place I wouldn't recommend visiting. I had seen Tiger Temple on the Discovery Channel a few years ago and it was somewhere I had always wanted to visit. It is considered a sanctuary and it is run by Monks and volunteers. I can't say I was impressed! Upon entering you stand in a line and wait your turn to "visit" the tigers. There are about ten tigers chained to the ground completely passed out (sedated??!). A guide (not friendly whatsoever) comes over, grabs your hand, takes your camera and quickly escorts you to each tiger. My guide didn't say a word. She pointed at me to sit down next to the tiger, snapped a photo, and moved me to the next. It was all over within 3 minutes. I actually couldn't believe how pathetic it was and how sad it seemed for the tigers. I saw one monk, sitting to the side wearing aviators and smoking. I imagined him later to pull out a wad of cash and count the dollars he had made off of us naive tourists willing to pay for such a depressing experience. It all seemed way too crooked!

The final stop of this tour was to the Bridge on the River Kwai. This bridge was constructed during World War II. The Japanese used Allied prisoners of war to construct a railway that went from Thailand to Burma. Many people died during the construction due to such despicable conditions. This railway is now known as "Death Railway". The bridge was crawling in tourists and had souvenir stalls all around it. I know tourism is a major part of Thailand's economy, but it still seemed a bit wrong to be selling picture frames and magnets at a spot where so many had suffered and died. I imagined what it would be like if somewhere like Dachau Concentration Camp decided to set up gift shops and souvenir booths all over the grounds. How would people respond to that?

After an interesting few days in Bangkok, it was time to pack up and catch another flight. This time I would be heading to Northern Thailand.

CHIANG MAI

This was one of my favourite areas of Thailand and possibly one of my favourites I've seen in S.E Asia. The quiet(ish) streets of Chiang Mai, surrounded with gardens, parks, trees, fountains, and friendly people kind of reminded me of home - at least what the Asian version of home would be anyway. I spent two days in this beautiful area of Thailand and wished I had longer. On my first full day in this region I made sure to jam pack as much as I could. I visited the beautiful Wat Rong Khun. This is a contemporary Buddhist temple that is purely white and silver. Much like traveling Europe, once you see so many Cathedrals, they all start to blur together - as do the temples here in Asia. However, this white temple in so unique and different that it's really quite fascinating. It almost seems as if it's a Halloween haunted house with the ghoulish heads hanging from trees, the hands reaching from the ground as if trying to claw out of their graves, and the inside has bright colourful murals with images of Spiderman and other superheros. There is even a painting of a demon with Bin Laden in one eye and George Bush in the other! The outside of the temple is completely white to symbolize purity and cleanliness. The bathrooms are completely made of gold. The artist apparently believed that gold is used for people who want to perform dirty deeds!

THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE AND THE HILL TRIBES OF THE NORTH 

After visiting the temple and a stop at the Chiang Rai natural hot springs, I headed to the Golden Triangle and hopped in a boat to sail along the Mekong River. The Mekong flows through China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Once aboard the boat, we sailed up the river to view where the border of Burma and Thailand meet. Unfortunately due to time restrictions and visa purposes, I was unable to enter Burma. I did however, sail into the Island of Don Sao in Laos. Once we entered into Laos and had a quick briefing about making sure to avoid all of the drugs that would be offered to us as this is the Opium capital of Asia, we headed to the markets and had our passports stamped. Our group was warned that receiving this stamp can make it difficult in the Thai airports as security often wants to do a thorough check on tourists who visit this opium region. After a tour of the markets, my tour guide proceeded to tell our group that the men could follow him to try a shot of whiskey (they would have a choice between: snake (cobra), Scorpion, Banana, or Armadillo - meaning all of these things were being soaked into the whiskey). He then told the women we could follow "to watch"..."if you're brave enough". Well, as much as I'm not a whiskey fan (especially with a dead snake in it) what I'm not a fan of even more is being told I can't do something because I'm a girl! So, I walked right over with the group of Asian men and I downed a shot of cobra whiskey! The cold I had been battling for the past four days suddenly seemed to clear right up!

After a boat ride back to Thailand, a traditional Thai lunch and some shopping at the Burma border, we ended the day with a drive into the base of the mountains where we visited three hill tribes. The first tribe was the Karon Long Neck Hill tribe. This tribe originates from Burma and fled to Northern Thailand after political turmoil in their country. The women in this tribe wear gold rings around their neck to symbolize beauty. The more rings around the neck they have, the more beautiful they are considered. Even the young girls (some as young as three) were wearing these. One elder in the tribe had thirty rings around her neck. Their two neighbouring tribes are the Akha (originating from China) and Yao hill tribes. They all share a village in this location.

ELEPHANT REHABILITATION PARK 

The Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai is a rescue and rehabilitation sanctuary for elephants and other animals. It promotes a natural environment for the animals and ensures the safety and well being of the animals who live there. The park currently has 34 elephants, over 400 rescued dogs and several dozen rescued water buffalo.
Of course anyone who visits Thailand automatically thinks about these beautiful giant creatures that roam the lands. We all want to come face to face with these animals and go for an elephant ride through the jungle. It's the tourist thing to do! It only makes sense that we associate elephants with Thailand. There isn't a corner you can turn in this country without seeing some form of elephant- be it a statue, a painting, carving, or the real thing roaming the streets of Bangkok. Elephants are considered sacred animals in this land, yet what most of us don't know is how these poor elephants are treated. It all seems quite hypocritical.

The majority of elephants in Thailand who are owned by tourist companies or private owners are certainly not treated the way any living creature should be treated. Many elephants throughout the country go through weeks, months and even years of abuse so that they become submissive to their owners. The very elephant that you pay to ride while on vacation in Thailand may have went through torture in order for it to be tame and calm enough for  you to ride it. Babies are often taken from their mothers and are locked up so they are unable to move at all. Men gather around and beat them with sticks, nails and other weapons. They stab them, punch them and beat them until they are so broken that they can do nothing to fight back. They are often stabbed and blinded if they try to fight back. Many suffer broken bones and hips or get infections from their wounds. This method of training elephants is an ancient ritual done by villagers and even medicine men. Although they view these giant creatures as sacred, they believe that by beating them they can use them for tourism. Obviously the concept of positive reinforcement hasn't crossed their minds!!?
Wild elephants are now protected by the government in Thailand as the numbers continue to drop each year. There are currently only an estimated 5000 wild elephants in the country. Although these wild ones may be protected, the ones being abused have no protection or rights. If an elephant is owned, it is considered livestock and can be treated however the owner wishes.
The Elephant Nature Park has done an amazing job rescuing abused elephants and placing them in a loving and safe environment. As a visitor to the park you are no longer a tourist, but a volunteer helping wherever help is needed. My day at this park was rewarding in so many ways. I may not have done the typical riding the elephant through the jungle, but I did get to bathe, feed and help put medication on several elephants. I snuggled up close with a big ol' lady that has broken hips and has to drag her back legs in order to walk, I washed the dirt and grime from an elephant who has a skin infection and I helped bathe an elephant that has a poor digestive system. I fed an elephant who had been blinded by it's owner.

The elephant was very depressed and sick and had stopped listening to the owner. The owner took sharp sticks and jabbed the elephant's eyes until she was blind. Each elephant has a story that could break your heart into a million pieces. To make it even more heartbreaking, elephants are much like humans in that they never forget the hard times they have been through. This causes a lot of stress, anxiety and nightmares for the elephants - which means the workers at this park have to be very careful in building a trusting relationship with these animals.
I am grateful that my experience with elephants in Thailand was so positive. Prior to this visit, I had no idea how elephants were treated and abused throughout the country. Of course not all tourist places you visit will have elephants that are abused, but after my day at the park I will encourage anyone who goes to Thailand to make sure they do their research prior to visiting an elephant show or taking an elephant ride.

PHUKET AND THE ISLANDS

From Chiang Mai I flew to the Southern part of Thailand and arrived in Phuket. From the airport I drove even further South and ended up in Kata. Flashback to my life in the Bahamas! White sand, clear waters, blue skies and constant sunshine. The only thing that could have made my time in Phuket more perfect would have to been to experience it with others. Traveling alone is rewarding in many ways, but it can definitely get lonely at times. My days in Phuket were filled with tanning on the beach, floating in the ocean, eating fresh sea food and island hopping. I took a boat tour to the Phi Phi Islands, did some snorkeling, visited Maya Bay (where the movie "The Beach" was filmed), made a visit to monkey Island (a beach with vicious monkeys running around), and met some other fun tourists! As beautiful as Phuket is with the turquoise water and tall, lush green mountains rising out of the sea, it's definitely overrun with tourists and I have to say the the Islands in the Caribbean still remain my favourite beach destination as far as anywhere I've traveled around the Globe.

A SURVIVOR

My trip came to and end on a late night three hour flight back to Jakarta. I sat down next to a Thai woman who was just a few years older than myself. She had that friendly Thai smile that is so common throughout the country. Like usual, upon take off, my sneezing attack began. She leaned over and gave me a box of tissue. We then began chatting and she asked how I enjoyed my time in Phuket. I asked if she was from Phuket and she told me she had lived there her whole life. We chatted and chatted and I then asked her if she was there when the Tsunami in 2004 hit. She went quiet for a moment and then began to recall the events that occurred that day. Listening to her story was one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever heard. Her strength as she went through each detail of the morning of the tsunami shocked me. She explained to me that she was 23 years old at the time, and earlier that year her and her parents had taken a loan from the bank to start their own travel agency shop for tourists. They had built it near the beach and were doing really well. Everything changed on the morning of the 26th of December, 2004. Her and her parents woke up and headed to their shop. Her Mom and Dad dropped her off at the shop and drove down further to park the car. She had just entered her shop and opened the windows when she saw the wave coming. She said at the time she couldn't comprehend what it was or what was going on but she has the instinct to run uphill toward the highway. The wave hit her. She survived. She spent three days looking for her parents and finally found their bodies. She had lost her family and her business. The banks only gave Thai people three months before they had to start paying back their loans again. She had lost everything and couldn't possibly pay her debt so she was forced to sell her family home. She now had nothing. She explained how many locals in Phuket got together, shared what little money they had and shared their resources to rebuild as quickly as possible. People who were once wealthy business owners now had nothing and had to work for others. The people of Phuket showed their resilience and rebuilt and welcomed tourists back just weeks later. She told me that she became so angry and depressed that she was hospitalized and didn't speak for two years. She went through the last almost decade of her life and told me how she found strength again. Her story is inspiring. The little things I complain about in my life are so insignificant in comparison to what this woman has gone through.
One thing she said that really stuck out was how thankful she was that the tsunami hit at a fairly early hour. She said had it have been a few hours later more tourists would have been on the beach and many more people would have died. I couldn't believe considering she lost her family, that she would be thinking something like that. What an incredible person! We then shared a taxi and I heard all about her life. She travels a lot, just like me! We came to realize how similar we are in a lot of ways. I couldn't help but feel sad for how much love I have in my life and how she has no family. It definitely made me miss my family and reminded me how incredibly lucky I am!

I've been so fortunate in my somewhat short life to see as many places as I have. But what always amazes me more than the beauty of the land, are the people that I meet! No matter what country I'm in, what the culture is like, what religion dominates the population, or what daily struggles the people face, I always come across friendly and hospitable people who welcome me into their lives! What a beautiful world we live in!!!
My favourite quote: 

“If man is to survive, he will have learned to take a delight in the essential differences between men and between cultures. He will learn that differences in ideas and attitudes are a delight, part of life's exciting variety, not something to fear.” 

― Gene Roddenberry

Next post: Read about my time in Vietnam.

Enjoying S.E Asia, despite the daily challenges

March brings me to month nine in my Indonesian adventure. The past eight months have been an experience unlike any other. Jakarta isn't exactly the easiest city to get along with. In fact, a recent article I read voted Jakarta as the second worst city in the world to live in as an expat. Between the pollution, ridiculous traffic, unclean water and food, language barrier and cultural differences, I can easily say my frustration level has become higher than ever before. But, with any negative usually comes a positive. The pollution has made me appreciate Canada's beauty and cleanliness on a whole new level. Every annoying taxi ride I take sitting in traffic makes me appreciate that I live and work in the same building. The water and food issues have made me more aware of my health and I now take greater measures in keeping myself safe and healthy. The language and cultural differences can be frustrating at times. But, I remind myself that I have chosen to leave home and come here. I chose to be part of a culture unlike my own, so I do my best to embrace it and try not to complain (too much). I've been trying to learn to become more patient and not take things so personally. One major cultural difference here is that Indonesians (and other Asian cultures) are very honest. What may be considered horribly rude to say at home, isn't seen that way by locals here. In this culture pointing out someone's flaws such as weight gain or a skin breakout isn't meant to hurt your feelings. It's just people stating a fact like they would about the weather ("Hey, today it's raining." or "Hey, today you look fatter.") It can be extremely challenging not to take these types of things personally and not to want to throw an insult right back at them. As shocking as it might be to have someone call you out on something you're already self conscious of, that same person is most likely the first person to also give you a compliment ("Hey, you look so beautiful today.") Canadians have a reputation of being too nice at times (always apologizing, saying thank you to everyone, smiling too much)... maybe this is why it's difficult to hear such honesty at times. Perhaps we're too politically correct overall, but personally I prefer a statement like "Oh your new hair cut is very different" to "Oh your new hair cut is so funny looking". Most Canadians try so hard never to insult someone. I'm definitely learning to accept statements of all types living here. I just hope this extreme honesty isn't a souvenir I bring home, otherwise I may not be too popular when I return to Canada!

Despite the challenges, there is so much beauty and excitement all around me. It is easy to let the daily frustrations take over, but I've done my best to challenge myself to enjoy my time here and embrace it for all that it is. One very simple way to keep myself looking at the positives is to simply take a look outside my window. This city is full of poverty, illness and inequalities. Due to the pollution, traffic and perhaps risk of being unsafe, it's rare to be able to take a walk outside. Last month we had weeks of rain. Finally, one Sunday the sun was shining and it just looked beautiful outside. I convinced a friend to take a walk through the slums with me. At first we weren't quite sure what to expect. These people live in shacks made out of any materials they can find. I was nervous people may look at me (the "bule") and be annoyed that some privileged westerner is walking around their neighbourhood. Instead, the experience was so positive. The people were proud to have us walking through. When they saw my camera, they asked me to take their photos - while they grinned ear to ear. One man wanted to show me his bike that he was fixing. A group of small children ran up to me giggling and bouncing all around as if Mickey Mouse had just walked into their home. A woman smiled and nodded at me as she stood holding her baby. These people certainly weren't annoyed with me for being there at all. They were happy to have a visitor walk through and admire them. This small walk is a memory I hold on to on days where I feel the frustrations taking over. Here are people who literally have next to nothing, yet they smile as if they have everything they could ever need and want. I don't think I have too much to complain about in my life. Living in Jakarta can definitely be a humbling experience when you see all of the challenges the people here are faced with, yet they have a resilience that is truly incredible.

While Jakarta may not exactly be the greatest tourist destination, Indonesia has some pretty magnificent places to visit. A few weeks ago a few staff members and myself decided to escape Jakarta for the weekend and visit Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta is about an hour flight from Jakarta and is an art and cultural hub of Indonesia. We decided in order to see and learn the most we could in a short time, we would book a tour. I've mentioned in previous posts how amazingly cheap things are in this country. We were able to get a two day tour, admission to all of the sites, one night stay in a hotel, transportation and all meals for around $100. 

Our guide picked us up at the airport in the very early morning (we left our apartment around 3:30am). We started the weekend off with an early morning visit to the Prambanan Temple which is a Hindu temple that was built in the 9th century. Walking up to the site was amazing. The grounds consist of several temples all neighbouring each other. In 2006 this area was hit with a very deadly earthquake. Almost 6000 people were killed and over 1.5 million were left homeless. Prambanan temple was damaged quite badly during this quake. Because of this many of the temples are not structurally sound so certain areas were forbidden to enter - while a hard hat was necessary to wear in others. These beautiful temples that are a World Heritage Site suddenly became the second most popular tourist attraction after a bus load of teenage schools girls arrived and spotted the two female "bules". Robyn and I quickly became the centre of attention. Indonesians LOVE taking photos, and for Indonesians who are from smaller villages or remote locations, seeing a Westerner is apparently quite a big deal. We were soon swarmed and had girls fighting over who got to stand next to us in the picture. I even had one girl point both her fingers in my face to make a pose as if I was some statue. At that point, we had enough and were missing out on our tour. We kindly told them we had to leave, but they insisted on following us. A similiar event happened to me in Bali when I was traveling alone. However, that time it was a bus load of school boys who were obssessed with calling me any Westerner with blonde hair they could think of (I was Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, etc). 

After visiting Prambanan we went to another smaller temple which was in a big beautiful field. In the field was "The Tree of Life". The tree had Tarzan style branches that we could swing from. It was so nice to be in a green space as that is such a rarity in Jakarta. Our next stop was my favourite part of the trip. We went tubing in Pendul Cave. I had told my class I was doing this activity prior to my trip. They all became distressed and told me not to because pythons live in those waters and they will eat me. Sooo, needless to say I had to get the tour guide to assure us that there were no pythons in the water. There were however, countless numbers of bats dangling from the caves ceiling and flying around swooping over our heads. The further we floated into the cave, the darker it became. The only light we had was the flashlight our tour guide was holding and the flashes of our camera. It was amazing to see glimpses of hundreds of bats nestled together every time we took a photo. After a pretty spectacular tube ride and a refreshing swim, it was time to continue our day. We stopped and had a traditional lunch outside where we sat on the floor and enjoyed fish, rice, and lots of other foods that I refer to as mystery meats (I don't ask, because I would rather not know what horrifying thing I am eating).

After a nice supper out and an enjoyable walk through antique shops, we finally called it a night and prepared ourselves for another early morning wake up call. We left our hotel around 4am and drove quite a distance into the lush rainforest to reach Borobudur Temple where we would soon watch the sunrise. I slept for most of the drive but at one point was awoken to two large, intimidating men banging on our van yelling something at the driver. He and the tour guide both looked worried and they sped off. Soon we entered an area that was completely smoked out. It looked as if we were driving into early morning fog, but it was actually smoke from a nearby volcano!

We finally reached Borobudur and began our climb to the top of the temple. It was still dark, so we had to bring flashlights. Once we reached the top we sat and eagerly awaited the sunrise. As the sun appeared in the distance and painted the sky with shades of pinks and reds, we suddenly realized just how beautiful this area is. Not only were we sitting at the near top of one of the largest Buddhist temples in the world (built in the 9th century), but we were also surrounded by rainforest, mountains and volcanoes. Here on the outskirts of a city that is 99% Muslim, was a sacred temple that still attracts so many people everyday.

Our day continued with more siteseeing; visits to a batik factory, batik art warehouse, silver factory, leather shop, puppet designer, delicious lunch, a bird market, and a tour of the Sultan's Palace and the Sultan's Water Castle - both beautiful! We also rode traditional modes of transportation. The Becak is a common way for people to get around in Yogyakarta and each one has a unique painting on it's side.

After a fantastic weekend getaway, it was time to prepare for our school's Chinese New Year celebration and my upcoming Birthday weekend away. One thing I love about teaching in an International school is getting to celebrate holidays and cultural differences from around the world. In January we celebrated Australia Day with a fun staff social after school. I also attended an Australian Day party that the New Zealand/Australian social group of Jakarta hosted. It was nice to meet lots of expats and enjoy traditional Aussie and Kiwi treats in a beautiful home owned by a member of the group.

For my 27th Birthday two of my friends came along with me to Singapore for a girl's weekend. We treated ourselves to a nice hotel and enjoyed lots of delicious meals out, walking around in a clean beautiful city, a night of dancing and a day of playing in the rain like kids and enjoying all of the sites that Singapore has to offer.

My time in Jakarta seems to be flying by. When I moved to Indonesia I had every intention of staying here for two years. However, this past week I received possibly the most exciting news ever! I've been offered a teaching position at an International School in Italy - my dream place to live! I cannot turn down this amazing opportunity so I now begin my countdown to Italy and prepare for my goodbye to Indonesia. My goal is to soak in every aspect of the culture and my surroundings that I possibly can, before leaving in June. In a few weeks I will head to Thailand to spend my term break. Once I return I plan to really get to know Jakarta by doing more site seeing in the city!

Stay tuned to hear about my time in Thailand - including a day at Elephant School!

Dreams are bigger than fears

After having a relaxing month back home in Canada and completing a successful mission ("Operation Home for Christmas"), I am now back in Jakarta and ready to take on a new year of adventures in this foreign land.

Back in early October I had decided that going a year without seeing my family would just be too long. This is my fourth year living abroad, so any chance I get to spend with family is very important to me. I figured I've already been so fortunate with my travel opportunities, that going home would be a better decision for me. So this is where my "Operation Home for Christmas" plan began. I had a long string of lies going about a trip to Thailand for the holidays. I had everyone (with the exception of a few close friends) convinced that I would be spending Christmas and New Years on the beaches of Phuket! Two and a half months after booking my trip home I eagerly boarded a flight and prepared for a long 41 hour journey across the Globe. Luckily for me, I usually sleep like a baby or easily entertain myself on long flights or car rides, so it really didn't seem too bad and after a long month of running Christmas play rehearsals, report cards, parent teacher conferences, etc, I was more than ready for a long lazy journey of just sitting still and resting. Plus, the thoughts of my family's reactions when I walked through the door was enough to keep me excited through four airports, two layovers in China and three crowded flights through the night.

I arrived in Toronto the night of the 15th and went straight to my friend Cassie's house. It was so great to be back on Canadian soil and sitting around Cassie's Christmas tree catching up with my high school best friend. It was hard to sleep that night (jet leg and excitement), but the morning finally came. I was off to surprise my family and what a surprise it was! Tears, laughter and hugs made me feel so loved and reminded me how wonderful it is to be home.

Throughout my travels I've had a few people ask me if I'm close with my family. Some find it odd or hard to believe I would want to move so far away from home if I'm so close with my loved ones. I've come to realize that it's because I have such an incredible family and group of friends that I'm able to leave home for long periods of time. Knowing I have such a strong support system at home allows me to leave and live my dreams because I know that my home is always there with them.

Spending many hours on flights, in airports, hostels, hotels, on buses and so on, you begin to meet a lot of other travelers. Some with many similarities and reasons for journeying to new lands, others for completely different reasons of their own. It's always a nice feeling meeting someone who shares the same interest and passions as you. When I moved to the Bahamas and to England I was very lucky with meeting great groups of friends that shared similar interests and passions for travel and desires to explore the world. When you're so far away from home and you meet people who share that passion a strong friendship is usually immediately formed. Jakarta has been a bit different. Bahamas and England seemed natural and easy. This place has definitely made me work harder. The culture can seem so different at times and there are days when everything is so unfamiliar and I find myself in a place where nobody understands me (both linguistically and sometimes culturally). But truth be told, this very thing that can seem scary is also thrilling.

There aren't a lot of moments in life when you get that feeling in your stomach of excitement mixed with nervousness and eagerness. For example, the first day of kindergarten, entering high school for the first time, the first time you move away from home or begin a new job. I absolutely love that feeling of a new beginning - a beginning to something in which you really don't know what is in store. Well, that's the feeling I get when I travel to a new place or move to a new country.

There are days where all I do is work, come home, have dinner, shower and go to bed. Those are days that I completely forget where I am or how exciting it is that I am living in such a foreign city so far away from my home country. In fact, a city that is the fourth most populated city in the world. Sometimes I have to remind myself of where I am and take time to soak in all of the differences that are around me. Today for example, I watched from my balcony as a man and barefoot children walked through the field next to my apartment catching grasshoppers to eat! Later, I saw a security guard at a road side check point near my building yelling and chasing a cow that was walking down the road holding up traffic. These sights that are so foreign to my eyes can make everyday life pretty exciting.

After being home and visiting friends I have to admit I did feel a little envious. I see so many people in my life settling down, buying houses and making homes, getting married and having babies. I couldn't be more happy for them, but there are times when I think what am I doing living on the other side of the world?? Everything I own fits in a suitcase or in my bedroom at my parent's house. Every now and then I even get a judgmental comment here and there such as "When are you going to finally come home and get married?" - as if I'm some college kid who took a year off and never came home. Fortunately, my friends and family are quick to support me and encourage me to continue following my dream of being an International teacher and traveling the world. And the truth is, I love my life and the opportunities that I've been given. I'm so lucky to have family and friends that support me and don't view me as as someone who would rather travel than have a mortgage and explore rather than have an abundance of responsibilities. They know I'm simply doing what I love!

Having seven months in Indonesia behind me, and many more ahead, I have no immediate intention of ending my travels anytime soon. I have no idea where I'll end up after my time in Indonesia and I'm completely okay with that. The thought of not having a solid plan or a course of action lined up might sound scary, but not following my dream would definitely be a scarier path.

Thank you to my family and friends who always support me on my adventures and always send me messages of love from home.

This year is sure to be a great year of adventures with upcoming journeys to Sumatra, Lombok, Thailand, Cambodia and a Canadian summer on the East Coast!

My hope for 2013 is that all of my loved ones feel the support to follow their dreams - whatever they may be.

Home

A Weekend in the Clouds

What started out as a bit of a bust month, has ended on a better note. On short notice I was sent to Singapore yet again for paperwork. While on the flight I had a bad cold and ended up damaging my eardrums. I was told not to fly before my holiday at Christmas so that I could give my ears a proper chance to heal.

So, my trip to the elephant sanctuary has been put on hold and I've been grounded! After spending several weekends in, I decided I HAD to get out of Jakarta and get some fresh air. Since I can't fly, I had to find something to do on this Island. Some friends recommended a spa a few hours from here. A friend of mine from New Zealand joined me and we headed up to the mountains and rainforest for an incredibly relaxing escape from the hustle and bustle of Jakarta.

We purchased an amazing package which included transportation to and from Jakarta, one night in a bungalow, four meals, guided hikes, exercise classes, and two spa treatments - All for under $150!! Amazing! You would never find a deal like that back home.

The drive to Javana Spa took roughly 3.5 hours. Driving across this Island is so unique. Tiny villages line the main roads to the mountains. While driving through these villages some not so unusual sightings include; cattle walking the street, naked children swimming and bathing in rivers and ponds, men and women coming to your car windows selling everything from peanuts to inflatable floaties for the pool, people doing laundry along train tracks, tiny huts with families including children sitting outside smoking, bird markets, skinny dogs and cats with only half of a tail (not sure why this is), a lot of garbage, beautiful traditional Muslim and Indonesian outfits, and so on. Overall, you can really see how little the people in these villages have. But, despite this you see a lot of smiling faces - children running around laughing, groups of men sitting around chatting and smiling, women proudly holding their children's hand, etc. It's very apparent that their living conditions are less than ideal, but they clearly are proud of what they have. Of the trips I've done around this Island, the drive is usually the most interesting part. It's very neat (and at times, sad) to see the way people live.

After some very steep roads up the mountain, with views of rice terraces and fields, we reached the spa that is nestled into the rainforest on the mountain's edge at 1200 meters above sea level.
We were greeted with hot towels and some delicious guava juice. The first thing we both noticed was how much cooler the temperature was up in the clouds and how clean the air felt to breathe in! It was truly refreshing.

The weekend was spent relaxing in hot spring lagoons that had natural water flowing from a mountain top crater, drinking tea and watching the storm clouds form around us, massages, hair treatments, jacuzzi time, walks around the grounds and hikes into the rainforest. The first hike was on Saturday in the pouring rain. We geared up and ventured into the rainforest. Upon arriving at the destination for the first waterfall on the tour, our guide told us we had to quickly turn back as the steep hill of stairs going down toward the waterfall was considered highly dangerous due to all of the rain. He said the ground could give away at any moment. That was all we needed to hear. We quickly made our way out of the rainforest and back onto a main trail.

Luckily, the next day the weather had cleared up. We took another hike and visited a second waterfall, this time actually making it to the falls. The water was extremely cold, but very refreshing. We hiked through some really cool paths with lots of lush green plants and flowers. Our guide told us about 4km further up, monkeys and jaguars could be spotted! I asked him if the jaguars have ever wandered onto the spa grounds or attacked anyone. He responded with a very straight forward "yes". His English wasn't great, so I'm hoping he just misunderstood my question!

The Javana Spa is designed to look like a Japanese inspired resort. Apparently it took five years to build due to it's remote location. It's definitely an excellent choice for a weekend break from the city and above all it reminded me how much I miss fresh clean air!!!

Looking forward to future adventures! Next stop: Thailand!

September and October Adventures

It has been a while since I've written a post. September and October have been very busy months. My classroom is continuing to grow and work continues to consume most of my waking hours during the week. I can't make many complaints though. I am loving teaching here and all of the opportunities that are coming my way!

Here is a quick overview of my adventures from the last two months:

Jakarta
I've had a few pretty exciting trips the last two months and I've also had the opportunity to really enjoy Jakarta. In September I had my first visitor. My friend Jeremy who lives in Malaysia came to visit with one of his friends. We had a great weekend and spent one night at an expat Oktoberfest event where I met some wonderful fellow expat teachers from another International School here in the city. It's great to have some new friends in Jakarta! September also brought two new American teachers to my school. They are living in my building and have been great to hangout with!

With the arrival of the new teachers, some city site seeing was in order. We made trips to the Jakarta Sea World and a few local museums. We saw how traditional Indonesian puppets are made and learned about the detailing and time that goes into each one. We also spent an exciting day at the Jakarta Culinary Festival where we were able to watch various cooking shows, sample cuisines from around the world and attend two cocktail making workshops (definitely the highlight of the day).

Canadian Thanksgiving is pretty much unheard of here. Most Indonesians were familiar with Thanksgiving but only knew of the American celebration in November. I decided to host a Thanksgiving Potluck and invited teachers and staff from school. We managed to jam close to twenty people into my tiny apartment and had a lovely afternoon sharing food and company.

Singapore                                                                    

Outside of the excitement in Jakarta, I've managed to have a few getaways. I was sent to Singapore twice for Visa purposes. My first trip was with two other teachers and we spent the night just outside of Little India. We had a nice evening strolling around the streets near our hotel and relaxed at a sidewalk cafe for supper. The next day we spent around eight hours walking the city and soaking in all of the beautiful and clean sights that make up Singapore! It was refreshing to be in a city that actually has sidewalks for pedestrians, and roads that aren't completely full of traffic and garbage. Singapore is extremely well maintained and apparently quite strict. It is actually illegal to chew gum in Singapore, and according to the immigration officer -also illegal to wear sandals and smile! On this first trip to Singapore we went to the beautiful Marina Bay Sands hotel and made a visit to the rooftop observation deck (around 55 floors up). We spent a little while walking around the botanical gardens and the harbour and made a quick visit to the famous Raffles Hotel.

My second trip to Singapore was a day trip by myself. Since I had seen most of the main sites, I decided to use the MRT and navigate around the city on a hunt for a Halloween costume. I didn't have any luck finding Halloween stores, but I managed to find lots of shopping and spent most of the day in China Town and on Orchard Street (the main shopping street).

Bali                                                                

At the end of September I had my term break from school. I spent five days touring and relaxing by myself in Bali. This was supposed to be a trip with friends, but unfortunately they weren't able to make it. I decided to keep my flights booked and brave it alone. I had a great time touring the island and trying new foods. Unfortunately, I came back to Jakarta with major Bali belly and ended up spending the next few days in bed. While in Bali, I rented a car and driver for two days. It's insanely cheap to do this in Indonesia. I spent under $90 to have a driver bring me around the island for 2 days. I visited many temples, drove through winding roads that looked down upon rice paddies, visited the famous medicine man Ketut (see previous post), watched the surfers at Padang Padang, and tried my own hand at surfing in Kuta.

Surfing is something I've always wanted to learn. I knew it would be difficult, but I was completely unprepared for how difficult it is. Luckily, due to being the only English speaker at the school I was given a private coach and spent several hours trying to catch at least one wave! The waves were much bigger than I anticipated. Most of my time was spent being thrown to the bottom of the ocean. I have to say, I still enjoyed it and look forward to doing it again (with many more lessons).

Another interesting day in Bali occurred when I was walking down the beach and heard loud music up ahead. I decided to follow the music and see what the fuss was about. I then stumbled across a traditional Balinese funeral. There were a group of Balinese men in traditional costume carrying the casket of an elderly man around the beach. They soon dropped the casket, lifted the body out and threw the casket off to the side. They placed the man on top of a bed made of banana leaves. Everyone then gathered around and the local women came with their offerings to sprinkle on the deceased (flower petals, fruit etc). Bali is quite different from the rest of Indonesia. Indonesia consists of a 90% Muslim population, but in Bali most people adhere to Hinduism or Buddhism. Apparently these offerings are a gift from the land to the deceased. I stood far enough back as not to seem disrespectful or be in their way. Soon, a Balinese lady came over smiling and grabbed my arm and brought me into the mix. She seemed happy to share this experience with me and teach me about the traditions. She told me they would soon take the body to an area near the mountains. They do not bury the bodies here, but rather cover them with flowers to let them rest in peace.

Malaysia
My latest trip was a weekend in Kuala Lumpur. I went to visit a friend and had a great time touring the city, hanging out with other Canadians, and trying some delicious new foods!
Aside from a couple nights of partying, I had a great tour guide take me around the city and show me the sites. KL is famous for the Petronas Towers and after seeing them I understand why they are such a landmark for the city. They are truly incredible, especially when they are lit up at night. One evening we had drinks at Skybar which is a classier bar in a high rise building that overlooks the towers. After this, we headed to Jalan Alor - a street full of vendors and very foreign smells! We ate at a delicious little place where we had fried stingray and chicken-fish.
My friend Jeremy took me touring around the city on his bike. It was a great day and a great way to see the city. Unfortunately, we did breakdown on the side of the road and had to wait for a tow truck to come get us, but it just made for that much more of an exciting adventure :)

I have a feeling November and December will be just as crazy and exciting as the last two months. Upcoming adventures include a weekend at an Elephant Sanctuary in Sumatra and Christmas in Thailand! Stay tuned!

Meeting the famous Medicine Man

My Time with Ketut Liyer 

Being a big fan of “Eat Pray Love” (the book - not the movie) I had to participate in the cheesy tourist trap of visiting Ketut Liyer while in Ubud, Bali. I have read several blogs on people visiting Ketut and everyone has basically the same things to say about the elderly medicine man who was made famous by Elizabeth Gilbert. He is 97 years old and is probably not as sharp as he once was. He tends to repeat himself and make general comments that you know he says to everyone.
For example three of the main things I have read on blogs that he will say:
“You will live to be 100” - check!
“Your lips are sweet like sugar.” - check!
“Don’t be impatient with love” - check!

Yep, everything I had read was pretty much accurate. Regardless, it was still pretty neat to walk around his gardens and sit with him on his front porch. I was impressed with the amount of time he takes to talk to each visitor. When I arrived I was given a number (number 4) to wait my turn. I sat in his gardens and could overhear what he was telling the other visitors. Some things were the same as he would soon tell me, but others were quite different.

There was an Australian woman talking with him while I waited. I could overhear their conversation and her telling Ketut about her relationship. He said “Do not be angry with Ketut, but your relationship will fail.” I had to hold back my laughter when I saw how angry her face became. He then began to giggle and said “Ketut sorry”. 

When it was my turn to talk to Ketut, he began by studying my face. He wanted to see my ears. He told me my right ear is good and my left ear is very good..then he smiled. I asked him what that means and he said, “It means you are pretty”. Very deep Ketut, very deep.

Next, he looked at the line between my eyes and told me that it represents that I am a great thinker. I told him I thought it was just from squinting all the time. He then gave his classic Ketut giggle.
He told me I have two dimple lines which means I am very lucky and can make people happy. After observing more features about my face he said “Ketut happy you’re pretty. Ketut sad he is ugly”. We both smiled awkwardly and then carried on with our conversation.

Ketut asked me four times what country I was from. Each time I would respond with “Canada” he would smile from ear to ear and say he has had many visitors from Canada. He was especially excited when I told him I was a teacher in Jakarta. He asked me to come back to Bali to teach him English (just like in the book).

Next, Ketut read my palms. He showed me what each line represents. He said my life line is long and my health is good, but when I am elderly I will have breathing problems. He then studied the veins on my arms and said my liver, heart, blood, and brain are all very healthy but he is unsure of my gallbladder.

Ketut said the main line that is shown on my palms and in my dimple lines is my luck line. He said my luck is stronger than most. He also showed me a line that goes up the middle of my hand that breaks off. Ketut explained that this line represents wealth and I will be very rich one day, but I will only do good with my money. Let’s hope he’s right!!

Ketut assured me that I will be married only once and I will be in a happy marriage until I die. He said “Maybe you meet handsome boy in Canada. Maybe you meet handsome boy not in Canada.” Thanks for narrowing it down for me Ketut!

He repeated roughly ten times not to worry, not to fret, not to cry because this handsome boy will find me and I do not need to search for him. He then told me one of the lines on my hand shows that I am impatient. I told him I’m in no hurry and then he giggled again and said “Yes you are”.

He showed me three little lines on the side of my hand and said it means I will have three babies. 

He looked at the back of my neck and said my spine is very different and that makes me different from most people. He told me it makes my brain strong and I can be a good teacher because of this. 

After about thirty minutes of conversation with Ketut, he then told me “No more worrying, no more fret, you get married at Ketut’s house one day. You come back to Bali with your handsome boy and you marry at my garden.”
Considering his age.. that marriage might need to happen sooner than later!

We ended by having our photo taken together. He asked me if he could see the picture on my camera. He looked at it and giggled and said “You pretty. Ketut ugly”. He then looked sad and said “Ketut tired now”. He got up and walked into his hut for a nap. Too bad for the four people who were waiting to see him after me!

Overall, a cheesy but fun experience! 

Mountains, Monkeys, and Motorbikes! Oh My!

August has been a busy month with lots of work events, eating out, discovering more of Jakarta and having a nice holiday away from school.

The ending of Ramadan marked the Idul Fitri holiday. Coincidentally, Indonesia's Independence Day fell on the day before holiday, which meant we had six work days off! After school just opened in early July, it seemed very early for a holiday. But like any holiday, it was more than welcome!

This past month I finally left the city limits of Jakarta and got a taste of what felt like more of authentic Indonesia. Myself and a group of teachers traveled to Bogor. Bogor is a small city about 60km Southwest of Jakarta. We left early in the morning and made a pit stop at a friend's family's villa in the mountains. It was amazing how much cooler the temperature was. It was very refreshing to be in cool, clean mountain air after nearly two months of living in a heavily polluted city. We took a short hike from the villa to a tea plantation on the side of the mountain. The views here were absolutely incredible!


Our next stop was Taman Safari. This was easily my favourite thing I have done in Indonesia so far. After a drive through safari, where we had animals popping their heads in our car windows, we then made a visit to the animal nursery. Here we were able to snuggle up close with baby tiger and lion cubs, orangutans, and a fully grown Sumatran tiger. The animals were beyond sweet and cuddly. I definitely wanted to sneak the baby orangutans home!!! However, the lion cub and fully grown tiger were questionably calm. We wondered if they were sedated... which makes me feel awful for supporting this and having my photo taken with them. I'm telling myself they were just really sleepy...

After a great day at the Safari, we then headed into Bogor and stopped at the Botanical Gardens and did a bit of a walk through and toured the grounds. Next, was a stop at a restaurant in the hills overlooking the city.

Throughout August, I participated in the sharing of break-fasting with some Muslim coworkers and friends. This is done each evening at sun down during Ramadan. As I mentioned in my last blog, Muslims do not eat or drink during the hours of sunlight for the month of Ramadan. At 6pm they come together with family and friends to share in a nice meal. The meal always begins with a dessert or something sweet to allow their body to absorb energy from the sugar. Dessert before supper? Works for me!

During the holiday week I went with three friends on a day trip to a volcanic region in the sea off of West Java. Krakatoa was a violent volcano that erupted in 1883 killing over 36 000 people. It was the loudest sound ever to be recorded. It was heard as far as Western Australia and the island of Mauritius. The eruption of Krakatoa was so extreme that it actually changed the Earth's temperatures.
In years to follow the major eruption, the parts of the volcano that were left continued to be active. In the early 1900s Anak Krakatoa emerged (In Indonesian, this means baby of Krakatoa).


After leaving Jakarta and driving roughly three hours across Java through small villages, we arrived at the sea. We took a boat into the Sunda Strait and after about an hour or more on choppy waves, we finally were at the volcanic region. This is very isolated and is just made up of a few remote islands and the volcanoes. It was almost eerie as we pulled up to these huge mountains of destruction.
When we arrived we could see smoke and gasses coming from the tops of both Krakatoa and Anak Krakatoa. When I asked our tour guide if we would be able to hike Anak Krakatoa, he decided this would be a good time to notify us that there had been an earthquake at this exact location the night before. He also said that three days prior Anak Krakatoa had erupted fifty times. Because of all of this activity, he said the volcano is considered dangerous and there are certain areas of the island we wouldn't be able to explore.
After docking at a black sand beach we began our hike into the jungle and then up a steep sanded side of the volcano. I'm not a very athletic person.. I prefer eating and watching movies to working out. So I'm not really sure why I thought climbing an active volcano so close to the equator would be something that would be easily possible for me to accomplish. I had a very rude awakening as I climbed up hot black sand in extreme temperatures. Every steep step I took, my feet would slide a bit back down in the sand. It felt I was barely making progress! The volcano has two peaks. We were only allowed to climb to the top of the first peak, as the second peak is where all of the gases and dangers are. I made it a little more than half way up the first peak, and decided to head back to the beach before I passed out!!! Even though I only made it half way, the views were still so beautiful. I could see Krakatoa and blue ocean for miles.

After having lunch on the beach, we took the boat to the main volcano - Krakatoa. We went snorkeling in the water around the volcano, and then sat on the beach for a little while. This volcano is very lush and full of trees and jungle, unlike Anak Krakatoa which is all sand and sulfur due to it's ongoing eruptions.
On the beach we saw Monitor Lizards running around. These are fairly large lizards that are known to be somewhat vicious.

After a nice relaxing holiday we returned to work to find out from other staff members that the government had put a ban on visiting Krakatoa last week due to the high activity of eruptions. Apparently a tourist was struck with a piece of flying debris from the volcano. I guess we got lucky the day we were there!!

As another month of living in Indonesia comes to an end, I am excited for the adventures that lay ahead in September. Next stop: Bali!