Asia

It is decided.  We’re going ALL-OUT for our final trip in Southeast Asia.  I can’t even begin to explain the ginormous amount of pressure we had placed on planning this trip…

You see, it was absolutely critical that we pick the **PERFECT** trip because:

1. It is the only major trip we’re going to take this year (aside from taking home leave in MN and OR and relocating to DC)
2. It’s our very last trip in Asia (I mean, what if we never come back to this region of the world???  Learning Spanish often means you get permanently stationed in Central and South American)
3. We intend to have a baby in the very near future, so this could very likely be our last kidless trip!

Knowing that, some of the factors we rated most important on this particular trip were:

1. Something we wouldn’t do with kids
2. Something adventure-oriented that took advantage of our good physical health
3. Something we may not be able to afford later on
4. Something exotic and off the beaten path
5. Someplace peaceful and serene with no people and very little tourism (Nick’s requirement, not mine – it seems that living in a city of 13 million is starting to get to him)

And honestly, after all that narrowing, there was really one clear choice: The Kingdom of Bhutan

Why We Knew Bhutan was “THE SPOT”

• The Population of the entire country is just shy of the 1,000,000 mark (and the country is roughly the size of Switzerland)
• The National Sport is Archery
• The country is 75% Buddhist, 25% Hindu
• The country has no Diplomatic relations with the US (the other 3 are Cuba, Iran and North Korea – interesting company, huh? )
• The country had no paved roads until the 1960′s, launched television in 1999 and got cell phones in the early 2000′s.
• The country didn’t open to tourists until 1974.
• The literacy rate is 42% and life expectancy is 66.
• The country does not measure GDP, instead they measure something they call Gross National Happiness (NO LIE).
• The country has an average elevation of 8,000 feet above sea level and is bordered to the west by the Himalayas.
• There were only 30,000 tourists in 2010!

Truly, this is the land that time forgot; perhaps the last Shangri-la on the planet.  I can honestly say that I am STOKED beyond belief!!  I know this will be the highlight of our year.  Now that we’ve selected our Butanese tour operator (required for travel in the country), booked our flight on the country’s only airline and wired our money (no credit cards accepted), all we have to do is count down the days until mid-April!

I’ll share more about our plans in upcoming posts but for now I’ll just leave you with a map of Southeast Asia so you can see exactly where Bhutan is located!  It gets a bit lost between China and India, so look closely…

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So after 3 days in Hong Kong, Nick and I can say without hesitation that we prefer to live in big Asian cities rather than visit them.  It’s not that they’re bad by any means, they’re just exhausting when you try to jam all sorts of experiences into a short period (in this case, 3 days).  Let’s just say that I always end up with a not-so-happy husband on my hands….

We were feeling quite adventurous at the beginning and proceeded directly from the airport to the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car on Lantau Island, which was originally the home of “Big Buddha” before they added the cable car and made it a tourist attraction.  My only frame of reference to cable cars was a.) Minnesota ski lifts and b.) the SkyRide at the Minnesota State Fair.  Multiply those by 10 and you have this experience.  I had dreams of it being a romantic experience but with Nick blowing his nose every 2 minutes and our 8 companions talking in 4 different languages, it was more akin to a circus than a ‘magical date’.  One couldn’t deny its impressiveness though…

Happily, I did convince Nick to let us splurge for the “Crystal Cabin” which is completely glass enclosed and provides 360 degree views.  It was well worth the extra money, despite it being a teeny bit scary at the beginning until I adjusted.

Our cable car dropped us at the resting place of “Big Buddha”.  You should note by this point that we were already losing our energy, as we looked at those stairs and said, “I can see it fine from here.”

Another one of our activities was the ever-popular “Tram to Victoria Peak”.  It’s a classic for a reason and it didn’t disappoint (except for that blasted fog that always wrecks the pictures).  We enjoyed what view we had, took a walk and dined at the beautiful Cafe Deco.

One of the most magical experiences of my life happened to us on Victoria Peak.  While we were eating lunch, I happened to be drawn to a table advertisement that was highlighting Cafe Deco’s 16th Anniversary (it had 16 scoops of yummy ice cream on the front, how could I not be curious??)  I proceeded to turn it over and see (to my amazement) that if you had a birthday on the 16th of any month that you got to try all 16 flavors for free.

And guess what?  NICK’S B-DAY IS DECEMBER 16TH!!!!!  I went a bit ballistic as it dawned on me that we could avail of this.  I smacked a few kisses on my husband, thanked God for the day he was born and immediately told him to get out his passport so I could go into an ice cream coma… :)

Now, I was trying very hard NOT to get my hopes up because it sounded too good to be true.  I mean, who gives away 16 scoops of ice cream for nothing in return?  I held my breath as we asked our waiter and low and behold, the eye-popping tray of ice creams arrived in front of me 10 minutes later.

I stared at it and blinked a few times, not believing this really was true.  Then I licked one of the flavors and realized that this was not a mirage.  I had died and gone to ice cream heaven!  Happiest day of my life!!!  (ahem… after our wedding day of course, honey)

I let Nick have 4 flavors that I didn’t really like (since it was his birthday that got it for us and all) and then proceeded to annihilate the remaining 12 all by my little old self.  It was pure magic.  Here’s my proof that I did it.  A proud moment indeed.  And just in case your were wondering, it was 100% FREE.

Ahhh BLISS, I’m still on a high from it.  More stories to come tomorrow folks!

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Try not to miss me!  We’re off to Hong Kong for 3 days… expect lots of glorious pics and stories when we get back!

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Delightful, delicious Bangkok.  Like Manila in many ways, but about 20 years ahead from an infrastructure standpoint and with way better food (No offense to my Filipino friends, there’s just something unique about curry).  We got a 4 day taste of Bangkok while my parents were visiting.  Given that they enjoy a faster pace, we packed the activities in.  Here’s an overview of what we got to see:

Day 1:  A Tour of the major must-sees in the city (Used Tours with Tong and rented a private van for the day)

This is the 500 pound solid gold Buddha that was found encased in concrete just 50 years ago.  They just completed the temple to house this statue 1 year ago, so it’s a relatively new attraction.  Definitely a WOW.

Next up was the Royal Temple and Residence Complex.  Two words: Massive and Gold.  Bright, vibrant colors assaulted the eyes from every direction.  I think it would have been blinding on a high-sun day.  Simply spectacular though and kept in really good shape.

This was the largest laying Buddha, also located in a temple in Bangkok.  It’s hard to grasp the magnitude of the size in a picture.  Just think of covering that Buddha in gold leaf, one inch at a time.

Our last gig for the day was a canal cruise.  We got a really intimate glimpse into Bangkok daily life.  My favorite moment of the day was when I snapped this daredevil leaping off the canal bridge.  He purposely waited for the boat to go by so that it would evacuate the catfish from the area while he jumped.  Now that’s clever thinking!

Day 2: Culinary Indulgence

Day 2 was all about the food.  We started with a 6 hour cooking class at Bai Pai cooking school.  This was hands-down my favorite part of the trip.  The entire experience was a hoot and we really came away with a solid understanding of how to make Thai food at home.  We also enjoyed meeting friends from around the globe.  Our menu for the day was: Golden Bags, Panang Chicken Curry, Tom Ghoon Soup and Fried Rice with Pork.  DELICIOUS!

Later that night we enjoyed a feast aboard one of the local Riverboat dinner cruises.  The boat was a converted rice barge, which I thought was particularly neat.  The two hour cruise took us up the river and back, allowing ample time for grazing and enjoying the illuminated sights on the river.  Highly enjoyable!

Day 3: Daytrip to Ayutthaya (Tour with Tong)

We were back in our van on day 3 with our guide Lily.  Today’s adventure was to the old capital city called Ayutthaya, located 75 minutes north of Bangkok.  Built in 1350, it was the second capital of Siam and destryoed by the Burmese in the 18th century.  Now a UNESCO world heritage site.  It was well worth the drive!

When you remove the glitz and gold, these ancient temples reminded me a lot of Cambodia.  It was easy to imagine the past grandeur of this fallen city.

And what’s a day without a Buddha visit??  Today’s chosen Buddha was the largest sitting Buddha in the country.  Please take note of the man standing near Buddha’s hand so that you can get a sense of the scale.  The scale of this one was staggering.  I was definitely in awe.

Remember how much we loved the elephants in Cambodia?  We were delighted to find that elephants were available to ride here.  I love this great picture of mom and dad enjoying their very first elephant ride.  So awesome!  That’s not something you can find in MN!

Day 4: The Ancient City

We didn’t need to be to the airport until noon, so we decided to fit in one last activity on Day 4.  We had heard great things about the Ancient City, which is about 1 hour outside of Bangkok.  It was not an actual ancient city, but a replica of all the architectural traditions that exist in the country.  It reminded me a lot of something you’d visit in Wisconsin Dells, basically a classy theme park without rides.  The cherry on top of the experience was the fact that we got to use these old-school bikes to get around!  I haven’t biked in so long – it was AMAZING!  Who wants to stop and see things when you have a wide-open stretch of road to bike on…definitely NOT available in Manila!

To close, I’ll leave you with one picture that really amused me.  This group of tourists begged Nick to come be in their picture because he was the tallest, whitest man they had ever seen.  What an accomplishment honey, I’m so proud of you!

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Greetings readers- I’m well aware that I haven’t posted in days or shown you pictures of our Bangkok trip.  The thing is, there just hasn’t been any time!  We have been go, go, going all day long at which point I tumble into bed exhausted.  It’s been fabulously grand – YAY FOR PARENTS!

I promise that I’ll do a recap of Bangkok.  In the meantime, please go check out the gallery of photos that I’ve posted at SMUGMUG.  There’s a good variety of shots from gold Buddhas to elephants – Thailand was larger than life, all glitz and glam and occasionally over the top.  I loved it!  Possible future post?  I sure hope so!

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My parents, Janet and Steve, arrived in Manila late on the 28th.  Instead of letting them rest and adjust to the time change, we jumped on another airplane and flew to Bangkok, where we’ll spend the next few days discovering the city together.  I’m so excited to introduce them to our Foreign Service life.  And yes, I promise we are going to visit Manila too!  I’ll do my best to get you pictures and updates, but I can’t make any promises because their schedule is even more packed than Rachel’s!  Let’s give them a big Filipino welcome – it’s their first time in Asia!

Mubuhay Mom and Dad!

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