El regreso a Bangkok/ Return to Bangkok

We checked out of the hotel in Koh Phangan on the 3rd and went back to Bangkok- walked to the pier, got a ferry to Koh Samui (another island in Thailand), had lunch there, got a taxi to the airport (how cute is the airport in Koh Samui!! really chilled, shops outdoors, people sitting on the lawns), then got the mini train along the tarmac to the plane, then took a plane to Bangkok, and then a taxi to the hotel- so that was my 30th birthday, I spent it traveling, literally! I loved it- traveled by land, air, and sea, all on the same day.
So we finally got to the hotel at night. Yani had told me she was paying for our 2 nights accommodation in Bangkok as my birthday present, but what she hadn't told me was what the hotel was like. OH MY GOD!! It was AMAZING!! I was staring at Yanina when we arrived as in: "are we in the wrong place?!?", while we are sitting in this extra fancy lobby waiting while they are checking us in, and there we are, trying to look serious and cool, but giggling and taking pictures, and I'm wearing the same smelly crappy dress I wore for the full moon party the night before (no way I was gonna put on clean clothes just to travel all day!) and thinking what the hotel staff must have thought when they saw my dirty smelly backpack hahaha.
As soon as the guy carrying suitcases to our room (whatever they are called) closed our bedroom door we started hugging and jumping up and down around the room, it was so funny. And of course touching everything, playing with everything, and taking a million pictures of the room. Only problem is: I don't know why I can't upload the pics from my camera to the computer, so my photos of the last 10 days in Thailand and the first day in Japan are trapped in my camera (I'll try and get it sorted while I'm in Argentina hopefully, and I've got a new memory card now, so the last 4 days in Japan are safe).
So, back to the hotel- it was awesome, thank you so much Yani for such a nice birthday present and for coming over to Thailand for my birthday!!!!!!
We had booked an all day tour for the next day, with an early start, so we went out for dinner and went to bed early (uhm... I think by this time it was past midnight anyway).
4th Dec - woke up too early for my liking, as we were being picked up at 6:30am for the tour. Buffet breakfast included in the hotel- wow, so many things to eat, I hate it when I can't try everything. Delicious, and of course I packed up a few pastries and sandwiches for later on the day.
We first went to the Floating Markets- water canals, and people have set up their shops/stands on the shores along them, and also go around on small wooden boats selling anything and everything. It was really cool, we got on a boat and they took us around for about an hour, looking around- some places you can only access on a boat, other places you can walk to. There were moments of full on traffic jams, and the woman on our boat was a shit... driver?/boater? whatever the word is, and it was very funny to hear them getting angry and yelling at each other and getting "water rage".
From there we went on to the Tiger Temple (oh crap!!! I just realised, all my photos in the tiger temple are trapped in my camera aaaaaaargh!!)- it's a buddhist monastery where they shelter animals (injured, orphans, etc), and the main attraction are the tigers. They have over 40 tigers, and you can go and pat them and have pictures with them! It was excellent!!! We walked around, one by one, sitting behind the tigers, touching them, and having our photos taken by a staff member- it was really well organised, and we got to go around twice touching the tigers. I hate it when you go to things like this and they are normally so rushed, and you only get a little quick glimpse or crap photo, but this was so well done, we had heaps and heaps of time with the tigers, and as many photos and patting them as we wanted.
The last stop was the Bridge over the River Kwoi (and the museum about it)- it was a bridge built by the Allied Prisoners of War during WWII, with a train over it. So when the Allies sent planes to bomb it, the Japanese made the POW all stand in a line all along the bridge and wave- thinking this would stop it from being bombed; but it didn't, so 2 thirds of the bridge were destroyed, hundreds and hundreds of POW died, and the waters of the river were tainted red and stunk for days. Sad.
And that was our day tour, it was really good. We got back to the city and spent hours walking around- it's the King's birthday tomorrow 5th, and they LOVE their royalty here, so the celebrations were massive. Fireworks, stages, live music, performances, parades with huge floats, people and stalls everywhere, and the city looking more beautiful than when I saw it last week, all lit up, with colourful water fountains, and lights on trees everywhere. Dinner on Kho San Road- I felt like I was back home. And back in the hotel we had our complimentary cocktail in one of the bars. Nice.
The last day in Bangkok- we woke up early, enjoyed the yummy yummy breakfast at the hotel, and then Yani went to see a couple of temples that I had already seen, while I stayed in the beautiful hotel and spoiled myself- outdoor swimming pool, sunbathing and reading, looked at the botanic gardens (yes, IN the hotel!), and spent almost an hour in the bathtub:) We then met up, walked around some shopping centres a bit, had lunch, and Yani left back to Australia:(( It was sad to see her go, and felt all lonely when she left, but after walking around the beautiful Bangkok city and a nap in Lumphini Park I was all happy again and excited about Japan- I left that same night for Tokyo.

El 3 nos fuimos del hotel en Koh Phangan y de vuelta a Bangkok- caminamos al puerto, nos tomamos un ferry a Koh Samui (otra isla en Tailandia), almorzamos ahi, nos tomamos un taxi al aeropuerto (un amor el aeropuerto en Koh Samui!! re relajado, negocios al aire libre, gente sentada en el cesped), despues un trencito por la pista hasta el avion, despues un avion a Bangkok, y despues un taxi al hotel- asi que ese fue mi cumpleanios de 30, lo pase viajando, literalmente! Me encanto- viaje por tierra, aire, y agua, todo en el mismo dia.
Asi que finalmente llegamos al hotel a la noche. Yani me habia dicho que ella pagaba nuestras 2 noches de alojamiento en Bangkok como regalo de cumpleanios, lo que no me habia dicho era como era el hotel. POR DIOS! Era INCREIBLE!! Cuando llegamos yo la miraba a Yanina onda: "estamos en el lugar equivicado?!?", mientras estamos sentadas en el lobby del hotel re paquete esperando a que nos registren, y estamos tratando de estar serias y con cara de superadas, pero tentadas de la risa y sacando fotos, y yo teniendo puesto el mismo vestido choto y oloroso que use para la fiesta de la luna llena la noche anterior (ni en pedo me iba a poner ropa limpia solo para viajar todo el dia!), y pensando que habra pensado la gente que labura en el hotel cuando vieron mi mochila de mochilera sucia y olorosa hahaha.
Ni bien el tipo que llevo las valijas al cuarto (como sea que se llaman) cerro la puerta de nuestro cuarto nos empezamos a abrazar con Yani y a saltar por todo el cuarto, muy gracioso. Y por supuesto a toquetear todo, jugando con todo, y sacando un millon de fotos del cuarto. El unico problema: no se por que no puedo subir las fotos de mi camara a la computadora, asi que mis fotos de los ultimos 10 dias de Tailandia y el primer dia de Japon estan atrapadas en la camara (voy a tratar de que me lo arreglen minetras estoy en Argentina, tengo una memory card nueva ahora, asi que los ultimos 4 dias de Japon estan a salvo).
Asi que de vuelta al hotel- espectacular, mil gracias Yani por el regalo de cumpelnaios tan lindo y por haberte venido a Tailandia para mi cumple!!!
Nos habiamos reservado un tour de todo el dia para el dia siguiente, empeznado bien temprano, asi que fuimos a cenar y a dormir temprano (uhm... creo que ya era pasada la medianoche para ese entonces).
4 de Diciembre- nos despertamos demasiado temprano para mi gusto, porque nos pasaban a buscar a las 6:30am para el tour. Desayuno buffet incluido en el hotel- wow, tantas cosas para comer, odio cuando no puedo probar todo! Delicioso, y obviamente me empaquete algunas facturas y sandwichitos para mas tarde.
Primero fuimos a los Mercados Flotantes- canales de agua, y la gente armo sus negocios/puestitos en las orilas a lo largo de los canales, y tambien van en botes de madera vendiendo de todo. Una masa, nos subimos en un bote y nos llevaron a dar vueltas como una hora, mirando todo- a algunos lugares se puede llegar caminando, a otros solo en bote. Habia momentos de embotellamiento mal con los botes, y la mina de nuestro biete era re mala... conductora?/botera?, como sea que se diga, y era muy gracioso escucharlos enojandose y puteandose y teniendo discusiones de trafico.
De ahi fuimos al Templo de los Tigres (que cagada!! Me acabo de dar cuenta, todas mis fotos del templo de los tigres estan atrapadas en mi camara aaaaaaargh!!!!)- es un monasterio budista en el cual asilan animales (lastimados, huerfanos, etc), y la mayor atraccion son los tigres. Tienen mas de 40 tigres, y podes ir y tocarlos y sacarte fotos con ellos! Estuvo excelente! Caminamos, de a uno, sentandonos detras de los tigres, tocandolos, y una de las personas que trabajan ahi te sacaban las fotos- estaba re bien organizado, y dimos la vuelta 2 veces a tocar los tigres. Me embola cuando vas a cosas como esta y normalmente es todo re a las apuradas, y solo podes verlo todo rapido o sacar un par de fotos chotas, pero esto estaba tan bien hecho, tuvimos montones de tiempo con los tigres, y los pudimos acariciar y sacarnos tantas fotos como quisimos.
La ultima parada fue el Puente sobre el Rio Kwoi (y el museo relacionado)- fue un puente construido por los prisioneros de guerra aliados durante la segunda guerra mundia, con un tren que pasaba por el puente. Asi que cuando los Aliados mandaron aviones para bombardearlo, los japoneses hicieron que los prisioneros de guerra se pararan sobre el puente todos en fila a lo largo y saludaran- para evitar que lo bombardeen; pero no lo evito, asi que 2 terceras partes del puente fueron destruidas, cientos y cientos de prisioneros de guerra murieron, y las aguas del rio se tinieron de rojo y apesto por dias. Triste.
Y ese fue nuestro dia de tour, estuvo muy bueno. Volvimos a la ciudad y pasamos hotas caminando- es el cumpleanios del rey manana 5 de dic, y AMAN a la realeza aca, asi que las celebraciones fueron inmensas. Fuegos artificiales, escenarios, musica en vivo, shows, desfiles con carrozas gigantes, lleno de gente y puestitos, y la ciudad mas hermosa que cuando la vi la semana pasada, toda iluminada, con fuentes de agua coloridas, y lices en todos los arboles. Cenamos en Kho San Road- me senti de vuelta en casa. Y de vuelta en el hotel nos tomamos nuestro cocktail gratis en uno de los bares del hotel. Muy bien.
El ultimo dia en Bangkok- nos despertamos temprano, disfrutamos el desayuno rico rico en el hotel, y despues Yani se fue a ver un par de templos que yo ya habia visto, mientras yo me quede en el hotel y me di unso gustos- pileta al aire libre, tomando sol y leyendo, di una vuelta por el Jardin Botanico (si, EN el hotel!), y me pase casi una hora en la banadera. Despues me encontre con Yanina, caminamos por un par de shoppings, almorzamos, y Yani se fue de vuelta para Australia :(( Me dio re tristeza y soledad cuando se fue, pero despues de caminar de nuevo por la hermosa Bangkok y de dormirme una siestita en el parque Lumphini estaba toda contenta de nuevo y excitada sobre Japon- esa misma noche sali para Tokyo.

Koh Phangan

Ok, continuo con los relatos por atrasado. Entonces, llegada a Koh Phangan, me encontre con Yanina al dia siguiente (una amiga argentina de Australia). Me vino a visitar una semana por mi cumpleanios, un amor. En verdad nos ibamos a encontrar el 28 a la manana pero Yani estaba enferma, asi que viajo un dia mas tarde, enferma y todo, y llego el 29.
El 28 me la pase en la playa, leyendo y caminando. Koh Phangan es una isla bastante grandecita, pero el hotel queda en una zona donde hay playas y restaurantes etc, todo a unos minutos caminando. Y cerca de la Full Moon Party (la fiesta de la luna llena, la razon por la que decidimos venir para Koh Phangan, obviamente muy importante!).
Nos pasamos 5 dias de relax, playa, comer, leer, tomar, un descanso. Hamacas paraguayas, bares y restaurantes sobre la playa. Agua cristalina y tibia. La arena debo admitir no era la mas blanca que vi en mi vida, pero me quejo de llena. Y mucha joda tambien, porque nos estabamos quedando en la zona de fiesta. Asi que fiestas todas las noches, fiesta de la espuma, fiesta en la pileta, y por supuesto fiesta de la luna llena. Y hacian shows de malabares con fuego, y tambien juegos con fuego. Uno de los juegos consistia en prender fuego una soga y la gente pasaba a saltar- borrachos, pendejos, creyendose re piolas... de mas esta decir, que habia quemados todas las noches, y se veia por todos lados gente con los tobillos vendados caminando haha. Y tambien gente con ojos vendados, brazos enyesados... entre el salto de la soga y la gente que se accidenta alquilando scooters, estaban todos hechos mierda.
Asi que empece mi cumple, ya que la fiesta de la luna llena fue el 2 de diciembre- en la playa, con musica, baldes, y miles y miles de personas bailando. Una masa. Y con luna llena, obviamente. Y perdon Yanina, pero tengo que poner la yanifrase- "Ah, la fiesta de la luna llena es todos los meses?!?", y si, no podia faltar una buena yanifrase!
AY!!! Y ahora justo, mientras estoy escribiendo esto, en Tokyo, entra por la puerta Nirmal (un pibe de Texas que conocimos en Koh Phangan, y pasamos unos dias juntos)- le pase los datos del hotel en el que estoy aca en Tokyo y acaba de llegar del aeropuerto, que gracioso!
Bueno, volviendo a Koh Phangan... un dia nos fuimos a unas playas del norte a concoer. Fuimos en taxi, y despues decidimos iniciar el retorno caminando... haciendo dedo fue la intencion, pero no funciono, aunque todo el mundo en scooter miraba, saludaba, tocaba bocina, sonreia, pero nadie paraba. Un solo pibe paro, un amor, pero no entrabamos los 3 en su scooter- el pibe habia pasado en un grupo de como 8 pibes, y dijo que trato de converncerlos de frenar y ninguno quiso, porque estaban jugando una carrera- el volvio a buscarnos, y el resto se equivoco de camino y doblaron todos mal, y el al final termino ganando igualmente, KARMA! y muy gracioso porque nosotras nos tomamos un taxi al final, y llegamos a otra playa y estaban esos pibes ahi.
Y que mas contar de Koh Phangan... me parece que eso es suficiente. El 3 (el dia de mi cumpleanios) fuimos a Bangkok. Despues cuento eso, me voy ahora porque hacen aca en el hotel clases de conversacion en japones.


Ok, I'll continue with the delayed stories. So, once arrived in Koh Phangan, I met up with Yanina the next day (an argentinean friend from Australia). She came over to visit me for a week for my birthday, so lovely fo her. In actual fact we were gonna meet on the morning of the 28th but Yani was sick, so she came over 1 day later, sick and all, and arrived on the 29th.
I spent the 28th at the beach, reading and walking around. Koh Phangan is a relatively big islan, but the hotel we are staying in is in an area with beaches and restaurants etc, all within a few minutes walk. And nearby the Full Moon Party (the reason why we decided to come to Koh Phangan, obviously very important!)
So we spent 5 days of relaxing, beach, eating, reading, drinking, a nice rest. Hammocks, bars and restaurants on the beach. Warm and clear sea. I must admit the sand wasn't the whitest I've seen, but there's no right to complain about it either. And lots of partying as well, because we were staying in the party area. So there were parties on every night- foam party, pool party, and of course the full moon party. And they were doing shows with fire, juggling, and also games. One of these games was skipping the rope, but the rope was on fire- young, drunk people skipping the rope and thinking they were so cool... needless to say people got burnt every night, and you could see around the island people with bandaged ankles haha. And also people with bandaged eyes, arms in casts... in between the fire rope skipping and people having accidents with the rental scooters, everyone was injured.
So I started my birthday, since the full moon party was on the 2nd of December- at the beach, with music, buckets, and thousands and thousands of people dancing. Awesome. And with a full moon, obviously. And I'm sorry Yanina, but I gotta write the Yaniphrase- "OH, the full moon party is on every month?!?", haha yeah, of course there had to be a Yaniphrase!
OH!! And right this very moment, while I'm in Tokyo typying this, Nirmal walks in the door (a guy from Texas that we met in Koh Phangan and we spent time together for a couple of days)- I gave him the info of the hotel I'm staying in in Tokyo and he's just arrived, straight from the airport, very funny.
Well, back to Koh Phangan... one day we went to one of the beaches up north on the island for a look. We went by taxi, and then we decided to start heading abck walking... hitchhiking attempts, but it didn't work, cause even though everyone going past on scooters would look at us, wave, horn, smile, but no one would stop. Only one guy stopped, really nice, but we didn't all fit on his tiny scooter- this guy had gone past in a group of about 8 guys on their scooters and said he tried to convince others to stop as well but no one wanted to because they were racing- he came back to get us, and the rest took a wrong turn and went the wrong way, so this guy ended up winning the race in the end, that's KARMA! And it was very funny cause we ended up getting a taxi in the end, and when we got to this other beach these guys were there.
And what else can I say about Koh Phangan... I think that's enough. The 3rd (the day of my birthday) we went to Bangkok. I'll tell about Bangkok later on, I gotta go now because here at the hotel they are having lessons on spoken Japanese now.

Mucho para contar/So much to tell

Yes, it's been a full 2 weeks since I last wrote on here, so where do I start from...?!?!
Ok, so Bangkok- basically I spent a full week in Khao San Road, I had thought of going up north to Chang Mai for a couple of days but in the end decided against it (it would have been great, but it would have meant an overnight bus/train there and then the same to come back, and then another overnight trip to get to the south to Koh Phangan, so I thought it was too much for 1 week).
So instead I continued with the late nights, partying, barely sleeping, and drinking buckets- they sell you alcohol in small plastic buckets, like the ones kids use to make sand castles, with lots of straws to share around. I met some really nice people, and had lots of crazy random moments. For example the night I went with an English guy, Adam, to watch a ping pong show. Yeah... exactly, a ping pong show in Bangkok has a very different meaning from anywhere else in the world (over 18s only).
So as a result of my late nights I had some short lazy days, but still had some really productive days and got to see plenty of stuff. Bangkok was completely different from what I had imagined it would be like. I had this image of dirty, chaotic, bad traffic, crowded, poor- basically I thought it was gonna be a southeastern asian version of India. But I found it clean, beautiful, civilized, wonderful architecture, beautiful wide streets with boulevards, fountains, statues, amazing temples. Maybe my impression was like this because I just came from India, but I found it so orderly.
I saw a lot of temples and a lot of Buddhas. Reclining Buddha, laughing Buddha, Emerald Buddha, all sorts of Buddhas. I went to Chinatown one day with 2 guys I met, we wondered down the streets, bought Jack fruit (which tasted delicious although very dry, but smelled absolutely disgusting). I saw the Giant Swing- the official story in the temple said that it has to do with some legend and Gods or sonmething (sorry, don't remember properly); the unofficial version I got from some backpacker was that they used to have a celebration where poor people used to sit on the swing and try and reach some gold or money, as in a game, but so many people died from falling off that they stopped doing it. I went to Wat Arun, which is the dawn temple- beautifully ornamented, very steep steps to the top, and beautiful views. I walked along the river banks and crossed the canals. I went up to the Golden Mount- more Buddhas inside, view not so good as Wat Arun.
I also did a day tour to Arathuya, which used to be Thailand's capital about... ?500 years ago. God, that was hard, waking up at 6am, and idiot me walked 200 metres to be picked up, only to remember that the pick up point was 2 doors up from my hotel, so I had to walk back (yeah, my brain doesn't like mornings). We saw lots of temples, ruins, Buddhas, it was very beautiful, it was definitely worth the early start. And after that we went to the King's summer palace- oh my God, one of the most beautiful and peaceful palaces I've ever seen. I take that back, the palace itself was nothing great, it was a series of small buildings so no such palace in itself. But the grounds of the palace were awesome- perfect lawns, lakes, cute little bridges, flowers and trees- it was nice to see a bit of nature again.
So, I'm gonna leave it here for now, this was my first week in Bangkok. After this I took an overnight bus (well, 2 buses and then a ferry, and it was 19 hours long) and went down to Koh Phangan, which is an island in the south.


Si, ya son 2 semanas desde la ultima vez que escribi aca, asi que por donde empiezo ahora...?!?!?
Ok, Bangkok- basicamente me pase una semana entera en Khao San Road, habia pensado ir al norte a Chiang Mai por un par de dias pero al final decidi no hacerlo (me hubiera encantado, pero hubiera tenido que hacer noche en bus/tren para llegar y despues de nuevo de vuelta, y despues de nuevo para llegar al sur a Koh Phangan, asi que me parecio que era demasiado para una semana).
Asi que en cambio segui con la joda, salir de noche, apenas durmiendo, y tomando baldes- te venden el alcohol en baldecitos de plastico, como los que usan los chicos para hacer castillos de arena en la playa, con varias pajitas para compartir los tragos. Conoci gente muy buena onda, y momentos muy locos y divertidos. Por ejemplo la noche que fui con Adanm, un pibe ingles, a ver un show de pong pong. Si... exacto, un show de ping pong en Bangkok tiene un significado muy distinto a cualquier otro lugar del mundo (no apto para menores)
Asi que como resultado de mis noches de joda tuve un par de dias cortos y relajados, pero tambien tuve dias bien productivos y pude hacer y ver varias cosas. Bangkok es totalmente diferente a como me habia imaginado que iba a ser. Yo tenia la imagen de sucia, caotica, trafico malo, lleno de gente, pobre- basicamente pense que iba a ser una version de India del sudeste asiatico. Pero me parecio limpia, hermosa, civilizada, arquitectura increible, con calles lindisimas, anchas, con bulevares, fuentesm estatuas, templos alucinantes. Tal vez esa fue mi impresion porque recien venia de India, pero me parecio tan ordenadita.
Vi un monton de templos y un monton de Budas. Buda reclinado, Buda riendose, Buda de esmeralda, todo tipo de Budas. Un dia fui a Chinatown con 2 chicos que conoci, caminamos por las calles, compramos fruta Jack (que era deliciosa a pesar de ser re seca, pero tenia un olor totalmente inmundo). Vi la Hamaca Gigante- la historia oficial en el templo decia que tenia que ver con una leyenda y con Dioses o algo asi (perdon, no me acuerdo bien); la historia no oficial que me conto un mochilero es que tenian una celebracion ahi y la gente pobre se hamacaba y trataba de agarrar plata o oro, como en un juego, pero tanta gente se murio porque se cayeron que dejaron de hacerlo. Fui a Wat Arun, que es el templo del amanecer- decorado increible, escalones re empinados hasta la cima, y vista lindisima de la ciudad. Camine a lo largo del rio y cruze los canales. Subi al Monte de Oro- mas Budas adentro, la vista no tan linda como desde Wat Arun.
Hice un tour por un dia a Arathuya, que era la capital de Tailandia hace... ?500 anios mas o menos. Por Dios, como me costo, levantarme a las 6 de la manana, y re tarada camine 200 metros para donde pense que me pasaban a buscar, y recien ahi me acorde que el lugar donde me pasaban a buscar quedaba a 2 puertas de mi hotel, asi que tuve que caminar de vuelta (y si, mi cerebro no funciona a la manana). Vimos un monton de templos, ruinas, Budas, lindisimo, definitivamente valio la pena despertarme temprano. Y despues de eso fuimos al palacio de verano del rey- por Dios, uno de los palacios mas lindos y pacificios que vi en mi vida. No, correcion, el palacio en si no era gran cosa, eran varios edificos chicos asi que en si no habia ningun palacio. Pero los jardines eran una masa- cespedes perfectos, lagos, puentecitos divinos, flores y arboles- me gusto ver un poco de naturaleza otra vez.
Bueno, hasta aca llego esta vez, esa fue mi primera semana en Bangkok. Despues de esto me tome un bus durante la noche (bah, en verdad 2 buses y despues un ferry, y duro 19 horas), y fui a Koh Phangan, que es una isla en el sur.

Retraso/Delay

I'm a bit behind with the blog, I know, I know. I haven't given up, I just hadn't had a chance to write lately. I will update it and write about what I've been up to during the past couple of weeks soon.

Estoy un poco atrasada con el blog, ya se, ya se. No lo abandone, pero no tuve tiempo de escribir ultimamente. Ya voy a actualizarlo y a escribir sobre lo que estuve haciendo durante las 2 ultimas semanas dentro de poco.

Bangkok

Hey, hey, I've made it to Thailand! I got here 2 days ago. What a difference from India! As soon as I got off the plane it felt like such a different world. I'm staying on Khao San Road, which is backpackers mecca. It's insane- hostels, restaurants, bars, clubs, travel agents, internet, stalls selling food, clothes, fake IDs, fake driver's licenses, fake uni degrees. So basically, everything a backpacker's ever dreamt of. And it's BUSY. Full of westerners, it was quite a shock after not seeing many whiteys in India for so long. But it's been good. It's been heaps of fun so far, but I must say that after only 2 nights here I'm already exhausted- way too much partying, alcohol, and late nights.
Yesterday I went to see the Grand Palace, the Emerald Buddha (which is actually made of Jade, but when they first discovered it they thought it was Emerald, so the name stuck), and the Reclining Buddha. WOW, breathtaking. The buildings are just huge and stunningly beautiful. And walking round the complex where the reclining buddha is, there's lots of other temples with Buddha images in them. So peaceful and spiritual, and me being an absolute agnostic I was still very moved by it and fell into some sort of meditation for a couple of hours. Bizarre. I blame it on the monks, dressed in orange and chanting beautifully, how can anyone resist that spell?
I've met up with David (a friend from work), his wife and their nieces the first day when I arrived, and we met up again last night. It's been great to see them, we missed each other in Varanasi, but hopefully we'll meet up again next week in one of the islands down south. They showed me an evil evil ice cream shop, so we visited 2 nights in a row. I'll try to stay away from it tonight...

Hola, hola, llegue a Tailandia! Llegue hace 2 dias. Que diferencia con India! Apenas me baje del avion ya me senti en otro mundo. Me estoy quedando en la calle Khao San, que es la meca de los mochileros. Es una locura- hostels, restaurantes, bares, boliches, agencias de viajes, internet, puestos vendiendo comida, ropa, y documentos, registros de manejo, titulos universitarios, todo falso. Basicamente, todos los suenios de un mochilero hechos realidad. Y esta LLENO de gente. Lleno de occidentales, fue un shock despues de no ver muchos blancos en India por tanto tiempo. Pero todo bien. Por ahora la estoy pasando muy bien, pero debo decir que depsues de solamente 2 noches en Bangkok ya estoy exausta- demasiado joda, alcohol, y saliendo hasta demasiado tarde.
Ayer fui al Gran Palacio, al Buddha de Esmeralda (que en realidad es de Jade, pero cuando lo descubrieron pensaron que estaba hecho de esmeralda, asi que le quedo el nombre), y el Buddha Reclinado (acostado). WOW, impresionante. Los edificios son gigantescos y increiblemente hermosos. Y caminando alrededor del complejo donde esta el Buddha Reclinado, hay un monton de otros templos con imagenes de Buddha. Mucha paz y re espiritual, y yo, siendo totalmente agnostica igualmente me re emocione y cai en un tipo de meditacion por un par de horas. Bizarro. Le echo la culpa a los monjes, todos vestiditos de naranja y haciendo sus cantos/plegarias, como resistirme a ese hechizo?
Me encontre con David (un amigo del laburo), su mujer, y sus sobrinas el primer dia a la horas de haber llegado, y anoche nos encontramos de nuevo. Me encanto haberlos visto, habiamos planeado encontrarnos en Varanasi epro al final no nos habiamos visto, y vamos a tratar de vernos de nuevo la semana que viene en una de las islas en el sur de Tailandia. Me mostraron una heladeria increible, asi que fuimos 2 noches seguidas. A partir de hoy voy a tratar de evitarla...

Mumbai toma 2/Mumbai Take 2

Back where I began. I'm glad I had to come back to Mumbai, cause I gave it a second chance and I liked it more than the first time round. The train got in at 6am, so after finding a place to stay (or half stay cause I gotta leave at 2am to go to the airport) I went to Elephanta Island in the morning. 1 hour boat each way, 1 hour on the island only.... not much to do really. It's famous for the "Elephanta caves"- there's 5 caves. The first one is absolutely amazing, great stone carvings, really impressive. Then there's 1 with a tiny bit of mediocre carvings. And then there's 3 others with nothing at all. Uhm... But I guess the first one made it worth it.
The rest of the day I walked around town, I looked at some landmarks (clock tower, University, High Court building), went back to look at the Gateway of India (the famous Arch) and again into the Taj Hotel (to use the toilet, what a luxury!), I sold my India Lonely Planet to a guy from a street stall... and that's it. It's almost 7pm now, and I'm planning on being in bed by 8 hopefully, so I can get some sleep before going to the airport.
And- today is Sara and Colin's wedding (friends in Australia)- Congratulations!!!!!

De nuevo al punto de partida. Me alegra que tuve que venir de vuelta a Mumbai, porque le di una segunda oportunidad y me gusto mas que la primera vez. El tren llego a las 6 de la manana, asi que despues de encontrar un lugar para quedarme (o semi quedarme porque me tengo que ir a las 2 de la manana para ir al aeropuerto), fui a la Isla Elefanta a la manana. Una hora en bote de ida y una hora de vuelta, y una hora solo en la isla... no hay mucho para hacer la verdad. Es famosa por las "Cuevas de Elefanta"- hay 5 cuevas. La primera es totalmente espectacular, con tallados en piedras buenisimos, muy impresionante. Despues hay una con algunitos tallados mediocres. Y despues hay 3 que no tienen nada de nada. Uhm... pero supongo que la primera cueva hizo que valga la pena.
El resto del dia camine por la ciudad, mire edificios famosos (el reloj, la universidad, la corte), fui de nuevo al Gateway of India (el Arco famoso) y de nuevo al Hotel Taj (para usarles el banio, un lujo!), y vendo mi guia de India a un tipo con un puesto de libros usados... y eso es todos. Y son casi las 7pm ahora, y el plan es irme a dormir tipo 8 con suerte, asi puedo dormir un poco antes de tener que ir al aeropuerto.
Y- hoy es el casamiento de Sara y Colin (amigos en Australia)- Felicitaciones!!!!!

Mascot V/Mascota V

Yep, time to swap again! I told my mascots story to the guys I had been hanging out with in Goa and Johan (Dutch guy) was up for it. He is such a lovely guy, he offered to give me a ride to the train station on his motorbike, so avoided me having to catch 2 buses to get there. So we had our little swapping ceremony at the front of the train station, it was a sad farewell. He gave me his scarf, how cool is that! And said the pen was perfect cause he had just lost his pen a few days ago HA!

Si, momento de hacer canje otra vez! Les conte mi proyecto de las mascotas a los chicos con los que estuve estos dias en Goa y Johan (el holandes) se prendio. Es un amor, me ofrecio llevarme a la estacion de tren en su moto, asi que me ahorro tener que tomarme 2 omnibus para llegar. Asi que tuvimos nuestra ceremonia del trueque en frente de la estacion de tren, fue una despedida triste. Me dio su bufanda, re buena onda! Y dijo que la birome le venia perfecto porque acababa de perder su birome hace un par de dias HA!

5 days in Goa/5 dias en Goa

I've been in Goa for the past 5 days- what a difference from other parts of India! It's hard to believe this is India as well... I spent the first 2 days in a beach down south, Palolem, the 3rd day traveling (4 buses, even though it's just a couple of hundred kms away- so took the first 2 buses, spent a few hours walking around Panaji, the capital of Goa, and then took the other 2 buses and made it just after susnet) and the last couple of days in a beach up north, Anjuna. Lots of relaxing on the beach, reading, doing nothing all day and going out drinking at night. I met some cool people- an English guy in Palolem(22 year old, first time traveling alone, came to India for 6 months with way to little money, I hope he manages:), and we came up to Anjuna together (with the whole 4 buses situation). And up here I met straight away a Dutch guy and an English guy who have been both traveling around and being nomads for many years. So we've all been hanging out together, riding motorbikes, going out drinking and we've also met a few more people with whom we've been going out at night. Last night we went swimming in the sea at about midnight- the water was so warm even at that time, it was excellent, until the guys from the bar made us come out, party poopers! Goa once used to be reknown for its big party scene- not many huge parties going on at the moment, but it's still full of nice bars and pretty busy. I'm off to Mumbai in a few hours, one day there, and then off to Thailand. I'm sad to be leaving India, I can't believe it's been 2 months here already, it went by so fast!!!

Estuve en Goa por los ultimos 5 dias- que diferente al resto de India! Cuesta creer que esto tambien es India! Los primeros 2 dias estuve en una playa en el sur, Palolem, el tercer dia viajando (4 omnibus, a pesar de que fue solo como 200 kms de distancia- asi que me tome los primeros 2 buses, pase unas horas caminando por Panaji, loa capital de Goa, y despues tome los otros 2 buses y llegue poco despues del atardecer), y el ultimo par de dias en una plya del norte, Anjuna. Mucho relax en la playa, leyendo, haciendo nada todo el dia y saliendo a tomar a la noche. Conoci mucha gente buena onda- un pibe ingles en Palolem(22 anios, primera vez que viaja solo, y vino a India por 6 meses con demasiadopoca plata, espero que lo logre:) y vinimos juntos a Anjuna (con los 4 buses). Y aca al toque de llegar conoci a un holandes y a un ingles, los 2 nomades y viajando hace muchos anios. Asi que estuvimos pasando estos dias juntos, andando en moto, tomando, y tambien conocimos otros grupos de gente con quienes estuvimos saliendo a la noche. Anoche nos metimos a nadar en el mar despues de la medianoche- el agua re linda incluso a esa hora, estuvo excelente, hasta que los tipos del bar nos hicieron salir, aguafiestas! Goa era famosa por ser zona de gran fiestas/discos- no hay muchas fiestas masivas hoy en dia, pero igual esta lleno de bares y hay bastante gente. En unas horas me voy a Mumbai, 1 dia ahi, y despues para Tailandia. Estoy triste de irme de India, no puedo creer que ya hace 2 meses que estoy en India, se me paso tan rapido!