I loved photography before, but I love it even more now!! This year was great for photography! I finally spoiled myself with a DSLR camera, that I’m still learning to use… I’ll be a pro at it someday! And I was insanely spoiled with living on a gorgeous island that I never got sick of taking pictures of! Here is a little gallery of my favorite snapshots of the year… One for every month! Plus my favorite picture from each country I visited while I was here. (I have a feeling this is going to be rather difficult to just pick ONE for each month… We’ll see how it goes.) Enjoy!
February 2012
The start to an amazing adventure!
March 2012
Me, Jeong-eun, Hyun-jeong, and Seunghee… Who became my little Korean family!
April 2012
The start of my Olle journey!
May 2012
Teaching with my co-teacher and good friend, Eun-mi!
Probably the cutest face in all of Osaka, Japan!
June 2012
Being silly with Hyae-jeong, Jyoo-yun, and Ji-su at the English Story Telling Competition!
July 2012
Jun-hyung stole my slippers for the story book I made called “Brooke’s Slippers!”
August 2012
Damage at the school from Typhoon Bolaven.
Climbing the Great Wall of China outside Beijing!
The horse I named Marida (means ‘horse’ in Korean) that I rode for 9 days all over the rolling, green steppes near Ulan Baatar, Mongolia!
September 2012
Jin-sook made a delicious dinner for Grandma’s visit!
October 2012
Three cuties selling peanuts in Puerto Princessa City on Palawan Island in the Philippines!
A lovely time with my grandma’s old school mate, Carole, and her husband, Jim, on their visit to Jeju!
November 2012
On Chuja Island hiking the hardest Olle!
Sticka Foto session for my 24th birthday with Karima & Billy!
December 2012
Putting together a puzzle on Christmas with Becca and a couple of Sarah’s students!
Was able to talk and Skype with family back home and even open presents “with” them on Christmas!
January 2013
An amazing day on Olle 14-1! Thank you to Sarah, Hannah, and Dominique for making it so much fun!!!
Going through the low-ceilinged caves on the Tam Coc River near Hanoi, Vietnam!
Spending the day feeding, riding, and bathing elephants near Chiang Mai, Thailand!!
February 2013
Karima, Sarah, Hannah, and I hiked Hallasan!! It’s a volcanic mountain on Jeju Island and the highest point in South Korea! (Very sore for days after!)
Jeju, it’s been great! It has definitely been the best year of my life thus far!! There were so many new adventures and food and FRIENDS!! The people I’ve met in the past year have been wonderful! I’m going to miss you all so much!! Until we meet again… CHEERS!!
I didn’t notice this until after I posted, but February 20th, 2013 (the day I posted this) is exactly 1 year after I landed in Korea!
Getting ready for school Monday morning, I noticed a dark bruise under my chin from my fall the day before. Wonderful! It doesn’t look like a bruise. It looks more like a pencil smudge… You know when you make a big drawing with a pencil and then put your hand on it and it’s covered in graphite… Yea, that! Well, I only saw my co-teacher for about a minute before we had to run to class, which was not enough time to tell her what happened. While I was teaching, I noticed some of the 4th graders were talking to my co-teacher and looking at me. As this has always been a normal thing, I thought nothing of it. After 1st period, I told my co-teacher about my fall and I saw the light-bulb expression wash over her face. I guess the students had been asking her the whole class period what happened to my face! She said she would’ve felt rude asking me, so she just told them she didn’t know. Haha.
My lovely little bruise..
On Tuesday, we had our last teacher dinner!! We ate at a fancy little Italian restaurant and shared some delicious pasta and pizza! Eunmi, Hosun, Seunghee, Suim, Kyoungnam, and Jinyoung were all so wonderful and helpful throughout my stay in Korea! I’m going to miss these woman so much!!
Eunmi and Hosun!
Kyoungnam and Jinyoung!
Seunghee and Suim!
Our Last Dinner!
By Wednesday, I still had my bruise and it was still a bit difficult to bite down and eat. My co-teacher Seunghee (a.k.a. my Korean mom) was really worried! She kept insisting that I should have a doctor look at it. I told her it would be fine and that my jaw was just swollen and will just take time to go down. She didn’t care, so she called the dentist and brought me in. This was the weirdest trip to the dentist… First of all, I was sitting in the chair 2 minutes after I walked in the door, so absolutely no waiting time! Then the assistants needed to take my Xray. They didn’t speak any English and Seunghee didn’t come over by the Xray machine to translate.. Haha this was an ordeal. After they put me back in the chair, the dentist comes out to look at my Xray. After talking to my co-teacher for a few minutes, I was waiting for her to say something to tell me what’s going on. There was an awkward pause and then the dentist started telling me in English what he saw! Very, very slow English, but very clear! Just like I had thought, it was swollen and just needed time to heal and he gave me a prescription for 3 packs of mystery pills for the pain and whatever else.
While talking to one of my co-teachers, I found out that the students’ last day would be this Friday… What?! Good thing I talked to her, otherwise I would’ve been stuck with about 4 bags of Sweethearts for Valentine’s Day. So the next day my co-teachers took me to all the classes so I could hand out Valentine’s Day candy my mama had sent for them. They were ecstatic!! And they LOVED reading the little phrases on the candy hearts! The best times were when boys would get something about a kiss… They’d ask me what it meant and I’d make a kissy face, and of course, their immediate reaction was total disgust! Haha.
I also wanted to take pictures with all of them! My co-teachers helped conduct this after I handed out candy. A 4th grader in the first class asked why we were taking pictures. Hosun told them that I wanted a picture with all of them before I left… They had confused looks on their faces. Then Hosun said something else. All the happiness and joy on their faces from the candy was instantly washed away. I asked Hosun what she said and she had just told them that I’ll be going back to America. Apparently, they had no idea. So I got lots of hugs before I left their classes. I’m going to miss these little fruitcakes!
3-1 Class… My favorite little CRAZIES!!
The 3-2 Rugrats!
The 3-3 Nuggets!
The 4-1 Kiddos!!
My 4-2 Sweeties!! I’m going to miss play Rock, Paper, Scissors with them!!
My 4-3 Class… Basically, you’re looking at a normal day with them.
My 4-4 Pipspeaks!
The Mischevious 5-1 Class… But missing the most mischevious one of them all!
The 5-2 Class… Where the girls are angels and the boys are NOT!
The 5-5 Smarties!!
And my 1st and 2nd grade after school class… Haha this was fun.
Thursday after school, I met up with Jen and Derek for dinner. We went to a shabu shabu restaurant… YUM! You cook up some meat and veggies in a boiling pot and then you take these plastic-like circle things, get them wet, and then put the meat, veggies, and sauces inside. When you have all you want, roll it up and eat it.
Shabu Shabu!
Friday on my way to school, I was waiting at a bus stop when I heard a really strange noise… I turn around and there’s a car coming down the road with chains on the tires. Huh?!? There isn’t even enough snow on the ground to consider it a dusting and people have chains on their tires!! Oh Korea…
Got Snow?
Friday, February 8th, 2013, Daejeong Elementary School held its 101st graduation ceremony… Congratulations 6th Graders!!!! So proud of all of you and so happy I got to be your teacher!! I made a good-bye video for them and had their homeroom teachers show them earlier this week! Here it is!!
It was so great to see them walk across the stage! Their kindergarten pictures were put up on the screen right before their 6th grade picture was shown… How cute!! Haha. There were lots of pictures and a video made by all the teachers, staff, and younger students in the school made for them. I think the principal also talked about the highlights of the year, as far as news and culture, because he brought up Gangnam Style… Really?? After the ceremony was done, the parents swooped in taking millions of pictures. A few students came up to me to get a picture and some even gave me gifts! So sweet.
Friday night, I had Stitch ‘n’ Bitch with Becca and Tarryn joined us. I FINALLY finished my first project!! It turned out to be a neck warmer. (I didn’t have enough yarn to make a scarf. Haha) I’m giving it to Seunghee (my Korean mom and co-teacher) as a gift for being so kind and helpful this entire year!
Olle 20
Saturday morning I headed out to the East side to meet Leo and hike Olle 20! It was a bit windy and a little chilly, but overall it was a nice hike. There were a lot of wind turbines on this trail, so I’m guessing that area is known for having lots of wind… Well, this entire is known for that! We started this 16.5 km Olle at about 11 am and finished at 3 pm. The trail ended at the Haenyo (women divers) Museum, which I’ve wanted to visit for a while, so we went to take a look at that.
Wind POWER!
Almost finished with my Olle journey…
Haenyo Museum
The women of Jeju are known for being very dominant. They are very hard working with very strong personalities. (Don’t cross them.) Back in the day (and it’s probably still true for some today) when men couldn’t find work, they would sulk and go to the bar. So it was often up to the women to take care of the family and provide for them. One very common career/lifestyle these women picked up was diving. They would dive down incredible depths and hold their breath so long (I forgot how long, but it was pretty impressive!) and collect sea creatures and plants to sell. I do believe that haenyos can be found on Jeju Island more so than the mainland of South Korea, but the only other place in the world where you will find women divers is some places in Japan. It was so amazing to read about the haenyo lifestyle and to see their tools, gear, and structures.
This is a little fort they would build by the water to change, eat, and hang out during the day in between dives.
Haenyo Life!
Haenyo School!
Getting ready for a dive…
Olle 21- My Last Olle!
Sunday morning I headed out to Olle 21 by myself… My last Olle! It was an absolutely gorgeous day to be outside!! A little chilly but not bad. Only 10.7 km kept me from the end! Towards the end, I had to climb Jimibong, which was a really big oreum (small mountain/parasite volcano/giant hill), and it was pretty difficult! I basically had to walk straight up! The view from the top was stunning!
Jimibong from afar… Doesn’t look THAT big.
But it is THAT big!
Made it to the top!
After that, I knew the end was near. I kept telling myself how excited I was and how great this would be to finish my Olle adventure… But I just wasn’t feeling it. I wanted to feel all the excitement, but it didn’t hit me… Until I turned a corner and saw the wooden horse about 100 yards ahead of me. There was a sudden feeling of happiness/accomplishment/pure joy that washed over me and I was from ear to ear, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much!
DONE!
I DID IT!! It took me 106 hours & 45 minutes to hike 422.1 km/262.3 miles on 26 Olle trails on 4 different islands!!! My Olle journey has come to an end, right as the Year of the Dragon is coming to an end! I was born in the Year of the Dragon in 1988, so this past year also being the Year of the Dragon was a bit special for me!!
Olle DOMINATION!!
That evening, to celebrate, I made queso for Karima and I with the ingredients my mama sent me… Oh sweet and CHEESY victory!!!
Over the weekend, I “caught a cold” and I was still feeling “a little sick,” so I took a sick day to rest! And naturally, by “rest” I mean hike an Olle! (Future employers who may be reading this, this is probably the only job I’ve called in sick to have a fun day, but how many times am I going to be living on a beautiful island in South Korea?! Trust me, it won’t be an issue anywhere else.)
Olle 19
It turned out to be a PERFECT day to be outside! Clear skies and seasonably warm considering it’s January! I took the bus up to Jeju City and then another bus over to Jocheon for the start of Olle 19. It started at the Jocheon Manse Dongsan Memorial, and I do believe it is for some protesters against the Japanese colonization of Korea.
A really beautiful start to the Olle!
I had a beautiful view of Hallasan for nearly the whole day! Unbelievable! The walk along the coast was so great. They have turquoise waters on this side of the island!! Hamdeok Beach was gorgeous, and now I really regret not making it out here during the summer. Boo!
Oh, hey Halla!!
As I was nearing Seoubong, I noticed a soccer team of elementary boys… Their coach was making them run up and down the really steep hill multiple times! Whew! Poor little things! The view from the top was spectacular! This area, in general, is absolutely stunning!
Seoubong from afar… It’s MUCH bigger up close!
The trail also went inland a little bit and I came across Bukchon Lava Tube, which was discovered relatively recently in 1998 (the year my little sister was born)! As I was walking through the woods, I came upon a herd of black goats… What?! Haha they were followed by this old Korean man who giggled as I walked by. I finished the 18.8 km course in 4 hours!
Bukchon Lava Tube… Wish I could’ve done a little bit of exploring!
Goats!?
The mystery behind the doors…
On Tuesday, I decided that I’m finally ready to go back to school and there was a little care package on my desk waiting for me! My mama sent me my last care package and it was so great! She sent enough Sweethearts for all 450+ of my students for Valentine’s Day AND all the ingredients (minus the ground beef, but that’s not necessary) for me to make QUESO!!! Oh, the excitement and salivating that occurred at that moment!!
Happiness arrived on my desk!!
For this first week back after vacation, I only had three 3rd grade classes and three after-school classes, all of which were on Friday besides one after-school class on Wednesday. So Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were some very busy and productive desk warming days! I uploaded tons of photos onto Facebook and Snapfish! Birthday cards and letters were sent back home! Emails were gone through and responded to! And I discovered something really awesome… Windows Movie Maker!! It’s ridiculously easy to use and I’m going to have so much fun putting some video projects together! (You’ll see my hard work featured in other posts!)
I was also really surprised one afternoon when who walks into the office?! None other than Miss Eun-mi Jeong herself!! (She’s my old 6th grade co-teacher that I taught with 1st semester and a really good friend! She had spent part of 2nd semester studying on the mainland and another part of it teaching in Hawaii.) So happy she’s finally back!! And she brought gifts! She gave me some macadamia nut chocolate. The picky eater in me hesitated for a moment, but then I worked up the courage (I’m not a fan of nuts at all.) and tried one… Wow! Amazingness!!
Yea, be jealous!
I was able to make it to a couple classes of yoga this week! Sometimes it was a little painful because my toe, that I jammed when I fell in Vietnam, hurt really bad! So those poses where we were putting pressure on the toes I had to sit out for. I hope it feels better soon!
I also had a Stitch ‘n’ Bitch meet up with Becca! It was nice to chat with her again. It’s such a relaxing and stress-free time of just knitting and chit-chatting! Speaking of chit-chat, I got to Skype with my lovely and amazing friend, Alyssa, from college!! We talked for such a long time and I’m so anxious to get back and talk with her in person! It’s going to be so great being able to call or text friends whenever I want and not have to schedule a time to chat with them!
Class with the 3rd graders was so great! I missed these little stinkers! Haesoo came right up to me and gave a nice, big, long hug! (I’m going to miss those when I leave!) I played some of their favorite games with them… 4 Corners and Pass the Ball and they still were begging for Simon Says! Haha.
The 6th graders graduate next Friday, so the 6th grade teachers were going around making a video for them including all the teachers and students in the school. The other English teachers told me that it would be happening but didn’t bother to come get me when they were filming. So I didn’t make it in the video… No worries… I’ll make my own video for them!
Friday night, I went out for dinner with my friend, Tyler, and a woman from Busan that was couch-surfing at his place. We tried horse meat! (I’m really sorry to all my horse lovers out there, but when in Rome…) It was pretty good! Like most Korean barbecues, the meat was cooked right at our table and it took barely anytime at all to cook the meat and it was so tender! There were some pieces that were really chewy, but all-in-all, a lovely dinner! Then we went out for Baskin Robbins afterwards and I tried a new flavor, Rainbow Sherbert! YUM!! I’ve always loved orange sherbet and whatever other flavors came in The Flintstone’s Push-Ups, but I never wanted to mix flavors. Well I’m here to tell you that the combination of pineapple, orange, and raspberry sherbet is nothing short of amazing!
Grillin’ up some delectable horse meat!
Olle 14
Karima met a Korean woman at a school where she did an English Camp that was very interested in walking the Olle trails. She asked Karima if she knew anyone that liked going on the Olle trails, as well, so she gave her my information. Her name is Jin-hee and we planned to walk Olle 14 together!
We headed out early for our long journey to the Olle starting point. The Olles on the western and eastern sides of the island take a little longer to get to, but especially Olle 14 because it starts in a little town inland, unlike the rest that start along the coast that the coastal buses drive by. The buses that go inland between the little towns aren’t as frequent, so it just takes longer. We finally got to the start at 10 am and got started!
Perfect place for a couch…
We walked through some forested parts and fields on some rocky paths for a while. This part of the island is also known for its cacti! So we saw lots of those too! Once we got out to the coast, it was really beautiful, but REALLY windy!! Which made for some pretty big waves to look at!
Big Waves!
We also walked by some lovely beaches and some trick art! We finished the Olle at 2:20 pm! Then we rode back to Seogwipo and I had to hurry home to grab some stuff and go back up to Jejusi to meet some people. I felt bad for Jin-hee because I can sometimes be a really fast walker and not take many breaks, but it was especially true today just because I had to meet people later. She was a trooper though! It was nice to spend time with her on the Olle!
This could be bad…
Done and Done!
Saturday night, I got to Skype with Jessica! I really enjoy talking to her! We were chatting and she said “I wonder if your dad will remember February 11th.” I didn’t know until just then, but that’s when they got married at the court house… Hopefully a little angel whispers this into my dad’s ear because I doubt he’d remember on his own! Haha.
Olle 15
Sunday morning, I headed out to do Olle 15 by myself. I wanted to get an early start, but when I looked at my clock I realized that I was pretty close to missing the bus! It was a little chilly outside and I was running down the stairs and through our yard when I stepped on the wooden walkway that goes through our yard… BAM!! I didn’t notice before, but the walkway was a little icy and I went down as soon as my foot stepped on it. I hit my head on the wood pretty hard. My jaw hurt really bad! Besides that and the fact that I was in complete shock of what just happened, I felt fine, so I walked myself to the bus stop and it was 5 minutes late! All that running for nothing!
I started the course at about 9 am. I walked through some winding roads between fields and then up and around a hill near Nabeup Elementary School with a little building at the top that was used to hold sacrificial rites. (This was finally abolished about 30 years ago at a village meeting.)
Where they held sacrificial rites…
Later on I had to climb up another big hill and had a lovely view going up! I also walked by a little temple on the way up. At the top of Gonaebong, there was a small tower you go up and have an amazing 360° view that I took a little video of… Enjoy the commentary. Haha!
I finished the 19 km course at 1:15!! Another lovely Olle walk… Only 2 more to go until I’ve finished all 26 trails!
On the bus ride back, one of my 6th graders, Jisu, messaged me and said that she wanted to meet me to give me my late birthday present! Once I got back to Seogwipo, I met her and her mom and sister at Emart. Soooo sweet!! Jisu, her sister who’s in 4th grade (forgot her name), and their little brother all made me a big sign along with some paper flowers and a paper basket. Then her little sister got me some fashionista earmuffs! And Jisu got me a big, beautiful, blue scarf! Aww it was so great!
Some lovely belated birthday gifts!!
After my fall that morning, it was EXTREMELY painful to bite down, so eating was a very unpleasant task. I also started getting a headache towards the afternoon. I hope everything will get better soon!
I got to Skype with my dad later Sunday night!! Love talking to that crazy old man!
We got to Seoul in the afternoon and then headed to a friend of a friend’s place on the other side of the city. It took about 2 hours to get from the airport to her apartment on the subway system! Once we got there and dropped our stuff off, we headed out right away. We had planned to be in Seoul for an extra day and wanted to do a few things. Our time was cut short, but we still wanted to try to do something. There was this really cool digital art museum that Karima was telling me about called the Paik Nam Joon Art Center. On our way there, we met a college student that was really nice and helpful. He walked us all the way to the museum after we got off the subway and went inside with us. We found out that the museum is putting up a new display and isn’t open… That would’ve been nice to know before! Oh well.
While walking, we went by this tire shop and I noticed that they had a statue outside and I thought to myself, “What a strange place for that.” As we got closer, I noticed it was made out of tires!! Brilliant!! Haha!
Clever!
We made our way back to Kristin’s place and took her out for dinner for letting us stay with her. We had some oh-sam-gyup-sal (some kind of 3-layered pork), which was pretty good, but not as good as the sam-gyup-sal I’ve had on Jeju. Then we went to a little bakery shop to get some dessert and spent the rest of the night chatting and eating!
We slept in the next morning… LATE!! Then Kristin made us some delicious breakfast (well can probably be considered lunch since it was around 11-ish when we got up). Then she left for work and we had to head to the airport for our afternoon flight… We thought we’d have plenty of time to get to the airport if we left at 1:30, but while we were making our way through the subway system and making all the transfers, I soon realized we weren’t going to make it. Make that the 2nd missed flight of our trip. At least here in Korea our tickets transfer, so we only had to pay an extra ₩40,000 (about $35 USD).
Waiting to go home to Jeju!
Once we finally got back to our little home in Seogwipo, I finished off the night with Mac ‘n’ Cheese, some New Girl episodes, and a lovely little Skype date with mi mama!!
Olle 1
Back to Jeju life and my Olle adventures!! The morning after I landed, my friend, Leo, and I met up to hike Olle 1! It was a chilly, cloudy day, but no rain! Woo hoo! We climbed up an oreum and had a lovely view!! We also came across a building completely covered in abalone shells! Strange!
How long do you think it took to collect all the shells and put them on? Haha
The trail also goes along the coast near Seongsan Ilchulbong, otherwise known as Sunrise Peak, and could see Udo Island. It’s so beautiful in that area! We finished the 15.6 km course in 3 1/2 hours!
Coming up to Sunrise Peak!
A beautiful mural near the port!
Some new friends we made at the end!
Finisheee!!
I spent all day Sunday unpacking and cleaning my room… Always a good time! Haha
We left Chiang Mai at 5:30 pm on a train set to be in Bangkok the next morning at 8:30 am. We got the cheapest tickets again, but the accommodations on this train were a bit nicer than the one in Vietnam… Except a few bugs wandering around. Boo! I grabbed one last plate of Pad Thai in the train station before we took off! While we were waiting for the train to chug it’s way out of the station, we noticed a little photo shoot happening on one of the abandoned platforms next to us.
Click-Click-Click-Flash-Pose!
Car No. 6 to Bangkok!
Ready to go!
There were a lot more foreigners on this train in the 3rd class than there were in Vietnam… Kind of fun listening to all these different languages. The sun was setting as we were leaving the city and Karima and I were sitting on the west side of the train, so naturally everyone is leaning over us trying to get their hundreds of pictures of this sunset. It was really pretty, but I’ve seen WAYYYY better sunsets on Jeju. (We’re quite spoiled on that island!) Eventually everyone got their sunset-pic-fix and relaxed.
Another great thing about this train was the bathrooms! Instead of the normal, western-style sit-down toilets, we got squat toilets!! It’s not 5-star living or anything, but when you’re on a train (that isn’t the cleanest place in the world to begin with) and you have to share this bathroom with however many people for however many hours, a squat toilet is great to have because you don’t have to touch anything to do your business. The worst that can happen is that your foot slips in after you’re done but probably (hopefully) unlikely.
A (surprisingly) lovely sight to see!
And a little video for all to enjoy…
Our flight out of Bangkok was scheduled for noon. We figured that with the train getting to Bangkok at 8:30 am, even if it was an hour late, would’ve given us plenty of time to make our flight… But not when it’s 2 1/2 hours late! Our train didn’t get to Bangkok Station until 11:00 am and then add in a 50 minute taxi ride, all resulting in us arriving at the airport right as our plane was pulling away from the gate. So instead of being able to transfer tickets for a later flight (like I’ve been able to do in Korea), we had to purchase new tickets. Another 10,450฿ (Baht) or about $350 USD… We were NOT happy campers! (But we did get traveler’s insurance, so hopefully we can get something back.)
Our flight was then scheduled for that evening, and like our original tickets, we’d be making a layover in Gwangzhou, China. Though unlike our original ticket, we’d be spending the night in Gwangzhou. We had a layover there on our way to Vietnam, so we had a pretty good idea of the layout of the terminal. Once we landed and were waiting in line at immigration, we were talking about where would be a good place to camp out in the airport. When we got up to the counter, the woman told us that the airline will be providing free accommodation for our overnight layover… Say what?! It was like music to our ears!! All we had to do was fill out the form for our 24 hour visas and we were good to go!
And they provided pretty sweet accommodations and breakfast to go for our early morning ride back to the airport! It was so great to have a COMFY place to sleep and a hot shower in all the stress of having to buy new tickets… Still a bummer, but this kiiiiiinda makes it a little better.
Heading back to Seoul finally… Sincere excitement!
The morning after we arrived at Mojito Garden Guesthouse in Chiang Mai, Boom (who seemed to be the owner of the place) sat down with us and helped us plan what we will be doing during our stay here in this wonderful city! Then he showed us on the map where we could find some markets and where to get good Thai massages! So helpful!
After a really late breakfast, we headed out for a walk making our way towards the train station to buy our tickets to Bangkok in a couple days. We eventually came upon this huge indoor market! It was a bit overwhelming, because there was so much stuff everywhere you looked! And a little difficult to restrain from buying everything in sight! We eventually pulled ourselves away to keep heading towards the train station (which was quite a hike from our guesthouse!). Closer to the train station, we found a thrift store and perused that for a bit, but gave ourselves a time limit. (Good idea!) Finally we made it to the train station and purchased our tickets to head out to Bangkok in a few days.
Then we took a little tuk-tuk taxi to the night market! We showed him on the map where we wanted to go, and of course, he brought us to the wrong place. But no worries!! We found a little store and I found some BEAUTIFUL paintings!!
Then we walked over to where we originally wanted to go. We tried our first smoothies from the famous Mrs. Pa!! Let me tell you, this woman can make a smoothie!! Fantastically delicious! I tried a strawberry mango smoothie. So yummy!
Mrs. Pa doing what she does best!
We also had dinner from the little food stands scattered everywhere. I tried Pad Thai for the first time! Oh my goodness!! A plateful of noodles and such jam-packed full of flavor!! And for only 30 Baht!! (About $1 USD!) I had never had Thai food before and very much dislike peanuts (which is one of the ingredients of Pad Thai), but the flavor was so rich that it covered up the peanut flavor and it was so good! I think it’s so amazing how far I’ve come with the different foods I eat! It’s definitely one of the things that has made traveling so much fun!
Day 2 in Chiang Mai
Baan Chang Elephant Park
EARLY morning!! Our guide for the day, Woody, picked us up for the Baan Chang Elephant Park at about 6:30 am. When we got to the elephant park, we got to change into these really sexy get-ups!! Woody told us a little bit about the park. All the elephants they have there were rescued from whatever horrible conditions they were in. All the trainers have a special relationship with their elephant and it can be a little difficult for them to have healthy relationships with people just because they spend so much time with the elephant. After that, it was time to feed the elephants some breakfast! We were given some huge baskets full of bananas and sugar cane and free to go! So funny! As you’re walking towards the elephant you want to feed, all the other elephants you pass try to grab the bananas out of your hand with their trunk. And just the way they eat is quite fun to watch… One of the sugar cane sticks that would’ve taken me a little effort to break, was easily broken in half by an elephants tongue!
Our group ready to feed the hungry beasts!
Mmmm breakfast! (Photo taken by Karima)
Then we moved on to training. Woody taught us how to get on and off an elephant. ( I think us short people had a disadvantage here!) We also learned some commands before we took the elephants for a little test drive: “how” means stop, “kway” means turn and you kick the opposite ear of the way you want to go, “pai-pai” means straight, and “no-long” means sit down. Then we each had our turn to make a little circle to practice the commands.
Woody showing us how it’s done!
Then we were off for our little jungle trek! The trainers had to walk with us just in case the elephants got out of hand. They are MASSIVE so it would have been really bad if things didn’t go well. The elephant that Karima and I rode was named Kam-klula and we rode her (I believe it was a her…?) bareback. (Many other elephant parks will have you ride on seats that are attached to the elephants back, which is very bad for them! So when looking for elephant parks to go to on your next visit to Thailand, look for one that has your ride the elephants bareback.) I rode up front first, basically on the elephants head. It wasn’t what I expected, though I don’t really know what I was expecting, but the hair on the elephant’s head was really course and pokey. It wasn’t the most comfortable place to sit. Haha and also, the elephants move their head a lot, so it’s not really a smooth ride, but what an experience! We took a little break overlooking a banana tree grove to let the elephants snack and relax for a little bit. Then Karima rode in the front and I rode on the elephant’s back. A much smoother ride, but you have to be careful when passing close to trees… Elephants use trees to help them scratch and if your leg is in the way when he feels the need to scratch, you won’t be feeling too great.
What the top of an elephant’s head looks like…
At the end of our jungle trek, we came to a little lake where we got to bathe the elephants. So much fun! We got to scrub all the dirt that was caked on their bodies and pour water all over them as they laid in the water. Sometimes they would put their whole head under and just keep their trunk above water. Haha a few of them liked to spray a little water out of their trunk, so I got a little bit of that. Then one of the trainers dumped a whole bucket of water on Karima! Haha she tried to get him back, but no luck.
Scrubbing away!
Probably the best part of the day!
One of the trainers just threw a bucket of water on Karima!
Plotting some sweet revenge…?
And this is what your bum will look like after riding elephants for a day…
Then we were given towels so we could shower before lunch. The provided us with a lovely meal and then we chilled in the hammocks before they brought us back to our guesthouse. What a day! Spending the whole morning with the elephants was such an experience that I will not soon forget! They are massive, but move so gracefully. Gentle giants! I was just in awe of them.
Thank you Kam-klula and the Baan Chang Elephant Park for a wonderful day!!
When we got back to the guesthouse, Karima and I went off to find the place to get Thai massages. My first Thai massage experience was so great! I felt amazing afterwards, but my masseuse was really concerned about my back. Through hand gestures, we realized that she was trying to tell me that my back is a bit uneven from carrying my bag and she said, “You have time come back?” For $5 USD, most definitely I will be making a trip back!
Later on, Karima and I were heading down to the night market for more smoothies and pad thai, but ran into a HUGE street market! We didn’t know this before, but Chiang Mai holds the Walking Street Market every Sunday evening. Wow! I wished I hadn’t bought so many souvenirs the day before because there were so much more to choose from here and much cheaper! Dang! Oh well, that didn’t stop me from buying more. I got so many earrings for soooo cheap! And I bought some cute new shoes, scarves, necklaces, etc. We of course indulged in the delicious food… Fried spring rolls, fresh strawberries, and popcorn! Buttery, salty popcorn! And of course, smoothies! What a fantastic change of plans for the night!
Day 3 in Chiang Mai
After breakfast, Boom called a tuk-tuk to bring me to Tiger Kingdom to hang out with some tigers for the morning! On the way, the driver pulled into a gas station to fill up. As we were pulling out, the driver told me that the men at the gas station wanted him to tell me they thought I was very beautiful and wanted to give me a free bottle of water. Haha well thanks.
Tiger Kingdom
When I got to Tiger Kingdom, I had to choose whether I wanted to hang out with the newborns, the baby tigers, the medium tigers, or the big tigers… Go big or go home, right? Well I’m not ready to go home yet, so the big one it is!
I was hoping Tiger Kingdom would be a great place to learn about tigers, like you’d be able to walk through a little museum and read about them, their habits, diet, habitat, etc. On the other hand, I suspected that Tiger Kingdom would be one of those places where they take your money, let you in the cage for 10 minutes to take pictures with the tigers, and then leave. Unfortunately, it was what I had expected. When I got up to the big tigers’ cage to wait for my turn, I was reading the rules posted near the cage entrance. Some of the rules that stood out to me were this: #1 You are not allowed to take your own picture of you and the tiger. (In other words, you can’t be holding the camera and taking a picture of you AND the tiger in the same picture… Someone else has to do it for you.)#2 You are not allowed to ask the trainers to take pictures for you. Well that’s just great… I’m by myself and didn’t want to hire a photographer to take my pictures. So I probably won’t get any pictures with these cats. And on top of that, probably not going to learn anything about them. As luck would have it, the trainer that I went in with spoke English VERY well!! So we were able to talk about the tigers the whole 15 minutes I was in there! AND he swiped my camera from me so he could take tons of pictures of me and the tigers. WIN!! Hope you enjoy my trainer’s photography skills…
Hanging out with the big cats!
Roy is clearly very frightened by me…
Oh, hey Joey!
Hanging out with the only female tiger in the cage… Rabbit!
They also had a lion sleeping in his own cage. At first I thought he might be a liger, but no. Just a regular old, lazy lion basking in the sun and taking his morning nap.
Nap time!
After I was done with the big cats, I walked over to look at the little rascals! So cute! One of them must have been pretty naughty because no one was playing with him and he was pacing back and forth trying to get someone’s attention.
When I got back to the guesthouse, Karima and I headed out to get another massage! I just got a back and shoulder massage instead of the full body massage… So great! After that, we rented bicycles from our guesthouse and went out for a little stroll. It was a little strange at first because people in Thailand drive on the left side of the road, but we were fine. We went down to the night market for some of Mrs. Pa’s smoothies and some Pad Thai! I got a strawberry banana smoothie, and seriously, it was the most amazing thing in the world!! And then top that off with some Pad Thai… Heavenly!! A delicious fresh fruit smoothie and a plate full of Pad Thai all for under $2 USD, you can’t possibly go wrong!
I wish we would’ve done more of this!
Later on, we decided that we wanted to have a little night out. Karima wanted to go to a place with live music. We ventured over to the area where we got our massages to check things out. There was a little band playing some reggae music at Zoe Garden, so we popped in there for a spell! After the band was done playing, there was a DJ. A lovely night of drinks, dancing, and checking out the really cute bartender… Thank you Zoe Garden!!
On our walk back, we stopped at a convenience store for some snacks and I found some Cheetoes!! Victory!!
Day 4 in Chiang Mai
Our last day here… I don’t want to leave! It was a pretty relaxing day. Just relaxing at the guesthouse before we head out later today. While I was sitting having breakfast, I heard a big crash out on the street. Across the road from the guesthouse is a really long line up of scooters where the high schoolers park in the morning. A car in the lot next to the guesthouse raced out of the driveway (maybe accidentally slamming on the gas instead of the brake…?) and smashed into a bunch of the scooters. Imagine getting done with school walking to your scooter, only to find it all smashed up and not drive-able. Bad day. It attracted quite the crowd, not unlike any other car accident on this planet.
After that, we packed and checked out. I walked over to the post office to send out some cards and we just hung out at the guesthouse for the rest of the day until we went to the train station.
Good-bye Chiang Mai! It’s been a fabulous time and I hope to see you again someday!!
We had a morning flight out of Singapore to Phuket, Thailand! (And it is pronounced poo-ket.) We came to a little surprise at our gate… We were already in the terminal, but they had another security checkpoint right at our gate. So we lost out water bottles and mosquito spray. Feels like we’re in the US again with all of these silly restrictions.
After we landed at the Phuket airport, we took a taxi to the ferry terminal to head out to Koh Phi Phi Island (koh-pee-pee island)!! There were no seats left, so we sat on some benches across from these really loud and obnoxious French Arabs… That was a long 2 hours!
Once we got to the island, we walked around looking for a place to stay for the next couple days. It was really hot and with heavy backpacks, it wasn’t the most enjoyable time. All the hostels and guest houses we stopped at were booked, so we walked away from the hustle and bustle of the port area and found a little resort. It was a bit of a splurge for us at about $53 per night! A cute little room with a porch and a 2 minute walk (if that) to the water!
Leaving our room and ready to hit the beach!
After we dropped our stuff off in our room, we walked around a little bit and got some smoothies. My Oreo smoothie was delicious! We found a trail out to Long Beach. It was a nice, long walk/hike through the jungle and past some beaches and bungalows… Worth it! We found a nice spot in the sand and I headed straight for the water! Oh my goodness! The water felt soooo good! Somewhere right between cool and warm… Perfect! Karima joined me a little later and we were chatting with these two girls from England for a while. While we were chatting, I kept feeling these little pokes. Apparently, there’s a little organism in the water and their bites feel like mosquito bites, but they don’t leave any marks.
Beautiful Long Beach!
After we got out of the water and dried off, we walked back and stopped at a little restaurant for dinner. We got a little table with seats on the floor facing the water. Beautiful view!! We were also watching some guys practice for the fire show that happens every night. Pretty cool!
The guys practicing for the fire show!
Our view for dinner!
We had a little visitor!
Day 2 on Koh Phi Phi
Our second day there, we slept in a little bit and then found a little restaurant for a small breakfast, coffee, free wi-fi, reading, and people watching! We hung out there for quite a while. Not too bad of a view either!
Our view over breakfast!
Then we walked around for a little shopping and I got a cute little delicious cupcake! Shopping here is all about bargaining, which I’m not particularly good at I don’t think. But they came down on their prices pretty easily, so it wasn’t too bad! The smoothie of the day was apple!
Shopping can be exhausting, so cupcake breaks are always nice!
Doctor Fish!
Karima caught this awesome shot!
I had heard about this in Korea, but one of my co-teachers said it’s cheaper in Thailand and since I was planning on coming here I should just wait. So awesome! You first go in and have your feet washed and rinsed by a woman about 15 times.
Prepping dinner for the fish!
Then she takes you over to a little tank filled with tiny fish. Once you put your feet in, it takes a little bit for the fish to get used to you and then they just dive in for the buffet of dead skin on your feet! It tickled sooo much!
Aaaahahahaha it tickles!!
It was hard to stay still, but if you move, you’ll scare the fish away. I eventually got used to it, but I would still get surprised by an overwhelming tickling sensation when the fish would try to get in between my toes!
There were also two little Chinese girls in there for their 2nd day in a row… They LOVED it!
Cuties!
Then we spent another lovely afternoon on the beach and stayed until the sun started setting!!
Time to head back…
Walking through the jungle trail!
Beautiful!
Another fabulous view!
For dinner, we got dressed up in some cute little dresses and went out on the town! After a lovely meal of fried noodles, fried shrimp, and a mojito, we took a little stroll around to check out what else was going on. We stopped and watched a little bit of a fire show, had some ice cream, and sat on the ocean wall while looking out at the boats and the stars. A lovely time for our last night here!
Some beautiful ladies right here!
Pad Thai for Miss Karima!!
YUM!!
Day 3 on Koh Phi Phi
Sunrise!
A beautiful morning on Koh Phi Phi Island!
We got up early this last morning so we could take one more trip out to Long Beach. Halfway there, I was thinking about the ferry schedule, the time it takes to get from the ferry terminal to the airport, and our flight later that day. We couldn’t remember if our flight was at 5 pm or 7 pm. If it was at 7 pm, we could take the later ferry like we planned, but if it was 5 pm, we’d have to take the early ferry and wouldn’t make that if we went to the beach. So we walked back to our room to check and found that our flight is going to be at 7 pm. (A good lesson… Make sure you KNOW when your flight times are!) By that time, it was too late to walk back to Long Beach and actually be able to enjoy ourselves. So we just had the buffet breakfast at our resort… Not the greatest. Then we just did our own thing until we had to check out.
Walking back…
After checking out, we left our bags at the desk and ventured off for a couple hours before our ferry was scheduled to leave. We ended up just getting some fruit smoothies (strawberry!) and sitting on the beach close to the port.
Hanging out on the beach! Photo by Karima!
Smoothies, Sand, and Flowers… All you need to be happy here!
There were a few women there that were laying on the beach topless. It’s so strange to me, coming from Wisconsin and Korea (where Korean women are so modest, with the exception of really short skirts), to see women here not care about showing themselves off at all. I love my boobs, but I’m not willing to show them off to a whole beach full of strangers and wandering eyes. If we were at a beach where everyone was topless, then maybe… but I don’t know. I also think it’s very important to respect the culture of different countries when traveling, especially considering that it is against the law to go topless on a beach in Thailand and it makes Thai people extremely uncomfortable.(When traveling, make sure you look into what’s appropriate and not appropriate for dress attire in the places you’ll be visiting!) There was also a woman there, who was as dark as a Crayola Brown Crayon, caking on her sun oils and soaking up as much rays as she could… Yikes! I do like a little color, but this just looks revolting to me and potentially really dangerous!
Then we headed to the port to catch the ferry back to Phuket.
Koh Phi Phi filled me with so much happiness! Karima captured this lovely shot on the ferry back to Phuket!
No worries… I’ll make my own video for them!
