From Singapore to Chiang Mai

    Once again, an adventure goes by far quicker than expected. The last two weeks with Jocelyn completely flew by - a whirlwind of exploring, laughing, ups and downs. We covered 3 countries, 5 cities, traveled in 2 planes, 2 ferries, and 1 train. Every separate destination had its pros and cons, all of which we both loved. I will do my best to layout the highlights of each place, to give you a glimpse into what's happened the last two weeks! 

Singapore    Highlight #1? Jocelyn arriving. After much anticipation, and a very relaxing sleep in the beautiful Crowne Plaza in Singapore, I met Joce at the arrivals area of terminal 1. Happy tears, screams, and some stares from strangers could be found surrounding the two of us until we decided to get moving. We spent our 2 days in Singapore staying at a sweet hostel, downtown, in a dorm with 7 other people. The city was definitely a big change from the jungle of Sri Lanka. Similar to Toronto, big buildings, some fascinating architecture, and tons of people, none of who stared, paid any attention to you, or cat-called. A welcome change from what I had become accustomed to in Sri Lanka.
   

    I think by the time Joce and I left Singapore, we had walked through and around the entire city at least 3 times, seen everything we wanted to see and done everything we could. We found Marina Bay Sands almost right away (not hard to spot), went up to the top for the view, and explored the gardens surrounding the buildings. Stumbled across Fort Canning Park and ended up spending quite a few hours walking around it, learning everything possible about Singapore's history, plus more. After jumping on the subway one morning, and arriving to a perfect monsoon, we eventually had the chance to see the Singapore Botanic Gardens (beautiful....the orchids were my favorite). We chose to use our feet to get back downtown, and walked along the famous Orchard Road. Apart from getting pooped on by a flying pigeon (typical), the street was interesting. Only a few blocks long and I think I counted 4 Louis Vuitton stores, 3 Prada, 3 Coach, 3 Rolex, 1 Burberry.... I think you get the point. As well, everything was mixed in with tiny convenience stores, low-end shops and sketchy-looking bars.

Kuala Lumpur

    Our overnight train experience to Kuala Lumpur was polar opposite from the first train I took in Sri Lanka. We had booked ourselves 2 seats in 1st class, at a fair price, and were very comfortably seated in a quite, air conditioned, spacious cabin with an 8-hour journey ahead. I even managed to get a bit of sleep! Overall, Kuala Lumpur was a happy median between Singapore and Thailand, in terms of city cleanliness, the people, the architecture, the sounds and smells, etc. As we pulled into the train station very early, we had the whole day to set out and discover KL, after checking in to our very fun, cool and hip hostel. Once again, we took the approach of walking wherever our feet took us to get to know Kuala Lumpur. First stop was the KL Tower (similar to CN Tower), followed by some shops, a stop for lunch, and back to the hostel for some siestas.  We had attempted going up the Petronas Towers (my #1 pick) but learned we had to by tickets in advance, so we did for sunset! Those tickets were definitely worth it. We were met at the elevators with a few other from our group, and taken on a 45 minute tour, making stops at the Observation Bridge between the two buildings (which by the way, isn't technically attached to the buildings at all) and up to the top observation floor. The view was incredible and the floor was covered in fun, interactive stations to learn more about the innovative towers. Later in the evening, we found ourselves on one of KL's helipads, which transforms into a bar at night. We had been told about this hidden spot, and with the help of some locals, we found it! Once I put my fear of heights behind me, the experience was breathtaking. You could see the entire city lit up, including the KL and Petronas Towers, there were no barriers hindering the view....and we were on a helipad!!
   

    For our second day in Kuala Lumpur, we chose to go on a tour, organized through our hostel, that took us to the 7 Wonders of KL - Chinese Temple, National Royal Palace (according to the flag, the King was home), Batu Caves, Pewter Factory, War Memorial, National Mosque and the KL City Gallery. We had a wonderful tour guide who was filled with enthusiasm,  patriotism and knowledge about the city. The great thing about the tour was that each stop was so different from the next, taught us different information about the city, religion, history, customs, etc. My favorite stops being the Pewter Factory and the City Gallery.

    Next stop, Thailand! We flew Air Asia to Krabi and happily landed in a huge thunderstorm. Turns out rain and storms were the constant welcoming committee at all of our new destinations, although the rain throughout our whole trip wasn't too bad. I like Krabi! The center of town reminded me a lot of Kegalle. Friendly people, lots of shops, markets, and scooters buzzing around. We spent only one night in Krabi as a layover spot before boarding our ferry to Koh Phi Phi.

Thailand

    Koh Phi Phi was, special. I think Joce and I both agreed spending 3 days there was more than enough. We arrived at the dock to be greeted by a representative from our hostel, who took our bags from us and threw them in a 'taxi' (a metal wheelbarrow-type thing) and escorted us to Ibiza House. The island has no roads and is simply made up of beach, jungle and a maze of little walkways/alleys, lined with restaurants, bars and shops. As soon as we checked in and dropped our bags we took a walk along the beach. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed right away, only because of what I had heard and seen about this island. The main beach with extremely dirty, covered in garbage, smelled bad and with the tide being far out, it exposed even more washed up garbage. It was easy to tell the beach just turns into one giant party at night, every night, that isn't really cleaned up the next day. And that's exactly what we witnessed night one! All of the bars along the beach have music blaring, fire shows happening, backpackers who got stuck working as promoters trying to lure you in, and bucket promotions you can't resist (buckets - sand pales filled with your favorite drink). The fire shows were my favorite part. We planted ourselves down at what I'd consider the best show on the beach, and weren't disappointed. After some time, the audience was encouraged to join in and I managed to limbo under a bar of fire, jump through a ring of fire AND be carried under the bar of fire when it was about two feet off the ground, by lying across one of the show man's legs as he 'limboed' under. The picture may give a better idea :).
  

  

  Luckily, we got ourselves on a boat trip on our last day that took us to a number of the surrounding islands, to snorkel, sink our feet in white sand, swim in crystal clear water and even checkout some monkeys. Still, tourists crowded every stop we made, but that just seems to be the way it is there now!
    

    As I write this, I am now in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. Joce and I arrived here about a week ago and immediately fell in love with it. The city is made up of Old and New Chiang Mai City (clearly differentiated by the old brick wall that can still be seen along parts of the old city perimeter), is laid out on a perfect N, E, S, W grid and is far more developed than I was expecting. The people are friendly, sweet and very helpful, including a high number of expats. The food is delicious, and surprisingly I have yet to get sick of rice, curry and pad thai. Wats, or temples, can be found on almost every corner...as well as good old 7-Elevens. The markets are incredible! You can, without a doubt, find a day or night market everyday, including the famous Walking Street, Sunday market (right outside my guesthouse), and Chiang Mai's Original Night Bazaar. The markets are filled with handmade items, clothes, jewelry,  souvenirs, fake designer goods, delicious street food and fresh juices. To my surprise, the Sunday market that I walked out on, which literally went for miles, also had a large section of the market devoted to massages! Lines of plastic lawn chairs with cushions and locals by each yelling 'Thai massaaaage!' The markets are definitely a shock on so many senses - sounds, scents, sights - but are so much fun to explore. 

    Highlights from what Joce and I did here were a Thai cooking class, renting a scooter, and going up to Doi Suthep Temple. The cooking class was a ton of fun, delicious and very filling. We started by taking a walk to a local market to learn about the ingredients we'd be using and then headed back to the lovely home where the class took place to make spring rolls, hot and sour soup, Cashew Chicken, and Chiang Mai red curry (my selection of recipes from a number of options we were given). Renting a scooter, we felt, was a must, so we chose to do it on the day we wanted to head up the mountain to Doi Suthep. After being given a run down on how the scooter worked, where the gas went, etc. we set off for he road, me at the wheel with Joce hanging on behind. The driving here isn't too hectic, so I managed. After the first feelings of stress and anxiousness wore off, and I started to get a hang of the steering, the weight and the gas, it was SO fun. And freeing. Such a great way to see the city. We started off by just following the flow of traffic going in a circle around the old city, then up and down streets, accidentally merged on to a highway, and eventually found the winding road that took us 13km up the mountain to Doi Suthep. The view from the top was breathtaking, showing off the entire city of Chiang Mai and the temple itself was beautiful. Once I parked the bike, we walked about 200 steps up to the top, where our eyes were opened up to countless Buddhas, and an entirely gold leaf covered temple. The trek back down was practically taken in neutral, with the occasional breaking, as the sun set behind the mountain.
   

   Since Jocelyn left, I have gotten to know this city even further, simply by walking up and down, around and around the new and old city, dropping in and out of various Wats along my way. I start my day by reading the paper and having a coffee (admittedly in Starbucks, but still...you need some home comforts every now and then!) and then setting off, with no map or planned destination, though keeping bearings on the Old city walls, to wear out my feet, sweat until I can no longer take it, and return to flop into the pool at my guesthouse. I learned today that the wall dates back to the 1500s, and the gate near my guesthouse was traditionally used to transport the deceased out of the town for cremation. The city is very beautiful, with a picturesque,  well landscaped canal that runs around the outside of the old city walls to separate it from the new city. I don't want to leave here, will definitely need to come back, but am so excited to move onto my next adventure. 

    With all of the constant moving,  new places, new people, sounds, sights and smells, and absorbing so much, everything seems like it was so long ago, already. Thinking of being in Singapore just two weeks ago, feels like it was a month ago. On to my next adventure now! Teaching and working with kiddies in Ubud, Bali for 2 months before I get back to the backpacking rhythm in July.