Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Flores and a Jungle Trek

Unfortunately when we woke up on Tuesday morning for our jungle trek, it was pouring rain outside. We were able to delay our reservation until the afternoon, allowing us to relax and grab some lunch while we waited for the rain to clear.

We met up with Adam and Dave (the SF boys) and after a short shuttle, we arrived at Ixpanpajul. The boys wanted to do zip lines, while Kelly and I were more interested in the Skywalk above the canopy, so we parted ways – but not before taking a picture!

Here are Kelly and I, feet still planted firmly on the ground:

That didn’t last for long though, we hiked our way up a long narrow path that lead to a series of swinging bridges that allowed us to walk over the treetops and catch the view of the jungle below:

Unfortunately, due to the rain we didn’t see much for wildlife – only a few birds – which was a bummer.

At the midpoint of the trek there was a shelter that had a great view of the jungle.

We reached it just as it started to pour again, allowing us to weather out the storm relaxing in hammocks.

When we met Adam and Dave at the end, they were covered head to toe in mud but had also enjoyed their experience despite the rain.

We spent out last night in Flores eating dinner with a lake view and enjoying some local brews.

Today we caught a flight back to Guatemala City, followed by a 45 minute taxi ride to the beautiful city of Antigua. We’ll be exploring the city, celebrating New Year’s, and climbing a volcano in the next few days but more on that later!

Monday, December 29, 2008

Tikal and Flores

Our flight on the “teeny tiny” plane from Guatemala City to Flores turned out to be nicer and almost bigger than any of the flights we took in the United States. We arrived in a quick 25 minutes (beats the 10 hour bus trip!) and caught the tourist shuttle to Casa Blanca, our hotel in Flores. Our “white house” actually turned out to be more of a dirty yellow color, but for $4 a night, who’s complaining!?

We left on the bus (more like a 16 passenger van) to Tikal, the famous Mayan pyramids located deep in the jungle. It was a ninety minute ride followed by hours of walking to explore all the different sites.

One of the first creatures we saw on our trek was some strange species of anteater rooting around in the dirt:

We also saw the ants he was hunting for marching along:

We took a little swing on some hanging vines:

As always, we stayed out of trouble!

Tourists are allowed to climb many of the Mayan pyramids. We climbed to the top of Templo IV, known for its amazing view of the jungle canopy. We could even see Belize!

Some of the temples, like Templo V, had very long climb!

However, it was worth it for the view of Templo IV and others through the treetops:

The Guatemalan turkeys look a lot like peacocks:

The finale of the trek was the Gran Plaza, once used for ceremonies and sacrifices. It was surrounded by two huge temples, a palace and an acropolis.

We had great weather the entire day except for a ten minute torrential downpour which we unsuccessfully attempted to escape by hiding under a thick tree.

On the bus ride home, we met two American boys on holiday from San Francisco. We talked to them about their adventures in Belize and the four of us have booked a jungle trek for tomorrow!

Tonight we’re relaxing and headed out for some “research” on locally available beers.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

We've Arrived!

After hours and hours of travel, and three flights, all of which were significantly delayed due to weather, Kelly and I are officially in Guatemala! The trip itself was fairly uneventful, highlights included talking to a man who has been stranded at O'Hare for three days due to a canceled flight, the standby list being 60 passengers long for our first flight to Atlanta (thank goodness we had a reservation!), and seeing this little monkey get pulled around in style by his parents-
I wish I had a better picture that captured the glee on his face, he was on our first two flights so we kept running into him sprawled out on his dad's carry-on.



Boarding our first flight:

We did manage to get an upgrade for our last flight to Guatemala City. Helloooo first class living! It was a fun experience but honestly wasn't the luxury we were hoping for. What do you mean we shouldn't have expected massages and caviar on our two hour flight? Instead we settled for some roasted potatoes, nuts, warm bread, and a delicious Greek Salad. The highlight was mini bottles of liquor for an after dinner treat....oh, and some champagne to welcome us aboard. We stashed some mini bottles of Bailey's in our purses which ended up coming in handy later for tipping a guy at the airport for helping us find a cheap taxi to our hotel. Ah, commerce at its finest.

Now, we're spending the night at El Aeropuerto Guest House, aptly named for its close proximity to the Airport. Honestly we probably should have held onto the Bailey's and walked, it's that close.

Tomorrow we'll head back to the airport to catch a flight on TACA airlines to Flores. The ticket was $210 roundtrip but saved us a 10 hour bus ride each way so we figured it was worth the expense. Flores is the closest city to the Mayan ruins of Tikal.

It's supposed to be 75 degrees here tomorrow! We don't miss the Wisconsin weather at all!

Friday, December 26, 2008

A Guatemalan Adventure!

Kelly and I are off on our next bout of traveling in....six hours or so! Nothing like waiting until the last minute to do the ol' blog update! This time we'll both be spending our first time in Central America...in Guatemala!!!





We don't really have a set itinerary, however we do know we'll be:

  • Landing in Guatemala City tomorrow night
  • Catching a flight to Flores in the morning to spend a few days seeing the Mayan ruins of Tikal
  • Celebrating the New Year in the beautiful city of Antigua
  • Checking out the beach and a turtle reservation in Monterrico
  • Exploring the deepest lake in Central America, Lake Atitlán and the cities that surround it
  • And whatever else we can fit in in the two weeks that we will be there!

I'll be back in Wisconsin on January 11th!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

A Day in the Life

I arrive at the drug information center at 8:30am every day after grabbing a hot espresso from the coffee shop on the first floor of the hospital.

In the morning, Apple and I go to the neonatology unit for morning rounds. Before entering the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) we must take off our shoes and put on special sandals for the NICU. The neonatologists and residents are sometimes willing to do the rounds in English for me; otherwise Apple or one of the brave residents translates to English.
Me, Apple, NICU Nurse:
Dr. Namtip teaching me something about our "golden baby:" Me with Dr. Naa, one of my favorite doctors:
Me giving a presentation to a few nurses about preventing catheter associated blood stream infections:

After eating lunch either in the cafeteria or at a local Chinese restaurant with the other students, I research drug questions in the drug information room with the Thai PharmD students and pharmacists.
Every evening when I leave the hospital, I walk through the middle of an aerobics class held at the hospital... After work, the other PharmD students and I grab dinner (my favorite place is Connections Restaurant) then relax (shopping or watching movies).

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Fast Facts: Thailand

-In Thailand, the year is not 2008; it’s 2551.


-You must drink EVERYTHING with a straw (even beer…and no, you don’t get drunk faster that way).

-A napkin equals a two squares of one-ply toilet paper.


-You must eat EVERYTHING with a spoon (and I mean it, even salad or chocolate cake!). The fork is used to help put food on the spoon and there is no knife.


-“Where are you going?” Actually means “Hello.”


-When I first arrived in Thailand, I wondered why everyone was sticking chapstick up their nose. But actually, many Thai people like to sniff a menthol/peppermint/eucalyptus concoction when they "feel dizzy."

-There are many “Lady-Boys” or “Tiffany girls” in Thailand.

-Products to whiten your skin are popular here, quite the opposite of the bronzing products you see in the US.


-Many Thai cars are blessed by a Monk and have painting on the inside roof similar to this:


-May is only person in Thailand (at least that I've found) who can pronounce my name. To all others, I am known as "Ewa."

-Most people in Thailand seem to think I look like Natalie. She is from Canada and won Ms. Universe 2005. Natalie is famous in Thailand because she married a Thai pro-tennis player and now lives in Thailand. Who wouldn't love a country where everyone thinks you look like Ms. Universe?!



-Thailand truly is the “Land of Smiles!”

Thai 101

I would like to share my "knowledge" of the Thai language. These are all of the important words and phrases I have picked up over the last eight weeks. I don't have a word here for "goodbye" because in Thailand if you say "goodbye" it means that you may never see that person again. Please note that I have written the female versions of certain phrases...if you are male, just replace "ka" with "krup."



Being Polite:

Sawadee Ka = Hello

Kop Khun Ka = Thank you

Chai = Yes

Mai Chai = No

Mai Pen Rai = "It's ok" "It's alright"

Mai Pen Rai, Kop Khun Ka = The "La Shokran" of Thailand... How you say "No thank you."

Food:

Kin Jaay Ka = I am vegetarian

Alloy = Delicious

Alloy Maak Maak = Very delicious

Mai Alloy = Not delicious

Nam Plow = Drinking water

Cow = Rice

Numbers:

Nung = One

Song = Two

Saam = Three

See = Four

Haa = Five

Ho = Six

Jet = Seven

Baad = Eight

Cow = Nine

Sip = 10

Sip Et = 11

Sip Song = 12

Sip Saam = 13

Sip See = 14

Sip Haa = 15

Sip Ho = 16

Sip Jet = 17

Sip Baad = 18

Sip Cow = 19

Yi Sip = 20

Yi Sip Et = 21

Yi Sip See = 24 (my age!)

Saam Sip = 30, 30Baht is equivalent to about $1

See Sip = 40

Haa Sip = 50

Jet Sip = 70

Roi = 100

Song Roi = 200

Saam Roi = 300

See Roi = 400

Haa Roi = =500

Jet Roi = 700

you get the idea...
Random:

Farang = Caucasion Foreigner

Soi = Road

Pang = Expensive

Taaw Lie? = How much?

Mahout = Elephant trainer

Tuk Tuk = A three wheeled taxi
Good-die = OK, you must say the "good" part really fast
Ma-die = Not OK
Mung = O'Clock, Haa Mung is 5 o'clock
Amazingly enough with these few words I have had many Thai people ask me: "You speak Thai?"

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Phuket, Part II

Since I was on holiday in Phuket, I just wanted to relax! On Sunday I decided to rent a motorbike and give myself a tour of some the different beaches that Phuket has to offer. The motorbike rental for the day only cost $7! And yes they drive on the left side of the road in Thailand and yes I did a great job driving on the left!

First up I took the short drive over to Karon Beach, which is just north of Kata Beach. I did not like Karon beach as much as Kata Beach. It was quite large, but there was no one there picking up the garbage, so it seemed a little littered to me.


Next I drove to the market to eat some real Thai food, not the westernized stuff I was finding at the restaurants near the hotel. After lunch I thought it'd be a good idea to relax when the sun was strongest by getting a massage. I naively thought I'd be getting a western massage, but in fact the massage was half western and half Thai. But it still was very good and relaxing.


Next up I drove down to Kata Noi Beach (Little Kata Beach). Kata Noi was just as amazing as Kata Beach, but just smaller. I would recommend staying on this beach if you don't want to be near really any restaurants or shops at all.


Here is Karon Beach on top, Kata Beach in the middle, and Kata Noi Beach on the bottom:

Next up I made the long trek over to Nai Han Beach, which was recommended to me by all of the locals back in Phitsanulok. Nai Han is supposed to beach one of the most beautiful and isolated beaches in Phuket. However, this was probably the busiest beach I visited the whole weekend! This beach was full of expats and their Thai wives. It is a beautiful beach though. However, my photos are not that great because it was overcast when I was there.

Just in case anyone has forgotten what the sun looks like when setting over the sea:


Phuket, Part I


I was so excited to be in Phuket, I spent the whole first day on the beach!!! I began the day with breakfast (from 7 Eleven of course) on the beach:
I had such a wonderful time lounging around the gorgeous Kata Beach. I believe that Kata Beach is the best beach I have ever visited in the world. It's quite big, the sand is absolutely perfect, no rocks or shells to step on, there's no garbage, the water is clear and beautiful, and I almost had the whole place to myself! Later in the day, the waves also got almost intimidatingly large.

For the next day I booked a tour of Phi Phi Island. The first stop on our tour was Maya Beach. This is where parts of the movie "The Beach" were filmed. Even though I haven't seen that movie, I still recognized the scenery:

After relaxing on the beach and swimming around the cove, it was time for some serious snorkeling. I saw many beautiful fish and even one shark!

Next up was Phi Phi island for lunch. The next beach was one of my favorites, Khai Nok Island. This was a tiny island in the middle of the Andaman Sea. I enjoyed more snorkeling and the picturesque scenery. After a long day in the sun I was ready to head back to the resort for a swim in the pool and an "after sun facial."

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Bangkok & Phuket

Wednesday night I hopped on a flight to Bangkok with P-Kik at the last minute. We stayed at Asia Hotel in Bangkok (http://www.asiahotel.co.th/asia_bangkok.htm) for the night. Asia Hotel is expensive (from a poor college student’s point of view) and looking a little old, but it’s still quite nice. One great thing about Asia Hotel is that you can walk straight from the hotel’s second floor onto the Sky Train.


Thursday morning I hopped on the Sky Train and headed over to the famous Siam Paragon shopping center. Just picked up a few things of course.


I spent the afternoon flying down to Phuket, the largest island in Thailand. This is where the tsunami hit back in 2004.

I chose to stay at Sugar Palm Resort located just 100 meters from Kata Beach. I was told that the beaches on the west side of the island are much better than those on the east. I thought that Kata Beach was a good compromise between the crazy tourism at Patong Beach and the isolated feel of Nai Thon Beach. And oh what a great choice! Kata Beach turned out to be one the most beautiful beaches on the island and the Sugar Palm Resort (http://www.sugarpalmresort.com/) was so amazing!!! I highly recommend Sugar Palm Resort and Kata Beach; it’s the best in Phuket.


Thursday evening I saw the Simon Cabaret show. This was an exciting show filled with lip syncing transvestites. Somehow I ended up with a front row seat to the show. Many of the lady-boys were quite beautiful and more than convincing. The Simon Cabaret show was quite entertaining, however the dancers seemed less than enthusiastic. After the show all of the lady-boys lined up outside begging for photographs. Of course every photograph you take with them costs about $2. If you want to see the Simon Cabaret show make sure to call ahead; they will pick you up from your hotel in a minibus and drop you back off after the show for only 160 Baht.