Bangkok - The City That Never Sleeps

As the jet lag fades we have slowly been adjusting to the fastpaced and wild life bangkok brings with it. We have been eating our way down streets and alleyways trying as many types of local fare as possible. From the street vendors selling pineapple on a stick, fruit smoothies and banana-nutella crepes to the green-red-yellow-musaman-panag curries. The latter followed quickly by flavored yogurt drink to combat what we have heard is bangkok belly (an overload of spicy food...) We also got a traditional thai style massage (traditional massage mixed with yoga..), for only 4 dollars for one hour. Definitely a great way to relax after a couple days in flight.

Last night we woke up at 4am (I guess jet lag does take a couple days to go away...) and decided to take a stoll to get some snacks and some water. Thinking the city would be alseep, we were surprised to see the party still going with the local streets still packed with forieners and thais alike. wild.

We woke again today to another very tasty curry and rice breakfast from a nearby street vendor. As we were sitting, we watch tuk-tuks carrying too many passengers rip down narrow streets and scooters loaded down with multiple propane bottles weave through unsuspecting bystanders. (I wonder what the injury/death rate is for scooter drivers delivering flammables?)

Today we finally got around to some planning for the next couple weeks and spent most of the day relaxing as our sleep schedule still is in need of some tuning. I couldnt get the pictures to upload tonight but will try again later.

After blogging last night we went out on the town to see some more of the thai nightlife. We happened across a impromptu break dance performance from a group of young thai in the street. What followed amazed us.... from standing backflips to the balance moves these kids had amazing talent. Definitely the highlight of the trip so far!

This thai kid couldnt have been more than 11 years old... killin it!

Thailand Trip

Hope all is well at home in that states. I am currently nearing the end of a 12 hour layover in Incheon airport, South Korea. Our original plan was to make it into Seoul (the capital) for the day, but I didnt get the memo on the sub freezing temperatures (18degrees when we landed) and snow on the ground. SO shorts and a t-shirt were not going to cut it. Caitlin and I managed to catch a couple hours of sleep this morning in the kids play place here at the airport. We were the only ones in the play place when we fell asleep at 5am, but when we woke up a couple hours later 3 other koreans had caught on... After the great nights rest we found out we could get a hot shower and use an internet cafe for free, who knew korean air was so hospitable... our flight leaves at 5 pm and we are definitely looking forward to getting on our way!

I will try to update the blog at least once a week, if not more to share stories, pictures and the experiences during our trip in thailand. I hope to hear from all of you and keep in touch during the trip.

Next time I post I hopefully will have made it to Bangkok, Thailand.

The Coast

We spent the last week touring along the mediteranean coast, hitching from town to town. We stayed in Olympos, Chymera, Kalkeroy and are in Marmaris now. Olymos was a little touristy for our liking but it was cheap and we managed to sneak onto the beach/ruins both days. We also went to Chymera a "mythical" place were flames just come out of the ground on a mountain.

We then hitched up the coast with varied success until a British film director for the BBC picked us up and we traveled with him out to Kalkeroy, an island on the coast far from any other tourists. Long story short i managed to lose some money, and willie ran out, and without any atm acess we were broke. So we camped on some roman ruins overlooking a small bay.

What we thought would be a nice night under the stars turned out to be a nightmare. The mosquitos were the worst I have ever experienced. So we got inside our sleeping bags and tucked tshirts around our heads hoping to fend off the onslaught till morning. However this meant dealing with the sweltering heat and sweat inside the sleeping bag and the difficulty breathing though a shirt. We managed to get a couple hours of sleep and awoke to a beautiful sunrise..not all bad right. I discovered that during the night my hands had been exposed and had close to 100 bites between them.Since we were out of money we left the following morning hitching to a bigger town along the coast. We made it to Fethie where our luck hitching finally ran out. We didnt catch a ride for over 2 hours and finally just caught the bus to Marmaris. We then learned the hostel we were planning on staying in was closed. So we finally crashed at a cheap pension.

Today we woke up and rented Scooters to explore the pennisula around marmaris and get away from the city. We logged about 200km around the coast stopping and swimming, ralling on dirt roads, and just zipping around in the sun. One of the best days so far in Turkey.

Next stop Istanbul...

Cappadocia and pics

Willie and I are currently relaxing in Cappadocia, enjoying the lunar landscapes and the rooftop lodging and pool. We have just been hiking around the canyons surrounding the village and eating good food. In a couple days we are gonna head to the coast and then make our way up to Istanbul.

Ballons over cappadocia in the morning.

Sunset over Goreme, Cappadocia

Also heres some of the pictures taken when we were hitchhiking across the county last week.

View our camp by Lake Van

Anything goes, riding in the back of a tractor.

Near Lake Van

A tight fit on some of the mountain passes

Our good friend Dolorma the cow

Mountain lake near Yusefeli

Yusefeli, city on a river

Hıtchıng and Rıver raftıng

Well after a couple days on the road and some campıng we travelled a lıttle over a thousand km from Dıyarbakır ın southwest Anatolıa, to Lake Van, and then on to Yusefelı where we are now. We have been hıtchhıkıng and doıng a bıt of campıng, across some of the most beautıful countrysıde ı have ever seen. The Turkısh people are ıncredıbly hospıtable.

After beıng dropped off by one of the semıs we rode wıth, we were ınvıted to numerous cups of tea wıth 2 Turkısh batallıon commanders at a mılıtary post. We talked of travel, polıtıcs, and they just couldnt fıgure out why 2 amerıcans were, one ın eastern turkey and two hıtchhıkıng (otostop). Some drıvers would take us amost 300km and buy us tea and snacks along the way. Most of the rıdes we have gotten have been more comfortable than the bus and we dont have to waıt for certaın buses and we can pıck out route how we want to do ıt.

Today we rıver rafted the Çoruh rıver ın the northeast of Turkey. It was great fun and a nıce break from the road. Tommorow we are headıng south by way of traın to Cappadocıa, a 24 hour rıde. Apparently traıns ın turkey are very slow. Well thats all for now, ıll try and get some pıctures up ın a few days.

oh and turkısh keyboards are dıfferent so ıgnore the typos and lack of dots on the I's.

Turkey

We made it to Southwestern Anatolia today after a 16 hour bus rıde fron Syrıa.

Age Of Empires

Syria is great, in the last couple days we traveled from Damascus to Palmera, a very intact roman city. Where we hiked around and watched a great sunset from the castle. Sadly the city next to the ruins where we stayed has fallen on hard times so the people have become very desperate for buisness. This has made them very pushy and they are constantly trying to rip you off. So we decided to leave for Crac de Chaveilers(sp?).

"Crac" is said to be one of the finest castles in the world and it shows. It is perched up on the top of a tall hill over looking a huge valley in some of the most beautiful countryside we have experieinced since traveling. (no more desert, finally) We toured the giant castle and decided to have a little fun while we were at it.

Willie bet me a hundred dollars to jump in the Castle's water reservoir which we decided was a great idea. We then quickly chose to forget the money and both do it. It was a little sketchy since we didnt know how the Syrian guards would react, but i figured if they caught us we could just ask for forgiveness later (just as my elders have taught me :). Also the water was not the cleanest, but it sounded fun so we went for it.

Willie's Jump

Sunset from the Castle

To: Lacie

We have fufilled our end of the agreement, we wore just the rediculous neon shorts infront of a famous monument as you can see from the pictures. So now we hope you hold up your end of the deal by brining us both a couple Dicks Burgers to the airport when we arrive home.

~Ryun and Willie