Sans Soucis Mon Gars!

It begins. A series of blogs so boring and inane, your brain will rust. Sure the first few days were exciting and I'm sure there will be more to tell of, but now I'm settling down. I am noticing those "cute" differences between cultures that travellers speak of for what seems like eons and are interesting to no one but themselves. That's right, I find them interesting because I am travelling, you may too since you're the type to be reading things on the net. On the metro trains that link the city there are posters of a "cool guy" holding open the train doors. The poster is in French and under a bunch of gibberish there is written in large red capitals the word RETARD. In just the last year thousands upon thousands of retards have been fined for just doing their thing - or so i can gather from the LED counter at the exit of a particular metro station. Bored already? Coke cans are the same, except original flavour, that's gold! Sprite cans are silver and gold! Two dollar coins are big and have a gold inner circle and a silver outer! One dollar coins are shaped like our 50c! The five cent is bigger than the 10 and they have quaters here too! Video rental prices range from two to four dollars! Even more bored? Well this one's gonna tip you over into an oblivion of boredom or bring you right back with ears and eyes a-twitchin' (you'll know who you are, and I know too). CD's cost $16 at the most (we're talking HMV prices here lads); DVD's only a little more and ... in the next few weeks Fantomas, The Shins and The Mars Volta are playing for less than thirty bucks a pop! woot woot and double woot. Stay tuned for the next post featuring the undersea adventures of Bob L'eponge and the Francophonic hi jinx of Les Simpsons!

Spring is in the air!

Kaohsan Road, Bangkok

Koahsan Road, Bangkok
Originally uploaded by BeckyKiil.

The tourist Mecca of Bangkok, where you can get tailored suits, fisherman's pants and of course, Starbucks.

Riding through village near Chang Mai

riding through village
Originally uploaded by BeckyKiil.

From left to right, Chris, Trent, Shane, Anne, Max, Matt and I. I can't tell who's who in the background cos it's too small.

Matt and I feeding the Hill Tribe children

Matt and I feeding the Hill Tribe children
Originally uploaded by BeckyKiil.

In the background are Anne and Melissa (Aus) and the Thai guy in black tshirt is Kris our trainee guide, Thai guy on right is Spiderman 2.

Life's Hard... crystal clear beaches...beautiful weather...

Ok well I'm back in an internet cafe with time to spare, but I've put off doing a proper blog for so long that I really can't be bothered thinking of everything. I'll write a condensed record of the last week or so but otherwise I'm afraid pictures with have to speak louder than words... which I think they do. I'm currently at Hat Sai Keow on Ko Samet around 4 hours from Bangkok, staying for one night in a bungalow then heading to the airport tomorrow. The beach is gorgeous... I've never actually seen such crystal clear water before... come to think of it, this is only the second beach I've ever swum at outside of Australia. Ok...After my first couple of days in Bangkok my tour group headed up to Chang Mai by sleeper train, I got bottom bunk so I head a pretty reasonable sleep. We were picked up from the station by two ute/truck thingies and taken via Chang Mai to the home of the drivers. This was probably one of my favourite times... their property was amazing, we slept upstairs in mosquito nets and our hosts put on the most amazing spreads for breakfast lunch and tea. We went for a bike ride through the village that was so much fun and incredibly beautiful... something you can't really imagine. We weaved in between shacks, sheds cows and temples, stopped next to feilds to sample the produce and waved at kids that ran out to say hello. The 'entertainment' at the homestay was a classic, our host organized all these school kids and his children to perform traditional music, dance and 'martial arts' all night, the whole time the kids mucked around and talked over whoever was performing yet our host was very proud and tried to keep it professional. I had the best massage that night out of the 5 that I've had this week... it was greeeeeat. Also went to a cave that wasn't as good as ones I've seen in Adelaide Next we started the first leg of our hike, went for a short walk to a waterfall where we had lunch and had a great time sliding down rocks into pools. It was amazing to see monks swimming just near us...the bathed in their orange robes but would not let us take a photo of them. Our guides Trent and Kris therefore had to resort to pretending to take photos of each other with the monks in the background! The trek was beautiful, we didn't walk as long as expected but it was harder work than expected.... turns out I'm still bloody unfit and I really struggled up the hills. We got into the first Hill Tribe village at dusk on the first night and of course I was last in... I was greeted by the most beautiful sight of two young girls waiting at the top of the hill with huge smiles just for me. They hugged each other out of shyness but they were so excited to see me. It's amazing how similar my Hill Tribe experiences are to a World Vision add, these children weren't starving but they are incredible isolated and don't get the most nutritious diet. (rice and rice) Oh yeah I forgot to mention our porters... we had several men from one of the villages carrying water food and other supplies the whole time we were trekking. They were absolutely amazing, every time we had a break they'd have watermelon or pineapple cut up and served before we sat down, and they cooked all our meals while in the village. When I was stuck down the bottom of the hill and everyone else was way ahead Trent and at least one porter would always be sticking by me, making sure everything was cool. Their English names are easy to remember - Superman (leader of the group, older, wiser and ohhh so cool with a woolen hat on constantly even thought it was 35 degrees) Superboy (young guy), Spiderman (spindly) and Ken. Ken spoke excellent English considering he's lived in such an isolated village his whole life. I'll get some picks of them up soon hopefully. The second village was easier to get to but I became so dehydrated that I was really ill for a few hours. We went down to a small waterfall near the village and everyone slid down the rocks with the local boys and a bit later they played soccer with the boys (the pic I posted earlier). They stopped soccer so we could go feed all the children in the village an omelet and noodles each out of money we supplied, as I said the kids don't have the best diet and they got so excited about it some were waiting patiently with metal bowls for 2 hours before food was served. Our group had moonshine whiskey that night and a good chat, then all the school kids came back and sat in our long room on one side while we sat on the other and sang songs. Now that was a scary experience... this room was at least a metre off the ground on stilts with just thin bamboo sheeting around 3mm thick as the floor, and candles between us and 30 dancing kids! Everytime they danced the whole building shook so much at least one candle feel over and I swear it was a miracle the whole thing didn't collapse. Anyway they were amazing and put us to shame, the only song us Aussies actually got write they already knew (waltzing Matilda) they even knew the actions to YMCA! It was a fun night. Next morning I stumbled out of the room and down the makeshift stairs at 5:30 to find 6 women setting up their craftwork outside our hut in the dark, making sure they got the best position. That was an amazing thing to see.... by the time it was daylight there were several hundred brightly coloured scarves, tops and necklaces hanging up like the flags you see in Tibet around the Dalhi Lama's palace. Of course it goes without saying I promptly purchased 4 scarves and two necklaces, paying each woman direct for their work. The last day was a very easy walk out of the national park to our trusty vans and back to Chang Mai. I've since said goodbye to all my Intrepid buddies, 5 have gone down south for another month, Anne is going home to Perth, Russel home to England, and the Japanese girls home to their country. We had a couple of days in Chang Mai and Bangkok to get drunk, eat and generally bum around and said goodbye yesterday. Ok well this blog was definitely not as brief as planned, I'm gonna have to go down to the 7 eleven and get more cash out to pay for this internet visit... 2 baht a minute, what a rip off! Going back to Bangkok tomorrow (I now know two streets of Bangkok very very well but couldn't tell you a thing about the rest. If you want to see one of them check out where Leo goes in the beginning of The Beach.) then I'll be off to the airport and Destination 3... London!

Karen Hill Tribe Mother and Son

Karen Hill Tribe Mother and Son
Originally uploaded by BeckyKiil.

This kid loved his omlete and noodles!

My group playing soccer with the kids

The most beautiful football field I've ever seen, Karen Hill Tribes
Originally uploaded by BeckyKiil.

The most beautiful football field I've ever seen, Karen Hill Tribes

Karen Hill Tribe girls

Karen Hill Tribe girls
Originally uploaded by BeckyKiil.

The girls were saying goodbye as we left their house for the next village.

Almost time to leave Thailand : (

Apologies for taking so long to write, I'd like to say it's cos I was away from civilisation but I was only actually away for 4 days. My excuse is I've been too busy and it's just been way too hot to bother walking all the way to an internet cafe! I only have 20 minutes until this place closes so I'm just going to add photos now, I'm going to the nearby Island of Ko Samet tomorrow so I'll write a whole bunch of crap when I get there. I'm having an excellent time, the Hill Tribes were an unforgetable experience, especially the children! It's great to see the blog's being used, it's excellent seeing pics of ben leaving and I look forward to seeing the other's pictures even if they're in Adelaide. I'll write properly tomorrow, Toodles!

Pad Thai Lady

Pad Thai Lady
Originally uploaded by BeckyKiil.

70 cent Pad Thai made how you like it on the street of Bangkok... YUM YUM!!! This one's for you Peter.

Bangkok at sunrise

R001-005
Originally uploaded by BeckyKiil.

Becky in Bangkok

R001-020 Originally uploaded by BeckyKiil.

The tallest tower in Bangkok, 84 stories and rotating rapidly on my first night out.

je ne comprend pas!

Alrighty now I'm in Canada! Three countries in less than two days. I'd been told that it was spring here ... riding the bus from Boston to Montreal I wouldn't have thought so. Grey skies, wooly coats and a landscape covered in white don't really fit into my idea of spring ... but hey ... I'm on the other side of the world - they do things differently here. My first evening in Montreal was tres bizzaro. I was expecting Rod Serling to pop up somewhere, smoking his cigarette and come out with something like: "Submitted for your approval - the story of a traveller circumnavigating the globe, running on nothing but five hours sleep and airline cuisine ..." Despite my efforts to sleep "Canada Time" on the way over it still felt like I'd been slapped around the head with a big, wet, whale. Day two began at 5am - never before in my life have I gone from sleep to being awake so fast - so the first three hours of my day consisted of trying to sleep (me!!) unjumbling some French phrases I'd learnt the day before and waiting for the sun to rise. Later I walked the road that divides east (french) from west (english) Montreal and caught the underground Metro. This city is so easy to get around! The city is thawing and as the grey snow melts away it reveals a season's worth of rubbish that got lost in the snow so it's a little grubby but soon it will all be gone as summer takes over the city. Apparently the city just goes nuts during spring since they're all sick of the cabin fever and killing each other. I hung out mainly in the French speaking parts and the fact that all the signs and shops are in French and everyone speaks French made it mildly confusing. Also all the people I know speak mainly French so when they get together ... It's all just gobbledyjook. But most people can speak at least a little English so it's not so hard. The strangest part of the day was actually going to an English pub - after all the time surrounded by french and feeling a little like an outsider I didn't realise how used to it i had gotten - it was a kind of surprise to not have to try and understand people. The odd thing is I didn't enjoy it as much for some reason. For dinner I met up with some of the Kino kids at Christian's house and was treated to "Christian Cuisine" - something along the lines of rice and meatballs a la exotique (It was pretty damned good). For the first day I wondered what to do while i'm here waiting for uni but last night solutions began to appear: Kino Kim is keen to take a road trip up north to visit Kino Eza who'll be making doco's with aboriginal Canadians. Kino Richard lives in Quebec City and apparently has snowy hills that need to be skied on. Mirca's (roomate of Claude) parents have a "sugar shack" that we can visit (it's a traditional cottage where they make maple syrup and have all kinds of wonderful foodstuffs) There was even a rumour that someone somewhere may have some work I can do here in Montreal instead of spending so long in Saskatoon. You should see how many funny looks I get when I mention I'm going there - even the guy working the border between the States and Canada put in his two cents. (Sorry Uncle Charlie - it seems your town is flat, flat flat - but i'll have to see it for myself). So stuff will be done - even if only half of it happens I'll be super chuffed!

Boston Boiiiiii!

Well here I am now ... in Boston ... sitting beside a "Donut King" contemplating spending my bus fare on a donut and surfing the "internet". (Nerdy aside for the lads: WAY WICKED WI-FI AIRPORT CONNECTION GETTIN' ME MY TORRENTS) Ahem ... I've been trying to sleep, trying to get used to this crazy time zone but it's not working so well. I'm laying next to a window and through it i can see my very first snowfall, although I'm pretty sure locals would classify it as drizzle. Well that's about all I can think to put on here excepzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

The Things They Think Of

wow ... it's astonishing to think that a big hunk of metal as big as a house just flew me and a few hundred other people half-way around the world. Now I'm in L.A. Across from me is an "African American" "jive talkin'" about "college ball" ... only in the movies hey? That house-size plane must have hit at least 88mph cos I arrived here before I'd even left Adelaide ... so I'm currently enjoying a banana smoothie with family and friends and a delapidated keyboard in LAX ... at the same time! What's life like in the future? Who was right? Orwell or Huxley? Or Michael J. Fox? That reminds me - somebody had better call me with the lotto results.

This Tiny Globe

Well it's sure as anything a small world as they do say. I've just arrived in Sydney and am checkin' ma email (checkin' ma email, check, check, checkin' ma email) and it doesn't work ... but the blog does ... and there's already a post on there - how fast is that! I'm here looking at myself two hours ago hopping on the plane that i just got off ... weird. I have no idea what's going on - it certainly doesn't feel like I'm "travelling" or going to "another country" - I'm just walking in and out of doors and sitting on chairs. It feels like I've just popped around the corner (albiet a very large and long corner) so it's hard to miss something that's so close at hand. Maybe it'll hit me later ... maybe it is just around the corner ... Again I have the non-sensation of "being somewhere" - I'm just "here" not "there" not in Sydney, I won't be in LA or Boston or Montreal or Saskatoon ... I'll always be here. Didn't someone, somewhere say "Wherever I go, that's where I'll be."

3 bottles of beer, sitting on a wall...

2 down, 3 to go! Wow, my goodbye party will be massive!! Thanks guys!!! You
all suck the big one!!!!! AND NOW I HAVE TO WRITE IN CAPS TO EMPHASIZE WHAT
IM SAYING EVEN MORE!!!!!

Destination 2: Bangkok

G'day from bustling bangkok. I've been in Thailand for 2 and a half days and have been pretty slack in getting to a phone or computer. Got here safely, the flight was yucky but probably not as yucky as the 13 hour train ride will be that i'm just about to get on! The streets of bangkok are much cleaner than i expected. Thai people are very nice, so nice that last night i saw a minor car and scooter crash and the people just collected themselves, smiled at each other and drove away! So far I've done endless street stall searching but can't seem to pull myself out of the tightarse mode I've been in for the last few years. Hung around tourist districts so far, got a foot massge, went up to the tallest tower in Bangkok last night and the crazy night markets surrounded by pingpong nightclubs. Had pad thai from a street stall today, it was soo yummy. I took a photo of the stall just to make peter jealous... there were 3 carts in a row with just pad thai ingredients. Today went to the Grand Palace (absolutely stunning) and on a big boat ride down a huge canal through the shanty towns. I'm rooming with a girl called Anne from WA, she's on her way home from a few years working in Canada and the UK. The Intrepid group I'm with is comprised of 5 Aussies, 4 Japanese and 3 English. So far we've sort of made our own way around, but from tonight we'll all be stuck together for 5 days with Trent our Aussie leader and Mr Chris, our trainee Thai leader. It seems appropriate that Trent has chosen to live and work in Thailand, he seemed like he was hanging out for that Hill tribes opium when we met him last night! It should be an interesting trip. The long room we're staying in up near chang mai apparently has pigs and chickens that crow every 2 hours directly under the boards we'll be sleeping on. Should be lots of fun, I'm looking forward to meeting the Karen people (Hill Tribes) and just the treck in general. Feel free to email me if you have anything to say or even if you don't! I won't be able to get back onto the net until Saturday after today. Hope you have a fun trip ben! Seeya, Love Becky.

a couple more...

Two more for the album. Huzaa!

a couple more...

Two more for the album. Huzaa!

saying goodbye!

Hi guys! Arrived at first destination, Syd-en-ney! This morning was quite calm, i didn't get nervous but just wanted to spend more time with everyone before i left...oh well, had to leave eventually. I volunteered at Taronga Zoo tonight, only saw one orangutang quickly but the were Tamarins hanging out in the trees in front of where i was working - very cute! I wanted to grab one and put it in my pocket. The lecture i was helping out at was a benifit for GRASP (Great Apes Survival Project) you can see about it at www.unep.org/grasp. (Keith may be interested Adelle, it's right up there with the bears) There were some pretty important people there, including a lady that used to work with Dianne Fosey. Spent day catching trains, monorails and ferrys around sydney with lucky, met a crazy lady that was volunteering as well and she drove us across the bridge back to our car, then stopped for 3 veg and rice for $4.90 in Newtown on the way home. I'm going to bed now, very tired and big flight tomorrow. Becky

pic from st kilda

heres a nice one from sunday...

home looks like this...

... in case anyone gets lost.