We arrived in Ayutthaya on Wednesday afternoon after a slow but uneventful train ride from Bangkok. Our guesthouse turned out to be really nice with A/C! It's also somehow hotter here than Bangkok, which is hard to believe. We hung out in the A/C for awhile before we decided to get lunch, and then go for a 1 hour temple tour. From Bangkok, we knew that seeing more than 2 would be too much, especially in this heat. So, we saw two of the best ones and then rushed back to our A/C room. Nisha took a 3 hour nap. It's that exhausting to be out in the heat. At night it was a little better, so we got a late dinner of a thai version of chicken noodle soup which is really simple and tasty and super-cheap as well. We walked to try and find the night market, but it was closing by the time we even got close. A couple from the Netherlands wanted to see the temples at night and then go to the other night market, so we decided to join them and share expenses. Unfortunately, the night market was closing by the time we got there. We chose to walk back from there, and ran into a nice bar and hung out for a bit. Ayutthaya is a really small town so there's not much to do.
The next day, we woke up late, checked out and stored our bags and got a tuk-tuk ride to the floating market. It was a fun, if still very hot, day and our tuk-tuk driver picked us up to go back to our guesthouse. Though we have no room, it is still cooler on their patio than being anywhere else, so we'll hang out till dinnertime, and then probably get a drink and dinner before we get a ride to our night bus to Sukothai. Since our internet here has been the most reliable, I decided to spend the time updating the blog. We're desperately hoping that Sukothai is cooler as we're heading north. After 2 nights in Sukothai, we will arrive in Chiang Mai, where we will do a trek through the national park (with elephants!).
Anyway, here are the photos from Ayutthaya: https://picasaweb.google.com/chaitalikapadia/Ayutthaya?authkey=Gv1sRgCN6XuIC2q4jUWw&feat=directlink
Interesting observation: In all of Asia, I have noticed that the same companies that make the beer also make the bottled water. My guess is that they already have to filter water for their beer, so they sell the water too.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Bangkok, Thailand
We arrived on Monday at 1am, promptly found a place that sold simcards, called a couple guesthouses and confirmed one place. We took a taxi there, noticing that Thailand does its best to prevent people from scamming you at the airport. The guesthouse was clean, but pretty institutional, so we figured we'd find a better one later that night. On the first day, after breakfast, when we were trying to figure out what to do, a nice lady (an English teacher!) gave us loads of advice on different temples and directed us to a tuk-tuk that would take us around for only 20 baht. It ended up being a little more and a little weird/scammy at one point, but we pretty much got to see what we wanted in just a couple hours. We also got the rest of our trip planned through the flight and visa to Vietnam. A pretty good start.
Later that day, we found a much nicer guesthouse of comparable value, figured out how to take the bus, visited Chinatown and the flower market and then walked around the touristy foreigner neighborhood of Khao San Road. The next day we didn't feel like doing touristy stuff at all, took a late breakfast/lunch, took a ferry across the river to Thonburi, and hung out with Thais just reading by the river. We walked through their food market, got some delicious street food/dessert, and walked back over the bridge to our hood. In a local public park, we watched some kids breakdancing. (I got a little nostalgic for NYC.) Later, we met some fellow travelers staying at our guest house and ate dinner with them. They were from Milan, and had been traveling through Asia for a year. We got a ton of advice from them, then later went to get a drink at a bar with live music. All in all, our two days in Bangkok were filled, even though we never felt busy or rushed. In the morning, we set out for Ayutthaya (named after Ayodhaya) which is the old capital of Thailand with ancient temples.
Here are the pics from Bangkok: https://picasaweb.google.com/chaitalikapadia/BangkokForBlog?authkey=Gv1sRgCKqh-9zKi9LNdw&feat=directlink Though we didn't do everything we would like to, we are going to be back July 8-10, so we should have some time then.
Later that day, we found a much nicer guesthouse of comparable value, figured out how to take the bus, visited Chinatown and the flower market and then walked around the touristy foreigner neighborhood of Khao San Road. The next day we didn't feel like doing touristy stuff at all, took a late breakfast/lunch, took a ferry across the river to Thonburi, and hung out with Thais just reading by the river. We walked through their food market, got some delicious street food/dessert, and walked back over the bridge to our hood. In a local public park, we watched some kids breakdancing. (I got a little nostalgic for NYC.) Later, we met some fellow travelers staying at our guest house and ate dinner with them. They were from Milan, and had been traveling through Asia for a year. We got a ton of advice from them, then later went to get a drink at a bar with live music. All in all, our two days in Bangkok were filled, even though we never felt busy or rushed. In the morning, we set out for Ayutthaya (named after Ayodhaya) which is the old capital of Thailand with ancient temples.
Here are the pics from Bangkok: https://picasaweb.google.com/chaitalikapadia/BangkokForBlog?authkey=Gv1sRgCKqh-9zKi9LNdw&feat=directlink Though we didn't do everything we would like to, we are going to be back July 8-10, so we should have some time then.
Jeju Island, South Korea
So, I was wrong. Nisha will not keep you updated. She's worse than I am. So, I'll get you caught up briefly. In Jeju, we rented a car and drove all over this little island that is known as a vacation spot for South Koreans.
We went to waterfalls, hiked Mt. Hallasan, and climbed Seongsang Ilchulbang for the sunrise, and ended our trip at Iho Beach. It was a very nice vacation with good food and natural surroundings. Our last night we stayed at a minbak (guesthouse) which had amazing seaside views. For $40, we felt like we were living the life. Especially right before we were planning to head to SE Asia.
Here are the photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/chaitalikapadia/JejuForBlog?authkey=Gv1sRgCKH6pcffrd6SZw&feat=directlink
We went to waterfalls, hiked Mt. Hallasan, and climbed Seongsang Ilchulbang for the sunrise, and ended our trip at Iho Beach. It was a very nice vacation with good food and natural surroundings. Our last night we stayed at a minbak (guesthouse) which had amazing seaside views. For $40, we felt like we were living the life. Especially right before we were planning to head to SE Asia.
Here are the photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/chaitalikapadia/JejuForBlog?authkey=Gv1sRgCKH6pcffrd6SZw&feat=directlink
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Seoul, South Korea
I'm having internet trouble today, so hopefully it will keep long enough to post this. Today, we are packing up and moving out of Nisha's apt. She's almost fully packed, so it should be an easy move. After this, our trip starts tomorrow. We fly to Jejudo in the afternoon. We haven't planned much, including where to stay, so we'll see what happens.
I want to finish up posts about Seoul before we leave, but it feels like I haven't done the city much justice. It's a very interesting city with many different areas and a lot to see. I tried to pick something of interest every day and then go and do that and wander around that area. In this way, I saw the Bongeunsa Buddhist temple through a special tour they have for foreigners which was in English and included a tour, a tea ceremony with green and chrysanthemum tea, a meditation lesson from a monk (sidenote: he was hilarious, he told us that the monks drink a lot of tea and challenge each other on how much they can drink without going to the bathroom. He also invited us to challenge him anytime), and a lotus flower-making party (with petals made from different colored tissue paper). There, I met two girls who spoke English and also Korean who invited me to dinner at the Noryangjin fish market. Since I had no idea what that meant, I went along. Turns out it's a place where you can buy the fish and seafood straight out of the aquarium and they make it for you right there. Talk about fresh. It's not for the faint-hearted - we watched them kill and prepare it, but it was a really interesting experience and something I could never have done on my own.
Food: Before I begin this section, I'd just like to mention to my (vegetarian) parents and family that most of this stuff is not something you'd like to know about. So, please just don't read it. Otherwise, you'll get mad at us about it. For this reason, I didn't post any pictures of the food. You can look any of them up online for pics.
We have tried many really interesting and delicious things in Korea. Koreans really love to eat. At the fish market formerly mentioned, we had flat fish, which is exactly what it sounds like. They prepared it like sashimi and it was really good. We also got a few seafood items to try - sea cucumber, sea urchin, and "gaebul" which I'm not going to translate on here. Most of that stuff falls into the interesting category, but I was surprised to like sea cucumber which had a chewy/crunchy texture. We also got the octopus which continues to move after it's dead. I, the lucky guest, got the head and eyes. Yum. But that really is among the weirder items.
Really tasty things that we've had are samgyeopsal and bulgogi (korean bbq), kimchi jjigae, haemul pajeon, dakgalbi, naengmyeon, tteokbokki, jjimdak,samgyetang, bibimbap, and sujebi. A lot of these items are available in NYC or other big cities with Korean populations, because I've had quite a few of them before my trip. My favorite dish that I hadn't tried before was the jjimdak because it was such a good combination of the flavors of sweet potato and noodles and chicken that was so spicy but really flavorful. I love Korean food for its spiciness. Koreans are always worried that we won't be able to handle it. I guess they don't think Indian food is very spicy. Just today, Nisha and I had lunch at a place serving noodle soup with mussels and it came in 4 levels of spiciness. We got level 2 and it was burning our tongues off...yet, it was delicious. Also, Korean food comes out boiling hot. I had trouble with this at the beginning, but am now really used to it and hate the point when the soup becomes too cold. The other aspect of the food I really love is the banchan with kimchi and other flavorful side dishes. This means in every meal, you get to taste 4-5 different things and mix and match as you please. We've had some other strange stuff and we will probably continue that trend given where we're going but I think this is the best part of exploring another country.
Drink: You really can't talk about food in Korea without talking about drinking. Koreans tend to eat and drink together. They take their drinking pretty seriously (as you might have noticed from the fact that they drink makgeolli while hiking up a mountain). Makgeolli is a really tasty and very light drink. You don't feel drunk but it does hit hard after a few bowls (it's traditionally served in bowls). Soju is more commonly drunk with dinners, so we had it a couple times. Nisha really hates it, but I don't mind it so much. It's also very light-tasting despite being pretty strong, and maybe a little too sweet. We've also been drinking beer or maekju, which unsurprisingly is light, and tastes like bud or miller light back home. I don't really like their beer (which tastes like water) but we did manage to find a Korean stout which was dark but not heavy and a little sweet and compared to the other beers, pretty decent. Koreans tend to eat while drinking so we often ordered (or were required to order) pajeon, tofu/kimchi, or some other tasty snack. This is why I haven't really had any hangovers when we've gone out. I also tried ginseng liquor with the samgyetang (which is chicken stuffed with ginseng and other vegetables in a broth) which was vaguely medicinal. But since the whole meal tasted medicinal, it sort of went together.
Going out: We went out in Gangnam a lot, because this is where Nisha was staying, often to a hookah bar called Rainbow or to her local outdoor spot called Charlie's Pub. Both had rasta/Jamaican themes and were a little strange for being in Korea, but they were great. They love Bob Marley here. We went out in Itaewon once, but I was totally disgusted by it. A lot of drunk foreigners hooking up with Koreans. It felt like Times Square at 3am...before it was disneyfied. We went out in Sinchon/Hongdae to a cool bar called the Rock. We could've gone to more places there because it's a fun university area with lots of spots, but I was limping really badly so that was my fault. We also went to a couple cool makgeolli bars near Kongguk University which was a really lively area. Going out is fun here because people bounce from bar to bar or club to club and so you get to see many places. Unfortunately, we didn't do too much crazy partying because Nisha had to get up early on weekdays, but this was probably fortunate for me because it also put me on a good schedule to see the city's sights and I'm too old to go out like that anyway.
So, I discovered that I actually have two flickr accounts, so here's the link to my other one with photos of our hike to Mt. Bukhansan.
I want to finish up posts about Seoul before we leave, but it feels like I haven't done the city much justice. It's a very interesting city with many different areas and a lot to see. I tried to pick something of interest every day and then go and do that and wander around that area. In this way, I saw the Bongeunsa Buddhist temple through a special tour they have for foreigners which was in English and included a tour, a tea ceremony with green and chrysanthemum tea, a meditation lesson from a monk (sidenote: he was hilarious, he told us that the monks drink a lot of tea and challenge each other on how much they can drink without going to the bathroom. He also invited us to challenge him anytime), and a lotus flower-making party (with petals made from different colored tissue paper). There, I met two girls who spoke English and also Korean who invited me to dinner at the Noryangjin fish market. Since I had no idea what that meant, I went along. Turns out it's a place where you can buy the fish and seafood straight out of the aquarium and they make it for you right there. Talk about fresh. It's not for the faint-hearted - we watched them kill and prepare it, but it was a really interesting experience and something I could never have done on my own.
Food: Before I begin this section, I'd just like to mention to my (vegetarian) parents and family that most of this stuff is not something you'd like to know about. So, please just don't read it. Otherwise, you'll get mad at us about it. For this reason, I didn't post any pictures of the food. You can look any of them up online for pics.
We have tried many really interesting and delicious things in Korea. Koreans really love to eat. At the fish market formerly mentioned, we had flat fish, which is exactly what it sounds like. They prepared it like sashimi and it was really good. We also got a few seafood items to try - sea cucumber, sea urchin, and "gaebul" which I'm not going to translate on here. Most of that stuff falls into the interesting category, but I was surprised to like sea cucumber which had a chewy/crunchy texture. We also got the octopus which continues to move after it's dead. I, the lucky guest, got the head and eyes. Yum. But that really is among the weirder items.
Really tasty things that we've had are samgyeopsal and bulgogi (korean bbq), kimchi jjigae, haemul pajeon, dakgalbi, naengmyeon, tteokbokki, jjimdak,samgyetang, bibimbap, and sujebi. A lot of these items are available in NYC or other big cities with Korean populations, because I've had quite a few of them before my trip. My favorite dish that I hadn't tried before was the jjimdak because it was such a good combination of the flavors of sweet potato and noodles and chicken that was so spicy but really flavorful. I love Korean food for its spiciness. Koreans are always worried that we won't be able to handle it. I guess they don't think Indian food is very spicy. Just today, Nisha and I had lunch at a place serving noodle soup with mussels and it came in 4 levels of spiciness. We got level 2 and it was burning our tongues off...yet, it was delicious. Also, Korean food comes out boiling hot. I had trouble with this at the beginning, but am now really used to it and hate the point when the soup becomes too cold. The other aspect of the food I really love is the banchan with kimchi and other flavorful side dishes. This means in every meal, you get to taste 4-5 different things and mix and match as you please. We've had some other strange stuff and we will probably continue that trend given where we're going but I think this is the best part of exploring another country.
Drink: You really can't talk about food in Korea without talking about drinking. Koreans tend to eat and drink together. They take their drinking pretty seriously (as you might have noticed from the fact that they drink makgeolli while hiking up a mountain). Makgeolli is a really tasty and very light drink. You don't feel drunk but it does hit hard after a few bowls (it's traditionally served in bowls). Soju is more commonly drunk with dinners, so we had it a couple times. Nisha really hates it, but I don't mind it so much. It's also very light-tasting despite being pretty strong, and maybe a little too sweet. We've also been drinking beer or maekju, which unsurprisingly is light, and tastes like bud or miller light back home. I don't really like their beer (which tastes like water) but we did manage to find a Korean stout which was dark but not heavy and a little sweet and compared to the other beers, pretty decent. Koreans tend to eat while drinking so we often ordered (or were required to order) pajeon, tofu/kimchi, or some other tasty snack. This is why I haven't really had any hangovers when we've gone out. I also tried ginseng liquor with the samgyetang (which is chicken stuffed with ginseng and other vegetables in a broth) which was vaguely medicinal. But since the whole meal tasted medicinal, it sort of went together.
Going out: We went out in Gangnam a lot, because this is where Nisha was staying, often to a hookah bar called Rainbow or to her local outdoor spot called Charlie's Pub. Both had rasta/Jamaican themes and were a little strange for being in Korea, but they were great. They love Bob Marley here. We went out in Itaewon once, but I was totally disgusted by it. A lot of drunk foreigners hooking up with Koreans. It felt like Times Square at 3am...before it was disneyfied. We went out in Sinchon/Hongdae to a cool bar called the Rock. We could've gone to more places there because it's a fun university area with lots of spots, but I was limping really badly so that was my fault. We also went to a couple cool makgeolli bars near Kongguk University which was a really lively area. Going out is fun here because people bounce from bar to bar or club to club and so you get to see many places. Unfortunately, we didn't do too much crazy partying because Nisha had to get up early on weekdays, but this was probably fortunate for me because it also put me on a good schedule to see the city's sights and I'm too old to go out like that anyway.
So, I discovered that I actually have two flickr accounts, so here's the link to my other one with photos of our hike to Mt. Bukhansan.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Seoul, South Korea
So, where to start...we have done so much fun stuff and I've wandered to many areas of Seoul, it's hard to describe it all.
Shopping: We went shopping in Myeongdong - Namdaemun Market, and I've also wandered around shopping in Hongdae, Samcheongdong, Insadong, and countless subway stations and random streets. There is SO much shopping in this city, that I was surprised there wasn't a store at the top of Mt. Bukhansan. Given the interesting/cool fashion sense they have here, I've been trying not to buy too much. Though every shirt with weird English phrases calls out to me, I just can't keep spending. So, I try to quell this urge by buying socks. They have very funny socks here and cost anywhere between 500-1000 won (the ones I buy at least) which is about $0.50-$1. My favorites right now are ones that say I love soju! and the ones with a singer from Big Bang (a boy band) on them. I don't know if he's dreamy but the cartoon version of him is pretty cute.
Hiking: All Koreans hike apparently. And they are seriously hardcore. I hiked in two particular areas. One was at this Buddhist Shamanist temple. It was so incredibly beautiful and quiet and eerie because the only sound you hear is this chanting. It's on a steep peak, so the views of the city were incredible. There's also very cool rock formations - one that looks like a skull. The guidebook discouraged photography, and I was enjoying just seeing everything so I didn't end up with any pictures of it, which is sad. But others have taken pics, so here's one with some pics of the temple and the bell and a cool painting. Here's some info about the mountain. Since it was my first time and there are very few signs, I followed this older gentleman up the mountain. Halfway through the hike (during which he didn't even seem fazed, while I was huffing and puffing the whole time), he sort of adopted me though he didn't speak much English. He took me to see the cool rock formations and the fortress wall and then insisted on walking me back to the train station. I didn't have the heart (or ability) to tell him that I wasn't going home yet, so I got in the station and walked to the other side.
We also hiked Mt. Bukhansan on a beautiful Saturday morning. Unlike the other hikers, we took food and water. They brought makgeolli, a kind of rice wine. The mountain was beautiful to hike, and most of the trails were easy to navigate. The older Koreans passing us by made us look bad though. Unfortunately, I think I sprained my knee sometime the day before our trip because it was hurting even before we started. So, while I could keep up pretty well going up, I was limping the whole way down. However, we did a pretty good 5 hour hike complete with delicious lunch, a couple cool gates, a buddhist temple and one of the high peaks! We even rock-climbed (bouldered) for part of it to be at the absolute highest we could get. Amazing.
Fun fact, there is free exercise equipment scattered throughout the park (and actually everywhere in Seoul). Because apparently, getting to the top of a mountain is just warming up. All of us tried one in which you hang by your feet. Nisha was able to do it easily but I had some trouble and required help. I blame it on being shorter, but really it's because she's probably more fit. It's really scary when you do it though, because your feet are supporting all your weight and it feels very insecure.
Okay, that's all for now. I'll write more tomorrow because I'm so sore from hiking and from limping that I don't want to go anywhere. Also, I figured I'd let my knee get some rest before we go to Jeju Island and resume more hiking (volcanos!).
Here are the links to my flickr account. One set is of general pics from Seoul and another set from Changdeokgung Palace which has tons of pics of traditional architecture from the Joseon dynasty. I loved it, but I went crazy with photos, so you really don't have to see it all. There are descriptions for most of the pictures. Flickr has a limit on monthly uploads which I have reached so I'll figure out something else for the rest of the trip.
Shopping: We went shopping in Myeongdong - Namdaemun Market, and I've also wandered around shopping in Hongdae, Samcheongdong, Insadong, and countless subway stations and random streets. There is SO much shopping in this city, that I was surprised there wasn't a store at the top of Mt. Bukhansan. Given the interesting/cool fashion sense they have here, I've been trying not to buy too much. Though every shirt with weird English phrases calls out to me, I just can't keep spending. So, I try to quell this urge by buying socks. They have very funny socks here and cost anywhere between 500-1000 won (the ones I buy at least) which is about $0.50-$1. My favorites right now are ones that say I love soju! and the ones with a singer from Big Bang (a boy band) on them. I don't know if he's dreamy but the cartoon version of him is pretty cute.
Hiking: All Koreans hike apparently. And they are seriously hardcore. I hiked in two particular areas. One was at this Buddhist Shamanist temple. It was so incredibly beautiful and quiet and eerie because the only sound you hear is this chanting. It's on a steep peak, so the views of the city were incredible. There's also very cool rock formations - one that looks like a skull. The guidebook discouraged photography, and I was enjoying just seeing everything so I didn't end up with any pictures of it, which is sad. But others have taken pics, so here's one with some pics of the temple and the bell and a cool painting. Here's some info about the mountain. Since it was my first time and there are very few signs, I followed this older gentleman up the mountain. Halfway through the hike (during which he didn't even seem fazed, while I was huffing and puffing the whole time), he sort of adopted me though he didn't speak much English. He took me to see the cool rock formations and the fortress wall and then insisted on walking me back to the train station. I didn't have the heart (or ability) to tell him that I wasn't going home yet, so I got in the station and walked to the other side.
We also hiked Mt. Bukhansan on a beautiful Saturday morning. Unlike the other hikers, we took food and water. They brought makgeolli, a kind of rice wine. The mountain was beautiful to hike, and most of the trails were easy to navigate. The older Koreans passing us by made us look bad though. Unfortunately, I think I sprained my knee sometime the day before our trip because it was hurting even before we started. So, while I could keep up pretty well going up, I was limping the whole way down. However, we did a pretty good 5 hour hike complete with delicious lunch, a couple cool gates, a buddhist temple and one of the high peaks! We even rock-climbed (bouldered) for part of it to be at the absolute highest we could get. Amazing.
Fun fact, there is free exercise equipment scattered throughout the park (and actually everywhere in Seoul). Because apparently, getting to the top of a mountain is just warming up. All of us tried one in which you hang by your feet. Nisha was able to do it easily but I had some trouble and required help. I blame it on being shorter, but really it's because she's probably more fit. It's really scary when you do it though, because your feet are supporting all your weight and it feels very insecure.
Okay, that's all for now. I'll write more tomorrow because I'm so sore from hiking and from limping that I don't want to go anywhere. Also, I figured I'd let my knee get some rest before we go to Jeju Island and resume more hiking (volcanos!).
Here are the links to my flickr account. One set is of general pics from Seoul and another set from Changdeokgung Palace which has tons of pics of traditional architecture from the Joseon dynasty. I loved it, but I went crazy with photos, so you really don't have to see it all. There are descriptions for most of the pictures. Flickr has a limit on monthly uploads which I have reached so I'll figure out something else for the rest of the trip.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Seoul, South Korea
Hello friends and family!
Sorry, this is the first blog entry for Seoul when I arrived here two weeks ago. I wish I could say its because I've been too busy, but truthfully it's because I'm too lazy. I'm also pretty lazy about taking pictures. However, I believe Nisha will be the primary contributor of pics and important updates, so fear not. You will get updated.
So, first thing...the name of the blog. I arrived in Seoul and started getting an education in Korean English (Konglish or as Nisha puts it - Ingrishi). Nisha's been here for a while, so she's learned how to imitate the Koreans pretty well. Therefore, I was going for the Korean version of Blog(ee) when I came up with this name, but she informed me that I was quite wrong. The Koreans would pronounce it Blog-guh. Oh well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)