The Golden Triangle

Before leaving - and almost missing our flight because our bus back from the days trip was so super slow we went to visit the last point of interest while in Chiang Rai: The Golden Triangle, which is the point where Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet. This place used to be a trading-port for drugs, opium in particular. It was a strange feeling to have lunch while looking at three countries at the same time. It kinda blew my mind.

Myanmar

Or; Burma

The next adventure from Chiang Rai was a visit to Myanmar. We didn't have a visa so were only allowed to stay one day, but it was still very exciting! We caught a little local minibus to the boarder and then walked from Thailand and into Myanmar. We caught a cute little man with a tuktuk and he brought us around to see the scenery, some temple and the long neck village. I saw one of these tripes once before in Thailand (Chiang Mai) and it is a very strange thing. They wear rings around their necks to make them look longer, but it does not look very comfortable at all and if you were to remove those rings from a woman's neck it would most certainly break as it no longer has any muscles. 

Before leaving the country again in the afternoon we asked our driver to take us to a place for local food, which was easier sad than done since none spoke any english. We ended up in a little joint next to the street where Valle got some crunchy chicken-thing and I ended up with a really spicy squid salad which wasn't too bad.

When we returned to Thailand we had to wait for the bus back we went to a little fruit corner and bought one of my fav's: cumquats! They are not only yummy but are also so cute and have the awesomest name. These along with a big bottle of water later became my rescue in the over heated bus that took ages. In the evening we went for a live performance at a restaurant where we got amazing grilled fish and thai soup. A good day and a country that I must come back to with more time on my hands.

Wat Rong Khun

Or; The White Temple.

After Bangkok me and Valle went to Chiang Rai. One of the first things on my list there was to visit the White Temple, which my dad had recommended. While waiting for the bus we found a little Chinese group that were also going there, so we all decided to split a tuktuk. When we got there the driver asked us what time we wanted to be picked up for our return, and we asked to stay until after sunset to see the pretty temple in the night. When do the sun go down? The answer was around 5,30. 

We went inside and looked at the temple which is indeed gorgeous. It is completely white and filled with little mirrors that twinkle in the sunlight. Sadly we were not allowed to take any pictures inside the temple, which was also a very interesting sight. Inside were wall paintings of all kinds of cartoons, animation figures etc. There were super mans, batman's and spider mans. Transformers and angry birds. All you can imagine - apparently in an attempt to lure a younger generation to visit the temple. What a sight!

Outside the temple there were a lot of constructions being done, and it was beautiful to see all the hard concrete next to the white temple and the golden buildings next to it. We wrote blessings on little silver leaves and left them among a gazillion others hanging around the place. Beautiful!

Afterwards we stuck around to see the "light show" that we had heard about. After dark they were going to turn on lights that would make the temple twinkle even more in front of the night sky. And so we waited. And waited. At 5,30 when our driver returned the sun had still not set. It didn't do so until after 7. And then we waited again. Until we finally realised that there was not going to be any lights switching on, because they had started only doing it on public holidays. Bummer.

And now (about 2 months later) I got the sad news that the temple has been closed due to damage caused by a recent earthquake. Im so sad about this news, and so happy that I had a chance to see it.

Catching up

So as I realised yesterday I have a lot of catching up to do. And today it is just raining and raining and raining. Pouring down. I already finished my studies for the week so I figured I might as well get some writing done. Ready or not, here we go!

So...

Oh. My. God. I am so far behind on my new years resolution. It is just too damn hard to blog while traveling. Because 1. the wifi is usually not good. 2. even when it is I don't want to blog from my phone. 3. I don't have a computer. 4. So when I go to an internet cafe it is to study, and I prefer leaving as soon as possible. And most of all; 5. The sun is shining and I have so much else to do and see and smell and try and and and. 

I'll try my best to get better. Or well, I'll write sometime at least. Maybe. Or when I get back. Let's se..

Zzz..

Am having a really hard time settling in to the time rhythm. Once I get into bed I cant seem to fall asleep until about 5 in the morning, and then I'm super tired all day. It's very noticeable how moving through 15 hours of time difference in less than two weeks is fucking with my head. Zzz..

Chiang Rai

Next stop; Chiang Rai. Today we left Bangkok and flew north to Chiang Rai. My dad visited here this winter and seemed to really like it. I have been recommended to see the White Temple both in daytime and nighttime. And then what we came for: crossing the boarder into Burma, or Myanmar. A country I have yet to explore- I am so excited.

Kim!

In the evening of our first night in Bangkok we found Kim's bar The Jappp - Yay, reunion!!! So nice to see my thai bestie again, it's been almost four years. He now has his own bar and is engaged to a super sweet Korean lady. He still plays and sings in the bar though which makes me happy! We got to hear him sing and talked and laughed. Went back there all three nights we were in the city, hung out, listened to different people playing and singing and had a blast. We laugh so much together, just as we did four years ago. <3

Shake Break

Sitting on my bed in the little lime green hotel room trying to finish my essay for English class. Valle is passed out over in his bed (it was so hot today, and I am quite jealous of his siesta). We are comparing the main characters of Things Fall Apart and The Heart of Darkness as well as discussing possible interpretations of their fall. It is interesting, but haaard. Im going for a shake break:

Hello Thailand

And so we flew to Thailand. Apparently you were supposed to book food for the flight, but the option had fallen out of our booking somehow - so we didn't get served any food on the plane but had to purchase our own. Sadly there wasn't that much to choose from, especially being a vegetarian. So the 11 hour flight resulted in some icky little cheese sandwich and chips. I was so hungry once we arrived. My friend Kim had booked us in to a place called Four Sons - too bad there were about five of these in the Bangkok area and we did not end up at the right one. Fiiiiiiinally we found our way and got settled in our little lime green room. We went out and had some food (omnomnomnom) and then went straight back inside for some sleep, since our entire night just disappeared (again!). We woke up at about four o clock in the afternoon and went for more food. Take me hooome, Khaosan roooad.

Good Bye Sweden

25th: And off I go again! 

Hello Sweden

Sweden. Here we go again.

Good bye Jamaica

Jamaica day 15!
Our last day in Jamaica. Got up early to enjoy our last morning. Our flight didn't leave until about 15 o clock so we had the whole morning to ourselves. We had planned to go for a last snorkel in the morning, but sadly this morning the sea was way to rough. We had planned to get our last sunbathing on, but sadly this morning it was very cloudy. Even though there was no chance for a good snorkel we still went in the water. The waves were amazing! There was a difference of probably 4-5 meters low to high. We got our floating mattresses and went flying over the waves. It was awesome - but a bit scary when trying to get up the ladder, it had to be perfectly matched with the movement of the ocean. Oh, and we had planned to be able to dry our swimmers in the sun before we had to leave, but oh right, there was barely any sun this morning. Things never really go the way you plan them, huh? 

Our ride was supposed to pick us up at 12 o clock. At 15 past they still hadn't arrived so we went ahead and called them - apparently our booking had gotten lost and if we wouldn't have called no one would have showed up. Rocky (whos company we have been going with on all of our extersions this trip) solved it the best way he could though. He called up a friend of his who had a car near by and got him to pick us up, he then called and explained what had happened and begged our forgiveness a hundred times. Half way down the road he even met up with us to apologise in person and gave us a discount on the fare. He then asked us not to give him a bad review but he really didn't have to do all that, we still would have only said good things about him - he's been great. 

The flight home was long and I didn't manage to sleep one bit. When we arrived in Stockholm it was about midnight in my head but 7 o clock in the morning local time - the entire night just disappeared. The best thing would have been to just stay awake all day though obviously this was not possible. I went down at about 11 and didn't get back up until 16, turning my entire day and night around.

Zimbale

Jamaica day 14!
Today we visited the resort Zimbale - a place located up in the mountains, where they grow their own crop and serve only organic food. A place of piece and love for the nature. The day begun with a tour around the gardens (well, a small part of it at least), afterwards we had lunch - it was a three course meal produced in front of our eyes in the restaurants show kitchen. Everything tasted delicious and it was a great way to get involved in what you're actually eating. After lunch we rested for a bit, Albin played some guitar (one of the instruments the owners have laying around) before going for a walk to the "Bob Marley Hole" - a clear river running through the area with a nice little spot to jump in and cool off.

In the evening we went back to the Hungry Lion for our last dinner. All the restaurants in the area had Valentine specials and we got some lobster (yum.) and wine. We walked back home and packed our bags to be able to enjoy or last morning at the castle.

Asia

(A break from the Jamaica posts, don't worry - the last few days are coming!)

So. I have been home for ten days. And now it's time to take off again. Tomorrow I jump on a plain to Thailand. Am not sure exactly where I'll be going and I don't have a return ticket yet but am planning to return just in time for the lovely Swedish summer to begin.

And as always: God how I love travelling. But God how I hate packing.

Appleton

Jamaica day 13! (Part 2)
Our next stop was the Appleton Rum Factory. Got a great tour guide, and a nice tour around the property. The whole tour seem to be a way to get people drunk so they will buy lots of rum afterwards, haha. It begins with rum punch, as much as you can drink before the tour starts. Then a walk around how everything works, the containers etc etc etc. Quite interesting! Afterwards there's more drinking. About 10 bottles are put up on a table and the guide leaves you with a bunch of little glasses and tells you to make sure to try everything. And it was fun, and yum, and all that. We enjoyed our time at the factory and yes, we got some rum before we left. 

The last stop was the "Blue Hole" - When I was here the last time this place had this little blue hole, a hole in the ground with rock walls and clear blue water at the bottom. There were about three people there, swimming. Some other people building a little wooden house and that was it. A walk through the forrest got us to a plantation of well, I'm sure you can all figure that out. Now, 4,5 years later, there were two huge empty hotel buildings (one orange, one blue), a swimming pool, a volleyball court and two bars. The hole in the ground was guarded by "life guards" and it cost 10 dollars to jump in. What a joke. Obviously we didn't stay long. And didn't go for a dip. When we later told a taxi driver about it he laughed his ass off. "Ten dollars to jump in a hole? HA HA HA!" - the whole thing felt quite sad, although its interesting how much can happen in a few years.

Since we didn't stick around the blue hole we got home in time for this weeks steel drum band at Canoe. And since this time there was no rain and no Bob Marley Bash the place wasn't as crowded, and we could sit outside on the beach. The band were also placed outside - it was just a gorgeous setting. Im so glad we went there instead of paying ten dollars to jump in a hole.

Pepper shrimp

Jamaica day 13! (Part 1)
Adventure day! Despite the fact that some places are annoyingly touristy, they are fun to see and so, since none of us are very big on touristy things, we decided to get all of them squeezed into one day.

We were picket up at the castle in the morning and started the day off by stopping at a fruit and veggie market to get some fresh fruit. And cucumber (man, do I love cumbers!). We then started our trip at the Black River for a crocodile tour. Got to see a lot of crocodiles, but it was a bit too touristy for me. Last time I visited me and Julia came with our driver and friend and ended up on a small boat with about five people. The captain of the boat showed us how clear the black water really is, stopped to pick flowers for all the girls on board and stopped for a swim (about 20 meters after wed passed a huge crocodile) - this time we were a ton of people on a big boat and everyone stood up every single time there was a crocodile so that no one else could see anything. I try to stay away from these kinds of things, but it was still nice. Driving across the waters it did feel awesome to look at all the greenery and feel the breeze in your face. 

When our driver asked us what we had thought of the tour he seemed surprised that we thought there had been to many people, and that we prefer less touristy things. Our lunch totally made up for it. We told him that we wanted something authentic, preferably street food. First off we drove through an area where he said people along the road were selling "pepper shrimp" and naturally we asked him to stop so we could get some. Turns out it was actually crayfish (I LOVE crayfish!). We bought a bag from an angry-looking little lady (How do you say nay to that face?) and brought it over to a little place next to the road where we got some grilled fish and seafood soup. (A cup of yummy soup with another whole crayfish in it - joy!). The lady came up with a plate of actual shrimps and claimed hers were much better then what wed gotten on the road (well, they weren't even the same thing) - but Oh My God, these shrimp were amazing. Naturally we had to get some more - well done lady! It was one of the best meals of our entire time in Jamaica.

Blue Mountain Coffee

Jamaica day 12!
Another steaming hot day. Snorkelling, swimming and sun bathing - what more can you possibly ask for? Except for good food of course! Went back to Mi Yard for lunch, sadly they didn't have any bread fruit today (my favourite!) but we got a mix of some other weird stuff. Then we headed to the local market which we'd heard was a good place to find Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee. Which we did, after a lot of hard work and haggling. At one place we found a couple of bags, but then they seemed to be out of coffee. One lady ran around the whole place looking. So we settled for the bags they had. 

The typical thing to happen was that a man or woman would walk up or yell from their spot something in the lines of "Just a second, just a second! Come look at my shop!" to which we'd say we were only looking for coffee or musical instruments. "Yah man, I've got instruments. Come look at my shop!" - of course he didn't have any instruments but only a lot of stuff that we didn't want. In one place we found another bag of coffee (even though that first lady loudly convinced us that she had looked E V E R Y WHERE!) We didn't hassle over the price since we'd heard that was the price that was to be expected, and that was a price which we were fine with. But as we are buying this one last bag one lady comes up with two more and asks us to pay 10 dollars more than we did and are doing for all the others. "Mine are real!!!" She screams to our faces. "Those are fake!" - We tell her they are exactly the same and she yells "LET ME SEE!" - when she sees that they are exactly the same as hers she again yells "FAKE! Let me SMELL!" - we let her smell them and she shoves her bags up our faces - "My GOOOOD. They don't smell nothing! Mine are REAL!" (Except they not only look exactly the same, but smell exactly the same. And all this time we are standing with a couple of them in a bag for a cheaper price than hers, and buying another one right then and there for that same prices - she still wants us to pay more for her bags. Thank you mam, but we don't need any more bags. Especially when they are exactly the same but more expensive, as you can see - we say as we pay the other lady. You may sell them for your price, that's all good, but it aint gonna be to us. She looks angry, smells it again and mumbles something as we leave - thanking the happy lady that just got to sell us her bag without having to bargain about her price. Once we got out of the market we were exhausted. Didn't exactly help that we were the only ones there.

Later when we'd had dinner and were relaxing at the hotel, Albin accidentally kicked his football off the cliff and into the water. By this time it was pretty much pitch dark (especially in the water) but it was still so warm and nice. So we had ourselves a little night-swim and caught that runaway-ball!

Oh, and Drew's back - yay!

Heat

Jamaica day 11!
After a long night (somebody partied too hard last night and woke me up, haha..) I dragged myself out of bed and got online to study with Moa. It was nice to sit out on the balcony in the morning sun and get the day started. At about ten o clock we had breakfast at Rody's - banana porridge? Oh. My. God. So good. The sun was beaming and the walk over there nearly killed us, but that porridge made it all worth it. After breakfast we went home for a well deserved swim - before it was time to go for lunch. Our new Swedish friends had made a reservation for us with one of their "Rasta friends". The food was good (all though Rody's is way better) and we were all still kind of full since breakfast. Everyone were all hot and slow around the lunch table, and wanted to get back in the water, so we did! We swam, we played yatzy and we watched the dolphins swim by. Then we went for another drive with Devon and luckily the ATM's worked better today, so we got that done. In the evening we went for dinner at a restaurant called the Hungry Lion - great food, but I was so tired from the hot day and even more from the terrible night that I pretty much fell asleep at the table. And kept doing so once I got into bed. Like a log all night long.

Food and philosophy

Jamaica day 10!
Once again packed the stuff we'd brought to Devon's place and moved back to the castle and went for a morning dip and a snorkel. We visited the turtle who lives in a hole in the cliffs around the corner from here, and saw another ray! This time I saw it from far, it looked HUGE and at first I didn't realise what it was. Tried to show it to Albin and Valle but it swam away before they could see it and I thought we wouldn't see it again. A few moments later we were all above the surface, fixing our masks and talking - when we went back under the gigantic ray was just beneath us, moving all majestic-y. We got super lucky!

After relaxing a bit in the sun we went for lunch at Ras Rody. This was mine and Julia's favourite place to go when we were here last, we rode our bikes here all the time. Rody's is a little shack just by the road, there is space for about 8 people if you squeeze in. "Let your food be your medicine." - The place is all organic, vegetarian and of course made with so much love you can taste it. Mmmm. All in the spirit of the Rastafari lifestyle. "People come here for food and philosophy".

After we'd finished lunch we took a walk up to Rick's Cafe, which is one of Negril's top tourist attractions. This is a place to have drinks, jump in the water from the cliff and watch the "proffessional cliff divers" in action. When I last visited me and Julia had become friends with some of the divers and so we hung out here quite a bit. But god, this place is so full of tourists I can't stand it. We stayed for about ten minutes, had a juice, and left. What a huge contrast from our little lunch-shack.

Devon came and picked us up to go get cash to pay for his room, but all the ATM's refused to spit out any dollars. Valle wanted 200 us but the ATM didn't let us choose what currency so when the cash came out they were instead 200 J - about 2 dollars. Apparently this is the way it is sometimes, so we decided to come back and try again tomorrow. When we got back to the hotel there was a lady giving oil massages right up on the cliff, outside our rooms. And so we all got one while listening to the waves. Beautiful.

We tried to plan for a dinner with the Swedish couple we'd met on the glas bottom boat, but couldn't manage to get in touch. Instead we decided to go to a place where "they have the BEST jerked chicken in Negril" - according to one of our earlier cab drivers. We've walked past the place a lot of times and there it is always steaming. And lo and behold if they Swede's aren't already sitting at one of their tables. The world sure is small. Food was good, all though it took a long time to get it. Bbq'd chicken, lobster and shrimp. After dinner me and Albin went back to the hotel, we were both tired and I had to study for my study date with Moa the next morning. Papa and Valle went with the Swede's to have a couple of beers. Outside the hotel there was a street party going on, loud ass music and people dancing everywhere - awesome! When I finished up and went to bed at about one o clock in the morning, they were still going strong.

Valentine

Am sitting on my balcony watching the sun set. From the owners place below I can hear music. Slow, smooth, lovie-dovie music - chosen for the occasion, surely. What's very Jamaican about it though, and what I am having trouble understanding, are all the police sirens, gunshots and whatnots being squeezed in between the "darling love me, you are my everything, oh baby"'s.

Oh baby - police siren - you are my everything - gunshots - I looooove you - bam bam bam.

Happy Valentine's everyone!

Donkey Race

Jamaica day 9!
Returned to Peevee's for breakfast since we'd been told it was pretty good and very affordable. And it was, but it took forever to get it. We pretty much ordered some fried eggs and it took an hour to get them, even though we were almost the only ones there. If it weren't for the guy working in the bar where we were sitting we probably would have been very annoyed. He was amazing. So full of life and happy go lucky, telling us stories, making us try his juices and got us coconuts. We had a blast and walked out of there smiling (a long time after getting there). After breakfast we headed back to the beach for todays annual Donkey Race. The whole festival ground was filled with people, stands for food and souvenirs, there was carousels run by manpower and music and shouting and sheering. The racing might have been one of the strangest things I have seen, and hilarious. The only thing that disturbed me was that some of the riders beat their Donkeys to make them move - a few of them threw there riders off though, and I did enjoy that. There were three Donkeys racing each other each time. Some of them run like the wind, some of them barely moved, some pretty much walked the wrong direction. The guy who gave us the flyer a few days back got me interested when he spoke of just that. "Ya man when the race starts one donkey go backwards one doesn't move good fun man." - ok, you've got me. We didn't stay long though, the sun was blazing and we were all melting, so we went for a walk on the beach and cooled off in the water. After the race we went back to the hotel and me and Valle went snorkelling. Saw two lion fish (gorgeous!) and a ray - which scared the crap out of me. I was swimming around, minding my own bniz, looking at the little fishies and then turned to my left to check if Valle was keeping up - and there he was at the same level as me, just by the surface. Awesome.

Beach!

Jamaica day 8!
At last, a beach day! Spent the whole day at there. We left first thing in the morning, had breakfast at a little beach shack and then found a place whit sun-beds. We picket Margaritaville because of the trampolines they have out in the water. Fun! It was a hot day, and we took turns sunbathing and swimming, playing football/volleyball and trying out the trampolines. Once when me, Albin and papa were chilling in the water I saw two black shadows in the water a bit further out. Was thinking man, these guys can really hold their breath for a long time. Turned out it was two big manta rays cruising the beach. The took a turn and came right at us, we had to move not to get hit. It was awesome! After lunch we got back to the castle and once again me and Valle moved out and back into Devon's place. It was nice to see him again. Got ready and went to Push Cart for dinner and to listen to Drew's last set with The Overtakers before he leaves for the US. And then we went to Peevee's - it's a really run down bar just two buildings away from the castle. Once every year they hold a big party here, and Everyone's there. It was an amazing crowd, such a mixture of different sorts of people. A dj and a lot of different live music. Apparently Peevee, who the place is named after, went missing about 20 years ago and no  one knows what happened to him. No body was found no nothing. So every year they celebrate his birthday with a huge party. Happy Bday Peevee!