Well after over three months of travel, we unfortunately ran into our first real blunder. Here’s the brief synopsis of how we messed up and what we’ve been doing to try and resolve it.

It was our first day in Bangkok, and we were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to explore the city. We had FINALLY made it to Southeast Asia, the region were 4-star hotels only cost $20 a night and a fresh plate of pad thai only costs $0.60. We took the skytrain to the terminal stop, which is still about 2 miles from the main tourist sites. We didn’t really have an idea of what Bangkok had to offer beyond Khoa San Road, so we thought we’d wander a while. We were standing on a large street corner, trying to figure out where we were on the map when someone stopped and asked us where we were from. After explaining it was our first day in the city, he took the map and wrote all sorts of great ideas of where we should travel, and that it was a national holiday that day so all the tuk-tuks were only 20 Baht (about $0.60). How wonderful! We had a plan! What a nice man, giving us so many ideas… He even talked to the tuk-tuk driver and told him where to go.

Next thing we know, we’re at a business we thought was a government run tourist agency called T.A.T. (turns out that it was T.I.T (Tourist Information of Thailand)…we got TIT when we wanted TAT…there’s a joke in there somewhere). We were asked to sit down, and a man named Nicky started planning a trip through Southeast Asia for us. We didn’t really ask for him to do this, all we really wanted was some tips of what to see in the country, but he continued on.

“I give you great deal on this package! At least 20% off what you do! Nicky do his best for you!”

He never really asked us about what we wanted to see in Southeast Asia, he just started planning. I added that I’d like to go to Halong Bay in Vietnam, to which he responded,

“Oh.. okay. I can get to Hanoi, then you travel on your own.”

So it went from an all-inclusive trip to being a trip with a few hotels and a few flights. There was just so much information flying at us, it was completely overwhelming. One thing that Kevin and I have learned on this trip is that we have a hard time saying “no” to someone who’s put in a lot of work to do something for us, especially when they’re standing right in front of us. We don’t want to be rude to them, or have them think that we’re not appreciative for their time. This usually only costs us a bit of chump change at dinner, but not this time.

We sat for about an hour as Nicky told us all of these great things that he was going to do for us, and how it’s impossible for average tourists to get to some of these places, but not when he arranges it, so on and so forth… He gave us a price; we looked at each other and decided to go for it. Clearly jet lag and lack of food in our system really were affecting our judgment that day, because after going back to the hotel and crunching the numbers, we paid him over double what it should cost.

As you can imagine, we were livid. Actually, sick with anger. We couldn’t believe that we had been taken that badly. After discussing it for the better part of the night, we decided to go try and get our money back the next day.

We stopped by T.I.T. the next day to try and reason with the crook formerly known as Nicky, and get him to either refund our money or pay for our plane tickets home, both of which would have squared the debt (or brought it to within reason). Guess who was sleeping at his desk? When we got his attention, he looked at us, resituated himself and closed his eyes again.  We couldn’t believe what we were seeing. Even at this we kept our composure, although our tempers were raging just under the surface.  Amazingly, we never lost our cool…even when after calling Nicky out on his blatantly fraudulent activities, he flipped his lid and started yelling at us and jutting his finger in our faces.  He knew that he did something wrong and that we caught him. Unfortunately, for us , the damage to our accounts had been done.

During his ranting, before he stormed out of the office (not to return), he said that we could cancel the tours, but he would only get half the money back. So we would effectively lose a ridiculous amount of cash for nothing. When he didn’t return that day we decided to go to the tourist police to see if there was anything that could be done.

After some time spent chatting with the police, we were informed that due to the lack of anti-fraud laws in Thailand and the fact that they already had our money, there wasn’t a lot that they could do. Then they said that we had gotten off fairly easily, that this type of thing happens often and sometime more severely. That we should take this as a life lesson and just go on the tour all the while being robbed blind. That did little to console us…but they did give us contact information at the Ministry of Tourism.

The next day we went to the Ministry of Tourism to file our complaint. To their credit, they were very nice people who tried to do all they could to help us. They contacted the T.I.T., but to no avail. Their hands were tied for the same reasons that the Tourist Police’s were. But they told us to contact our credit card companies, which we had already done…only via electronic means. So, we decided to call our respective companies…easier said than done. Not having a phone on us we had to resort to finding a calling card at one of the biggest malls that I have ever seen…and we’re from the land of the Mall of America. Unfortunately, in all that consumerism there wasn’t a calling card to be found; as we must have searched all seven floors for the better part of an hour. In the end, we used a phone at an information desk in the heart of that bedlam. Alas, we got a hold of our respective credit card companies at the mall then later at our hotel, explained the situation, and we have a pretty good chance of getting our money back in full, and the cheats aren’t going to get squat…here’s hoping.:) Thailand might not have anti-fraud laws, but God bless the US for having them. Wish us luck for getting our money back so that we didn’t blow an exorbitant amount of money on absolutely nothing. 

As you may have guessed, we are not going on that trip…we have decided to organize our own SE Asia excursions; which if we were thinking clearly in the beginning we could have already been on and avoided all this mess. However, we are off to Chiang Mai tomorrow to hopefully trek through the mountains taking bamboo rafts and riding elephants. Then the plan is to take some Thai cooking classes, hit some beaches down south, visit Singapore then back to frickin’ Bangkok for a day of shopping for presents and catching a flight home.  If we have time, we might make it to Vietnam or Cambodia. But at this point we are ready to experience a little bit more Asian culture then get back to the good ol’ US to maybe WWOOF our way to a wedding in New York at the end of September. 

The end is nigh. We will visit when we get back. We still have a backlog of posts that we have to get to for the Middle East. But we needed to get this one out as sort of a catharsis. So thanks for your patience, and know that there are happier stories on the way.

Take care, talk to you soon…

Love,

The wayward spirits

Israel was intense. Or should I say it still is – hopefully we’ll be able to cross the border tomorrow into Jordan with no problem (I hear it can take a while, they’re extremely strict here). We’ve spent the last 6 days here and have had our fair share of ups and downs. Overall though, it’s been an incredible experience. Let’s get started…

Our first day started at around 3AM. We flew from Rome at 2PM on Monday, had a quick stop in Istanbul (along with the most expensive fast food I’ve ever purchased), and finally landed in Tel Aviv by 1AM Tuesday morning. One thing that happened on both flights – people started clapping when we landed. Have you ever experienced that before?? Kevin and I looked at each other in confusion. Congratulations, pilot, you didn’t kill us! Let’s celebrate with a round of applause! So anyway, after a quick tram ride and an hour long stroll through Tel Aviv (we found Occupy Israel, talkative bums and lots of kitties), we finally found our hotel. Kevin was happy because there was a strip club down the block, I was happy because we finally could sleep in air conditioning.

After waking up a bit after noon, it was time to hit the beach! Tel Aviv is known for its amazing seaside, so we were excited to check it out. We discovered a few interesting things about these beaches on the Mediterranean. First, lifeguards take their job very seriously. They sit on a Baywatch-like tower and yell in Hebrew all afternoon. Maybe they were yelling at us, and we just couldn’t understand them… Next is Matkot, While walking down the shoreline, we saw at least 50 games going on in one small area which sounded like a giant drum circle.

And finally, did you know its jellyfish season? We didn’t either, until we felt our first sting… then our second sting… uh oh. It wasn’t the actual jellyfish that was stinging us, but the tentacles that had broken off and were floating everywhere. I started to freak out a bit, so took a break and watched some impressive matkot games. As I was laying there, I noticed a rash on my stomach. The jellyfish got me in my bellybutton!!! Uffda. The rest of the day was spent relaxing in air conditioning, watching the first English TV we’ve had in a while. Guess what was on… Baywatch.

The next day was a whirlwind adventure with Israeli public transit. In our earlier travels, all we had to do was find the train station and viola, the work is done. But I read that Israel has the #2 bus system in the world, and often taking a bus from city to city is much quicker than taking the train, so we thought we’d try it out. First, a shared taxi (basically a minivan full of old Israeli women). Next, a cushy air conditioned bus that traveled directly from the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv to the CBS in Jerusalem. Since there are no maps or timetables for the buses here, we sort of had an idea of what buses we needed to take, but of course nothing is as easy as it seems. Thankfully, every person we asked was more than happy to help us. Along with directions, everyone made sure to welcome us into their country. No one ever welcomed us in France! Let alone help us with directions.

FINALLY we arrive at Mount of Olives hotel, only a quick hike from the Old City. We get organized and off we go, ready to walk the same path as Jesus… Or Abraham… Or Muhammad. We stumbled upon the Garden of Gethsemane, the grave of the Virgin Mary, and wandered around the Old City for the rest of the night. More on that later. For now, I'm off to enjoy a chocolate hippo and Maccabee beer. Shalom!

Well folks, it seems that I have the formidable task of catching you up on our Roman Holiday. Rome is a wonderfully grandiose city, where it seems that around every corner you are stumbling across a statue, or fountain, or church, or staircase, or coliseum that has some sort historical significance.  It was truly awe inspiring walking around the metropolis that held the seat of power for over half the civilized world all those centuries ago.

To see the ruins of the roman forum and Palatine Hill and imagine Julius Caesar’s ascension to emperor, or what the Rome looked  like after it was burned to the ground only to be rebuilt…or to even try to picture what the city must have looked like back then from the ruins that remain today is almost impossible.  And Vatican City was a site to behold in itself…but let’s not jump ahead of ourselves.

We we’re in Rome for 3.5 days. But we are not counting the half day because all we did was to arrive from Florence and find our camp site. All that we learned that day was Roman buses crowded and the schedules for them have no bearing in the realm of time and space. The plus side of that day is that we could relax for half a day and not worry about having to see stuff…plus Liz got to shop in a mega-mart called Panorama (think baby Super Target), so she was happy.  Sorry no pictures from this day, but we made up for it on the following days. (I think that we took a total of around 1200 pictures in Rome, and that’s with Liz forgetting her camera for the Vatican visit.)

This was the day when we covered the most ground. After a restful evening, we started off bright and early with the Coliseum. We got ourselves a Roma pass which gave us unlimited public transportation for three days and free entry to 3 sites without having to stand in ticket lines (quite a deal). The Coliseum is big, and it is old. Fortunately, we got there before the crowds showed, because even something that big fills up fast. They have tried to restore some parts of it so that one can get an idea of how it actually looked, but I think it might be better just to watch of movie ‘Gladiator’ just because I was having trouble imagining it in all of it’s grandeur.

After the Coliseum we went to Palatine hill (where all the emperors and dignitaries lived), which is adjacent to the Roman Forum (where everything happened). It was beautiful, and one could feel the history and majesty trickling through the eons when looking at the ruins of the once massive palaces and temples. Alas, now there are only surviving remnants of a once epic civilization.

After that, we started walking around the area only to stumble across a massive gleaming white building which turned out to be the Complesso del Vittoriano. It is a palatial, statue-laden building which now serves as a sort of historical center, as well as, tomb of the unknown soldier. With all of the white marble and intricate statues, it’s what I think ancient Rome would have looked like, back then…only on a much larger scale.

Hiding behind the Complesso was yet another massive and free building, the Basilica of St. Mary of Aracoeli. By this time we realized why Rome was so big...it had all these buildings to fit inside it.

After this was the Trevi Fountain, where one is supposed to throw a coin or two to ensure there return to Rome. A  hand full of loose change says we are coming back!

On our way to the Pantheon we stumbled upon Gippetto/Pinocchio’s workshop.

Then we arrived at the Pantheon. By this time we were getting pretty tired…as I am of writing this post. So if you would like to learn more about the Pantheon and it’s history please consult your local library, or talk to a really old person.

After the Pantheon, we made one last stop at the Spanish stairs. We were not in any shape to actually climb the stairs so we decided to save that for another day and went back to camp. That was day 1…two more to go. Exhausting isn't it?

On the second day we went to Vatican City to see the Pope. Unfortunately, he takes summers off and goes on vacation so he wasn’t there. But we decided to take a stroll around his house anyway…nice house! On our way we were confronted by a tour guide expounding the benefits of having a guided tour (no lines, in-depth explanations, more access, etc.) we were sold…thinking that it was going to be a small group. It was at first, until we started combining with other groups, by the end we were around 50 people being herded through already packed corridors in a perpetual hurry; whenever we weren't waiting for other people to catch up. Never again will we take a guide unless it is one on one...it was supremely frustrating and one of the worst choices of my entire life:). We had to go through the entire museum a second time just to see what we missed…better to get a guide book instead and peruse at one’s leisure. That’s what we learned that day…here are some pictures. By the way the art and museums were amazing...rivalling even the Louvre...simply astounding. Of course I can't show even 0.2% of what was actually there, but I did take a lot of photos that day. I will try to get them on the Flicker account before we leave Jerusalem tomorrow. Be patient, or better yet...go see them for yourselves.

We ran out of battery by St. Peter’s Basilica, so we decided to come back the next day and record the spectacle for posterity. So we just walked around in the warm evening past more palaces and piazzas. We actually spent an hour in line for this famous gelato…it was pretty good. We returned home late that evening to sleep and start in all over again the next day.

We started out our day by going to the post office to mail back a big box of souvenirs which we have accumulated over the course of the past two + months. Unfortunately, we forgot that it was Sunday and had to take the package all the way back to camp before exploring…sigh. Then we had to hurry to our reservation at the “second best museum in Rome”, the Galleria Borghese. Photography wasn’t allowed, but just as well…compared to the Vatican this museum was like walking into a kindergarten class. Don’t get me wrong, there was some amazing art there, it just wasn’t worth the trouble.

Then we took a nap in the park…followed by a walk in the park.

A walk which led to the Spanish Stairs again…

And ultimately back to St. Peter’s Basilica (this time with two cameras and plenty of battery power).

Thus ending our Roman Holidaze.

Now we are having a great time travelling around Israel and Jordan…but that is another post. Stay tuned. Pace in the Middle Acest!

Tomorrow the Dead Sea...

Don't forget to wish Liz a Happy Birthday!

Just a quick note to thank everyone for all of your support so far. Kevin and I can both agree that we’re having the time of our lives, living and breathing a new culture every week, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t miss home every once and awhile. Fortunately, it seems that every time I’m feeling a little homesick, I receive an email or blog comment which brings a smile to my face and cures those homesick blues.

Keep in touch, and we will continue to share our adventures!

We’ve been up to quite a bit since the last post. After a full day of travel, we’ve made it to Israel and now are in transit to Jerusalem. But lets not get ahead of ourselves…

Last week we finished up our second WWOOFing experience. I don’t know if some of you follow European Football (I know I didn’t), but when you’re staying with an Italian, you don’t have an option. Italy made it to the Eurocup, so rather than watching the game on his computer, we went to a club on the other side of the mountain*. When Nicolo was telling us about this club, I was imagining the place was going to be jam packed, full of devoted fans ready to cheer on their team. Here’s what was actually the case…

So, unfortunately, Italy lost (badly) to Spain. It was a painful game to watch, but hilarious to hear a bunch of old Italian men and women cursing at the television. Similar to when my dad watches the Vikings or Gopher football I suppose, only Italian cursing sounds much more angry.

The next day, we said our goodbyes and caught a bus to Florence. We stayed on a campgrounds in Venice and discovered that they also had locations in Florence and Rome. Perfect! A cheap place to stay that’s somewhat close to the city, with the added bonus of a view of the city. I know I got a few emails from people talking about how hot it was in the States over the 4th of July, and unfortunately it was the same in Florence. Unbearably hot, in a small tent, with no air-conditioning or breeze. You get what you pay for… but the view was beautiful.

To beat the heat, we made gelato a daily plan instead of an occasional treat. My favorite was a place called Mordilatte, near the Duomo. They even had special “American” flavors to celebrate the 4th of July – Strawberry Cheesecake and Apple Pay (that’s not a spelling error; the flavor was actually called ‘pay’, not ‘pie’).

Overall, Florence was a great experience, though both Kevin and I can agree that we’ve seen enough Renaissance art for a while.

*Sidenote for my family members – remember when we were in Colorado and Jacob took us on a “shortcut” through the mountain… Our drive was similar to that, except we had the luxury of a 4x4 truck instead of a dark green minivan.

A sneak peak into our adventure so far... More pictures to come, stay tuned!

We’ve been up to quite a bit since our last update. Of course we took a trip the Venice to see what all the fuss was about. Everyone we’ve met so far here in Italy has described it as a “fairytale” and “a city for lovers,” not to mention how beautiful the city is. So after spending three days wandering the streets (all of which seemed to be a dead end) here’s what we saw.

But we could only stand being tourists for so long. After about a week of travel, we found another farm to WWOOF at. This time, we’re located on the Chianti hillside in Tuscany. The farm overlooks a large valley, and is quite a bit more rustic than the first place we stayed. The property is built on a series of terraced cliffs, and has been in existence for the last 500 years. Nicolo, the owner, received the farm for free from a retired farmer, with the promise that he’d continue using the property with the utmost respect towards nature. With that in mind, he’s followed the principles of permaculture with the ultimate goal of one day, having a farm that essential runs itself. Until then, there’s still a lot of work to do.

Some of the main projects that we’ve been working on include

Hope everyone is doing well. Keep in touch and wish us luck – soon we start are travels in the Middle East!