Elephantastic

What a day, what a day! It started very early with toasted sammies from 7-11 while we waited for our lift. Our first stop, about 45 minutes outside of Bangkok, was to a fresh market. It was pretty similar to markets I've seen in China, but I will never get used to seeing gutted fish, live eels, and tied up toads for sale as food.

Next stop was for an ox cart ride through rice fields wearing silly but very practical hats. Stef's driver smelled like sweat and Sarah got rosey shoulders from the beaming sun. The views were pretty awesome.

We did a little bit of hiking through Khao Yai national park to see a "double wow" waterfall as our tour guide called it. It lives up to his hype.

An amazing Thai lunch followed. The star of lunch for me was the coconut soup. I had more spiritual moments while eating. So good. We had spikey fruit and purple fruit for dessert. (I have to find out the names still)

ELEPHANTS! What an incredible experience. Hilary and I shared our elephant with a Japanese man traveling by himself. Hilary's 'dad'.
We took a little trek through the jungle and each had turns sitting on the elephants bare back. Feeling an animal that large carrying you is indescribable. Bom Bam is a 38 year old female who is docile, sturdy, and gentle. Her giant ears flapped against my legs, cooling me down while I patted the rough skin on her head. Afterwards, they ate bananas from our hands - peel and all.

We're now on our way back to Bangkok (a 2+ hour drive) then the night is ours. Our flight leaves at 7 am tomorrow and we've yet to decide if we'll take it easy or just stay up all night until we have to be at the airport. Decisions, decisions.

Disclaimer: whacky photo ordering is because I'm doing this from my phone.

Real time blogging outside the great firewall of China

I have lots more to post on Italy but because this site is blocked in China, accessing it through my VPN is painstakingly slow. But now I'm in Thailand! With wifi so fast I don't know what to do with myself!

Before I get into Bangkok, I'd like to mention that it just occurred to me that I was a little narrow-minded in choosing a name for my blog ("kaileydoeschina") I'm in too deep now, so the name stays. Sorry if I confused anyone or made anybody question whether or not Tuscany was now a part of China. But you're all clever people so I'm sure you figured it out.

Bangkok! It's pretty surreal being here. Especially because I've met up with some great friends whom I haven't seen in a long time. Altogether, there are 7 of us: me, Emily, Hilary, Jennie, Lindsay, Stef, and Sarah.

Em and I arrived around 2am and patiently (or stupidly) waited for 2 hours for our friend Hilary's flight from Hong Kong before asking why it was delayed and when we should expect her. (she was meant to land 20 minutes before us) After being told that her flight hadn't even left HK yet, we decided to head to our hotel. Thankfully Hilary was able to find her way to our hotel where the front desk gave her our room number and a key without hesitation... Even though her name wasn't on our reservation. Not very reassuring in terms of our safety, but it was convenient under the circumstances.

Yeaterday, we did a bit of nosing around on Khao San road. The market is filled with sunglasses, clothes, jewelry, and more. It's even cheaper here than China! The food too. Holy smokes. Treats around every corner. Pad Thai on the street is amazing and so inexpensive - about $1 for a heaping plate of deliciousness.

This morning we're off on an elephant adventure. I'm way too excited for 6am. Tonight will be our last night in Bangkok then we head to the islands for some more fun times.

Cold Caves to Cinque Terre... more Tuscany!

On day three in Tuscany, Doug, Kyle, and I went to Grotta del Vento (Wind Cave in English) about 45 minutes from where we were staying. Thankfully we were prepared for the 10 degree weather inside the cave. We had a 2 hour guided tour inside that was really informative. Unfortunately, I remember about 2% of the information we were told. Here is one little tidbit that I do recall: inside, the humidity is close to 100%. Because the humidity is so high, the cave has been used as a place for a kind of respiratory therapy for people with problems such as asthma. The moisture in the air 'captures' the allergens, keeping the air extremely clean. After a few hours of just being inside the cave, patients were alleviated of some of their symptoms. That's all I got. The cave was nice to look at too :) 

The following day, we roamed through the towns of Siena and San Gimignano. 

Delicious delicacy in Guangzhou; annoying and ubiquitous in Siena.

Silly kids

They were cute. I'm a creep.

Creepy sculpture in both form and placement.

My bro throwing stuff at cicadas.

Next stop: Florence. Before Kyle's flight back to Vancouver, we had some time to wander around. 

It took a while before I realized that Firenze and Florence are the same place. Duhhhhh.

I heard a little girl ask her father "Dad, why are they all naked?"

Gelato stop. Obviously.

A few hours after we said our farewells to my brother, Kyle, I stood anxiously at arrivals waiting for somebody very important who I hadn't seen in far too long. 

Hi Conor!

Back to Bagni di Lucca

Since Conor had spent the previous day traveling, we thought we would take a day off from adventuring and stay in Bagni di Lucca. 

Which meant we could spend two+ hours having lunch...

...looking at views like this...

...and enjoying lots of wine...

and grappa before our nappa (or siesta or whatever an afternoon snooze is called in Italian).

All rested up, we ventured into Lucca for the evening.

Conor and I spent our last full day in Tuscany in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

Cinque Terre!

We went to the first two villages of five: Riomaggiore and Manarola.

Stopped for some refreshments :) 

And then for a quick dip in the sea.

Beautiful ceramic tiles at one of the train stations. 

Via dell'Amore is a pathway connecting the two villages. 

That's all for Tuscany! It was absolutely incredible to see my mom, Doug, and Kyle. The next day Conor and I had a full day of travel from Lucca to Bologna by train then Bologna to Palermo, Sicily by plane. It was hard for me to believe that I was only half way through my Italy trip after seeing so much already. 

Italy Part II is next!

Please leave comments :) Ciao for now.