Chiang Mai and Eco-Tourism

We are already in Luang Prabang, Laos, but we have to catch you up!  Chiang Mai was a whirlwind of fun and adventure.  Thanks to our friend Trey, who spent time with on Koh Phi Phi Don, we stayed at the Green Tulip House, a very clean, very beautiful hostel located in the heart of Chiang Mai.  The women who run the place were beyond wonderful and very helpful, we miss them already, Nine and Stella.  If you go to Chiang Mai definitely stay at the Green Tulip-just 6 bucks a night! We also met some wonderful people from all over the world that stayed there too. Shelly and Nick from Bristol, England were a riot and we spent time drinking Chang beer and whisky late into a few of our evenings.  We also spent time with a sweet and hilarious Canadian couple, Stacy and Tyler.  We also befriended Gavin, an observant, proper young man from England with whom we went to the Natural Elephant Preserve.  We had an amazing night going out to a restaurant on the river and eating on a boat and then listening to to some live music with the two couples, Gavin, and a handful of other travelers we met at the Green Tulip. 

We also made a great connection with the woman, Nine, who ran the place and she showed us some interesting Thai cultural videos and talked about her Theravada Buddhist religious beliefs and the famous tattoos of the region.  We learned a lot.

The second day in Chiang Mai we took an all day cooking class at Nine's friend's place.  It was amazing and we are now "certified" Thai chefs! The food we made was so fresh and some of the best we have had here.  Breen is stoked to make his own Pad Thai and glass noodle salad-two of our favorites!  We burned ourselves with chilies and almost burned ourselves with flame too.  First, we went to the market and learned about the fresh, fragrant roots and herbs they use in pretty much everything.  All of which provide health benefits.
 

Then we went back to their home and chose dishes to make and dove right in.  It was such fun and very educational.  We also learned how to carve fruit, Breen was the star of the class and made some works of art with a potato and some carrot. The couple that run the small school, Nancy and Port, were funny and very sweet.  It was a fabulous day that we ended later by enjoying the amazing leftovers that we made ourselves!

We also took advantage of a few of the activities offered in and above the rain forests surrounding the small city.  We went zip lining for a day.  It was called the Flight of the Gibbon, but the only monkeys we saw were our rambunctious, jokster "sky rangers" who made us all laugh and freak out a fair amount.  It was thrilling and fun.  But not just that.  Of the money we paid to do it, 20% goes to supporting the local village, ensuring the safety of that part of the rain forest as well, which was adjacent to a Thai nature preserve and in effect expanded the nature park. Also, none of the zip lines were attached to the trees themselves, but to wooden slats to ensure as little damage to the majestic Banyans and other rain forest tree giants as possible.  It was such fun whizzing through the air over the top of the rain forest canopy together and we supported a very sustainable enterprise! We had a great group with us and took a liking to an adorable, quiet couple, the woman was Thai and the gentleman was Taiwanese, both living in Singapore.  We had a nice talk over lunch and then they bought us tee-shirts, so sweet!

Our favorite (and most emotional) day, by far, was the day trip to the Elephant Nature Preserve.

We learned about the exploitation of the Thai Elephant, smaller than it's African cousin.  We learned that there used to be 100,000 of them roaming the rain forests and the number has dwindled to a mere 5,000; 3,500 of which are owned and used for tourism, and even for street begging (the worst for the dear beasts). Only 1,500 remain in the wild!  The numbers are still dropping rapidly.  The nature preserve saves elephants.  Some have physical deformities from bad breeding practices or being hit by cars when street begging, one even had her foot blown off by a landmine, others have mental problems from facing much abuse over many years.  A few have been saved from the wild as babies when their mothers were shot for grazing on farmers' crops, these most assuredly would have died on their own.  At the preserve, they all get to roam free-with Mahouts (gentlemen trained in caring for and guiding elephant behavior) lingering not too far off to keep them from hurting each other or leaving the preserve.

There are 32 elephants there and they have formed naturally into 5 families.  One was even pregnant.  We were able to feed them, hug them, watch them, and bathe them, but not ride them or watch tricks as that is considered unnatural by the amazing woman who founded the preserve, Lek (it means small in Thai).  She has been a pioneer of a new way of understanding elephant training and treatment.  The villages of Thailand have used brutal training techniques over hundreds of years.  Lek, though born into the that culture as the daughter of a Shaman that supports these techniques, has begun a positive reinforcement reginen and campaign, using love and treats to train them much like we train our dogs, and is helping a new school train Mahouts to treat the majestic creature much better.  We saw evidence of the positive reinforcement when they had one give us a big, wet  kiss on the cheek and was rewarded with bananas and sugar cane.  It was an incredible day and the money we spent to go goes directly to Lek's campaign and to feeding the elephants and rescuing more from brutality or abandonment.  We both cried a lot and hope that we can use our new skills to help Lek's endeavor in the future.

It was hard to leave Chiang Mai, but now that we are in Luang Prabang, we are content and looking forward to exploring this old royal capital of Laos...

Sending love,
Devon and Breen

She said yes!!!

How to begin.... I've been planning the proposal for a while. I've been nervous for weeks about how and when would be the best time, what ring to choose, and what to say. If you know me, and you've been around me since my graduation from the GreenMBA, it's apparently been written all over my face because countless friends and family (except Devon thank God) has called me out. (If you were one of those intuitive folks, thank you all for supporting me, giving me guidance, and for not spilling the beans.)

With the spotty weather we've experienced in Thailand during the monsoon season, and with so many opportunities to propose in the future (on an elephants back in Chiang Mai, on a river boat along the Mekong River in Laos to name two others), I wasn't sure I would do it until the day of. But as the day unfolded and the weather held true, and because I've been hiding the ring on my person the entire trip, I decided to pull the trigger and relieve myself of the excitement, nerves, and love that I had been bottling up until then.

We spent the the first part of the day on a tumultuous longboat ride to Koh Phi Phi Ley (the small uninhabited twin island of the more popular Koh Phi Phi Don where we were staying). I laughed as Devon squealed as the waves almost came over our boats starboard side. I laughed because I was more afraid of what was to come than the waves.

Once we had made it to the calm side of the island I spent the rest of the tour bouncing between being completely distracted by the beauty and grandeur of the shear cliffs covered in rain forest and intense nervousness about what I would say and where. I never was able to create a plan because I had never seen where we were going, and every time I thought of what to say I would freak out a bit. The words were never right, and the moment was never perfect enough in my head.

As we jumped in the water to brave the waves crashing against the rocks next to the stairs to "The Beach" I was clutching the ring with one hand, camera in the other. In hindsight this may have been stupid, but my emotions had taken over and I was NOT going to loose the ring and I was determined to capture the moment. Luckily I'm a strong enough swimmer, and was able to get on land.

Once on the beach I was dismayed by all of the people that were there, but as luck would have it they all left, save the two that came with us and one other after about ten minutes. It was then, and only then that I knew it was the right moment. I convinced her to walk to a quite piece of the beach instead of go swimming. I had to dodge the trash at the end of the beach and managed to find a little corner of sand with an awesome view and no one around. I told her I loved her and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life by her side. She anticipated the moment and attempted to slow me down by kissing me continuously, but I managed to finish what I had to say, took the ring out of my back pocket, opened the now soaked ring box, got on one knee and asked her to marry me. I was shaking, and I felt as though my life was in her hands.

She said yes and made my dream come true. I was the happiest and most relieved I have ever been in my life. I had captured a perfect moment for the most perfect woman in my life and it could not have gone better.

I'm still high from the emotion and I can't wait for the adventures to come.

--Breen

His Proposal!

It was already one of the most amazing days of my life.  We woke up to an ocean view on the island of Koh Phi Phi Don and hopped on a longboat for a half-day trip around the island of Koh Phi Phi Leh.  The only other people on our little tour were two business students studying in Singapore, one was French, the other German.  Both very sweet as was our long boat captain (who was all grins) and we were happy to be sharing the day with them.  The waves were rougher than expected and it was roller-coaster thrilling. My heart kept jumping as big bright blue swells knocked us left and right and ocean spray drenched us all.  The islands there are so beautiful.  Jutting cliffs with bright green rainforest on top, eaten away at the bottom by the constant waves of the Andaman Sea. We saw Viking Cave, a scary gauge in the rocks that some doc thier long boats at and people actually seem to live up on the side of the cliff! We saw a little house in a small cave above the big one!  What a way to live, can't imaging the commute ;)

Then we made it (without tipping over) to a beautiful bay with the clearest water surrounded by the huge cliffs and we all jumped off the long boat and had a good swim in the warm water.  It was beyond words.  Breen was playing happily like a little kid, pushing off the boat and doing flips, jumping in from the hight tip of the old wooden boat as our captain chatted with another longboat captain that pulled up.  There were not that many tourists that day, perhaps because of those waves.

Then we got back in the boat and circled to the other side of the island where the waves were darker and fiercer.  Getting to Maya Bay (the famously beautiful one from that movie) was an adventure in itself. We had to jump out of the long boat to brave the waves as they crashed meanly against the bottom of the cliffs.  We then had to grab some thick, weathered roaps and pull ourselves to "safety" on a slippery, steep set of stairs, climb up and then down again into a small shallow bay full of sharp coral and walk through that (with shoes on). 

Then we made our way through some beautful palms, bushes and flowers that look just like the white all-knowing seeds from the great spirit tree in Avatar. 

We walked through a small camp and then the rainforest opened onto Maya Bay, the most beautful bay, with turqoiuse waves crashing against white sands and those green-topped cliffs again shooting out of the ocean.  It was just so beautiful.  It is a tourist destination, but all but three of the people on the beach jumped back on their ferry boat and made their way out of the bay on the ocean side.  Leaving us with what felt like our own private paradise. 

I was already on cloud nine, walking the beach with my love, watching the waves.  We walked to the far end of the beach and Breen turned to me, back facing the lapping waves and the goreous bay and said..."Well, we have been together a long time..."and that is all I heard bacause suddenly I knew what was happening, I was shocked and I wanted the moment to slow down and last forever so I kept interrupting him with kisses.  Then he pulled a ring box out of his board shorts and was on one knee and he asked me to marry him.  I said "yes" and he swung me around and kissed me so beautifully over and over.  Then we got in the waves and held each other kissing and looking into eachother's eyes for a long time.  I have no idea how long, time definitely warped at that moment.  All I know is the two girls we were with were already in their life jackets and jumped up when we finally stepped out of the perfect bay.They had seen the proposal down the beach and had been patiently waiting for us.

I had no idea!!!!  The ring is beautiful.  It is alexandrite and white gold with celtic knots that mimic his tatoo on either side.  The alexandrite is a dark blue-green stone that changes color with the light like his blue-green eyes.  Alexandrite (he told me) is the traditional Jewish wedding stone and one of my birthstones!  The celtic knots represents his long Irish lineage.  The ring is the the two of us together just like we will be for life.  Well, if I ever doubted that Breen was a romantic I had no reason to beacuse it was the most romantic proposal I could have dreamed of and I am over the moon with joy.  He said the ring is just sort of a (very beautiful, very thoughtful, amazing) place holder  beacause he didn't want to bring something that would be devastating to lose or have stolen as we travel.  But he put so much thought into it and wanted to be meaningful anyway.   And it will be forever. He says when we come back we will find or design a ring together, which is what he thought I wanted.  He is so thoughtful and loving.  I am the luckiest girl.

Now we are in Chiang Mai and looking forward to cooking classes, elephant trecks, ziplining through rainforests full of Gibbon monkeys and getting more massages...life couldn't be better.

The Andaman Sea - Koh Phi Phi and Railay Bay

Such beauty and such peace here.  Islands shoot up in sharp cliffs topped with wet rain forest and the ocean is so blue.  The islands layer against each other in the distance reminding me of the beauty of Big Sur.  The ocean is clear and the fish are brightly colored and friendly.  The sky is so big against those jutting cliffs.  And the people...we stayed at this incredible bunch of little huts on a private beach on Koh Phi Phi Don and made many Thai friends.  We also befriended, Trey, a wonderful fellow traveler from DC who has been living in Australia and a lovely, very very tan, broken-hearted Italian man who took a liking to us and got Breen far too drunk.  They were good company at the isolated resort. We hiked through rain forest to a view point and found a small village with a pet monkey and a little goat and tons of chickens. We dodged many creepy crawlies including a hammer-head striped leach.  At the top of the mountain was one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen.

Breen somehow got hooked up with a Muay Thai lesson from the brother of the owner of the beach resort, Ken. Such a funny, sweet man.  I think was just an excuse for Ken to practice his boxing and relive his glory days as a professional fighter, but Breen gladly took the opportunity.  I took a ten minute video that they are going to put on their website to help Ken start his own fighting school at the resort.

Breen took a good beating, learned a spinning elbow maneuver and entertained the entire resort.  After that, we were in.  At the end we were "one of them" and they gave us shirts that they wear when working there and many hugs, telling us they'd see us next year.  It was very hard to leave.

Amazing beach, amazing people, best time ever. The pace of was life was that of molasses.  I could get used to this.

We thought nothing could beat the beauty but then we went to Railay Beach and stayed at a beautiful resort within view of some nutty cliffs.  We ate some incredible Italian food.  They know their noodles here.  We sat in a restaurant for hours that was right on the beach and watched the most amazing sunset, flanked by these sea mountains.

Aaand...now we are back on Phi Phi Don...we had such fun at the small isolated resort that we never did take the day trip to see Maya Bay (a.k.a. the beach from The Beach).  Had to see it, so here we are after a very tumultuous ferry ride.  We just had our fourth Thai massage and a few shots of Thai whiskey and we are putty.  Excited for all that is to come.  We really loved the south more than we had anticipated so we have been here and extra few days.  Tomorrow we will feed monkeys on a beach, see Maya Bay, and perhaps a few sharks if we are lucky.  Unfortunately I won't be swimming with the lomaa (dolphins) as it is not the season...but we plan to hang with elephants in Northern Thailand, in the city of Chiang Mai, which is our next destination.  We already have flights and reservations at a hostel that Trey told us is wonderful.

Not missing home, but loving all of you!
Devon and Breen

So Far...

We sit here in Phuket, in Southern Thailand, with a belly full of unidentified tropical fruits about to catch a ferry to Koh Phi Phi, a tiny island with cliffs shooting out from the ocean where the movie, The Beach, was filmed. 

So far we have been having a great time.  Bangkok was better than expected, crazy though, with no traffic laws (we think) and dilapidated sprawling messes next to beautiful new skyscrapers. The dichotomy is astounding.  We walked around and ate the most amazing food (Paul you would not believe the Nasi Goering here!).  And I tried this rice mush called congi and I am hooked.  Our concierge at the nice hotel we stayed in was amazingly sweet and helpful and even told us all about the "red shirt controversy".  Apparently, the beloved king is sick and may be dying and many people don't like the queen because she has chosen a political side instead of trying to unite the people.  Nobody knows what is going to happen.  There are two camps, those who like the queen and her son and those who love the king and his daughter, who also wants to help all the people and lessen the HUGE gap between rich and poor.  There is a parliament, but the king has moral authority and has been able to solve political disputes by staying impartial and loving ALL of his subjects. The monarchy may be ending in a way with his passing unless the princess can continue the king's legacy.  Fascinating stuff. Apparently Thailand is healthier ever before because of the princess and king.

We fended off many a tuk tuk driver petitioning us to take ride and saw many strange foods served right next to the whizzing cars on the crazy streets. We even saw a guy sitting in a recliner watching T.V. ON the freeway.  We took public transportation to this mall the seemingly size of San Francisco and twice as busy, to buy a cell phone, the mall was a madhouse. Sorry no incoming calls allowed :( .  On the sky train people just get right up in your armpits and rub up against you like its nothin, sardines in a can.

We got taken to "the best tailor in Thailand," according to our concierge and this book called The Best of Everything and are having suits tailored for our entrance into the "business world".  Armani silk cashmere blends no less! We also were taken to a jewelry wholesaler/manufacturer.  We saw the production line and were treated like royalty.  We found some beautiful stuff and cheap!

We flew to Phuket two days ago and have been living it up at this resort surrounded by lush tropical flowers and birds. We drank margharitas at a pool bar and I played jengha with the sweet bartender, I lost because of the wind, twice. (Breen - suuuuuure...) We met these wonderful people from Holland who are world travelers and lovers of life.  They told us many amazing stories about places all over the world and shared some words of wisdom about how to enjoy life and reminded us of what is really important - love, friends, adventure, new experiences and living NOW... not saving for "later".  They also made us want to go to Iceland, go figure. And they got us drunk.

 Here at the Duangjitt resort we are splurging at $65 bucks a night.  But today we take a ferry to Koh Phi Phi where we will stay in a cheap little open bungalo on the beach on the quiet side of the island.  We are both excited to escape the hustle bustle of touristy Phuket, and be a stones throw from a very blue-green ocean. Snorkeling here we come.  And maybe scuba diving.  Breen says yes, Devon is freaking out.

We have so much more to share, but we have to check out and make our ferry. We are sending love to you and hope all is well back home!

More to come...

Lah Gorn Ka (bye),
Devon and Breen