We spent the last week in Sydney wrapping up lose ends and doing really important things such as: catching up on the 3rd season of Grey's Anatomy, playing Nintendo Wii, fighting colds, getting back in shape for ultimate, sleeping in until noon, and walking around beautiful Sydney. Here it is...the last post of the trip!

THANK YOU!

Cara:

Ever since about 5th grade, I have harboured an unhealthy obsession with Australia. I'm not sure what did it; a school report, a National Geographic documentary, a Crocodile Dundee movie (most likely), but I was enamoured. That obsession flourished during high school, and I got it in my head that I would study abroad in Oz in college. Well, then ultimate fribsee came along and I couldn't go abroad during the spring because it was the college season, and I couldn't go abroad during the fall because that was the club season, so I reluctantly decided I would just have to wait a little longer. Then one day in 2003 while surfing through the ultimate news, I saw that the Frisbee World Championships 2006 were scheduled to be in Perth, Australia...and my life changed. I changed my plans, I changed my goals, I changed cities (moved to Atlanta), and I began to try to get Mike on board. Ozone qualified for World's in '05, and it was certain...I was going to Australia. I worked two jobs and Mike and I spent as little and saved as much as possible. I told Claire and Whit (popular from such blogs as: This Blog and Their Own Blog) and, knowing that they were also hankering to do some traveling, tried to convince them to come. With a lot of hard work and a lot of budget living, everything worked out perfectly in the end. But this trip would have never happened if I didn't have help from so many people.



Thank you to my family for always supporting me and my love of travel and not freaking out when I didn't get a career right out of college so that I could go on this trip. Thanks to Aunt Faye, Granny Bea, Uncle Hoyt, Uncle Faierel, Mom, Dad, my Texas History students at Kealing and their parents, and everyone else who helped raise money or moral for the trip for me. I can't tell you how much it meant to me. Thanks to Ozone and all my teammates from Atlanta for qualifying for World's and making my dream come true while I sat on the sideline with a broken leg. Thanks to all those friends and family who helped Ozone get to World's through donations. Thanks to Kristiane for getting me a stuffed wombat in high school. Thanks to the Roost (Peter, Jay, Cookies) for letting Mike and I move in for three months to save money on rent. Thanks to my college teammates, present teammates, and good friends for supporting me in my crazy ultimate habit and making me a better player and person.



Mike:

The trip has been amazing. After 7 months I'm excited to get home and visit and share with my loved ones all that I've experienced. Thanks to everyone at home and those I've met while travelling. See you in Austin.

Both:

On the trip, thanks to everyone who opened up their homes to us and showed us a real slice of Aussie, Kiwi, or Thai culture. Thanks to all our traveling companions and close friends, Selah, Claire, Whit, and Ashley. Also thanks to all our friends we met on the Oz tour (the Hansen family, Carole, Ida, Gida, Sandra, Peirre, and Kajsa)that we hope to see soon in your respective countries. Thanks to the Ride family in Perth (Whit's distant relatives), Lee and Karen in Melbourne, Nickie and Dave in Melbourne, Whit's family friends in Melbourne, the Wedge in Syndey, Canadian Ed in Sydney, Robbie and Kay in Adelaide, Pierce in Brisbane, Hayden in Auckland, Valerie in Rotorua, Spencer in Christchurch, Alice and Christian in Wanaka, Caitlain in Motukea, and once again the Wedge in Sydney (Em, Nadine, Marcus, Greg, and Rosemary). Thanks for all the barbies, the couches/floors/beds, the free linens, the free transportation, the tips, the drinks, the food, and the good times.



After all that build up, you'd think it could easily be a let down. It wasn't...not at all...it was incredible. And we didn't just get to see Australia, but New Zealand, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia as well. The trip of a lifetime. Now we just have to go home, play more frisbee, get new jobs, and start saving for our next adventure in South/Central America! =)

Love to all,

Cara and Mike

Thanks for reading our blahg. =)

Happy Birthday Scott!
Hope you are having/had a great time in the Galapagos. I miss you and can't wait to see you soon!
Quarter of a century...whew,
Cara =P

Ko Chang, Thailand

Since a 7 month vacation can be so stressful, we decided to take a vacation from our vacation. We spent three glorious days of relaxation on Ko Chang, an island in Southeast Thailand near Cambodia. We got massages, we read, we rode our motorcycle around, we took long walks on the beach, we watched sunsets, and we read some more. We decided to go out in style, since the rest of the trip was pretty bare bones accomodation for 7 months, sleeping on floors, in a tent, in Fanny (our NZ car), etc.

Our bungalow on stilts was 5 feet from the beach. At night when the tide was high it came right up to the steps.

Chillin' on our porch on the first day.

I set a personal record for longest time without touching a frisbee! It was a little over a month I think. We got back into throwing on the beach.

On one of our long walks on the beach.

Sunset from our porch, facing the Bay of Thailand.

Our bungalow was complete with beachfront swings.

Mike looking sexy in one of our nights out to a fancy schmancy restaurant.

Back to Bangkok, and then off to Sydney again before heading home in June!

Phnom Penh, Cambodia


Outside the Royal Palace, lit up at night. Cambodia, like Thailand, has a current king and we even walked right by his car procession in front of the palace one day. The king got a good look at us as we strolled obliviously through the street blockade in search of dinner.









Inside the Royal Palace. The architechture was pretty stunning, but overall it was unexciting. The famous Silver Pagoda is in the compound, a wat with a completely silver floor, but most of it was covered with carpets to protect it. They did have an Emerald Buddha similar to the on in Thailand, and an impressive collection of small Buddha statues.





Stone sculpted stupa in front of a gold stupa in front of beautiful blue skies inside the Royal Palace grounds.

Before continuing with the pictures below, a little historical context is needed...here's the abridged version. After a period of prosperity and stability in the 1950s-60s, King Sihanouk (of Cambodia) was overthrown in 1970 by the Cambodian military and fled to China. Along with the increasing popularity of communism in the region came the rise of the Khmer Rouge, or red Khmer party. The U.S. (in conjunction with the South Vietnamese) promptly bombed the hell out of Cambodia to try and root out the North Vietnamese (and rising Cambodian) communist forces, similar to what they did in Laos with the Secret War. It didn't work, and the fighting ended in 1975 with the Khmer Rouge and their designated leader, Pol Pot, taking over Phnom Penh. They told everyone in the city to evacuate because the U.S. was going to bomb PP and within 3 days, a city of millions was a complete ghost town. It was an ingenious tactic playing on people's fears to get them countryside, where all citizens were then forced to work for the next 4 years in a huge agrarian cooperative, mostly growing rice to export. Meanwhile, Pol Pot's genocidal regime was systematically killing the intellectuals, artists, monks, ministers, engineers, foreingers, teachers, and students (and their families) of the former Cambodia at S-21 (see below) as they were a percieved threat to the new Maoist regime. In the late 70s Vietnam sucessfully invaded and overthrew the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot, forcing them into the northwest jungles where they launched a devastating guerilla war that continued throughout the 80s.

This is the monument at the Killing Fieldsof Choeung Ek, a field 20km south of PP where prisoners of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime were taken after being tortured for confessions to be executed. Over 17,000 people were killed here and buried in mass graves.

This is what you see inside the monument. 14 stories of skulls and bones of the excavated skeletons all the way to the ceiling...very haunting.










The main security compound for the Khmer Rouge was called S-21, made up of multiple buildings used as holding facicilities, for interrogation, and includes the killing fields where they finally disposed of the prisoners. Tuol Sleng, left, was all three things for the Khmer Rouge. It is a former high school right in the middle of the city converted to a center for genocide. You don't have to travel far to observe what happened in the late '70s under Pol Pot.





The metal beds the prisoners were chained to while being tortured are still in the rooms, along with various devices they used to torture the prisoners.










After our intense day seeing the remnants of the Khmer Rouge massacres we enjoyed a sunset on the lake to wind down. The lake was in the middle of PP, and in the middle of the lake was a floating village built on wooden rafts.














Just outside of Phnom Penh on the way back from the killing fields. We rented a moto for the day and had fun melding into the chaos and narrowly avoiding death on the streets of PP. You see, there really are no rules to driving...none. Sure, there are "lights" and "lanes" and "stop signs" that you are supposed to obey, but no one does. Very often you turn left into oncoming traffic and just drive in the wrong lane until you can get over to the right one.




You may be asking why an elephant is walking down the middle of a very busy street in the middle of PP. I wish we could tell you, but this scene was not uncommon; we saw another elephant in our lane the day before.















A Cambodian gas station. The other popular method of distriubtion is filling empty liquor bottles with gas and selling them on the side of roads. It took us a while to realize it wasn't liquor. Occasionally you'll run into a "normal" gas station.














Mike on our moto bike with lots of room to manuveur.

Phnom Penh to the Border: Off the Beaten Track in Cambodia

Forget 7 in a Honey Bucket...try 9 people in a Toyota Camry! Booyeah! We rode with 7 other people (granted two of them were very small children, but still!) in a "share taxi" from PP to the border of Cambodia/Thailand. Altogether a 8 hour journey in class and comfort...or maybe just class.










Luckily, our younger co-passengers were well behaved, relitively quiet, and incredibly (incredibly!) cute. They also smelled better than us...since our supply of fresh clothes was running thin (read: non existent). Their father bought us all kinds of goodies: jackfruit, a "doughnut" like object, and an egg like our little friend is eating.

A sign that Cambodia is still recovering and developing is the unpaved and bridgeless roads. Here's one of the four car ferries we took on our way to the border. Luckily, they had enough interesting foods for sale at each crossing to keep us occupied. Mike had what can best be described as a snowcone with green peas in the bottom and half a can of sweetened condensed milk on top (which he is currently addicted to).

Cambodia: Angkor

Siem Reap is just south (about 6km) of Angkor, the ancient capital of the extensive Khmer empire. The temples of Angkor are awe-inspiring; intricate carvings and inscriptions adorn each wall and pillar and gigantic moats and reservoirs surround the temples and cities. It's so hard to believe that this incredible architectural feat was accomplished with the use of elephants and human hands alone. Before this trip we knew little to nothing about them so we're glad we visited. It was a "wet season" day but we didn't let it stop us as we pedaled our way to the temples we wanted to visit around the 26 km. complex.

Welcome to Angkor! We were soaked from our ride in the monsoon rain.












Mike in the rain in front of Angkor Wat, the world's largest religious building.













A beautiful Buddha statue at the entrance of Angkor Wat in one of the huge walls. While Angkor Wat began in as a Hindu based temple built by Suryavarman II in the 9th century to honor his deity Vishna, it later morphed into a Buddhist temple with future kings turning to Buddhism. A lot of the temples still have Hindu-esque carvings and sculptures.













A little monkey lives at the top of Angkor Wat. Those intricate carvings manage to cover almost every single wall face of every single temple or building without seeming overdone.















Angkor Wat was a sacred temple to which only the king, servants, and people of high rank were allowed access. Angkor Thom was more like a gigantic walled city surrounded by a large moat and thick high walls that normal people used for everyday life.















Mike and I at Bayon, the main complex inside Angkor Thom. Bayon is famous for it's 216 giant faces carved in the pillars that start down at you with creepy faces.
















Carvings and dilapidation at Bayon.



















Some temples have been well maintained and the subject of heavy restoration, while others, like Ta Prohm, have been left to nature. This giant tree has taken root as the jungle squeezes in.










Monks climbing over the rubble at Ta Prohm.













Incredible...even in the intermittent rain.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

**Lots of new posts below. Internet has been incredibly slow for the past two weeks, so we just got caught up until now.

We bid Laos adieu on Monday and caught a flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia. We wanted to travel on land through Vientiene, Laos, but many things were against us; the rainy season makes many roads impassable, a recent U.S. State Dept. bulletin noting insurgent fighting on the highway we were to take, and lack of precious time all contributed to our decision to fly. But mostly lack of time.

Customs in Cambodia at the Siem Reap airport was quick and easy and for only $20 USD you can obtain a month visa on the spot. An interesting fact about Cambodia is that most things are priced in US dollars. Of course you can use Riel (the country's currency), but everything is listed, and can be paid for, with US bills. The current exchange rate is about 4,000 Riel to $1 USD.

Cambodia is recovering from being at war since 1970. They have fought through the Vietnam War, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, and then about a decade of civil war which ended around 1999. Of the three countries we've visited, this one is the least developed and trying to catch up. Even with the horrible recent past, there are still a lot of smiles here, although not as easily given in some cases. There are many amputees because of land mines haphazardly set by all sides in the conflicts. There were no maps made at the time to keep track of where they were laid so, like in Laos, remain a threat today. The wars here clearly effected those not involved in the fighting.

One of the days we visited the War Museum, an outdoor collection of leftover weapons from the years of war. Everything from Soviet tanks to US' M-16 rifles to land mines to UXOs (unexploded ordinance - i.e. bombs from planes that didn't explode). Our tour guide, Khom, was educated at a Christian missionary school and spoke very good English. He lost his left arm when he was about 5 years old after stepping on a land mine near where he grew up. He never knew his parents who were casualties or lost during the civil war. He had an amazing attitude and felt he was given a second chance in life. He made the experience incredible and added a personal touch to the war relics.

Following our museum visit, Cara had a great idea to donate blood at a children's hospital. There are beggars and children trying to sell books or postcards all times of the day. We have had a few debates on what would be the best way to help these children without giving handouts which possibly encourages them to beg instead of attending school. We instantly knew giving blood was a good option when we saw the crowded hallways filled with parents and their babies waiting to be treated. Malaria (night-time mosquitoes) is on the decline, but Dengue Fever (day-time mosquitoes) is on the rise in children. Blood is needed for transfusions for severe cases of Dengue Fever. And we got free T-shirts!

Accommodation. The first two nights we spent in a small inexpensive guesthouse ($4/night). At first glance this room looked up to par with the other rooms we've been staying in, but there were a few exceptions (cockroaches, mysterious poop pellets on the bed, relentlessly barking dogs) which sent us looking for a new place the third day. We found our new comfy home for a night at the Golden Temple Villa. Super sweet! It's the closest thing to a fancy hotel we've stayed in on this trip and it was only $9 for the night. You gotta love SE Asia.

Riding in a tuk-tuk, or motorized taxi/palace on wheels, is a luxury we seldom indulge in (we walk almost everywhere). But there are certain times when it is necessary, so we suck it up and take one every now and then.

Next stop, Phnom Penh.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOMS!

We love you,
Cara and Mike

Laos and Tigers and Bears, oh My!

We left Thailand through Chiang Khong, got a ride across the Mekong, and entered into Laos uneventfully, thankfully. There are no roads linking northwest Laos with the rest of the country (hence the importance of the Mekong River), so we took a 2 day slow boat from Huang Xai to Luang Prabang. It was an intermittently uncomfortable, mostly relaxing, and always stunningly scenic way to travel into the heart of Laos.

Some pictures of our trip down the mighty Mekong River:

Water buffalo taking a dip on the shore.













Enjoying the view from our guest house in Pak Beng, our overnight stop on the two day trip.












After arriving in Luang Prabang (henceforth L.P.) we settled in at our guest house and promptly searched out the nearest baguette. Laos, like most of Southeast Asia, was a French colony and maintains a lot of French influence in their architecture, language, and to my delight, baked goods. Here is a representation of our 4 days in L.P. in pictures:

Wat That Pho Si sits atop a hill in the middle of the city. It served as an orienteering device, exercise medium (we ran up the stairs most mornings), and great sunset viewing location for us while in LP.









The view east from atop Wat Pho Si hill at sunset. This isn't the Mekong, but another river that joins the Mekong just north of LP. One of the places we stayed was on the banks of this river on the right side of the picture.









A view of LP from above.













There are a few other monuments and temples on the Pho Si hill. There's also this incredible tree all over Laos, Cambodia, and northern Thailand...I don't know what it's called but it's beautiful. It's flower ranges from fire engine red to construction cone orange.














We spent one day roaming around in the Royal Palace and National Museum. The most fascinating of the exhibits was an incredible photo exhibit on Buddhist monks in meditation, called "The Floating Buddha". There was also an interesting documentary on the land mine and UXO problems in Laos today (read below). This is the view out the front of the Royal Palace.






We rented mountain bikes one day and rode 32 kilometers south of LP through mountain villages to the Tat Kuang Si Waterfall in the jungle. We were yelling "Sabadee!" (hello) to everyone we saw and got lots of smiles and "Sabadee!" back. Every time we were rode through a village, throngs of children would run up to the road to give us high fives as we rode by. I felt like Lance in the Tour de France...except that I had to stop and take breaks in the mountains.




We had some competition on the road with our bikes.












The Tat Kuang Si waterfall. There were 4 or 5 different natural pool tiers that you could hike up to and swim in...we hiked up to the near top of the picture. The water was cool and powder blue. I can't describe how refreshing it was after our grueling bike ride.














Just chillin' at a jungle waterfall, no big deal.


















There was a conservation project for Asian black bears near the waterfall!












Also for the SE Asian tiger!













The only bad part about Laos was leaving it after such a short period of time. We wanted to explore other parts besides the central region around LP, like the Plain of Jars (a mysterious large plain with 1-3 meter high ancient clay jars just spread out on the ground), and areas hit by the U.S. Secret War, but didn't really have time. Just for some historical reference though, the U.S. dropped 2 million tons of bombs on Laos during the "Secret War"/Vietnam because the north Vietnamese were hiding throughout parts of Laos. It's estimated that 30% of these bombs didn't explode, leaving the Laos countryside littered with a quarter of a million UXO (unexploded ordnance) that are still active and injuring, killing, or dismembering people on a regular basis. Despite this dim recent past and being the unfair target of a lot of other country's bad shit, the people of Laos were incredibly friendly, kind, and laid back.

We mostly survived off of a road side vegetarian buffet for 5000 kip ($0.50 USD!), baguettes with cheese, fruit shakes, pastries, and iced coffee. We read, we played cards, we drank BeerLao, we exercised, we relaxed, we watched a movie or two at a local bar, we took afternoon naps in the heat, and then we caught a flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia.