Live in the now

Part of our lessons at the meditation retreat talked about "living in the now," which I'm having a really hard time doing knowing we have to leave Tonsai and return to the States. our trip is winding down and were trying to soak in as much of Thailand as we can before we leave this week. this little cove has been really good to us. we've made some great friends with the locals and will really miss them. I had planned on venturing out to some other islands and place close to Tonsai but the word on the street has been that Tonsai is really the gem of this area so we've stayed put realizing it can't get much better then this. My camera broke one day when we were snorkeling so I've borrowed one and will add more photos next week when i return home I will also be adding tons of stories from our trip. To all my friends I'll see you soon!!!

THE BEACH!!!!!

What more can i say other then "paradise," I"m getting some pics up by popular demand, Internet here is pretty slow and expensive so its tough getting up as much stuff as I want to on the blog.

We arrived here in Tonsai and instantly fell in love with this place. the ocean here is so warm which makes for some great swimming even in the middle of the night as we did a few days ago. It was quiet amazing cause the moon is almost full so as we were swimming we could see the plankton light up as we swam through them. It was a pretty great welcoming down to the beaches here. there's endless routes here for climbing which makes these gorgeous beaches even better. There are hundreds of routes with in a 2 or 3 mile radius. and at night in Tonsai a small restaurant shines a spot light on the face of the rock and can climb well into the night if you please. we've been living it up here in the sun since we've been here in Tonsai. we took a snorkeling tour to four different Islands which all had pristine white sand beaches, and some pretty wild snorkeling. As T and shawny climb Greg and I go off and discover new beaches, caves, and girls this place really has a ton to do and still feels like you can relax all day on the beach if you want to. We're planning on going deep sea soloing. which is such a rad thing out here its a pretty famous place for it, check it out on youtube or something. not being able to climb is a pretty hard pill to swallow(broken Foot) here on tonsai, but I 'm still excited to watch T and Shawny take some pretty good falls on these cliffs into the water. watching a climbing movie called"first accent" really made me want to come to Thailand and climb these amazing cliffs, bitter sweets really tasting bitter but motivates me to return and experience the climbing on another trip. Greg went home today so were moving into tents that are set up by a business called green valley and we'll be saving a ton of money for the next couple of weeks on lodging. we've also found some pretty amazing food here in Tonsai, we've all became food critics and finding the best dish seems to be a competition for us. It's pretty funny because were always finding the best of what ever were having in this new city.which probably just because the foods been amazing everywhere we've ate on this trip. take care.

Meditation for the mind

We just finished a two day meditation retreat hosted by buddist monks, We were transported to a retreat in the country with about 25 foreigners. the retreat was free and was hosted by the MCU university in Chiang mi. It was a free retreat, all inclusive to be exact with great accommodation's and some great instructors. we learned several different techniques of meditation and really enjoyed our time there. I immediately felt relaxed and happy to be there even though I had a few hesitations before arriving. We were all dressed in white and kinda was waiting for them to serve us up some special punch and pass out the nikes, but it turned out to be a great retreat. Meditation is a huge part of buddist and monk traditions of clearing the mind and focusing on the present and being happy with where we are. I can see why this is apart of there lives. I've been a little infatuated with monks since we've got here, You'll see them everywhere here in southeast Asia. At first I was a little scared to talk to monks be cause the seem so serious and mystical. they are so calm and quiet all the time. I've come to learn that they are amazing people who in my mind have really grasped on to finding peace in there daily life's. I respect them fully in there pursuit for finding themselves, and there dedication to the society here. Our days here in chiang mi have really opened my eyes to the great culture of Thailand.
It is sad to be leaving Chaing mi tomorrow especially for Greg who has fallen madly in love with every girl in this city, and for T who has been working on a 12c climb. Our fingers are crossed that he got it today so we don't have to see a grown man cry.
If anyone has any questions regarding expenses, lodging or are planning a trip to this region feel free to ask we've been lots of places and have been trying to find the best, cheapest and everything in between in our travels, so feel free to ask I'd love to be of some help. My next blog I plan on writing some more traveling tips and facts about the region and I'd love to have some input. take luck,....and care!!!

Chiang Mai

Chiang mai has proven to be a great city to stay in, the activities are endless and is truley the art capitol of Thailand. the atmosphere of the city is great we've been able to find so many activities for some pretty good prices. we took a cooking class the other night which was one of my favorite things we've done, I'm excited to start cooking Thai food upon arriving home. We also floated down a river today on bamboo rafts and visited a tribal village where the women where rings around there neck to elongate them for beauty, it was really interesting but I felt I would be doing them a injustice by taking pictures even though the tour said we could. Meeting new people is by far the greatest thing about traveling weather they be native to the area or fellow travelers from all over the world. I would love to travel alone and solely meet new people in each city to travel around with and get to know, but this desire in no way means I have not enjoyed traveling with the 4 knuckle heads I'm with now, there all great guys and I even had a friend tell me last night that we were all lucky to be traveling in such a great group. We finally met up with the 5 person of our group Aaron yesterday, it was a great reunion since we haven't seen him for 9 months or so. All is well in the land of smiles, and heading to the south to live on some of the greatest beaches is getting us ancy. we'll leave here in a few days.

bambo Rafting

Farewell Laos

well we've left Laos and hopped on 5 buses yesterday and traveled for 26 hours straight. I though I was going to die since the night before we left I got only a few hours of sleep and absolutely can not sleep on buses! were in Chiang Mai now which is in north Thailand. We all miss Laos it was such a great country. we don't miss having everything stolen from us though, within a couple of days we had two cameras stolen one while T was sleeping on the bus , he was practically using it as a pillow when it got stolen. we also had 3000 baht (100us) stolen out of our room and shawnys Ipod. ya we got served. were a little more careful now. were back to the land of persistent Tut tut drivers always wanting to take us somewhere, but were excited to be in this city. It supposibly has a lot of climbing and some great sights to offer. I'm never taking a night bus again I can't see straight and need a massage thankfully I'm in the land of 4 dollar massages. well I'm off God bless!!!

Glad we missed that ride.

Vangviene

today's supposedly our rest day, our slow day. we've been everywhere in this crazy little town for the past 5 days we've been living in a Laos paradise. we call it our "Adventure base camp to Laos" We've spent hours discovering villages searching for caves and swimming holes, T and Shawny have climbed every minute we've been here. This town is addictive, keeping people here for weeks and even months longer then expected. I feel a horrible pit in my stomach thinking that the day will soon come when we as well will have to leave this town. It's the Hub of backpackers here in Laos and for good reason. the streets are lined with every restaurant and bar you could ever want, and the sky line with shear cliff mountains for miles in every direction. It's colder here at night, we've even had to pull out hoodies a few nights. We haven't stopped for even a second since we've arrived here in Vangviene. Vangviene being the mecca for backpackers I've met so many amazingly fun people here, I met a Dutch girl who I instantly fell for. I spent some great days with her but we'll be parting in different directions which is how this traveling circus out here works I suppose. I keep running into friends from other sections of our trip which is quiet fun. We have a friend who was coming out to meet us on the 16 of this month and I received an email that he decided to come early on a whim and now he's in Bangkok, apparently he's already got a date with a pretty girl on Friday night so he will meet us in a weeks time in Chang mi. p.s. It's Aaron and I really can't wait to be hanging out with him in Thailand. seeing how its our slow day I'm going to find some time to put up some pictures as well. I had someone tell me before I left on this trip that I would come out here and then come back home and everything would still be the same in my life. that traveling or "running away" for awhile wouldn't change a thing. I beg to differ, no no I will differ. This trip this experience will in fact change the way I see and feel about the whole world, my whole world. I was walking through a village yesterday with no running water, no electricity watching children play with there sticks. watching mothers cook over a camp fire and old men sitting around talking of who knows what the weather, the rice fields, there 300 pound pig, who knows, but the point is, How can that not change how I live, how I perceive this world and even my existence in it. More then loving this place and more then having endless nights, and crazy adventurous days, I will never forget how small we really are and how huge we really can be!