Hello from Vietnam!
It's very late here so we aren't going to say much, but hi, we miss you, and we just put up a ton of pictures from Bangkok, Hanoi, Sapa Hilltop Villages, Ha Long Bay Limestone Islands and where we are now... Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam.

It took us so long to do the pics that we ran out of time add detail behind the pics and stories on the blog! We'll continue to update over the next few days so stay tuned :)

Since we won't be with our families on Thanksgiving we decided to stay another 2 days on this island and treat ourselves to some good sun time, long walks on the beach, and of course.. $3 massages! If you want to see where we are... check out http://www.vietnamphuquoc.com/. We leave for Cambodia on Saturday to see the temples at Anchorwat. Not sure exactly where from there, but are pretty sure we're headed back to Thailand to explore the South.

We are still having a blast and are being really safe!
Happy Thanksgiving :)
Miss and love you all.
Rach and Steph

Our trip inspiring you to go travel?

We keep getting emails on how much our trip is making you all want to go and do some traveling... well.. we thought this was the perfect opportunity to tell you about someone who has made our trip so much better (and easier) on us than we could have ever done on our own! We have the BEST Travel Agent who specializes in Australia and New Zealand. If you're even thinking about planning a trip there.. you MUST contact Phil at Aspiredownunder.com. Phil and his wife (owners of Aprire Down Under) have spent a ton of time and are experts in these areas. They have helped us with recommendations on what to do, where to stay, how to get around (we are taking a camper van through NZ and everyone we've met and told that too.. say we are so lucky and that's the BEST way to do it!) and much more. They even helped us get our visas! I don't know if we'll ever be able to show them our thanks and appreciation, but this is one way we thought we'd start! You all know us and we wouldn't back someone (and promote them) if they weren't truly amazing!

Contact information for Aprire Down Under is:
phil@aspiredownunder.com or sales@aspiredownunder.com
www.aspiredownunder.com

Trust us when we say.. if you're thinking about going.. do it right and contact Phil! We did and it has made all the difference in our trip so far!
Have a great day,
Rach and Steph

Hello again from Bangkok!

So, we have been here in Bangkok for a few days now and had to write a little about our experience thus far b/c we've had some crazy ones. Bangkok is truly another world! And not much is shocking at this point.....read on to see why :)

This city has great energy! It is crazy busy at all times of the day and night. There are cars, motorcycles, buses, bikes, and/or people, in the streets and on the sidewalks at every second. It's very chaotic, but it all seems to work somehow. And it's ridiculously cheap here. I think it's common knowledge that we both love to spend money, so we are loving it for that alone! We get 40 Thai Bhat to every $1 USD. To give you an idea how cheap it is, large bottled waters are about 20 cents, large tubes of toothpaste are 50 cents, hour long massages are $11, and pediucres are $2.50.

So, since the massages are sooo cheap, we've treated ourselves to one just about every day so far. Shocking, right? :) We started out getting foot massages and then Rach ventured out last time and got a hot oil Thai massage to try to help her back - it's giving her problems again. The massage was great, and did help Rach's back, but the experience itself was a little more interesting than anticipated. Nothing embarrassing or inappropriate happened, but Thai massages are not for the modest. We found out that it's totally normal to shower off while the masseuse is in the room, to be completely naked in front of her, and for her to rub down your entire chest. At home this wouldn't fly, but here it's normal. When in Rome....., right?

On Friday, we encountered the biggest downpour we've ever seen. It rained for about an hour and by the time it was done the streets were full of water (at least a foot, if not more). We were at the gym, luckily, when it happened so we didn't get wet, but when we went out afterwards for lunch... the entire road was flooded. Everyone kept on going as if it were no biggie - even the guys on motorcycles drove thru the water without giving it a second thought. It was madness to us, but apparently normal for everyone else. At lunch we tried to sit outside....we quickly had to move inside though b/c there were cockroaches EVERYWHERE. The rain brought them out and they were literally running across the sidewalks and thru all of the puddles. YUCK! I think we counted 20 HUGE ones all at one time. We even saw one crawling on a guy...eeeewww... We HATE cockroaches!!

Yesterday was quite interesting as well. We recounted our day last night and couldn't stop laughing b/c it was so random. We started out our morning by buying fake Cartier watches in a back room in the middle of a Thai market. We were in a 6 x 6 room with a glass sliding door covered by a dark shower curtain (for privacy) and the watches were pulled out in metal brief cases that were kept in a locked cabinet. Think it's illegal for them to be selling them?We then rode in a Tuk Tuk, a motorized three-wheeled covered wagon that they use for taxis - there are as many Tuk Tuk's as there are normal taxies... they're everywhere! For dinner we ate tuna that we still aren't sure was tuna amd after dinner, on our way to try and find a bar that was recommended to us, we passed thru hookerville (literally there were women in evening gowns everywhere, some even wearing numbers). After Hookerville, we passed through the night market and got yelled at by a Thai woman selling pashminas because we offered too low of a price and then ended up at a bar watcheing an all male gay cabaret show. Oh yeah, and we got flowers bought for us by a random French guy.

Forgot to mention that our first day here, while sitting at dinner talking about what we wrote on the blog that day, we saw a full grown elephant and baby elephant being led down the sidewalk for tourists to take pictures of (in the middle of the city!!). Please note that this was AS Steph was saying what she wrote about the Elephants that day. Strange huh?

Have a feeling these will only be the first of many stories like this! Bangkok, ya gotta love it! We do so far!!

Ok, we're off to start another day, another adventure. Will write more again soon :)

xoxo,
Steph and Rach

Looking for a way to give back ... we met someone who could REALLY use your help!!

On the township tour we told you about, we met someone who really struck a heart cord. Her name is Gloria and she runs a small school in one of the largest, but poorest townships. She has 3 kids of her own, but invites 17 others into her home every day from 8am to 5pm to teach them English, Math and Reading. Their native language is Xhosa. The other schools in the area are too expensive for these families to afford so she does this for only 50 Rand (that's $8) per month. This amount barely covers the cost for her to feed these children during the day and she provides all of their food.

Gloria is really making a difference in these children and making sure they are going to have bright futures. Her 3 year old son sang (in English) for us the ABC's, counted to 20 and named all of the months in a year!

Gloria could use your money, but she could really use children's clothing (any ages from new born on up) and school supplies (paper, pens, crayons, english children's books, etc) even more.

We've included a couple of pictures of Gloria, her home she uses as a classroom, and some of the kids she teaches. We've also included her mailing address if you'd like to help her out.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please don't feel pressured to help.. we just wanted to share this opportunity because I know many people are always looking for a good way to give back.

The kids! Love the kids :)

They were SO excited about the sweets!

______________________________________

Address to send clothing or supplies:

Masakheni Educare

N. Gloria

Box 40022

Elonwabeni 7791

South Africa

More of what we've been learning....Xhosa Traditions!

There are many traditions still in place within the Xhosa community. We were educated on some of them at the wedding and wanted to share them with you all b/c we found them so fascinating.

Before a couple can get engaged, the groom goes to the bride's family and negotiates how much labola he will pay for her hand in marriage. Labola is the amount of money (or in the old days, number of cows or sheep) the bride's family and groom agree that the she is worth. The amount agreed upon is based on the bride's education, family status, beauty, etc. Nelson Mandela, who is also Xhosa, paid something like 250,000 Rand ($41,650 USD) for his last bride - she was the king of Mozambique's daughter and very well educated, so worth a hefty labola. At the wedding we went to, the labola was 40,000 Rand (about $6,650 USD). The bride was well educated and practiced law in Johannesburg. 40,000 Rand is a lot of money to South Africans. Once the labola is paid and the wedding is complete, the bride now belongs to the husband's family. If at any point, however, that the marriage goes askew - i.e. they have a big fight or he's treating her badly, and the woman goes back to her family - even if only for one night - the man may have to pay her family the labola again.

More interesting traditions are carried on during the traditional wedding ceremony. The traditional ceremony takes place after the white wedding. Xhosa people perform two ceremonies nowadays - a white wedding, which is similar to weddings we attend back home and a traditional wedding, which is similar to the weddings performed back in tribal days. The white wedding of the couple who's wedding we attended was held in Stellenbosch, South Africa's beautiful wine country (the equivalent to our Napa :)) The traditional wedding was held back in the township, where the bride and groom grew up at the home of the groom or his family. The entire community is invited to the traditional wedding (friends, neighbors, and even strangers), the bride changes outfits two, three or four times, and, probably most important, the the bride is taught respect by the groom's family.

We couldn't figure out why the bride didn't seem very happy during the ceremony until the teaching of respect was further explained to us. You will notice she's not smiling much in any of the pictures. Teaching of respect is dreaded by all Xhosa brides. The groom and his family (mostly the elders - grandparents, parents, or his oldest siblings if they're no longer around) sit the bride down and teach her how to respect him and his family. She is not allowed to speak during this teaching and must just sit there, listen, and take it all in. Teaching her respect includes laying down ground rules, showing her how to dress when in family members' presence, and giving her a new name.

We posted a picture of the outfit they picked for her to wear in their presence - it's the photo labeled "3rd outfit". The bride must wear this while in their presence until her first child is born. It's pretty bad! Only after her first child can she choose what she wears when around them.

The new names she is given stick forever. She is given three new names in total. Just like we do, she takes her husband's last name. She is also given two new first names which describe how the family feels about her. The names can be good or bad depending on whether or not they like her. And, again, the names given that day are used then for the rest of her life!

After understanding the teaching of respect, we understood why the bride wasn't all smiles on her traditional wedding day. Not only is she taking on a new husband and all that goes with marriage, she's taking on the family and their rules as well. Wow!

Hope you all found this as interesting as we did!

Rach and Steph :)

So not only have we had a lot of fun, but we've actually been learning a lot along the way too! We took a private tour to the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall in Beijing... here's some of the interesting facts we learned:

Ming Tombs -

1. Most of the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty are buried there. Their tombs have both an above ground and under ground palace because they believe emperors go on to another life. Their above ground palaces are rectangle because the Chinese believe that the Earth is a rectangle. The below ground palaces are round because they believe Heaven is round.
2. The bury all of the Emperors treasures in the underground palaces. They have only excavated one of them and found over 13,000 treasures... each made of gold, silver, jade, silk or some other expensive jewel/fabric. The Emperors currency and belongings were all gold and the Empress had only silver. All of the treasures were in perfect condition except the silk outfits.
3. In addition to the Empress, the Emperors had MANY concubines that all lived in the Forbidden Palace. One Emperor had over 3,000 Concubines. It's tradition that the Emperor's favorite Concubine be buried with the Emperor... ALIVE!
4. Forbidden Palace - Had 9,999 rooms because the number 9 stands for longevity. All of the Emperor's Concubines, children, workers (Females and Unix) lived in this palace.
5. You ask.. what is a UNIX?? I asked the same thing. Because the Forbidden Placed housed all of the Concubines, the Emperor was the only man allowed to be in the Palace. Therefore, if you were a man and wanted to work there... you had to be castrated and were then became a Unix.
6. 3000 Concubines??? Each Emperor must have had a TON of children right?? Wrong.. some did have as many as 100, but the Emperor had final say. As soon as the Emperor would have sex with a Concubine, a Unix would ask him "if she's pregnant, do you want her baby??" If the answer was no, the Unix would force this Concubine to drink a tea that had the same effect as the "morning after pill".
7. The Ming Dynasty was the 2nd to last Dynasty in China and built the longest Great Wall. The last Dynasty was the Ching.

Great Wall

1. Did you know there were several Great Walls? Each time the Northern Border of China changed... the Dynasty at the time would build a new Great Wall. The one that people are allowed to visit was built by the Ming Dynasty and over 4000 miles long... that's longer than the entire width of the US... CRAZY!
2. The Northern side of the Great Wall is much taller than the South side because that's where the intruders would approach. It's amazing the system they have set up there! They have a tower called the "Beacon Tower" that keeps watch and lights up to signal everyone else if danger is approaching. There were several holes built into the wall that were used for viewing, shooting, or pouring hot oil on anyone trying to climb up.
3. You can tell the Great Wall is built by hand... each stone is completely different and the steps are drastically different in size. There are portions of it that are flat and steep... these were used for quickly transporting needed items in times of crisis!
4. The portion of the Great Wall you are allowed to walk on has been restored. The original Great Wall that hasn't been touched is falling apart and is completely over grown by vegetation. You can see bits of the old wall along the drive up to the touristy section :)
5. We were told this was a true story ... "One of the Emperor's favorite Concubines would never smile. He tried EVERYTHING to make her smile and NOTHING worked. He knew how much she hated the General so one day he sounded the alarm at the GREAT Wall by lighting the Beacon Tower. He and his Concubine watched everyone RUN to protect the wall and when they realized that it was a prank... the General was FUMING! The Concubine finally smiled :) A few months later, the Wall was really under attack. The Emperor sounded the alarm and NO ONE came... they all thought it was another prank. The Emperor was unfortunately killed and the Concubine smiled again."

About Jane (our tour guide) and the Chinese culture:

1. Jane is 25 and still living at home. Apparently, most people live at home until they are married. She has a boyfriend, but never gets to stay with him because her parents (like most others) are very strict and enforce a 10pm curfew.. EVERY NIGHT!
2. Jane is an only child because there is a one child law in China that's used to control population. This is sad, but it's common that families would want a boy so they can carry on their name and have someone to take over their businesses so they would give birth at home and leave their newborn girls on the steps of orphanages. Their orphanages are flooded with little girls :( Today they won't let doctors tell you the sex of the child... this has helped control this problem a little, but it's still exists today.
3. Once a woman has a baby, she's immediately encouraged by the doctor to have an operation to ensure she won't have another. Most women choose to do this...even today.
4. What happens if you have a second child? It's frowned down upon in society, both children lose their health benefits (1st child gets them free), they must stay in a house/apt built for a 1 child family, and school is no longer subsidized by the government.

That's all we can remember right now. A little history lesson for ya :)

Love and miss ya,

Rach and Steph

Hello from Bangkok! We can't believe we are already here in Thailand!! Time is flying by. We apologize that it's been so long since our last posting. Internet cafes were sparse and/or very expensive in both South Africa and China. Today is our first day in Bangkok and we've already found an affordable cafe close to our hotel....so here we go!

Since our last entry we have done so much. Instead of going in to all the juicy details right here like we've been doing, we thought this time we'd give you the high level tidbits and add the details under each picture in the viewing section so you can pick and choose what you want to know more about. We also have arranged the pictures in to sets so it's easier to tell where we are and during what time frame. Let us know if you like this new way of doing things :)

So, we left off in Cape Town just before we headed to the Pilanesburg National Park for our Safari. Wow, what a great time the safari was! We flew to Johannesburg from Cape Town and then drove 2 hours northwest to the Bakubung Lodge, which is located within the park. The Bakubung was great! It had a rustic feel, but was upscale at the same time - definitely a splurge for us :)....and we enjoyed every second! Upon arrival - literally driving thru the gates of the Bakubung - we came across a huge male elephant - he was about 20 feet from us. We sat in the car for about 10 minutes and watched in awe - we couldn't believe we were watching a 3 ton mammal feed right outside of our hotel. Pretty cool. We saw a ton more animals over the next 4 days - white rhinos, black rhinos, hippos, giraffes, cape buffalo, zebra, and many more. We went on two 3 hour game drives early in the morning (5 AM - sooo early!) and two 3 hour game drives in the evening. We also went on a game walk, where we got within 100 yards of a Black Rhino (they are very rare!) and about 30 yards of a heard of mom and baby elephants. The only animals we didn't see were the cats (lions, cheetahs, and leopards) - such a bummer, but reason enough to go back someday :) We've uploaded a ton of pick of the lodge, animals, bush bbq, etc., so take a look!

After the safari we headed back to Cape Town to attend a traditional Xhosa African wedding. Xhosa is the name of their tribe and also the name of the language they speak. Xhosa is one of South Africa's 11 recognized languages. It is pronounced "Chosa" and said with a click (the "ch" sound is simultaneously said with a clicking sound) It sounds so cool when they say it - we can't do it to save our lives though - ha! Zanele, the young woman we befriended who invited us to the wedding, was so excited that we were coming back. We knew attending the wedding was a once in a lifetime opportunity, but we had no idea how welcomed we'd be or how much we'd learn from the wonderful people we were surrounded with that day. The wedding took place in one of the townships just outside of Cape Town. Townships were started about 50 years ago when the apartheid began. The white people basically pushed all of Cape Town's black and colored people out of the city. They had nowhere to go, so many squatted wherever they found open space. Many of the townships are now government subsidized and have power and sanitation (some still don't though), but all are still very run down and poor. In total, there are over 1.2 million residents in the townships - about 40% of whom are unemployed. The sense of community, however, is as rich as it gets and the people don't let the fact that they don't have much get them down. We agreed that we've never encountered a more hospitable, kind, fun, and generous bunch of people. We were taken care of at the wedding like we were one of their own and are so so glad that we changed our plans to attend. Take a look at the pictures and our descriptions. I don't think either do justice in portraying the experience, but they'll have have to do until we can tell you more in person :)

We spent a few extra days in Cape Town after the wedding. Cape Town really turned out to be a magical place for us. It was funny how much it felt like home upon our return from the safari - we were so sad to have to move on. But we had to....so off to Hong Kong and China we went.

Hong Kong....Neither of us were too excited to see Hong Kong, but by the end of our few days there, we bummed we didn't have more time. It's a great city. It has the hustle bustle and liveliness of NYC, but the cleanliness and beauty of San Francisco. It's surrounded by beautiful mountains and is tropical - who knew HK was tropical?! :) Our time there flew by...we did some Christmas shopping at the Jade Market, went to lunch with a friend of a friend, Abby, an American living in Hong Kong, went up to The Peak (for panoramic views of the city - see pictures!) and to hit the town one night in Lan Kwai Fong (a very hip and trendy area to go out in.)

After HK we flew to Beijing. What a different world Hong Kong and mainland China are!!! HK is expensive, clean and very sophisticated....China is not so much of any of those things....it's very inexpensive (we ate lunch for a total of $4 USD twice nice!), dirty (people spit and go to the bathroom pretty much wherever they want, including the street), and very old world (see the pics!) We enjoyed Beijing, but were, in a way, happy to move on. We found ourselves pressed for time to squeeze it all in again, but think we hit most of the "must do's". We went to the Great Wall, Ming Tombs, famous Silk Market (more Xmas shopping!), Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, and met out with a few friends for a real Sezchwan dinner on our last night.

We are now in Bangkok and are so excited to be here! We can't wait to see some of the amazing and beautiful places we've heard so much about. We are planning on exploring the southern islands and beaches of Thailand as well as Cambodia and Vietnam during our 6 weeks here. Steph's friend, Steph Palmer, from San Francisco will be meeting up with us in a few days. Three girls on the loose in Thailand - look out! We should have some good stories and pictures for our next entry.

Ok, bye for now! :) Miss you all!
Rach & Steph