Returning Home

Beloved fans,

Nico and I have been terrible over the last two weeks. I know. I am sorry. Sort of. I mean, how can you honestly expect us to update you over and over when I know that you're just going to arrive at our doorsteps when we return, begging us to recount one story after another. Pathetic. At least this way we only have to go through that in oral form.

But as all good things coming to an end require proper closings, I will give you a summary of what's been going on. Ten or so days ago, Nico and I started out on a Dirt bike tour of Cambodia. (This was recommended by Alan Thomson). Unfortunately, Nico and I cheaped out and went with a tour company that was about half as expensive than the one we originally heard about - and paid the price by receiving the tour guide from hell. After 4 days of being forced on ridiculously difficult and uncomfortable rides, being yelled at, and abandoned, we returned to Phnom Penh. We bitched to Nico's parents, yelled at the owner of the company, (NOTE: NEVER USE RED RAID CAMBODIA), and generally unwound. Afterwards, we realized we captured some amazing pictures that you'll all be able to see in a couple of days when Nico and I begin binge facebook posting.

After that incident, we decided that our 6 day visit to Phnom Penh was going to be something out of the ordinary for our trip. Plain old relaxing. We hit the market a few times, had some delicious Khmer food, and read a lot - also, we watched all of Californication Season 1 and half of Season 2. It was a nice change of pace from a summer of going non-stop. I had the pleasure of getting to know Nico's parents, who I haven't seen since I was 12 which was awesome. (For those of you reading at Stanford Med that are kind of on the fence about Nico, Nico's parents make the whole close friendship thing totally worthwhile!?! :) - just messing with you Nico, you know you're my boy blue). But, back on track, hanging out in Phnom Penh with the Grundmann / Krasovec clan was awesome, only made more amazing by a beautiful drive down to the south of Cambodia, a weekend relaxing in bungalows on a river front, and a surreal kayaking adventure through a thick grove of palm / mango trees.

Now, Nico and I are back in Bangkok finishing out our task of picking up gifts for people - Johnny, they have handcrafted swords here - and just waiting to catch flights home on Thursday. Can't wait to see you all and recount the trip verbally, the only way to attempt to do it justice.

I'm Tired and I want to go to bed

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I guess, given the proximity to the return home (just two weeks!) , we've been a bit lazy about the blog. However, 'that hasnt stopped us from continuing our awesome adventure!

Summary of the past four days. Depart Vang Vieng in the morning, Arrive in the capital of Laos, Vientiene. Realize that there is nothing in Vientiene except NGO workers and an airport. Depart Vientiene the next morning for Phnom Penh (unfortunately, given bad habits picked up at BCG, we waited to book plane tickets to Siem Riep far too long and found ourselves having to fly into Phnom Penh and take a bus north). Arrive in Phnom Penh, immediately realize that Phnom Penh is the coolest city we've visited, and enjoy lunch with 'Mr. Grundman, a trip to the Russian Market, a walk along the river, and an incredible dinner of South Indian food. Delicious.

The next morning we hopped on a train to SR, and have spent the day today wandering around what can only be described as the area of the world with the most unreal concentration of novel inspiring, adventurer creating, haven of ancient temples. But more will come later with a post and pics of Ankor Wat.

I know this is a copout. But really, I've been pretty good about this, and I am tired and want to go to bed. And it's only 7PM.

Max and Nico Are Dumb

Despite the fact that I am about to start at Harvard Business School, and that Nico is already attending Stanford Medical School... We are dumb.

After departing Luong Prabong on the day long bus ride to Vang Vieng, Nico, Amanda, and I started to get psyched. Despite the fact that timing the Gibbon Experience on my birthday didn't work out, we were going to be tubing. For those of you without University bound friends, tubing in Vang Vieng is famous. Though the entire trip is only ~25 minutes, if you float down the river without stopping (in your patched up old truck tire), the river outside of Vang Vieng is lined with bars all offering free drinks, games, and a good time. And that was going to be my birthday. Awesome.

Even with all our mental preparation, nothing could have prepared us for the reality that was Tubing. I woke up at 8AM on my birthday to go for a run and get a solid workout in before destroying my body. Afterwards I took a quick shower and woke Nico up to try and grab a quick brunch at a place recomended to us. Well, the morning lazed away and at 12:30 we managed to find Luther and head to the tubing office (yes, there is a centralized tube rental location in Laos). After 15 minutes of waiting in line and another 15 minutes in the truck on the way to the first bar, we were there and ready to go.

Immediately, we noticed that people were flying off of a giant rope swing (ending about 15-20 feet in the air) and into the river. Well, Nico and I put in our drink orders then scampered up the ladder to embrace the one life that we have by endangering it. After screems of "Geronimo" and "F. my Life!" we hit the water and washed ashore to wash down our first drinks. 4 or 5 drinks later we hopped in tubes to continue this practice for 6 hours. It was a glorious drunken spectacle of celebration. We floated, we swam, we lost our money and found our money, we lost our money and never found our money, we were rained on, and we were sunburnt. It was a day to remember, if only we could.

After returning (@6PM) Nico passed out in the room and Luther and I grabbed dinner and watched TV.

When we woke up today, everyone was hungover. Bad. Naturally, my solution to this problem was to get up early and go for a morning run / workout session. Nico opted to do the same and after returning we found Luther remarkably healthy. Instead of tubing two days in a row, the three of us decided to rent mopeds and see what was around Vang Vieng.

We drove around seeing nothing spectacular for the beginning of the afternoon. After realizing that we were probably going to have to do the touristy things (i.e., pay to get in) to see amazing sights, we moped-ed over to the 1st of three major caves in the area. Surrounded by the Vang Vieng resort Villas, the first set of caves in which we spelunked, was amazing. It was a lot like a mini-Lurray. Until we found ourselves in a cave with no lights and a seemingly endless path into nothingness. I busted out the mini flashlight I carry around and convinced everyone to go just a bit further into the cave to see what was there. Well, this was all well until I stop and Nico asks if I've seen what was down there. I paused and responded, "Yes. The only thing down there is fear." I backed away slowly saying something was living in the hole, then started to scurry. Nico refused to show his back to the emptiness and swears he saw eyes. I think we found Chupacabre. First dumb instance of Max and Nico.

Luther decided to call it quits after that. I can't blame her... because within an hour Nico and I had managed to find ourselves stranded in an endless field of rice paddies. Yes, we thought we could hike random paths and back country Laotian roads to get to a cliffside where we might be able to explore new caves. We should have just payed to enter the main entrance of the caves that we were headed towards, because after about 45 minutes of jumping fences and irrigation canals, we ended up on the same path that we had tried to avoid in order to save some dinero.

Whatevs. We took off up the rest of the path, stopping only to pay for our "tickets" and rent a flashlight from a little girl. We climbed up slippery slopes and jagged rock stairs to get to a system of caves immensely more terrifying than the first. They were pitch black, home to bamboo bridges over seemingly endless pits, and clearly not a common attraction. After about 30 minutes of chanting, "We're dumb," we left.

Yeah. It was an experience that I will never forget... but tomorrow, I think we'll just go tubing again. We're not that dumb.

Laos is sparce...

For the past few days, I've been trying to upload pictures and video of our adventure so far in Laos... unfortunately, that has proved to be a difficult task in a country plagued by rolling black outs, lack of power or internet lines outside of the biggest cities, etc. So needless to say, we're going to keep trying, but don't expect much until we hit Cambodia at the very end of July.

Note: Nico has currently scampered off to find a higher speed connection, so there is a small chance that is all entirely wrong.

Moving on. Laos is sleepy. The pace of life on our trip has been nice, but upon reaching Laos (properly, post our wild Gibbon Experience adventure) our trip got even more relaxing. After getting back to Huay Xai, we booked tickets for the slow boat adventure down the Mae Khong, only to find out that it was actually just that. A very lazy 6-9 hour trip depending on how often the driver wanted to stop and say "hi" to people along the way.

Don't get me wrong, the views were spectacular. Imagine pristine jungle layered over rolling hills, with the occasional mountain thrown in there. Imagine sunny blue skies contrasted with lush greens. Imagine low hanging nebulous clouds splitting as they slowly collided with cliff sides. And imagine that no view was muddied with human construction, trash, or light pollution. That is what we saw... it was unbelievable. Unfortunately, we saw it for 300 miles and 15 hours straight. And even worse, because we were constantly surrounded we didn't take a ton of pictures. Shame, but not that bad because we wouldn't be able to show you anyways.

Then we arrived in Luong Probang. LP is a World History Preservation site. I've never heard the term before, but I imagine it means, beautiful town that should be visited and untouched - providing a boost in tourism that hardly makes up for years of French colonialism. All that in mind, we were ecstatic to arrive in LP and be able to check into a comfortable 3 dollar a day hotel. We relaxed and made our way over to a restaurant called L'elephant, written up for being the best French place in the country. On our travellers budget it would have been hard, but lucky for us our 4 star meal was covered by dear old dad, who foolishly thought that I couldn't hunt down a great meal when given the opportunity. (Thanks Dad! It was the most delicious thing Nico and I have eaten since departing the states!). We sat, talked about how life was short, that we were making the most of it, and how we had to make sure never to forget that.

Yesterday morning, Amanda Luther (BCG Dallas Badass Extraordinaire) flew in from Bangkok to hang out for the week and since then, we've mosied around LP, covered 15 kilometers kayaking, hung out under and jumped off of the most beautiful waterfalls imaginable (sad, but because we were kayaking we have no pictures), and took a 30 minute elephant ride around and then up those very same waterfalls. Life continues to be good. Days continue to be great.

Nico and Max sitting in a tree... Z. I. P. P. I. N. G.

Four days ago (now 8 days ago given lack of connectivity), Nico and I arrived in the sleepy Laotian town of Huang Xai. One of two river border crossings from Thailand that provides travel visas, Huang Xai is home to a transient population of young cash strapped travellers hoping to catch the 2-day slow boat down to Luang Probang. However, 4-8 people per day arrive to use the town as a launching platform for "The Gibbon Experience," a 3 day adventure into the Bokeo reserve. Or, a 3 day adventure into an untouched Laotian Jungle. The travellers pay 200 dollars for the trip, too high for those who don't appreciate the adventure, but far lower than Nico and I would have payed to recieve what we did.

On the morning of the 14th, Nico and I met our fellow trekkers - Ninca, Simona, Will, Rob, Dan, and Tess - at the small office in Huang Xai. We quickly got aquainted and hopped on the back of a pickup to drive two hours into what we thought was the middle of no-where. The driver stopped by a river and told us to hop on the small boat by the shore, we did, were dumped on the other side and then set off on a 2 hour walk. In the middle of this muddy uphill battle it started pouring. Damn. Luckily we knew we were meeting a Range Rover.

We were incorrect. After we arrived at the 1980s Toyota Land Cruiser in the middle of the untouched Laotian countryside (6 foot long grass, rolling hills, and the one dirt road we were on), we realized it was empty and the driver was about an hour behind us. We hung around, got soaked, but enjoyed the adventure. After hopping in the car we were relieved. Little did we know that over the course of the next hour we would get out of the car 4 times to push the damn thing up hill, while it splashed mud all over us, screaming and spitting diesel exhaust for all to feel. We finally arrived at a small town, to take a break, before embarking on a two hour trek into the jungle and uphill. Yes, this was hour 5 of the journey.

When we finished walking up makeshift jungle stairs - scooped out dirt near tree roots - we had arrived at "The Kitchen," a base camp for the treehouse system within the Bokeo reserve. You see, every day 4-8 tourists meet in Huang Xai with the goal of spending 3 days living in tree houses up to 200 meters (~650 feet) above the ground. To travel between the treehouses there have been a series of ziplines suspended between jungle peaks, up to half a kilometer in length, leaving the travelers feet dangling hundreds of meters in the air. This was what Nico and I came for. Dripping with sweat, hurting to the bone but too proud to admit it, we were re-invigorated and set off down with our group on the trail into the trees.

We trekked for a total of two hours to get to our treehouse, Treehouse Number 5 or "Kisi," and along the way experienced these ziplines over the canopy firsthand. It was outrageous. We could see everything for miles 20 seconds at a time. And everything was untouched, beautiful, and perfect. It took my breath away. One zip would have made the entire trip worthwhile. There truly is no better way to describe it than that - though we'll attempt to with photographs.
After arriving at the Treehouse on the afternoon of day 1 we were all exhausted. We showered, ate dinner (at 5PM!) and played cards, turning down another opportunity to hike. By the time we were ready to go to bed, we realized something very interesting. No, not that in the middle of the jungle at night, there are NO outside sources of light. And no, not that jungle sounds in the middle of the night are loud and somewhat ridiculous. What we realized is that the thatch roof of the treehouse was home to approximately a half dozen 7 inch long spiders. Despite the fact that there were girls around, I remained openly freaked out... luckily it was overshadowed by two of our fellow travellers terror (jumping about, screaming profanity, etc.) After an hour of getting used to the idea of the massive arachnids, Nico and I dropped the mosquito net (which was really just thick canvas and went to sleep).

At 5 in the morning we were awoken by a THUNK THUNK THUNK ZIIIIIIIIIIIIP THUNK. After pulling up the net, we realized that our guides had already whipped into the house and were rousing everyone. It was time to go on a morning wild-life trek. Well, I was shit tired, had slept poorly, but realized you're only deep in the jungle a few times in your life, so I threw on my gear and got ready to roll. The trek was muddy, difficult, and yielded little wildlife display - but that said, it was incredible to head off into parts of the jungle distant from even a trail. Wow. Unfortunately, no Gibbons were seen, but we headed back to the treehouse for breakfast anyways.After a two hour break we hit the ziplines again, this time for a trek to a treehouse with a spectacular canopy view.

We ended up hiking and zipping for most of the day, and Nico and I also decided it was worth dangling in the middle of the 300-400 foot high zipline entrance to our treehouse for some photo-ops. Let me tell you something, zipping is amazing. The wind rushes through your hair, you feel like youre flying, etc., hanging is terrifying. I got out into the middle of the line, took some unreal photographs, but all the while kept thinking to myself, "Shit, I am 300 feet off the ground. Shit. If I fall, thats it. Shit. Shit. SHIT!" It was worth it though.On day three, we had breakfast in the morning and embarked on the 2 hour journey to base-camp. It was sad to be departing the jungle, but we were equally as motivated to take advantage of our last opportunity to hang above the jungle canopy. We managed to make it to base camp and trek down the mountain to the jeep, beating the rain. After lunch and a drive home, we took naps and the 8 of us met up for a final drunken dinner spectacle farewell.This time, I expect Nico and I might keep in touch with these friends. Hopefully, I mean, I did promise Rob to meet him in Vegas for his 21st on February 8th 2011.

Note: Let me say this, if any of you are considering a trip to Southeast Asia and are adventurous/outdoors-y, passing on this 3-day opportunity cannot happen. Passing on this would have been my biggest travel regret from a lifetime of trans-continental travel.

Note to Family and Friends

Nico and I are about to arrive at the Laotian border. Laos has been described as Thailand of the 1940s.

I would not be surprised if we lack communications for at least the week following our entry into the Gibbon Experience treehouse, but we will attempt to post as soon as possible. Please do not worry.

3 Days to Laos: Part 2 - Chang Rai and the Hill Tribe Village

Firstly, you'll have to forgive our lack of photos in these posts (Since updated!). Nico and I have been taking a ton, but for some reason, the internet cafe's in Chang Rai are not as accomadating as I would have hoped. We will attempt to fix this soon.

As for Chang Rai. Well... We landed in Chang Rai yesterday around mid-day. Nico and I got off the plane, having seen how small the city was from the air (literally, walkable from top to bottom within 20 minutes) and debated just heading to the border of Laos immediately. We lacked a hotel reservation, plans, or any really idea of what we might do in Chang Rai. Instead, we lucked out, opting to stay at one of the hotels mentioned in the half page entry on Chang Rai in Lonely planet.

When we finally hopped out of our "cab" we thought it was just 1 o clock. Enough time to go for a motorcycle ride around the country side. The elderly couple that owns our hotel seemed to scoff at that idea and mentioned a Saturday night market worth going to in town. Well, we opted out of the motorcycle ride, dropped off our bags, and realized that our luck continued. The clock in the cab had been 4 hours off, and our sense of time after being in planes all day was shot to sh!t. It was already 5PM and within 10 minutes of starting our walk around the neighborhood, we could tell that the city was closing down the main drag for the Night Bazaar.

Our trek around town revealed Chang Rai to be exactly the type of city Nico and I have a taste for. It's a quaint, authentic feeling, town. Unlike many of the other cities we've been in thus far, it doesn't have the same hoards of Farang we've seen. Instead, you find large gatherings of tourists making their way to Burma or Laos only in internet cafes and at travel agencies. It was a nice change of pace from Koh Phagnan and Koh Samui. We walked the whole city and by the time we came back, 45 minutes later, the Bazaar was going in full force. For about a solid mile, the street was lined with 4 rows of merchants, street chefs, and performers. It was unreal, especially given how tiny of a town Chang Rai is.

Nico and I stopped by every booth at least once, walking from 5 to 9:30. Two hours into our walk, in the middle of the street bazaar, we saw what may have been the most beautiful sunset to date, stopping in a park in the middle of the city. We then paced the food section of the street, opting out of more of the Northern Thai delecacy of beetles, crickets, and cockroach. I lost my appetite, remembering that regardless of how much whiskey I have, that is something I will never do again. In our four hours of looking we demonstrated wild self control, buying only a chess set and dinner (noodle soup!).

We had mentioned potentially visiting a hilltribe, and when we got back to our hotel at 9:30, a tourguide was waiting for us. Got to love the old couple focusing on customer service... despite the fact that the older gentlemen wears and army helmet around and refers to his wife as "The Enemy!" Regardless, we discussed the possibility of heading to the hills even though Nico and I had only recently realized we've been a bit over budget so far this trip. But how many times do you spend the summer in Asia? I mean, really.

The trip sounded great, and better yet the cost was about a third of what we'd heard from the travel agencies we stopped by. So we hit the hay immediately, planning to get up early, withdraw enough cash for the tour, and buy all the treking essentials. Unneccessary. The next morning our guide was an hour late to pick us up. He only informed us after waiting for 45 minutes, that his car had broken down and he had to rent another. We kindly waited and hit the road a bit delayed.

Hill country in Thailand is much different than hill country in Texas. In Texas we swoon over rolling hills and lakes, despite the somewhat gloomy, barren, countryside. In Thailand, the hills are overgrown with lush, green, vegitation. The forests are more than a little jungle, and there are steps of rice paddies everywhere. We drove for about 30 minutes through the country / hillside, before getting out to trek up to a village of people escaping the Burmese government.

While somewhat transient, the hilltribes (mostly composed of refugees and people associating with no particular nationality), life in the hilltribe seemed tranquil. As we were told while waiting for our lunch, all buildings were shared, responsibilities were shared, and the hilltribes simply farmed and built enough for themselves, requiring little from the outside world. It was peaceful. At least, it was peaceful until Nico was making meow sounds at a cat and a tribe member walked over, picked up the cat, and tossed it 25 feet into a garbage pile. Our Burmese tour guide explained that this tribe didn't particularly like animals. Who would have guessed?

After a delicious lunch and an extended photo period, we took off on a 10 Kilometer walk. We treked around rice paddies, corn fields, and into the jungle. We walked for about 4 Km next to a stream, where I managed to brush against a sort of poison leaf that affects immediately and feels like fire. Within minutes it stung to move my left arm (which is currently completely red) and for the first time, I was thankful that poison ivy is the brunt of what we have to deal with in the states.

Our guide spent the entirety of our trip telling us about life in the jungle. What snails, insects, and plants we could eat; how to catch a fish with your bare hands; and what not to touch (yes, he chose to do that only after I suffered my fate). Nico simultaneously learned his jungle skills and dealt with my incessent moaning for the next few hours and we eventually made it out of the jungle, where the guide looked at my arm, giggled, and told me I'd be fine. It would only sting for about a week or two. Damnit.

He pulled out a vine, mashed up the leaves and applied the mush as a compress on my arm. I felt much better for about 2 hours, though now, as I write this for you, our adoring followers, my arm kills again. We drove home from the hillside, stopped by a pharmacy, and headed to dinner. After my painful, but totally worthwhile experience, I managed to convince Nico to take a break from spicy and hit up a pizza place. It was delicious and quite a positive note to end an amazing 2 day trip to Chang Rai.

Now, off to Laos.