Shanghai Splendour!

Streets of Shanghai

There is NO place in the world like Shanghai. The things that you see on the streets, the food that you can by for 10 cents, the animals in the 'live markets' and the random groups of people doing Tai Chi make it a pretty unique place. Shanghai is about one hour from us and we love to spend the weekends there. Needless to say, no two trips have been the same. The pictures you see show the streets of Shanghai, which are a magical mix of life happening in every nook and cranny. However, the streets show only half the picture of what Shanghai has to offer. See Shanghai Splendour!

Soccer Tournament in Qing Dao

We recently went to play in a tournament in Qing Dao, China. The shots that you see here are from either my hotel room (5 star hotel) or when I went for my morning runs accross the street at the beach. It is definately a different experience to coach and travel with a school that is not on a public tax-payer budget. China is so full of suprises- it will be difficult to leave this place. Everytime we travel to a new area we are stuck by how diverse the country really is. I did not see this one coming....

Triathlon

Ty and I thought that it might be a fun challenge to learn to swim a little better and race in a mini-triathlon. We both worked hard to get up to speed with our swim. We ended up taking swimming lessons in Chinese! We did well in the race, Ty won first and I did alright on the girls side as well. We had a really good time training together.

Ko Chang (Island in Thailand)

All of the amazing things that you have heard about the beaches in Thailand are true. We were able to enjoy this amazing island with Carolyn and Aaron (Ty's sister and husband). We did some snorkling and other than that.....a whole lot of nothin'. You can't tell in the picture of us eating dinner but we are right on the beach- which happen 3 times a day. The best food I have ever had CONSISTANTLY in my life- (the best food overall of course - is in Italy) but this was pretty darn good too! If you have not booked a ticket to Thailand yet...do yourself a favor, pick up the phone and call a travel agent.

Hiking in Thailand

We went up north in Thailand for an adventure that would turn out to be one of the highlights of our trip this year. We went on a hike with a guide that took us up the mountian to stay in a village where the Karen Tribe lives. The kids in the picutre are part of the tribe. On the way, we stopped to ride elephants (you can see the back of his head...so cute) and then continued on our way. We arrived at the village and enjoyed a meal prepared by Joe (our guide) in his little hut. We stayed the night in a hut that overlooked some rice fields and then set off in the morning for part two of the adventure. The way down of course was much easier than the way up....needless to say. We saw beautiful waterfalls and rode down the river on a raft.

Thailand

For those of you who have not been to Thailand yet... it is exactly as advertised. Beautiful beaches, wonderful low lying mountains, shopping everywhere, and more tourists than you can imagine. It is hard not to love Thailand for all of those reasons. It most be one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and the secret is certainly out.

Our trip started in Bangkok, where we experienced the big city splendour. As well as the constant reminder of sex tourism that makes you think you are in the land of no morals. We then moved on to Chang Mai, which is in Northern Thailand and is a central city for many outdoor treks. We headed out on a two day trek that led us through elephant rides, bamboo rafts, and staying the night in a hill tribe village. These couple of days were a highlght for the two of us, and was our break from the never ending hordes of people that seem to be a large part of our life since moving here. Go figure.

From Changh Mai we headed down to the island of Koh Chang. We have heard that this is one of the most undeveloped islands in Thailand. It really is a fantastic spot, and had just the pace we were looking for before coming back to China. We stayed on the beach for 4 nights, and loved every one of them.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. We are now back and settled in Suzhou... happy to be home.

VIETNAM

Every once in a while, we come accross something or someplace that really tests my limits. Vietnam had a few of those. It was the BUSIEST place that I have ever been. The capital city of Saigon has over 4 million motorbikes which make crossing the street a real task. The 10 million people in the city makes it less than the cleanest place on earth, that is for sure. I can remember one meal in Saigon where we were watching cockroaches being chases by geecos on the tables and wall while waiting for our meal. That is a new limit even for me! Drinking from the bottle with the Colbra in it also was past my limit- sick. Ty had a glass of that wine (it is called snake wine...no thanks) One of the only things worse than seeing a snake for me would be to drink a liquid that a snake has been sitting in for a couple of years.

My last limit that was crossed was just outside of Saigon at the Cu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels that were done during the Vietnam war. The soldiers would hide out in there to avoid the bombings. There were two ways to get into them. You can see a solider sliding into one in the picture and you could also just crouch down and go in. You cannot stand up in the tunnels and they are pitch dark. Sometimes you even have to crawl through them....for-get-it! I kicked it into reverse out of that thing so fast....I am sure I set an Olympic record for moving in reverse as soon as I saw how small and dark it was. Ty- as you can see from some of the pictures did not have trouble with these things. Vietnam was cool, but definately pushes the envelope with comfort levels. It does have so many interesting things about it and the beaches (although we were forcing it by wearing a bikini in the winter) were beautiful. White sand and basically you had the beach to yourself.

VIETNAM

Vietnam was an interesting trip. The Halong Bay trip (with the moutain-like structures in the water) ranks up there on our TOP 10 things that we have ever seen. The people in Vietnam are very kind. We spent some time on the river, taking a stroll through the canals with the locals, and on a boat from Hanoi. The most memorable image from Vietnam is everyone having those things to carry what they are selling over one shoulder. They are everywhere.