December 30, 2005
We are home!
I was not able to post during our trip to Thailand so I thought that I would give a quick update on our travels since my last post and let everyone know that we made it home safely. This will be my last post since my intention was to just let everyone back home know how we were doing while away and now that we are home I don't feel that I want to keep this up :) Anyways, here is the scoop since we left India:
We left India on the 12th of December and flew to BAngkok for a little R&R. We stayed at the best place called the Shanti Lodge. We highly recommend it. They have a really cool eclectice vibe there. The rooms are fabulous and they have a great cafe downstairs that serves really yummy vegetarian food. The had a couple of ponds with fish and one had a turtle in it (Rowan loved watching the turtle swim in the pond, but once it got out and she was terrified of it - we are going to have to toughen her up if she is frightened of turtles...). The prices were very affordable. Overall we loved it. Only complaint is that the staff attitude is a bit on the lousy side, but they really liked Rowan and we were probably treated with a little more respect than most.
We originally were going to do some sightseeing in Bangkok, you know the temples, kickboxing, etc. However, Jason't innate sense of shopping took over and we spend our entire time in BAngkok exploring their malls, outdoor markets, street vendors, etc. It was actually pretty cool. You can get some cheap shit in Bangkok - cool stuff too! Jason loved all the bootleg videos and cd's you could get. I liked all the girly stuff. Let's just say we both liked shopping in Bangkok.
Their traffic is a bit insane there, but besides that Bangkok seemed like a great city. Poeple were nice. It was clean. People warned us about the pollution, but coming from India it seemed like the cleanest place on earth and we weren't fazed by any pollution. They also have these souped up rickshaw looking things they call yuk-yuks. Imagine a rickshaw that is clean, has fancy lights all over, and goes about 60mph! They scoot all over town, but they are very expensive. We took regular taxis mainly.
We also went to the Bangkok Zoo which was really neat. It is probably the best zoo I have ever been too. Rowan likes all the animals and getting to walk around and look at everything. It was close to our hotel and we just walked there. That was probably the only non-shopping thing we did in Bangkok!
We went to Koh Samui from Bangkok and had planned on spending more time there, but we ended up not likeing it and going back to Bangkok to finish out our trip. Koh Samui was super touristy, very expensive, and while we were there the weather sucked. We were stuck in our hotel mostly because the weather was so bad and we didn't get to do the things we had wanted, like snorkel or dive.
We also did yoga at Yoga Thailand which was okay, but they charge alot of money and we felt like they went a bit over board with their prices. The facilities were nice, and it was probably a better deal if you did one of their workshops and stayed there, but to drop in like we did was over the top expensive. The guy that owns it was nice and they helped us find a sitter for Rowan while we practiced. That was cool. There seem to be a lot of kids around there and sitters were always available. I don't think we would go back, but if you have the money and are looking for a "yoga vacation" then I would recommend it.
So after Koh Samui didn't work out we went back to bAngkok for some more shopping :) and then left on Christmas Day. We stayed a night in Kuala Lumpur and then headed home the day after Christmas. The flight was fine. Rowan did fine. The only thing that has been getting us since we have been back is the jetlag. We all finally slept through the night last night, but up until then Rowan and Jason had been waking up in the middle of the night.
Well, we are happy to be home and we hope that all of our new friends that we met on our trip come and visit us in Encinitas! We would love to see you guys. My email address is taraisagoddess@hotmail.com if anyone we met wants to keep in touch. Hope everyone has a wonderful new year!
Here are the last pics from our trip:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8Acs27Fy5atWHf
Posted by Tara at 07:23 PM | Comments (0)
December 09, 2005
Change of plans
Well we have had a major renovation in our travel plans this past week. We were not able to get a flight back home in January and we were waitlisted on about a zillion flights, but it all made us very wary so we ended up booking a flight home on December 26th. This in turn made us change our Thailand plans so we could spend more time there. Anyways, it all comes down to us leaving on Monday! Monday is sooooo close I can feel it. We seem to be a part of the mass exodus that is taking place this weekend as yoga students leave in droves. We will be among them too! I can't wait as you can tell. So we will be off to Thailand for only 2 weeks (Jason is bummed about that) and then home on the 26th. I will write more later but I have a ton of stuff to do since we leave in a few days. More later...
Posted by Tara at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)
December 04, 2005
Retreat into the jungle
Jason, Rowan and I went to the jungle this past weekend for some R&R. We stayed at a retreat called Water Woods that had been recommended by some of our hommies back in Encinitas. They apparantly do yoga student discounts :)
It was about 2 hours away from Mysore and we rented a car to drive us there. The drive was really beautiful once you get out of Mysore and it getsvery rural and very lush and green. The roads were mostly fine until the last 45 minutes or so when they became gravel lanes with loads of potholes. The tin can, or car, that we were driving in had a hard time of it and you could tell the driver was not impressed with the conditions of the roads, but we made it in one piece.
The accomodations at Water Woods are really nice. You walk into this really large common room with tables and sofas and lots of books and big windows looking out on the water (oh, it is situated on the water in the middle of the woods - hence Water Woods). Our room that we stayed in was large and had the biggest bed ever. We also had hot showers. I can't tell you how much that makes or breaks a stay here!
Included in our stay was 3 meals and 2 safaris. The food was yummy Indian fare. The dinner that night was a Tandoori feast and we ate by a fire at the water. There were other yoga students there as well who had come for the night and they had 2 kids who were about 4 and 7 and they loved the place and enjoyed telling Jason and I stories about the place(they had been many times before).
We took a boat safari the evening we arrived before dinner. It was a beautiful ride and we saw a hear of elephants drinking from the water (there were about 12 of them including some babies). That was probably the highlight. And my parents will be happy to know that YES I was on a boat (I have a big fear of water) and I even let Rowan on the boat too (and there are pictures to prove it).
The next morning bright and early we took a Jeep into the jungle for our 2nd safari. We saw lots of spotted deer, bison, monkeys, birds galore, and even what the guide called jungle hen (it was a chicken). The ride was a bit bumpy and long and we had whiplash by the time we got back. The boat ride was by far the best. No tigers either. The guide said there were 26,000 deer in the forest, 6,000 elephants, and 70 tigers. Our chances were not good to see a tiger, but oh well.
Anyways, we only stayed one night and it was a good respite from the hustle of Mysore. Rowan loved it more than us probably. I think Jason and I had our fill of the jungle and decided that we don't need to do it too often, or as Jason puts it, "I hate nature.". That is an actual quote :) I personally think he is just not a jungle boy.
Well, here is a link of pics from out stay there. We didn't take too many, but you can see some of our boat ride and the elephants: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8Acs27Fy5atWHO
Posted by Tara at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)
Birthday update and pic link
Hey everyone! I have not been posting recently in case you haven't noticed. It is not like I have been busy or anything but I guess it just seems like there hasn't been anything interesting to post about. BUT we are still here and doing fine. We leave in one and a half weeks and then to Thailand.
I had a great birthday and wish all of my friends and family were here to celebrate with me. Jason, who will from now on be known as The Best Boyfriend EVER, or TBBE for short, made sure that it was a wonderful day for me. We started out the day with yoga and I got flowers from some of my friends at the shala. Then we went to the Metropole for breakfast with some friends. They have a fabulous buffet and the best hashbrown potatoes. I got more flowers and chocolate then (never a wrong combo those two)
Then I got to open presents from TBBE. He got me all sorts of cool things and I was really impressed with his ability to shop for me - always a good sign! We had a baby sitter for lunch and Jason, I mean TBBE and I went to lunch ALONE. It was nice. We went to the Olive Garden, which is not some chain Italian restaurant at all but a really nice Indian restaurant on the outskirts of Mysore.
Then we rented a room at the Metropole. It is a great colonial type hotel with huge rooms, plush beds and television and bathtub! We ate dinner there that night and slept in the next morning. Anyways, it was a great day and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. TBBE indulged me on my BIG DAY even though he doesn't get why birthdays have to be so important :)
So, other than my birhtday we haven't had much else going on. We have had friends leave recenlty and more will leave in the next 2 weeks along with us. We have made some really great friends here and hopefully we will run into them later.
Oh, and here is a picture link. I can't remember of what though...
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8Acs27Fy5atWG5
Posted by Tara at 06:22 AM | Comments (0)