Nine monks walk in to a bar

Sounds like the opening to a joke but no, it’s just a Thursday morning. This morning Sugar had invited a band of monks to the bar, and I witnessed my first blessing of a bar and tattoo shop. There was chanting, different rituals and all in all a lot that was new to me. Luckily I have spent so much time at the Tiger Temple that I am at least familiar with some of the proceedings and how to act respectful in the presence of monks. See, having been a volunteer at TT comes in handy in the most diverse ways. This is only my second full day back, but this place just feels like home the way it always does. The little hut by the river is amazing – we have a view that even a few resorts would envy us! And as to the worry of no longer having a cat.. Well there are seven in residence here, and they don’t exactly leave us alone much. The same can be said for the three dogs. Although a little apprehensive at first they’ve taken to us pretty well. I guess the pork, the white bread and any other scraps of food need to take some of the credit for that. It’s definitely hot though, and it takes some getting used to but it’s not like I wasn’t expecting that. So far I only have a slight sunburn on my shoulders, and with the aircon in the room I really shouldn’t be complaining at all. After all, compared to the girls kuti at TT, this is a real luxury! And if the little hut wasn’t good enough already, we actually have a tiny kitchen corner on our balcony! Just a propane burner, a rice cooker and a wok but what else do you really need? I’m definitely going to explore the culinary possibilities these facilities can serve. Let’s see.. Not much else is new here. After a nap my first night back I was woken up by the grand tiger whisperess herself – Jules! Just chilling on the balcony with great friends was absolutely the best way to spend the first night back. And in a few days, hopefully I should be able to see the rest of the TT gang and (perhaps even better) the tigers! Can’t wait to get a tiger cuddle – two and a half months is just too long to go without. At the moment I am relaxing out on my wonderful aforementioned balcony. Hanson on the speakers, cold water from the fridge and a delicious (?) peanut butter sandwich newly consumed. I really don’t need a whole lot more than this! As there is no internet connection here yet, this will probably not be posted today, but something tells me the next days will bring more of the same anyways… Until next time!

Back in Thailand – back at the Tiger Temple

So, four months later and I'm back. And if it's true that home is where the heart is, then I'm definelty not only back, I'm back home.

In some ways not a lot has changed since this summer. The people are the same, the tigers are the same (with a few additions) and the atmosphere is the same. It's like I never left, and it feels just like coming home should feel like. On the other hand, there has been changes and there has been progress. The lions just came out of their cages for the first time, and even though they're still ajusting to their new life and haven't taken full advantage of the enclosure yet, it is amazing to see them outside enjoying the feel of grass beneath their paws. Right now I'm actually sitting on the skywalk above tiger island, monitoring the lions' behaviour. The sun is baking and the lions are about as active as I want to be right now.

Inside tiger island several of the tiger enclosures have also been strengthened and several more of the older tigers get out to play every day. They're let out and left to be big cats by themself. They run around the enclosures, jumping trees, jumping eachother. And wouldn you believe – when it's time to get them back in beofre the afternoon programs start, they run back inside their cages or is led in with little hassle at all. No problem seeing that they're pretty happy with their new arrangement.

My babies from this summer has grown big and strong, but are still very nice babies, and some of them I still hang out with every day at breakfast. Hiccup, or Nua Mek II, has gotten pretty big compared to the little kitten he was four months ago, but is still super cute and very nice to handle. My very favorite, Nua Mek I, doesn't come to the sala every day, but when he does he's a perfect little gentleman and behaves like a star pupil. He just turned a year and will still try to sit in your lap.

Now this is my third time volunteering at the temple, and it seems it just gets better every time. Of course it helps knowing the people who work here, but also the feeling of getting more and more comfortable aroung the cats is really an amazing thing. Remembering how big I though seven month old Saifa was the first time I was here, makes it a little funny how I now feel perfectly at ease around the ones that are a year and older. Still a long way to go before I'm a full blown tiger girl, but I'm pretty happy with my tiger journey so far. Hopefully I'll be back again in not too many months, and I can keep on working on my tiger whisperer skills.

And so, in other news.. The nights have been pretty cold here, and I've been sleeping with a pair of sweat pants, a hoodie and three blankets. Bad viking? I think so! The days on the other hand are pretty hot, and there has been no rain so far. It's definetly a lot more enjoyable than temperatures below zero and snow back in Norway.

Today is Decemeber 18, which means christmas is right around the corner. To no great surprise I haven't really gotten into the right jolly spirit just yet. The heat, the tigers and the general feel of being in Thailand aren't exactly things that scream out christmas to me. I did bring some christmas comics, some chocolate and christmas soda from Norway and I'm sure I will enjoy it in the next few days even it the christmas feeling isn't quite there. We're also going to be having a christmas party with the volunteers ans staff, which I'm sure is going to be pretty amazing. Most fun gang of people to party with ever!

So, finally a little update from this side of the world. Hopefully the internet will let me check my facebook and email from time to time, allthough it hasn't really been working too well so far.

And this was actually posted two days after I wrote it because of that stupid internet.. Tomorrow's my day off though, so hopefully more updates then! :)

Some times you have to appreciate the little things in life....

Like when you're on a flight to Amsterdam, and spill your apple juice into your lap.. In this situation there is really only one thing to do - be grateful that you didn't spill the hot tea that was sitting right next to the apple juice!

Another good thing about appreciating the little things, is that the bigger things seem even more grand.

This weekend I went to Amsterdam to see Hanson live at the Paradiso. Of course, it's not my first show, but it was my first real concert seeing as the only things I've done before are the 2009 Tulsa MOE and the NYC 5 of 5. And there is a difference. There is a huge difference!

Going to a plain, normal concert is something I've been waiting to do since 1997, so I guess you could say it was way overdue. Luckily, all the little things and all the big things made this first concert a night to remember.

A couple of days before the concert I got an email saying I had gotten one of the 14 meet&greets for Amsterdam, and of course I was completely extatic! Even more nerves on top of what I was allready experiencing, but who cares about that?! Meeting Hanson is worth all the nerves in the world! But we'll get to that..

Getting to Amsterdam was resonably easy - Schiphol is close to the city center, and I manage to find my way to the couchsurf host I was to be staying with without any difficulty. Luckily, he turned out to be as weird (/mental) as me, which made for a very interesting and fun weekend - even outside the concert.

I spent Friday morning walking around Amsterdam, pretty strung up before my M&G and the concert, but still managed to take in some of the sites and even make room for some sushi in between all the butterflies in my stomach. After seeing my share of canals, leaning houses and coffeeshops, I decided it was time to make my was towards Paradiso and my fellow fans. What if I got there and realised the other M&G'ers were completely horrible??

Well... Safe to say that wasn't the case!! After recognizing the line outside Paradiso as fansons, I made my way through he crowd - looking for any familiar faces. Yeah, not easy when you only know people from facebook. So I took a shot, walked up to a girl and asked her if she knew my danish facebook-fanson-friend. As it turned out, she was standing right next to me and we ended up chatting until close to doors.

Even better, hanging out with her and her friends, I also ended up meeting most of the other M&G'ers. And what do you know - they turned out to be some of the coolest girls I've ever come across! I don't care if you're Croatian, Brazilian, Dutch or Marsian for that matter - we stand united in Hanson! We ended up having a great time waiting for our M&G, and of course an even better time when the finally let us in.

We were made to wait in the lobby, and few minutes later Hanson walked in. No screaming, no running - we were all very sivilized. Hanson handed out both hugs and signatures all around, and I even plucked up the courage to show Taylor my tattoo. The feeling of meeting Hanson like that is something I don't think I could ever explain to a non-fanson, so I'm not even gonna bother. The only thing you need to know is that it was completely awesome, and I was over the moon when they led us into the venue for the concert.

Which leads me to the next big thing - the front row. Oh yeah. Getting a M&G doesn't only mean meeting the band, but also getting into the venue before everyone else, and thus getting the absolute best spots in the entire place. I ended up right in front of Taylor, and let me tell you, I wouldn't have traded that spot for anything in the world! Through the entire concert I was all smiles (and screams of course), and I just couldn't have enjoyed it more. Sharing it with the amazing M&G'ers at front row just made it even better.

Since there are pictures and videos posted all over facebook and youtube, I'm not going to describe the concert in detail. It should suffice to say it was the absolute best concert I have ever seen/heard, and that the withdrawals will be strong for months to come!

After he concert I had a chance to meet up with the Norwegian fansons who had also come the oh-so-long way from Norway for Hanson. Waiting for Zac, and then later Taylor was cold and killing my feet, but still so worth it. More pictures, more signatures. More of a Hanson-fix for me.

Will you belive I had trouble sleeping when I got back to the appartment after that experience? Still, I did manage after a while and slept like a contented kitten until the next morning.

I spent Saturday exploring more of Amsterdam by foot, some of the day with the awesome Norwegian fansons. I even managed to do a little shopping, despite a tight budget and an even tighter backpack. Another sushi meal, another few km on foot and several canals later I again met up with my host, and he showed me some of the, well, murkier parts of Amsterdam. There is just no way around it - on your first visit to Amsterdam, you kinda have to experience the red light district. Being a Norwegian, it was definetly somewhat of a culture shock, but hey - that's why I travel!

Sooo.. To sum up. A weekend in Amsterdam brought me some amazing new friends, a wonderful musical experience, and a couple of new impressions that I don't think I could have gotten anywhere else. And the little things? They definetly made the big things even bigger - what a weekend!!

There are so many rumours about the temple...

And people seem to do what they can to spread these rumours, whithout really checking how much of it is true.

Luckyly, supervolunteer at the temple, Natalia, has taken on the responsibility of talking back to some of these people and recently got an article published, as a reply to a negative article in GEO Russia.

Yes, it's in russian, but still worth mentioning! :) Great work being done by all the people at the temple now, wish I was there to be a part of it!

http://www.chaskor.ru/article/govoryat_geo_vret_24382

Once upon a time...

... there was a girl who had too much fun traveling to update her blog.

The End.

.... for now

New place, new country.

After more than six weeks, I'm outside Thailand again!

The last few days in sothern Thailand have been rainy and not at all the beach paradise we'd been hoping for, so now we have high hopes that Malaysia will deliver what Thailand didn't. So far it's been a tiresome journey. From riding on the back of a scooter in the rain, with two backpacks and a bag when going to the hotel in Phuket to the seriously tubulent flight from Phuket to KL. Luckily the flight from KL to Kota Bharu was more pleasant, and we found a taxi and a guest house easily enough.

So far we've only had a little walk around town, some dinner and are planning on taking a walk through the night market a little later. Our taxi to Perenthian leaves at 8.00 in the morning, so no late night tonight.

I was planning on transferring some pictures today as well, but seeing as the computer at the guesthouse sounds like a jet engine taking off I'll be postponing that for later.

Now I think it's time for a stretch on my bed, before checking out some more night market delights! No bugs this time.....

Bye bye Railey!

And just like that we've left another place...

We got to Railey on Monday, looking forward to some more peace and quiet after the packed conditions of Phi Phi. Turns out Railey is definetly peaceful and quiet during the day, and unless you're interested in doing rock climbing ther really isn't all that much to do in day time. Of course, night time is a whole other story.

We got some flyers advertising a fire show, and decided to check it out, even after having seen the one at Phi Phi several times. Turns out the guys at Raileys Last Bar, allthough not as hunky looking, are even better at juggling fire than the guys at Phi Phi. Very impressive! The youngest guy there is only 16, and put on a crazy show. Pictures and video to come as soon as I get to transfer from my camera again.

At Railey we stayed at the Yaya resort, where we payed 350 baht for a room that was definelty better than the one at Phi Phi. No Gustav either. We spent most of our day time at the beach, all though some heavy rain showers cut our beachtime short some days. Still nice, and still an amazing place to be. Quite sure I'll be going back there one day.

Right now we're back in Phuket, staying in a very nice hotel that even has hot water in the shower! What a splurge! For 500 baht, it is actually almost a splurge, but soo worth it after a long day of travelling from Railey. One longtail boat and three minibuses, and two very uncomfortable stops to wait for the next bus along the way. So glad to be done with that!

Tomorrow we're heading out to the airport early, to catch our 8.15 flight to Kuala Lumpur, where we're transferring to Kota Bharu. Hopefully once we get there we'll be able to catch the last boat out to Perenthian. Crossing fingers for that.

Now it's time to get some sleep, next update; Malaysia!

Phi Phi Island report

From Chiang Mai we flew to Phuket to go directly to Phi Phi the following morning. Getting here well before noon on Monday we had enough time to get to know the place and to check out the beach. And after staying at the temple for a month, and then travelling around for a few days the laid back feeling of Phi Phi was just what the doctor ordered.

We've been staying at a nice little guest house called Harmony House. The room is 350 baht a night (less than 50NOK per person), and the guest house located a little way away from the beach and the "bar centre" which means it's pretty quiet and not to mention safe. The room was a pretty typical standard from what I've come to expect from guest houses in Thailand. No aircon (that'll just give you a cold anyway), no hot water in the shower (who needs that when the ocean is warm??) and a little house pet we decided to name Gustav (cockroaches aren't my favorite pets, but I'm not one to be picky).

The beaches are pale sand and the water is (mostly) a clear green blue. Perfect for lazy days just chilling out with a book. We've spent most of our beach time on the closest beach at Loh Dalam Bay, but also high jacked a long tail boat to take us out to Long Beach one morning.

Yesterday we did one of the mandatory tours of the surrounding area, where we among other places visited Maya Beach, made famous by the movie The Beach. Incredibly gorgeous, as was the other places we visited on our sunset cruice.

The nights here at Phi Phi are spent at some of the most amazing beach parties ever known to man. It starts out with a fire show, and ends in loud music and hordes of people dancing in the sand. Though it's been a lot of fun, getting to Ray Leh for a bit of relaxing probably won't be the worst thing right now.

Which brings me to our plans from here.. We're leaving for Ray Leh today, and plan to stay there for a few days before moving on. Our initial plans were to go to Cambodia after the south of Thailand, but after some consideration of time and financial matters we've decided to go to Malaysia instead. I've never been there either, so another notch in the belt for me countrywise.

Aaaan, that should be all for now. Might come back with more news from Ray Leh. :)

Chiang Mai jungle flight!

It's been a while since I've sat down by a computer, so please forgive me if I leave something out...

We spent our last day in Chiang Mai at the Jungle Flight treetop adventures. This is basically a web of ziplines connecting to different platforms high in the jungle canopy. And let me tell you, it's awesome!!!

The longest of the ziplines is around 300m high, and actually gives you a view of the jungle all the way to Burma. You do move pretty fast though, so there's not really all that much time to enjoy the view. Especially when you take into account that the highest of the ziplines is a staggering 120m above ground. For me, having a slight fear of hights, that was a challenge. But when I did throw myself over the edge of that platform it was without a doubt worth it!

We also did a few abseils, where the longest was a 40m drop straight down. What a thrill!

Definetly one of the most fun days I've had in a looong time, and I'm positive I'll do it again if I ever go back to Chiang Mai. If you're ever in the area - check it out! http://www.jungle-flight.com/

Chiang Mai night market delights

One of my favorite things about markets is the food. I'm not going to lie to you, I enjoy the shopping as well, but the food is something else entirely.

Yesterday we decided to try what Chiang Mai's night market had to offer.

I started with something safe and well known, namely chicken livers. I love the way they cook them in a nice sticky sauce on the tiny little wooden sticks. Ten livers, 15 baht - kept me going for a while.

Next out we had to try something sweet, and went for the waffles with chocolate and condenced milk. To be honest I think I could have eaten quite a few more of those!

Right by the waffle stall I spotted a stall selling sushi, and instantly decided that eating sushi from a market stall in Thailand would be a very bad idea indeed. Which I ended up filling up a tray. Twice. And let me tell you, that 90 baht worth of sushi was my best desicion yesterday. Completely yummy!

ne thing I had promised myself I would not eat on this trip was bugs... But when faced with a dare, how can one refuse?? We bumped into two guys from our guesthouse, and one of them had a bag of crickets with him, and pretty much dared me to taste one. I had to think about that one a little longer than the sushi, but eventually chewed and swallowed the little critter. No, it didn't taste good but it wasn't completely disgusting either. I did have to drink an entire bottle of water tp get it down, and then a butterscotch coffee frappe to get rid of the taste.

All in all, some experiences richer, and definetly that bug point crossed off my list!

Chiang Mai so far

We got to the train station in Chiang Mai somewhere around 6.30 this morning. 11 hours on a train was not what my body had ordered, and I was tired and pretty much stiff as a board.

We found a taxi right outside and told him to take us to a guest house we found in the Lonely Planet guide. So he did, or so we thought.. We arrived at what we thought was the right guest house, only to be surprised by the price that was pretty much 3 times what we expected. Since it was now 6.40 am and we had no tuk tuk we just decieded to stay, since we're just staying the one night anyway. The place is nice and clean and the night marked is pretty much right down the street from here.

We've now booked a zip-line tour tomorrow (www.jungle-flight.com), and I can't wait to try that! So far today, we've walked around the city, had brunch in a middle eastern restaurant (I had the chicken chawarma, YUM!), got a foot massage (where I nearly fell asleep) and then had a couple of hours relaxation in our room before doing som picture transfers and blog updating.

Right now we're starting to get ready for the night marked and hopefully an early night as we're being picked up between 6.30 and 7.00 tomorrow for the zip-line. Can't wait!! :)

Changing plans.. And then changing them again!

After a month at the temple, I've now started my somewhat aimless travelling with June by my side.

Our plan was to go to Ayutthaya yesterday, preferably by bus from Kanchanaburi, early in the morning. That plan fell through as the only minibus leaving Kanchan left at 1.30pm. Too late we decided. Since the plan was to go to Chian Mai with the night train after spending the day in Ayutthaya, we decided we might as well go directly there in stead. Sooo.. Tickets were booked to Bangkok, and we arrived at Khao San Road with hopes high and stomachs empty. A quick stop by KFC took care of the last bit, and some heavy rain shopping just got our spirits even higher. We weren't exactly thrilled we had to stop by Bangkok, but it turns out it wasn't so bad after all.

After that short visit to the backpacker centre of Bangkok we headed to the train station to get our tickets to Chiang Mai. We knew the train should be leaving at 8pm and had lots of time. Actually, it turns out we had a lot more time than we had expected.... When we got to the train station we quickly found out that all trains and buses to Chiang Mai were fully booked because of todays election. So, what now??

We tried to find out when the next option would be, and after realizing it wouldn't be until the following evening we decided we had to do something else. We didn't want to spend the night in Bangkok, but going to Chiang Mai was definetly not an option.

Well, we decided it was fate, and got a ticket to Ayutthaya in stead! Again, after finding the right platform we nearly ended up in the wrong place - as we managed to get on the wrong train to god knows where. Luckly we asked some neighbour passengers and they told us to get off quickly before the train started moving.

The right train did leave eventually. Almost an hour late and freezingly cold, but it did get us there.

So, we've spent today walking around the temple city of Aytthaya. We saw some of the temples from atop an elephant, and then walked until our feet got sore. We still have some hours until out train leaves for Chiang Mai, and we're trying to spend it relaxing, definetly not letting our feet getting any sorer.

Next update: Chiang Mai!

Still here..

Friday's blog;

So, some updates since last time.

I got my computer fixed, thanks to Bird. I have no idea what he did, but it was obviosly something right. Allthough that is no longer a problem, the internet here at the temple can be a little on and off and so it's hard to actually plan to update the blog.

And in other news.. I guess it was about a week ago I got a nice little bite on my lower arm from a little girl called Sang Rowie. She didn't really want to go to breakfast, and she told me by nibbling me. No biggie though, it's almost gone allready.

The past week we've also been taking our group of about 10 tigers out to play several times in the hour before lunch. They get to run around freely, play with each other, with us and with whatever else they can find in the enclosures. They are LOVING it! Most days the babies from last year; Lucky III, Happy, Money and Vayo also get to go out and play, sometimes with some of the older tigers, like Saifa, Nit Noy or Lucky II. A lot of fun seeing them all run around like crazy!

Other than that it's been pretty quiet here. I'm having some trouble sleeping at the moment, because I keep getting too cold at night. Tonight I'm planning on bringing an extra blanket, cause I'm way to lazy to get up and out from my mosquitonet to turn the fan off.

Tomorrow we're going out for dinner, which I'm really looking forward to. Most days dinner is a couple of pieces of toast with peanut butter or nutella, and some real food is going to be just perfect!

I was going to put some pictures in this blog, but because of the slightly moody internet connection that will have to wait for next time.

Still here..

So, some update since last time.

I got my computer fixed, thanks to Bird. I have no idea what he did, but it was obviosly something right. Allthough that is no longer a problem, the internet here at the temple can be a little on and off and so it's hard to actually plan to update the blog.

And in other news.. I guess it was about a week ago I got a nice little bite on my lower arm from a little girl called Sang Rowie. She didn't really want to go to breakfast, and she told me by nibbling me. No biggie though, it's almost gone allready.

The past week we've also been taking our group of about 10 tigers out to play several times in the hour before lunch. They get to run around freely, play with each other, with us and with whatever else they can find in the enclosures. They are LOVING it! Most days the babies from last year; Lucky III, Happy, Money and Vayo also get to go out and play, sometimes with some of the older tigers, like Saifa, Nit Noy or Lucky II. A lot of fun seeing them all run around like crazy!

Other than that it's been pretty quiet here. I'm having some trouble sleeping at the moment, because I keep getting too cold at night. Tonight I'm planning on bringing an extra blanket, cause I'm way to lazy to get up and out from my mosquitonet to turn the fan off.

Tomorrow we're going out for dinner, which I'm really looking forward to. Most days dinner is a couple of pieces of toast with peanut butter or nutella, and some real food is going to be just perfect!

I was going to put some pictures in this blog, but because of the slightly moody internet connection that will have to wait for next time.

Dead computer....

And on my third day here no less!

Well, I guess this is a chance for me to learn how to live without it for a little bit. A lesson I'm not too keen on learning to tell you the truth.

Anyhow. Today is my day off, and I'm currently in Kanchanaburi where I'm enjoying different kinds of food (like chicken wings, mmmm), a nice bed and a shower that works properly. The only thing missing down here is the tigers really. And for my next day off there is a good chance I'll just stay at the temple and play tourist for the day. Get some tiger time, some good photos and just enjoy.

Up to now the experience of the tiger temple has been pretty much the same as last year, the biggest difference being some new people. And they all seem like nice people so all the better.

The cubs we walk to the sala this year are 4-6 months, while last year we had 2 month olds. These guys are a little bit more action, a little easier to walk and of course a little bigger. And I'm enjoying it alot!!

The tourists are mostly the same as last year as well. A lot of nice people, some stupid people and some people who never should have been there in the first place. But it's their choice I guess, so I'll just try to focus on the nice ones.

This blog will probably be updated whenever I have internet access, which might be at random times from now on. Fingers crossed for getting the computer to work again!

The night it rained....

So at 6.15 this evening we were al starting to think that we might not be going to meditation tonight, due to some unusually heavy rain. About fem minutes later we had that pretty solidly confirmed as the girls house started to flood.

No kidding.

The water had allready fillet the lowered part of the floor in front of the bathrooms, and started to run over the edge onto the floor of the commonroom. Fast. And from the commonroom..? Into our bedrooms of course!

I did go up to the boys house to see if I could find another squiggy, and ended up wading through water up to my knees. I had to hold on to the railing as I climed the stairs, the flow was so strong! And for this effort I didn't even get a squiggy-thingy...

So, with one squiggy-thingy, two brooms and eight hands we started trying to divert the water from our bedrooms an onto the other side of the kuti so that it could flow out. Now, almost three hours later, we're finally ready to go to bed! Our backpacks were on the floor and are of course wet on the bottom. As is pretty much everything else that we're on the floor in our room, but so far it seems that nothing is ruined.

I am now finally tucked into my mosquito net, and very ready for some well deserved sleep! Crossing my fingers for no more rain during the night....!

First day (again)

So, today was my first real day back. And it does feel like I never even left, and I LOVE it! The tigers from last year are a lot bigger of course, and I don't yet know the ones that are small now, but except from that this could just as easily have been July 2010.

The breakfast this morning consisted of rice and chili sauce, with a small bag of vegetables and pork on the side. And of course - the mandatory watermelon for dessert. The chili sauce was just as good as last year, and my stomach was just as angry at me afterwards as it was last year. At breakfast I got to spend a lot of time with a real cutie, Way Ha II. Not sure how old he is, but he is a real sweet little guy, so hoping to get to know him a little better.

My job today after breakfast was cleaning behind the cages. All though it's kinda messy and smelly, I actually quite like it. It gives you a lot of face time with the bigger tigers, which I definetly need after being away for so long. Hard to remember names as faces!

I spent enrichment watching some of the bigger tigers playing outside (among others, Happy and Money from "our" babies last year), and then cuddling the month olds before having some lunch at noodle town.

This afternoon was also my first time back in the canyon, and even though crowd control can be a bitch I loved it! It is soo good to be back.

Right now it's about 5.30pm, which means I've allready had a shower, changed into clean clothes and just waiting for it to be time to go to meditation. Last night me and Tine didn't have to do meditation because of all the organizing and unpacking we had to do, so that will be another seconds first today. And I'm actually looking forward to it. :)

Finishing off with some pics of our bathroom/shower. Enjoy!

Getting there

So... Finally, we're here! It definetly took a while.

First, I had to finish my exam of course. Forty-something questions about marine ecology - not fun, but I did finish it. And had time left over to say goodbye to some friends and run around like beheaded chicken at home. Good for me!

I allmost fell asleep on the bus to the airport, and pretty much died of boredom when I finally got there. As always, I had around two hours of waiting before I could get on my flight. I need to learn about getting there just in time some time soon....

Flight to Amsterdam was good, and the run through Schiphol wasn't too bad either. I got to the gate just as it changed from Boarding to Gate Closing, which at least meant less waiting time in this particular airport.

The flight started out pretty good, but as we got to around Afganhistan we hit an area with some awful turbulence! I do have this dream about travelling to Afganhistan, but travelling over it was definetly not that nice this time. Luckily, the plane had no problem handling this turbulence - like always - and I got to Bangkok with time to spare.

Afte a short wait for Tine at the airport, we finally got in a taxi headed for Kanchanaburi. Both of us pretty tired, so we ended up falling asleep on the way. Finding a room at the Jolly Frog was no problem, and we even got one with AC. Luxury! Exept from getting a room, we spent our nuight in Kanchan by doing some shopping at Tesco, getting some food at One More Bar and a peeerfectly relaxing foot massage at one of the massage places.

Which brings us to today. We got up around 7 am, headed out for some breakfast, phone cards and other neccecities. We also booked a ride to the temple - which ended up being a scooter with a side cart. That was definetly an interesting ride - approximately an hour in this little cart, with two huge backpacks, two small ones, a matress and a variety of other small bags. But again - we did get here, and so did all our stuff!

And now I'm done with another first day at the temple, and I'm allready enjoying it soo much! More about that later. :)

Counting down

Two more days. TWO! Today is Sunday, which means that in less than 48 hours I'll have finished my exam and will be on a plane headed for Amsterdam. Yes - that does give me butterflies!

I've finished packing (I think?), and I have a list of some last minute things I need to add to my carry on. Should mean I'm not going to forget anything essensial this time either, but you never know. The good thing is that Thailand is pretty cheap, and you can find pretty much anything you need at either Tesco Lotus or at one of the many markets. So.. Fingers crossed for no larger emergencies.

I should be arriving at Suvarnabhumi Airport sometime before 1pm local time on wednesday, which means somewhere around 7am Norwegain time. I've allready booked a car to come pick me up so that I don't lose too much time getting to Kanchanaburi. After all, I have quite a list of stuff to get when I finally get there - such as a mosquito net and a matress, which are things I'm not very interested in being without even for a week.

Another thing is that my Norwegian friend, Tine, will arrive some hours ahead of me and I'm really looking forward to start showing her the wonder that is Kanchanaburi! Last year I didn't know a single soul before going to the temple, and this year I'm lucky enough to share the month with a good friend! Of course, this time around I'm super excited to come back to all the awesome people at the tiger temple as well.

And if that wasn't enough... After Tine and I finish our month at the temple, we will be joined by June - another past tiger temple volunteer and travelling wizz extraordinaire!

The three of us will head to Ayutthaya first, then further on to Chiang Mai before heading south to Phi Phi Islands for some nice long days in the sun. Tine will be heading home on July 17, which gives me and June another two weeks to explore southern Thailand and hopefully some parts of Cambodia as well. We haven't planned too much just yet - which is some of the fun of backpacking, but we have booked our flights from Chiang Mai to Phuket, just to be sure we get the flight we want and don't end up stuck in the north for too long.

Sooo.. That's about it for now. I'll try to update my blog as much as possible, and for anyone interested in reading more, Tine and June will be blogging as well.

June: http://adventuresofjune2.blogspot.com/

Tine: http://tinebloggis.blogspot.com/

The times they are a-changin'...

By popular demand (by which I mean a couple of people who've asked me why I don't blog in english), my blog from this year's stay at the tiger temple will be in english.

That way I can refer more people to it when they ask about my experiences, and I won't have to do separate updates in english. Win-win I hope!

So, today is Saturday, which means there's now only TEN days left 'til I'm on a plane headed for Bangkok. I have an exam that same day - so no doubt about that being the most stressful day I've had in a while.... Still, pretty sure it'll be worth it and more. After all, there are tigers and travelling involved!

For now I need to get back to studying, packing and planning, but in about twelve days this blog will hopefully once again be full of tigers, monks and Thailand fun!