Hey all-
We return to China tomorrow, so we don't know what our access will be like to the blog website. I know I know, so many of you will be disappointed. But maybe I'll try to rope one of you in to making the posts.
So here is the latest. Adapted from an email I sent my brother.
People are so wonderful in Thailand (and now we're in Laos, where even some of the oldest, most scoul-ful faces errupt into a smile when we say "Saba-dii !"). And even though it is so freakin'hot, we're still hapy and having a good time. Yesterday and today we were based in Viang Vien, which is smack in the middle of Northern Laos. A CRAZY tourist town, but you're not there for the town. You're there for the 6 km bikeride to a lagoon with rope swings and deep clear pools, behind which is a 200m scramble to a deep deep cave, where there is a golden reproduction of the Buddha reclining. And you're biking along rice paddies, and there are these crazy limestone mountains jumping up to the sky. The air was quite hazy from brush fires, but the breeze made by biking made the heat tolerable.
We spent the afternoon (this is yesterday) floating in inner tubes down the river. Quite a bizarre experience- there are all these stops along the way where the locals have made towers out of bamboo that you can jump off, and zip lines over the river, and huge swings- they hoist you about 50-60 feet in the air and let you swing! Its nuts. And all along the way people are offering you all kinds of beverages and totally gnarly chips (like teryaki salmon potato chips?!?!) and Beerlao (the local bud light), which is only available in huge glass bottles. Not worth it. So we joined all these white-turning-pink tourists floating in inner tubes, making fools out of ourselves, and the locals just sit back in the shade and giggle at our antics. Tourists say things like "You can't jump before you buy a beer. Its against the *lao*." Har har har.
If that scene is not bizarre enough, at night, the town is full of restuarants that all sell the same thing, and all have the TV blaring, and they're all playing re-runs of "Friends". Really. Or the Simpsons. "Friends" is more popular. We got snared on our first night- too exhausted to fight it, and whatched FOUR episodes in a row. We were pretty dern depressed after that. Big mistake. No do again.
Today we joined a small group to kayak down the Nam Lik river. Much better way to return to Vientiane. Nice big rapid that ate us on our first run, but then we hauled our kayaks (actually they were kind of like small rafts- inflated rubber) back around and ran it again. Textbook, really. we were quite proud. [Luv and Addie might remember a less skillful event on the Connecticut river trip when Eric and I capsized three times just trying to get *in* to our canoe above a rapid]. Further down the river we pulled over to jump of some pretty high cliffs- Eric jumped off one that was defintely 35 feet high. What a man. You should have heard the sound of his butt when it hit the water- maybe you heard it in the States? Will post a photo if I can.
Now we're back in Vientiane, home of yet more bizarre marriages between cultures- only this time it is French and Lao-tian (??). So you can get really tasty cookies and delicious bagette, and you can also get some totally suspect soup that smells like rotting compost. We leave for Yunnan Province in China tomorrow. I will miss this mix of southeast asia culture. Its quite bizarre but wonderful too. We may need to come back.
The yoga workshop has done wonders. We've done yoga each morning, except one when we wanted to get an early start. Its been just wonderful. And we do some breathing too- alternate nostril and also another kind- where you just exhale forcefully from your abdomen? You yogies must know it. I know you do. I feel like this could really be key for me in the life-changing that I want to do. Seriously.
Ok, off to bed. I'm re-reading Barbara Kingsolver's "Prodigal Summer" which is just heavenly.
send news. or even just dopey comments. We miss you all.
xo
betsy
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Sunday, March 26, 2006
up in Laos
quick update for all you Eric and Betsy Travel Blog fans out there. We are in Vientiane at the moment, checking email in the blessed air conditioning while we wait for our bus to take us up to Viang Vien, which is a little hippy-tourist- town on a river further north. Tomorrow wel'l go explore some caves, see a reclining Buddha in a cave(at Eric's initiation), and possibly go tubing along the meekong river. Its supposed to be beautiful valley town. Then on Thursday we head back to China, and I gotta say I cant wait to get out of the heat! Eric has adapted better than me. My New England blood takes a while to thin out.
Laos *used* to be a communist country, controlled by the USSR. But it was "liberated" not too long ago. If you ever want to read an amazing book about Laos, you shoudl read "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down". Its a bit intense, but a true and amazing story. All of this traveling makes me want to learn more about the history of this region. The differences between Thailand and Laos, so far, are subtle, but present. Thailand is a wealtheir, more stable country, and has managed to keep most foreign countries from taking over. THere might have been some Brittish influence at some point, but I'm embarassed to say that I don't know the history. My brother might- bro? do you know how to use the comment feature?
well that's all for now- hope you are all doing wonderfully,
xo
betsy and eric
Laos *used* to be a communist country, controlled by the USSR. But it was "liberated" not too long ago. If you ever want to read an amazing book about Laos, you shoudl read "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down". Its a bit intense, but a true and amazing story. All of this traveling makes me want to learn more about the history of this region. The differences between Thailand and Laos, so far, are subtle, but present. Thailand is a wealtheir, more stable country, and has managed to keep most foreign countries from taking over. THere might have been some Brittish influence at some point, but I'm embarassed to say that I don't know the history. My brother might- bro? do you know how to use the comment feature?
well that's all for now- hope you are all doing wonderfully,
xo
betsy and eric
Thursday, March 23, 2006
my aura is purple and green
Hello dears,
Day 4 of the yoga retreat. We are learning about 20 postures very deeply, and also learning quite a bit about the origins of yoga and its philosophical underpinnings. Some of it is a little moer hokey than I really believe in, but other stuff is quite cool. Shakras, for example, are really cool. Eric is more in touch with his than I am with mine, but I'm working on it. Really. (You in the back, clam up).
I'm also getting better at sitting with my legs crossed. Can do it without totaly slumping over. An accomplishment in itself. Eating fresh tropcial fruit each morning is a blesing. Then yummy curry for dinner. Too hot to eat lunch, and since we dont move much during the day we don't need as much fuel. But if we get hungry, a mango shake does the trick. The two of us aer living for under $25 a day, including food and shelter. The guest house is a tropical garden on a bluff above the meekong river. If you haven't heard of the Meekong, go get a map. It originates in the Tibetan plain of China and ends in the Southeast China Sea, three thousand miles away. And the whole way it goes trong- much much bigger than the charles river at its widest. This is a mississippi- or even bigger, and the freeways of old. We look across the river at Laos. Beautiful, but HOT.
We'll stay about one more week down here- including 4 days in Laos. Then we're heading back up to China, partly because we'll be out of malerone (anti-malarial drugs) and partly because we can't take the heat much longer. Oh and we're also really excited about going to Yunan province. Its the foothills to Tibet, and there are many Tibetan people living there as well.
Eric's mom suggested that I keep track of not just what I'm seeing but also what I'm feeling. And my mom asked me to share the annual birthday thoguhts- the where have I been this past year, and where am I going. So I'll try to share some of that here. It has been kind of surprising to see how long it has been taking me to unwind from the few months preceeding my departure. I was pretty wound up! Even five days doign nothing but swimming and sleeping ni the sun didn't do the trick. I think finally today I feel more calm and balanced. Yoga twice a day and daily meditation have probably helped. And all the amazing fruit. Its funny how when I travel outside of Norht America, the world seems smaller. The traveling people we meet seem to create another little parallel world, where we swap sotries about where we've been, and make these incredible cross-cultural comparisons, astounded at differences but always seeking out similarities. They make us feel more secure. I feel more like a member of the WORLD when I'm outside of my home country. I feel more aware of the world. I feel a little more at ease.And I am reminded of how much I loev this planet and the people who live here.
Well thats it for now. Thank you to those of you who are reading this- it is really helpful to be in touch. That helps me be at ease- to know that the people who are *my* people are still out there too.
Much love from Northern Thailand,
Betsy
Day 4 of the yoga retreat. We are learning about 20 postures very deeply, and also learning quite a bit about the origins of yoga and its philosophical underpinnings. Some of it is a little moer hokey than I really believe in, but other stuff is quite cool. Shakras, for example, are really cool. Eric is more in touch with his than I am with mine, but I'm working on it. Really. (You in the back, clam up).
I'm also getting better at sitting with my legs crossed. Can do it without totaly slumping over. An accomplishment in itself. Eating fresh tropcial fruit each morning is a blesing. Then yummy curry for dinner. Too hot to eat lunch, and since we dont move much during the day we don't need as much fuel. But if we get hungry, a mango shake does the trick. The two of us aer living for under $25 a day, including food and shelter. The guest house is a tropical garden on a bluff above the meekong river. If you haven't heard of the Meekong, go get a map. It originates in the Tibetan plain of China and ends in the Southeast China Sea, three thousand miles away. And the whole way it goes trong- much much bigger than the charles river at its widest. This is a mississippi- or even bigger, and the freeways of old. We look across the river at Laos. Beautiful, but HOT.
We'll stay about one more week down here- including 4 days in Laos. Then we're heading back up to China, partly because we'll be out of malerone (anti-malarial drugs) and partly because we can't take the heat much longer. Oh and we're also really excited about going to Yunan province. Its the foothills to Tibet, and there are many Tibetan people living there as well.
Eric's mom suggested that I keep track of not just what I'm seeing but also what I'm feeling. And my mom asked me to share the annual birthday thoguhts- the where have I been this past year, and where am I going. So I'll try to share some of that here. It has been kind of surprising to see how long it has been taking me to unwind from the few months preceeding my departure. I was pretty wound up! Even five days doign nothing but swimming and sleeping ni the sun didn't do the trick. I think finally today I feel more calm and balanced. Yoga twice a day and daily meditation have probably helped. And all the amazing fruit. Its funny how when I travel outside of Norht America, the world seems smaller. The traveling people we meet seem to create another little parallel world, where we swap sotries about where we've been, and make these incredible cross-cultural comparisons, astounded at differences but always seeking out similarities. They make us feel more secure. I feel more like a member of the WORLD when I'm outside of my home country. I feel more aware of the world. I feel a little more at ease.And I am reminded of how much I loev this planet and the people who live here.
Well thats it for now. Thank you to those of you who are reading this- it is really helpful to be in touch. That helps me be at ease- to know that the people who are *my* people are still out there too.
Much love from Northern Thailand,
Betsy
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
these pictures work!
Hey all-
finally figured it out, I believe. must be al lthe meditation and yoga I'm doing. enjoy.
xo
betsy
some pictures
hey all-
we posted some of thes on snapfish, but didn't send it to a full list of peeps. so here are some shots of china and mostly Koh Chang. Not sure if this will work either. wel'l see.
xo
b and e
Sunday, March 19, 2006
a mall in bangkok
hey everyone,
so we're back from the beach. In a 9 story mall in Bangkok. Why? It is AIR CONDITIONED. Us northerners are just not made to deal with the heat. We've been horizontal for days. I finally feel like I have access to my brain in here, which is kinda ironic, given the video game sounds and incredible insanity of this mall. Someone with ADD would be freaking out. The 5th floor is devoted to the sale of cell phones.
anyway. tonight we take a sleeper train up to Ngong Khai, which is on the border with Laos. We'll do a 7 day yoga/meditation retreat up there, then possibly travel through Laos and up to Yunan and Sezuan provinces in China. Its so upbeat and fun in THailand- people are SUPER friendly and smile easily. There is so much action- many forests being re-planted, various efforst to recylce and promote eco-tourism. China felt a little more uneasy and stiff- but then again, our stint in Thailand has strictly been the tourist route. We're heading back to China in about 10 days where it will be cooler (and we'll be out of malaria drugs, so...).
The last few days on the beach were great- lots of time in the hammock and shifting from pool to ocean to cold shower. Amazing fruit. Incredible orange juice- its sweet like Tang but tastier and makes you feel better. We're hoping to upload some photos (finally bought a chord for my camera). One funny story that some of you will appreciate is that the morning we left Bangkok to head to the beach, I cut the bottom of my foot (not funny). So since we're in the tropics, little cuts take 10 years to heal. So I spent most of my time on the beach walking around with my sneaker on. Not a typo. One sneaker and one sandal because it was HOT and I didn't want my other foot to suffer too. So I became well known on the beach. Finally someone asked me what was going on. It provided Eric with much entertainment.
We managed to get only minorly sunburned. Cassie, if you're reading this, know that I personally can relate to what your rear looked like when you got back from Indonesia. Folks, if you are generally butt-white, it is recommended that you snorkle at least in shorts and a t-shirt. I got the t-shirt right, but the bum...
ok. we're off to go eat. hope to upload some pics. Send us news- we miss you all !
xoxo
betsy and eric
so we're back from the beach. In a 9 story mall in Bangkok. Why? It is AIR CONDITIONED. Us northerners are just not made to deal with the heat. We've been horizontal for days. I finally feel like I have access to my brain in here, which is kinda ironic, given the video game sounds and incredible insanity of this mall. Someone with ADD would be freaking out. The 5th floor is devoted to the sale of cell phones.
anyway. tonight we take a sleeper train up to Ngong Khai, which is on the border with Laos. We'll do a 7 day yoga/meditation retreat up there, then possibly travel through Laos and up to Yunan and Sezuan provinces in China. Its so upbeat and fun in THailand- people are SUPER friendly and smile easily. There is so much action- many forests being re-planted, various efforst to recylce and promote eco-tourism. China felt a little more uneasy and stiff- but then again, our stint in Thailand has strictly been the tourist route. We're heading back to China in about 10 days where it will be cooler (and we'll be out of malaria drugs, so...).
The last few days on the beach were great- lots of time in the hammock and shifting from pool to ocean to cold shower. Amazing fruit. Incredible orange juice- its sweet like Tang but tastier and makes you feel better. We're hoping to upload some photos (finally bought a chord for my camera). One funny story that some of you will appreciate is that the morning we left Bangkok to head to the beach, I cut the bottom of my foot (not funny). So since we're in the tropics, little cuts take 10 years to heal. So I spent most of my time on the beach walking around with my sneaker on. Not a typo. One sneaker and one sandal because it was HOT and I didn't want my other foot to suffer too. So I became well known on the beach. Finally someone asked me what was going on. It provided Eric with much entertainment.
We managed to get only minorly sunburned. Cassie, if you're reading this, know that I personally can relate to what your rear looked like when you got back from Indonesia. Folks, if you are generally butt-white, it is recommended that you snorkle at least in shorts and a t-shirt. I got the t-shirt right, but the bum...
ok. we're off to go eat. hope to upload some pics. Send us news- we miss you all !
xoxo
betsy and eric
Friday, March 17, 2006
put on your drool guard
so this is really the most blissful warm place I've ever been (otice the qualifier- "warm". TO me true bliss is 70 inches of base and 30 inches of fresh snow somewhere on the west coast and Im' in a little log cabin with like 10 of my friends and I nkow how to telemark ski).
so since its warm, this place is IT. We have a ltitle bungalow on a beach, where there are about 5 or 6 other hotels/hostels. From our two hamocks on our proch (which we got for $5 each), we look through palm trees to a white sandy beach and gently lapping waves. We have watched the sunset each evening. We start our days with a long swim along the shore, then a breakfast of fruit and yogurt and granola (fruit = pineapple (FAVORITE!!!), papya, banana). freshly squuezed sweetest ever orange juice. THen we go sit by the poolside (by the ocean) with our novels. The first two days we kind of just shifted from beach side to poolside to porch and variosu eating venues. Today we went on a snorkeling trip and saw all kinds of angel fish, parrot fish, needle-nosed fish (realy), clownfish, aemones.... all that. And a tasty thai lunch. turquoise waters.Lush jungle. HOT HOT HOT. It is REALLY HOT. So you have to either be in a body of water or the shade or moving VERY SLOWLY between the two. For some reason spicey foodis really killer in the heat. Killer in a good way.
So we're kind of getting used to this. Oh andthere are these little air conditioned bungalows where we can check email at night. The party rotates from hotel to hotel- and since we're now btoh in our thirites, we're kind of avoiding it (ok, you friends of Betsy, you nkow I'm just dragging Eric down to my level of lameness, where I have always needed to go to bed early- poor gy.one of you should have warned him).
We're checknig out yoga/meditation retreats. Hard to find one that has good meditation for eric but also has yoga for me. SOme of the websitse are hilarious- like, "I am more Yogi than the other yogi retreats so come to my yoga place and you will be more yogi than your friends". Not really what we are looking for.
sorry abotu the tpos- this machien is wicked slow and we're paying by the minute. So I shoudl sign off. But we hope you are all doing well and that you don't have to big a puddle of drool on your keyboards. we can't believe our luck.
if anyone has opinions about Laos or Northern Thailand in terms of travel, please share. We miss you all.
xo
betsy and eric
so since its warm, this place is IT. We have a ltitle bungalow on a beach, where there are about 5 or 6 other hotels/hostels. From our two hamocks on our proch (which we got for $5 each), we look through palm trees to a white sandy beach and gently lapping waves. We have watched the sunset each evening. We start our days with a long swim along the shore, then a breakfast of fruit and yogurt and granola (fruit = pineapple (FAVORITE!!!), papya, banana). freshly squuezed sweetest ever orange juice. THen we go sit by the poolside (by the ocean) with our novels. The first two days we kind of just shifted from beach side to poolside to porch and variosu eating venues. Today we went on a snorkeling trip and saw all kinds of angel fish, parrot fish, needle-nosed fish (realy), clownfish, aemones.... all that. And a tasty thai lunch. turquoise waters.Lush jungle. HOT HOT HOT. It is REALLY HOT. So you have to either be in a body of water or the shade or moving VERY SLOWLY between the two. For some reason spicey foodis really killer in the heat. Killer in a good way.
So we're kind of getting used to this. Oh andthere are these little air conditioned bungalows where we can check email at night. The party rotates from hotel to hotel- and since we're now btoh in our thirites, we're kind of avoiding it (ok, you friends of Betsy, you nkow I'm just dragging Eric down to my level of lameness, where I have always needed to go to bed early- poor gy.one of you should have warned him).
We're checknig out yoga/meditation retreats. Hard to find one that has good meditation for eric but also has yoga for me. SOme of the websitse are hilarious- like, "I am more Yogi than the other yogi retreats so come to my yoga place and you will be more yogi than your friends". Not really what we are looking for.
sorry abotu the tpos- this machien is wicked slow and we're paying by the minute. So I shoudl sign off. But we hope you are all doing well and that you don't have to big a puddle of drool on your keyboards. we can't believe our luck.
if anyone has opinions about Laos or Northern Thailand in terms of travel, please share. We miss you all.
xo
betsy and eric
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
who put that picture up?
I suspect my brother found that old picture of me from my body building days. Just in case anyone was wondering, I mistakenly gave him the password for our site. So prepare yourselves.
from a beach somewhere
Well it took us two days to get here, actualy three. After 27 hours on a train, a short bus and train to the HOng Kong Airport, and then a 3 hour flight, 45 minute cab ride, we made it to... Bangkok. Then this morning we took a minibus for about 7 hours to get to a little port (Trat) from where we took a 30 minute ferry and then another 1 horu in the minibus, which dumped us on a tiny road in the middle of a tiny tourist town. So now we are here. And yes, we're checkign email.
I think its because we're in our thirties. I officially turn 30 in 48 hours, so I'm considering myself part of the club. WE're staying in a tiny bungalow (picture palm fronds and a cememnt attached bathroom, which, by the sonuds of things, dumps its contents directly under the loo.) Its decent, althoguh I wouldn't say its spotless. t is definitely in the middle of the party tho- a full moon party is happening tonight and the techno has already started. Along with fire poi, which is really cool (google it if you don't know what it is). So I say we're in our thirties because we discovered a quieter, more upscale place down the beach with its own pool and nicer (MUCH nicer) quarters. For about another 200 baht. Which is about $5. So we're moving hoepfully tomorrow (if someone checks out) but definetly will be there for my birthday. I am most pleased about that.
Its hot and there are quite a few bugs, and even the water is warm! I know I know, you're all thinking, lucky sucker. It could be worse. I think this is culture shock- I mean, how many peopel go from the frozen northalnds of communist china to the beaches of Thailand where gheckos climb the walls of the airconditioned internet hut? Wait, there are two gheckos. How do you spell ghecko?
So we're safe. And hope you guys are ok. Is anyone reading this? :)
xoxo
betsy and eric
I think its because we're in our thirties. I officially turn 30 in 48 hours, so I'm considering myself part of the club. WE're staying in a tiny bungalow (picture palm fronds and a cememnt attached bathroom, which, by the sonuds of things, dumps its contents directly under the loo.) Its decent, althoguh I wouldn't say its spotless. t is definitely in the middle of the party tho- a full moon party is happening tonight and the techno has already started. Along with fire poi, which is really cool (google it if you don't know what it is). So I say we're in our thirties because we discovered a quieter, more upscale place down the beach with its own pool and nicer (MUCH nicer) quarters. For about another 200 baht. Which is about $5. So we're moving hoepfully tomorrow (if someone checks out) but definetly will be there for my birthday. I am most pleased about that.
Its hot and there are quite a few bugs, and even the water is warm! I know I know, you're all thinking, lucky sucker. It could be worse. I think this is culture shock- I mean, how many peopel go from the frozen northalnds of communist china to the beaches of Thailand where gheckos climb the walls of the airconditioned internet hut? Wait, there are two gheckos. How do you spell ghecko?
So we're safe. And hope you guys are ok. Is anyone reading this? :)
xoxo
betsy and eric
Monday, March 13, 2006
off to thailand
well we are in the hong kong airport now, so we can finally see our blog. We've changed plans so now we're going to Thailand, and our flight leaves in about an hour! we're going to a small island called Koh Chang. Not a bad place to be for my upcoming 30th birthday.
We did all the tourists stuff in Beijing, including paying what we have started calling the tourist tax to see the big attractions (meaning, since we can't read chinese we get stuck paying for things we don't want). We saw the FOrbidden City, the Great Wall, and the summer palace. We'veh ad some challenges with planning the Mongolia part of the trip, but hopefully our man on the groudn in Beijing (Wan Wei) will be able to help with that.
weird food items eaten: frog, duck feet, and some stinky soup that we're trying to forget about.
everything in hong kong is super cheap. I mean electronics. we bought a 514 memory card for $30. woo hoo! This world is a strange place- Hong Kong feels like the future, although it is not as scary as I thought it would be. People are super friendly, and everything is spotless. Well at the airport. I think Thailand will be yet again another world.
We hope you are all doing well. And we wonder if anyone can actually read this. Go ahead and post if you want to or can figure it out! we hope to put in some photos if we can find a chord for my camera when we come back through Hong Kong.
Be good all yall,
Betsy
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
we can write but cannot see
heya again all-
so it turns out that for some strange reason (maybe due to our location), we can POST to our blog but we can't actually read it ourselves. So. Who knows how this one will turn out, but we hope to keep this somewhat updated. Suffice to say all is well and we're going to go have breakfast now! (and yes, we did eat frog, and acually it was ok, if you didn't mind spitting out all the bones.mmmmm)
xoxo
betsy
so it turns out that for some strange reason (maybe due to our location), we can POST to our blog but we can't actually read it ourselves. So. Who knows how this one will turn out, but we hope to keep this somewhat updated. Suffice to say all is well and we're going to go have breakfast now! (and yes, we did eat frog, and acually it was ok, if you didn't mind spitting out all the bones.mmmmm)
xoxo
betsy
safe in china
Hi folks
Betsy and I had a good day yetserday with her family friend Wan-Wei. He took us to Beijing's summer palace, which is a lovely palace on a 2.9 square km lake. We went out for dinner, and ate frog. yummm. he also took us to see his university, "Beijing University" which is the higest ranked one in China. There, we went to a symphony in the evening, where, combining the jet lag and relaxing music, Betsy and I had several brief naps. I guess in China performers don't usually do encores - at the end of the show, after the applause stopped and people were leaving, the performers came back out on stage. We all took our seats again, and they played an encore.
I hope you are all well,
Eric
Betsy and I had a good day yetserday with her family friend Wan-Wei. He took us to Beijing's summer palace, which is a lovely palace on a 2.9 square km lake. We went out for dinner, and ate frog. yummm. he also took us to see his university, "Beijing University" which is the higest ranked one in China. There, we went to a symphony in the evening, where, combining the jet lag and relaxing music, Betsy and I had several brief naps. I guess in China performers don't usually do encores - at the end of the show, after the applause stopped and people were leaving, the performers came back out on stage. We all took our seats again, and they played an encore.
I hope you are all well,
Eric
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Friday, March 03, 2006
how we'll keep in touch
Hey dear family and friends,
Ok, we're trying out this blog thing. I mean, everyone is doing it, so why don't we. Instead of sending email blasts, we'll just update our blog with websites and stories if we get any good ones, so check back here if you want to know what we're up to. We're not sure what our email access will be like while we're in China, but feel free to email us: betsyruth (at symbol) gmail.com and ericbarryloucks(at symbol) gmail.com. (by "at" we mean @).
We're staying with Eric's friend Mark at the moment in Vancouver. WE WENT TO WHISTLER TODAY. This was *huge* for little old Betsy, who grew up skiing on a lump that New Englanders call Sunday River. I had no idea that Whistler was as beautiful and other worldly as it is. This whole region is another planet, really, and I think we may need to move here after Montreal.
We have already had some near misses- forgot to get traveler's checks in the US so had to do some sneaky transactions with Eric's patient and world-traveling aunt, Patricia, and Betsy forgot to get Malerone for Malaria- which we'll need when we travel to indonesia. Doh. But that again will be solved by Patricia, who found me a traveler's clinic at the airport. Having wrapped up those issues, we spent the day in heavenly powder with Eric's uncle Bruce and Mark. Followed by hot tub. Thus I shold be able to walk tomorrow.
Eric is throwing things at me so I think its time to sign off. We miss you all already and hope to stay in touch this way!
xoxo
betsy
Ok, we're trying out this blog thing. I mean, everyone is doing it, so why don't we. Instead of sending email blasts, we'll just update our blog with websites and stories if we get any good ones, so check back here if you want to know what we're up to. We're not sure what our email access will be like while we're in China, but feel free to email us: betsyruth (at symbol) gmail.com and ericbarryloucks(at symbol) gmail.com. (by "at" we mean @).
We're staying with Eric's friend Mark at the moment in Vancouver. WE WENT TO WHISTLER TODAY. This was *huge* for little old Betsy, who grew up skiing on a lump that New Englanders call Sunday River. I had no idea that Whistler was as beautiful and other worldly as it is. This whole region is another planet, really, and I think we may need to move here after Montreal.
We have already had some near misses- forgot to get traveler's checks in the US so had to do some sneaky transactions with Eric's patient and world-traveling aunt, Patricia, and Betsy forgot to get Malerone for Malaria- which we'll need when we travel to indonesia. Doh. But that again will be solved by Patricia, who found me a traveler's clinic at the airport. Having wrapped up those issues, we spent the day in heavenly powder with Eric's uncle Bruce and Mark. Followed by hot tub. Thus I shold be able to walk tomorrow.
Eric is throwing things at me so I think its time to sign off. We miss you all already and hope to stay in touch this way!
xoxo
betsy
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