DO:
1. Take a train! They're cheap, efficient, and make you feel like you're really a part of it instead of 38,000 feet above it.
2. Eat local! It's yummy and cheap, and whatever western meal you just ordered will be 3 times the price and taste like crap.
3. Buy a ridiculous knock off of something. It's the cheapest place in the world you'll ever buy a Rolex! ;)
4. Take a class or do an organized activity. It lets you interact with the locals and see things a different way, and you may meet some great people to hang out with in the rest of your time there!
5. Rent a motorbike! They're everywhere, and are by far the easiest way to get anywhere, but do be careful, as there are basically no road rules and accidents happen all the time.6. Eat at McDonald's! I know, seems like the absolute wrong thing to do, right? But actually, McDonald's in other countries serves some weird stuff...chilli sauce instead of ketchup, chicken rice porridge for breakfast!
7. When your server asks you if you want it spicy, say yes, then watch them laugh at you when you attempt to drown yourself in water to try and cool your poor mouth down.
8. Learn to say no! To begging kids, scam artists, and that mom that just asked you to buy her starving kid milk at the shop. She's got a deal going with the shop owner, and sells it back to him for half the price.9. Support a worthwhile cause. Even though you're normally looking for the absolute best deal, sometimes it's good to pay more when you know what it's supporting. Education, jobs, animal rights, find an excursion that can help the people doing good to stay in business.
10. Do stop, look around, and take a second to appreciate all those pesky rules / laws from back home...zoning, building permits, easements...ooooh, that's why they have those!
DON'T:
1. Don't pay full price for anything! If you get them down to 3/4 of the price, well, you're new at this aren't you? 1/2 price? Yeah, that's probably fair. 1/4 of the price? Wait, you think you're gonna pay local prices? Haha!
2. Don't drink the tap water! Or brush your teeth with it in some places... Bali Belly, Montezuma's revenge, whatever you want to call it, it really ruins your day :(
3. Don't be polite- you'll never
a) get a meal
b) cross the street (this one is tricky, as you don't want to die, but do want to stop standing on that street corner)
c) be able to let go of that door you're holding open
4. Don't do your border crossings over land at notoriously awful crossings... we could have flown from Bangkok to Siem Reap about 20 times by the time it took us to navigate all those scams!
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| Elephant Rescue Park |
6. Don't give your passport to anyone! You'll spend 40 hours and $400 going back to get it.
7. Don't step in the puddles....just don't.
8. Don't forget to smile! It's the local currency... it will lower prices and smooth over most misunderstandings!
9. Don't forget to take off your shoes! In temples, shops, houses, it's very disrespectful not to. Also your shoes have puddle on them. Ew.
10. Don't forget to go with the flow. If you expect things to happen on time, get what you really ordered, or cost what you were quoted, go somewhere else, cause that ain't here. It will, however, be full of gorgeous landscapes, friendly people, and great food!
All in all, it's hard to sum up, everyone should see it, it's a great place to visit...
We spent a few days in Melbourne, which was a strange transition...going from hot sticky tropical chaos to cool sophisticated Melbourne was a shock, mentally as well as physically as we are both now in the middle of a really nasty cold. Melbourne is one of the first places abroad where I would really want to live. It has some of the best coffee in the world, a great public transportation system, vineyards to the north, and world class coastline with penguins in the south! What more could you want! No worries though, Jared and I are both really looking forward to coming home, and can't wait to see everyone. We picked up our campervan rental a few days ago in Christchurch, New Zealand, and are on our 3rd day touring around the south island. We have lots of photos but won't be uploading until we get our hands on some free internet...New Zealand is pretty stingy with this. So far the country is really beautiful, Jared has already seen a glacier (and almost gotten lost in the wilderness) and everything is looking very Lord of the Rings-y. Next stop, Mordor! Just kidding, it's Dunedin. Talk to you soon!
