A rainbow crosses the American side of Niagara Falls with the Maid of the Mist boat tour passing below

Towering 775 feet above Niagara Falls, the Skylon Tower in Canada affords a view of the American side that can’t be missed! I felt lucky to get this photo of the rainbow and the Maid of the Mist tour boat passing by, though I’m sure it’s a daily sight :).

I took this photo taken during a road trip from New York City to Canada, Upstate NY, the Poconos and back. Or as I like to call it, A 1500 Mile Road Trip With No iPod.

One of the Erawan waterfalls in the Erawan National Park

Based on the recommendation of Claire, our Scottish friend that we keep on traveling with, we went straight from the Bangkok airport to the bus station to head to Kanchanaburi, a small town on the River Kwai. We only meant to spend a couple of days there, but the laid back atmosphere and our sweet hotel room that floated on the river and had a porch with chairs and a hammock extended our stay.

Kanchanaburi itself is a sprawling town but the touristic area is limited to a long street of bars, restaurants, shops, hotels and food cart vendors. It was walking down this street on our second morning that a guy on a motorcycle stopped and said, “can I say hello?” Not wanting to deal with whatever he was selling, Carrie and I ignored him and kept walking. It wasn’t until he repeated his question and took off his helmet and sunglasses that we realized it was our couchsurfing friend Tut from Phuket. He had just quit his job at the timeshare company and was making his way to South Korea. What a small world!

Me, Carrie and Tut at the Erawan National Park

Along with Tut, we spent that evening at the night market where we wandered around sampling lots of foods and looking at all the junk for sale. The three of us also treated ourselves to massages: Tut and I got our feet done while Carrie got a full oil massage from a Lady Boy. The foot massage was quite nice and the masseuse used some form of dull pointed stick to access pressure points and kneed out knots that I had never experienced before. Very relaxing!

Waking up early the next morning, we rented a motorcycle and, with Carrie on the back, followed Tut to the Erawan National Park: home of a beautiful seven-level waterfall. Ranging in size and force, each level of the waterfall cascaded into beautiful blue pools perfect for swimming or other activities. One of the levels had a large mossy rock doubled as a water slide; we spent a lot of time there. Another highlight was swimming under a fall to get a massage from the water beating on our shoulders.

We could have spent hours at each level were it not for the little fish that bit the dead skin off of everyone’s feet when we stood still in the water for more than a second. More startling than painful, it still ensured that we didn’t stay at any one fall for too long. Fortunately, the crowds were not so bad and the higher up we went the fewer people we saw.

Shaky wooden bridges are common on the Death Railway

After saying goodbye to Tut, our next outing was a ride on the Death Railroad, which was named because of all the POW slave laborers who died building it during World War II. The trip started by going over the Bridge Over the River Kwai, which was made most famous by the old movie staring Obi Wan Kenobi himself, Alec Guiness. Carrie and I tried to watch it a couple of times before our ride but never made it past 10 minutes.

Death Railway chugged along for more than two hours, passing by streams, mountains and large caverns that had been dynamited out by the POWs. At some points the side of the train was literally inches from the face of the jagged cliff. We crossed a handful of rickety wood bridges over deep chasms and even went through a few tunnels. When the train reached the destination, we quickly hopped out and got a bus back to Kanchanaburi, finding it  just a bit silly that on one of our few days of not moving around we spent our time on two unnecessary forms of transportation.

Most of the rest of our time in Kanchanaburi was spent relaxing on our porch, wandering the main street, catching up on some much needed writing and photo sorting and eating lots of meals from an delicious and cheap local restaurant where we befriended the entire staff. My favorite part was playing paper airplanes with their two year old daughter while waiting for amazing pad thais and curries.

The view from off the balcony of the hotel we finally found in Da Lat

Da Lat is the most popular local tourist destination in Southern Vietnam; every weekend thousands of people swarm into the mountains to enjoy the cool weather and check out the sights. On our first day there, after a long hotel search with our heavy packs on our backs, we checked into a little room with a balcony and an amazing view of farmland, the city and the mountains. Next, it was off to the local market where we walked through row after row of dried food stalls, veggie shops and little eateries

Rain ended our day there, but the next day I rented a motorcycle and, with Carrie on the back, started my crash course in shifting gears in the mountains. Our first stop were cable cars that traveled over a jungle canopy. The ride was long, as were the lines, and it seemed like a lot of time and money just to see the top of trees. So we left without ever getting on one.

The town of Da Lat

Next we stopped at the Dalanta waterfall and were instantly greeted by nearly 50 tour buses in the parking lot. The inside, including the walk down the mountain side, was as crowded as one would imagine. However, Vietnam did put a unique twist on activities at the waterfall. For a price, one could take a photo with a guy in a bear costume, ride a roller coaster controlled by hand breaks down or up the mountain above the falls, rent an American Indian costume (complete with spears) and take photos in it, shoot a bow and arrow or chuck a spear at a target. The falls were unspectacular, but the scene was like nothing I have ever seen.

The Da Lat Crazy House

After more mountain, highway and city driving, we finally came to the last stop of the day: the Crazy House…which was completely crazy. Modeled as an Alice and Wonderland playground/Dr. Seuss fantasy land for adults, the place featured imaginative and far out architecture, crazy rooms and staircases, funky windows and more.

Bedrooms had animal statues with red Christmas lights for eyes above the bed and the whole place had a very out of this world quality to it. For sure a place I would love to return when it is completed in 2015.

A rollercoaster ride down to the Datanla Waterfall

Beyond the touristic street are rows and rows of rice fields, paths to bike ride or walk on, local villages and nature everywhere. On our first night we went for a walk through the rice fields and watched as locals plowed the paddies with water buffalo-drawn plows while women picked rice in the distance. Later, a couple of workers invited us into their paddy to help plant some rice, an offer that we eagerly and graciously accepted.

Carrie and I plant rice in Don Det

Some background on rice planting…first, the seeds are put into the ground and allowed to grow into what looks like a six-inch blade of grass. Next, these blades are picked from the root up, bunched together and taken to a rice paddy where workers wait to plant them into a shin-deep mix of mud and water. The planting process is simple. First, grab around five blades and hold them right side up with the palm of their hand facing outwards. Then, in one motion, thrust downward and put the bundle into the mud so that all five blades stand straight up and remain together.

This is where we came in. After a brief demonstration, we were handed a bunch of blades of rice and began to plant. Leaning over with the setting sun on our backs, we laughed along with the local workers at our inability to get the quick motion down. Also funny was how our rice blades immediately fell in every direction after we plopped them in the mud.

Sunset from our porch in Don Det (taken by Carrie)

One quick look at the developing paddy revealed exactly which ones we planted and which they did. We continued to plant for another few minutes, but realized that we were probably giving them more work as I can’t imagine they didn’t have to redo everything we did. So, with hands together in front of the face, a bow of the head and a “cop jai lalai” (Lao for thank you very much) we took our leave and let them finish their day’s work.

As for the rest of our two full days in Don Det, they can be very quickly summed up. One morning we braved the scorching 9am sun and, along with some new friends, rented bikes to ride to a nearby waterfall. Unlike many waterfalls on this trip, this one was massive and forceful. I can only imagine it during the height of monsoon season.

The waterfall in Don Det

Since the waters were way too rough to swim, we returned and sat in our hammocks all day watching the river flow by and the monsoon rains sweep through the town while flooding the streets. At one point I went for a bike ride through town during a downpour…very fun, though I came back covered in mud.

The next day we literally just sat in our hammocks all day, read, relaxed and chatted with our bungalow neighbors. Then we left to head to Cambodia; sad that we had to leave paradise but excited to check out Angkor Wat.

Carrie and I plant rice in Don Det

Plowing the rice fields with water buffalo

A panoramic look at the Hampi temples

A teepee in front of the full moon at the Arba Mistika guesthouse in Hampi, India

Essentially two towns in one, the Hampi Bazaar area is a bustling tourist area with temples, countless overpriced hotels and shops and the feel of a large city. Most visitors stay here and are in and out in a day. The more adventurous, and those with more time, take a three minute boat ride across the river to Hampi Island, which is a tranquil and laid back sub-community with only one dirt street.

The island is filled with rice patties, rivers, lakes, hiking, restaurants, guesthouses, Internet cafes, little shops selling only essentials and tons of hippies…mostly Israeli. No one is in a rush, everyone gets along and the entire island has a great vibe.

We checked into a room smaller than a cell block with only a bed (lumpy and thin doesn’t begin to describe it), a shelf and a fan that, along with all power on the island, worked for about 10 hours a day. Still, it cost $2.40 per day and the craptitude of the room forced us to get out and explore.

Stars over the rice patties in Hampi

Our makeshift tent outside our hotel room where Carrie recovered from being sick

While the days were fun, after three miserable nights in our cell block we moved to a new guesthouse (Arba Mistika) with a much bigger room, a shared cement patio, a friendlier environment and a giant tepee to hang out in. This worked out perfectly, as that morning Carrie got her first case of Delhi Belly and spent the next three days immobile.

We took our mattresses off the bed, set them up on the porch and covered the area with a mosquito net. While Carrie was on the mend I relaxed with her, caught up on writing, got to know the staff and fellow travelers at the Arba’s restaurant and wandered the street making friends with shopkeepers.

The firewood used to make the charcol and water concoction (top) and the stone used to crush it up (bottom)

Despite countless hours of sleep, it was drinking crushed up charcoal from a burned log (based on a recommendation from a hippie) that finally made Carrie start to feel better. With her new lease on life we headed to the river to see an elephant get its daily bath before being escorted to a temple where, for one rupee, the elephant would bless you with its trunk. We both had to do it, of course.

The rest of the day was spent visiting other temples, wandering the bazaar and visiting what we were told was a waterfall. In fact, it was a large plateau of rocks with holes in them that you can sit in or jump through into the water below: far more impressive during monsoon season.

Finally, eight days after we arrived, Carrie and I said our goodbyes to Hampi and began our two day journey to Cochin.