Thailand & Dukan – Day 89

Posted on November 18, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Thursday was a PV Day

Daily weight loss: 0.44 lb/0.2 kg
Total weight loss: 39.58 lb/18 kg

Well I am sore as hell this morning! Yesterday was a super busy day!

Started off with an omelet with onions and some bacon.

Then private tour van to a crystal clear lagoon with little waterfalls and rushing water coming into it. We trekked about a kilometer into the forest to get to it, but worth every step!

Back in the van for a ride to the hot springs, we trekked 1.2 kms into the forest to get to it, again worth the hike! Hot water, running down the rocks to form pools to sit in. Nature is indeed awesome.

Then back in the van to head for lunch. It was Thai food, of course, but everything was in heavy gravies, so I ordered a burger. Absolutely the worse burger I have ever tasted in my life. Obviously frozen, microwaved to thaw and thrown in fry pan… Blech! Really, though, the only disappointing meal of the trip.

After lunch we headed for a Buddhist temple where we were given 2 hours to explore. There was a steep climb (1200+ steps) up the mountain to a temple that I attempted. I got up just under 300 steps. It was like climbing a ladder and the height and steepness were freaking me out… LOL The steepness, I’m sure are why my quads are a bit sore this morning!

I wrote my name on a gold leaf, said a long prayer of thanks for prayers answered and a good life 🙂

Then the icing on the cake… The BEST trip got even BESTER (I know that’s not a word,I get my vocab from my youngest child who has made up some great words over the years!). WE RODEA HUGE ELEPHANT INTO THE RAINFOREST! After impressing us with the amazing size of his, ahem, manliness….

We climbed aboard for a 50 minute adventure into the rainforest. At first we sat on the bench and unlike the rest of the mahouts, our elephant’s mahout did not get on him. He walked next to him, ahead of him, hid behind trees from him and chatted quietly with him. They were very in-tune to one another. You could tell our mahout loved his elephant! Our elephant is 35 years old and the mahout has been working with him for nearly 11 years.

After 10 minutes of trekking, the mahout told Cathy to get off the bench and get on the elephant’s neck to ride bareback. The joy on her face made me so happy! It is amazing to experience life long dreams with people you love. Cathy had been waiting for this opportunity since childhood. I feel so blessed to have shared it with her!

The mahout took Cathy’s camera and shot tons of pics, asking at one point if he could have the camera, we said sure… Give us the memory card and the elephant and it’s yours… He gave us back the camera…

Then it was my turn to ride bareback. Riding bareback reminded of late night horse back riding in my teens, with my Palm City friends, only on a much larger scale! The powerful muscles of the elephant’s neck can be felt by your legs. You don’t feel the need to hold on for dear life (at least I didn’t). He slowly strolled through the rainforest guided by the gentle voice of the mahout. My hands, lightly placed on the top of his head, felt the soft skin with his little black, bristly hairs. His soft ears flapping lightly, to cool himself off, would occasionally hug me gently. THAT was so cool, to feel these ears gently pressing against your legs… Wow, wow, wow! Too soon we were back to the village and our amazing ride was over.

We then fed him bananas, but instead of giving them in his trunk, we were allowed to put them in his mouth… Again, WOW! It is amazing how gentle an animal of this size can be. His powerful, HUGE tongue coming out to take the banana. What an experience!

Then back to the resort for a one hour massage and then Mexican for dinner! I had fajitas without the tortillas 🙂

What a fantastically, amazing day… Shared with some amazing friends!

Now off for my morning massage!

Ciao!

Thailand & Dukan Day 88

Posted on November 17, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Today was a PV Day.
Lost weight, but don’t have the stats… they are on iPhone.

Breakfast of scrambled eggs with onions and bran, bacon and sausage, while listening to monkeys chattering and birds chattering… Blissful way to start the morn.

We then headed out on a 3 hour trek through the rainforest. It was awesome… rugged,hilly, rocky terrain. It was challenging, yet fun! The trees that make up the canopy of the rainforest soar 150 feet over your head. We were surrounded by amazing, lush greenery and the sounds of birds and monkeys and rushing water of the creek we crossed, many times on teeny bamboo bridges.

Lunch was BBQ pork rolled in fresh cracked black pepper, turmeric, sea salt and garlic… Heaven! Everyone else ate that and coconut milk soup and scrambled eggs, which would have been perfect for me to eat, until the cook through in sugar 😦 For dessert they had shredded coconut with sea salt, sugar and sticky rice… For me, the pork was good enough… Succulent and tasty, right off the barbie!

We then trekked 30 minutes back to Elephant Hills to pack up to move on to the beachside town of Krabi. The 3 days in Elephant Hills was AMAZING! It will be hard to get better service or accommodation or food… If you go to Thailand, it is a must do on your list!

Two and a half hours in a luxury van brings us out of the jungle and into a beachside touristy town called Krabi. We are staying at the Tipa Resort for 2 nights and we are on our own until tomorrow. Cathy and I got caught up on emails and Dominique and Karen met up with Dom’s friend Emma, who is on her honeymoon. Cathy and I had a yummy dinner in e resort’s restaurant. I had grilled chicken with onions, the presentation was gorgeous and a bowl of Tom Kah Gai soup, because it’s the one thing I won’t be denied while on this holiday!!! I literally slurped the broth to get as much of the flavor as I could… Exquisite flavors! Long walk through town, then a blissful sleep…

Life is good!

Ciao!

Thailand & Dukan Day 87

Posted on November 16, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Tuesday was a PP day… For the most part 🙂

Daily weight loss: Gain 2.8 lb/1.3 kg – Yikes!
Total weight loss: 38.7 lb/17.6 kg

The scales of woe are upon me! I’m not freaking out or anything, I am on vacation, but yuck! It had been a bit challenging to get the right balance of food here in Thailand, in regard to Dukan. They are mostly vegetarians, so very little meat goes into some of their dishes.

For the most part, I did have a PP day yesterday.
Breakfast: 2 egg omelet with onions in it.
Lunch: tofu on a stick and a couple of pieces of fried fish (no batter) while everyone else ate this….
MY LUNCH…

EVERYONE ELSES LUNCH…

Afternoon snack: beef jerky
Dinner: grilled pork and curried chicken, but I dipped the chicken in tea to get the curry gravy off 😦
And that was it! I definitely got my water in, but I haven’t had my bran in a couple of days (going to ask them to sprinkle in my eggs this morning).

We had a great time, again. We took a van down to the southern most part of Thailand and got on a high-speed boat which took us through some beautiful river. He then slowed down and went through a maze of channels into the mangrove forest. This reminded of my childhood when we used to explore the mangroves with the environmental studies center. We saw lots of different snakes in the trees above our heads. It felt like a real Disney Jungle cruise!

VIETNAM BORDER…

We were then taken to a Burmese Junk, where we were given the choice of soaking up some sun or taking a paddle canoe out… I chose the first option and soaked up some Vitamin D 🙂 Karen and Dominique went exploring.

After an hour they served up a delicious lunch… But I was a good girl. We were then taken to a deserted beach for some R$R. The beach is on the border of Thailand and Vietnam. Lots of crabs to chase and take pictures of. I took a nice long walk on the beach.

Then back to Elephant Hills for a good night’s sleep.

Ciao!

Thailand and Dukan – Day 86

Posted on November 15, 2011 by flamidwyfe

Monday was a PV Day because of the limited choices while on holiday in Thailand.
Daily weight loss: GAIN- +0.2 lb/0.1 kg
Total weight loss: 41.5 lb/18.9 kg

Woke up to the beauty and mist of the mountains back in Kuraburi Lodge. Surrounded by the sounds of nature… Ahhhhhhh

Breakfast of hard fried eggs and bacon and a cup of coffee, then back to the room to pack for our next adventure.

About an hour and half on the road we arrived at Elephant Hills Resort and after a brief meeting about what we would be doing, we were led to our luxury tent rooms… And are they luxurious! Wow! Mattresses with memory foam, softest pillows in the world, amazing bathroom… just Wow!

After unpacking, we went to lunch buffet with delicious Thai food and then to our elephant experience! We walked down a mud track to an area where 13 elephants were brought in by their mahouts and we were given lessons about the difference between Asian and African elephants, about what they eat and how the mahout is with the elephant for life. The elephant hook is used the same as the reins on a horse to guide the elephant.
We then prepared a meal for our elephant, cutting sugar cane, chopping water melons and pineapples, preparing pumpkin and cucumbers and a special packet of tamarind, rice and sea salt wrapped in a banana leaf.
We then got to feed them… Oh it was wonderful! They reach in with their soft, delicate, yet powerful trunks and gently take the food from you. They cradle it in their trunk, near the “hand” (which, by the way, has one finger, versus the 2 that African elephants have), and then swing it in their mouths. Their tongues are huge! They really connect with you while feeding them.

After caring for the elephants we had a little snack break and then walked down to the Sok River for a one hour canoe trip. We each had our own canoe guide who did all the work. We had tea on the embankment and then continued on. We saw snake, gorgeous birds and a monitor lizard! Great afternoon!
Movie about elephants, Thai dancing by some adorable local children and buffet dinner, with a pad thai cooking demo, and a nice cup of coffee ended our day… Slept like a baby with the tent windows pulled back…. BLISS!

I’m off to the shower… Ciao!

Travel – Ain´t no mountain high enough!

Posted on May 1, 2010 by flamidwyfe

Wednesday, April 28… Last night I had a dream with my dad in it. My dad was my best bud, I adored him. He always had the best advise! He died nearly 18 years ago, and twice since then I´ve felt him near me. Last night was the 3rd time. I dreamed that we were driving in a car on a rural highway and there was a tornado coming right for us. I kept telling him, “Daddy, you MUST go right!!!” He looked over at me and the message I got was, “Sandi, sometimes going right isn´t always the right way to go”. He then proceeded to drive straight through the tornado! When we came out the other side of the tornado, I was driving and my dad was gone. This left me incredibly sad, yet unafraid to tackle the road ahead. I feel so fortunate whenever my dad “visits” me.

A left groin sprain prevents me from continuing the walk up to Roncelvalles. Disappointing, but I would rather rest it and continue the Camino, than push past it and possibly have to quit. Guiermmo, the transporter takes me back down to St Jean, then up to Roncevalles, where we stayed in a room for four with Carole from England and Harriet from Sweden. A really nice room with two beds down and two beds up in a loft, very cool! Excellent pilgrim dinner and then a long hot bath and a beautiful, blessed, blissful sleep!

Thursday, April 29…

Walk from Roncevalles to Larrasoana. Up and down 4 mountains, 29 kms, rugged and steep declines, one was 10%grade! Exhausting, painful, AMAZING! I almost quit in Zibiri, but talked myself into doing the last 4.7 kms, worth the satisfaction of finishing! Stayed at the Refuge du Peregrinos in a 4 bedded room with Lucy, Carole and Harriet and across the hall from the 4 Irish sisters… they´re a hoot! Yummy pilgrims meal of asparagus, steak & fries and ice cream. Sore as hell… Slept like a log!

Friday, April 30…

Woke as sore as when I went to sleep, LOL!! Walking like an old lady, wondering how in the world I will be able to walk today! Had nuts, fruit & cafe con leche for brekkies and took 1000 mg of Acetominophen. I started the ascent up the mountain and within 20 minutes or so I was walking just fine. Some pain, but manageable… I think my muscles just gave in and humored me… LOL! Beautiful hike through the mountains. About 7 kms into the hike I had two choices, down (the easy route) or up where there was a beautiful church. The easy route is for sissies (I tell myself little fibs to get me moving!) and I took the ascent up to see this church. Carole & Harriet were there, and the nun, Maria, offered her bathroom to us. She had wonderful Gregorian chant music on, and the church and hospitality were worth the hike up! While up there, I opened up a saved email from my friend Alice Sanpere, and read it aloud to Carole. This is what it says: “I cannot wait to hear your impressions as you work through the physical pain, move into the mental challenges and swoon with spiritual growth. You´ll see what I mean. LOVE”. Alice… I am definitely seeing what you mean! Your words brought happy tears to me and Carole as we sat at this church listening to the chants and praying. Your words inspire me daily, bless you!

An interesting descent after the church and then lunch in Arre. We had a nice 30 minute break there before heading on to Pamplona. We are all walking like little old ladies, but delighted we´ve made it this far. I am ready for a blessed sleep tonite… and I got it!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

A holy day here in Spain. Everything is closed. Lucy and I are taking a rest day here because we want to explore Pamplona. We have been to a museum, and walked the route that the bulls take during the running of the bulls. That´s my update for now! Ciao!

Travel – On our Way

Posted on April 28, 2010 by flamidwyfe

Friday night, April 23… taxi to AD airport.

Saturday, April 24.. Flight from AD to Casablanca, Morocco. The landing was aborted just before we touched down!!! I laughed my ass off, which is what I do when I think I´m going to die! We had to circle because there was ground fog and they couldn´t see anything (this is what the pilot told us… LOL). Anyway, finally landed around 930 a.m. local time. Train to Tanger 6 long hours! We stayed the night in an Ibis Hotel and had a traditional teagine dinner… bed early… exhausted. Travel Day 1 is done.

Sunday, April 25… HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BIG GIRL CELESTE ALENA THE BALLERINA!!! Took the ferry from Tanger, Morocco to Algecerias, Spain… 35 minutes, but time difference is 2 hours! Talk about being confused! Taxi to Malaga, Spain and we can´t get a train, bus is out because I´ll puke, so we go to the airport and rent a car. a cute little Peugeot. Stop at 10 pm in La Guardia, Spain, about an hour south of Madrid. It´s a truck stop-hotel. Bacon & Cheese sandwiches for dinner & breakfast the next morning… I´m a happy hiker 🙂 Day 2 of travel done and over…

Monday, April 26.. taking us FOREVER to get to SJPdP!!! On road by 900 am. Spanish countryside is amazing! Arrive at Pamplona airport to drop off the rental at 400 pm, taxi to St Jean Pied de Port 1.5 hours… We´re FINALLY at the start of our walk… 6 days behind, but here! Went wrong way up the steep road and ended up at a wonderful hostel, hosted by Jaques & Francois. I THOUGHT they said dinner was bread pudding, and it was delicious. Lucy informed me after the fact that it was traditional Basque BLOOD PUDDING. LOL!!! Good thing thing I didn´t know in advance. Met some really wonderful people at the hostel, John, a journalist from Argentina and Henri, an Irish/Spanish bloke for Madrid who has taken a year off to travel and the loudest snorer in the world, Pierre, who has horrible sleep apnea, but a lovely smile. Can´t wait to get started in the morning.

Tuesday, April 27… after drinking cafe latte from a bowl for brekkies, Lucy and I laced up our boots, grabbed our walking sticks, strapped our backpacks to our backs and set off with Henri & John. After half hour of climbing up, up, up John & Henri went ahead and Lucy and I continued on the hardest walk of my life! 9 kms, mostly at an incline, climbing to 1000 meters. It took me 5 hours to do it, but I DID IT! At times I would take 70-100 steps and rest for a minute, then do it again. Lucy was amazingly patient, I am so grateful for her. I mostly listened to the soundtrack from G I Jane… quitting IS NOT an option 🙂 Just when I honestly thought I couldn´t go another step, Orrison appeared around the bend, al humdilalah! This is our stop for the night and I am so happy! No inside beds, we are in a tent tonite, and Lucy has invited a lovely Japanese girl, Mika, to stay in our tent, since there was nothing available for her… the more the warmer, is what I say!!! More tomorrow!

Travel – Everything you need in a ruck sack weighing 6.25 kg

Posted on April 23, 2010 by flamidwyfe

Well… after not being able to get on the flight Tuesday night because of the volcano that no one can pronounce the name of, we’ve rebooked to fly to Casablanca, train to Tangiers, ferry to Spain, and hopefully catch a flight to northern Spain. We’re literally flying by the seat of our pants, but dammit… WE’RE GOING TO WALK THE CAMINO… 😀

The bag is packed, and weighs 6.25 kg, that’s 13.77 lbs. I’m proud that this is what I’ve whittled a 5 week walking holiday down to. Just the essentials… everything I need for my holiday is here:

The only extra thing that is packed is Oreo, a class project for a cool kid I’ve never met in Connecticut. Doing a favor for my school chum, Teri. Oreo will fly back to the U.S. from Pamplona after my 3rd day of walking… I’m happy to have the extra 200 grams of weight. Here’s a pic of Oreo, just before I put him to bed in my pack:

And here he is all snuggled in for the long plane ride to Casablanca:

So, off I go! I will miss my daily chats with a lot of you on facebook, and interacting on Mafia Wars, but it will be a nice break! I will try to send updates from the trail, when internet is available. I hope all of you have as marvelous and adventurous 5 weeks, as I will!

Love, love….

Sandi

Travel – All Booked!!

Posted on March 17, 2010 by flamidwyfe

So… after TONS of research, months of playing around on airline websites, dozens of hours up late reading Camino forums for advise… we’ve got all of our transportation from Abu Dhabi to SJPP (St Jean Pied de Port) and back finally booked! 😀

I could not be happier. I was able to book the last tickets this afternoon after Lucy found a better way back to London from Spain! Here’s the itinerary:

21 April
Abu Dhabi to London Heathrow LV 0235 arrive 0720 on Etihad Airways
Bus to London Stanstead airport
London Stanstead to Biarritz LV 1215 arrive 1505 on RyanAir
Caroline taxi service will pick us up at Biarritz and drive us to SJPP (thanks to the http://www.albergue.caminodesantiago.me forum for that recommendation!!)
Where we will check into L’Esprit du Chemin (http://www.espritduchemin.org/EC/LEsprit_du_Chemin.html) for a good meal and hopefully a restful sleep… we start our journey after breakfast early morning on the 22nd!

22 April to 25 May walk to Santiago approximately 22-25 km per day

26 May
Santiago to London Stanstead LV 1135 arrive 1240 on RyanAir
Overnight at Lucy’s mom’s house

27 May
Bus to London Heathrow from Stanstead airport
LHR to Abu Dhabi LV 1445 arrive 0050 (28 May) on Etihad Airways

There is something energizing about having it all booked. All I have to think about now is continuing my condition training… all the supplies are bought, all the transportation booked… WOO HOO!

5 weeks 0 days… but who’s counting?

Buen Camino!

Sandi

Travel – To Amsterdam we went…

Posted on March 11, 2010 by flamidwyfe

So Lucy and I went to Amsterdam to buy the stuff for our walk. For those of you who have been living under a mushroom and haven’t heard me say or mention (ad nauseum) the “walk” is the Camino de Santiago, aka The Walk of St James aka the Santiago Compostela. Here’s a link for some info on it: http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board/el-camino-frances/

We leave April 21, 2010 from Abu Dhabi and hope to finish it by May 27th. We will walk approx. 25 km per day, that’s 15.53 miles per day.

Lucy and I flew to Amsterdam on Wednesday, March 3rd and returned on Sunday, March 7th… not long enough! Here’s some pics from the trip:

The top pic is me at the airport in Abu Dhabi as we get ready to leave… good practice, only took my hiking back pack, weight: 4.5 kg, that’s just under 10 pounds.

The 2nd pic is Lucy and me having lunch at a lovely restaurant across the canal from the Anne Frank house, which we didn’t get to visit because the cue was more than 45 minutes and it was raining and it was 2 degrees C!

The 3rd pic is Sacha and me. I met Sacha at this store last August when Nick and I were in Amsterdam before our Italy holiday. Sacha remembered that I said I’d be back! We bought everything we need for “the walk” at this store, the Bever Women’s Swerfsport store and their parent store down the street.

We had a great time in Amsterdam and also had dinner with my friends Peter & Sylvia who were in Vanuatu with me in 2005.

I can’t imagine needing anything else for my trip… here’s a pic of my pack with all the stuff I bought:

From the top and clockwise: My vest, clear document keep dry pouch, little black pouch is my clothesline and the yellow thing is a solar light source, my purple cap, light blue thing is my wind/rain breaker, the red thing in the black net looking bag is my silk sleep sack, below that one of 3 pair of hiking, zip pants and the belt to keep them up with, next to that, one of 3 pair of wool socks, the red thing next to that is the rain pancho that goes over me AND the pack, above that is the tan zip pants, my toothbrush/paste in one thingy and next to that another pair of wool socks, next to the pancho are my sexy black long johns (LOL), my teal short sleeved hiking shirt, above that my black long sleeved hiking shirt, above that my light weight water bottle, to the right of that my map from village to village and it tells you where the refugios are, and to the left of the water bottle my light weight carry all bag, for carrying personal effects, passport and money to the shower, and last but not least, my green short sleeved hiking shirt.

The long johns and shirts and purple skull cap and my buff (in the pack so not in pic) are made by Icebreaker, a company that make clothing from pure NZ merino wool.

Here’s their web site: http://www.icebreaker.com/site/index.html

I will blog about packing and preparing up to the trip. Then, hopefully, I’ll be able to blog about the trip at least once per week… keeping my fingers crossed! 🙂 If not, you’ll hear all about it when I get back!

Hope everyone is having a fabulous week… I AM 🙂

Peace!