View of the valley




watching the sunrise over the Himalayas





The past 4 days we have been mountain biking through the wonderful, rural Kathmandu Valley. We started on the wrong path, making things 10 times harder on us-- but the rougher the road the bigger the pay off, and it was! After 10km of straight up hill rocky road the night before, we woke up in Nargakot to a breath taking view of the sun rising over the Himalayas. We could see everything from our hotel rooftop- even Mt Everest!

The days after were filled with wonderful little hillside villages ... full of history and culture. And the beautiful, lively people that live in them! Everything was so beautiful, I wish I had a camera attached to my head.

Southern Nepal

Rare one horn rhino!


Jess' graceful self "climbing" the elephant

Hey all. Borneo hade bad weather so we tried to get into India without any luck. We needed 5 days to get a visa and unfortunately that was time we dont have... So we just packed up and went to the airport and figured Providence would steer us in the right direction. Long story short, we are in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Kathmandu is an amazing and mystical place. Cruising through its old streets in the shadows of the Himalayas to the north, you can't help but be swept up in the romance of the place.

We spent a few days in the south at Chitwan park looking for Tigers but to no avail... We found lots of Tiger prints around the camp and by the river nearby and even bribed our guides to take us out in the middle of the night! That was probably the highlight because these guys were scared to death the whole time. I didn't realize what we were getting ourselves into until an older Nepali man gravely nodded his head and said "Not Good. No Smart." as we took off into the night...

Everything went well tho and we lived to see some rare Asian Rhinos and spend some time with the camps elephants. All in all it was pretty touristy but we had a great time. Talk Soon!

Liveaboard life

The past 4 days we spent all day and all night on a boat... eating, sleeping, and diving- no joke. We literally woke up, ate, dove and hour, ate, took a nap, went diving, ate lunch, napped or sun bathed, went diving, ate again and then went night diving, then some more food and sleep-- everyday! It was the coolest thing we have ever done!

The diving was wonderful... We saw a few 22 foot Manta Rays, Octupi, Giant Morray Eels, schools of Great Barracuda, Leopard sharks and more. We spent 13 hours under water in the 3 1/2 days we were on the boat. Jess got certified to dive on Phi Phi Island and then got her adanced onboard. Yeah!!

Ok well time to head back to Bangkok... and I think we have decided to then head to Borneo for our last couple weeks. Peace & Love!




Gearin' up

Being stuck onboard with Russians is one thing...

Being stuck onboard with Russians in speedos is another-

Diving spot... "Donald Duck Bay" (See the duck bill?)



Captain Jess

Asian pose...

Here are the pics! Sorry for the delay...

Diving in Phi Phi Don

We are now on the island of Phi Phi Don.. enjoying the beach life and hanging out with good friends. I started my open water diving certification yesterday and words aren't enough to describe how amazing it is. Chris is already certified and loved getting in the water again... I think this may become a new hobbie of ours.

We are currently trying to figure out where to go next- we have about 3 weeks....

Stay on the islands of Thailand?
Borneo?
India?

Let us know what you think! We'll keep you posted..

Much needed update on pics...

This is our.. "Oh shit we made it to Bangkok" faces-- while Chris was darting through traffic

And the celebration begins... Hanoi to Bangkok in 38 days- wohoo!

But sadly all good things come to an end and we had to end our trip with Vlad (the bike). Luckily Chris found a loophole and now Vlad is on his way to San Fran!

Customs will believe a crate full of "used bike parts" right?


We made it to the sunny islands of Southern Thailand... This is where we are at now, Phi Phi Don

Happy Birthday to me! yummy Thai banana split!

We lucked out and ended up on the same island, at the same time as my good friend Travis, from Selah


My first day diving!! Unbelievable... we saw 2 turtles and 2 leopard sharks!!

This is what we went diving around... life is rough! ha

Dancing with fire on my bday

Chris gave me the best birthday a girl could have... Thank you baby!!!

Livin' the life in Bangkok...

Enjoying the amazing view from our downtown hotel balcony before hittin' the streets for NYE

Last sunset of 2008

No, we did not catch on fire in a night club on NYE- we are both alive, happy, and healthy as can be. We had a wonderful time saying goodbye to 2008 in this lively city of Bangkok. We met up with some friends and went out celebrating in style- with thousands of Thai people all around us!

2008 is a year we will both never forget and are so thankful for!

After about a week of trying to decide where to spend our last 30 days of vacation (almost taking a flight to India or meeting up with Chris' fam in London)-- we have decided to stay in Thailand and hit up the south for some beach time. We plan on getting in a lot of hours in the sun and climbing and diving as much as possible.... rough life over here!

We hope all our loved one's out there had a wonderful New Year and holiday season... we miss all of you so much and are always sending positive thoughts your way...

C & J