December 31, 2011

Four Days of Torture on Top of the World

Dear Anna,
If only I had realized a week ago what trekking in the Annapurna mountains really meant!! It was without a doubt the most horrible and painful 4 days of my life despite being literally on top of the world. The majority of the trek we were higher than the highest mountain in Australia (this I'm pretty proud of). However the first thing I did upon returning was donate my hiking boots freshly purchased from Brisbane before I left to our guesthouse in Pokhara. Each step I took was excruciating from the blisters in multiple places on both my feet. By day 4 I could barely walk and at one point fell down 5 stairs...I was not a happy trekker!!


Have you seen the movie Wolf Creek? It's an Aussie film about backpackers being murdered in the outback...seriously frightening movie. Anyway on our second night we stayed at the freakiest guesthouse and we were the only guests. We were so scared of the creepy owner we slept with our walking sticks beside our bed. I was concerned my head would end up on mine just like in the movie!!!


On a positive note (believe me it was difficult to find any lol) I finished the trek a day ahead of schedule and although I now realize I'm not cut out for trekking (mountains are really of no interest to me!!) I know I can do anything I apply myself to.


So next time I say I'm heading into the mountains for a few days please refresh my memory of this scarring experience...although I don't think I'll be forgetting it in a hurry!! But check out some of the pics from the ordeal...our bus trip to the mountains was somewhat of an experience too...


Missing you xx


P.S I love the matching pjs and can't wait for my very own pair next year :)

December 29, 2011

Christmas USA

Dear E,


I had a very busy Christmas holiday this year!  Paul and I were bustling around from one relative's house to another's... it is a wonder we made it through the six family events scheduled over the course of just two days!  It was really a lot of fun though...


I bet next year when you are spending Christmas with us you will get to take part in matching Kittle family pajamas! 




We all got them!  Even Jaron.  


I bet next year you will get to join us at Benson Christmas breakfast... where we eat scrambled eggs with left-over Christmas Eve ham, and home-made cinnamon rolls.  




(I will even let you help make the glogg for my Christmas Eve's Eve celebration... I am starting to make up my own holidays to host haha!)


The saddest part about my Christmas holiday was missing your phone call.  We have talked every year on Christmas Eve and this year I missed your call by about eight minutes!  (I may or may not have been singing Christmas carols along to a player piano at the time...I guess you will just have to wait until next year's Christmas Eve and find out for yourself!)


I hope you are having a really nice time on your Christmas hiking excursion!  All that jogging you did up the hill on your lunch break should help.  Miss you!


Yours with love-A 

December 26, 2011

Memory Monday [2]

Dear E,

I am so sorry that I missed your call on Christmas Eve!  I hope Nepal is great!

Do you remember when we spent Christmas together in 2007?
 When you were in Oz in November you got us those matching outfits...
 Even though we we were both miles away from our families we managed to make it a special event. 

Can't wait til next Christmas when you are here having Christmas! Miss you!

Yours with love-A

December 23, 2011

Christmas in Nepal

Hey Kittle,
It's nearly Christmas but it really doesn't feel like it for me. We arrived in Nepal almost a week ago and it was really like stepping back in time. There is no electricity during the day and doesn't come back on til 8 or 9 at night (if at all....Chitwan National Park!) and it is often difficult to get foreigner hot water instead of Napali hot water!! Besides that we found Kathmandu to be filled with quirky shops, unique laneways, friendly people and temples popping up in the strangest of places. We spent a few days there before we headed to Chitwan National Park. We stayed at Rainbow Safari Resort as part of a 3 day package. This was a bad decision even worse than getting my fringe cut in Nepal!! The food was terrible, no electricity or hot water for the first two days plus we couldn't do the elephant bathing which was the whole reason I wanted to go there. But we survived and saw some cool things none the less...an 8 day old elephant, rhinos while riding elephants and a crazy Russian licking rhino pee off a tree while his friend requested to taste it's poo, which the guide rejected after I let out a loud "WHAT!!"
We said farewell to the new friends we made (even the Russians despite the things they put in their mouths!! Haha) and headed off on our tiny seated bus full of loud instrument playing Chinese to Pokhara. We had heard great things about Pokhara so we had planned to spend the majority of our Nepal time here, and we were not disappointed. The main tourist area is located next to a giant lake underneath the mountains so the view is breathtaking. The streets are lined with prayer flags which I love and have already purchased some for my new room in the UK....let me know if you want some :) We hired bikes today and cycled around for awhile til the pressure of the trucks and buses became too much for me.
We plan to do a 4-5 day hike into the mountains over Christmas so it really won't feel like Christmas for me this year, besides the random decorations we have seen sporadically.
Hope you, Paul and the rest of my 'adopted' family have a merry Christmas and hopefully I will be there celebrating with you all next year.
Love Em xx

December 19, 2011

Memory Monday [1]

Dear E,


Wow!  India sounds crazy... like a crazy good time!  I hope you remembered your earplugs... haha!  


Seeing how you just left Phuket, Thailand, I was just thinking about when we were there last...




Remember how we happened to be there during an election so there were all kinds of rules... like...




Then we met those crazy Aussies who were in town for a destination wedding...




And we wound up lighting off the paper lantern things at the beach...




Then we went for a late night swim... at least you did... until the security guard came.  He was blowing a whistle and yelling... something about how swimming at night wasn't allowed (let me just tell you I was panicked while waiting for you on the shore... I imagined you being thrown in jail like Bridget Jones and me having to figure out how to bail you out...).  




That was an epic night!


Take care (after all, I'm not there to bail you out this time!).


Yours with love-A

December 18, 2011

Hello India!

Dear A,
The flight to Delhi was like a circus it was total chaos with the other passengers walking around the plane and yelling across it to speak to one another. I have never seen such behavior on a plane before and I have been on quite a few!! After six hours of the two men sitting beside me arguing extremely loudly about some business deal we arrived and I really wasn't sure what I was getting myself into!!
Delhi is crazy, there are sooo many people and I was "lucky" enough to experience one of their traffic jams on my first day while trying to get from the Red Fort to the airport. Absolute madness...rickshaws, motorbikes, cars, bicycles, pedestrians and motos all trying to fight for that tiny bit of road to get ahead. I thought China was bad for the constant honking but India definitely wins hands down...there's a constant loud unnecessary honking which you just can't escape.
Alisha and I had a little time to fill in before our flight to Kathmandu so we headed off to the Red Fort. It was constructed back in the 17th century by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for the royal family. We wandered around the massive fort which is in ruins now and were of real interest to the Indian locals who were also visiting and taking a lot of photos of us.
Wish you were here you would love getting amongst this chaos!!!
Talk to you soon from Nepal... So excited for the thing we have planned there.
Love E xx

December 15, 2011

'Tis the Season

Dear E,


It is the highly anticipated Christmas season but here in the Midwest we are lacking one key component...snow!  Paul and I have been busy decking the halls and rocking around the Christmas tree, but it doesn't look much like a winter wonderland without the snow.  


We have our tree up!  I strung tons of big vintage Christmas lights all over it but unfortunately they all blew out... it took forever too.  Thankfully Paul took them down and re-strung other lights... lights that actually work haha.  


Wish you were here to join in the festivities with me... if you were here right now I would pour you a glass of hot wassail to enjoy with a plethora of different Christmas cookies!  You would probably tell me how being in America makes you a fatty (all that liquid and fried cheese) and I would say that we can just go to the Y and work it off!  Here's to hoping next Christmas season you'll be here!


Yours with love- A 

December 14, 2011

Phuket, it's not the same without you!

Dear A,
I had such fond memories of our trip to Phuket so I thought a slight detour here to see the dentist would make a dreaded chore bearable, plus it's at a fraction of the price I would pay back in Australia.
After two days of "massage miss?", "you Aussie mate?", "DVD sweetie?" and the constant "you want a tuk tuk?" the novelty of this tourist packed paradise soon wore off. Not to mention the serious case of heatstroke, being tricked into seeing a ping pong show and being flashed by a crazy Russian in McDonalds. So now I'm more than ready to move on to my next stop...New Delhi, India!!
But first the dreaded dentist...
Love E xx

Introducing Free Oranges!

Once upon a time two kindred spirits met in Beijing, China.  It was 2007, year of the pig, and a year for so much more...


Emma and Anna were both teaching English in Beijing and happened to meet through mutual friends.  They shared a love for fun and adventure... they quickly became best friends and travel buddies.  




Though they thoroughly enjoyed Beijing... the food, the culture, moonlighting as socialites in the expatriate scene... they traded in the VIP treatment and comfort of their belongings and apartments to rough it around SouthEast Asia!  




After 10 planes, 56 buses, 29 tuk-tuks, 12 ferries, 11 taxis, 9 subways, 2 motorcycles, 1 elephant, 1 bamboo raft, and 1 rickshaw, Emma and Anna parted ways.  Emma was back in Australia and Anna was back in the USA.  Even with 14,000 km/8,900 miles between them, Emma and Anna remained close.


Emma has even been to the USA to visit twice!  Once for the road trip, "16 states, 8 trucker hats, and Route 66," and the other time for Anna's wedding.




It was on their epic road trip across America and back again that Emma and Anna saw a billboard...


Fill up at Shell and get a free bag of oranges!!!  
"What would we do with a free bag of oranges?" -Anna
"Eat them, juice them, throw them at people...cars..." -Emma


Though we still haven't decided what we would do with free oranges one thing is certain... no matter where we are in the world, or in life for that matter, we will always remain close!  There is no better way to stay in touch than to send postcards... all across the world... so that the people that matter most can have a glimpse into life as we know it.  


What would you do with a bag of free oranges?