Australia: Shirt and shoes optional

Hi everybody,
As the title of the post tells you, we are in the land down under. Furthermore, the title tells you a bit about the dress code here: very, very casual. There seems to be a drastic shortage of fabric here, as nobody seems clothed. At all. Which would be a problem in many places, but as apparently the most beautiful people in the world live in Australia, it hasn't been a problem for us. But before we talk about Australia, we'll fill you in the last couple of weeks.

After Claire and George left us in Phu Quoc, Vietnam (tear), we had a weird couple of days of travel. We had to get overland to Bangkok, which was where our next flight was out of, in five days. We first took a boat that looked more like a submarine on the outside but had old airline seats/rows on the inside. The picture on the brochure made it seem like we'd be taking the Trump family yacht, which would make the grand total of times we have been lied to via brochure photo to about 8 million. But it ended up being a pretty fun ride, especially since the tv on board was showing music videos of the Vietnamese equivalent of Justin Timberlake. We met another traveler on board who was heading overland to Cambodia, so we decided to stick with her since she was Vietnamese and could help us navigate the sneaky/complicated/somewhat corrupt border crossing. She was invaluable especially when our bus, which was supposed to drop us at the border and then meet us on the other side, decided that they weren't so interested in the second part of that deal. That company didn't know who they were messing with, because, though I don't speak any Vietnamese, her hand gestures and attitude spoke plenty as she was screaming at them on the phone. Voila! A taxi showed up and drove all of us to the town of Kep, Cambodia. As soon as we got there, though, she left us in the dust as soon as she caught the first glimpse of her boyfriend. But she was a huge help.

This town was really tiny, though, and we were having a tricky time the next day trying to figure out our next means of transport through southern Cambodia and into Thailand. We ended up having to hire two moto drivers who had each of us on the back of their bikes and had our backpacks in between their legs. While it was a bit scary at the beginning, it ended up being a really cool way to see the country and definitely the most unorthodox travel leg of our trip. We ended up in the city of Sihankouville, Cambodia, a small beach town that was recommended by an Australian we befriended back in Turkey a few months back. It was a great spot, with a slew of bbq restaurants on the beach and little kids entertaining guests by twirling and tossing flaming torches. The beaches also had local women constantly selling massages, manicures, and pedicures. Anthony made the mistake of uttering the dreaded words "Maybe later" after two minutes of "No, thanks" to one of them. She walked up and down our little hotel for two days, pointing at him whenever she passed. Finally, she just stayed there until he received his $3 manicure. While the experience was emasculating and humiliating, his nails did look fabulous.

Another shady bus ride and mind boggling border cross later into Thailand (including two fights at the border crossing: one European woman furious at her bus company and taking pictures of every person who worked there, and another lovers' quarrel between two young Thais that ended with the girl breaking a chair over the man's face. How cute!), we ended up in Bangkok. We thoroughly enjoyed the local street food fare of Pad Thai, great noodle dishes, and ridiculously hot spices and sauces. We also toured some amazing temples, including one that housed the biggest Buddha in Thailand. It's called the "Reclining Buddha", and it's over 300 feet long and just has him chilling on his side. We also came upon a strange museum called the Jim Thompson house. He was an American businessman who opened up the world market to Thai silk in the 1950's and '60's. He was a collector, so his house ended up being somewhat of southeast Asian art museum. But more interestingly, especially for Michelle, was that was mysteriously went missing in 1967 in the jungles of Malaysia, and his remains were never found. There are all kinds of conspiracy theories. Now, if you don't know Michelle, you're not aware that "missing", "person", "conspiracy", and "theory" and probably her four most favorite words. Whenever we have access to a computer she's googling this guy, and whenever we see a bookstore she is combing the shelves for a book on him.

From Thailand we flew to Sydney, Australia. Truth be told, while we really enjoyed traveling through the middle east and southeast Asia, Sydney has offered some first-world indulgences that we have thoroughly taken advantage of this week: reliable public transportation, Starbucks, magazines & newspapers, non-life-threatening street crossings, etc. I mean, to make our reorientation back to the west almost complete, Oprah is in Australia when we're here. But traveling here also comes at first world prices, so we have had to take a bit of a step back on where we've been staying and eating. We're back to the rather slummy backpacker haunts that we were happy to dispose of back in Europe (stories upon demand when we return). But we've really enjoyed Sydney and with not feeling bad about only being able to communicate in English. What's been a bit odd is being a part of the Christmas season but in a part of the world that is going through its summer. Here, Santa Clause is usually featured in a short sleeve shirt and shorts (I guess we should give him credit for actually wearing a shirt.) The big excitement in the country right now has to do with a bi-annual (that's the one that means every two years, right?) cricket match that Australia has with England called "The Ashes." Apparently, it's a VERY big deal, and the Aussies are currently getting their clock cleaned. I would explain the sport and the situation that the team is facing right now, but I don't understand the sport or the situation that the team is facing right now. Sorry. All I know is that the tournament lasts for an entire month.

We leave tomorrow for our last country spot: New Zealand. We'll be in some small towns in the center and south of the north island for about five days before meeting up with Anthony's old friend, Walt, and his wife and two little ones in Auckland. He has lived there for about the past ten years, and we'll be very excited to see more familiar faces and to spend time in a non-scary, non-backpacker dump. If I had planned this better, I'd be coming with Walt's favorite White Castle hamburgers to endear myself forever to him. Next time. We'll spend a few days at their home before heading back to the states in time for Christmas and to see Santa Clause in his rightful attire.

Hope everyone is well. Miss and love you all,

Anthony and Michelle