Bangkok to Burma, a short adieu

Hey Everyone!

Thank you so much to all who responded with a comment, email or message- I really appreciated each one.

I have been back in Bangkok for five hot, busy, humid days but will leave tomorrow morning for Burma, also known as Myanmar, or the completely new cultural experience that I've been waiting for! I have learned a lot about Burma since I got here and it has slowly become one of the top places I want to go. This comes as somewhat of a surprise to me considering that out of all the places I planned to go, it was the country I knew the least about. However, after hearing and about all the wonderful, kind, hospitable, interesting people there are to meet in Burma I can't wait.
Luckily for me (and actually very unfortunately), I leave to catch my flight in 2 and a half hours (it is 1 in the morning here) so.. wow I have to make this quick. Although Ben and I are both very excited about Burma, a huge downside is that, seeing as Burma is a much more underdeveloped country than Thailand, there will be little to no internet access. I am sorry for this but will be sure to keep an exceptional travel journal during those weeks with all of you in mind.

A quick update:
Chillin on Koh Chang was really fun and gave Ben and I an amazing opportunity to relax and kind of re-introduce ourselves to one another. The first few days were somewhat rough due to jet lag, my first experience with the all powerful Thai buckets (fun at night, not so fun the next day, all day) and Ben getting himself food poisoned by purchasing and ingesting a hamburger where the patty was taken from a warm 'cooler' out of the back of some dood's truck/work station/possible home.
By the last day however, I was finally used to the time difference, my drink of choice had become nam (water) and "hot lipton tea, please" (..tea) and Ben was finally eating again so those last 24 hours on Koh Chang were undoubtedly the best-
After spending the day swimming and playing games on the beach, Ben and I decided to rent a motorbike to explore the island and find a cool place to have dinner. We drove along through the different villages up and down hilariously steep hills which eventually brought us to some incredible viewpoints. We pulled into one and just stood looking out at the ocean and the beautiful small islands that are scattered just off of Koh Chang. Writing about it won't do it justice but those views completely took my breath away so I can't wait to show the pictures I took.
We continued on up and down the hills and around the winding turns until we were eventually back on a straight road again. There were so many incredible things to see and at one point looked over to my amazement as I saw through the trees the first elephant I have ever seen that wasn't on t.v, in a magazine or portrayed as... a cartoon. I was so shocked that by the time I was able to make out the words of what I had just seen to Ben, we were about another minute up the road but he turned around and drove back to where they were. I jumped off the motorbike and just stood in amazement as I looked out on them. Elephants are some of the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen. I felt like I was in that scene in Jurassic Park where the family first looks out at that herd of Brontosaurus (or Long necks, for the Land Before Time keeners out there, actually.. do I even know what I'm talking about? It's really been too long since I saw Jurassic Park. Man I love that movie. Wow, I am so tired..)Alright, Ben was really stoked on being there with me for my first time seeing an elephant but was understandably less fazed as he had already spent quite a bit of time with elephants earlier in his travels on a trek he made. So what I was standing on was somewhat of a reserve but mainly a tourist attraction. There were signs advertising all of the things you could do with the elephants which included everything from two day treks through the jungle on their backs, to paying 80 baht to sit on them and have your picture taken. This all seemed really wrong to me, I felt content just watching them eat and walk around. I really couldn't decide how I felt about the elephants being made to work in that place as a tourist attraction and just wanted the elephants to be able to roam completely free. I expressed my feelings to Ben who told me a few interesting facts. Apparently up until about 15 years ago elephants were used as work animals and it wasn't uncommon to see them actually walking through the streets of Bangkok. Now, Ben isn't even sure if there are any wild elephants left in all of Thailand. It's really sad.
The elephants that I saw did actually look quite happy and free to roam around on the large reserve so I was happy watching them and if I didn't have the rest of the island to explore and a cool restaurant to hunt down before sunset, I would have stayed for much longer but we continued on in search of dinner and a sunset.
We settled at this incredibly laid back, funky place called Treehouse where I just today was told by Carli that she stayed. Wow, I can't believe I am still writing. Ben is slumped over the chair next to me grumbling something about how grumpy he is going to be tomorrow and something about chamomile tea.
Dinner and the sunset that night were both absolutely gorgeous and I have the pictures to prove it.

The next day we left back to Bangkok and have spent most of our time hanging out in air conditioned restaurants and cafes.

Thailand has been a lot of fun but over the past 15 years the country has really began to take advantage (as they should) of how much money tourism brings in and has therefore really learned to cater to the western demands. Tomorrow morning. Or.. in an hour an a half.. I leave to Burma which is a country both politically unstable and underdeveloped yet FILLED WITH EXTREMELY KIND, HOSPITABLE PEOPLE. Burma is often referred to as Thailand 30 years ago when bungalows were cheap and tourists few.

Also, we have our Lonely Planet and more importantly each other :)

I LOVE YOU ALL

Talk to you in a few weeks, or earlier if we can find anywhere with internet.
Goodnight. Ish.
Good thing the flight is only about an hour.

Love Jena and Ben

ps Ben just updated- http://www.benjotravels.blogspot.com/!!
pss Mom, we called to "check in" with the Canadian embassy and they were really confused. Haha but we did it.
psss Anna I'll write you when I get back. Koh Lanta is the place to be!

Love love love. I hear it's all you need.