Natasha Lemler

NatashaNoel

Natasha Lemler

I love to travel... when I have the time and money! Both are hard to come by and can so easily be wasted. My boyfriend and I try to plan a big trip (international and two weeks or longer) every 2 to 3 years. We have been to Italy, Ireland, and Thailand. I wish we waited to go to Thailand because now I have no desire to go anyplace else but there 😊



Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai December 29th 2012

Saturday was our day of exercise. On the agenda was: butterfly/orchid farm, elephant riding, lunch, bamboo rafting OR white water rafting, then trekking to a village and waterfall. Up after 5 hours of sleep but I wasn't feeling bad at all! Zach on the other hand slept until the very last second the guy came to pick us up. Saw Jana and Manfried at breakfast time, wished them luck on their two day trek, and we were off. We had a group of: 5 Chinese (the one girl was the absolute postcard of a princess--she wore a coat over her head the whole time to avoid the sun), 2 Italians (who were not friendly), 2 Parisians (not French, Parisians, and they were great!), 2 Hollanders (lovely), and us. We were all crammed in the back of ... read more
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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai December 28th 2012

After being lazy in my favorite place, the hammock at CM Blue, I moved to the community table and read some more. Two Germans came over and little did I know we would meet another awesome couple: Jana and Manfried. While Zach slept upstairs, I proceeded to drink and drink with them. I'm going to just say it: Germans are probably my favorite people in the world. They are funny, they don't seem to hate Americans, they share our distrust of the French (joking of course!), and boy, they can drink us under the table. After Zach woke, we all went to the food market. I ate the best fried shrimp (90 cents for 5), roti, and fruit. Zach ate like 3 bags of the shrimp. We walked back to our guesthouse when we saw dancing! ... read more
My favorite place
Cutest boy ever
CM Blue

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai December 26th 2012

The 26th brought good byes to our new German friends. We exchanged contact information, and we will for sure be visiting when we hit Germany next. They live in Munich and said we could stay with Melonie. We didn't too much besides eat and pack. My luggage of course is already full, and Zach packed like he was going to be gone for years. Time for a second suitcase! My thoughts on Pai: *Very busy but the Aussie who ran our guesthouse said it has died down a lot. Before, people had to sleep in tents at 1000 baht a night in the school because there was no accommodations. *There actually isn't that much to do besides tool around in a motorbike or shop the night market. We ate a lot, read a lot, slept a ... read more
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Massage!!
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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Pai December 25th 2012

I was kind of having a pity party on Christmas. Even though we are enjoying our vacation, I still missed home. Pai is a great place, but if we come here again, I would not stay as long. I think three days is plenty. I need options and action! Zach and I got a proper American breakfast at Burger House: scrambled eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, toast. Ohhh, bacon. I miss bacon in Thailand; it is very difficult to find. I also got muesli, which really needs to happen in the US. Technically we do it, we just call it fruit, granola, and yogurt. Muesli is the one and only thing I can tolerate raisins in. For lunch we were lazy. Didn't do anything but read books (me) and play Age of Empires (zach). Zach did surprise me ... read more
Melanie and Charley
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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Pai December 24th 2012

Our mission in Thailand is to try and hit as many fanastic places to eat as possible. In Pai, there isn't a ton to choose from, so by Day 5, we should have hit the best. Breakfast today is at Om Garden. Most places to eat don't open until 9:00, which goes to show how laid back Pai tends to be. I had chocolate french toast with bananas and a cappucino. Zach had a Thai omelet with mixed fruit juice. He had some fruit with his eggs, and in it was papaya. We tried it again, and this time it was not like a festering pile of garbage. Dragonfruit though still is tasteless. Our goal for the day is to go north on the motorbike to see the Chinese Village, the viewpoint, and one of the ... read more
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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Pai December 23rd 2012

Bright and early Sunday morning (had to check the calendar, my days are all turned around), we headed up to AYA to get a motorbike. The place was packed! There was a queue for getting one, and I was number 12. We headed off to the Witching Well for breakfast (ahhh-mazing), where I happened to listen in on two girls sitting next to us. The one was telling about her infected toe, and how there was this huge bubbling blister that the doctor cut off. That was the best breakfast conversation I have ever heard in my life. Went back to AYA to see where we were at in the queue, and of course they were up to number 19. I showed my number with my most pitiful expressed, and they let us have one immediately. ... read more
Our Scoopy!
Mango Pancake (Witching Well)
Best Shakes Ever

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Pai December 22nd 2012

The ride to Pai is a fun one; I say this most sarcastically. 746 turns in 3 hours. You drive through the mountains where there are stunning views. You most likely will fear for your life. I surprisingly did not get car sick, but a few of the people on the minibus (Zach included) were incredibly nauseous. We stopped about half way for a breather where many-a-white person lay prone on tables, moaning and groaning. Driving through the mountains though make you literally gasp with awe. It feels like you are on top of the world. We finally got Pai, and I really wasn’t sure what to expect. There is a heavy hippy vibe here, and many of the Thais are eager to smile at you and wave. Also, many of them think they are Rastafarian ... read more
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Charlie and Lek Shakes

Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok December 21st 2012

I left off of this blog after our first night in Bangkok. Lamphu House is lovely, but three flights of stairs to get to our room is not lovely. I woke up and blogged about our night, then went off in search of breakfast. I found a fruit shake vendor and brought them back up to the room. We packed and got our agenda ready for the day: Hua Lamphong train station to drop off our luggage, Wat Pho for our massage, MBK for some last minute things, then on to our 6:10 night train to Chiang Mai. Found a taxi on our second try that accepted a meter. Very nice man who didn’t speak any English but offered me gum. Would have liked to keep him to take us to Wat Pho after our stop, ... read more
Restaurant in MBK
MBK
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Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok December 21st 2012

We touched down late last night in Bangkok, and I think Zach kissed the ground when we landed. I don't have any pictures yet, but wanted to at least get an account of our journey here. After much impatience on my end, we left our home and headed to MSP airport at 3:30 a.m.. Come to find out at the aiport, I forgot Zach's pillow on the kitchen table. Much turmoil ensued, as apparently this pillow was made of gold and stuffed with $50 bills. Once we sat down on the plane and put our seatbelts on, Z had a panic attack. He kept taking off his seat belt and saying he couldn't do it anymore, he couldn't fly. I kept saying "are you really going to leave me to do a 5 week trip alone? ... read more

Asia » Thailand November 28th 2012

I never used to pack light. I was the one bringing eight pairs of pants and twelve shirts for a weekend. This has changed considerably because I learned I like to shop and hate lugging around a 75 lb suitcase. Zach, however, has a very different philosophy for packing. He grabs a stack of clothes (may or may not know what is in the stack) and throws them in the suitcase. He brought like four pairs of jeans last time! Then, he relies on me to remember the essentials. The following packing list could potentially fit in one carry-on and is plenty for a five week trip. It is also plenty for a two week trip or two month trip. Granted, if you are travelling somewhere rather frigid, this would be modified a bit. I prefer ... read more




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