Twisted Trek in Thailand

Thailand 2009: Maya Bay Video

2010-01-05T02:13:00.000-07:00

Thailand 2009: Home for a week (Afterthoughts)

2009-12-14T00:50:00.000-07:00

I've been home for just over a week now, and my readjustment into daily life has started to set in. Luckily the buzz of the holiday season has started, and my missing Thailand has been substituted by other distractions.

After most of my great trips I swear that I will go back again. With very few exceptions, this has mostly not been true (not yet, at least). But as I think about Thailand I really think it's doable again and relatively soon too (next year or so). I just have to be on the lookout for a cheap Thailand ticket. Summer would be brutally hot and humid, but I'd imagine it would be nice and cheap. Hmmm... I definitely want to do it, and this time I'd definitely do Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

After going through (and bob's) photos, I'm glad that we both documented the entire trip in blogs and photos. It allowed us to remember all the things we saw and did and all the people that we met (even if we can't remember their names.)

The people in Thailand were very nice, kind, and helpful. Sure, they want your money, but tourism is considerable part of their economy. Who doesn't want your money?

Thailand is referred to as "The Land of Smiles." We noticed to this to be very true. The Thai people are often smiling; sometime you walk down the street and they just give you a nondescript look, but if you smile, they quickly warm up and smile back at you. Additionally, we noticed their appreciation for attempting to perform the wai (slight bow, with the palms pressed together in a prayer-like fashion). I also noticed their recognition of your attempt at saying thank you ("khaawp khoon khrap").

In New Zealand I felt as though I saw most of the major and not so major areas of both islands. But in Thailand I felt as though there was so much more that I'd still love to see. Hell, there are a few places I'd like to go back to again. We'll see what happens. I have a fare watch setup on Travelocity so I'll keep my eyes open for a cheap fare.

Another thing I read and learned for myself is that you really need to bring only a few essential things. Next time: a bathing suit, a few pairs of shorts, one pair of jeans, a few pairs of boxers, and a good pair of keenes. I'll wear flip flops. So beside any medications, I can buy whatever I need there. Everything is so cheap over there and it's more convenient to buy it over there than to haul it through the airports and travel with it. I even met people who traveled to Thailand with nothing than their passport!

While Thailand can now be crossed off my list, I still hope to visit again!

Thailand 2009: I'm Home

2009-12-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday evening, and I'm finally getting settled in.

I finally got home to my apartment at around 4pm yesterday. It was a long journey home: Koh Phangan to Koh Samui to Bangkok to Seoul to LAX to PHX. From the time we left the last hotel it was about 40 hours traveling. WOW! That's the longest journey I've ever had to endure. Luckily it went off without a hitch. We had no mishaps and no major incidences (I'll count my stomach thing at the end of the trip as a very minor issue.)

We did a lot of traveling within the country of Thailand. We spent nights in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket Town, Koh Phi Phi, Koh Samui (Chaweng), Koh Phangan. For only 2 weeks we experienced a lot of the country... but there still so much more to see. I'm definitely going back.

Now that I know how cheap it is to travel there and how easy it was to get around the country on their informal networks of boats, ferries, buses, minivans. They have some rail lines, but they seemed to take too long for our travel periods. Maybe next time. It seems like it would be an interesting experience. Otherwise our major legs of travel we rode Bangkok Airways. They have lounges with free food and drinks for their waiting passengers. Their flights are cheap. The planes are nice, and they feed you - even on an hour long flight. A small sandwich, but hell - that's more than you get for free on most domestic american flights! Overall, very impressed with Bangkok Airways!

Geez... Going on tangents again!

Ok, so yesterday afternoon and evening I spent it up and about (probably on my third or fourth wind by then I had been up for about 2 days with only short bits of sleep on the plane and a nap at Incheon Airport in Seoul. I was up till about 3am last night doing laundry, starting some picture stuff, and trying to put together this damn jigsaw lamp. Damn Bob got it together already! :np

Finally, I made myself lie down and pass out.

With no concept of time in my cave of darkness (my new apart lacks a lot of natural light) I finally woke up and had to go out to the kitchen to see what time my microwave said. Wow - it was 3:30 pm! 12 hours of sleep may be normal for some people, but for me that is the longest I have slept - EVER! I guess I needed it.

So as of right now, I've only been up for 4 or 5 hours. I'm still in a little body clock funk considering I just got up and it just got dark an hour or two ago. Some point tonight I'll have to force myself to sleep or it's going to be an allnighter and then going straight to work. I'll be sue to pass out tomorrow night! Maybe that's what I'll do.

I just got back from the grocery store and am making some dinner. Time to slip back into the groove of daily life.

On My Way Home

2009-12-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

Today has seemed like the longest day ever! It began in Koh Phangan, Thailand where we got up at a decent hour and had some breakfast. Then we lounged around the hotel all day until about 3:30; checked out; and then got a ride down to the pier to catch the boat.

To back up a second: at this last hotel they charge everything to your room and then you pay at the end. Luckily we already prepaid for the room because our bill was pretty expensive (in Thai standards) and they preferred cash (although we could've pressed to use our credit card. In the last couple of days of our trip we managed to rack up a bill of around $200. For the states, this is nothing, but for Thailand this is a lot of money. We ended up spending a total (with the room) of about 13,500 baht. This was probably more than we spent on all the hotels of our trip combined! No wonder why they literaly waited on us hand and foot! They called us "good customers!"

Another thing I really haven't mentioned is the state of my stomach. In Koh Phi Phi I had some late night drunk street food that tore my stomach apart for several days and made my stomach quite queezy. At one point it made me vomit right before a day's worth of travel. The queeziness subsided, and I thought I was past it, but now I'm been getting sharp pains in my lower abdomen. They come in building waves and typically last for 15-60 seconds. I started to take my Cipro that the doctor gave me hoping it would fight the bacteria in my stomach. This go around I'm not sure what it was making me sick. But this latest stomach issues started about a day or so ago (I have no concept of time right now.) I should've thought of this sooner, but all the pharmacies have a pharmacist on duty that can give you medication to help with whatever ails you. It appears as though you don't need prescriptions for medications in Thailand. So while at the Bangkok Airport waiting for my next flight, I stopped in the pharmacy and they pharmacist gave me some medication to help with the cramping. It has really helped a lot. Prior to taking the medication I was getting minute long cramps every 15-20 minutes for the last 24 hours! Since I've started taking the medication I've only had a few pains. We'll see how the next day or two go and if I'm still having stomach pains I'll go to my doctor.

So to jump back (before I went on my stomach tangent) we left the hotel and boarded a fast boat ride back to Koh Samui. We caught a bus to the airport and after a bite to eat flew back to Bangkok.

Bob had an extra night in Bangkok so we finally split ways, and I was on a mission to spend the majority of my left over baht... YEAH, duty free Alcohol and chocolate!

I got onto my first Korean Air flight from Bangkok to Seoul. This flight was the shorter of the two (4.5hours). it left at 1am and arrived in the early morning Seoul sun. It is so damn cold here!

So I've been hanging out in the Seoul airport for the past 6 hours. I even laid down over a few seats and passed out for a couple hours. I really needed it since I only slept a little bit on the plane.

Luckily I found a free wifi location in the Seoul airport at the beginning of my trip. The airport is really nice. It looks very new and modern. The bathrooms are very clean and there are a ton of restaurants and shops. I had some bibimbap for lunch and am now feeling pretty good.

Alright time to wrap this up. My flight should be boarding in about 40 minutes.

Next Stop: Los Angeles

A Day of Nothing

2009-12-03T20:16:00.000-07:00

After the Full Moon Party we didn't get up the next day until about 11 or 12. We stumbled downstairs for a late breakfast/lunch and proceeded to be lazy in the lounge's good wifi connection.

This was a lot of our day and definitely was what we were needing considering that we had been on the go and partying everyday/night.

It had rained a little in the morning before we got up and proceeded to rain for much of the day. This was great - it kinda forced us to take it easy and was rather nice since we had mostly bright sunshine and (for me) high humidity the entire time we were here. We lucked out and it didn't rain when we were busy with all of our outdoor activities.

We scheduled Thai massages for the afternoon. It seemed to be a great way to end our trip. Bob went first and then showed up a little early for my appointment. So I relaxed by the infinity pool perched on the hillside overlooking the water... amazing view!

I strolled back up to the bamboo hut where the masseuses were giving massages and my girl was ready for me.

I'm not into massages all that much, and this was only my 2nd professional massage (first being a hot rock massage in Hawaii.) I had heard Thai massages were rough - man, they were right, but it felt so damn good. I don't know how that little girl had so much strength to perform the massage as roughly and intensely as she did, but she was good. I started on my stomach and she started at my feet which I was a little hesitant about considering how ticklish my feet are, but I overcame the tickle and relaxed and enjoyed it.

Even though my eyes were closed for most of the massage, I could tell that at points we were intertwined into pretzel-like positions that stretched my body out. At the end I gave her a 100 baht tip (which was 1/3 of the cost of the massage = $9) and she gave me a surprised (and thankful) reaction.

With being loosened up and relaxed the rest of the afternoon was spent lounging around the hotel. It appeared the rest of the guests were recovering from the Full Moon Party and doing the same.

I walked around the grounds of the hotel for a little bit and took a few pictures. We had a early dinner at the hotel and then retreated to the room to be lazy. The rest of the night was pretty much the same and we passed out somewhat early (for this trip).

A good last day.

Cotton Bracelet

2009-12-03T06:54:00.002-07:00

Since the day before Thanksgiving in Chiang Mai where we visited the Wat Prathat Doi Suthep I've had a cotton bracelet tied around my wrist. The Buddhist monk said some prayers/chants and then tied it around my wrist. I've been looking it up online and this seems to be the best, most concise explanation:

From LonelyPlanet.com:
There are some pretty good explanations here.....short and simple, the strings are "pre-blessed" and when the correct chant is done while waving the string around over your wrist your thirty-two souls are drawn back into your body, then the string is tied around your wrist to hold your souls in place.

If you don't follow these steps correctly, one or more of your souls may be left behind or wander away, causing you problems.( usually sickness)

Survived the Full Moon Party

2009-12-03T00:58:00.001-07:00

After breakfast yesterday we took a taxi then a boat to Thong Sala on the Island of Phangan. The boat was packed like all the others we've taken. The seas were a little rough and it made for a very rocky ride. An hour later we arrived in the port of Thong Sala and were greeted with tons of vendors and taxi drivers. We packed into a Songthaew and about 30 minutes later we arrived at our hotel.

Well, our place is called Sunset Hill Resort and Spa. It has hill in the name for a very good reason: there's a huge fuckin hill that you have to climb in order to reach the actual hotel. Unbeknownst to us if you call them the day before they will pick you up at the pier... oh well.

My luggage is so damn heavy now and dragging that thing up the hill was ridiculously difficult.

We expected this place to be nice... and we right. By far this is the nicest hotel we've stayed in Thailand. If you come to Koh Phangan stay at the Sunset Hill Resort and Spa. The place is dutch-owned and the people that run the place are amazingly accommodating and friendly.

We got an end room which is very spacious. We have a private patio area that overlooks the sea and Koh Samui. It's got a real shower and doors that line one wall that all open up. It's perfect... What a way to end the trip! (So sad!)

The resort had a bbq for the guests and then organized taxis to take everyone down to the Full Moon Party. We rode down to the party with a bunch of girls from Australia and Europe and they were definitely getting drunk. They had met a few guys named Dave. So everything became Dave this - Dave that. The Songthaew was full so Bob and I ended up riding on the back - holding on for dear life. All the time, the girls started singing songs and throwing Dave into the middle of the songs: 12 Days of Dave, Dancing Dave, etc. It was quite amusing at first, but it got very old very quickly. Picture a sorority meets cheerleading squad... that was basically it.

After a harrowing 30 minute ride around the island to the party, we finally arrived at Hat Rin. At first we thought these girls may be cool to hang out with, but we finally got off the songthaew and we bolted for the party entrance.

There was a 100 baht covercharge - at least you got a rubber bracelet as a momento of the night of debauchery. Past the entrance it led to a few small streets that led up to the beach. Here it was the same scene as the rest of Thailand: street vendors selling tshirts and assorted food on a stick. We turned down one of the side streets and you started to see tons of people selling bucket "kits" of alcohol. In a small beach pail, they include a pint bottle of alcohol and assorted mixers. Mine was a bucket with a pint of vodka, 3 small bottles of redbull and a can of sprite for 250 baht (about $7.50). You drink one or two buckets and you get pretty drunk (and have to pee a lot - it's a lot of liquid.)

We grabbed a bucket each and proceeded to the beach. We walked out to the beach and there were people everywhere! Thousands of people all fucked up and dancing to the pounding music. It was crazy! We spent the night roaming the beach and started to get very drunk. We would mix into crowds of people and dance with whomever was there. As the night progressed the beach started to get lined with bottles and other assorted junk. I'm not sure how or why people would walk around with no shoes. Between the garbage on the beach and all the people peeing in the water the thought of touching the water was quite disgusting. Thank god for all the shots!

As the night went on people started sitting down and passing out. Others were hooking up on the beach while others were still partying on. We walked the beach for a while and I danced away... I think I was pretty drunk (it's typically the only time I do put on my dancing shoes.) I do have to say my musical tastes have changed cause I knew most of the songs we were listening to.

It was very interesting watching all the people. Every person was in a different state of intoxication. We got to the party pretty late (a little bit past midnight.) and by the time we got there the party was rocking. Everyone was up and dancing around. I have no concept of time while I was there, but I think around 3ish people were starting to sit down on the beach. By like 4 and 5am more people were sitting on the beach, many were passed out on the beach. By the time we left around 5:30-6am a lot of people were starting to pour out of the beach and onto the streets (but many, many people were still going crazy on the beach.) One of the people that works in our hotel was out until 8:30am and was an hour late to work! Haha!

As I previously mentioned I had no concept of time and was surprised it was so late. As we were waiting on the songthaew the sun started to come up. Everyone on the truck was ready to leave and wanted to go, but they stopped less than halfway back and insisted on waiting for more people to fill the vehicle (bastards). We just wanted to get back to pass out. We finally started moving and we got back to our hill around 6:30am. The sun was up - it was a very good night!

We survived the Full Moon Party!

While it was definitely a good time, I don't think I'll be doing that anytime soon again (if ever.)

Goodbye Koh Phi Phi

2009-12-02T05:38:00.000-07:00

Somehow we managed to get up early that morning (our wifi has been spotty so only now am I able to catch up on some of these postings) and went immediately down to the dock to catch the ferry to Krabi.

On the way we passed a place to book tours and excursions and bought tickets to get us to Koh Samui. Overall a full day of travel (ferry to a bus to another ferry) for about $30-$40.

The ferries are interesting in the fact that they take all the luggage and throw it in a big pile in the middle of the ship. When it's time to disembark the boat everyone has to sift through all the luggage to find theirs. Luckily no one else has had my bag, so it's been somewhat easy to spot. It is getting very heavy though. I probably need to remove some stuff and throw it in the duffel that I've had folded up inside. Hopefully they don't charge me to check it. I think I was about 3 kg over the limit last time, but they didn't say anything.

The ferry took about 1.5 hours and we arrived in Krabi. The bus took us to a central waiting area where they had food to purchase.

I forgot to mention that the night before I had eaten something that has made me a little sick (still feeling uneasy at this time.) As we were sitting, I could feel my stomach just feeling like shit, very uneasy and feeling like I wanted to vomit. I was not looking forward to the upcoming 3 hour bus ride. I took some stuff to try and calm it down, but it didn't seem to work. Other buses were leaving for different destinations and ours was coming up. Oh shit... please don't be sick on the bus.

I hit the toilet and within a few seconds of shutting the door behind me I began to throw up a lil. The awful smell definitely helped to promote it. I did just a little and started to feel much better.

Our bus arrived and I got on timidly thinking, "please don't get sick."

Luckily I just fell asleep for a bit on the bus and when I woke up I felt fine (or much better at least.)

About an hour into the bus ride I realized the bus was leaking on me. I thought it was condensation at first since the ac was cranked, but then I realized it was pouring outside. As it kept raining the entire bus started to leak. Everyone was grabbing the bus curtains and using them to plug up the ac vents where it was leaking. I just got a towel put it on my lap and just tried to ingore it until - we made a sharp turn and the water started pouring out of the vent onto Bob.

We got to Surat Thani and other people were eating, but I still held off even though I hadn't eaten anything all day. We finally got to our buses and sat on a bus that took us to Surat Thani where we boarded a large ferry carrying cars and tons of people. Even with the large size of the ferry the waters were making the ship sway. Thank god I felt better.

We got to Koh Samui and boarded a minivan which we bought the tickets for on the ferry and were stuffed in with 7 other people. It was a tight squeeze. One girl end up sitting on a small ledge behind the driver.

As the minivan pulls away the girl next to Bob starts coughing like crazy. She turns to us and says, "Geez, what a time to catch a cold!" OMG, stay away from us with your swine flu... if we don't get sick, it will be amazing.

We finally get to our hotel and end up being the last 2 on the bus except for this other American Trevor. We all were going to the same hotel. As we got there we found out it was completely full (not surprised since the Full Moon Party is the big tourist thing to do.) We didn't realize it, but we there were actually two parts of the hotel: The Ark Bar Pool Resort and the Ark Bar Garden View Resort (I think that's what the place is called.) The Pool resort was completely booked, but they had room at the older section (Garden view). We checked out the room and it wasn't as nice as the other hotel, but it was still one of the nicer hotels we had stayed in since being in Thailand (definitely not as nice as Phuket Town's suite.) For 1200 baht, it was a great deal ($36).

We've definitely been staying at the pricier hotels. When we tell people how much we're paying for the hotels everyone is shocked. Fuck it... we're on vacation, and there are some things that we must have (ac, private bath, wifi is nice). Whatever... by American standards the hotel rooms are dirt cheap.

As we were getting our shit together in the room all of a sudden we heard a jet pass right over the hotel... that's why it is so cheap! Actually any of the hotels in the area would get the same noise. Luckily the flights seemed to be very infrequent.

Our new friend Trevor got a room a few doors down from us so we all quickly cleaned up and went out for the night. My stomach was still a little bit uneasy, so I went very mild with Pad Thai and a few beers... gotta love the Changs! We ate and headed back to the hotel's beach for their beach party.

We got out there and found the beach lined with recliners situated around tables. Some people had them up and sitting like recliners. Some people had them all down and sat 4-6 people around a table. It was all very nice and definitely different than Phi Phi. The crowd seemed a little older. Everyone was there to make the trek the next day to Koh Phangang for the Full Moon party. The music was playing, the drinks were flowing, fireworks were being shot off and the Thai paper lanterns (Khoom Loy or Khoom Fay) were being set off into the night sky. It was a nice scene. Little boys would come by to challenge you to a game of connect four (it's really big here for some reason) and little girls would come by to get you to buy leis.

We ordered a few rounds of Chang and then ordered an apple flavored hookah. Mmmm... it was smooth and tasted really nice!

Trevor went to talk to these French girls next to us, but he quickly retreated when they said that they do not like Americans... fuck em, plenty of other people here. Then he started talking to a table of Thai girls that were seated at another table next to us. They quickly warmed up to us and we all headed out to a club.

Bob went to go put on his sandals and somehow he only found one. They had like 6 servers helping to try and locate the sandal. Someone said they saw somebody throw a shoe on the roof, but it wasn't up there either. This type of shit always happens to Bob!

We followed the girls to a club and end up dancing and drinking until like 2 or 3 in the morning. Like typical asians, they (and we) ended up taking a shitload of pictures in the club. I did think it was rather odd that we didn't buy them drinks (Trevor said that you don't do that here... ok, whatever.) So we didn't buy them a single drink. They still hung out with us, so I'm assuming they didn't think anything of it either.

The place was starting to shut down and I saw that Bob had a tagalong thai girl. The Thai girls seem to really love Bob... I think it's cause he's really tall.

We all headed over to another bar, but us 3 guys only stayed for a bit... we were getting tired and wanted to be up and out at a decent time in the morning. So we said our goodbyes and passed out in our room.

Monkey Beach and Another Late Night

2009-12-02T03:56:00.000-07:00

Luckily the beach didn't take long, and we were able to immediately go and rent some kayaks. As we were approaching the beach one of the many rental people approached us and said, "Kayaks?" Perfect - it was 200 baht for the first hour and 100 for each additional. Not too bad for $6.

We paddled out around the bay and then around the coast to Monkey Beach.

As we pulled up onto the beach we could see a bunch of people gathered around the far end crowded around some monkies.

The people were gathered around a rock with a Macaque perched up on the rocks. He was posing for everyone. The little sucker wasn't as mischievous as everyone has said - probably because no one had food for him to steal. He got bored with it all and headed back into the thick forest.

We waited around for some more monkies with no such luck. Everyone started leaving the island... seemed like the monkey show was over. At least we saw one (Bob saw a couple more.)

It was starting to get dark so we got back in the kayaks and did a little exploring around the rocky coastal area and started heading back. It seemed like we were gone for more than an hour, but they didn't charge us any more.

We got back to the room and stood in front of the aircon for a bit. (This was a daily event.)

We hung out in the room for a while and then got ready for another long night.

We were starving and headed back to the same small restaurant that we had been to the previous two night. This place didn't seem to have a name, but the food was awesome!

Last night....

I just realized that I skipped a post for the entire previous day. In short: we woke up like 11 or 12 after being up till like 4 or 5am. We got lunch and then headed for Long Beach. We swam for a bit and then went further down the coast to a bunch of rocks that jutted out into the water. I think we were there for hours taking pictures. We were there for the sunset... I think Bob got some great pictures.

After our day on the beach we went back to the room and rested up and then headed out for dinner. We went back to the small thai restaurant we had been to with the drunk girls the night before. Of course we got curry... it's nice and spicy here. Bob was sweating buckets and constantly kept wiping his head with his bandana. The people working there thought it was funny... I think they were fuckin with the pharang! The server (Rhing) seemed to like Bob and made him wipe his head several more times. They all laughed hysterically!

So to jump back to Monkey Beach day - we went back to this same thai restaraunt. Rhing wasn't there, but the food was awesome. The other people definitely recognized us.

We finished up and did a little shopping, we dropped our crap off in the room (stood in front of the ac for a while) and then headed back out to meet up with some people we had met the previous night down at Slinky Bar.

We got down there, but they never showed up. Whatever... there's tons of other people here. We hung out at the Slinky Bar for a while and watched the same fire "show." This night we met a bunch of people on the beach. First we met a Swiss guy... he was alright but very low key. He also had some balls - we would tell him to go do something or talk to some girl and he did fearlessly.

Then Bob met some other people from Sweden (especially one young, lil swedish girl that took a liking to Bob.) As he was talking to them, I had started talking to another group of guys from Canada. They were cool. Overall, I don't remember much from that night. Bob was wasted and ended up walking the girl back to meet up with her friends at her hotel while I went with the guys to get some food.

As we were finishing up I see Bob and the girl (Emily, I think) walking back. She couldn't find the place and didn't know what it was called!!! Oh geez!

I bid him good luck and headed off to the room... I was exhausted. Surprisingly, Bob wasn't that far behind and ended up back in our room like 15 after me.

Another late night... like 3-4am?

Koh Phi Phi Ley (The Beach)

2009-12-02T01:45:00.002-07:00

One of the reasons why I wanted to visit Thailand was to check out "The Beach" (just like thousands of other people who have seen the Leo movie. It was the one thing that I had to do before I left the Koh Phi Phi.
So we had an american breakfast at a great little place where ythey were playing some great jazz music and then we headed down to the beach to catch a longtail boat to Koh Phi Phi Ley (Maya bay.) We got the guy down to 1000 baht for 2 hours. It was enough time considering we were just going there and back.

It was a beautiful day: the sun was shining, very few clouds in the sky and the water was a clear blue/green - it couldn't have been more perfect until the boat engine kept dying. As he would throttle it up it would cut out. The driver kept working on the engine, but with no luck. As he worked on the boat I noticed he were heading directly for a booy(sp?). We yelled over to the driver over the loud motor noise, but we didn't hear in time and we rammed right into it - kinda scary since the wooden boat already leak between the wooden planks. So finally he called another boat and we hopped over to the other boat. Finally, we were off at full speed.
I threw on my headphones to give the journey a soundtrack. As we approached the island you could see how steep the cliffs truly were. The island was small and still preserved. You could see how unspoiled the island was...

Koh Phi Phi Ley is uninhabited and guarded by armed men in some parts. The island is a protected park and is also guarded for their bird's nests (used in soups and thought to have aphrodisiac properties.)
As we circled half way around the island to Maya Bay of course I had "The Beach" soundtrack playing. Yeah, cheesy but it was perfect. I even skipped Moby's Porcelain so I could play it on our arrival to the beach.

Ahhhh... Started to pull into the bay. I could see it!!!! I'm here!

"In my dreams I'm dying all the time...."

At first Bob didn't even realize we were there... "Where's the other mountain?" In the movie they digitally added another mountain in order to make it appear to be a hidden beach.
In the distance I could picture the different scenes on the beach ahead.
Ya think I'm obsessed with the movie much? ;n)

The beach was loaded with tourists and longtail boats. Off on the side there was an area sectioned off for swimming. We pulled up onto the beach hopped off and we had an hour till we had to start heading back.
We immediately walked up the beach to drop off my stuff and admire the bay and had to pay a park entrance fee! They get you for everything.

It was amazing! So beautiful even though there a shitload of people there. It would've been nice with no people around. (As we were leaving today I did see a 2 day camping trip at Maya Bay - next time I'm definitely doing that one!)

We both snapped off a bunch of pictures and then went for a dip. The sand was fine and super soft, but the swimming area was extremely rocky. It was somewhat difficult to find an area to just sit/stand in the water.
The water in thailand is amazingly warm! It's like bath water. The water was warmer than the air and seemingly very salty (I could even float on my back which I normally can't do.) All the beaches seem to be very shallow. You can walk very far out and still only be waist deep in water.

As we were relaxing in the water we overheard someone talk about shark. Bob went to check it out. I think he ended up seeing some past the swimming area.

Bob got a great picture of me floating staring at the sky with the rest of the beach in the background. I even had him take a few more so I had them for my albums.

There's a small shack for food and drinks around the back (lush area in the movie that Leo firsts walk through to see the beach.) Luckily that seemed to be the only development on the island.

There really isn't anything else on the island. For some people the beach is an hour visit and then back to the other island. I could've spent the entire day there! Even with the infestation of tourists the beach was beautiful. I will be back!

Our time was up, and we had to start heading back. I had a big ol perma-smile the entire way back.
Another thing to check off my travel list!

Mmmm... corn on a stick

2009-11-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

It's 4:30 am and I'm eating corn on a stick that I got from a street vendor. I'm not sure if it's cause I'm so hungry, tired or a little tipsy that it tastes so damn good.

All I know is that food on a stick is the best late at night. (and it's so damn cheap too). For 3 spring rolls, a chicken kebab and a corn on a stick it was like 150 baht (about $4.50).probably too much for them, but we're American tourists - whatever!

oh geez! Bob's starting to snore! (more about tomorrow later.)

Goodnight!

Koh Phi Phi Day/Night 1

2009-11-29T07:00:00.003-07:00

Koh Phi Phi Don is a great little place. The island is tiny and consists of a maze of small streets. You end up passing all the same shops, restaurants, bars, massage shops, and tattoo shops over and over again. You even easily wind up passing the same people you've previously met.

We rested up for a few hours yesterday and then we headed out to grab some dinner. We found were looking around and finally ended up by the water at a few beach side restaurants. They all had fresh seafood laid out and the fish and lobster tanks presented out to tempt all the patrons.

We were still pouring with sweat, but a nice cold large Chang beer started to cool me down.

My first thought was lobster and then I turned to clams. Alright steamed clams in a chili paste. No luck - no more clams. So with my (second) choice not available I went back to my first thought : LOBSTER! You would think it would be cheaper since it's right from the water, but no. It was about 1000 baht /kilo ($30/kilo)... I have no idea what a kilo is! So the server told me to go order it over near the tanks. I picked out one that seemed to be medium size. As he reached in all the lobsters scurried around - fast fuckers. Mine was about 1.5kilos - about $45-$50. ah shit... i'm on vacation.

We shared an awesome plate of squid tempura. It was so damn hot, but we still persisted to devour them. Then my lobster came out. They halved it and then threw it on the grill with garlic butter and a side of a chili sweet and sour sauce. OMG - fuckin awesome! I picked the shell clean.

Along with a few Changs I was one happy, full, sweaty fella (I couldn't think of another word).

We went back to the room and stood in the airstream of the pumping AC, got changed, grabbed some cash and went out for the night.

We first wandered out to the opposite side of the island to Loh Dalum Bay and to the beach bar Slinky. They had loud music pumping and chairs all lined up outside. Everyone was there for the fire "show." They had a fire jumprope and a fire ring that they had drunk guests jumping over and through. As a "reward" for doing it they gave you a shot from their bucket of something colorful. Judging by how strong their vodka tonics were I'm sure the fruity fire reward was strong as well.

In between the audience participation fire activities they had fire dancers and twirlers - pretty cool.

After 1 vodka tonic and then sharing another bucket of vodka tonic with Bob we made out way out and onto another place. As we walked the winding streets we came to a place that had Thai Boxing going on. At first we thought it was real and then we found out that it was another audience participation event: A free bucket of a drink to fight in the ring. So half the fights were of drunk people trying to beat the shit out of each other. It was the funniest shit. In between the funny matches they would have a real fight or two with guys that wailed on each other . We were sitting ringside, and you could almost feel the intensity of the kicks and punches. We got a large Chang each and I think that started to do Bob in.

We stayed for a few more fights and moved on to find a bar with a great live band playing American cover songs (surprise, surprise). They were pretty good. We rocked it out for a while there and then moved on. I think were going to try and hit Slinky Bar for the free bucket of vodka drinks, but ended noticing a group of girls that we had seen at the Thai boxing. As we approached them they turned around and laughed or repeated something we had said (it's kinda hazy from here on). We all quickly started talking and walking and introduced ourselves. There were two from the US and a brother and sister from Canada. The brother and sister were both adopted with one being white and the other being black. The black guy was going to school in Bangkok. They were all very cool and we ended hanging out with them on the beach for a while. We stayed out on the beach for a while and then back up to the streets to get some latenight drunk street food.

By this time both Bob and I were starting to sway and have a lil bit of difficulty with the balancing thing... damn drunk Pharang! We stumbled upon a pancake place and I got a banana pancake (more like a crepe). It was really good, but then I found out chocolate ontop was even better. Maybe next time. Bob was munching on some plain bread.

Everyone was still pretty hungry so we wandered the maze of streets. I think it was somewhere around 3:30am at this point. We found another street vendor that was selling grilled stuff on sticks and other goodies. A few of people from our group dropped off to go to bed while the rest of us chowed down on some more food. I was trying to still be cautious with my street food intake, but I got a few vegetable spring rolls. I'm not sure if it was because I was hungry, drunk, or all of the above, but they yummy.

One of the girls who was extremely intoxicated mentioned curry...mmm, curry sounded so good! So we were off (at like 4am) to find someplace for curry. We stumbled upon a small shack that had people (family that owned the place) eating... they said they were open, but I"m sure they were cursing us. We all ordered even more food and eventually stumbled out. By this point we were very intoxicated and fool and now starting to get tired.

We all made our way back on the path toward our respective places and said our goodbyes, exchanged facebook info and went our separate ways. They were leaving in a few hours to catch planes. Everyone was exhausted and just wanted to hit the sack.

Bob and I grabbed a couple waters and made our way back to the room and passed out somewhere around 4:30am.

Arriving in Koh Phi Phi

2009-11-28T03:36:00.000-07:00

On Our Way to Koh Phi Phi

2009-11-28T00:53:00.001-07:00

11.28.09 2:30pm
We traveled for most of the day yesterday and finally got to our hotel in phuket town around 5 or 6. We lucked out and got the most expensive room in the place (the deluxe suite). At like 2500 baht ($60) for the night it was a sweet corner room.

We roamed around trying to find the restaurants in our book. We found one of them that looked really nice, but they had no availability and was reservation only. We finally found a small place with all local young people. The place was small and bob was the only white person there. Their food was very good, but the portions were very small. There was a small starge which a thai kid starting playing america, music. Overall it was a very interesting evening hanging with the locals.

We stayed for a bit and then tried to find another bar with some tourists to no avail. After roaming around for a while we went back to the hotel to see if our books recommended any good places to go. We both ended up just passing out.

We should've just gone to patong beach and partied, but we thought it would be good to be near the boats to phi phi. We were wrong. There are much less tourists in phuket town and much less to do - just another busy city.

We woke up this morning and had the hotel breakfast (not too bad.) After finding out that all the boats to Koh Phi Phi left early morning or early evening we attempted to do some research to find a hotel in Phi Phi. Good thing we did considering only 2 hotels we found had availability. We snatched that one up and booked it on Expedia - good ol' internet!

After quickly checking out of the hotel we got on the van and met an English family going to phi phi as well. As with all the other travelers we've met, we all compared notes. They just got off the plane from london and then hong kong last night so we were giving tips on chiang mai. We've done so much that it feelsl like we've been traveling for weeks.

So now were on the boat to Koh Phi Phi. It's a beautifully sunny day, and the sun is pretty intense. As long as the weather holds up we'll be nice and tan (or burnt) by the time we leave. The ride over is about 30-40 minutes (although I think it's been long).

With a little bit of down time on the boat I had my first opportunity since I arrived in thailand to listen to some music. Of course I popped on "the Beach" soundtrack and made it half way through before the battery died.

Ok, time to go... I think I see the island!

I'm sure I'll blog more since our hotel has wifi.

A Fun Filled Day

2009-11-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

When we first arrived in Chiang Mai we made sure to book an excursion for our last day (today). With little time here we decided to do a one day excursion that was packed with interesting activities. We were picked up from the hotel and proceeded on to pick up another 6 people at different hotels. With a short 30 minute drive we made our way to the first stop: The Butterfly Garden.

This stop consisted of a butterfly garden and an orchid garden. The butterflies were fairly scarce, but the orchids were beautiful. Luckily this was only a 20 minute stop. This was fairly boring and I would tell you to skip it if possible.

Bob impressing the ladies with his big lens

We continued another half hour outside of the city of Chiang Mai to a hilltribe village. We passed beautiful scenes of rice fields and valleys and finally got to the the village.

As we got off the truck a group of little kids were there to greet us. They loved the attention and kept smiling and waving. They even sang us a little song. They were adorable. Bob got a great picture of me with the kids. I'm sure he'll be posting it soon.

Our guide, Muu (in Thai it actually means pork) told us about the village and showed us around. The villages in the entire area use a piping system for water that comes from the waterfalls.

After spending a little bit of time at the village we took a short 15 minute ride to a trail. We walked along the tiny trails for about 20 minutes to a beautiful waterfall. The water was freezing and only a few people dared to go in. I splashed some water on my head and it felt so good. The weather wasn't too bad, but I could feel the slight bit of humidity. Additionally the hike was rather steep and strenuous so the freezing cold water felt great!

As we were walking through the forest, Muu pointed out some interesting things such as the Teak wood trees, Lychee trees, Bamboo where bugs were pulled out (typically seasoned and fried and sold in the markets and eaten in the village..

We hiked back up to a different truck and Muu drove us to the Elephant Training Camp. There we walked along the narrow ridges of the dried out rice patties to the main part of the Camp. We could see the elephants in the distance... this was gonna be sweet!

As we approached we could see a baby elephant which we later found to be 3 month old. Muu told us that the elephants are pregnant for 24 months, and while this one was only 3 months old there was another mama elephant that was about a month away from giving birth.

This place is pretty interesting in the fact that you can take classes on how to train elephants. We saw a bunch of people dressed in denim (elephant's skin is very rough and their hairs are somewhat prickly) learning how to train the elephants.

Each elephant can hold about 3 people. 2 in the seat perched upon the elephant's back and one can ride the elephant's neck/head. Bob being a big boy, he and I got our own elephant and I got to straddle the elephant's neck. The elephant's skin was rather tough and the hairs felt like the bristles on a stiff brush. My knees were pinned behind the elephant's ears, and I could feel his shoulders bobbing up and down when he took steps. The ride itself felt somewhat precarious because while they're very sure-footed you end up swaying back and forth a lot. You get used it somewhat quickly, and I realized that the elephant didn't really care what you were doing on top. For some of the ride I was leaning forward and laying on his head.

They led the elephants down a winding path and then into a stream where both Bob and I were somewhat cautious thinking we may get sprayed with the elephant's trunk. After a 30 minute ride we made our way back to the starting point and disembarked off the elephants. For a donation you could feed bananas to the elephants. The elephants knew the drill and came over sniffing with their trunks. You would feed them one at a time (which I'm sure they would've just loved to take the entire bunch of bananas at once) and they would take them with their trunks and pop the into their mouths like candy quickly send the trunk out for more. If you yelled out, "Op" they would lift up their trunks in the air and open their mouths wide for you toss food in. They're amazing creatures!

The people in the camp had lunch prepared for us (stir fried chicken and vegetables, coconut milk soup, rice, and watermelon and pineapple. For being in the middle of nowhere the food was pretty good. After lunch and more elephant feeding we said goodbye to the large creatures and headed back to the truck.

We made a quick pitstop at a Burmese village nearby and Muu gave us a quick tour. This was really to kill some time before heading to our next stop: Rafting.

The drive to the rafting site was up a ridiculously potholed road (sometimes only dirt) and the 7 of us in the back of the truck (bob sat shotgun) bounced around and wondered how the rickety old truck was really making it. It sounded like the wheels were about to fall off.

We got down to the river and donned a lifejacket and helmet and given an oar. With a quick 5 minute instruction on what to do in the raft, we got in the rafts and started downstream. The water was freezing!

We actually did very minimal paddling and left a lot of the work up to the boat's "captain" in the rear of the raft. He would yell out commands like "FOURWAYS!" He actually meant Forward, but I guess noone had ever corrected his Engrish.

The waterlevel was a little low and we ended getting stuck on some of the rocks, but overall it was fun. They took us through some small rapids, but we all managed to get soaked. Bob got some pictures with his waterproof camera. We made our way down the river to a set of bamboo rafts which were using for the second leg of the trip.

I was the first to get on so I immediately went all the way to the front. Very quickly we realized that the bamboo raft really didn't float. We all sat down and the guide gave me a 7 foot long bamboo stick to hold (or so I thought). No, I wasn't holding it for him - I ended helping to guide the boat with the long bamboo stick.

The raft was very unstable and at time we all thought it was going to flip over. It kept swaying side to side and almost flipped over several times. I swear - the advertisements for this part of the trip showed the bamboo rafts floating on the water. Ours did not really float. So on this leg of the river journey we ended up getting more soaked than in the rafts since we were mostly submerged i the water.

We made our way to the pickup point and all got changed and bought some snacks. (I had a Chiang Beer.) This was the end of the tour. Now we had a 1.5 hr long drive back to Chiang Mai.

Overall an awesome day! Great way to spend Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow we head to Phuket. Once again we'll be doing some homework on the plane and trying to figure out the second half of our trip down south in the islands. We're both looking forward to relaxing on the beaches. Hopefully it doesn't rain.

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

2009-11-25T17:40:00.001-07:00

I don't think I'll be finding any turkey or stuffing out here tonight.

Updates and Thoughts

2009-11-25T03:45:00.001-07:00

I've had a few people asking about the fried chicks...

As for the fried chicks/embryos - no I didn't eat em. I really wanted to try that, the meal worms, and other (somewhat more recognizable) street food, but I've been really trying to be careful not to fuck up my stomach (especially far away from the hotels... If u know what I mean.)

Every place out here has had live music playing everywhere. They all play american cover songs and I keep thinking over and over again that, "damn we/I could easily do this!) They just sit there playing their songs with their songbooks opened (just like me usually). I've heard jason mraz being played and oasis, dylan, clapton, some maroon 5, etc. Wtf - I can do that. I almost asked to play at the orchid bar with my new friends/guitar duo. They really liked me (I saw them every night there and always tipped them well) and TOTALLY would have let me jam with them. Oh well... Back to bandnight in AZ (hopefully).

Riding with the Locals

2009-11-25T03:28:00.002-07:00

We got up pretty early this morning and went downstairs for breakfast... Mmm they had bacon - real bacon! I thought I had smelled yesterday. We did the american breakfast (bacon, eggs, toast, fruit and coffee) and then took the advice of one of Bob' friends and rented scooters for the day.
It was ridiculously cheap (200 baht each = $6). We filled them up with some gas and then headed out of the city center and up a mountain to Doi Suthep. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_Suthep
It was a little crazy considering they drive on the left side of the road and there are scooters and cars everywhere, but we managed to get out of the main part of the city and onto the winding steep hills to the Wat.
On our way we stopped at a national park where we checked out a bunch of waterfalls and hiked a bit up the trail.
Bob got a great picture of me in action falling on my ass. He has shown it every person we meet. I'm sure you will see it as well.
Afterwards we made it up the mountain to the Wat. Sitting at the top of the mountain this is the holiest place in Northern Thailand.
We took a funicular (inclined train) to the top and wandered around the site. It had amazing views of the city and some beautiful golden chedis and Buddhas. Monks live on site and can be found everywhere.
We got blessed by a monk (bob got a picture) and he tied a bracelet around our wrists. I need to find out the significance of this. Being a man, the monk directly tied it to my wrist. Women must have a separate person on the side tie it as women are not allowed to touch the monks.
In the Wats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat) where the Buddha is located you must always be on your knees with the bottom of your feet never facing Buddha. A deep bow is also appropriate, but I keep forgetting to do it. Additionally one should never turn their back on the Buddha.
We made our way down the many stairs which you can take instead of using th funicular and we hopped on out scooters. We made our way down the mountain and miraculously found our way back to the scooter rental location and the Riverview Lodge. This time I did almost run an old lady over. Man, she moved quickly out of the way.
We toyed with the idea of roaming around some more with the scooters since we had them for the day and it was only 2pm at this point. But we figured we got out $6 worth and would be doing it again in Phuket anyway.
We just got done having a late lunch at our hotel and now I'm finishing up a beer while Bob is probably passed out upstairs.
Luckily this place has free wifi so we've been taking advantage of the service and blogging, checking email, and researching things to do.
I just got another beer.
This place has an interesting method of purchasing drinks. There's a self-serve cooler where you grab what you want and just write down your room number and what you took on a slip of paper. You then just slip it into a cubby hole, and they just add it to your room charge.
The people in thailand have been unbelievably warm. On the street people may look at you, but you just smile, and they shoot you a big smile back.
I'm really glad that I'm taking the malaria pills. So far I've been getting eaten alive my mosquitos. My legs are covered in bite and it itching the shit out of me. If you're coming here definitely bring the insect repellent. Maybe it's just me - bob has barely been bitten.
We're constantly meeting travelers (many of them American) and it's always depressing to hear their holidays are several weeks (if not months) long. Damn the (american) "man"! We need more vacation time (yes Leanne, you were right - 3 weeks would've been better!)
Tonight: another early evening probably roaming around the night market.

Chiang Mai

2009-11-25T02:34:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we got up pretty early and did the breakfast buffet at our bangkok hotel (Viengtai Hotel). Considering it was included with our hotel it was pretty good with lots of choices of american breakfast and some asian dishes.

We grabbed all our stuff in our room, checked out, and then grabbed a taxi back to the airport.
Due to the city traffic we made it very little time left. Checked in, got our boarding passes and then easily went through security.

The Suvabarbumi (sp?) Is a pretty big airport, and the architecture is very interesting. It kind of feels like a big, curved steel cage.

With only a short wait we started boarding (or so we thought) the plane. As we went down the walkway we realized that we were actually going to a bus. The bus drove us out to the tarmac to a small 24 row plane. Luckily it wasn't the small dual prop plane beside it.

Bangkok airlines turned out to be pretty nice. I guess they call themselves asia's boutique airlines. Even with an hour flight they still managed to serve a sandwich and drinks. Ya barely get that on a cross country flight in the US.

While on the plane we each took a thailand book and did some quick cramming on Chiang Mai. We booked nothing ahead and had only one possible hotel researched. We found the Riverview Guesthouse in the book. Both books seemed to say good things.

So after we grabbed out luggage we took a quick taxi ride to the Riverview Guesthouse. The place was nestled down a quiet small street. As we exited the cab the people behind the counter greeted us with a warm smile. They had a 2 bed room with a balcony overlooking the back yard grounds and the river. This was a great find for only 2200 baht ($66/night).

We dropped off our stuff and headed out for a walk. The city was much smaller than Bangkok but our street being away from the city center is nice and quiet.

We tried to find a friend of a friend that bob knew with no luck, but we did find some more chedis and snapped a few photos. We came upon a small tented area of some street vendors selling clothes, tapestries and other miscellaneous goods. Both us found a few things. Bob bought a duvet set and I bought a hand woven bed cover. We got both for about 2600 baht... Definitely not your average street purchase but definitely worth the price.

I continued to search around for a new pair of sandals with no luck. Up until this point I had been wearing flip flops around bangkok and chiang mai, and at one point someone behind me stepped on my flip flop. They slightly tore and became very looses. So my feet started slipping and I got a decent sized blister on my foot.

I ended up buying a pair of Birkenstocks for $7.50. I'm sure they were fake, but they still felt so much better.

After wandering around the Old City we finally made it back to our place. We both just needed a shower and to relax for a bit. We booked a 1 day trek for thursday. It looks like fun (hiking, elephant ride and rafting). It's all day: 830-4.

After resting up we got a recommendation for a place to have a late dinner. We got to a place called the Antique House - somewhat quiet place with 1 guy playing some Cat Stevens.

Bob got a local dish with several types of pork and I got what would be a pork sampler. It came out in a huge crown of a platter lined in leaves. It was amazing! This was definitely our most "authentic" dining experience thus far. Both dishes had a spicy sauce (bob's was creepingly spicier than mine.) A very good meal!

Last night was an early night.

A Few More Shots

2009-11-24T06:24:00.000-07:00

Seoul

Khao San Road

Bangkok Street Market

Grand Palace

Last Day/Night in Bangkok

2009-11-24T05:59:00.000-07:00

Needless to say we didn't get up too early yesterday morning - actually we didn't get up till noon. There went half of our day (it was worth it!)

We were a little crusty and hazy, but we finally got out and grabbed some food at the "Cool Corner Restaurant" and I had the same breakfast rice soup with pork... I have to learn how to make it - slightly soupy rice in a chicken base with bits of pork and lemon grass and other herbs. Yum... I'm getting hungry. Bob tried something new and was pleasantly surprised by what was essentially pork fried rice.

With our bellies full, we went out and roamed the streets to see a few "required" sights before we left the city. This was my last day in Bangkok. Bob will be back for another day at the end.

We went down the Grand Palace and walked the grounds. Unfortunately we were both in shorts and you must wear pants to enter. They will rent you sarongs or pants to enter, but it was freaking warm outside and neither of us really felt like doing that. We snapped a few pix of the amazingly intricate architecture, and then moved on.

Adjacent to the Grand Palace was Wat Pho. This area had numerous chedits (tall pointed structures with glass and tiles - beautiful). We mistaken thought these were called pagodas. This area is also best know for the huge Buddhas (standing buddha, sitting buddha, and the most famous - Reclining buddha). The reclining Buddha is about 46 meters long and 15 meters tall and the bottom of the feet were decorated with intricate inlayed mother of pearl (amazing!)

Around the back side of the buddha there were 108 bowls lined up in a row. You make a donation and receive a small bowl of coins. If you place one coin in each bowl you will receive good luck and a long life. My question during was what if you mess up and skip a bowl or double dip? Bob guessed it: you end up dumping the rest in the last bowl. The last bowl was much fuller than the rest.

At this point we were starting to get photograpped out of this location. We have a shitload of pictures from Wat Pho.

We were starting to get hungry and found a place right on the river to have dinner. Overall a somewhat less authentic place, but still a very good hot and sour king prawn soup.

Afterwards we headed back to the hotel to rest a little and refresh. We headed back down to the Orchid Bar to meet up with the Israelis, but they never showed. Oh well. The place was still fun, but definitely more low key. I had a "western" type of shirt on. So I think that prompted the to play a little more country western music. After talking with Oszy the night before about the music I liked, they played a few Clapton songs. Throughout their set they kept talking to us... they even played a few songs mentioning Arizona! Our stay there ended perfectly with "Wonderful Tonight" and then Bob's request "Sister Goldenhair" by America. I was totally mistaken cause I thought they would never be able to play it. I was wrong and they played a decent version. Before they jumped to another song I went up and said our goodbyes.

Next we went over to Khoa San Road to walk the street and people watch. We walked it back and forth several times and then ended up finding a bar upstairs called the "Balcony" (?). They had an acoustic guitar duo playing some American songs and the crowd seemed rowdy. So we went up to find the place packed with people and drunkeness everywhere. This seemed like the place to be.

We found a stool and some free space along the perimeter overlooking the street and immediately got a few beers. Quickly we made friends with a few people next to us (Carmen and Tarik). Both were kickboxers training to fight within the next month or two. Carmen didn't seem like a kickboxer, but then she whipped out her guns and we saw the tats as well. Both were very cool, but Carmen was rather hard to understand. I think she had quite a few beers.

Bob and Carmen

Then we met two South African kids (and I do mean kids. They were 21 and 22! God we felt old. We were definitely some of the oldest people in the place. Bob, hysterically, mentioned how he thought the one guy (who was plastered) looked like McLovin (from Superbad). HE DID LOOK LIKE MCLOVIN! Even his friend started calling him McLovin. He was so drunk that his friend got him to hit on (unsuccessfully) these two asian girls that sat by us. We ended up talking with these girls for a bit (Tuk ta and I forget the other girl's name). They were actually locals from Bangkok... amazing that they were hanging with all the locals.

The bar was starting to close so we said our goodbyes and headed back to the hotel. On our way, a cute asian girl was shooting a laser pointer all over me, but (stupidly) I kept going. We were both extremely tired and needed to be up early to catch the plane to Chiang Mai. I'm kicking myself now.

We got back to the room and needed to pass out, but I pushed on for a bit and got a few pix posted. Last night was another pretty late night. I set the alarm for 8, and I think I finally passed out around 4am.

Another decent night.

Sunday (continued)

2009-11-24T05:11:00.000-07:00

Last night was a crazy night...

So where I left off:

Another guy and girl sat down next to us at the Orchid Bar, and they seemed pretty cool. We ended up hanging out with them for the rest of the night. They had just spent 6 months in India and just got into Bangkok 6 hours before. Both Israeli.. Bob immediately called it. Their names were Raz (guy) and Amith (girl), and they both dug the music at the bar. We drank and closed the bar. The bar couldn't serve any more alcohol, but we were able to go to the "store" (and I do loosely refer to it as a store: it was basically a makeshift convenience store that stayed open very late. We bought beers through their locked gate and passed the old man some money. I think they were about $1.60 each - pretty cheap for large beers!

The guitar duo played a bunch of country, western and classic rock. They were fun! Afterwards Ozsy (yeah, weird spelling) hung with us for a while. We all migrated over to Khoa San Road and hung out on the street with some new people that we met right there and another guy Denny. We all hung out on the curb for a while and Denny asked us to move the "party" to his friend's place. Bob just met a Swedish guy and he ended tagging along. (I don't think he knew what he was getting himself into.) We've been starting to collect facebook usernames and emails. Anyone going to Bangkok? We'll hook you up with Denny. He's a good person to know! ;n)

So 6 of us piled into a cab and headed to god-knows-where. For all we knew we were getting kidnapped. Luckily that wasn't the case, and we all proceeded to get very intoxicated! We drank until it started getting light out and finally made it back to the hotel around 6. Everyone was very cool, but the Swede was VERY loud and kinda annoying.

I know my description does not give the night justice, but trust me... it was a VERY GOOD start to our trip.

Tomorrow

2009-11-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we leave Bangkok and take a short 1hr flight to Chiang Mai (North). We may be taking a several day trek (hiking/elephant trek with maybe some rafting). So hopefully I finish my posts from the past day or two then.

Good night/morning (4:30am).

Just a Taste of Thailand

2009-11-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

it's too late to finish my blog (maybe do it on the plane), but here's a few of my pix...

Fried Chicks/Embryos (?) at the Weekend Market (Definitely not kfc - although kfc is everywhere here)

Sitting Buddha at Wat Pho

Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho

Wat Pho

My new friends Teng and Ozzy at the Orchid Bar

Khoa San Road 1:30 am (one street over from our hotel)

6:20am Monday

2009-11-22T16:31:00.001-07:00

I'm trying to wind down and get tired enough to pass out, but nothing's working so far.

Bob and I finally got out of the hotel and made our way the orchid bar. All the tables were full, but one of the people there that recognized me whipped out a table and chairs and put it curbside for us. (I had been there for the past 2 nights.) We sat there until the a table opened up and jumped around a few times till we ended up close to their "stage." Another couople sat dqown at a table over from us...

Forget this I've had too much to drink, the keyboard isa hard to type, and it's almost 630 in the morning.

Good morning.

Street vendors and the Chatuchak Market

2009-11-22T08:10:00.001-07:00

Considering we didn't goto sleep until somewhere around 4 we somehow managed to get up around 930 this morning. I definitely was on the verge of having too much to drink. We missed the breakfast downstairs but found a good breakfast spot down the street. Bob had a congi (thick rice porridge) with shrimp and other spices. I had a thinner rice porridge with pork. Both were good and filling. His was pretty spicy. That and a cup of coffee was enough to get us going and feeling good.

We spent the rest of the morning roaming the streets and weaving in and out of the vendor stalls.

We visited a temple (I think it was Wat Phra Kaew) and took a bunch of pictures around the grounds. We re-found a vendor selling hats that I stopped at yesterday. The woman remembered me. I told her that I would come back (not really thinking I would be back). Since she had a decent hat that fit my big noggin I bought it. Not bad for less than $7.

We went back to rattrambutri (street our hotel is located) and ran into a tuk tuk driver I had met the day before. His name is joe. He remembered me and tried to give us a tuk tuk tour. We politely declined.

We had a drink at a bar down the street. I had spent a few hours there the day before (before bob arrived) and my friend kumar (from nepal) was there working. I introduced him to bob, and he sat with us for a while. He gave us some tips on things to see and how to get to the weekend market.

It turns out there is a bunch of nepalese living/working in thailand. Since there are only a few main tourist areas in nepal they all come to thailand to work.

Afterwards we headed down to the river and the canals and finally found the Golden Mount and the canal boat which would take us to siam and the skytrain stop. Luckily on the boat we met 2 kiwi girls from Christchurch who are now working in bangkok. They were going to the same boat stop and showed us where to catch the train.

The boat was interesting because as they came upon low footbridges over the canal they lowered the boat's roof to within inches of bob's head. The boat really moved along and passed what could be described as shanty town types of houses - hanging clothes, floating docks, trash everywhere, and houses so dilapidated that they seemed to barely be standing.

It's been funny - since bob has been here he has had so many comments about how tall he was. Last night a guy stopped him in the middle of the street and was going on about how tall he was. Today a shop owner was asking how tall he was. Bob whipped out his iphone and did the conversion to cm. They were amazed! As we were in the train station a drink vendor was shocked with how large bob's hands were. They compared hands, and she was amazed and was hysterically laughing.

We finally got to the Chatuchak Market. It was unbelievably packed with people. The whole thing is a maze of indoor and outdoor areas. Each turn led to another shop and more and more things for sale. It was true what kumar said: You really can get anything and everything there.

I sifted through the tshirt shops for a specific monkey shirt, and I unbelievably found a tshirt for Cherry Hill West High School "2008 black tie formal." This would've been the high school I would have gone to when I lived in southern NJ. I think the tshirts are all second hand from the US.

We found some Andrew Zimmern type of food on the streets - fried mealworms, cockroaches, grasshoppers and chicken emryos. I really wanted to try them, but I really didn't want to do that to my stomach (especially since we were far from the hotel).

As we got lost in the market we found the pet area. Tons of different fish, chicks, sqirrels, snakes. We even found a cock fight in progress. It was interesting to see, but kind of disturbing and sad as well.

In the last hour at the market we did a bunch of gift shopping and even picked up a pair of fishing pants. I love these things. They're lightweight and super comfortable. The only problem is that they only have one back pocket. They're not too good for traveling. I'm will have to pick up another pair anyway.

As we walked through the crowd bob was still the tallest person there. He made for a good mobile "landmark" to follow.

We took the skytrain back and were somewhat hoping to run into the kiwi girls again (a longshot). This time we skipped the boat (it was too dark for them anyway) and opted for a taxi instead. We were done with major walking for the day.

After a needed shower, we headed down the street for some dinner. Amazingly neither of us were hungry during the day, and we forgot to eat lunch. By this time we were famished. The food was good, but bob's 2nd choice was not great. I think the hardboiled egg didn't sit well in his stomach.

We've made a pitstop at the hotel and am currently "resting." We'll see if we get back out tonight (bob's starting to doze off while watching tv.) I can't blame him - the first day I napped for a few hours too.

Bob is here!

2009-11-21T14:39:00.001-07:00

Bob finally made it! After 5 or 6 large changs (beers) I finally found bob walking up to the hotel. It was about 2 in the morning, but we still went for a few beers. Needless to say, at this point I was pretty buzzed and really didn't need any more beer.

Ok, it's like 5am... Time to goto bed.

Bangkok: day 1

2009-11-20T23:45:00.001-07:00

11/21 1:00pm
I hit the bed last night around 3 and somehow woke up in time for the included breakfast buffet at the hotel. (Wasn't too bad).

Afterwards I finally took a long needed shower. After traveling it felt so nice. Bob's gonna have a hard time with the shower considering I had to bend down for the water to hit my head.

It's a beautiful day - probably around 90 and not a cloud in the sky.

Close to my hotel I found a temple. It was beautifully intricate with statues and ornate designs. As you enter you must remove your shoes at the door. The temple was filled with people praying and the smell of incense was blowing everywhere. Monks were there accepting donations and blessing people with incense and holy water.

I roamed around the maze of streets and wove in and out of all the alleyways and streetside shops. Wow - you can buy anything and everything here! You could come to bangkok with a small backpack and buy whatever you needed here. Next time I know that.

Considering my bad sense of direction I'm surprised I didn't get ridiculously lost. There were so many interesting things to eat, but I'm cautiously testing my stomach. I really don't feel like spending all my time in the restroom. I have no. Idea what most of the things were, but most of it smelled good.

Right now I'm sitting at a restaurant/hotel across the street from my hotel having a little lunch of chicken paneang in curry and a large Heineken and relaxing after walking around all morning. Lunch was good and not a bad deal for like $5.

Good thing I brought the extra duffel bag (although I could've bought one here). I'm sure I'll be buying some tshirts and gifts. There a ton of tshirts for sale and a good deal at like $3 a piece.

My hotel is pretty nice and the room is very large for being a nonamerican room. The beds are quite firm, but I sure as hell didn't mind when I passed out last night.

The whole experience is still somewhat surreal. I can't believe that after wanting to come here for so long that I'm actually here!

Bangkok: Kho san road

2009-11-20T11:23:00.001-07:00

I got to my hotel, and it turns out that it is right in the middle of all the action of kho san road. I was first thinking that I'd just hit the sack after traveling for the past... Actually I have no idea how long I've been traveling. With all 3 flights and time changes I have no idea of time. My body's clock is all fucked up. Al I know is it's about 1:15am sat and I'm not tired. At least I can sleep till whenever tomorrow. Bob doesn't come in till tomorrow night.

I roamed around the streets until I found a streetside place that had a couple guys playing Clapton- of course I had to stop. It's funny cause all the streetside "bars" have people playing "american" music. Kho san road is the mecca of foreign travelers. There's so many americans concentrated right here. It kind of reminds me of a crazier amsterdam (without the blatant pot use). I could see myself getting lost here for a while.

Ok, I've finally relaxed and am now in "vacation mode."

Goodbye Seoul

2009-11-20T00:22:00.001-07:00

I made my way back to the airport after a whirlwind tour around the city, some lunch, and some sochu, and a few beers.

To back up, the flight from LAX to Seoul was long (about 13 hours) and by the time I got to Seoul I had no concept of what time it was. The plane was very comfortable and the food was fairly decent. We had a quick meal once we were onboard. You had the choice of beef with noodles or Bibimbap (which I've like and have had at a Takamatsu in AZ). Surprising the seats had plenty of room. The only annoying part was the guy next to me whose family was behind me (which also included a kid who kept kicking the damn seat!) This wasn't surprising considering the father (next to me) was sitting with his feet up on the seat in front of him. I'm sure the guy in front of him was irritated. Some people just don't have any consideration. After a while I kept pretending to be asleep so he wouldn't keep asking me to get up.

My luggage was checked all the way through to Bangkok. So I didn't need to claim my luggage and recheck it in Seoul. Once I got out of immigration and customs I went out to the general waiting area, and immmediately I saw Jun! THIS COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE PERFECT.

We spent the morning driving around the city and stopped at large temple near the President's house/palace. Lets just say it was FREEZING!!!! When I got off the plane this morning it was 31F (and it felt it.) We walked around the temple's grounds and then headed out for some lunch.

I forget what the stuff was called, but we had a chicken type of stew - yummy! Supposedly Takamatsu has it at home (I probably need to look further down their menu past the korean bbq.) It was a great dish. I'll have to ask Jun what it was called again.

Afterwards we killed some time drinking a few beers at a local brewhaus which (I think comically) is called O'Kim's Brewhaus.

Seeing Jun was great. He was laid off off his job at SmithGroup last spring, and I hadn't seen him since. Because he was on a work/school visa he had to leave the country and head back to Seoul. Now he is still looking for a job.

He kept referring to me as his "brother." I didn't know it, but he and his family are originally from Pusan! Kiddingly, I asked if his mother had a child in the early to mid 70's. I'm not sure if he understood what I meant.

Anyway, time to go to my gate. I'm sitting at a free wifi area in the airport. It's cool. They have netbooks setup in a lounge area that you could' use for free.

Alright - back on a plane for 6 hours and next stop BANGKOK!!!!

Goodbye Seoul!

2009-11-19T22:14:00.001-07:00

I just left Jun and am heading back to the airport. It was a great day - too bad I didn't have more time here!

Onto the Motherland

2009-11-19T01:12:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting waiting for my flight to take off. The next stop is Seoul, S Korea. It will be my first time stepping foot in the country of which I was born.

It took me over 30 years to come back for 11 hours.

It's definitely not enough time, but at least I will get to meet up with a friend, see some things in Seoul, and also try some food.

I can't wait. This will be such a small taste of Korea. It definitely won't be another 30 years before I go back.

So far I'm fairly impressed with korean airlines. They seem to be efficient and the plane is pretty nice (the flight attendants are not too shabby to look at either.) The best part is that I have an aisle seat and the seat next to me is empty. Even if I wasn't empty I'd still have plenty of room. There's quite a bit of leg room. Too bad I didn't get an upgraded seat (the first class and prestige class have sweet reclining seats). Oh well, I guess I can't complain for $900.

Damn it - someone sat next to me!

Here we go... Next stop Seoul.

Sitting, waiting, wishing

2009-11-18T22:32:00.001-07:00

I'm just killing another 2 hours in LAX before I need to board my next flight to Seoul. Maybe I'll go take a walk. God knows I'll be sitting for the next 13 hours!

I'm hoping the comment function on my blog is working. You may need to goto the bottom of each posting and click on "0 comments". I think it should work.

I wonder if they'll give us anything to eat early on in the flight.

I need to find some starbucks before the flight.

On my way to LA

2009-11-18T19:33:00.001-07:00

I'm pinned against the window with a guy that keeps coughing and sneezing. Am I becoming a hypochondriac? I think I started to worry more after I watched a show where they showed the slow motion spray of saliva spewing out from a typical sneeze.

Gross - absolutely gross!

Where's my hand sanitizer?

Do I look ready?

2009-11-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

I think more tired, than anything really!

And I'm Off!

2009-11-18T17:37:00.001-07:00

It's finally here.

I'm sitting in the phx airport waiting to start this journey.

I've been dosing up on airborne all week (not really sure if it really does anything). Right now I'm staring down all the people that are coughing and sneezing. You people better not get me sick!

Alright, I think I've done everything I needed to do. I think I remembered everything. Oh well, too late now!

And now they're starting to board...

Holy Crap!

2009-11-17T23:34:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is here already! I can't believe it all comes down to this! I've been wanting to see and experience thailand for a while. Wow, another country to check off the list!

Very Soon

2009-11-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything here, but as usual, I've been busy as usual.

So lets see.. I am freaking out. This is the least prepared I've ever been for such a big trip. To some extent it's killing me, but it will all work out and will be good for me. From what we hear, it's actually better to do it this way. You can book everything over there. There's many places to stay and may be cheaper too.

I think part of my lack of planning is because I've now got someone going with me. If I was going by myself I would be much more prepared.

This time next week, I will enjoying my first morning in Bangkok. Bob won't be there yet. I have the entire day to roam around and explore.

I plan on updating this site while on my upcoming Thailand trip. I hope to post some photos along the way and some daily updates. This is what I hope at least. We shall see. It's only 2 weeks. It all depends on wifi availability.

I'm so freakin psyched!

I got my Thailand Flights Lined Up

2009-10-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

I don't know where I'm staying yet, but I have my flights all lined up and paid. 4 flights for only $250 total. Not too bad. It would've been like $100 cheaper except they tack on a large surcharge of some sort. Whatever - it's still pretty cheap.

Now I have a good idea of where I will be and when...

W 11.18 PHX to LAX
T 11.19 Los Angeles to Seoul
F 11.20 Seoul to Bangkok
S 11.21 Bangkok
______________________________________
S 11.22 Bangkok
M 11.23 Bangkok
T 11.24 Bangkok to Chiang Mai
W 11.25 Chiang Mai
T 11.26 Chiang Mai
F 11.27 Bangkok to Phuket to Khao Sok National Park
S 11.28 Khao Sok National Park
______________________________________
S 11.29 Khao Sok National Park
M 11.30 Khao Sok National Park to Phuket
T 12.01 Phuket (Koh Phi Phi/Krabi?)
W 12.02 Phuket (Koh Phi Phi/Krabi?)
T 12.03 Phuket (Koh Phi Phi/Krabi?)
F 12.04 Phuket to Bangkok
S 12.05 Bangkok to Seoul to Los Angeles to Phoenix

8 Weeks!!!

2009-09-24T23:14:00.000-07:00

Shit... I'll be in the air over the Pacific in 8 weeks from now!

I'm such a procrastinator. I still need to get my passport renewed! I rechecked (just to make sure), but I do not need a visa for Thailand. Good thing!

I really have to start thinking about some hotels and transportation.

CRAP... I wish I wasn't moving and going away within the next 8 weeks!

72 Days to go!

2009-09-08T23:46:00.000-07:00

Holy Shit!!! I need to get moving on some preparations! I need to get my passport renewed. I need to get a Visa. I need to get shots (probably). Oh crap... and I just found out that I need to move into an apartment before I leave for my trip....

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! CRAP!

I better get moving!

It's locked in

2009-06-27T23:49:00.000-07:00

Thailand has been on my mind for quite some time. I think it first came to mind in the late 90s when I was trying to choose a place to visit after college. Europe seemed like the more fun choice for that solo adventure (Dec 99-Jan00).

In early 2000 Moby had gained some mainstream popularity with the song "Porcelain" (which happened to be featured in the 2000 movie "The Beach".) I'm kinda ashamed to admit it, but Leo's movie had a good part in my longing for adventures in Thailand. After my amazing month in Europe living out of a backpack and bunking in various hostels the romantic notion of traveling in places more exotic seemed really appealing. The ironic part is that now Thailand isn't as exotic of a destination any more. Partly due to "The Beach" and probably due to the cheap conversion rate (dollar-baht conversion makes everything dirt cheap.)

This year has been very interesting thus far, and it's hard to believe that half the year is already gone. Thailand started coming back to mind. I think it may have started with that damn movie again. I think I had a marathon weekend of "The Beach" and it probably reawoke desires for Thailand.

Long story short... I finally bought my tickets for Thailand!!!

I'm going for exactly 2 weeks over the Thanksgiving holiday. I'm freakin psyched. I got a great deal on airfare and have a great layover on the way out and back in Seoul, S. Korea (hopefully things quiet down with N. Korea.) I'm meeting up with a friend in Seoul. I can't wait! My first time back to the "motherland."

So now that i'm locked in and definitely going on the trip I get to start the fun part of researching places to go and things to possibly check out. I'll try to book my accommodations beforehand, but leave some flexibility in my daily plans.

At first I was excited about the possibility to go to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, but the extra international travel would've added way to much travel time. I didn't want to be traveling every other day. I wanted some time to relax in some places.

So far, I'm planning on...

Seoul Layover (11 hrs)
Bangkok
Chiang Mai
Khao Sok National Park
Ko Phi Phi
Phukett
Bangkok
Seoul Layover (7.5 hrs)

Stay tuned for more news...

Thailand Trip: Google Maps

2009-06-27T23:13:00.001-07:00

Google Map